5 Characteristics of Successful StartupTechpreneurs
5 Characteristics of SuccessfulStartupTechpreneurs
Startuptechpreneurs are amazing people.Sometimes you wonder what they are made of. You might ask if their DNA is madeup of hard work perfectly linked to a chromosome of luck. They just seem tosucceed in everything that they do (and rake in a lot of money).
No they are not sent by alien civilizationsand they also fail in some of their endeavors. They just seem to have a littleof every talent needed, have 101% gusto to do what they do, and have alaser-guided focus to achieve their goals.
In the early days of their companies, be itin a garage or from their dorm rooms, these successful startup founders wore alot of hats. They are like the Energizer bunny doing the jobs of the chiefoperating officer, doing product design, recruiting people, and even managingPR. It is crazy how they managed to do all the duties and through their uniquetalents, they achieved success.
Here are some of those characteristics thathelp them go on with their venture, succeed with it, and make it grow:
Leadership
This is the most crucial characteristic ofa successful startuptechpreneur. Leadership means they served as the spark to abright idea and transformed the dream to a reality. The leader is the startingpoint. He or she finds the best people to be part of his team, lays down thefoundations, think of the overall strategy, and even finds the office space.
The founder of a startup is the kind of guywho invites other people to start something different and start a new company.The founder is the activator who thinks out of the box. He pursued the idea andturned it to something useful for other people.
Jason Jacobs who is behind RunKeeper is agood example of this. He was sweating it out in a marathon back in 2007 when hethought that people needed something simpler than the Nike+. To achieve hisgoals of providing an open platform for health metrics, he recruited otherpeople to join him and started a new company.
Flexibility
Bright ideas are just bright ideas. Whenyou start to churn something they do not necessarily produce something great. Foundersof startups know this and easily adapt to the circumstances. If you want to getto the top, you must know how to blend with the startup culture and be creativeto get the funding you need.
Your ideas are your dreams but this dreamshould be pliable enough so you can help shape solutions to the problems ofconsumers.
Kevin Systrom is the co-founder of Burbnwhich is the predecessor of Instagram. The app which has millions of downloadstoday did not start the way we know it. It was first designed to be ageo-location app where people can checkin and a platform where they can uploadtheir photos to share with friends. The first idea though did not take offwell. Systrom and his team had to pinpoint the strongest trait of their app.They found out that it was the photo uploading aspect that was hitting it offso what they did is get rid of all other features and moved on. Kaboom! Look atInstagram now.
Discipline
It is great that you know how to adapt tothe flow of things, but success also requires discipline. Imagine anoverwhelming need to attend to the gazillion things that need your attention.As a startup founder, you must learn how to structure your work so everyoneknows his or her roles and
responsibilities while you focus on yours.
Discipline will help you find out what theproblem is. It helps you keep your team working like a well-oiled machine.Discipline also determines how you spend time with work and still have enoughtime for family and friends.
Eric Reis who is the guy behindTheLeanStartup.com, teaches people how to find a sustainable business byequipping them with the right attitude, philosophy, and the disciplinenecessary to succeed.
Strategist
All successful startups always has a greatstrategist behind them. It is like having a magnet that attracts all the metalflakes from the sand. That is how they work. From all the noise, they canstrategically get the relevant and useful things for them.
A good strategist can come up with a nameof the company that will be easily remembered by people. They can come up withproducts that are unique. They have that magic to push their product to themarket and let consumers see the real value it can bring into their lives.Aside from these, a strategic founder can pick the ideal business partners, understandthe competition, see the weaknesses and amend them before they become aproblem.
Who can be a better example of this but thelate Steve Jobs. The founder of Apple might be the best strategist of ourgeneration. Steve Jobs understood that people look for something more thancomputing, and people want to be entertained, want to be creative, and want tobe liberated. The genius launched products like the iPod, the iPhone, and theiPad. He produced hit gadgets one after another that catapulted Apple to becomethe most valuable company today.
Focus
Successful startup founders may have ahundred items on their to-do list everyday but they know which ones must beprioritized. Focus is like the sniper alter ego of your discipline that scopesthe targets and make failure as not part of the options.
Some people might start something great butgive up after a few months. You will see them starting on another great ideathe next time you see them and then another the next time you bump into them.
Greattechpreneurs know what things to drop on their to-do list. They drop downany distraction and only focus on the essential things that will spell success.The other less important items should be delegated to the other members of theteam since trying to do everything is counter productive.
