How do you build a team for a new business?

A well constructed business plan is first and foremost. All of the above will be able to better relate to your vision if it includes practical well thought out concrete evidence on how your vision will function and survive given the chance to breathe life into the business.

In my experience, a lot of ideas are the product of teams of people in the first place. As the project develops, you add more people with the expertise you need. You find them in a happenstance kind of way, through networks you are part of. Later on, you might find them in a more formal way, but that’s usually after you have financing and can actually hire people.

Typically, people who are willing to work on a startup either know you from the get go, or have a lot of experience working with start ups and the wherewithal to work for equity, rather than salary. They say these people don’t mind taking risks, but I’m not so sure of that. Most of them, if they have much experience at all, seem to know what questions to ask and how to drive a good bargain for themselves if they decide to become part of the team.

Welcome to Fluther.

It depends on the business you’re trying to build. You won’t build Hewlett Packard into a multinational multi-billion dollar business over a conference table, but if you have a spare garage and a good idea or two and a little cash to keep things running… eventually you can build Hewlett Packard. Most real businesses, I think, start in just that way. From the ground up, not as a team of experts and a ton of cash.

Welcome to Fluther Justin.

One thing throws me off about your question. You seem to be (hypothetically I suppose) at the point of seeking out advice for putting together the ‘cogs’, as it were, of your business to get the crank turning…. but then you allude to the notion that you might not yet have a product. So I’m not sure where you’re at in this process, but I can give my two cents nonetheless.

I think there are plenty of willing candidates out there if you look around. You can even conduct the majority of your searching online. It’s imperative that you first know how much work you’ll need out of everyone, how many people it’ll take to accomplish the initial short term goals, and what sort of compensation there will be (and when it’ll be disbursed).

Start out with freelancers and IC’s. Use resources like oDesk, Fiverr and Prizes.org to get small or project-style tasks done cheaply and easily. But I think the business plan should be well formulated before any personnel needs are addressed.