Thoughts on Building the Start-up Team

Brand Thunder announced today the formation of its executive team (you can read the full release here). We set out to create a team capable of building (1) a custom-browser infrastructure where we’ll (2) work with some of the best known brands to (3) create branded browsers for their consumers. That creates a long list of needs to be able to address each category effectively with a very small team.

Here are three considerations that went into the process:

Network for Referrals – We went to people where we had direct working relationship. In one case, that person came on board. In the other, we got the person recommended by our contact. This helped create a team with an immediate degree of trust and confidence between members – necessary elements as we work collectively and independently on the vast number of tasks before us.

Breadth of Experience as Much as Depth – The quantity of tasks is equaled only by the range of work we need to complete, and there’s only a few of us doing the work. We need a core team with multiple talents and who can operate under different roles concurrently. We looked for complementary skill sets that would reduce the knowledge gaps on the team. We now have a team that will have, if not direct experience, at least a reduced learning curve for almost any task before us.

Skill Sets that are Both Art and Science – Our product must be visually compelling to attract the customer, but with the highest quality since it’s representing top-tier brands. We sought equal parts hacker and artist, creative thinker and process disciplinarian, strong egos and aggressive listeners. We’ve built a team with the analytical skills necessary to manage to deadlines, metrics and quality while maintaining the aesthetic and emotional connection with the end user.

We think this approach has given us a strong foundation team from which we can build out the company and serve our customers and clients. Welcome Brij and Kevin. Now on to the proving ground.

Tags: browser, extension, firefox, theme, toolbars | Posted in News