Even the most well designed concept would go nowhere without a team to execute.

Sometimes the right choice is no team at all — but this is not the sustainable or scalable option for most operations.

How does an entrepreneur, and a starving one at that, build a team of like-minded, competent, individuals who will work with and not against the entrepreneur or each other?

I don’t know the right answer, but have a running theory:

The optimal team is build both with trusted associates, as well as with experimental new talent.  Unfortunately, payroll takes capital. If you’re starving, that capital comes out of the marketing budget or the R&D budget, or food/rent.

So how do you compensate a resource without funding?

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on incentives…

I have launched a social experiment of my own for new talent that includes both experiential incentives and targeted good faith.

My current team includes a few trusted associates, all part-time, and freelanced admin and skilled labor resources. If the experiment above goes well, it will include a few more feet on the ground.

I can’t seem to post word documents to the blog, but am happy to let people see it. It exemplifies much of what I believe in partnering with your talent and structuring fair incentives.

I would be glad to share it with anyone who is interested, and don’t even mind if you use it as long as you ask.

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