Managing the Many Processes of Team Building

1. Managing the Many Processes of Team Building Prof. Meredith Myers - November 2, 2011

2. “A business plan is a call to action … (it) must demonstrate mastery of the entire entrepreneurial process, from identification of opportunity to harvest.” - William A. Sahlman, “How to Write A Great Business Plan”, HBR 1997

3. Team building is fundamental to screening ideas and checking for validity of propositions Market Industry Macro Micro Image copied from Prof. Ethan Mollick’s Idea Generation Workshop for WBPC on October 24, 2011. http://spike.wharton.upenn.edu/media/index.cfm?method=read&video_id=27864

4. “Thoughtfully building a committed, compatible team might be the most important indicator of future success.” • Managing the multiple processes of a start-up • Developing your team • What your core team is *not* • Knowing yourself and your resources • The evolution to a successful team • Selling your team Quote by PitouDevgon, former WBPC winner, January 21, 2010.

5. “Thoughtfully building a committed, compatible team might be the most important indicator of future success.” • Managing the multiple processes of a start-up • Developing your team • What your core team is *not* • Knowing yourself and your resources • The evolution to a successful team • Selling your team Quote by PitouDevgon, former WBPC winner, January 21, 2010.

6. Your success hinges of the management of essential, simultaneous processes YOU and Your Resources Your Core Team Your Project

7. Your success hinges of the management of essential, simultaneous processes YOU and Your Resources Your Core Team Your Project

8. Your success hinges of the management of essential, simultaneous processes YOU and Your Resources Your Core Team Your Project

9. “Thoughtfully building a committed, compatible team might be the most important indicator of future success.” • Managing the multiple processes of a start-up • Developing your team • What your core team is *not* • Knowing yourself and your resources • The evolution to a successful team • Selling your team Quote by PitouDevgon, former WBPC winner, January 21, 2010.

10. How well do you really know yourself, your motivations, and what you bring to the table? • Draft your personal vision of the future • Where do you want to be in 5 and 10 years? • What are your goals and skills? • What are your values? • Draft a version related to this competition • Where do they fit? Where are there gaps? • How does the above inform your business plan prospects?

11. How can we as teammates balance and complement each other? • Visioning - Creating a compelling vision of the future • Inventing - Implementing the steps to make the vision happen • Sensemaking • Making sense of the world around us, acknowledging the current reality • Relating - Developing key relationships, connecting Ancona, Malone, Orlikowski, Senge. “In Praise of the Incomplete Leader,” HBR, February 2007.

12. Are you taking full advantage of the myriad resources at your disposal? • Wharton Business Plan Competition website • Wharton- and Penn-based opportunities • Online communities and any additional research • Contacting lead users Doing your research and exploring any options inherently connects you with potential teammates

13. Protect your equity and manage your risk by knowing who your core team is *not* • NOT your advisory board (formal or informal) • NOT people whose work you can outsource • NOT people with replaceable skills • NOT people who would like to work with you just to gain • experience and skills

14. You must patiently and conscientiously select the most compatible members for your core team • Look for mutual respect and shared commitment for the • project • No matter the time constraints, aim to have your serious • conversations as soon and honestly as possible • Define leadership and decision-making early • Allow your research, self-awareness, and instincts to • inform your approach

15. You must patiently and conscientiously select the most compatible members for your core team

16. You must patiently and conscientiously select the most compatible members for your core team

17. “Thoughtfully building a committed, compatible team might be the most important indicator of future success.” • Managing the multiple processes of a start-up • Developing your team • What your core team is *not* • Knowing yourself and your resources • The evolution to a successful team • Selling your team Quote by PitouDevgon, former WBPC winner, January 21, 2010.

18. “You are perpetually selling yourself and your idea… show them you are moving towards execution.” • What are your accomplishments and reputation? • What are your skills, abilities and knowledge? • Can you assemble a great team? • Do you have the mettle to make tough decisions and • overcome adversity? • Can we appreciate your commitment and motivations? Quote by Philip Cortez, WBPC Team-Building Panel, December 8, 2011. Questions adapted from Sahlman’s “How to Write a Great Business Plan”, HBR,July-August 1997.

19. “Thoughtfully building a committed, compatible team might be the most important indicator of future success.” • Managing the multiple processes of a start-up • Developing your team • What your core team is *not* • Knowing yourself and your resources • The evolution to a successful team • Selling your team Quote by PitouDevgon, former WBPC winner, January 21, 2010.

20. “I invest in people, not ideas.” - Arthur Rock, “Venture Capital Legend”

21. We get to learn about our panelists successes and key lessons in team-building • Brief overview of business plan and start-up experience • to-date • What has been your greatest success in building teams? • Where have you struggled the most in team-building, and • what have you learned from this challenge? • What do you wish you had known about team-building • when you were in the audience’s place?