What makes a startup successful? Is it the team, or is it The funding??

I was looking at the factors that make or break the startup. Did you know that the study shows that 60% of new ventures fail due to problems with the team?

The team is the secret sauce that makes or breaks the startup. What makes a successful startup team?

The common answer would be a motivated team that has top-class industry skills and prior startup experience. The answer is partially right. These skills are necessary but not sufficient.

What makes the team successful is the shared collective vision.

Have you seen the experiment with iron filings and the magnet?  When the iron fillings are placed over a magnet, they get aligned to the magnetic field and become induced magnets themselves. Similarly, when the skilled team has the magnet of a leader that provides a compelling common vision to the team, magic happens!  The team becomes a force to reckon with and can produce quality work over a sustained period of time.

The leader has to spend time with the team to keep aligning them periodically to keep the engine revving. Both these factors make a difference between a successful startup and an also-ran.