Good idea or good team – what guarantees success for a start-up

Start-ups are fast becoming a revolutionary phenomenon that is taking the world by storm. With a proven history where unassuming start-ups have grown to be the world’s leading companies and corporate giants, there is an unstoppable tide of start-ups emerging everywhere we turn. What they all have in common though is burgeoning urge to make it to the top. [caption id=“attachment_2869340” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Thinkstock[/caption] Of the many factors that are crucial for a start-up’s success are:  the idea driving the start-up and the core team. But have you ever thought which of the two plays a more important role in ensuring a start-up’s success? The idea, vision and strategy are the foundation blocks on which any start-up is built. A good idea is the best first step any start-up can possibly begin with. The idea is the strongest force that pulls the founders and the team together. The energy and passion that a strong, ground-breaking idea can generate is the best motivation factor that pushes the team to work harder and faster. The dream of seeing their idea put to action and raking in success adds to the motivation. When team has a great idea to begin with, they tend to do everything in their power to make it work. The idea and its conception, therefore, play a key role in a start-up’s success. Once the idea and strategy are laid out, finding the perfect team that will turn the vision into reality is the next big step. Since the team executes the idea and brings it to fruition, it is important that it have the right skills, expertise and attitude to achieve its mission.  The team’s greatest importance is its ability to overcome challenges, hurdles and unexpected changes that occur during the implementation; challenges that cannot be prophesied during the creation of the idea. A good team uses its full potential to overcome these obstacles and puts to effect the idea as planned. The team becomes even more essential when there are hurdles that cannot be crossed, thus calling for a modification of the very idea on which the start-up is based. Times like these are a real test for a start-up and without a competent team, the venture is sure to crumble. A start-up that has the best team with the best of talent can still fail if the idea is lacking. A good team without a good idea is like a pyramid that’s built inversely, bound to topple. Without a good idea to guide the team and pull it together the start-up can’t sustain for long. Afterall, if the product/service does not find a connect with the customers, even the best team can’t do much to save the start-up, i,.e, unless they go back to the drawing board and tweak the idea itself. Apple, Yahoo, Google and Facebook are such enormous successes today because they were built upon a ground breaking idea. So, while a good team is essential, without a good idea, it is no good. A good idea without a good team is like an enormous treasure buried miles under the earth with no one having any idea it even exists. The team is extremely essential for any start-up to put its idea into effect and show the world why their idea deserves success. Without a team to make this happen, the idea, no matter how great it is, is only a dormant force that can never gain profit or recognition. There’s also the possibility that someone else has thought of the same idea as you have. Without a competent team that can implement the idea better than others, any start-up is bound to fall irrespective of the great idea. Twitter and Reddit are the perfect examples for successes spawned from exceptional teams. Corporate history is proof that a start-up needs both a good idea and a good team to succeed. A good idea is no good without a good team and vice-versa and if either one of these vital pillars is weak, the start-up’s fate is doomed. The lack of even one of the two can cause the downfall of the company, irrespective of how well you fare on other parameters. An extraordinary idea and a skilled, competent team combine together to form the formula for success for any start-up that aims to make it big. So, the answer isn’t one or the other. It is one, plus the other. (The author is Co Founder, PicsDream. Views are personal)