You’ve got a great idea that you want to take to market–and fast. With limited time and budget, you need to quickly (and affordably) build a team that you can trust, one that’s composed of people who not only have the right skill sets, but also have the fire in the belly to get the job done.
You could try job postings, but you’ll likely spend the bulk of your time sifting through dozens of resumes of people who just don’t possess the right mix of qualifications. You could try immersing yourself in the local startup community, but it could take weeks or longer for you to figure out the landscape and identify the best contacts.
Here are five better options.
Events
Dozens of like-minded folks under one roof at one time–talk about bang for your buck. At events such as Startup Weekend, you can pitch your startup idea and receive feedback from peers. Teams form around the best ideas and then spend 54 hours creating business models, coding, designing, and validating their ideas. The weekend culminates with presentations to local entrepreneurial leaders and an opportunity to gain another round of feedback.
Start by identifying any relevant events in your city or town and, depending on what’s available, expand your search to surrounding areas as necessary. With organizers and facilitators in more than 200 cities around the globe, Startup Weekend is always a great place to start.
Startup Accelerators & Incubators
When it comes to making connections and good old-fashioned word of mouth referrals, accelerators and incubators can be a great place to start. After all, they are “in” the startup business and usually have firsthand knowledge of who is looking to hire and who might be looking to get hired. Some software startups, such as AppDirect, are also getting into the mix by launching programs to give software developers hands-on experience and expert guidance to help them launch their own startups and become successful entrepreneurs–a startup incubator for startup incubators.
Don’t automatically assume you can walk in off of the street and immediately gain access to their digital Rolodex. There’s a good chance they’ll already be super busy with their own startups and probably won’t be familiar with you or your idea. When you reach out, introduce yourself and your idea and ask if they have any recommendations (individuals, events, targeted job boards, etc.) on where you can find the best talent.