Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World

by Rand Fishkin

The common threads I’ve seen separating successful teams and projects from unsuccessful ones generally have the following elements: Clarity and shared understanding of goals (i.e., everyone gives the same answer to the question “Why are we building this and what do we hope to achieve with it?”). Unity around the specific work required and how each person will contribute to it (i.e., everyone can give an answer to the question “What am I supposed to be doing and how does that fit with what each other person on the team is doing?”). Confidence in the people around them to contribute equitably (i.e., everyone believes the statement “If I contribute my portion, everyone else will contribute theirs and we’ll be successful”). Belief that should things go wrong, they/we will have the ability to catch it, fix it, and survive it (i.e., everyone agrees with the statement “If this doesn’t work, it won’t mean the end for my project/team/company/career”). A powerful sense of camaraderie and kinship, such that everyone on the team/project cares about the people around them and takes joy in the shared experience of working together (i.e., everyone would say “I want good things for all of the people on my team, and I’d be happy to make sacrifices for them and believe they’d do the same for me”).