While star leaders are frequently spotlighted in the media as their ventures become more successful, it is important to remember that (1) every business operates as a team, and (2) a successful venture is largely due to what team members contribute. There is a lot of time invested in recruiting the right people who mesh well together in performance. A large company may have different departments in which a group of people perform the same role or function. As an entrepreneur in contrast, your team may be just a handful of carefully selected contractors that work with you building the overall product. In a startup, you may have to play every role for a while until the product or service launches from beta. No matter what your team looks like in structure, every person on the team was chosen to play their role for a reason.
I recently did marketing research on 30 tech firms in my local region and the different hats employees play within the first 3 years of launch. I used this research to come up with 4 archetypal roles I find pivotal to fulfill in a startup. Meet the Idealist, Manager, Architect, and Producer.
The Idealist: CEO, Startup Founder, Executive Director
This is the visionary who is responsible for leading how the company’s mission is carried out. Idealists outline, communicate, and sell their work by leading and influencing others. They are highly intelligent in that they can see the bigger picture and map out the essential goals of the company. In illustrating: the team is the boat that transports the product, but the idealist leads as captain.
The Manager: VP, Project Manager, COO, Associate Director
The Manager oversees the team, keeps them on track and schedule, handles the administrative details of the product and services offered by the company. Managers coordinate all other team member activities through mid-level leadership monitoring and delegating tasks. Without a Manager, there is no one to steer performance and organizational requirements.
The Architect: Business Analyst, Marketing Director, Quality Engineer
The Architect is primarily responsible for turning the company’s vision into a blueprint of action. Architects are great at planning and designing to scale. Their duties may include assisting the Manager to create a summary of estimated costs, working with the Producer to test and improve the product before moving forward, and reporting to the Idealist the latest field research.
The Producer: Web Developer, Software Engineer, Graphic Designer, Copywriter
The Producer is the most central player in any tech startup for one important reason: they turn the idea or blueprint into an actual product. Producers develop frameworks to create the vision. Basically, they are the doers, and if you want a great end product, you’ll need to have great producers on your team.
Looking at these archetypes, what role would you say you play in your startup/company? How do you work with other roles on the team to improve your products? In helping with my research, please feel free to comment answers below.