0s, 1s, and 2s: Startup Team DNA

StackedSP CEO, Ilan Saks, investigates the source of startup success.

I recently sat down to speak with Andre Charoo, Founder & General Partner at Maple Ventures, and early employee at Uber and Hired.com. We talked about his startup talent thesis, and essentially there is a genetic code of startup teams that can be broken down into 0s, 1s, and 2s. Each is critical to the key steps in building an enduring technology company – from Step 0 (Idea) to Step 5 (End Goal).

So, what’s your startup gene? 🧬

The Three DNA Types of Startup Team Talent

0s (Inventors)

Superpower = Ideating 

0s excel at inventing in the early stages and are masters at step 0. They often have deep technical expertise, but tend to struggle along the company building journey (steps 1-5) from prototype to product and vision to reality.

Hall of Famers: Google’s Sergey Brin and Apple’s Steve Wozniak

1s (Builders)

Superpower = Vision 

Builders are excellent at taking a startup from Step 0 to Step 1, and have an amazing ability to capture the imagination of partners, customers, and the team as it pertains to the company’s vision. 1s may struggle with operations from Step 1 to Step 4.

Hall of Famers: Google’s Larry Page and Apple’s Steve Jobs

2s (Operators)

Superpower = Execution 

Operators are the execution champions. They are experts at operationalizing the steps that lie between step 1 to step 4, but may struggle with innovating (Steps 0-1).

Hall of Famers: Google’s Eric Schmidt and Apple’s Tim Cook

Tying it All Together: The Law of Attraction

Sure, you’ve got your 0s, 1s, and 2s. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. The difference maker is something we’ll call the startup ‘Law of Attraction’ and it ties all these roles together. This is a critical, often overlooked element that could dictate the direction of your startup.

0s attract 0s, 1s attract 1s, and 2s attract 2s. As Andre put it, “we are attracted to people like ourselves.” Birds of a feather, right? BUT, the magic happens when 1s act as the gravitational center as the CEO or main founder, pulling in both 0s and 2s, and enabling an effective, A-team.

The Challenge

As a VC, Andre’s focus is on identifying 1s who can attract and create a balanced startup team. The challenge with 1s is that they don’t have linear, or “obvious” career backgrounds. They are hidden gems, but critical to building an enduring company. 

The Fit Factor

Context is important, and your role isn’t static; it’s situational. You might be a Builder (1) here, and an Inventor (0) or Operator (2) there. The important question is, “Are you the right Builder for this specific context?”

Andre advises to look at the diversity of the profiles on the team: Does the team consist of Inventors, Operators and everyone in between? For instance: Sheryl Sandberg is a 2 at Facebook and a 1 at LeanIn.

AI and the Future

Historically, it takes a diverse army to build a company that is truly enduring. However, given the remarkable strides in AI, it is possible the next Google could be built by a team of 20, and not thousands. Time will tell, and if that is proven to be the case we believe that the DNA mix of 0s, 1s, and 2s will remain essential.

Conclusion

So, are you an Inventor (0), Builder (1), or Operator (2)? Identifying your startup team’s DNA mix, and what your team is lacking, can affect your team’s trajectory. Andre, and I, hope that having the right DNA early on will lead to a world that changes faster and for the better.

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