Successful Startup 101: September 2014 Successful Startup 101: September 2014 | Page 36

4 St eps N eed ed
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By Paul Ruderma

By far the hardest and most exasperating part
of launching a successful startup is recruiting
an all-star team. At first, it will seem near
impossible. Part of it is simple math: There is
a limited number of truly exceptional people
out there. Of those people, only a small
percentage will have the skills, experience,
drive and character that you are looking for.
And of those people, only a fraction will fit
personality-wise with you and your early team.

To find your all-stars, so much has to go right.
Every ounce of persistence you can muster up
is essential to giving you a chance at finding
your dream team. To find the people who’ve
joined me and are now the core of UpdateZen,
I went through quite a journey (and 84
interviews). At times exhilarating and inspiring,
and at other times frustrating and energysucking, and full of more ups and downs than
you can possibly imagine.