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The 15 Roles Absolutely Necessary in a Startup, No Matter How Small it is

micahelliott.blogspot.com

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Re: The 15 Roles Absolutely Necessary in a Startup, No Matter How Small it is

#21

Post by alabut »

Summary - the blogger envisions the bare minimum of roles needed in a startup and lists them all as different hats.

The Hat List

* Visionary/Architect

* Lead Developer(s). AKA Hackers.

* Sysadmin

* Toolsmith

* Webmaster

* DBA

* Graphic Artist

* CSS Designer

* Content Creator

* Customer Support

* Tester

* Marketer

* Manager

* Lawyer

* Chef

The roles don't necessarily equally different people - the smaller your startup, the hats combine into larger multitasking sombreros.

The Sombrero List

* Developer

* Sysadmin

* Artist

* Marketer

Overall, I found this to be a useful exercise. Although I'd disagree with which hats are the bare minimum and how they'd combine into larger sombreros, it got me thinking about what my personal list would look like and it wouldn't be too different (remove Marketer & Sysadmin, add another Developer, rename Artist as Designer), so in that sense it was still pretty useful as a thought experiment.

Re: The 15 Roles Absolutely Necessary in a Startup, No Matter How Small it is

#23

Post by strlen »

This particular piece of advice is something I want to highlight:

Learn about system administration. I don't have much data to back this, but I've found that many of the famously successful hackers have at one time in their careers been sysadmins. E.g., ESR, Robert Morris, Tim O'Reilly, and many more. Try browsing resumes of your hacker heroes and see if any of them don't have this qualification. Such work gives you an important practical perspectives on usage patterns, systems topologies, hardware limitations, lifecycles, automation, tool availability, user-friendliness, user-stupidity, etc.

This is very important piece of advice-- any great developer should be a minimally competent sysadmin (and any great sysadmin should be a minimally competent developer).

Re: The 15 Roles Absolutely Necessary in a Startup, No Matter How Small it is

#24

Post by wvenable »

It's a great list as long as your startup doesn't intend to ever make any money! No accountant, no business people, nothing of the sort? Speaking from experience, the business management side is very important if you want your venture to be successful (or take advantage of success when it comes).

Re: The 15 Roles Absolutely Necessary in a Startup, No Matter How Small it is

#25

Post by swombat »

alabut wrote: post #21

Summary - the blogger envisions the bare minimum of roles needed in a startup and lists them all as different hats. The Hat List * Visionary/Architect * Lead Developer(s). AKA Hackers. * Sysadmin * Toolsmith * Webmaster * DBA * Graphic Artist * CSS Designer * Content Creator * Customer Support * Tester * Marketer * Manager * Lawyer * Chef The roles don't necessarily equally different people - the smaller your startup…

Personally, I'd hate to be referred to as "the blogger". "The author" seems a bit less dismissive.

Re: The 15 Roles Absolutely Necessary in a Startup, No Matter How Small it is

#26

Post by swombat »

scorxn wrote: post #8
brandnewlow wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realize you're working for a lifestyle business; his.

Thanks for that term, hadn't heard it before. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_business That's exactly what it is, and I want out.

Then leave. From the sound of it, you've already proven that you can wear all the necessary hats anyway, so you should feel pretty confident about it.

Re: The 15 Roles Absolutely Necessary in a Startup, No Matter How Small it is

#27

Post by blhack »

hhm wrote: post #13

"Uses web framework, creates functionality; knows Python/Ruby, Javascript, AJAX, Flash(?), HTML, databases." This is a very weak description of what a hacker is by the way.

I also just want to chime in and say that I absolutely HATE websites that feel like they're been over-designed.

perfect = hackernews

horrible = digg.com

I feel like the "uses webframework python $buzzword, javascript $buzzword $buzzword $buzzword" speaks to this. SOOO many websites have got too many distracting buttons and things to click on, and no actual content. Look at something like craigslist...its perfect. It's clean, and it gives you only the information that you want.

Look at hackernews...same thing, nothing but content...yes there is some of that web2.0 (i hate that term) sauce on it, but it is a compliment to the content, not the main attraction of the site.

Re: The 15 Roles Absolutely Necessary in a Startup, No Matter How Small it is

#28

Post by jfornear »

blhack wrote: post #27
hhm wrote: post #13

"Uses web framework, creates functionality; knows Python/Ruby, Javascript, AJAX, Flash(?), HTML, databases." This is a very weak description of what a hacker is by the way.

I also just want to chime in and say that I absolutely HATE websites that feel like they're been over-designed. perfect = hackernews horrible = digg.com I feel like the "uses webframework python $buzzword, javascript $buzzword $buzzword $buzzword" speaks to this. SOOO many websites have got too many distracting buttons and things to click on, and no actual content . Look at something like craigslist...its perfect. It…

My personal taste is similar to yours, but I've learned the hard way that your visual design should be shaped specifically for the market you are targeting.

Re: The 15 Roles Absolutely Necessary in a Startup, No Matter How Small it is

#29

Post by alabut »

swombat wrote: post #25
alabut wrote: post #21

Summary - the blogger envisions the bare minimum of roles needed in a startup and lists them all as different hats. The Hat List * Visionary/Architect * Lead Developer(s). AKA Hackers. * Sysadmin * Toolsmith * Webmaster * DBA * Graphic Artist * CSS Designer * Content Creator * Customer Support * Tester * Marketer * Manager * Lawyer * Chef The roles don't necessarily equally different people - the smaller your startup…

Personally, I'd hate to be referred to as "the blogger". "The author" seems a bit less dismissive.

It's all in the viewpoint - I don't see "blogger" as dismissive at all and see "author" a bit pompous for the level of writing.

Re: The 15 Roles Absolutely Necessary in a Startup, No Matter How Small it is

#30

Post by jpwagner »

run4yourlives wrote: post #15
jpwagner wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree in a general sense. He introduces the list as "...that I see as important to making a new site come together." Not "startup", "site." I could be wrong, but Twitter doesn't need to focus on lead-gen...

Twitter also lacks an income, but I digress. One could argue that viral marketing is business development. The main difference is that in the former, your customers are doing the work for you, while in the latter, you've got a defined role. I'd be careful to suggest though that this role isn't being done at all.

My only point is that he does not have a broader view in which bizdev is a super important role in and of itself.

I think the author is suggesting that the "Marketer" fulfills this specifically in the vertical he's approaching.

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