If you look at most of the successful startups (and internal innovation programs) throughout history, you’ll note a trend – there are usually two or more partner founders (or intrapreneurs) right there at the beginning (although eBay is a notable difference). Additionally, these partners need to have specific traits, typically, one is the more extroverted sales type, and the other is the more introverted engineering type, even though there are those who have both of those skill sets. I’d venture to say that you can build the archetypes out even further than that – and Star Trek (the original series, of course) gives us near-perfect role models. Of those, the only two you need at a minimum at the outset are Kirk and Scotty. The qualities of Kirk (or Kirk-type) that you need are his willingness to take risks, make big decisions, and be the voice of the company (just as he is the voice of the Enterprise). Then as Kirk makes deals, confronts the alien menaces, or confuses the evil computer with illogic, it’s up to Scotty-type to execute those deals. When a Kirk-type has a need based on talking to the customer, he asks a Scotty-type to execute whatever needs to happen to keep that customer happy. The Scotty-type doesn’t want or need to be the one talking to the customer; he or she is most happy delivering Warp 5 or reading technical manuals, while the Kirk-types do all the schmoozing. While many startup founders fall neatly into these roles, some don’t understand that the relationship between these two is truly symbiotic. Without a Kirk-type, the Enterprise would not know where to go; without a Scotty-type, the ship wouldn’t go anywhere, no matter what customers say or what orders are barked. In every startup, you need a good working relationship between Kirk-types and Scotty-types, each understanding that the other is necessary for the startup to be successful or the ship to get anywhere.
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