I wish there was a simple answer that could tell us the exact characteristics of a Tech entrepreneur for success. However, research shows that some traits are consistent among successful entrepreneurs. The success factors of entrepreneurship need to be cross-correlated with the reasons for the failure of a startup.
Key Traits of a Tech Entrepreneur
Tech entrepreneurs are different from a standard non-tech business. Technology by its nature adds scalable opportunities where the pace of growth and change can be fast. Hence, to survive in this space, the speed of change must be complimentary with what the market demands from us. You will see that this article will be different from the standard entrepreneurial characteristics that will talk about factors such as resilience, being visionary, team building etc.
Some of the characteristics of the success of a tech entrepreneur are:
- Knowledge of the market, customers and technology
- Funding for development and growth
- Team and startup founding members
Knowledge of the market, customers and technology
It all starts and falls with the market. In any entrepreneurial business, it is the market that defines the success or failure of a business. Having an intimate knowledge of this market is quintessential for a tech entrepreneur. It is easy to lose ourselves in the advancement of technology. But, we must always remember that technology is an enabler to serve the market needs. If we keep our eyes out on the market, and customers and continuously strive to address them, we have a better chance at success.
Funding, Recruiting and Development Costs for Tech Entrepreneur
I’d argue that this is one of the main reasons for a startup failure. Most entrepreneurs struggle for funds and unfortunately due to the speed at which they get access or the lack of it, some ideas never germinate. You may have the best ideas, but it can only be grown with the support of funding. While we were on our tech startup journey, the advice we consistently received was to prepare for funding 6 months in advance. To be honest, even that wasn’t enough. if you don’t have a runway for at least 1 year, you’ll struggle to convince customers, founding teams and even investors to back your business.
Team and startup founding members
This is the last one since I’ve promised myself to restrict the key traits of tech entrepreneurs to three. But the team is everything. You need good partners to bounce off great ideas from. By nature, partnerships are hard. Trust me, I’ve failed at a few of those and have been left with a lot of lessons. Apart from complimentary skills, similar values etc, the founders need to have a similar mindset about the timelines of a business. Too many partnerships fail even with the best people because their goals are different. Try to ensure that you have sufficient support structures in place along with transparent discussions that can help the sustenance of a business. (Related: Team building challenges)
Entrepreneurship is hard work – it is difficult to succeed without a great team. In tech entrepreneurship, in particular, the expenditures are high and the job market is volatile. You’ll easily lose the best employees to competition unless you have a better way of engaging them. Think about stock and share options that can help you keep them for a longer term.
That’s it for a quick burst of key traits for tech entrepreneurs – I’m sure more traits help us succeed. Please leave your thoughts below and let’s discuss.
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