The basic model for a successful early stage company is Hacker + Hustler + Designer.
“The basic model for a successful early stage company is Hacker + Hustler + Designer. But… my definition of each might be different than others. So…
Hacker equals someone who wants (needs?) to build things and solve problems and come up with cool and efficient solutions to problems. A Hacker is not the same as an Engineer. A lot of Hackers are Engineers - but not all Engineers are Hackers.
Huster equals someone who needs to get out there and Win. They need to do the soft-shoe and flash the jazz hands and walk away with the customers’ money. A Hustler is not the same as a Salesman. Most Hustlers are great at Business Development - but not all BD people (and a minority of Salesmen) are Hustlers.
Designer equals someone who has a vision in their head that they need (want?) to communicate to people. This vision is a vision for how a product is going to work, be experienced, change people’s lives. A Designer is not the same as someone who does design for a living. In fact, few Designers have any training or experience in graphic design or the like - and few designers are likely to be good Designers.
This mix is incredibly powerful. I’m unlikely to ever do another start up which isn’t set up like this.”
— Chris Tacy, from “What I learned from OneTrueFan”
(Source: christacy.blogspot.com)
