106: Building Your Hardware Product Team Early

Product Startup · 15 Dec 2021 · 38m

What this episode covers

EA Csolkovits, founder of GIVERS University and a veteran who has brought 75 products to market in the health and wellness space, explains the critical importance of building a high-quality team early in a hardware startup. He outlines a framework for selecting team members based on 'giver' versus 'taker' behaviors, emphasizing the need for a mentor who has actual experience rather than just book knowledge. Csolkovits details a seven-step acronym, DISCERN, for forming and managing an inner circle of 2-12 people, arguing that the right team is the single most important factor in avoiding catastrophic failures and achieving scale.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
GIVERS University, Mako Design + Invent, Federal Express, McDonald's
Also
Henry Ford, J. Paul Getty

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