Rockstar Team

Just got back after attending U2 Joshua tree tour concert, it was amazing! Noel Gallagher from Oasis opened the concert, half part of his show was garbage, the last part were old songs from Oasis, still the guy is a diva – pretentious, swearing a lot and pretending to be cool while it’s clear his time was over like long ago

After that part of the show staff removed almost everything, left two set of drums/percussion, a keyboard and that was all – it all looked pretty empty and I was wondering if was going to take a lot of time to setup more equipment

But, after half and hour and some intro the drums started, it was like a war calling, one by one the rest of the band entered scene and the music was filling all spaces! It was just incredible to see just 4 guys sounding like an orchestra: drums like never stopped, bass like filling every space, guitar with that peculiar style as main melody and voice full of energy, it was really electrifying!

So that made me think abut teams and star-ups

U2 is clearly the best rock band of the moment, even while they formed in 1976, the band structure/members is almost the same: 40+ years of rocking the planet! On the other hand Oasis/Gallaghers with their internal fights and diva style just lasted couple years

Similarly there are many startups that follow a similar diva style, just burning money and lasting only couple years – like Uber, WeWork, among others. That sucks, as there are so many other startups trying to get some funding but in some cases only charismatic personages like the CEOs of Uber or WeWork get big part of the money, just to burn it with expensive offices, drug parties etc. – very Oasis style

Either way, if U2 were a startup it would be an amazing one, why? because the team is rockstar!

• Bono – lead vocalist, amazing communicator and leader. He would be the CEO
• The Edge – guitar/vocals = that unique style of guitar, U2 signature. He would be like the special sauce Co-Founder or key role in whatever the startup is different and particularly good at
• Adam Clayton – bass = he plays way more than just second rhythm, is almost like a driving rhythm filling up all spaces. He would be like a mentor or board member adding a set of skills that are key for the team
• Larry Muller – percussion, almost like a military style, leading the music, sometimes it feels like is going to explode. He would be the CTO, leading and keeping things moving

So if one tries either to form or to evaluate a team to see if they are a rockstar team it must be quite similar to that formation. In some cases a role like Bono and The Edge may be combined in early stages, but it is not possible to cover all roles with just 1 or 2 persons. That would be the same as to pretend to be able to play battery, bass, guitar and vocals with only 2 persons

Most importantly, it is essential to have these skills on board

• CEO – Leadership with great communication skills and comfortable, almost thriving, out of comfort zones
• CoFounder – Special sauce – something that makes whatever product or solution unique
• Advisor/mentorship from early times. Not just someone to step in part-time, but someone filling up all the spaces and blind spots, working side y side with the CoFounder and team since the beginning
• CTO – Drive and leadership to execute and to perform like a rockstar team