People Over Product

Techstars CEO Maëlle Gavet discusses an early management mistake: focusing exclusively on her senior team, and then facing a rebellion from her junior staff. That incident impressed on her the importance of valuing the contributions of team members from the most junior to the most senior. More generally, she observes, technical founders often focus on product more than people. She advises founders to flip those priorities, focusing on building an organization that can recruit and mentor the great people who make great products possible.