Do you have what it takes to be a founder? What do successful startup founders have in common when it comes to creating a thriving business enterprise? In this edition of Entrepreneur 101s, I want to take a closer look at the specific personality traits shared by passionate entrepreneurs who have successfully incubated and grown their business ideas. Now, I could list a bunch of keywords and adjectives describing personality traits of successful entrepreneurs. These would include things like adaptability, persistence, vision, and a can-do attitude. Instead of explaining basic entrepreneurial qualities, I thought it would be fun to highlight a company that flips the script on the startup by first developing business ideas, and then recruiting founders to lead said businesses.

Focusing on Founder Fit – Launch Factory

I had the pleasure of chatting with Brad Chisum, CEO and Co-Founder of Launch Factory, venture capital, and private equity firm reverse-engineering the startup. Think about this – a report from London-based venture capital firm Concentric found that 62 percent of startups fail due to conflict amongst the founding team. Chisum believes that by mitigating startup risk factors, the Launch Factory model offers a solution to startup failure.

Risk vs. Reward

Launch Factory helps its startups by strategically removing barriers to market such as business ideation, market need, and lack of startup capital. The company is built on recruiting founders that will not only shape company culture but help develop a sustainable mission and vision for future growth. Playing to his engineering strengths, Chisum formed Launch Factory as a “startup studio” where developed business concepts are connected to passionate and talented entrepreneurs. The founder recruitment process is intense. Each potential founder must go through a series of interviews as well as customized behavior and personality tests. “It’s not so much about the resume,” said Chisum. “Placing founders in the right environment with the right personalities is so important in achieving mutual success.”

Think Founder First

The conversation shifted to the qualities and capabilities that Launch Factory looks for in its founders. “Don’t tell us about what you have done, tell us what you are going to do and show us how you would do it,” explained Chisum. “Don’t pretend that the first version of the idea is the best. Experienced founders make evidence-based decisions and are willing to pivot.” An entrepreneur usually develops and incubates his or her own business idea. When asked how he expects potential founders to bring passion and commitment to a business idea that is not their own, Chisum put it like this, “passion will come the more time a founder spends with an idea. If they can play with it and nurture it, they will change it and put their fingerprints on it.” He describes how this same philosophy can be explained by thinking about how a house is built. “Launch Factory lays the foundation and provides the necessary materials for the job. Once the house is built, we leave it up to our founders to paint the walls.”

Get Paid for Referrals – Scout Program

Know any fabulous founders ready to take on their next challenge? The Launch Factory Scout Program is offering incentives for referring qualified candidates, including 50k shares of stock in a company! More information and details can be found here.

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