Who should be on your startup team when you’re still building?
Early-stage startups don’t need perfect hires but people who’ll build through the chaos.
“We had one engineer, one designer, and me. None of us were full-time. Two weeks before launch, our ‘CTO’ ghosted.”
That’s how one Lagos-based founder described the moment he realized titles don’t mean much when the pressure kicks in.
In the early days, most founders don’t have the luxury of excess. There’s no stable revenue, no investor cushion, no prestige hires. What holds things together is momentum — which comes from a small group of people willing to show up, even when there’s little to show for it.
According to CB Insights, 65% of startup failures come down to team issues. Not funding. Not timing. But the wrong people, or the right people at the wrong time.
So, we spoke to a few founders about the people who helped them survive the chaos. This isn’t a definitive checklist. It’s a reflection of patterns we saw across multiple founder stories.
Here’s who often ends up carrying the weight when you're still building the thing.
Kelechi Edeh
/1. The builder
Whether you write code or not, someone needs to turn ideas into reality. That doesn’t always mean a co-founder with a senior engineer resume. It could be a developer you’ve collaborated with before, or someone who thrives on messy prototypes and figuring things out in motion.
The key here is execution. Someone who can build with speed, adapt fast, and stay grounded when priorities shift. AI tools can now speed up this process, auto-generating screens, flows, and backend scaffolds, but you still need someone to decide what matters and make it real.
/2. The communicator
If your idea can’t be explained, it can’t be sold. Or funded. Or built. Early teams need someone who can shape the story, through UX, content, or product thinking. It’s less about design polish and more about clarity: can they help make your product usable and understandable from day one?
This person might be a designer, a brand strategist, or someone with sharp instincts about what users get and what they don’t. They make things make sense for users, investors, and the team.
/3. The initiator
You won’t always know what to do next. This person helps you move anyway. They might wear multiple hats: marketing, operations, customer support. What matters is their energy.
They push things forward when others are second-guessing. They follow up, chase down testers, and suggest better processes. Best of all, they don’t need permission to start, and that attitude sets the tone for your whole culture.
/4. The long-haul person
Not everyone deserves the co-founder title. But if you’re giving it, make sure they’re someone who’ll carry the weight. They don’t flake. They don’t only show up for demo days. They’re around when things are ugly and confusing.
One founder told us about building a payments tool with a friend who loved the vision but disappeared when bugs stacked up. "He had 10% equity and zero commits in the last three sprints," she said. Enthusiasm is not contribution.
Real partners are rare. But when you find one, you don’t wonder if they’re in.
Kelechi Edeh
Conclusion
As an early-stage founder, you might look at this list and think, “Where do I even find these people when I can’t afford to pay anyone yet?” But from the founders we spoke to, one thing stood out: their first teammates weren’t always hires. They were friends. Siblings. Strangers in Telegram groups or niche forums.
The key is to talk about what you’re building. Share it. You never know who’s listening or who might want in. Just don’t confuse enthusiasm for commitment. Ship something small together to see how they handle pressure, ambiguity, and feedback. Then, talk through the hard stuff early—equity, decisions, disagreements.
Some founders are even building solo with help from AI tools. It’s not always about the perfect team but finding people who move with you when things are still unclear.
