Socrates and The Entrepreneur

The most basic tenet of Socrates’ personal philosophy was to “know thyself.”  This, he believed, was the point from which all understanding begins. This concept, simple in expression but more difficult in execution, lies at the heart of “The Tribe,” an infoChachkie blog post by John Greathouse concerning the assembly of successful startup teams.

“The Tribe,” suggests that startup success is more a function of proper “Core Team” cultivation than the idea upon which the venture is based.  In fact, it likens the core organization of successful teams to that of the most basic human social organizations; hence, “The Tribe.”  The article outlines five basic roles – the definitions of which I have included below.  According to the theory, no one role is more important to the survival of the unit than any other, and without any of them, the unit is not likely to succeed.

The roles are the following:

Hunter - The Hunter defends the Tribe and literally ‘brings home the bacon’. These individuals are highly autonomous, independent and thrive on frequent recognition. When their efforts feed the Tribe, they want everyone to know that it was their efforts.

Skinner - The Skinner makes the Hunter look good. When the Hunter brings back the kill, it is the Skinner who dresses the meat, tans the hides and cures whatever is not initially eaten for the Tribe to subsist upon during the lean times of winter.

Chief - Every tribe needs a Chief, just like every adVenture needs a CEO. The Chief defines and communicates the Tribe’s strategic direction, such as a new valley to forage or a mountain retreat to escape the dog days of summer. The Chief listens to the opinions of the other tribal members, makes decisions that impact everyone and ensures an adequate level of acceptance of such decisions to facilitate their ultimate success.

Shaman - Shamans invent new tools and processes that improve the overall quality of life within the Tribe. For instance, a Shaman will spend his days thinking of a better fishhook, a new tool for cleaning skins or searching for new medicinal plants to cure the Tribe’s ailments.

Tribal Elders - The Tribal Elders spend most their time sitting by the fire dozing off. They cannot be counted on to do any ‘heavy lifting’ nor are they in a position to execute the day-to-day tasks necessary for the Tribe to thrive. However, they occasionally offer bits of sage advice that allow the Tribe to avoid hardships and reap windfalls. As such, the wise Chief knows when to solicit their counsel and when to allow sleeping Elders to lie.


Know Thyself.
How many budding entrepreneurs know themselves as well as they know the industry they’re entering?  Few entrepreneurs that I’ve worked with have spent any time investigating their own capabilities as a fundamental tenet of business plan development.  What problems result from this?

• Entrepreneurs assemble a team of people just like them, leaving the organization devoid of required skill sets and personality types
• Entrepreneurs create organizational bottlenecks by trying to perform too many roles, ultimately doing none of them well
• Entrepreneurs avoid vital tasks for which they are not well suited, fail to recruit someone who is well suited to them, and fail to complete them

The lesson to be learned?  If Greathouse is to be believed, one must apply the same due diligence to oneself as one would the business plan under development. Greathouse includes some self-reflection exercises at the bottom of the blog, which are useful for deducing which role one is best suited to play.  Use the conclusions to drive the strategy for assembling your start-up team – not just targeting education, experience or technical expertise, but also role in the new Tribe.