Recently I was talking with an entrepreneur that has an amazing team. He said that they paid well, but not the best. He said they had good benefits, but not great. So, naturally, I asked the next question: how was he able to recruit such a team? The answer, to him, is that people want to be on a winning team. Whether the company is winning or the local sports team is winning, people want to be a part of it.
Success attracts more success. As an entrepreneur, one of the initial challenges is to push hard enough to get to that first level of success. The milestone might come by way of a paying customer, or a team member that joins without pay — something that’s concrete and meaningful. Then, after more hard work, the next milestone is achieved. And the next. And the next. Suddenly, the Big Mo has arrived and things get easier. Winners keep winning.
Never underestimate the power of a winning team.
What else? What are some more thoughts on the power of a winning team?
David Cummings on Startups 
This is an important lesson that I think some entrepreneurs and business owners don’t always get. You can’t just recruit me with money and nothing else. For starters, I can always find somewhere else to work that pays better, has better benefits, easier hours, less stress, etc.
Superstar, or at least top tier, engineering talent frequently doesn’t even have money as their top concern. Keep their needs met and their spouses happy and that’s enough salary. Most of the real superstar programmers and engineers I’ve met do it for the love of the challenge, the freedom, and love working for startups or small biz because there’s no PHB. Offer a lack of silly bureaucracy, freedom to be create to solve your problems and develop innovate solutions, remove unpleasant roadblocks to enjoying your job, and THAT’s what recruits top talent. Not money, but solving interesting and challenging problems in a pleasant work environment.
+ infinity. No need for a comment like this to be anon. What you have expressed here is what I have seen in most if not all top tier technical talent. Heck talent in general. Except for sales. Those people want money.
a very hard fact in the real business out there, indeed. Ideally, a very starting company business have only high motivation to begin with, which I think it’s okay. However, only a few selected people who really want to be involved to see the potential yet unproven for this kind of company. However, when that business or company started to score a success and growing steadily of that success even when they have managed to reach a skyrocketing high success all of sudden because just scored a big jackpot projects, it’s only natural that more talented people will start to offer or even willingly be part of that winning team.