Staffing an entrepreneurial team: diversity breeds success

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to answer the following question: how should start‐ups be staffed and how should they manage issues of team diversity?

Design/methodology/approach

The paper approaches diverse entrepreneurial teams in terms of three meaningful types, each with different assumptions, thus suggesting that their effects are complex.

Findings

The article concludes that entrepreneurs need to consider three key dimensions of diversity and form teams that are: moderate in diversity of opinions; high in diversity of expertise; and low in diversity of power.

Originality/value

The paper offers a set of practical recommendations to entrepreneurs, outlining how they can compose their teams and manage different dimensions of diversity; and to venture capitalists, suggesting how to assess team diversity as a critical factor in entrepreneurial teams.

Citation

Kakarika, M. (2013), "Staffing an entrepreneurial team: diversity breeds success", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 31-38. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-06-2012-0020