When I started CCAW, there was no team. It was just me. The solo years were rough. It was during the housing crisis, so I did what I had to do to keep things going. Having lived the experience of being a bootstrapping solo founder, I don’t recommend it. Venture capitalists and early-stage investors prefer to invest in founding teams—for good reason. I learned why the hard way.

It’s understood and accepted that start-ups won’t be great at everything. They don’t have the resources or experience yet. But if a start-up is terrible at something critical, it can be the kiss of death. You could be great at making a product or offering a service that solves a pressing need. But if you’re no good at making people aware it exists, you won’t be around long.

In my opinion, the key to early success is a complementary team that makes your company good enough at critical things to survive. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. There are areas where we come up short, and that’s OK. A complementary team—one with diverse talents—balances and mitigates individual weaknesses. Your company is less likely to fail if it doesn’t lack essential expertise.

At CCAW, I spent a lot of time trying to get up to speed in areas where I was weak. I became decent in some of them, but it took a ridiculous amount of time and the end product usually wasn’t spectacular. The result was high stress and slower progress than I envisioned. When I added high-level thinkers a few years later who complemented me, our growth accelerated and we eventually achieved eight-figure revenue and were profitable.

When I speak with solo founders, I always share my experience so they don’t have to learn the hard way like I did. Teamwork is dream work!

How has embracing teams helped you succeed?