Quora Answer: What is the Biggest Threat to a Startup Other Than Insufficient Funding?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “What is the biggest threat to a startup other than not getting enough funding? 

The biggest threat to the success of a startup is the people.  Most startups fail even before they start to ask for funding because the team falls apart.  Many more fail after they have one round of successful funding because large amounts of money change people, and often, not for the better 

Building a startup begins with the gem of an idea.  The next step is putting the team together, and forging a common vision.  Part of that includes articulating the values of the team, and how they see the company.  It is common values and shared vision which contributes most to success.  After that comes the hard work of putting together a pitch and meeting dozens, even hundreds of people, in the search for funding.  Even then, at regular intervals, the team must get together, and examine themselves, and their adherence to their core values.