Friday, April 10th The conventional wisdom is to limit Team Startup to 3 or fewer officers. However, successful Teams do exist that have started with four or more founders. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of capping at the magic number (3) (Aside: most policies have both pros and cons. Even if you believe strongly in one side of an issue, you might benefit from the exercise of writing down the best arguments for both sides of the issue, to avoid the Confirmation Bias.) Reasons to stay at three Officers 1. Increased Motivation Even at four people, we start to see visible social loafing; overt reduction of effort begins to manifest itself. This "free-rider problem" can diminish productivity and increase tension. A smaller team means more equity per person, and therefore an increased rational incentive to apply full effort. 2. Better Communication A greater size increases the likelihood someone on your team is doing something you're not aware of that will conflict with the execution of your strategies. Smaller teams are easier to keep track of. 3. Faster Decisions If more people are required to particioate in something, or if more people are chiming in with input, decisions will take longer to make and it will be more difficult to alter course in the face of new strategy. Smaller teams can often move faster. 4. Reduced Conflicts In a team of size n, the number of dyads (distinct pairs) among team members is equal to n(n-1)/2. A team of three only has three pairs of people who might not get along; a team of five has ten! In contrast, here are two reasons to add more founders: 1. More active officers. While nine people can't have a baby in nine months, it is true that even a three-person team can be overwhelmed with the number of tasks necessary to make their startup successful. Additional people mean fewer tasks per person. 2. Better Division of Raiding/PVP As the number of founders goes up, the total skill-set increases, reducing the frequency in which a founder is called upon to execute tasks outside his specialties. As a related benefit, the number of Task available to the founders increases as well. "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." --Michael Jordan Remember that guys/gals. And most of all. Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success, we start small and we will overcome and break the barriers, that destroy teams! Burstmvp/wachmeburst..Mica stewart 13 time national MLG champion. Team infused, Team geek-elite gaming , co-founder of the original hey im mvp Top 0.5% Multi-Rank 1 player out of a base of 14 million players world of warcraft, call of duty, battlefield 3, rainbow six