Team - finding partners

I have written about the core team couple times, still I learn something new everyday, so here I am! My advisor Paul English used to have such emphasis on the team that I recall everyday

Your team is important because it defines the success of your company. Since a typical startup does not work 9 to 5, you are likely to see/interact with your team mates a lot, so your overall happiness about your startup depends on your trust and comfort level with your team partners.

When you start with a core team, you all have the excitement about the promise of the product/company. For a set of people to work successfully as a team, you need

(a) a common vision.
This sounds mighty, but you cannot dream and stick together when things pick up speed and offer several options to go in all directions (good or bad) unless you all share the same dream. So you need to have the same vision about your product/service and the joy of solving a customer problem. You may even want to think of a similar timeline and exit.

(b) respect for the team
The whole team should have respect for each other in what the other person brings. This helps the team in the early forming stages to settle down productively with areas of responsibilities, but it may not always be possible to find people with complimentary skills and who know and understand what the next person brings. More important is the appreciation for the team that together you can achieve more than each person alone.