Who's More Successful: The Solo Visionary or the Consensus Builder?

The popular concept of the entrepreneur is that of a lone wolf, a solitary visionary who single-handedly conceives and delivers revolution. Too bad that has little to do with the truth.

The more accurate picture of a startup founder is a team-leading, consensus-building groupthinker, whose primary talent is harnessing other people's talents to make a whole greater than its parts.

That's the conclusion entrepreneurship scholar Martin Ruef offers in "The Entrepreneurial Group: Social Identities, Relations, and Collective Action." As a sociology professor, Ruef might be expected to find that teams, rather than individuals, provide the prime motivating force for the typical entrepreneurial startup. However, other skilled observers looking at the topic have reached similar conclusions.

Back in 2001, consulting firm Accenture proclaimed that one of its studies found the "popular image of the heroic and solitary entrepreneur is a myth." Again, Accenture may be presumed to have an interest in promoting the preeminence of managing groups, as opposed to spurring individual entrepreneurship, inasmuch as that is the kind of advice it sells.

But more pragmatic and agnostic groups, such as venture capitalists, also prefer startups to have, not just charismatic individual leaders, but diverse and deep teams on board. A recent analysis by CB Insights found that venture capital money went to more than twice as many startups with two or more founders as those started by solo entrepreneurs. Although CB Insights framed its report as encouraging to individual entrepreneurs, it's hard to ignore the fact that the largest funding amounts went to companies with at least four founders.

Why do teams do better than single entrepreneurs? There are two main reasons. First, a group of founders is better able to bring a group of talents. Even the most well-rounded solo entrepreneur has a hard time stacking up against a team of specialists in operations, marketing, technology and finance.

Second, a group of entrepreneurs is likely to be able to bring more capital to the startup. While capital is far from being the defining factor in the success of a new business, it is an important one.

The message for small business owners is clear: If you are planning to go it alone, consider a new plan. Businesses founded by packs of skillful people do better than businesses with lone wolves. If you're howling by yourself, you may be singing a sad song.

Image courtesy Flickr user Milestoned, CC2.0