Article 6: 3 Essential Roles in a Startup: Operators, Experts, and Connectors

Series: "Inside the Trenches of a Real Startup - The CPO’s Journey from 0 to 1"

The first few years of a startup often feel like organized chaos. Whiteboards fill up faster than they’re erased. Slack channels multiply like rabbits. One week you’re rethinking the product vision, the next you’re scrambling to close a customer deal, and somewhere in between you realize you forgot to send payroll.

Amid that whirlwind, success doesn’t come from having the “perfect idea” or even the smartest founder in the room. It comes from how quickly a team can balance three very different kinds of energy: the drive to execute, the ability to understand, and the skill to connect.

I’ve seen early-stage companies collapse because they had multiple visionaries but no doers. I’ve seen others stall out because they could efficiently ship product yet never crack the market.

The teams that win?

From my experience, the key is in balance: understanding that startups aren’t powered by one kind of genius. They’re fueled by a blend of Operators, Experts, and Connectors—three archetypes that, together, form the foundation of any resilient company.

This isn’t just a clever framework. It’s a survival strategy.

Let’s break down each archetype, explore their strengths and blind spots, and see how they come together to form the backbone of any high-performing startup…

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