It's helped them delineate responsibilities, write the software code for an online offering that offers something new to people wanting to rent or buy a house, and launch it in a mere month. It's helped them expand to 220 employees, including 24 other IIT engineers, and secure $3 million (about Rs 18 crore) in funding in a year. "That's the advantage of a big team," says Advitiya Sharma, chief mar
keting officer, housing.co.in. Earlier this month, housing.co.in closed its third round of funding, with $2.5 million from venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners. "We are batchmates, friends and have known each other for at least four years," says Sharma. "The roles are well-defined and there have been no HR challenges among the founding team." "A team of 12 founders is truly an exception," says Alok Mittal, managing director of Canaan Partners, a venture capital fund. IT industry veteran Ashok Soota, who was part of the group of seven that set up MindTree, believes in large founding teams. He sees them as a force multiplier, but "equity and roles are have to be made very clear from the start". Mittal adds that it's all good when things are going well. "The problem will be if one or few of them are not performing," he says. "What call will the founders take? A team that dilutes meritocracy will not work."
