>> The stigma is not around "superstars", but the quest for them and solely them in our industry. We as an industry are hyper-focused on this one type of person and missing out on all other kinds of people than can bring a variety of things to the table (aka diversity). The stigma is not that superstars are anti-social, it's that non super stars have nothing worthwhile to contribute. Which is just a recipe for the classic SV echo chamber.
Diversity might be good for an established company but for a startup, it's not important at all. I encourage everyone to look for the right person and not waste their time on others. It's their startup, they are the person taking all risk. It's up to them to figure out what kind of person is best fit to solve their problem. After all, they've thought about both problems and solution and long enough to consider taking this risk. It's all or nothing game, no person who succeeded elsewhere can be deemed qualified to change their perception.
> Diversity might be good for an established company but for a startup, it's not important at all
You're right, it's not important - it's critical. Diversity means stretching boundaries, broader perspectives, and greater quality; not to mention playing a huge part in shaping the company's culture and values.
There are a lot more amateur & semi-pro basketball players in the world than in the NBA. Make sure you're playing a game that requires all star gameplay (like space jam!) before setting the bar that high. Most games just need players who are reasonably good. And likewise, beware what happens when a team is packed with nothing but allstars - they all play their own way but not together (and typically lose)
Diversity in technical backgrounds is an important value-add. There's something truly special about a team of people with backgrounds in embedded, web, traditional desktop, devops, and so on working on the same project; even if they're not currently applying their specialty directly on the work they do.
The knowledge acquired through their backgrounds will have taught them different approaches to problems, often allowing them to pick a better solution to a problem in (as an example) the development of a web application than an equally experienced web-only team would've come up with.
Diversity of skill absolutely DOES NOT MATTER in a startup. You really want to get your money's worth on a team that will not stumble and leave a project in limbo due to technical issues (which can easily kill any small company); and for that you always want to get the best possible talent.
Diversity might be good for an established company but for a startup, it's not important at all. I encourage everyone to look for the right person and not waste their time on others. It's their startup, they are the person taking all risk. It's up to them to figure out what kind of person is best fit to solve their problem. After all, they've thought about both problems and solution and long enough to consider taking this risk. It's all or nothing game, no person who succeeded elsewhere can be deemed qualified to change their perception.
If you need a superstar, chase him with passion.