Some situations (when created intentionally) could allow a group of people to come up with ideas and execute them. However, what is required for this situation to be created? And, is it not more efficient for people with ideas to get out the building and recruit team members?

Note: let's answers this from a NZ context only (as this is a discussion to evaluate what could be done in NZ).

Might help to get some definition in place. By startup are we talking about tech startup ? If so are we taking about high growth tech startups i.e. that will need VC funding at some point ? If we limit the discussion to that category then I'd be keen to explore the second question (how).

Certainly it is possible to create a startup based on a team rather than an idea. My first startup was built on that model. We spent about 3 months full time before we decided on the idea to pursue. Then we went and tested the market which took several weeks. That sent us back to the drawing board but the next idea was a winner. It took about 9 months from starting the exercise to starting a company with one customer.

I've been thinking about how people could meet to form the team before the idea. There is no easy solution it seems. Those in startup type networks tend to already be focused on an idea. Most people assume they need the idea first so are looking for the idea before they start worrying about the team. Would be great to have thoughts on where to find the team. In the example I gave above we were friends and a sequence of coincidences gave us some common time to work on building a company. That is obviously not easily reproduced :(

You've identified one way that a team can form pre-idea, and that is through friends. I think this is a common way of team coalescing and startups beginning.

Regarding your previous questions, lets assume that this discussion is for high-growth tech startups.

Is it correct to assume that all a high-growth tech startup needs is an idea + a team before you can begin executing?

The question is which comes first? And what circumstances need to exist (or be created) for this to occur.

The approach I'd suggest for executing in this context is 1) find the team 2) find a large amount of ideas 3) filter those ideas using a formalized opportunity analysis process 4) try validating the market opportunity using a process like lean startup 5) iterate back to 2) if the market validation fails.

This is obviously not the only approach. Finding an idea then building a team is another approach that has worked for many people.

Someone who wants to follow the approach of team first then idea needs to find the team. This becomes the central question. FounderDating.com seems like a good approach. Being in a place with a strong startup culture is obviously going to help too.

Sounds great. So if not with a group of friends, how do you get a cohesive team together in such a way to come up with ideas that gel with the group. That's perhaps the question that most applies to our situation in NZ..."how do we get co-founders to meet and work on ideas?"...

The ideas will probably gel in the group if there is an initial coherence in the group in terms of ambitions and definitions of success (this becomes part of the opportunity analysis criteria). I'd keep the team small - two or three feels like a good number. Much easier to move quickly at the beginning with a small team.

It may be easiest to connect people who have already done a startup, they may be more favorable to the "team before idea".

People who have lost passion in their current project could be another group open to founding a new venture.

Maybe a paid service - so someone can afford to spend the time to build a database of people interested in the approach. Pay $50 to join and that pays for finding more people to join..

Size of the team definitely sounds right for me (especially if these are people willing to jump in full time). I agree that people who have been in a startup before are more likely to favour "team before idea" - they are more likely to recognise the value of team over an idea.

How do we match a group together based on ambitions/definitions of success? What's the matching process/criteria we could use to make this possible?
(I think this is the real question of this thread)

A group of people with talent that enjoy being around each other doesn't necessarily translate into a good team. Before getting too far into things, useful experiment to try is to see if the team can complete a small DIY Arduino or web project together. Pick something that takes a few weeks. This will give everyone a feel for what it's really like to work together. It'll also build confidence that, yes, you can work together.

What happens after you've got a team depends on (1) how much cash your team has to burn while finding an idea that floats and (2) how rapidly you're able to find a customer with a problem your team can solve and who will buy your teams help/product.

Google #JTBD (Christensen), Breakthrough Thinking (Nadler) or Lean Startup (Ries) for three methods your team can use to find a worthwhile idea to work on.