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Or do you have an amazing idea for a YouTube / Facebook hybrid and want to give me 5% equity in exchange for working on it for free for the next 6 months?
If I had a penny for every time I'd heard that amazing offer...
Serial single founder here. Start building and start selling. If you can’t deliver a product to a paying customer solo then you’re not cut out to be a sole founder.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Being a founder means solving all these problems everyday as a background task (usually by hiring a lawyer, payroll firm, accountant, etc). A mentor can help you with the basics and the timing for hiring professionals.
I'll try to automate all of this as much as possible. The sad thing is I just want a side project but all this seems mandatory like I'm building a full-blown startup, puts me off.
Serial single founder here. Start building and start selling. If you can’t deliver a product to a paying customer solo then you’re not cut out to be a sole founder.
If you can’t deliver a product to a paying customer solo then you’re not cut out to be a sole founder. I really dislike the tone and content of this advice. I am a solo founder. My first venture (as part of a team) failed - even though we had a product, we had no paying customers and there were other issues. It would have been terrible had someone given advice like this right after that happened - "you're not cut out…
Edit: typo
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The advice makes sense, but isnt it a bit of chicken-and-egg? How do you sell something you haven't built? (or is it really .. build a little, or enough to illustrate; then 'sell' to validate and seek market fit; and then finally truly build?)
for me, at least, it feels like "selling first" means getting product feedback first. so, setup a landing page with a "send us our email so we can tell you when our tool is read!" form and see if it attracts people.
There's not really a lot to go on here. Are you from a sales background? Management? Development? Or do you have an amazing idea for a YouTube / Facebook hybrid and want to give me 5% equity in exchange for working on it for free for the next 6 months? If I had a penny for every time I'd heard that amazing offer...
YCombinator will not take on companies with one founder because the non-direct workload is significant in most cases and few people would have the energy to keep going through all the set backs. Even if you can, you are unlikely to go fast enough to make the most of your product before the competition starts taking your customers.
Of course there are exceptions and small projects that just work but unfortunately, you have to take some serious risks to give your company the best chance of success so trying to hold on to a "day job", for example is a distraction from your new company.
Best advice is probably to find some local entrepreneurs and get their advice. Paul Graham writes about stuff but although he has a lot of experience, it doesn't necessarily mean his advice is 100% reliable or accurate - which also doesn't mean that you should ignore it!
Serial single founder here. Start building and start selling. If you can’t deliver a product to a paying customer solo then you’re not cut out to be a sole founder.
Solo founder here. Same advice with the caveat that 98% of people should never be solo founders - you must be able to code and sell - but even if you can you should still get a partner if they double your speed.
In particular in the Q&A I talk about some things I would have done differently. But one of those things was that I would not be a solo founder again - I just don’t have all the skills necessary to both do the product and the business side.
It's not magic. In the past I thought I need to be really innovative, have my own product, be rich, be a business man from top to bottom, have cofounders etc. etc. I was going straight from software freelancing to founding my own company (also switched countries to Cyprus) and created a Limited all on my own. Still working for clients and I have this legal person (Limited) now acting as a shell for me on a legal side…
Also, you should plan for bad outcomes like a founder who doesn't fit in, can't fit in, etc. and ensure you haven't signed away a load of equity, which will make you want to keep them on board! Take legal advice on a good balance between attracting good talent and not risking the company equity in the process.