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Why I'll be a solo founder next time

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Re: Why I'll be a solo founder next time

#111

Post by w0rd-driven »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #60

I spent a few months a few years ago looking for a good cofounder. Let me tell you, it was a waste of time. The odds of running into somebody where everything initially meshes are astronomical. And you're already facing long odds as a startup, why add to the stress with all that other stuff? Failure to co-locate alone is a show-stopper, much less issues about flipping versus growing, or financing versus bootstrapping…

From my personal experience and from all the information I have on the sidelines, I see 2 camps arising.

1) Build a perfect product. Rally everyone around this perfection. 2) Build a perfect team. That person or people you know of where if you could just work with them on what you want to do, you could accomplish anything.

I've been in camp 2 with a friend of mine for a few months now and it's extremely difficult. It's difficult because we've yet to find an idea we can agree on implementing for the long term.

Camp #1 seems really difficult too because you have to sell a small group of people on your vision. A vision living entirely in your head.

I have no clue what's worse but I think it'll be subjective anyway. I would much rather be people in search of product than product in search of people but that's how I roll.

Re: Why I'll be a solo founder next time

#112

Post by beat »

w0rd-driven wrote: post #95
beat wrote: post #63

What I'm learning as an early stage solo founder... 1. Not having co-founders is no excuse to not work. I want to turn this idea in my head into a working product. Saying you can't do it because you don't have a co-founder is an excuse, not a reason. It's not impossible, merely harder. 2. The critical problem is bandwidth. I'm day-jobbing to make ends meet, which bites even more into my time. My primary challenge now…

An extrovert is typically better at marketing and sales, namely for the social aspect. For someone like me that's an introvert and extremely shy around new people, I gain XP by tackling technical problems. That doesn't mean technical people can't be a visionary too because you'll definitely need it. Someone that can get a complete grasp of the scope to tell you when a decision will lead you into more or less technica…

I think I'm a visionary technical person. The problem I'm addressing is based on two decades of experience in enterprise configuration management - solving the forest/trees problem of seeing small technical changes in the context of bigger business changes, and/or drilling down from the big business tasks to the technical details that implement them. It's a boundary-crossing technical issue that's near and dear to my heart.

A good CTO could devise their own implementation path rather than following mine, but that's not really "vision". That's about how it works, not why it needs to exist. I can do the "how" myself, but I don't think it's a good use of my time and focus.

Re: Why I'll be a solo founder next time

#113

Post by klochner »

jakejake wrote: post #99
RyanZAG wrote: post #3

Interesting points, but a lot of it is contradictory to the advice you hear from successful startups, so I'd take this with a grain of salt. "I believe that my previous two ventures failed mainly because of the founding team (which I’m included in). How do I know? Because companies with almost identical products and value propositions succeeded afterwards. " I'm not sure if you're drawing the correct lesson there. So…

I find everything that the article says to be practical advice, but it would have a much more positive spin if the article was titled "pitfalls to avoid when building your team." Instead the author seems to have written off the chance that he will find compatible partners.

Not to mention that the author admitted he was guilty of the same faults, so it should really be "pitfalls to avoid when starting a company".

Re: Why I'll be a solo founder next time

#115

Post by mgaphysics »

You deserve kudos for your efforts so far. Every failure will breed some type of insight. The statement, "I believe that my previous two ventures failed mainly because of the founding team (which I’m included in)." - may be true, but could probably just as easily be said of solo founders. Especially after reading your list of deficiencies in the founding team members, they may be the same short-comings as the person staring at a solo founder in the mirror! It is sometimes harder (or impossible) to find that rare person who can wear all hats.

My major concern about being a solo founder would be the possible loss of productivity- how much more a team can accomplish over one person, and collaboration. Also, and this may seem horrible, but if we crash and burn, we can do it faster as a team, and pivot or move-on without the time equity that one person will have invested.

To answer the questions you posed at the end of your article, my two cents is that I have found it impossible to succeed at scale without an agile team (one mans opinion). I hate to preach process and organization, but if a team follows the resources available to start-ups, such as business model generation, etc. You can identify holes in the team, or where someone needs assistance. This leads to the second part of your question and the most important attributes to look for in a co-founder. They should already have expertise, but the two attributes that I would look for are Objectivity- nothing ruins like the inability to be flexible, and Leadership- in the sense that leaders tend to be people of action, they bring people along, and they celebrate success wildly.

Not that you cannot achieve success alone, but it is definitely a lot tougher to celebrate alone.

Re: Why I'll be a solo founder next time

#116

Post by beat »

7Figures2Commas wrote: post #20
austenallred wrote: post #7

I think most people recognize that the team is the most important aspect of a startup - from Paul Graham allowing people to apply to YCombinator without an idea, to investors my co-founder and I have talked to being much more interested in who we are, what we know, how we get along, and why we do what we do than product or traction, I think it's safe to say that the team is the most important aspect of a company. I w…

Building a solid team does not require one or more co-founders. It is entirely possible to start a company on your own, hire employees/contractors and then recruit for key leadership positions. Mark Suster's Co-Founder Mythology ( http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2011/05/09/the-co-founder... ) and comments at Startup Grind earlier this year ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAHgGUFjK3c ) are well worth reading/watc…

Thanks for that link. Totally grok what he's saying.

One thing I've realized is that, when pitching, I have to pitch me rather than pitching a team. Or more to the point, pitching that a: I have a real solution for a real problem for real customers (enterprise change management ain't the same as monetizing pictures of cats on the internet), and b: I'm capable of creating a company and building a team to bring this vision to life.

Re: Why I'll be a solo founder next time

#117

Post by [deleted] »

w0rd-driven wrote: post #111
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #60

I spent a few months a few years ago looking for a good cofounder. Let me tell you, it was a waste of time. The odds of running into somebody where everything initially meshes are astronomical. And you're already facing long odds as a startup, why add to the stress with all that other stuff? Failure to co-locate alone is a show-stopper, much less issues about flipping versus growing, or financing versus bootstrapping…

From my personal experience and from all the information I have on the sidelines, I see 2 camps arising. 1) Build a perfect product. Rally everyone around this perfection. 2) Build a perfect team. That person or people you know of where if you could just work with them on what you want to do, you could accomplish anything . I've been in camp 2 with a friend of mine for a few months now and it's extremely difficult. I…

[deleted]

Re: Why I'll be a solo founder next time

#118

Post by amberes »

johnrob wrote: post #80
amberes wrote: post #78

I allready decided to be a single founder. It's damn hard to find someone interested in starting a venture together, it's even harder finding someone on the same wavelength. I could grow a beard (omg I have!) waiting for this to happen. I burned out working my ass off nights and weekends because my previous partner was absolutely sure he'd be able to sell our product. Which unfortunately turned out different (but tha…

I'm just looking for something to replace the daytime job where I don't have to be at an office 5 days a week Wouldn't it be easier to simply find a job that lets you work remotely? Not every employer would allow that, but I have to think if you put a startup level of effort into such a job search you would find and land such a job in a month or two. I could be wrong (maybe you've already tried), but it from an outsi…

Hmmm... That was just my 1st annoyance with a 'normal' job. And which company is going to pay me when during summer time I work 1-2 hours or only the really necessary/urgent stuff from a campsite somewhere? I'd rather have the flexibility to work like crazy when I want to and relax when I need it.,working for someone else is just too rigid.

What also bothers me: -working my ass off might mean I get a bonus, but this is only a 1 time thing. No boss is happy to give a raise (maybe I'm already earning above market). Slackers (laggards? English isn't my mother tongue) often earn slightly less compared to people working their ass off.

-I can put my blood and sweat into the company, but from one day to the next they can fire me (ok, they'll,have to pay a hefty fee for breaking the contract). I've got a couple of ongoing projects at the daytime job right now, and I'd worry more about the projects if they'd fire me than about getting a new job... Which is probably an unhealthy attitude.

Re: Why I'll be a solo founder next time

#119

Post by evacuationdrill »

whiddershins wrote: post #73
ChuckMcM wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect this is a key insight. There is a colloquialism for a company of people all trying to be 'the boss' called "Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians" (in reference to the tribal organization of Native American tribes, where in fact there was exactly one Chief who was the final arbiter) but another spin on this is "Too many Medicine men, not enough Indians." The "fantasy" life of a startup founder is that they se…

""(in reference to the tribal organization of Native American tribes, where in fact there was exactly one Chief who was the final arbiter)"" AFAIK absolutely false. It is also a gross generalization about a diverse group of people with differing sociopolitical structures. I would suggest reading "Empire of the Summer Moon" for an example of a famous and incredibly egalitarian American construct, or just read about Ir…

That type of saying doesn't always mean there should be one person at the top, just that the balance is off.

Most people know that there are more than one chef in the kitchen, yet we still figuratively say there are too many.

Re: Why I'll be a solo founder next time

#120

Post by jbscpa »

When I visit with hot-blooded partners ready to set the world on fire I often think of this line from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969):

Butch Cassidy: [to Sundance] Kid, the next time I say, "Let's go someplace like Bolivia," let's GO someplace like Bolivia.

Right, Next Time.

Easier said than done.

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