Why I'll be a solo founder next time • Hacker News Board

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

#151

Post by jmaskell » Tue, Aug 06, 2013, 9:04 AM UTC

7Figures2Commas wrote: post #89

jmaskell wrote: post #46

I believe that being a solo founder contributed to the failure of my startup. In short, it puts a lot of pressure on yourself, that can't be split with other members of the team. If the ship is sinking, you have to go down with it. Other friends and mentors can offer support, but they're not in the same boat as you. When times are tough, founders can help pull each other through. I think the reasons described in the…

Don't take this the wrong way, but your entire rationale for having co-founders seems to be based on fear and negativity. Your comment implies that you're most interested in providing yourself with the comfort that somebody else is taking risk too and will be there to drown with you when the ship sinks. Per my other comment, this is simply the wrong reason to bring on a co-founder. If you truly aren't confident in th…

It's not about fear of failing. I wouldn't do it again unless I was convinced the venture would be successful (and I think there's a significantly increased chance of that, based on what I learnt during the failed startup and since).

What I'm saying is that having equal co-founders gives you the ability to share the workload, emotional strain and get through the pain barrier.

It's obviously not impossible to build a huge business as a single co-founder, but it's unlikely that I'd want to do it again!

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

#152

Post by GotAnyMegadeth » Tue, Aug 06, 2013, 10:12 AM UTC

mbesto wrote: post #39

I have yet to find a single formulaic way for founders of a business to succeed. That being said, these are my own findings/thoughts: - Companies with 1 + n cofounders tend to be more successful - Working (in a commercial manner) previously to the startup helps massively. You learn a lot about people's business behaviors when you actually work with them (business and personal relationships can be very different) - Fi…

n ∈ ℤ, n > 0

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

#153

Post by levosmetalo » Tue, Aug 06, 2013, 11:07 AM UTC

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…

In my country we use a phrase, roughly translated as: "Many midwives, tepid child". Sorry, we didn't have Indians to kill and them make a mockery out of them ;)

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

#154

Post by johnathanz » Fri, Aug 09, 2013, 5:47 AM UTC

regal wrote: post #50

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'll chime in here and say that reading this article sounded exactly like reading about my own 3 previous (failed) partnerships. My sole successful venture has been solo all along (not including employees), and has outlasted the rises and falls of the other businesses (during the amateur entrepreneur "too many fingers in too many pies" phase). I don't think I'd do a partnership again. But maybe I just don't play well…

The misconception about what a 'founder' represents is so true. I've been guilty of it myself till I spotted the danger signs (delegating too much, modelling myself after Steve Jobs with the misconception that all I have to do is have 'vision' :P).

The reality is as a startup founder, you're expected to bear the blunt of the risk as well as majority of the tasks, from getting coffees, to setting 'vision', to product design, and coding the mundane that others don't want to do.

To this day, I still firmly believe that (on my 1st startup, so additional mileage may change that) having a diverse skillset, or the uncompromising willingness to learn anything is key to success - guess that's what PG calls determination.

So going back to the OP's view that solo founding is possible - I totally agree. You may need to hire or get help where your tech / business skills are lacking. But if you have sufficient & diverse work experience, and some financial capital, it's totally feasible to go solo.

A big BUT is the emotional support that a team can offer. This is even more so when you have a solid co-founder. The trials of startups are hard and deeply emotional (I think all founders will naturally develop bi-polar disorder - one day you feel on top of the world with your world changing idea, the next you are filled with doubt), so any kind of support from people that understand what you're going through helps - this is unlikely to be your spouse if they've never been exposed to startups or even the financial burdens of brick-n-mortar business. You can substitute with meetups and surround yourself with startup founders, but someone who doesn't have skin in the game just isn't the same.

TL;DR So while I think it's possible to do it alone, there are added benefits to being able to share the responsibility & emotional rollercoaster of a startup I also recommend everyone read 'Founder's Dilemma', good data backed analysis of pros & cons of various startup decisions like solo vs. co-founding. Bootstrapping vs. funding, etc.

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

#155

Post by jmngomes » Mon, Aug 12, 2013, 10:10 AM UTC

AznHisoka wrote: post #139

jmngomes wrote: post #32

I'm a single founder and can only say the experience is rather grinding. I'm all up for the "If you don't help, at least don't get in the way" motto. I decided to pursue my current venture without a cofounder precisaly because I didn't find enough people that had both the skills and (understandably) the willingness to quit their nice paying jobs. For me, it doesn't really make sense to have people aboard unless they…

Are you doing it full time or while on a day job?

Full time, I quit my job to dedicate myselff to this after a few rounds of discussing it and getting initial validation from both my targets (yes, it's a marketplace business, even worse to do it alone)

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

#156

Post by khenriks » Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 2:57 PM UTC

"As a startup founder you’ll be working 48 hours a day" This is something I hear founders claim all the time... Reality is they actually don't "work" that much. I challenge any of you who disagree to measure yourself for 2 week.

http://kevinhenrikson.com/2013/07/23/how-many-hours-do-you-w...