Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC?

My own experience is with solo success and a few projects with co-founders dying in early prototyping stage.

In short, some of the things people benefit from externally from a co-founder, I learned to internalize.

I have needed to consciously increase my introspection, know when to trust my instincts and when not to and be 100% self-motivating all the time, even when I am feeling low. I don't think 24 year old me could have done this. I don't think I would know when I was wrong or recognize want vs. need fast enough to prevent serious failures from happening. 36 year old me is very good at it. The maturity, willingness to question my choices in a positive manner and self discipline I gained in that time has made it possible for me.

edit: I also think it has allowed me to be a better bootstrapper and avoid the need to seek out seed money. 36 year old me is comfortable with both knowing what should be done, doing it. For example, YC would be worthwhile for me, but I would never change a thing about my plans just to get in.

I'm an engineer, I could sit in my house and work for months on end making amazing things that never see the light of day. It takes more effort than I have on half of the days out of the year to release things into the wild[1]. I need a co-founder that complements me in this aspect, someone who is very good at pushing things out in front of people and getting attention for it. If I were to pick up another technical person, we'd just do the same things I'm already doing: making things without releasing.

I'm an artist, I can be very creative when it comes to procrastinating important, administrative tasks, i.e. paying taxes and such. I need someone[2] to push me, prod me, maybe even just do it for me. Another technical cofounder isn't going to pick up that slack, they'll want to work on code.

And if I take any of these people on as partners, the only way the project wins is if they're in it for the long haul, if they are as dedicated to it as I am.

So there you go, a very tall order: find someone who does not share your skills but has their own that can help you (so has an increased likelihood that they are not in your social circles[3]), and is committed to the project in the same way you are (this is a slog, just try people out and dump them if they don't work, no hard feelings, just move on). As with all issues of luck, it's about perseverance and riding the waves as they come in.

But the difficulty of finding that person/those people doesn't mean you stop working.

[1] I pay the bills with consulting gigs, so my clients force me to release on that stuff. Also, I'm forcing myself to learn how to build a blogging followership, as an education in marketing.

[2] Not necessarily a cofounder, but an accountant can be expensive. So, I'm paying an accountant for the big things and trying to get better about not procrastinating. "Trying" means "attending coaching sessions", not "talking about trying".

[3] So I'm forcing myself to socialize with non-technical people. I'm not going to any more programmer meetups. I'm instead going to things like CreativeMorning, or just chatting up the local business owners who run their own shops. Really though, the 6-degrees-of-separation rule applies, and it's really more like 4. The more people you get to know, in general, the more likely you'll be connected to everyone, so there is at least a non-zero chance you can find suitable people, if you persevere.

It's okay to postpone starting a startup, but if you want to say that you're started and get funded, then you have to show that you won't even consider a possibility of postponing growth for reasons you can avoid.

I wouldn't be surprised if this puts a forcing function in place that yields a lot of sub-optimal partnerships. If you had a super-trendy hot night club with a height requirement, you'd find a lot of lifts in peoples' shoes.