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What are the downsides of being a single founder (ie. not having a co-founder)?
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Re: What are the downsides of being a single founder (ie. not having a co-founder)?
#2The way I see it now, it's a harder to stay focused and committed to one vision if you are by yourself. Having a co-founder forces you to choose one thing, define it so that both of you understand it, and then show up every-day to implement it. By yourself, you can always just stop working on an idea and move to something else. You don't have anyone to make commitments to.
I used to get annoyed about working with other people because I would lose some control and would be "bound" to one idea. Now I see that as a potential good thing, assuming the initial plans are solid and the team is solid.
Re: What are the downsides of being a single founder (ie. not having a co-founder)?
#3I find working with people helps to motivate me (not that I am not motivated), but it helps with setting goals and verbalizing them to someone else.
Having someone to talk to about technical issues specific to the problem you are solving also helps.
Investors won't often invest in one founder. They like it when there is two people (what if you get hit by a bus)
If you have a good co-founder you can get more work done, or they can deal with business related issues like marketing and legal stuff or do design (I am really bad at making my applications look good)
Re: What are the downsides of being a single founder (ie. not having a co-founder)?
#4The way I see it now, it's a harder to stay focused and committed to one vision if you are by yourself. Having a co-founder forces you to choose one thing, define it so that both of you understand it, and then show up every-day to implement it. By yourself, you can always just stop working on an idea and move to something else. You don't have anyone to make commitments to. I used to get annoyed about working with oth…
Do you need someone breathing down your neck all the time? If you do, maybe you shouldn't be doing a startup.
Graduate students write theses single-handedly all the time; nobody tells a PhD student that they need to find a co-author to help them write their thesis. Yes, graduate students have supervisors, but the amount of supervision varies wildly; in my (admittedly extreme) case, I only talked to my supervisor twice between "here's some research I've done, do you think it's enough for a thesis" and "here's my final draft, please look it over before I submit it next week".
If you need a co-founder to do something which you can't do (business, coding in an area you're not familiar with, etc.) or don't have time to do, you should absolutely go out and get one. But I don't think "I'm too lazy to get anything done unless I have a co-founder" to be a very good reason, and I certainly don't think "'cause pg says so" is a good reason.
Re: What are the downsides of being a single founder (ie. not having a co-founder)?
#5An alternate for the question would be: What advantages are there for having a co-founder?
Mostly I'd like to read people's opinions and not particularly argue for one side. In my opinion, the right answer depends completely on what type of person you are. Although historically, it seems multiple co-founders are much more prevalent.
Re: What are the downsides of being a single founder (ie. not having a co-founder)?
#6I find working with people helps to motivate me (not that I am not motivated), but it helps with setting goals and verbalizing them to someone else. Having someone to talk to about technical issues specific to the problem you are solving also helps. Investors won't often invest in one founder. They like it when there is two people (what if you get hit by a bus) If you have a good co-founder you can get more work done…
Yeah I agree. Working on something with someone who is excited about the project is a pretty great thing. Combining strengths is definitely a huge advantage too.
Re: What are the downsides of being a single founder (ie. not having a co-founder)?
#7I think it depends on your personality.
I really have a difficult time settling on equity, because I have absolutely no faith in "business" co-founders. I really see no purpose until a product is well-developed. You could probably call this a Mark-Zuckerberg'ism ;)
So I have to negotiate the equity with a technical co-founder, but when times come where they don't want to keep up with you, then what? So it all depends on if you can find a strong co-founder or not. If you can, I'd say go for it.
Otherwise, I don't think it's that bad to develop something solo until you can attract some attention. I plan on doing that when I get back to school.
Re: What are the downsides of being a single founder (ie. not having a co-founder)?
#8I think co-founders can both help and hurt you depending on how focused they are. If you are very focused on your startup and working the long hours to make it happen it can be rough when you can't fully depend on your co-founders to get as much done as you expect. It's great to have someone else who believes in your project, especially if they can do things you aren't good at. However, it can create an extra tension when you have to be dependant on someone else getting their work done before you can move on to your next milestone. Just my 2 cents.
Re: What are the downsides of being a single founder (ie. not having a co-founder)?
#9Ohh the dreaded "single founder thread" Let the good times roll on this one.
Ok I'm a single founder, when I read PG's essays about singles, I experienced a wave of insecurity on my part which lasted approximately 3-4 months. Whatever experiences I had back then could more likely reflect the experiences felt by other single founders here.
Most YCer's know the game and how it's played. We all know to a certain degree that the odds are stacked against you when you're a single founder. I won't wax rhetoric with you cuz I'm sure you'll find a ton of posts about that.
My point is this when I couldn't find a suitable co-founder I said screw it, I'm building my product by myself with no venture backing whatsoever. If it fails, it fails. If it succeeds then great. You won't know whats out there for you until you go out and let your balls hang out so to speak. Go out there and build it no matter the odds, no matter what other people think, if you did your homework and think there's market for it. Go do it! there is no better time to test out that idea of yours than now. Open source and low low hardware costs present us a low barrier of entry in order for us to carry this out.
There are alot of naysayers that will tell you this and that. But the way I see it only time and customers/users will tell you if your product is a success or not. And that my friend matters more than anything. Single founder or not.
Re: What are the downsides of being a single founder (ie. not having a co-founder)?
#10The way I see it now, it's a harder to stay focused and committed to one vision if you are by yourself. Having a co-founder forces you to choose one thing, define it so that both of you understand it, and then show up every-day to implement it. By yourself, you can always just stop working on an idea and move to something else. You don't have anyone to make commitments to. I used to get annoyed about working with oth…
Do you need someone breathing down your neck all the time? If you do, maybe you shouldn't be doing a startup. Graduate students write theses single-handedly all the time; nobody tells a PhD student that they need to find a co-author to help them write their thesis. Yes, graduate students have supervisors, but the amount of supervision varies wildly; in my (admittedly extreme) case, I only talked to my supervisor twic…
couldn't have said it better than this ...