Solo Founders Succeed More
Why being a solo founder is ok and how to handle investor objections
When you are a founder, you do everything. Granted, this is true even if you do have co-founders. More hands make light work of a heavy task, but not everyone knows people who are co-founder material and have the skills they need. That’s the problem with the insistence that everyone needs a co-founder. A co-founder can’t just be anyone. It needs to be someone with all of the skills you need in the business and a litany of relatively rare character traits. Some people get lucky and know just the right person to get started with. If that’s your scenario, then awesome! Not everyone knows someone who is capable and has both the time and disposable savings to invest in a startup. Make no mistake, starting a startup is a massive investment in both time and money.
The data doesn’t lie.
Investors regularly like to point out that companies with 2 or more founders are more likely to succeed than solo founders. While technically true, they are really twisting the data here so that they can say no politely. The truth is that investors invest almost as much in solo founders as they do into startups with 2 or more founders. Based on the data from TechCrunch, companies with solo founders are also more likely to have a successful exit than any other amount of founders. The one thing the data does tell us is that growing a successful business is actually less likely with each additional founder. At the end of the day, the main reason investors want to see a team is that it’s hard to believe you are someone that can do everything. It will be hard, and it might take a little longer, but solo founders can and often do succeed.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
There’s no doubt that when you start a venture, the goal is to go far and build something of value. In the beginning, you barely know if your idea is valuable, let alone what the needs of the company will be long-term. In the early days, it's best to go alone so you can move quickly and learn as much as possible. Over time as you validate your business, you begin to understand the needs of the business you can start bringing people in to help.
They’ll say you need a co-founder until they don’t
Early on, when you are pitching a company that is considered super high risk(no product or MVP), just an idea with a plan, you’ll find that everyone is quick to tell you that you need a cofounder. The reason for this is simply that they don’t believe in you yet. In their mind, the whole endeavor will require a lot of expertise in varying areas, and that no matter how much effort, you are unlikely to accomplish it yourself. If you can clear the hurdle of getting an MVP out and available for use and find a handful of engaged users, you’ll find that investors stop telling you that you need a cofounder. Once you have a viable business, who cares how many people are leading the way, and that’s how investors will often see it too.
The downside of going solo
There is always a downside to every decision, and being a solo founder, whether by choice or necessity, isn’t any different. The biggest downside is that you don’t have anyone else to stumble through the dark with you, and that can feel really isolating. Once an advisor proves valuable, you should be willing to give them a share of your startup. However, the minute an advisor says you can’t do something that is absolutely legal and within your means, you need to dump them. Your job is to find creative solutions to problems. Someone giving advice that places limitations on your capabilities doesn’t truly believe in you or your startup, and they should be cut loose immediately.
Surround yourself with experts
Without a team of co-founders, you’ll have a ton of blind spots simply because you’re not an expert in everything. Since it’s just you, you’re going to have to learn everything. You don’t need to be an expert, but you need to understand enough to reach your next goal. In my experience, the fastest way to shorten your learning curve is to surround yourself with experts in the areas that you suck at. Cultivate a group of advisors willing to mentor you on the various topics you need to learn. The right advisors can provide tremendous value. I spend at least two hours a week meeting with advisors discussing nearly every portion of my business and learning from them through guidance or even just having them recommend books for me to read. Choose wisely though. Not everyone is a good advisor. You need advisors that are engaged and provide valuable feedback. It can be hard to tell what bad feedback is when you don’t know much. All advisors should be under heavy scrutiny until they earn your trust. A great way to judge this is by how often their feedback is helpful and how responsive they are. You have a business to run after all and you can’t sit around for weeks waiting for help.
Conclusion
Get out there and crush it! This journey is hard. Stick with it and put in the work, and you’ll go amazing places! Good luck! Just taking this challenge on makes you amazing.
