

Ask HN: Solo Entrepreneur, what are my chances and have you done it? - gdltec

I decided to apply for the YCombinator program this fall. I am a solo entrepreneur/startup and one of the reasons for doing this by myself is because I see it as a way of bootstrapping my way to success. I am sure I can get another person to be my co-founder, however by doing that I'll be adding more expenses that I cannot afford right now. That does not mean I cannot get people to help me, but they will be helping by me offering sweat equity.
What do you think? am I nuts? do you someone who has succeeded applying to YCombinator's program by themselves, without co-founders?
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pg
There are 2 single founder startups in the current YC batch. I think there
were 3 in the last one. So we do fund them. The odds of getting funded are
lower for single founder startups. I once calculated about 5x worse. But that
doesn't necessarily mean anything, because the single founder applicants are
not simply the same kind of people as the multi-founder applicants, just in
quantity one. When people apply for funding for perpetual motion machines and
the like, they are disproportionately single founders.

~~~
damoncali
So once you pass the quack test, is there really a big difference between
single founders and co-founder teams?

~~~
pg
There are two types of single founders: those who would like to have a
cofounder but can't find one (e.g. because they live in a place where good
hackers are rare), and people who don't have a cofounder because they don't
want one. The latter type are obviously different. The former type sometimes
are too. E.g. if the reason they don't have a cofounder is that they are not
persuasive enough.

~~~
photon_off
Requesting an essay about the latter type.

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endlessvoid94
I'm a single founder (thathigh.com and footprintanalytics.com). Bootstrapped,
I've never taken outside money.

Don't pigeonhole yourself into YC. If you get rejected, so what? In fact, why
not just build what you planned on building now, in your spare time?

YC will help immensely, to be sure. But it's by NO MEANS a requirement to be
successful.

~~~
alain94040
Agreed. I blogged on that: [http://blog.fairsoftware.net/2009/04/07/you-didnt-
make-it-to...](http://blog.fairsoftware.net/2009/04/07/you-didnt-make-it-to-y-
combinator-or-techstars-now-what/)

Getting into YC brings you money, notoriety and advice. They are great. And
they can also be found elsewhere.

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LeBlanc
Dropbox is another example of a successful YC solo-founded company:
<http://files.dropbox.com/u/2/app.html>

I am planning on applying as a solo co-founder as well, so you aren't alone.
Good luck!

~~~
dillydally
Not true. Drew's co-founder is Arash Ferdowsi.

My understanding is that he applied to YC (his second application) alone but
was told to go out and find a co-founder.

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jacquesm
If your plan is good and you plan on bootstrapping anyway (which means that
you see YC as a way to speed things up a bit) the best way to get in would be
to prove that it stands a chance before applying.

Otherwise you'd just look like one of a hundred (or more) individuals that
apply and have to overcome the 'have no co-founder' stigma.

You need to offset that somehow and I think the most concrete way of doing
that would be to show you are already on the road to success.

Then if you are accepted you'll be able to move a bit faster and you can
benefit from the network and if you are not accepted you are on your way but
on a slower path.

Bootstrapping and using investors are not the same path - as has been noted
elsewhere in this thread - but I don't see why you couldn't convert a
bootstrapped business in to a larger one if you can lay your hands on some
capital.

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kylebragger
I conceived, founded, and grew Forrst on my own, working on it for around 3
months before I took a small seed round in March, and am currently generating
revenue. I have one part time employee who handles some community moderation
stuff. I'm all for the single founder thing; in general, I think it gets too
much flak. The one thing I think you need to be cognizant of is to have a
razor-sharp focus. Besides, it could be fun.

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pclark
you won't know if you don't try. (you'll be fine, if the mint guy can do it,
so can you - surround yourself in great mentors/employees/investors/friends)

~~~
gdltec
You are right about the mint guy, that's a great example! Thanks.

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rgrieselhuber
Your chances of succeeding are inversely related to the degree you feel the
need to ask permission to work on your idea.

~~~
gdltec
True... only if I was asking for permission. It is very valuable to me to get
feedback (not permission) from as many people as I can, I know I will get many
different opinions and each one of them has some value to me and hopefully
others.

~~~
markstansbury
There is an interesting dynamic between feedback and permission. In some ways
they are the same thing. No one needs permission to launch, but it's good to
have feedback saying you can.

No one needs permission to apply solo to YC, but it's good to get feedback
that says your app won't be dismissed out of hand.

Think of it as niche market research.

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jeromec
Are you asking what are your chances of being successful with your startup as
a solo entrepreneur, or what are your chances of being accepted into Y
Combinator? If the former, I'd say you have about the same chances as you do
partnering with other founders, which is not very good. Building a successful
startup is hard whether or not you partner with others, and success depends
much more on the founder(s) in question, more so than anything else. If you
are asking the latter, Paul Graham specifically says chances are lower for
getting accepted into YC for solo founders, because building a startup is too
much work for one person. (I agree with that for the most part, but would
qualify it by saying it depends on what exactly you're building, and even that
is not always significant as, again, it depends more on the person)
Interestingly, the example given as a successful application to YC was by the
founder of Dropbox, who was a solo founder. I believe it is explained why this
application was successful. I would suggest you read the "Applying
Successfully" section. (more importantly, so does Paul Graham)

I don't know what you mean by adding a co-founder will add to your expenses. A
co-founder should be working for equity in a project which may pay off later,
the same as you are. If you're referring to the money successful applicants
receive from YC that is not very much, only around 20K, and is meant to cover
not much other than living expenses in San Francisco while building up a
prototype enough to solicit more substantial funding later, after being
introduced on Demo Day. I later realized this low funding amount was probably
intentional, as it forces founders to be laser focus on finding/doing what it
takes to make their product successful, as a money safety net is not there.
The nice thing about that particular benefit is realizing that startups that
don't make it into YC can be pressed in the same way.

~~~
gdltec
What I mean by "adding a co-founder will add to my expenses" is that when my
application gets approved by YC, chances are that I'll have to find a place
not for one but for two or more people if I try to add co-founders right now.
Yes the investment from YC is not much, and that is exactly why I would like
to use it for anything that makes my startup successful and nothing else. As I
mentioned on my question, I can offer sweat equity to other developers to help
me out with this, they do not need to be co-founders, at least not in the
beginning... unless they have other funds to invest in this company and all of
their time :) - thanks for your input!

~~~
jeromec
_Yes the investment from YC is not much, and that is exactly why I would like
to use it for anything that makes my startup successful and nothing else._

I think you're missing the point of YC if the only reason you're hesitant to
bring on co-founders is to keep down living expenses deducted from initial YC
funding. I'm sure PG might correct me if I'm wrong, but the philosophy of YC
is that it's the founders themselves which determine a startup's chances of
success. It's not saving a few thousand dollars on living expenses. You should
be focused on getting your startup what it needs to be successful, and that's
the right people first, money second, if at all. Of all the things YC provides
the funding is probably the _least_ significant thing influencing a startup's
possible success.

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quickpost
Here's a good post about a successful single founder:

[http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2010/01/will-single-
foun...](http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2010/01/will-single-founders-
please-stand-up.html)

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photon_off
I'm lead to believe it greatly reduces your chances of getting in. There are a
number of reasons to prefer teams over solo founders, but if you manage to
stand out enough it's possible.

It's important to keep in mind that getting into yc does not guarantee
success, nor does getting rejected guarantee failure. I applied as a single
founder laster year and didn't get in, and probably got more bummed than I
should have. I urge you not to make the same mistake.

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DenisM
I'm pretty sure you will get turned down. YC is in business of collecting
promising young companies, growing them under tender care, and reselling them
to fat angles or VCs. Do you see yourself being resellable to this crowd? I
don't, because bootstrapping is a different route. A successful investment
target proclaims "I know how to productively utilize plenty of capital", but
what you are saying is "I know how to utilize very little capital, and I plan
to spend a lot of effort to keep it lean". That makes you a very bad
investment, but a very good bootstrapper.

Here's everything you need to know to pursue your bootstrap dream:
<http://www.startupbook.net/> These will be the best $24 you have ever spent
in your entire life. If you won't take my word for it, know that it's been
endorsed by patio11.

~~~
gdltec
I disagree with you. YC is in the business of doing as much as possible with
very little, in my own opinion... the amounts they invest in these startups
say it all. Until you can prove your business and then you get a larger
investment.

What you described is more towards the type of investments that VCs do... not
YC.

~~~
DenisM
Well, and my point is that VCs are very often down the line from YC, so there
has to be a feedback of sorts.

YC has to measure its own success somehow, and I suppose they do that by
"exits". Such as a VC round, a real exit (acquisition), or a certain level of
prominence and profitability - that which is not compatible with
bootstrapping. Boostrapping is only great when you attack a small niche, that
is too small for people with more resources to get into. The same smallness
will inevitably make meaningful "exits" impossible.

~~~
gdltec
The fact that I start a business by bootstrapping it does not mean I am after
a small niche (not that there is anything wrong with that). My aspirations are
much greater than that, bootstrapping is just what I believe works for me, as
a start, my next step is to get some angel investment to be able to go to the
next phase and applying to YC seems like a good route to take. Thanks for your
comments.

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robertg
I'm a solo founder but I have a full time job and work my business on the side
when I have time (beats the hell out of video games). It made sense to me to
be a solo founder because I can take things at my own pace and I can call all
of the shots. I'm also not looking for any funding either, and if I was going
to quit my job to go after something like this full-time, I'd probably try to
find someone smarter than me to help out. Good luck.

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jpmc
I think a critical question to ask yourself is 'why do I choose to go at it
alone'? As you venture forward the skills necessary to succeed will increase
both in depth and in scope. Being your own lawyer, accountant, marketer,
engineer, designer, PR, advertising, support, HR ... will be very challenging.
Having that trusted partner to balance the load and give a sanity check is
important.

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rwhitman
I don't think you're nuts - committed collaborators can sometimes be extremely
hard to find - but as someone who's seen the flipside of being a bootstrapped
single founder, I'd say make sure to mitigate the risks you take to yourself.

Just don't let the downside of failing be taking on crushing debt. It happens,
and it sucks.

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limedaring
Are you business or technical? If you're technical, then you have a chance at
YC (lower than if you had a team), but if you're missing the ability to build
your idea, I highly doubt YC will accept you.

Also, why would finding a cofounder add more expenses? Especially if you find
a cofounder willing to work for equity.

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haarts
It can be done, your odds at succeeding are just (far) lower. A 2 person
startup has 120h a week. You only 60h. Besides you can't possibly unify the
required skills in one person.

In summary; I wouldn't do it. I speak from experience, I'm running a one
person startup now.

~~~
patio11
If you make your startup a matter of hours, either one or two founders lose to
publicly traded megacorp with 400 kilo hours per week. Do not compete on this
basis.

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maxklein
Find something that is working, and then ask people you know, trust and admire
to join you. Use the success of what you made as your argument.

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lzw
A co-founder is someone who is willing to take as much risk as you, not
someone you hire. Look at YC as a bonus. You decide if you're going to do your
thing or not. Develop your idea as much as you can and meet with relevant
people, or even irrelevant people who might be able to give you good advice
about the viability of your idea. You might find a cofounder in this process,
and if so, great, if not, don't worry about it.

If YC doesn't fund you because you're solo, then go prove them wrong and make
it a success anyway.

I've got a cofounder now, but it is because I was unwilling to settle for a
"cofounder" and found someone who was a perfect partner.

For most of my ventures they have been solo, and they have done ok on
average-- some successes some failures. Doing a startup with a cofounder has
psychic advantages, but it doesn't determine success-- for me, anyway.

If you get friends and advisors enough to provide the support system you need
then you can do it without a cofounder, just optimize what you work on so that
the time you spend building your product is as efficient as possible.

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startupcto
You need a co-founder. If you can't find one, it just shows that 1) you are
not resourceful enough 2) your idea is not good enough

