

How to improve the odds of getting into YC as a solo founder? - integercat


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integercat
[http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html)

 _What 's wrong with having one founder? To start with, it's a vote of no
confidence. It probably means the founder couldn't talk any of his friends
into starting the company with him._

I don't have many friends. I definitely could talk people into starting with
me but I prefer maintaining control and direction of the startup.

 _Starting a startup is too hard for one person. Even if you could do all the
work yourself, you need colleagues to brainstorm with, to talk you out of
stupid decisions, and to cheer you up when things go wrong._

I hired a Personal Assistant that I get along well with pretty decently. I can
build a team around me. I have just enough funds to hire a contractor for
additional part time help.

I want to be a solo founder maintaining control over the startup with a team
of employees around me. Is this bad?

~~~
akg_67
Is your goal to get into YC or have a successful startup?

If your goal is to get into YC, go find yourself a warm body to be co-founder
or join numerous others looking to get into YC but don't have teams. Of
course, as a YC alum (Nikkey or someone from Australia, can't recall exact
detail) wrote in the blog post, be prepared for the situation when co-founder
bales out on you after getting YC stamp.

If your goal is to have a successful startup and business, focus on growing
your business, gaining traction, gaining customers, building product, getting
revenue and not on getting into YC. You don't need a co-founder or YC stamp to
start a business or have a successful business. While working on your startup,
if you meet someone who fancies as a potential good co-founder, explore to
bring them onboard, otherwise continue focusing on growing your startup.

IME, more successful people become, more tunnel vision they get. There is more
than one way to any destination.

~~~
iamwil
Your goal should always be to have a successful startup. Even if you get into
YC, it's no guarantee of success by far.

The reason why YC wants co-founders is that in the space of everyone that is a
single founder, proportionally very little of them can actually do it alone.
Compared to teams with two people.

Being able to convince someone else to work with you on a crazy idea is a
proxy that there's some merit to the idea.

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nickporter
I know of a couple single founders who made it into YC. Some of them are very
successful. Try to bring your business to a point where it doesn't matter
whether you get into YC or not, and you should be ok.

