
Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder? - nns
As a single founder with a strong idea, how would you about founding your startup and possibly attracting co-founders and talent to work with you.
======
gameguy43
You don't have to have superpowers.

You just have to have some product sense, some engineering chops, and the
ability to take 6 months off (not everyone can afford this, and that sucks) to
build the thing and see if you can get people to look at it and buy it.

You'll learn all the other stuff along the way (taxes, marketing, and
eventually: hiring). Just give it a shot. If you run out of savings and have
to go back to work, in interviews you'll get to say you "did a startup."

My company is bootstrapped. It isn't growing fast enough to fit PG's
definition of a startup, but it's 5 years old and makes 7 figures.

Realizing after a few months that I didn't have to do a "startup" really
helped. Whew, no more putzing with decks, trying to figure out how to get into
an incubator, trying to raise funds, trying to convince one of my friends to
quit their job and be my cofounder, "hustling", committing myself to never
sleeping again. I could just focus on building a great product.

And I think my company worked because I was product focused. In the early days
I just thought a lot about what the /best possible/ solution to the problem I
was solving would look like, built what I saw, put it in front of friends (and
eventually strangers from the internet), and made tweaks based on their
feedback (and things they didn't say but that I noticed about how they used
it).

This is contrary to the "sell first" idea--when I tried to cold pitch friends
on my product idea they all said "eh, I don't think I'd really use it over the
existing solutions." Those same friends asked me to comp their accounts a
couple years later.

It worked for me. "Sell first" might be more important if you're selling to
businesses? But like, getting the "x first" part wrong for a few months
probably isn't going to kill you. Just start doing stuff. Wiggle around in
your space until things start to catch.

~~~
burtonator
I'm trying to launch a startup now...

[https://getpolarized.io/](https://getpolarized.io/)

What I've been mostly focusing on is product market fit and growth.

I _think_ I have the product market fit down but the growth aspect is what's
challenging me right now.

I don't want to just buy growth now as I'm not convinced (yet) that our user
base will actually pay.

Additionally, I have to figure out a way to get a steady supply of new users
through some growth channel and that's the area where I'm still lagging.

~~~
pryelluw
Well, people who care enough about reading to pay money for a better reading
experience will want your product. Now, who cares enough about reading? People
who have to read and people who want to read.

One the side of people who want to read, you have an opportunity to show them
how much better reading is with your product. How do you do that??! Things
that come to mind:

\- A collection of blog articles on how to read more with an upsell to try
your product

\- A free course on how to read more with your product.

\- Be a guest on reading/book podcasts. This is usually low cost/cheap and it
provides a way to show social proof on your site ("As featured on the
$podcast").

\- Online book communities.

\- Writing communities.

On the side of people who have to read, you have an opportunity to sell a
solution to their pain. Reaching them will mean you have to split it into
verticals. You can simply focus in one vertical (law industry as an example),
set a time/money goal, and if it doesnt work out move to another. Reaching
them is a matter of leveraging linknedin's data. Things you can do are:

\- Write/Offer white papers on how to declutter their text based work process.

\- Provide free consultations on decluttering their text based work.

\---

It's all high effort. There are no shortcuts. You will have to be very honest
with yourself and figure out if you really want to do these things. Best of
luck.

------
orasis
Serial single founder here. Start building and start selling. If you can’t
deliver a product to a paying customer solo then you’re not cut out to be a
sole founder.

~~~
warent
I agree with this except switch the order. First, start selling. Then start
building.

It is so easy to waste so much time building something nobody wants, and you
won't know until it's too late if you try to sell it afterward.

Selling first will inform your decisions on what to build.

~~~
iscrewyou
Can I ask an honest question respectfully? I don’t have a company or a
startup. But I’ve always wanted to start one. So I’m always curious when I see
a response like yours.

How do you sell first? There isn’t a product to show. How do you find
Customers? Is it the philosophy that the customer doesn’t know better and you
have to tell them what they need, all the while understanding what your
capabilities are. Like undersell and overdeliver? I’m genuinely curious how
you go about selling first.

~~~
satvikpendem
I'm creating an open source todo list + calendar webapp
([https://getartemis.app](https://getartemis.app), source at
[https://github.com/satvikpendem/artemis](https://github.com/satvikpendem/artemis))
made by just me, and I can tell you how I approached the problem.

The video you see on the front page does not exist in code, it is simply a
prototype designed with Figma ([https://figma.com](https://figma.com)) and
animated with Principle
([https://principleformac.com](https://principleformac.com)). I created the
landing page and video, added a Mailchimp form, and I posted on Twitter,
Reddit, and here on Hacker News, the communities in which it made sense. For
me, it's a productivity / task management tool, so I would post on
reddit.com/r/getdisciplined or reddit.com/r/productivity.

It's all about creating a minimum viable product, as you might well be aware,
but what you may not know is that an MVP __need not have code. __Indeed, it
could be a video as I did, and I think for software, a video works best as
people can actually see what it looks and feels like, without you necessarily
creating the product architecture (full frontend and backend plus devops etc).
Now I have over 150 subscribers in only a month due to rapid creation of this
type of MVP, and based on this feedback, I changed my designs, and only now I
am beginning to really create the heart of the product.

Using non-code MVPs is the best way in my opinion to sell quickly before
building.

~~~
alangibson
Really good advice about non-code MVP. It reminded me of this seminal post:
[https://blog.bufferapp.com/idea-to-paying-customers-
in-7-wee...](https://blog.bufferapp.com/idea-to-paying-customers-in-7-weeks-
how-we-did-it). The heart of the idea is that an MVP isn't really a Product;
it's something to validate against.

How specificlaly did you go about promoting your landing page? Just 'hey check
this out posts', or did you focus on comments/answers to questions? And how
much time do you have invested in this so far?

If you get some free time, you might want to also post this on
indiehackers.com. Could help a lot of people out there.

~~~
satvikpendem
I'm a somewhat frequent contributor on IndieHackers actually. To promote the
page, I basically posted it everywhere I could (without getting banned) and
started asking my friends to critique the site. When applicable, I would also
answer questions on fora as I am now. In terms of time, I'm not really sure,
it's an on and off commitment as I also have a job.

Anything other questions or anything you're working on as well?

~~~
Papirola
I'd like to know more about the "not getting banned" part. Reddit communities
are notorious for not wanting to be sold to. what's your approach? how do you
articulate the post? maybe you could share a link to an actual post as an
example?

thanks for the insight!

~~~
satvikpendem
Many subreddits have rules on when you can do self promotion, such as a
separate thread or a specific day for posting. That's when I do it. [See this
post for
example]([https://old.reddit.com/r/getdisciplined/comments/a3oz48/meth...](https://old.reddit.com/r/getdisciplined/comments/a3oz48/method_im_building_a_time_blocking_day_scheduling/?st=jqod2d98&sh=070cbcb4)).
As well, you can see in that post that I don't directly promote my app but
instead I ask questions regarding the process by which people schedule their
day.

Provide value without expecting value in return. If you look on
[/r/entrepreneur](www.reddit.com/r/entrepreneur), you can see some posts where
people use their blog posts as a reddit post, which provides value for those
who don't read their specific blog. Then, you can link back to your own blog
at the end of the post. In doing so, you provide value before you promote
yourself, and so any products or services you then promote will be associated
with quality to your readerbase.

------
kristiandupont
It's still too early to declare my new project a success but compared to
several failures, it seems like I've finally cracked the code.

There are a number of things I am doing differently this time, but the most
significant seems to be that I am now using a coach. This would have made me
laugh earlier but it's been great value to me. As a single founder, it can be
very hard to stick to commitments and keep a clear vision. So I take calls
with my coach every two or three weeks to discuss priorities and goals for
next time. She will then ping me regularly and keep me committed -- and call
me on my bullshit if I try to weasel out of something.

It feels like some sort of life-cheat-code. I say something that I want to
happen on the phone, and then it happens! It doesn't just apply to my
business, for instance I've finally managed to meditate consistently because
of her. I wish I had discovered this years ago! :-)

~~~
jliptzin
Where did you find your coach?

~~~
kristiandupont
[https://robincangie.me/](https://robincangie.me/)

------
c-smile
I am solo founder and developer of Sciter Engine :
[https://sciter.com](https://sciter.com)

The project got first customers in 2005 so it is afloat 13 years so far. Until
2014 it was a side project. Since then I am working on it full time as a solo
founder and developer.

Initial version was pretty simple so I was able to do it after official work
hours and at weekends. Thus I didn't need any funding at that time.

The project has definitely over grown single person model now so I am actively
looking for partners, cooperation, investors, teams, etc.

So are couple of advices:

1\. If you can do it initially as a side project - consider this option first.
Could be hard but will minimize negative budget impact and other risks.

2\. The project shall reach the stage of minimal viable products in not more
than 9 months. For many reasons.

3\. You should do it in modular architecture: if first one will not take off
you will have ready to use components for the next one.

~~~
geoffbrown2014
Did you build first then sell? Can you elaborate on minimal product in not
more than 9 months?

~~~
c-smile
Yes, I've created initial version of the engine first. In may case the need of
having _embeddable_ HTML engine was well known - people were trying to embed
IE quite frequently. Even Microsoft itself was trying to put it everywhere
they can.

The question was on different angle: can single person compete with the whole
IE team at MS to achieve anything viable. And that required the engine to be
present to try by others.

Initial version was very basic HTML renderer named HTMLayout that time. Made
site for it and published couple of articles about it. These allowed me to
gather requirements and estimate interest/market for it.

After that modules of HTMLayout were assembled into Sciter, with additions of
CSS and scripting.

As of 9 months...

I've participated in many projects, successful ones took 9 months from first
PRD to alpha/beta stage. Longer projects, as a rule, were less successful.
Team lost the steam, etc.

YMMV of course, but 9 months to create something, seems like is embedded into
human nature. I cannot provide any formal proof, just a feeling supported by
30 years of experience in the business.

------
MattRogish
Your three superpowers as a solo founder need to be:

1) Deep expertise and network with potential customers

2) Ability to empathize and connect with your customers and sell the thing

3) Ability to build some sort of MVP

The deep expertise and empathy will allow you to hone in on the problem you
know your customers will face, and so you can narrow down the "paradox of
choice" of different features/products you can build. It'll give you a much
better starting point for experimentation and iteration. Start small. Talk to
these folks. Get people to validate your idea. If you don't have an existing
network where you can talk to 30-50 customers (100 is better!), this will be a
problem.

The empathy and salespersonship will allow you to get folks to give you
feedback and/or pre-sell the thing. Maybe do consulting for them to earn
revenue and testimonials. If you can't sell this, you're going to have a hard
time.

Finally, you need to be able to build something that delivers value to your
customers. You don't have to be the world's greatest programmer (actually, if
you were that might hurt you more than it helps!) but you do need some
programming chops. Maybe it's automation around an existing process (a chatbot
that does something small). Or even a spreadsheet. Maybe it's a full-blown
MVP. Either way, you don't have the revenue to pay a developer, and sharing
context with someone that you can afford is likely very very difficult.

If you don't have these things, this will be really, really tough. If you do,
it will still be very tough, but you have a much better chance of being
successful.

Find a network of solopreneurs - either something local to you (where you can
meet up periodically) or an online group. This will be invaluable as you run
into challenges they solved, and then you can pay it forward for the people
that will walk your path later. And, having a place to vent with empathetic
folk will help keep you sane.

If you need any help, I'm happy to share my experiences solo-bootstrapping my
company to 20+ people. Just email me matt [dot] rogish [at] gmail

Good luck!

~~~
mjberg01
Matt,

Would love to connect to learn more about your experiences- I'm at
matt@puresomni.com. Is there a best email to reach you at?

Cheers,

Matt

------
crucini
Many intelligent comments in this thread; let me point out the
underacknowledged.

You are limited by who you are. By your appearance, mannerisms, speech
patterns. Your clothing, body language, grooming and hygiene. Your ingrained
habits of action, speech and thought. Your age - foolish excitable youth or
cramped, ossified old age. Your network and resume. Some of this can be
improved, some can't.

It all sets an upper bound on your potential, but you could fall far short of
this due to bad luck or bad execution. Almost nobody will be honest with you
about any of this. Which means savvy observers may see your limits very
quickly, but will not tell you.

Trust is a huge factor, and again, people will not be up front about this. A
solo startup has a huge legitimacy gap if selling to big companies. You could
just vanish, go on vacation, get sick, steal the company's data, sue the
company claiming to be a de facto employee.

So acquire signals of legitimacy aggressively. Sell anything to a big
corporation or government agency, no matter how small and out of your
specialty, and you have a bragging point. Join industry associations. Get an
advisory board with the right resumes. (All this assumes b2b).

If you are not likeable, you will have great difficulty selling. That includes
pitching to investors, attracting co-founders, employees and beta testers.

Every time you have contact with a salesman - that includes missionaries,
military recruiters, etc. - note down what they did that worked and didn't
work. The common denominator I've seen in the good salesman is 1) being
likeable and 2) understanding my particular situation.

If you see _any_ way to get objective feedback on _you_ , not the company - do
it. For instance, bring a savvy observer on a sales call. He can be an
investor, a salesman from one of your suppliers, or a paid advisor. I
personally stumbled into that situation and benefited from it.

Maybe I'm overstating this because plenty of seemingly dislikeable people
started successful companies.

~~~
dba7dba
> You are limited by who you are. By your appearance, mannerisms, speech
> patterns. Your clothing, body language, grooming and hygiene. Your ingrained
> habits of action, speech and thought. Your age - foolish excitable youth or
> cramped, ossified old age. Your network and resume. Some of this can be
> improved, some can't.

I am fascinated that someone has above attributes lined up in a way so that
they can drive around in $100,000 cars, drop $10,000 for a family vacation
without having to save for years, and live in a house that is literally a
movie set.

And you have the opposite like poor and homeless.

Isn't life ... weird?

------
systematical
I've done it twice. The first time because I was so young. I'm not even sure
"startup" was in our vocabulary in 2006. Oh boy I wish I would've had a
founder to help me out. I had no idea how to monetize all the traffic I was
getting. I learned to code while building the website, so things were pretty
shotty. What could have been...

The second time I had to ditch my partner. I found him stealing money, he had
no drive either. Just a wretched scrap of humanity. After taking the code and
letting him keep the worthless domain he was supposed to do SEO on I
registered a new domain and got the site up in a night. Ended up being
reasonably profitable at $2,000 a month, but was just too much work for one
person. I sold the site in 2014.

Since then every time I find a "co-founder" it seems I end up doing most of
the work. Maybe there is something wrong with me or maybe its really hard to
find a good co-founder.

~~~
jachee
"Good help is hard to find." is an age-old adage.

------
pthreads
Other commentators have touched upon topics like building, selling, networking
etc.. So I won't repeat those.

My advice is to first and foremost firewall your personal assets. It will save
you a ton of regret and headache later if things go wrong.

\- If you are in the US then start by forming an LLC (or Delaware C corp if
you have the funds) with a separate bank account.

\- If you are in the services business then get business insurance (quite
affordable actually).

\- Buy domain names. Also set up a time line for when you may want to register
a trademark if that applies in your case.

\- Create all necessary document templates ahead of time, for e.g. NDA,
contracts, IP assignment etc. depending on what is applicable in your case.

Some additional advice :

\- Never make verbal promises or handshake deals especially when you are
scouting for a co-founder, contractors, or employees. It doesn't matter how
well you know them.

\- Avoid, to the extent you can, offering equity for services or deferred
compensation. In the early stages it is quite possible that you will be using
contractors. If you do then make sure the written agreement terms are solid
and unambiguous.

\- Read books like Deal Terms, Term Sheets and Valuations, Venture Deals, High
Tech Startup, Founder's Dilemma, Fools Gold etc.. and become very familiar
with the concepts and terms. I can't stress this enough -- be well informed!
\- Thoroughly understand cap tables and how they change over time/events.

\- Read Getting To Yes (Harvard publication, if I remember correctly). Will
help you with your negotiation skills.

\- Consider startup incubators if that helps in your particular case. But be
careful and understand the terms carefully. Some incubators will take a non-
trivial amount of stock in exchange for very little.

About co-founders :

If you are passionate and/or good at selling your idea it is quite likely you
will attract co-founders. Do not rush. Take your time to get to know them
within the context of your startup regardless of how well you have known them
personally.

\- If you can try to work out a try-out phase with potential co-founders. But
be very careful and make sure both parties sign proper agreements and are very
clear about what they are getting from each other.

\- Personally I am not a fan of part-time co-founders. If someone wants to
join they are either all in or out.

\- Please read Founder's Dilemma (Noam Wasserman).

------
todd3834
I’ve been single founding side project ideas for years and that’s been a lot
of fun. Recently I had a chance to do it full time for a long period of time.
Having gone through that I will say that it isn’t something I would ever do
alone again. The highs were muted and the lows were magnified. You are far
better off if you can do the journey with someone than without anyone.

That being said here are some things that helped:

1\. Have a friend that you can call that is interested enough to listen to
what you’re doing. We joked that my buddy was like a free co-founder. This
helped a lot but it was still not as great as the real thing.

2\. Make lists. Figure out all of the things that need to happen for your
month/week/day to be successful and figure out how to make that happen.

3\. Focus on things that being small give you an advantage over a large
company. One book I read said something along the lines of, “if you’re a small
guy being chased by a big fat bully you should run up the stairs as it would
be easier for you and tire the bully out”. How this plays out in practice is
going to depend on your competition.

4\. Don’t get married to your initial idea. It will certainly change as you
learn more. The more resistance you put to change the longer it will take for
you to find success. Start with something and start getting feedback ASAP.

5\. Getting meetings is very hard. Cold calling sucks and cold emails are even
worse. Use your network. Even people you might not think are connections can
be huge help. When you’re stuck just go through your contact list thinking
about how you can get a warm connection to what you’re trying to do. Be honest
about why you are calling your contact so they don’t feel used.

6\. This may be controversial but when you haven’t even validated the market
unit tests just don’t seem like the best use of time.

Life is short and I find it more enjoyable with friends. If you’re like me
then you’ll enjoy this journey more if you take someone with you. That being
said I realize everyone is different. I thought being a solo founder was going
to be great but next time I’m finding a buddy to join me.

If you want to bounce ideas off of a random person or hit me up for networking
to get meetings you need please send me an email (in my profile). Good luck
and enjoy the highs! They are so exciting.

------
dizzydes
I am far from full-flight yet (some of my side projects have made a few grand)
but here are some things I've learned in addition to the advice already given:

* Only solve a problem you have experienced - this makes ideation and validation much easier (though its still essential to get unbiased opinions on your MVP)

* You'll need something to attract people initially to get feedback and validate - but don't dedicate more than 2-3 weeks of coding to your beta.

* Product Hunt allow you to post twice - once for beta and then for V1. Your initial PH post should give you more than enough test users to get good feedback. Don't bother with any other marketing or coding until you have a validated product.

* When it comes to feedback, schedule beta testers in for calls before giving them access to the product; always opt for calls over email

* Technology doesn't matter, as others have said your selling a solution, not code. Opt for whatever language or framework you will be fastest to build in.

* Once you have a validated product you're ready to sell, feel free to experiment with different marketing channels but quickly determine what the most effective for your product are (in terms of volume of leads and ROI); dump the rest and double down on these. The internet of awash with cool marketing tricks but the reality is that most companies get 80% of their leads from 1 or 2 refined, targeted actions.

------
iEchoic
Some advice after spending a couple years navigating from nothing to a team of
10:

0\. Pick an area in which you have domain expertise. If you're building
something you actually want to use yourself, that's even better. As a solo
founder, it's even more important that you have a strong intuition for your
users and for your problem space.

1\. Make something people want, get people to use it, and talk to them. This
comes first, and almost everything else can and should be ignored until you've
done this. This is the best way to attract good people. This is also the best
way to attract funding. This should be your north star. If you're struggling
to find people and/or funding, goto #1.

2\. You have advantages, too: as a solo founder, you should be able to move
faster than anyone else - even companies with cofounders or entire teams - in
the early stages. When you talk to people and they make suggestions, you can
and should literally immediately make them, deploy them, and tell them that
you did so. This may feel strange once it starts to feel like you're a
glorified CS rep, but this is actually the iteration loop that you _want_ to
be in. You can do this faster than anyone else because you have zero
communication overhead and zero friction between the point at which feedback
is received and the point at which improvements are shipped. When you find
yourself in this state, bask in it for as long as possible.

3\. Give your early people a lot of equity and make sure they feel like they
own the company too.

The good thing is that it's been more straightforward than I expected (though
certainly not easier than I expected).

------
raheemm
Solo founder here. You have to have a growth mindset. It is your oxygen.

I was speaking to an entrepreneur today, trying to learn about his industry
and sell him marketing services. The guy kept coming up with reasons not to
grow. Even when I asked him, what if you had 20 more customers willing to
spend $15K (his dream cust), he said he would have problems fulfilling those
customers.

This guy does not have a growth mindset. Maybe that's by choice; maybe he is
happy with the current revenue, which is fine.

But as a new entrepreneur, a growth mindset is essential. The best way I know
to overcome this is to have a coach or even better a coach who has already
built that kind of business you are trying to build.

------
bamazizi
Solo founder here. I've experienced several group size startups in the past
10+ years, and ultimately arrived to the conclusion that solo founder is the
best option if you're cut out for it. As a solo founder you need to be a jack
of all trades, master of none. Constantly experimenting, learning, and open to
criticism.

I've been apart of large co-founder group (4+) which I don't recommend at all.
Once our company went above 50-60 people the co-founder relationship just
imploded and after 100+ employees, none of the co-founder were apart of the
company and it eventually shut down by the investors who took over.

I've also had a co-founder where we tried but eventually had separation of
idea and roadmap but the toll of the pressure was too much. You not only have
to care deeply about the project but also the other co-founder and if one side
is more into "glory" of a startup founder, then you're in a failing
relationship.

As an eventual solo founder, I realized the size and ambitions of the
"startup" are extremely important. Small ideas are ok but might not be
exciting enough and big projects are nearly impossible to pull off. Figuring
out how to recruit contractors and split the work load to achieve MVP is the
trick.

Important tools and mindset you need to master: 1- Jobs to be done (JTBD) 2-
Objectives and Key Results (OKR) 3- Sales pitch (not just a pitch deck or
executive summary) 4- UX and technical skills (aka: jack of all trades) 5-
People management (not just project/product management) 6- Open to criticism
(nobody wants to tell you your baby is ugly, you have to assure them they can
be honest with you and you'd want to hear the brutally honest feedback) 7- Go
to market strategy (value props and business model) 8- Network effects 9- Time
management 10- Business, legal, accounting, payroll and taxes

~~~
cmuguythrow
This is an encouraging post for someone who aspires to be a solo founder.
Could you explain 1. JTBD and 7. Go to market strategy and how to
practice/improve at them?

------
novaleaf
Best if you avoid incorporation until you are forced to. If/when you
incorporate, do so as a LLC or SCorp (allowing pass-through taxation). CCorps
now have a flat 25% tax rate which will be a high double-taxation while you
are trying to grow.

edit: assuming you are in the USA. If in a bureaucratic nightmare of a country
then you should avoid incorporation until you are extremely profitable. My own
experience in Thailand: I incorporated early and was forced to hire a full
time bookkeeper plus about 1 month/year accountant contractor to handle the
government red tape

------
par
I am the sole founder and developer of Meta Meme
([https://metameme.app](https://metameme.app)). I built it for a couple of
years as a side project, and recently went full time on it. It's been growing
slowly over the past couple years but really started picking up last summer.
I'm not going to lie, it's been really difficult. There were a lot of times
when I'd just be so exhausted or worn down but kept working on it. And I
thought everything would be better once I went full time, but it's also had
its own unique set of challenges. Still, I am excited and grateful to be doing
it and pressing on. It takes a lot of time and dedication.

A VC recently told me that most startups don't fail, it's just that the
founder quits working on it. The deeper I get into my business, the more i see
how that can be true.

~~~
leavjenn
Hi, checked the Android version Meta Meme app. One suggestion: split it into
arm and x86 version for the the ffmpeg lib to reduce the apk size. Each of
them is 9MB which is not a small number.

------
pushtheenvelope
(this is hard to answer well, without knowing your background or the nature of
your idea)

I'd recommend starting to develop the idea. If you are non-technical, then
begin speaking to potential users and customers, and building relationships
i.e. do business development.

If you are technical, it doesn't matter, do the above too. You can also take
part of your time to actually begin prototyping a v1 of your product. But
remember, your goal is to start a company, not a cool technical demo, so
prioritize business development.

Once you have done this, congrats, you have some real momentum on your idea
and have either gotten validation from real users and customers or know what
needs to be changed and improved. You are now in a stronger position to start
talking to people. Its much easier to attract people to your startup if you
can demonstrate your idea has some traction.

------
gitgud
If you want to attract people, you need to either pitch the idea in public (or
build an MVP) to gather attention and possible partners. Or find people with
similar interests and reveal the idea to them. You could also find someone
through networking or [1] forums.

Show a good idea, with good leadership and people will follow...

[1] [https://indiehackers.com](https://indiehackers.com)

~~~
dizzydes
+1 on indiehackers being a fantastic resource for strategies and motivation
once you filter out the multi-person companies. I'd also add in
[http://levels.io](http://levels.io) \- Pieter Levels is a good steward for
the 'maker' movement also
[https://twitter.com/levelsio](https://twitter.com/levelsio)

~~~
postsantum
Not sure if they are connected somehow, but a website with a very similar name
[http://levels.fyi](http://levels.fyi) with FAANG salaries information makes
you quistion your choices about being an indie developer

~~~
overcast
It's not realistic that the vast majority of people can expected to be hired,
or move to those places, let alone achieve those salary levels. I would be
amazed if even 1% of applicants actually got hired. You have 5x greater chance
of being accepted at Stanford. There is a tremendous bias on HN, because those
people that have, frequent here.

~~~
postsantum
"Everyone thinks they’re hiring the top 1%"

[https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2005/01/27/news-58/](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2005/01/27/news-58/)

~~~
overcast
They might not be hiring the top 1%, but they are only hiring 1% of the people
who apply.

------
wenbin
I've been doing this startup thing alone for 1.5 years now.

It's fun to learn some business skills along the way.

It's more possible than ever to build great digital products with a tiny team
(or even single person).

If you have a day job, then keep your day job. Start implementing your idea on
the side. Do it for at least 1 year. Startup is a marathon. There are a lot of
"over night" success stories from media that seek for clicks. But in reality,
you'd need to wait for many years to see traction. Do the test drive for 1
year, and see if you still enjoy it.

~~~
badestrand
> There are a lot of "over night" success stories from media that seek for
> clicks. But in reality, you'd need to wait for many years to see traction

I actually found that quite relieving from reading all the IndieHackers
interviews: Many were already at it for several years and had minimal revenue
for a looong time. And only after years of consistent work they got to 5k, 10k
or 50k monthly revenue.

------
satvikpendem
I'm creating an open source todo list + calendar webapp
([https://getartemis.app](https://getartemis.app), source at
[https://github.com/satvikpendem/artemis](https://github.com/satvikpendem/artemis))
made by just me, and I can tell you how I approached solo development.

I sell first before coding anything.

The video you see on the front page does not exist in code, it is simply a
prototype designed with Figma ([https://figma.com](https://figma.com)) and
animated with Principle
([https://principleformac.com](https://principleformac.com)). I created the
landing page and video, added a Mailchimp form, and I posted on Twitter,
Reddit, and here on Hacker News, the communities in which it made sense. For
me, it's a productivity / task management tool, so I would post on
reddit.com/r/getdisciplined or reddit.com/r/productivity.

It's all about creating a minimum viable product, as you might well be aware,
but what you may not know is that an MVP need not have code. Indeed, it could
be a video as I did, and I think for software, a video works best as people
can actually see what it looks and feels like, without you necessarily
creating the product architecture (full frontend and backend plus devops etc).
Now I have over 150 subscribers in only a month due to rapid creation of this
type of MVP, and based on this feedback, I changed my designs, and only now I
am beginning to really create the heart of the product.

Using non-code MVPs is the best way in my opinion to sell quickly before
building.

------
mrskitch
I've written a bit about this in regards to browserless.io:
[https://docs.browserless.io/blog/2018/08/01/running-an-
indie...](https://docs.browserless.io/blog/2018/08/01/running-an-indie-
business.html) if you're curious. But in short:

1\. Build something that you're an expert on, and know how to build it. You
can't do it all, but knowing how to do most of it goes a long ways. Hire out
for the rest.

2\. Be intimately aware of what the product should be from the users
standpoint. What does it do that no one else's does?

3\. Prepare yourself for supporting the business and support issues. You can't
"back out" or dodge anything, and you've got to be ready to be in the hot seat
alongside your uses. I've been told a "volunteer" type mentality is what this
is called.

4\. Be emotionally ready for an absolute roller coaster. One day you can be on
HN, and that same day you'll lose your #2 account. It, by all means, is an
absolute emotional washing machine. Try and distance yourself from the product
if you can.

5\. If your boot-strapping yourself then your limitation/runway can be time.
Time does have a value aspect to it, and if you're an engineer you can grossly
underestimate how long something will take to build which it's effectively
money lost.

There's so much that goes into it, and every business is so different that
it's hard to capture what to do. You really have to _just do it_ because
getting started and out is the hardest part. Everything else seems to fall
into place after, assuming you don't close it or abandon it.

Good luck!

------
drusepth
Two years into my first solo startup here. Lots of good advice here already,
but the things that worked best for me:

* Build what you're interested in, and use the product yourself. If you're not personally using the product, the loneliness of a solo op can quickly translate into "why am I doing this at all?"

* Don't be afraid to admit what you don't know, AND don't be afraid to spend extra hiring professionals (or freelancers) to do those things. Consultants work the best, in my experience: hire them to build out some kind of framework that lets you do what you need to do without them, and then bring them back as needed to do more advanced things you can't do.

* Automate everything you can. People say startups should do things that don't scale, and that works when you've got the resources to throw at things. However, if it's just you then time is often your most valuable resource (moreso than money, in many cases): automate everything you can that takes up more than 30-60 minutes of your day so you can focus on more important things. This also ties into point 2: automate out the drone work so you also stay interested in what you're working in and don't succumb to a brick wall of "why am I even doing this?".

* As a solo founder, you need to be self-driven and self-accountable. You need to keep working and Get Shit Done even when nobody is asking you whether something's done or not. Don't be afraid to take breaks or time off when you need to recharge, but don't fall into a habit of "nobody's asking for this; I'll get to it later".

* Lastly, it can be tempting to vastly expand your work hours (especially if you're feeling pressured to get something done or feeling overwhelmed), probably more so than if you had a cofounder even (IMO it's a lot easier to suffer through long hours yourself than to command someone else do so also). There's nothing wrong with a 60 hour workweek, but you also should never feel like it's necessary. Sometimes I cut myself off at 8 hours in a day even if I'm on a roll and feeling motivated; that motivation often builds up and translates into another strong day tomorrow. You might also get a ton done in a single day by working into the night, but it's easy to translate that into sleeping in tomorrow because you got so much done and having a much slower day in general. Find what works best for you, and don't let yourself get burned out.

------
zwetan
ideas have no values, implementation does

the very same idea could be implemented in different ways, some would work,
some other would fail

the only way to be sure is to build it and ship it, eg. "does my
implementation provide value to customers or not?"

it does not have to be big, it does not have to be perfect, it does not have
to be complete (avoid the features creep), but the implementation itself or
the product is what determine the value or potential value

other people like co-founder, talents, etc. are basically people who will see
the value but think "hey I can build that better", "I can sell that better",
etc. and decide to join you in the process

so yeah pretty much "Start building and start selling"

for the founding part it will be either you have the skills (tech, marketing,
whatever) and so invest your time, or miss some of those skills and use your
own money to cover those parts

I do not believe you can rely solely on "strong ideas"

~~~
huhtenberg
> _ideas have no values_

Fully fleshed and well-justified ideas worth hell of a lot.

~~~
smt88
No they’re not. You can’t even patent or copyright business ideas. The only
justification for a business idea is a customer, so GP is correct: no business
has value without sales.

~~~
huhtenberg
Properly explored idea is basically a business plan backed by a market
research. Clearly as worthless as a random morning coffee brainfart.

~~~
smt88
It seems like you're being sarcastic, but you're exactly right.

Investors don't give people money for plans and research because they don't
mean anything. It's easy to make a plan or find a hypothetical market.

The only people who get money without customers are founders with huge exits
on their resume already.

~~~
huhtenberg
All three of your statements are wrong.

Especially the last one.

------
brodouevencode
Lots of conflicting advice here. There are a lot of factors that would or
could cause you to do one thing versus another: how much capital reserves do
you have, have you tested a market yet, what is the market, what are you
looking for in a cofounder, how long will the product take to develop if it
isn’t developed already, etc etc.

Here’s my (short) story. I’m a single founder in mid development, and this is
a side hustle. I expect to deliver by the end of this quarter, working in my
spare time. The product is solving a problem that I have. I am footing
everything, and am not even entertaining the idea of bringing anyone else
(cofounder or otherwise) on board until the product is complete and works the
way that I want it to. Then once it’s marketed and gets traction, then and
only then would I look for help.

But that’s just me and that’s the point: do what’s best for you.

------
benmowa
Check out Rob Walling. He's got some podcasts and grown to some conferences
now, but i keep going back to his book: Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's
Guide to Launching a Startup

Edit: just looked it up but see also Rob's new project TinySeed.com: The First
Startup Accelerator Designed for Bootstrappers.

------
SmellyGeekBoy
There's not really a lot to go on here. Are you from a sales background?
Management? Development?

Or do you have an amazing idea for a YouTube / Facebook hybrid and want to
give me 5% equity in exchange for working on it for free for the next 6
months?

If I had a penny for every time I'd heard that amazing offer...

~~~
lbriner
True! There is a lot missing. Is this just a side-project, never more than a
few hundred bucks a month or is the plan that you want/expect it to take off
and then you can hir emore people?

YCombinator will not take on companies with one founder because the non-direct
workload is significant in most cases and few people would have the energy to
keep going through all the set backs. Even if you can, you are unlikely to go
fast enough to make the most of your product before the competition starts
taking your customers.

Of course there are exceptions and small projects that just work but
unfortunately, you have to take some serious risks to give your company the
best chance of success so trying to hold on to a "day job", for example is a
distraction from your new company.

Best advice is probably to find some local entrepreneurs and get their advice.
Paul Graham writes about stuff but although he has a lot of experience, it
doesn't necessarily mean his advice is 100% reliable or accurate - which also
doesn't mean that you should ignore it!

------
nimz
You mentioned attracting co-founders so just adding one important piece of
advice: don't be stingy about equity with your co-founders. Even if you were
the one who came up with "the idea," or worked on it alone for a few months.

When your company is actually worth something down the road, you will both be
wealthy enough, however, in the early stage, when your company is worth close
to zero, one of the highest risks is the founder relationship/compatibility.
When all partners have equal ownership, there is a much lower chance of having
passive-aggressive power struggles, and grudges.

A toxic, deteriorating co-founder relationship will almost surely kill your
company too early, whereas being generous early will be something your co-
founders will never forget and it will pay back multifold overall.

------
pbnjay
It doesn't matter if you have a strong idea if no-one is willing to pay for
it. Get some sales commitments first, even some "soft" commitments will go a
long way. Will you even be able to build the company at the rates people are
willing to pay?

~~~
lbriner
Good advice. I met a guy who was selling screenshots of a product to ensure it
did what people expected. He then got a team and built it and recently sold
his company for some good dollars so this isn't as weird advice as it sounds!

Also be careful about using a single customer to "co-design" your product
since it can affect appeal to other customers.

~~~
pbnjay
Yeah a single customer is dangerous, you're more like a consultancy if that
continues for too long.

------
mark-ruwt
(Solo founder, one-man shop, 12+ years in, Mentor)

There's a lot of great advice already so I'll just add: Create a bi-weekly,
private email newsletter. Your biggest fear should be getting too heads down
and building the wrong product or somehow losing the plot.

Create a newsletter for friends, family, developer peers, teachers, and anyone
else you can think of.

Every two weeks you should outline what you accomplished in the last two
weeks, what you're working on in the next two weeks and the plan for the next
six weeks. The simple act of broadcasting the newsletter will help keep you
accountable and focused. Good luck!

------
therealmarv
It's not magic. In the past I thought I need to be really innovative, have my
own product, be rich, be a business man from top to bottom, have cofounders
etc. etc.

I was going straight from software freelancing to founding my own company
(also switched countries to Cyprus) and created a Limited all on my own. Still
working for clients and I have this legal person (Limited) now acting as a
shell for me on a legal side but beside that: nothing changed.

Cofounders are like a marriage... you should be 101% sure about them ;)

~~~
lbriner
Cofounders are indeed critical to success. Don't feel tempted to compromise
just because you are in a hurry (same as marriage!).

Also, you should plan for bad outcomes like a founder who doesn't fit in,
can't fit in, etc. and ensure you haven't signed away a load of equity, which
will make you want to keep them on board! Take legal advice on a good balance
between attracting good talent and not risking the company equity in the
process.

------
lkrubner
Simply put, if you are starting off alone, you need more money. I can think of
two women I've worked with who were outstanding project managers, and who
could step up to the role of COO. Neither of them have enough spare cash to
endure the craziness of founding a startup, but both of them could play the
role of June Martino, if I could pay them, and that is basically what you need
if you are a solo founder. I would look to hire someone like that right away.

------
ahackernewsuser
From my experience, there's a massive intangible difference between a co-
founder and an early stage employee. Get as far as you can without using
equity, so that when you do use equity, you have a clearer sense of what you
will get from it. When you want other big-picture decision makers, get co-
founders. When you want x, y, and z mostly outcomes, hire employees. If you
can't afford employees, could you get further and raise funds first? I've had
amazing high equity employees and not so amazing ones. But with a small group
of pseudo co-founders, things like firing, raises, pivots, etc. naturally
become more political than they might otherwise.

It's cliche but think of this as dating except you just adopted a kid. When
you start going steady with someone, it's critical to have a boundary between
yourself as a parent and the other person as a (perhaps-temporary) parental
figure. If one day you find someone who would raise your child even better
than you could by yourself, or at least would make you happy and you trust
fully in their judgment and values (even if not 100% same as yours), you get
married. But you can still raise a great kid as a single parent.

------
geekjock
I'm a solo founder (pullreminders.com) and have been at it for about a year
and a half. There are definitely a lot of highs and lows but overall I enjoy
the way my work feels very personal and autonomous.

I love this quote by Derek Sivers:

> Nobody gives a novelist shit for writing alone. But an entrepreneur,
> programmer, or musician is expected to collaborate. I disagree, for me. I
> prefer the life of a novelist, whether I’m writing code, music, or systems.

------
desireco42
Since you got a lot of good advice already, I would like to add following.

Hire or make deals with, people who can speed things up, developers,
designers, sales people. You can't do everything by yourself. Find people you
can talk to, that is super important.

Often people trick themselves into building elaborate product first, but also
there is a case where you genuinely have to make something before you can sell
it.

------
loandigger
900 hours. That's my rule. It takes 900 hours of concentrated effort in
brainstorming, building, tweaking, disillusionment, trashing it all, starting
over, brainstorming some more, building, tweaking, demoing, networking and
THEN selling before you'll even have the faintest idea as whether this can be
a viable company. Put in the time and you'll see.

~~~
aerovistae
Have you formed some viable companies after 900 hours?

~~~
loandigger
Yes, three. One was a total failure. One went public a few years after i left
and the last one was a private sale by me to a Fortune 500 company. I'm not
saying my rule of thumb is for everyone, but 900 hours is about the length of
an average internship. When I'm evaluating a new idea or opportunity, I try to
imagine what I would need to accomplish in 900 hours to make it into a viable
company==> Sort of a reversal of Parkinson's Law about how work expands to
fill the time allotted for its completion. This helps me really clarify and
plan out exactly what i have to do, so i don't waste time later or get side
tracked. IMHO, 900 hours of grinding it out will give you the insight you need
to see if you were really onto something or need to pack it in and try
something else.

------
dpenny
First, don't. Actually, its good you ask about attracting co-founders and
talent, that's a critical part of success. You're going to want a strong,
like-minded cofounder and strong team to help you succeed. The journey is more
fun and will likely be more successful with he right team...So, how?
Network.....

~~~
warent
Of course what you're describing is the ideal, but I think the odds of finding
a good co-founder (particularly via "networking") is vanishingly small. In
fact I bet that the odds of finding a good co-founder is smaller than the odds
of successfully starting a business as a solo founder.

So I'd say yes, do it, but simultaneously be on the lookout for a potential
co-founder. If one arises, great. If not, don't let it be an excuse not to
follow you dream.

~~~
j45
+1

Partnerships consisting of staying on the same page for multiple years, in
one's 20s, is harder than marriage. People, priorities and capabilities change
too much.

On the other hand having someone join a vision already in progress can help
with keeping alignment.

------
naveen99
starting building on the idea yourself so you have more to talk about / show.

co-founders are usually people you already know. so talk to them and start
persuading or start meeting more people.

employees are attracted to salaries, offer it (get funding if needed).

if you have no idea what's involved in working on a startup, maybe watch the
startup school videos.

------
akerro
[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=single%20founder&sort=byPopula...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=single%20founder&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story)

------
vforissi
I am 20 and moving to SF in a month . To help people be more productive I am
building a self management software tool for startup employees, something you
can use alone or in group with goals, feedback, and psychometric stuff.

I am 4 month into code and still need 2-3 more months to make something I can
sell (at like 5$/user/month) or get free users.

Originally I am from France so I only have a 3 months window once in the US to
take of and raise seeds to get my visa (otherwise I can maybe get married or I
am screwed and come back crying at my mother's).

Do you have any advice ? Things I should do ? People I should talk to ?
Startegies I should use ?

------
viach
It is very hard to honestly evaluate your own idea, because it's, well, your
idea. You get to tell about it to someone. And when you tell and ask for
feedback and help - voila, you are not a pure solo founder anymore.

~~~
mimixco
Not sure I agree. Most revolutionary ideas are unappealing when first
presented. The world thought Walt Disney was crazy for making a feature
cartoon (Snow White) that went on to be one of the most profitable movies in
history. Even after that, they thought he was nuts for starting a theme park.

Henry Ford once quipped, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would
have said, 'A faster horse.'"

~~~
viach
If you throw 1000 random ideas against the wall, 10 of them could stick, 2 or
3 of which would be solo founded. Look, solo founding works, right?

~~~
mimixco
Really? You think those guys got where they were by throwing out random ideas?
The point is that with the right skills and chutzpah, solo founders can make
it.

------
issa
There are two parts to having a good idea. One is the idea itself, but it's
also critical that you have expertise in the domain. My company helps
freelance writers and photographers get paid. The CEO was a publisher who had
this problem and decided to solve it. He reached out in his circle for a
programmer to build it, and he found me. The idea was good enough for me to
put time into it, and we had a clear path forward for turning it into a
business. My point is that if you have domain knowledge and a genuinely good
idea, you'll have no trouble finding co-founders.

------
throwaway_chan
Sorry to hijack someone other's question. I have a question of my own.

I co-founded a company with one of my family friend around last year and made
the silly mistake of trusting blindly by not signing a partnership agreement.
I completed the whole development of the project and there has been inflow of
cash but since then there has been radio silence from their part.

So i have registered my own company and ready to deploy the same service of my
own.

Since i know the product will sell, i know i can develop a better product than
the existing but i lack knowledge of business side of things.

Any advice for me ?

~~~
sky_rw
Get a lawyer and get a contract ASAP. This gets harder every single day that
passes.

Also IANAL but if you wrote it all with no agreement you probably have the
rights to all the code you developed, unless you biz partner's last name is
Winklevoss.

~~~
throwaway_chan
I even thought of that idea, but this mean getting my parents involved which i
don't want to. I have zero idea how laws and business work.

I have nonissue with code , because i have all of it. And i am thinking about
deploying them as my own business.

~~~
throwaway_chan
I just want to do this project that i dreamed about.

~~~
phonon
Pay off the family friend, and have them sign a full release. Otherwise, you
run the risk of investing huge amounts of effort and time into the business,
and then finally,when it is successful, he comes out of the woodwork and asks
for 50% of it.

------
TaylorAlexander
I can’t provide a good answer to your question, but as a failed solo founder
my talk on my experience may interest you:
[https://youtu.be/huOzokY_fME](https://youtu.be/huOzokY_fME)

In particular in the Q&A I talk about some things I would have done
differently. But one of those things was that I would not be a solo founder
again - I just don’t have all the skills necessary to both do the product and
the business side.

------
Dowwie
It seemed that Hell had a better chance at freezing over before I could cold-
network a viable relationship with a prospective technical co-founder worth
his/her salt, so rather than give up I chose to work towards my goal as best I
could on my own. Many years have past since. It's been a humbling, very long
journey.

I would love to personally connect with technical solo founders who can
relate.

~~~
Vanderson
I had a similar situation, I had a partner at the beginning but since that
failed dramatically I had to dive into the deep end on my own. Running a
business is just as much work (or more work in some ways) as building the tech
for the business.

I did Startup School this past fall, and it was very helpful to get in contact
with other people in startup mode. And I just got an email the other day
notifying me that Tiny Seed ([https://tinyseed.com/](https://tinyseed.com/))
is opening up for applications in 10 days.

The premise I liked about Tiny Seed is similar to how YC does things, group
the businesses together. I think it may at least be another avenue for
connecting with other startup founders.

------
crispytx
If you know how to program, don't force the cofounder thing. It's really easy
to end up bringing on shitty cofounders. Look at Facebook and SnapChat. In my
experience it's typical to end up bringing on an Eduardo, a Winklevoss twin,
or a Reggie Brown, then you have to get rid of them because they suck and
literally aren't capable of contributing anything.

~~~
kensai
Eduardo was cool, dude. I saw it in a movie! :D

------
lazyjones
A strong idea hasn't been enough since ca. 1999. Build a prototype or a
plausible team & plan with your own money/time first.

------
kishansagathiya
Are there really any single founders? In most successful single founder
companies, there are few people who effectively does cofounder like stuff. In
this case initial recruits would just not have the cofounder title, but the
same work. Also initial recruits will stick around and will give their best
only if they have enough incentive, which is equity(a cofounder thing)

~~~
mimixco
Thomas Edison was a solo founder. So was Edwin Land (Polaroid). You could make
the case that Thomas Watson Sr. (IBM) was also a solo founder, and they all
did just fine. :-)

------
ykevinator
If your idea is in software, write a plan and write specs. Then put together a
budget and hire someone to build it. Set a threshold for failure and one for
further investment. Don't put the cart before the horse, write planning docs
and budgets. Draw sketches. Do all the brain dump work and commit to a hard
scope, out everything else in the back log. Good luck!

------
smt88
Stop thinking about your idea as being good or bad. Start with customers. What
will they pay for right now?

Ideas don’t have value without the ability to execute. If all you can offer is
an idea (no money, no sales pipeline, no engineering) then you shouldn’t start
a company. No worthwhile cofounder would work with you.

------
mrkurt
The mechanics aren't the hard part, I don't think. Managing emotions and being
energetic are. If I were trying to start a company on my own I'd make sure I
had a hobby that involved interactions with other people, and then try to find
people to talk to about company building stuff.

------
wh-uws
Don't. You can. But you can also run full speed into the side of a building.

One will get the lesson faster than the other... and it isn't the one where
you spend 6 to 12 months lying to yourself and everyone around you about how
you are figuring it out before realizing that you actually aren't a super
genius and you actually can't do everything by yourself and you NEED other
people.

Why because of what I tell literally every person that asks me about doing
this now... At the end of the day even if you were a super genius at
everything it takes to make a business be successful... you will run out of
time in the day to do everything.

You HAVE to be able to bring other awesome people on to help you or you will
burn out and fail.

If its not painfully obvious by now I am speaking from experience.

I tried I failed. That doesn't mean that you will but I just can't recommend
anyone try to do this kind of thing by themselves.

I tell people now I feel like the first true test of your business is
convincing other people to help your work on it... if you can't convince even
1 other person to help you... do you really even have anything?

------
tiburon
there are many strong ideas out there yet people lack the courage to do them
or lack someone to help them. That is natural what you are in, i've had the
same feeling when I got the idea to help people listen to podcasts from blog
articles (websitevoice.com) as I am a developer myself it has not been
difficult for me to get help from good people who loved the idea. So my first
thing to do is probably talk about your idea to people who you think they can
listen to you and sharing is caring. I've been contacted from people here in
HN about if my new business needs support for design, marketing, the beginning
is difficult. Never give up a great idea you have, because if you do not do it
someone else will later do it!

------
DrNuke
It really depends on your niche, your product and the amount of work you need
to keep the entire startup going? As a rule of thumb, you just want a
functional MVP that sells, which is your first milestone. After that, it’s
open waters.

------
mrhappyunhappy
Off topic, but what to do if your cofounder is not doing anything and
contributed financially but stopped there? Worse if the service has not taken
off yet. Feel really demotivated right now while cofounder seems to have
checked out.

~~~
g10r
options: 1\. start over and don't work with the current cofounder. 2\. keep
going with current product, structure co-founders financial contribution as an
investment (use a SAFE or something) and remove the person from day to day
operations in the company.

------
tixocloud
Single founder here as well with an enterprise startup. The path is definitely
quite different but the principles are the same: sell your vision to everyone
- customers, co-founders, employees, investors.

------
rajacombinator
Two paths. 1) start selling to and building for customers. 2) start recruiting
cofounder(s) then fundraise. Which one is better depends on the nature of your
startup and skill set.

------
Kinnard
Also:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18140138](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18140138)

------
sharemywin
start with the smallest workable version of your idea. if your technical build
the coolest prototype of your product you can.

------
solarized
connect to a friends or team who decent at marketing. so you can focusing the
energy to build the product. while friends spend their energy to supply the
market demand. mutualism simbiotic.

we have done this for two years since 2016. our product has installed in 12
hospital accross the country.

------
Ace__
Hello NNS.

Some questions first:

1\. What do you mean by strong idea? Why is it strong? I am not knocking you
on this. I myself do not share the disdain for ideas when compared to
execution. We know it's down to the execution, but give me a great idea any
day of the week.

2\. What is your domain experience in regards to the idea? Are they in the
same domain?

If I can answer the second part of your question first: "...attracting co-
founders and talent to work with you." Before I go into the main body of my
reply, if by co-founders you mean a programmer, then my advice is don't go
down the path of something like:

"I have done the hard part, you push your paying jobs aside, sort out the code
and prepare yourself for the type of riches only those standing on checkered
floors are accustomed to. 5% of the business sound about right?"

You may not even need a programmer off-the-bat anyway. The tech isn't the
solution. The tech is a scalable efficient conduit for the solution. Customers
couldn't care less if their woes were alleviated and goals were attained via
tech or a rubber band.

Anyway, how to attract:

You know the cliche sales question "Sell me this pen?". How can you sell the
pen to someone who doesn't give a stationary? You can't, and you don't,
because you don't know what need they have for the pen, what it brings into
their life, etc, etc, the value of the pen to them. Same thing with attracting
co-founders. If you attempt to attract them straight away, with nothing
tangible to show, then you have one main option:

1\. You need to find out what they think, what they feel, where they are
coming from, where they currently are, where they might be heading to; in
regards to your strong idea. If there is resonance, if they are on a path that
suggests the journey could be shared, for they for a period of time are
heading in similar directions, then there is a chance. However this chance is
small unless you can show various qualities they are looking for. Honestly I
don't even know the qualities really, maybe a few at best: hunger, tenacity,
vision, self-belief (a stop before it goes into self-delusion), point to prove
(to themselves), etc. I just summarise it by saying, they want to see if this
person is just a talker or a doer. Have you got it within you to stay the
course? Are you going to jump ship at the first sight of an iceberg or are you
going to stand your ground and pull out your violin as the iceberg approaches?

Some people look for passion. I don't. If that works for them, fair play, who
am I to say otherwise? However for me, passion? Nah. I leave passion for the
Don Juan's, the Cassanovas and the Lotharios, for I have seen the passion in
the divorced couples, in the broken hearts, and the jilted lovers. You'll need
to find what fuels you, and make sure you to show it to others, not just in
words but with deeds as well. None of this rubbish fake it till you make it,
then the following week you're sat there with Impostor Syndrome. You be by
doing, and do by being.

Anyway, as you work on your idea, moving it away from just in your head into
something others can evaluate, you will increase your chances of attracting
co-founders et al. I personally wouldn't bother with attracting anyone. Just
get your head down and work on your self, and thus your idea. As this process
occurs and you obtain targeted feedback, and let relevant entities know of it,
you will start to attract people. But it needs to be targeted feedback. Just
as you don't ask your mum as described in The Mom Test, because you she loves
everything you do; you don't ask your dad either cos it's just not good
enough, it won't work, etc, etc. No point asking anybody too close to you, bar
a select few who don't let feelings come in the way. No point asking anybody
other than assumed target audience, and even then pinch of salt, and a mixture
of early adopters, laggards, etc, etc.

As for the first part of your question go about "founding your startup". I
think you need to be wary of Survivorship Bias, Confirmation Bias, etc. Stay
away from the "I went to bed, woke up, boom, overnight success-ed it" brigade.
I have my own biases. I am filtering reality to verify my perception and my
place within it. I read some of the other comments, informative and
insightful. Sell or build first depends on many factors: to who, what, where,
when, how, etc. I looked into this for quite a while, too long to say Lean
with a straight face really, and I kept coming back to my own bias, am I
deluded, am I lying to myself and do I not even know it, how little do I know,
etc, etc.

Based on that, and the riskiest assumption out of the lot being do I really
know, I have to say that you start by looking at the problem. My primary
domain experience is in marketing, and the first thing I always do is audit
the whole shebang. You have to find out where you do really stand, what do you
really know, who else is standing in this space, what are they saying, etc,
etc, in order to then plot a course to where you want to be.

Forget solution, tech, marketing, forget customer discovery as well. The first
thing you need to do is be equipped with knowledge to not only stand on
slightly firmer ground, but also when customer discovery does take place,
which it needs to very early on, is be able to sort the wheat from the chaff,
otherwise you are not really in a position to ascertain the value and the
validity of the information obtained. You see it quite a bit in customer
discovery classes, people getting out of the building with no reason nor rhyme
as to who they actually interview. They interview every Tom, Dick and Sally,
with no regards to if their opinion is even relevant, let alone valuable. Now
there is a danger here in that, you don't want to be biased in that you seek
to verify your research, but then it comes down to if you want to 'prove' you
are right, or if you want the truth.

In the customer discovery you seek to not only ascertain if the problem is
validated, but which target audience seems the most viable to go with first. I
prefer not to go in hard on one segment, unless I have a strong
thought/feeling that this is the segment afflicted with the problem. It
depends really, on how much knowledge and insight you have, there are no real
set in stone rules, just don't tick boxes for the sake of it, nor ignore a box
solely on the basis of your own 'knowledge'.

When it comes to actual problem evaluation, look at root causes, factors, pain
points, scenarios, etc, as well as noting the language used for usage down the
line in various things. Use qual and quant methods as well as probing from
multiple angles, looking for consistency and coherence (or inconsistency and
contradictory), when it comes to problem severity, frequency, emotional
response, etc.

After customer discovery, I'd say take a quick look at the market landscape,
not too heavy, for you can end up being influenced by what others are doing,
and who knows, your approach, your idea, etc, may well go far beyond what
others are doing. Stay in contact with those you interview, certainly the ones
who display certain early adopter traits, but you also need some laggards, and
some that resonate with the vision (the end goal), for problem is just a
roadblock from A to B.

I'll skip some of the other things I would mention here, message is too long.
So:

Ascertaining market demand: all for it, but not some lame landing page 3 lines
and a sign-up box, that shows a lack of insight, lack of understanding, lack
of resonance, et al.

Building MVP: minimum is not in a bubble, look at the market, the competition,
the audience expectations, minimum is fluid and ever increasing in some areas.
You are below minimum if you can't hold your own against the competition on
one front at least.

As you can tell from the other replies to your question, there are no absolute
truths, so whatever your journey is, I wish you luck.

Cheers, Ace.

------
matchagaucho
Your Co-Founder is most likely somebody you already know. Make a list...
approach them.

------
nyrulez
I am in the same situation as you and while I don't have success yet (I just
started three months ago), I have made many mistakes and have learned a lot.
Here are a few tips:

\- As an engineer, I got into a building frenzy in the beginning, and equated
product building to building a successful venture. They turn out to be quite
different in practice.

\- Start getting interested users to sign up as soon as you can. Create a
landing page, create a clear sincere description of the benefits (not just
features), run it by as many people you can, and have a email signup so you
can do that while you are building it. I have one at
[https://stockquanta.com](https://stockquanta.com) and it has been quite
successful in getting sign ups. I am still a month away from an MVP.

\- Read up on marketing, validation and distribution. It's difficult to manage
so many things on your own but it's still good to understand a lot of the
essentials. I read this book and found it insightful:
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FF51F8Y/ref=dp-kindle-
redirect?...](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FF51F8Y/ref=dp-kindle-
redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1)

\- I initially thought that I will build first and then show it to everyone.
That's a mistake. Try to talk to people early on about your idea and even
better show them something working. You want to see how they react and if they
truly get it. I have pivoted so many times based on how people respond. You
want criticism and the honest truth.

\- As a solo founder, the resources are limited. People have limited time.
Something my GF mentioned that I have taken to heart is that try to maximize
the user effort/user reward ratio. Think of Google...a few seconds of input
gives amazing value. Can you shape your product such that you maximize this
ratio? Can they benefit from your product within 30 seconds or 1 minute of
landing on your page? This may not be possible for every thing, but it will
force you to think of different ways your value prop can be presented. In my
early experience, nothing sells better than a product that actually delivers
true value in a short time frame.

\- Have Plan B, Plan C, ... etc. Know that your initial proposed idea or
execution might fail. Have an idea of how you will pivot next. You could pivot
within the same conceptual domain, or have an entire new domain ready to work
on. If you are relying on one thing only to succeed, that's a very brittle
setup. The first product or service is mostly to optimize learning for the
long haul. Learn everything you can about various things within and outside
product. If you end up succeeding with the first attempt, that's an added
bonus :)

\- Read a few business books that relate to the lean startup, product
validation, common mistakes early on. Learn from others' mistakes as much as
you can so you reduce the likelihood of repeating them.

\- Know that you will make many mistakes and there will be many dead ends.
Don't compare your chaotic efforts with seemingly smooth success of others.
It's never really that way. Make sure you are learning at every step, able to
step back, look at the big picture and move on. Comparing your chaos to
others' success can be very disheartening and unfair so be aware of that.

\- Lastly, don't be that person who spends 2 years building and then emerging
from a den. I know many folks who have done that and results are not pretty.

------
gammateam
Find a cofounder.

I shelved ideas until I had a cofounder.

I shelved other ideas until I had a cofounder and capital.

Other ideas I built myself.

I’ve met like minded people that also had the right risk profile typically at
mixers and tech meetups on topics that I liked. Never for the explicit purpose
of meeting a cofounder. Just people that happened to be in the same fireside
chat as me that contributed good conversation. Its all luck but you can
improve the odds.

