

The single founder dilemma - alexshye
http://alexshye.wordpress.com/2013/06/06/the-single-founder-dilemma/

======
gmays
I’ve developed an affinity for single founders because I am one. I'm working
on my first product now and I don't have any experience working with a
cofounder (or even in the tech space), but knowing how I am and how I work, so
I prefer to primarily working alone until can't (i.e. when I need full-time
support). So far, I've only outsourced a few minor development tasks to start
building relationships with developers I’d want to work with down the road.

I've been working on this for about 1.5yrs part time, put $15,000 into it so
far (mostly infrastructure), and it's finally releasable. Though I haven't
started marketing yet, I've put in to leave my current career in two months
and do this full-time. I’m prepared for it to take a few years to get going,
but that’s OK. Thankfully, due to past investments and zero debt I'll even be
able to continue contributing to savings even if my revenue is $0, which
essentially means I could do this indefinitely. I should also mention that my
recurring costs including CA LLC tax and all services are under $300/mo.,
which contributes to my sustainability. I’ve found that single founders with a
bit of patience can significantly minimize costs without sacrificing quality;
we want to be smart, not cheap. My infrastructure costs scale with my users
and I don’t have a free trial or free plan (B2B), so cost increases here are a
non-issue.

I took a month of leave recently to get a feel for how working alone full-time
on this project would be. It was awesome because all of my habits were
magnified. My wife was out of town for this month (she travels a lot) so it
was just me. I found myself working on the project all day, every day except
to go to the gym twice a day, pick up groceries, or go to Costco for a $3.76
pizza and hot dog lunch every once in a while. While working out I'd either
listen to Mixergy and similar startup podcasts or read business books if I was
on the bike. I loved it. It was ultra-productive, but also sustainable, not
some unhealthy sprint.

Over the past year I've been considering the advice of validating assumptions
with customers and getting traction before pursuing it full-time, but I've
decided to mostly ignore that advice. Additionally, I've only asked for
feedback on the design of the sales site, not on how the product works. I have
a clear vision of the company I want to build, how I want the product to work,
and what my customers actually need (I'm familiar with the market). I've had
difficulty explaining the idea because there isn't anything similar enough to
compare it to, but I’m getting better at relating it to existing solutions
that it combines. I look forward to working with paying customers in the next
few months and further improving based on their recommendations.

If I had a cofounder, I doubt my vision could be as pure as it is. I'm
building the company I want, how I want, and a product I believe needs to
exist, something I see as the future of this market and I’ve decided to go all
in. It’s weird because I read how often startups fail, how difficult it is,
and how being a single founder makes it even more difficult. For some reason,
I feel like this isn’t risky, but maybe it’s because I’ve built it that way.
As long as I put time into the right things, I know it will work out. I have
pangs of doubt from time to time, but that’s all they are. I feel a bit silly
because I’ve never worked in tech (military background), this is my first
startup, and I think I should feel more worried than I am, but whatever. I
love it and I love being a single founder. It'll be interesting to see whether
or not I pick up a cofounder down the road once I get traction and become much
busier.

~~~
argonz
I've got curious when you mentioned infrastructure and years to settle in the
market, could you tell/elaborate your product?

Love your zen but do you socialize besides customers? If not is it a trait of
yours or you just choose it as the needs of your startup?

~~~
gmays
I'll share more about the product in two months when I start working on it
full-time and can spend more time crafting the message I want, though it's
quite tempting to do it now.

It seems to be just how I am, I don't think about it much. Though if I were a
few hours north in Silicon Valley I'd likely spend more time socializing with
like-minded people. Whether that'd be productive or not depends on the people
(or me?) as it seems most meetups/conferences are a waste of time and most
people really don't do anything, they just like thinking and talking about it.
Unfortunately, wearing the jersey doesn't make you part of the team.

I really believe that you're the average of the people you spend the most time
with, so I limit my time with people I don't look up to. Unfortunately, now
the only practical way to spend time with people I look up to is by reading
books and listening to Mixergy and other interviews and podcasts. But from
that standpoint, I have an incredible circle of friends and mentors. There is
so much information out there just waiting to be consumed and our brains have
incredible plasticity, they change based on their diet.

If you subscribe to the idea that you're a representation of those you spend
the most time with, I think that many forget that when you read and respond to
comments on HN and other places, you're spending time with those people. Is it
making you better? Avoiding extensive interaction with any one community
limits group think and blinders. Homogeneity makes us think small without even
realizing it, imagine sitting in a dark room with a candle vs. a light bulb.

I'm pretty hard on myself in terms of achievement, fitness, and productivity,
but I've learned I can be hard on others (including my wife) and judgmental to
an extent, so I try to avoid such situations. I've also learned that I'm hard
on people because I care and I believe they're capable of more, something I've
channeled into my current startup which essentially has the purpose of making
businesses better.

I don't blog or use Twitter/Facebook/whatever much either, which saves a lot
of time. I think this thread is an example. I rarely share my thoughts, but
when I do explaining them is time consuming. I don't mind, but I do feel
guilty that I'm not doing something else. It's smart to be ruthless with your
time; it's really all you have.

As a single founder this sort of independence has really worked for me, but
then again I guess we'll see what happens after a few years when I have some
experience under my belt. I've learned so much about the startup world in the
past year, but it always surprises me how much I still have to learn. Good
thing I'm always hungry.

------
infogaufire
I have been a single founder 2 times (one of the companies got sold and other
one is doing good) and 2 times with co-founders. And I personally find
starting up a single founder.

You mentioned you have good ideas more than 2 times i guess, you will have to
take that thing out of your mind. When you are onto something, burn rest of
the ideas for atleast 6 months.

If you can't find co-founder, surround yourself with team members, start with
hiring people remotely china,india,bangladesh.

Build prototype, no full fledged product. Try to fail fast if things doesn't
pick after few months to save some time and fatigue. By prototype I mean, that
one feature that separates you from others.

Learn to delegate work. As a programmer first, founder second - I used to
micro manage things which gave me really bad time with my first startup. But
as you start delegating work to your remote workers / employees, you will
start feeling better.

I would advice you to build something with atleast some business model. Its
tough to create instagrams or tumblrs of the world.

Hope this helps.

~~~
Sealy
Its good to hear from another single founder. I'm at a stage now where I have
a product running and I'm looking to grow and/or seek VC help.

What puts me off is the fact that they are less interested if you do not have
a co-founder. But surely I should be in a good position if my site is already
monetizing itself??? It means that my business model is working.

@infogaufire, how did you manage accounting and marketing? Did you delegate
that too?

~~~
alexshye
"@infogaufire, how did you manage accounting and marketing? Did you delegate
that too?"

I would love to hear about this too. One of my other biggest challenges, as a
tech guy, has been figuring out how to go about all the non-tech stuff.

~~~
OafTobark
Alex, what's your email. I can try to help best I can.

~~~
alexshye
Hey, please shoot me an email at alex@soulmix.com.

------
mswen
I also am single founder with 3 products built. The 3 products share a
technological base but address very different markets and somewhat different
expressions of the underlying idea.

I haven't sought any funding, but I am often in a quandary whether to spend
more of my long-term financial reserves and stay focused on building the
business around the products, or seek short term income through consulting.
Or, possibly get a full-time job and think of these three as pre-built side
projects.

I have also thought that if I could find the right salesperson/business
development person as a partner that would be ideal. But like you that takes
time that feels highly unproductive.

No easy decisions when those first (B2B) sales take so long.

------
cardine
Being a single founder is awesome. You have complete creative control, no
concerns about later disagreements, a lot more equity, and you don't have to
go it alone because you can always hire your co-founder as an employee.

