

Ask HN: single founder companies and startups? - singlefounder

Hi all,<p>I recently left a fairly lucrative consulting career to follow my dream of starting a data mining firm. I find myself very lucky because I have the technical skills to code and develop the analytic tools I want to sell, and also know the business side of things (marketing, networking, pitching, etc.) thanks to the consulting work I've been doing. Furthermore, my job was one that didn't really expose me to many entrepreneurial people.<p>As I move forward, I've been warned by many "startup veterans" that going it alone is a bad idea. Even a lot of the accelerators and incubators require you to have a co-founder.<p>So wanted to ask HN -- what do you guys think? Any single founder companies out there? What were your experience?<p>Thanks...
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keiferski
Having no cofounder is better than having a bad one, and starting a company
solo is better than not starting one at all.

Don't get too hung up on the latest startup / incubator trends; plenty of
companies have been started with one founder. Just go out and do it.

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singlefounder
Thank you for the positive thoughts. I'll have to check back here next time I
have doubts! :)

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timjahn
I love having a co-founder.

Having somebody who's as invested as you are in succeeding to bounce ideas off
of, confer with, and make big decisions with is invaluable.

Having that extra mind that complements yours is something I couldn't go
without.

My biggest problem with going it alone (from experience) is you only have
yourself to ask for advice.

I wrote about a few specific benefits of having a co-founder here:
[http://www.entrepreneursunpluggd.com/blog/3-tips-for-
choosin...](http://www.entrepreneursunpluggd.com/blog/3-tips-for-choosing-a-
business-partner)

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singlefounder
Thanks for the link. That's a great article and something I'll keep in mind as
I start working with more people.

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ayh2
I started my current company as the sole founder in 2007 and it has been good
so far. Compared to previous ventures where I was a co-founder, more of my
energy is spent on building the business as opposed to too much discussions.

However, this time around, I need to pay special attention to asking for
feedback and be exceptionally open to it. Often times, feedback contradicts
each other and I'm glad I can make the final decision by arguing just with
myself. So much more efficient.

The journey is very lonely though and it takes a lot more work. Fighting alone
is not easy.

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singlefounder
I think the last part is what really scares investors / incubators / etc. when
it comes to single cofounders... "Fighting alone is not easy" but if you have
the experience, vision, etc. it's still possible to pull off. At least that's
what I tell myself.

It sounds like you moved from a tech co-founder to a biz / tech founder. Is
this a fair summary? Would be curious to hear more!

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ayh2
I doubled majored in ComSci and Economics so I'm a little bit of both. Tech is
definitely the half that I enjoy more.

There are a lot of good resources about the biz side of things for consumer
internet startups, so learning about that has not been too difficult.

However, I do try to hire more out-going people to complement me. IE, I push
my team to connect with people at meetups more than I push myself :P

There are talented people out there and I've found it is possible to recruit
those who complement me without making everyone co-founders.

Once the startup has gotten some traction, recruiting and everything else get
easier. If you have a tech background yourself, you may not need co-founders
to get to that stage.

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singlefounder
I always thought it was easier for tech-focused founders because of this. I
feel like learning the business side is easier than the tech side, but I
imagine this is a function of the type of person I am.

Thanks for the positive response!

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dangrossman
"Founder", "cofounder" and "startup" were not in my vocabulary when I started
building web apps as a teen. By the second year of college I was paying myself
six figures a year with the profits from those apps. Design, development,
marketing, bookkeeping, tax planning, legal work... I've always just assumed
that if I'm willing to put in the time, I'll be able to handle it myself... so
far that's been true.

There's little chance I'm going to grow to a hundred million users or be
bought out by a Google while doing it all myself, and that's fine with me.

~~~
singlefounder
Side question: have you been tempted to grow much bigger? If so, what was your
rationale for sticking to it alone?

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jaxn
I am in a pretty similar boat (analytics, coder, understand business side).

I am the sole founder of bizen.com. Went through Jumpstart Foundry in Fall
2010.

It is hard going it alone. I think that I will succeed, but having a co-
founder (especially if also technical) would be REALLY handy.

Maybe not for a services firm (which it sounds like what you are doing).

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singlefounder
Actually, we should definitely chat. What you're doing is similar to my plan,
though I'm looking at a slightly different vertical.

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glimcat
A good team will often beat a good individual, but a team thrown together for
the sake of having one will often amount to nothing.

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singlefounder
That's a nice piece of wisdom. Thank you! :)

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chris_dcosta
Think about it from the investor's point of view: if you get hit by a bus...

That's the basic driver (no pun intended) behind this idea. Personally I think
that if you can get a team _without_ a co-founder, that's the best of all
worlds, because you can concentrate on _your_ vision without it being diluted.

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singlefounder
That's the mindset I'm in -- if I can build a team and drive with my vision,
have the mentors / team mates who are willing to challenge me, then I'd be
fine as a single founder. Thanks for that.

I'd also imagine the "hit by a bus" issue still applies if you've got 2+
cofounders. If your tech lead goes missing and was the brains behind the
algorithms / IT stack / whatever, then you're still likely screwed.

Thanks for the thoughts!

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singlefounder
Hi all, thanks for the replies. Good point on the whole "doing it alone is
better than not at all" -- something I forgot to consider when thinking about
my career decisions! :)

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PonyGumbo
I've done it both ways (previously with a co-founder, now on my own). They're
totally different businesses, though - I couldn't have done the last one
without a co-founder.

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singlefounder
Can you elaborate? What would make one harder to pull off without a cofounder,
in this case?

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PonyGumbo
My previous company was in the online retail space, and now I'm doing SaaS.
The process of getting a physical product from a manufacturer to a customer is
just much more involved. It took a minimum of three people just to operate the
business. I think a co-founder is necessary when you lack the domain knowledge
to operate and grow the business yourself, or the business itself requires
more hands on deck and you're unable to pay an appropriate wage.

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singlefounder
Very interesting and insightful on the domain knowledge piece. Thanks for the
reply.

