I think people are assuming that he is working on a startup exactly like they are (the same equity structure, type of business, roles, etc.) The author really

I think people are assuming that he is working on a startup exactly like they are (the same equity structure, type of business, roles, etc.) The author really isn't very clear about what he contributes or how anything is structured. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, although his second bullet point does make me nervous. He may have a performance-based equity arrangement...who knows? Some programmers are 10X as effective as others supposedly, right? "You think you're that much more effective than other founders that you can pull it off part-time?" Well, I do. I'm not the author, but I have a similar approach in regard to his first bullet point. I may have a different structure (I hire employees with equity more often than I work with 'cofounders', and I have a somewhat formal VC-ish corporate structure with outside investors for each project, but 95% of the software/internet related ideas we execute are mine, and I'm actively involved in every aspect of the companies.) I think the difference between our approach and that of most startups is related to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Myth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Myth The need for 'monomaniacal' focus from every cofounder is largely a result of having limited resources...if you can't afford an attorney, you have to learn to do it yourself. If you can't afford a designer, you have to learn to do it well yourself. And so on. You have to be a Jack-of-All-Trades out of necessity. But, once you've had a financial success or can line up backers based on your past experience, you can focus on marketing, innovation, and strategy. You work ON your business instead of IN your business, as the saying goes. I don't worry about cross-browser compatibility anymore. I have an expert for that. I don't worry about A/R, I have people for that. I don't worry about log analysis, and so on. I'm capable of doing those things and I know what to look for to monitor that things are running smoothly, but it is not a good use of my resources to actually do those things. There are people that are better than me at all of those things. I DO monitor the systems and deliverables of my coworkers, but I don't get lost in the nitty gritty details. I work on the things that I think matter the most for success. I occasionally do things I shouldn't (such as write production code) because I enjoy them, but I really wouldn't if I were optimizing everything. You'd be amazed at what you can accomplish when you aren't bogged down in minutiae. Once you have systems in place, you can really scale your expertise across a number of companies. I think my employees, cofounders, and investors are happier with this structure than they would be otherwise...but I KNOW they are wealthier because of it.