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As a solo founder for 10+ years, what I can say is that all "rules" in business are "rules of thumb"... Not laws. It's ok to be a solo founder... Sometimes. Bou
by idm_guru 6y ago
As a solo founder for 10+ years, what I can say is that all "rules" in business are "rules of thumb"... Not laws. It's ok to be a solo founder... Sometimes. Bounce ideas off your team instead of your co-founders. Make use of mentors. There is a workaround for all your challenges. I also recommend listening to podcasts with other founders. I host a podcast called "Open Source Underdogs". Lots of good advice there for all founders... Even if you're not working on open source. But there are plenty more. You need outside ideas... Just seek them out.
Don't burn out your friends talking about your startup. It's not that they aren't interested. But nobody needs a single vector relationship.
Also remember that VC's give tons of bad advice to founders. Or rather founders tend to put VC's on a pedestal, and misinterpret what they are saying as advice, when it is really just filter, convenient lies or lazy analysis. Be hugely skeptical of anything VC's tell you, including "you need co-founders".
- dansingerman 6y agoTotally agreed; in general the advice a VC will give you will be what they consider you need to do for them to be interested in investing in you. This is not the same as ‘good’ advice, and will often be diametrically opposed to it.
- newsch 6y agoLooks like an interesting podcast! Unfortunately, my podcast client doesn't load anything earlier than episode 22, and Spotify doesn't either - it looks like the RSS feed doesn't contain the earlier episodes. Is that expected behavior? I was particularly surprised to learn that Moodle is open-source. I used it in school before the world of software development and open-source was on my radar.
- galacticdessert 6y agoI managed to find playable early episodes here -> https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/open-source-underdogs-open-source-underdogs-n0_Zq8s4LbE/ https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/open-source-underdogs-o...
- p0nce 6y agoSolo founder for 5+ years. The above message is right on point. One things that I realized is that what happens to your business tells more about what _market_ you are in, that it tells about yourself as a founder. A great entrepreneur in a bad market will still have a bad outcome, and vice versa. Like a program is not about the programmer, a business is not "about" its founding member(s). So a good advice you don't hear often could be "start in an easy market".