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I can tell from your post that you will absolutely hate ceding control to a VC I would recommend finding a co-founder who has similar ideals but can handle the

by spaceman_2020 4y ago

I can tell from your post that you will absolutely hate ceding control to a VC I would recommend finding a co-founder who has similar ideals but can handle the parts you don’t like doing, and has business experience. You’ll get much further without losing real control

teh_klev 4y ago
> I would recommend finding a co-founder who has similar ideals but can handle the parts you don’t like doing, and has business experience Why does this need to be a co-founder? You can hire people as employees to do the daily "business" grunt work.
- spaceman_2020 4y ago
  You want someone with skin in the game. A partner also helps in bouncing off ideas, figuring out a grander strategy, and in general, being support you can rely on. Unless OP wants a quick exit, this is a decade long journey. Having friends and partners along the way helps.
  - teh_klev 4y ago
    > You want someone with skin in the game Isn't a salary enough? As soon as you start involving "skin in the game" players then you're starting to cede control of your company. Run with an employee doing these tasks. I really don't get this mentality that a regular salaried member of staff can't, as part of their role and responsibility, work on strategy etc. Maybe a couple of years down the line you might want to open up space for a co-director for a share in your company. But loads of small companies get on just fine without bleeding their ownership and control away to others.
- gamechangr 4y ago
  Co founder is the way to go. It will increase your chances of success.
im_down_w_otp 4y ago
VC-backed CEO here, and I concur with this 1,000%.
serial_dev 4y ago
Why do you recommend to bring the person in as a co-founder? I'm not sure if I was OP (a person enjoying solving customer problems without the pressure of going global scale), I'd like to give up so much power to someone I barely know. Would you recommend against bringing in the business person as an employee, or as a contractor? A CEO for hire? Or maybe someone who can help with all kinds of operational stuff? It seems like to MRR is pretty good and the project could afford one or two full time employees relatively easily (if you hire outside of the expensive tech hubs such as SV, NYC, Austin, Seattle).
- propter_hoc 4y ago
  Second this, GP's advice is terrible. The business is founded and making really decent money. The "co-founder" ship has sailed. Hire an employee and pay them a salary and maybe kick them some options if you want them to have skin in the game - max 5% if you REALLY like them. Or hire a personal coach and pay them a retainer and do the same. Insulting and absurd notion to think that a company isn't past the "founding" stage because OP hasn't taken VC.

teh_klev 4y ago

> I would recommend finding a co-founder who has similar ideals but can handle the parts you don’t like doing, and has business experience Why does this need to be a co-founder? You can hire people as employees to do the daily "business" grunt work.

spaceman_2020 4y ago
You want someone with skin in the game. A partner also helps in bouncing off ideas, figuring out a grander strategy, and in general, being support you can rely on. Unless OP wants a quick exit, this is a decade long journey. Having friends and partners along the way helps.
- teh_klev 4y ago
  > You want someone with skin in the game Isn't a salary enough? As soon as you start involving "skin in the game" players then you're starting to cede control of your company. Run with an employee doing these tasks. I really don't get this mentality that a regular salaried member of staff can't, as part of their role and responsibility, work on strategy etc. Maybe a couple of years down the line you might want to open up space for a co-director for a share in your company. But loads of small companies get on just fine without bleeding their ownership and control away to others.
gamechangr 4y ago
Co founder is the way to go. It will increase your chances of success.

im_down_w_otp 4y ago

VC-backed CEO here, and I concur with this 1,000%.

serial_dev 4y ago

Why do you recommend to bring the person in as a co-founder? I'm not sure if I was OP (a person enjoying solving customer problems without the pressure of going global scale), I'd like to give up so much power to someone I barely know. Would you recommend against bringing in the business person as an employee, or as a contractor? A CEO for hire? Or maybe someone who can help with all kinds of operational stuff? It seems like to MRR is pretty good and the project could afford one or two full time employees relatively easily (if you hire outside of the expensive tech hubs such as SV, NYC, Austin, Seattle).

propter_hoc 4y ago
Second this, GP's advice is terrible. The business is founded and making really decent money. The "co-founder" ship has sailed. Hire an employee and pay them a salary and maybe kick them some options if you want them to have skin in the game - max 5% if you REALLY like them. Or hire a personal coach and pay them a retainer and do the same. Insulting and absurd notion to think that a company isn't past the "founding" stage because OP hasn't taken VC.