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I wanted to jump in here and to caution that finding a cofounder with the specific intent of applying for this round of YC would be a bad idea. Keep in mind tha

I wanted to jump in here and to caution that finding a cofounder with the specific intent of applying for this round of YC would be a bad idea. Keep in mind that a co-founding relationship is very much a relationship, and you have to "date" a bit before you get married — having a startup is like having a child, you want to know a potential cofounder is the right person to found a startup with first. That said, be inspired to try finding a cofounder now, work with them for a few months and keep S13 in mind — it might all fall into place by the time the next round comes around. And if you can't find a cofounder, don't be afraid of being persistant and just learning the skills necessary to build and launch startup solo, since a great cofounder is likely to come along if you already have an intriguing product launched.

devgutt 14y ago
Agree. Take the wrong co-founder and you will regret for a long time.
bravura 14y ago
I agree completely. Founder dating should take longer than one funding cycle. I posted this mainly because it was an appropriate parent story, not because I think winter cofounders should do accelerated dating.
tersiag 14y ago
Just to add, if you think you can raise your child (startup) alone than don't be afraid to do that either. You'll never know, the right co-founder may be just around the corner, if at all
- limedaring 14y ago
  Exactly. I worked on my startup for a little over a year before my current awesome cofounder joined me (approached me since I had already "proven" myself, I wasn't explicitly searching). Big fan of just leaping forward and doing it yourself. Self-promotion, two articles I wrote on the subject: "I'm a designer who learned Django and launched her first webapp in 6 weeks" http://www.limedaring.com/im-a-designer-who-learned-django-and-launched-her-first-webapp-in-6-weeks/ http://www.limedaring.com/im-a-designer-who-learned-django-a... "How to thrive as a solo non-technical founder" http://weddinglovely.com/blog/how-to-survive-as-a-solo-designer-founder/ http://weddinglovely.com/blog/how-to-survive-as-a-solo-desig...
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dinky 14y ago
Also don't be afraid of being persistent in getting feedback on your existing ideas, even if you are a solo founder. It's probably next to impossible to get early feedback on a YC application but there's now one more way to turn impossible to possible: http://lookapinky.com http://lookapinky.com
jmspring 14y ago
I don't see it as a wholly bad idea -- sometimes things do click. I think it certainly depends on the people involved. I've thought about applying as a solo-founder (knowing the caveats), but may just continue to use my spare time to flesh things out and target Spring 2013. Assuming a wet winter, that is a good time for getting some serious coding done -- less distraction to want to be outside.

devgutt 14y ago

Agree. Take the wrong co-founder and you will regret for a long time.

bravura 14y ago

I agree completely. Founder dating should take longer than one funding cycle. I posted this mainly because it was an appropriate parent story, not because I think winter cofounders should do accelerated dating.

tersiag 14y ago

Just to add, if you think you can raise your child (startup) alone than don't be afraid to do that either. You'll never know, the right co-founder may be just around the corner, if at all

limedaring 14y ago
Exactly. I worked on my startup for a little over a year before my current awesome cofounder joined me (approached me since I had already "proven" myself, I wasn't explicitly searching). Big fan of just leaping forward and doing it yourself. Self-promotion, two articles I wrote on the subject: "I'm a designer who learned Django and launched her first webapp in 6 weeks" http://www.limedaring.com/im-a-designer-who-learned-django-and-launched-her-first-webapp-in-6-weeks/ http://www.limedaring.com/im-a-designer-who-learned-django-a... "How to thrive as a solo non-technical founder" http://weddinglovely.com/blog/how-to-survive-as-a-solo-designer-founder/ http://weddinglovely.com/blog/how-to-survive-as-a-solo-desig...

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dinky 14y ago

Also don't be afraid of being persistent in getting feedback on your existing ideas, even if you are a solo founder. It's probably next to impossible to get early feedback on a YC application but there's now one more way to turn impossible to possible: http://lookapinky.com http://lookapinky.com

jmspring 14y ago

I don't see it as a wholly bad idea -- sometimes things do click. I think it certainly depends on the people involved. I've thought about applying as a solo-founder (knowing the caveats), but may just continue to use my spare time to flesh things out and target Spring 2013. Assuming a wet winter, that is a good time for getting some serious coding done -- less distraction to want to be outside.