Here's my $0.02. On a Co-Founder: 1) Like raising kids as a single parent, it's possible but it's far better with a partner. Same thing goes for being a Solo

Here's my $0.02. On a Co-Founder: 1) Like raising kids as a single parent, it's possible but it's far better with a partner. Same thing goes for being a Solo Founder vs having a Co-Founder. The magic number, in my opinion, is 2 total Co-Founders for a startup. 2) The right cofounder will complement your expertise. It's basically "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". 3) Make a list of everyone in your friend group, those you've worked with in the past 3 years and maybe even a few you went to college with. Mark those who are formidable, reach out to all the ones you marked and just have a conversation with each of them to see where it takes you. But have those conversations with the intent that any one of them could potentially be a Co-Founder. On getting started: 1) There's literally no hard and fast rule. But I think it's a good idea to keep your day job, and spend evening and weekends working on pulse checking your product with potential customers/users. Prioritize heavily on getting in front of customers. Patents don't matter much. 2) See how far you can take this as a business on your own while looking for a Co-Founder. Do both in parallel. 3) Limit yourself to a fixed time period, maybe a month, to lift this off the ground. And tell yourself, if you haven't seen any progress in a month after trying hard then maybe it's not worth it. Traction matters most, try and get some in any form within that month. For example, I know of people who are building electric motorbikes who got initial interest just by taking a detailed 3D printed model to potential distribution partners. Good luck! :) PS: Counterintuitively, I think having a supportive family gives you more purpose to build something enduring and meaningful.