4 ms·

One person company

8 points by gdltec 17y ago

YCombinator says: We're reluctant to accept one-person companies, though we have funded a couple. I disagree with YC being reluctant to one-person companies, being a one-person start-up avoids all the time you waste trying to agree on ideas, deadlines, responsibilities, etc... I also understand the advantages of sharing ideas and work, however, you can actually have one or two other people help you with your ideas and giving you advice without them being founders... that is just my opinion. I hope YC will start to NOT being so reluctant to one-person companies... they should now more than anyone that human resources can be added at any time if necessary ;)

jganetsk 17y ago
Apply and maybe you'll be part of the couple that get funded. They didn't say that they wouldn't interview you.
mahmud 17y ago
Solo "co-founding" is HELL. I am doing it until I can find another Arabic speaking hacker who can switch between ar and en and able to travel 20% of the year (emphasis on hacker.) I am bleeding, man. Most days pass with me either not doing much of anything but feeling sorry for myself, or going on 3 day streaks kicking, minor but important, ass and taking pseudonyms. You could be the most skilled Jack of all trades, but the moment you start solo you can count on spending 50% of your time LEARNING on the job. Just a list of things I have done since I woke up today: 1) responded to emails in 4 different languages. wrote some. 2) wrote CSS, for 5 different browsers until my arm hurt. 3) wrote html, javascript, postfix config, make files, shell, and C. 4) wrote excerpts for manual. 5) took phone calls, pausing between them as I switch my spoken language. 6) bitched about Internet Explorer. 7) found out I was benchmarking my fast object store on the wrong server; I was ssh'ed to my fat box at home, not the deployment VPS. 8) made 1 pixel wide graphics with gradient for repeat-x; got RSI with it. In between all this I read industry RSS feeds. Then talked to family, friends, acquaintances and potential angels; adjusting my pitch for each, encouraging some and scaring others. All this time I'm drinking coffee, smoking and eating in my car with laptop. Or I am crossing the street with notebook, gesturing wildly and modeling interaction and snappy animated ajaxy stuff with my hands, oblivious to the oncoming Ford Tauri. You will talk with tens of people everyday and NONE will know how you truly feel or where things really stand. You just can't; your loved ones wouldn't understand, and the cognoscenti in your social circle couldn't be trusted. There you are, a poet sworn to secrecy, a bard turned backup vocalist for white noise. It's draining. But it's GOOD :-)
- ajju 17y ago
  What are you building?
  - mahmud 17y ago
    advertising-ng.
    - ajju 17y ago
      For the arab world? Or by outsourcing to the arab world?
      - mahmud 17y ago
        something like that. wait and see, or use the email in my profile :-)
- gdltec 17y ago
  Exactly my point, do not believe for a second that having a co-founder will change any of the above, at least not a lot. I believe that not having another person to dream with about your project actually helps you by forcing yourself to convince others of your idea, friends, potential clients/users, etc... Being a solo founder helps you getting out of your bubble and it also forces you to describe your idea in a way that other "regular" people will understand, yes it's draining... but it is good. :)
csbartus 17y ago
It's all about the speed. Once an idea for a startup is born, once an idea is getting to materialize also others in different parts of the world will seize the same idea. (think about scientific discoveries: a couple of teams are working on the same subject unaware of each other) And a race will begin. If you are an one person company you cannot compete with a small team: - in the same time you'll deploy less code - you'll burn out faster - the clairvoyance to your business will be shaded by the lack of feedback from your unexisting peers Alone perhaps a successful open source project can be made, serious business not.
- gdltec 17y ago
  I agree with all of your points but this one: "- the clairvoyance to your business will be shaded by the lack of feedback from your unexisting peers" Are you kidding me? you don't need co-founders to get feedback of your application, that is why you have friends, family, ex-co-workers, etc... :). Also, are you saying that an open source project is not/cannot be a serious business? that is wrong - 100%. Thanks for the feedback! Ricardo (gdltec).
  - csbartus 17y ago
    > you don't need co-founders to get feedback of your application, that is why you have friends, family, ex-co-workers, etc... You need co-founders to _design_ your application, to come out with a release to get feedback. >Also, are you saying that an open source project is not/cannot be a serious business? that is wrong - 100%. I see many successful open source projects are backing up successful businesses providing the infrastructure not the final product.
yannis 17y ago
A one person company is also an indication of the person not being able to do the next step, being a manager and a team builder.

One person company

8 points by gdltec 17y ago

jganetsk 17y ago

Apply and maybe you'll be part of the couple that get funded. They didn't say that they wouldn't interview you.

mahmud 17y ago

Solo "co-founding" is HELL. I am doing it until I can find another Arabic speaking hacker who can switch between ar and en and able to travel 20% of the year (emphasis on hacker.) I am bleeding, man. Most days pass with me either not doing much of anything but feeling sorry for myself, or going on 3 day streaks kicking, minor but important, ass and taking pseudonyms. You could be the most skilled Jack of all trades, but the moment you start solo you can count on spending 50% of your time LEARNING on the job. Just a list of things I have done since I woke up today: 1) responded to emails in 4 different languages. wrote some. 2) wrote CSS, for 5 different browsers until my arm hurt. 3) wrote html, javascript, postfix config, make files, shell, and C. 4) wrote excerpts for manual. 5) took phone calls, pausing between them as I switch my spoken language. 6) bitched about Internet Explorer. 7) found out I was benchmarking my fast object store on the wrong server; I was ssh'ed to my fat box at home, not the deployment VPS. 8) made 1 pixel wide graphics with gradient for repeat-x; got RSI with it. In between all this I read industry RSS feeds. Then talked to family, friends, acquaintances and potential angels; adjusting my pitch for each, encouraging some and scaring others. All this time I'm drinking coffee, smoking and eating in my car with laptop. Or I am crossing the street with notebook, gesturing wildly and modeling interaction and snappy animated ajaxy stuff with my hands, oblivious to the oncoming Ford Tauri. You will talk with tens of people everyday and NONE will know how you truly feel or where things really stand. You just can't; your loved ones wouldn't understand, and the cognoscenti in your social circle couldn't be trusted. There you are, a poet sworn to secrecy, a bard turned backup vocalist for white noise. It's draining. But it's GOOD :-)

ajju 17y ago
What are you building?
- mahmud 17y ago
  advertising-ng.
  - ajju 17y ago
    For the arab world? Or by outsourcing to the arab world?
    - mahmud 17y ago
      something like that. wait and see, or use the email in my profile :-)
gdltec 17y ago
Exactly my point, do not believe for a second that having a co-founder will change any of the above, at least not a lot. I believe that not having another person to dream with about your project actually helps you by forcing yourself to convince others of your idea, friends, potential clients/users, etc... Being a solo founder helps you getting out of your bubble and it also forces you to describe your idea in a way that other "regular" people will understand, yes it's draining... but it is good. :)

csbartus 17y ago

It's all about the speed. Once an idea for a startup is born, once an idea is getting to materialize also others in different parts of the world will seize the same idea. (think about scientific discoveries: a couple of teams are working on the same subject unaware of each other) And a race will begin. If you are an one person company you cannot compete with a small team: - in the same time you'll deploy less code - you'll burn out faster - the clairvoyance to your business will be shaded by the lack of feedback from your unexisting peers Alone perhaps a successful open source project can be made, serious business not.

gdltec 17y ago
I agree with all of your points but this one: "- the clairvoyance to your business will be shaded by the lack of feedback from your unexisting peers" Are you kidding me? you don't need co-founders to get feedback of your application, that is why you have friends, family, ex-co-workers, etc... :). Also, are you saying that an open source project is not/cannot be a serious business? that is wrong - 100%. Thanks for the feedback! Ricardo (gdltec).
- csbartus 17y ago
  > you don't need co-founders to get feedback of your application, that is why you have friends, family, ex-co-workers, etc... You need co-founders to _design_ your application, to come out with a release to get feedback. >Also, are you saying that an open source project is not/cannot be a serious business? that is wrong - 100%. I see many successful open source projects are backing up successful businesses providing the infrastructure not the final product.

yannis 17y ago

A one person company is also an indication of the person not being able to do the next step, being a manager and a team builder.