“#3 (a richer source of new ideas) may be even more important than #1 (emotional support)”
As a single founder, I don’t agree with that. Once I passed a few hundred signups, I found that people were willing to write in and tell me what they liked and didn’t like about my service. Now, I find myself with a list of things to get done because that’s what my customers want (not to mention what I personally want). Like the author, I “never feel at a loss for ideas (and have more than I know what to do with)”.
Emotional support, however, is hard because it’s not something you can take care of on your own; until you have people validating your work as worthwhile, it can be difficult to believe in yourself.
I think that “two (or more) heads are better than one” for solving issues, whether they be technical or with regard to how an idea should be executed.
Otherwise, nice essay (although I was hoping for a discussion on why single founders use “we” in their text instead of “I”).
I was hoping for a discussion on why single founders use “we” in their text instead of “I”
As was I. My own thoughts are that "I" sounds unnatural when you're talking about a non-human entity like a corporation. Somehow, "we" does not. When I say "I launched a product", I feel like it means that I, the person did it. When I say "We launched a product", it means the company did it, even if it's just me. "We" might be more than me (or not me at all!) in the future but I will always be just me.
I think it depends on the person. I don't have any problem at all with the emotional support, but I really miss being able to sit down with someone and have a strong brainstorming session. I do talk to other people to get their advice/ideas, but it is not the same as talking to someone who also has their head in the game and is doing it 100% like you.
I was partly referring to ideas in solving issues as well because sometimes you just solve problems and sometimes problems are an opportunity to look at things in an entirely new light. People who can do both well are rare in my experience.
Regarding "we" vs. "I", I actually had that in my draft but it didn't flow well with the rest of the post.
As a single founder, I don’t agree with that. Once I passed a few hundred signups, I found that people were willing to write in and tell me what they liked and didn’t like about my service. Now, I find myself with a list of things to get done because that’s what my customers want (not to mention what I personally want). Like the author, I “never feel at a loss for ideas (and have more than I know what to do with)”.
Emotional support, however, is hard because it’s not something you can take care of on your own; until you have people validating your work as worthwhile, it can be difficult to believe in yourself.
I think that “two (or more) heads are better than one” for solving issues, whether they be technical or with regard to how an idea should be executed.
Otherwise, nice essay (although I was hoping for a discussion on why single founders use “we” in their text instead of “I”).