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Ask HN: The Importance of a co-founder
21 points by p01nd3xt3r on Aug 16, 2009 | hide | past | favorite | 33 comments
I have a startup that I have been working on for a while now and it's nearing completion. I have had several people that wanted to become involved but things did not work out due to lack of dedication and/or lack of knowledge.

When applying to YC would it be better to to settle for a less than ideal co-founder or just continue working solo?

Note: I do not live in an area full of techies like SF so my options have been somewhat limited.




No doubt a co-founder is incredibly important if you're applying to YC, if just for the reason that PG says so. However, I started my company without a co-founder and we're doing fine. If you want to start a company, you shouldn't let anyone tell you that you don't have the necessary prerequisites.


I just finished the Techstars program as a sole founder, and it's _extremely_ tough to both deal with the demands of an incubator program (mentor meetings, talks, pitch practice and investors) and make progress on the product too.

I don't know enough about your situation to give you meaningful advice, but bear in mind you'll be making a big time commitment as a lone founder in an incubator.


Well... the thing is that I am almost done with my product. I have landed about 15 contracts so by the time I go up to SF I will have clients using the software. Part of my concern is that I am so far along I am not sure if the title "co-founder" would fit anyone.


Wow, 15 contracts. What does your product do?


I spent lots of time working for ad agencies in NYC; while there I noticed that their clients kept asking them to identify and engage influencers. They constantly had a hard time with this and more often than not the client was disappointed so I developed a utility that allows them to identify and engage influencers.

By engage I mean; incorporate them into existing ad campaigns.


That's spooky - I actually have a small contract with a PR firm to do the same thing for Twitter and blogs, and I recently ran into another local startup focused on this.

My advice would be to spend your time growing the business and possibly hiring folks to handle the non-techie side if possible. There's a point at which the risk has been lowered enough that the co-founder level of reward isn't appropriate, and it sounds likely you're there if you're making decent revenue.


I'll 2nd Pete, a co-founder is almost essential, but it has to be someone that you work ridiculously well with and can count on.

I've done the solo thing twice. Depending on your goals it can work out great.

But next time, a cofounder is a must.


I've had successful exits founding companies in all three ways (solo, with one co-founder, and with two co-founders) and from my experience having two co-founders has been the best experience. One co-founder means you get a bigger slice of the pie, but also means that there's no mediator if the two of you can't agree. And take it from me, there will be many times when you don't agree. That's why I prefer two co-founders, because when two people take a side they're often able to convince the third member.


I'll also add that the holy grail is: technical founder + product/design founder + business/sales/marketing founder. That's what is currently working for me.


I have all of those skills and I have been looking for a co-founder that does also. Perhaps I should just focus on a co-founder that has one of the aforementioned talents.


You have all of those skills? Are you sure? Try to identify where you are weakest, and find someone who is stronger than you in that area. You need to be ruthlessly honest with yourself about your own abilities because if you're doing it right you will be pushing your limits even if you're good.


Well... I am only a master @ the tech stuff but i am competent at the others.


You should focus on tech then and find a co-founder who focuses on either of the other two areas I mentioned.


You definitely need a co-founder. You can do without one, but it's nuts. A co-founder is good to bounce ideas off of, take care of tasks so you can focus on your needs, and fill out your weaknesses.

If you are already the techie, then you don't need another techie founder necessarily. You probably need the business strategy/marketing person to help you work with early customers to fill out the product and generate revenues.


You really have TWO options here:

# Bring on a co-founder that is an obvious fit

# Have a plan that identifies what your own weaknesses are and how you plan to mitigate them.

From the sound of this thread, there is no obvious co-founder that you know of right now, so going with the latter is far more respectable and smart IMHO, and is something I would bet the YC panel would appreciate a lot more given your current time frame.


ALSO - to be clear, this is the right thing to do for your business... not just the right thing to do for looking good in front of the YC panel.


It's not too late to find the right co-founder before the application deadline, and it's worth working hard to find one:

Your YC application will be strengthened not just by having a co-founder but by the process of seeking one out. The triumphs and struggles you experience will be significantly richer when you share them with someone else. No matter how broad your expertise in the technical, business, and marketing aspects of building a startup, there will be areas where a co-founder can supply strengths you don't have.

Keep looking!


Reading dhouston (founder of DropBox) application - http://files.getdropbox.com/u/2/app.html, i think it's okay to continue working solo rather than settle for less than ideal when you apply for YC.

From my personal experience, i also recommend the same. It's like having a relationship. Great relationship > solo > lousy relationship. You spend much more energy and stress with less-than-ideal cofounder compare with going solo.


Solo is fine. You don't need a co-founder. Yes in many cases a good co-founder will help your company succeed.. but in many other cases a bad co-founder will most certainly help it fail.

If you haven't already identified one then you can forget about it. The question is moot. You don't want one anyway. That's obvious. What you want is someone who will work for you at a discount, a coder who likes the product and the tech you're using and likes to get his/her hands dirty. A lot of people are just happy to have good work and some input into what they think will be a good product.. that would free you up to focus more on the marketing business side of things which is just as if not more important than that product itself.


Some feel that having a mediocre co-founder is better than having no co-founder at all, which I wouldn't agree with at all.

Let me say that I think that having a co-founder is great, so if you can find someone who:

1) Has passion for the idea and concept and is willing to share in the risk. 2) Is a hard worker and someone who can bring talent to the table. 3) Is someone you get along with but can have fruitful discussions and respectful disagreements with.

Then I would encourage you to bring that person on as a co-founder. But I would not settle for anyone who lacked any of the above traits because you're worried about not having a co-founder.

So, in summary, co-founders are great if you can find one, but certainly not essential to startup success.


Neither.

You need a good co-founder as a rule of thumb. You need to prove that at least one other person believes in your crazy idea and is willing to work with you.

If you have had a few cofounder false-starts you should look very closely at the root cause for that situation.


2 were older guys with families and could not commit. I want people that are as dedicated and experienced as I am.

The other 1 simply could not code worth a damn so I felt like he was dead weight.


The co-founder is incredibly important. They provide a sanity check, and hopefully some ability to divide work up evenly.

Where are you located?


I was in Nashville TN for 3 months, then Louisville KY for 5 then Huntsville for 2 now I am in L.A. I do contract work for banks so I have to move around quite often.


Oh I see the bigger problem is the constant moving. There are bound to be other individuals in most of those areas looking to do a start-up, but that would require a huge investment of time for you to seek out the local community. Makes sense to me.


People are social animals, and go crazy when left alone. There are two ways not to go crazy:

1. Have a cofounder or two

2. Talk with customers all the time

Either is fine to preserve sanity, but beyond that one gives you more muscle power and the other gives you better direction. Your pick.


I am in an almost identical situation, also out of LA.

I am wondering where people would recommend looking for a co-founder if you are in an area where the startup community is hard to find.


Anyone have any experience telecommuting as a startup co-founder or is that just adding yet another obstacle to a situation crowded with such obstacles?


I was considering this but I think that you really need to work with a co-founder face to face.


You should mention what sort of project you're working on, and you should include contact information in your profile.


http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html #12


Ehh, I know this thread's kind of dead but I just found it. I'm in LA, shoot me an email.


Don't get a co-founder just for the sake of your YC application. In fact, it might hurt you chances of getting accepted if you don't have the right person. From what I have seen in the YC application you need sell not only your idea but also your team. There have been cases where single person team have been accepted, e.g., Dropbox.

You should keep looking for a co-founder irrespective of all this. You should be able to sell your idea to someone smart and intelligent until then you really don't know how good the idea is.




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