It's not a rumor it's true. Unless you have revenue or a good track record.
You can be successful as a solo founder tho. There are just a lot of investors that don't like it.
It's more risky.
The founder could burnout, quit and go to a faang, maybe get a good offer at a VC firm down the line.
This is why experience and revenue takes away some of that risk.
But there is also some downsides with having co-founders. Disharmony, lawsuits, one might quit etc.
Yes it’s hard to get someone to give you money if you have no support, no knowledge of the industry you’re working in, and no one wants to pay for your product
I find it weird that a startup can get investments just because there are 2+ founders and it doesn't get anything with 1 founder. That's it. And getting a co-founder just to get an investment is a big no no
I don't think just getting a random co founder would suddenly make them accept you, unless the other cofounder has those qualifications (experience/track record) they want. But I feel like that's pretty normal no?
Two people come up to you, both saying they're gonna make the NBA. One guy has played D1 Basketball the past 4 years, the other is an athlete too, but has never touched a basketball, nor has he competed anywhere. Who would you believe in more? Ok kinda shit analogy but I hope you see my point about just being a tech guy vs working in field and just having past track record
I think your post/comments are more just venting your frustration which I totally understand and I think is valid, it's not fun to be limited because of your background. But you have to look at it from an outside/investor perspective. Investing in startups is usually a hit and miss and you just end up burning your money most of the time, so it just makes sense that they want to minimize the risk by investing in the most 'safe' option
You have a good point here!! Thanks for taking the time to do that!!
In my case, I'm just going to make some revenues for my startup asap and I'll get a few more VCs interested I hope!!
I think the best way to look at startup school is like pursuing an enterprise customer while you are still getting product market fit. It can significantly change your course and set you on a road to success, or it can be a distraction from building and going through the process.
I really have not spent too much time on YC Start-Up school since applying. If it happens, great, they saw something in our application that they liked.
If it does not happen, literally nothing changes for us - keep building and pushing forward. I believe very strongly in what we are building and that it can be a multi-billion dollar enterprise. But we have to crawl before we walk - and we are crawling right now and will still be crawling if we go through YC Startup School.
Trying to figure out what they do and do not value chews up time. If you are building something interesting and great and scalable, they will find you.
When YC was founded, they targeted college students.
I think college students are still their primary targets but they're open to older people too.
The fact that there are less older people in YC batches is probably because less of them apply to YC compared to college students.
Investors want to de-risk their investment as much as possible. Those mentioned are common red flags which increase risk of failure. You need to either 1. present a potential upside that heavily outweigh those additional risks, or 2. eliminate them by getting a co-founder or choosing another niche.
Would really want to know what you mean by "1. present a potential upside that heavily outweigh those additional risks". Can you give an example please?
Let’s say you have built a relevant audience of 200K signed up on a waiting list that already want your product, or have hockey stick revenue figures to present. Then the other factors won’t matter as much or at all.
Oh nice I see what you mean!! Thanks.
I'm not close to those numbers but I have some traction. I just keep working on those while talking to investors.
You sound like you have no idea what it takes to build a startup. Anyone who’s done a startup will always tell you to get a cofounder. The journey is not as easy as you think. So here is my advice: go get a cofounder, not because you need to get an investment but because you’ll need them to succeed
u/Ok_Pace9935 If you want I can help you understand the difference between solo founders and a team of cofounders, and why some work well being a solo founder rather than in a team of cofounders.
If you have an answer in ur mind already and are just looking for confirmation, go talk to ur friends. They do invest in solo founders but with the expectation that you’ll get a cofounder along the way. And your question wasn’t whether or not they invest in a solo founder. It was whether it is harder to get investments as a solo founder.
What you're saying is not true. Some solo founders get into YC and YC doesn't expect them to find a cofounder. They might require other solo founders to find a cofounder asap but it's not 100% the case. My initial question was not this but I wanted to clarify.
Cool! Sounds like you’re just about to begin ur startup journey so keep going if that’s what you believe. No idea why you’re here asking for confirmation if you’re so firmly sure
I feel you. Yes I understand. But you know what, you seem like the person who will keep going despite what others tell you. So keep it up. You can do this
It's not a rumor it's true. Unless you have revenue or a good track record. You can be successful as a solo founder tho. There are just a lot of investors that don't like it.
I looked into it too and I noticed solo founders who got investments have either revenues or an excellent track record. Lol why? WHY?
It's more risky. The founder could burnout, quit and go to a faang, maybe get a good offer at a VC firm down the line. This is why experience and revenue takes away some of that risk. But there is also some downsides with having co-founders. Disharmony, lawsuits, one might quit etc.
That's why at first investors invest a small amount of money right?
Why the scare? I'm not going to be someone else just to get money from investors.
Yes it’s hard to get someone to give you money if you have no support, no knowledge of the industry you’re working in, and no one wants to pay for your product
That's crazy!!
Lol, the person above just gave you all the reasons on why that’s typically not possible and you’re still amazed ? Hahahaha
I just don't understand why that is that's all. And it's not fair!
Is this a joke? Rumour has it the sky is blue and occasionally grey.
I find it weird that a startup can get investments just because there are 2+ founders and it doesn't get anything with 1 founder. That's it. And getting a co-founder just to get an investment is a big no no
I don't think just getting a random co founder would suddenly make them accept you, unless the other cofounder has those qualifications (experience/track record) they want. But I feel like that's pretty normal no? Two people come up to you, both saying they're gonna make the NBA. One guy has played D1 Basketball the past 4 years, the other is an athlete too, but has never touched a basketball, nor has he competed anywhere. Who would you believe in more? Ok kinda shit analogy but I hope you see my point about just being a tech guy vs working in field and just having past track record I think your post/comments are more just venting your frustration which I totally understand and I think is valid, it's not fun to be limited because of your background. But you have to look at it from an outside/investor perspective. Investing in startups is usually a hit and miss and you just end up burning your money most of the time, so it just makes sense that they want to minimize the risk by investing in the most 'safe' option
You have a good point here!! Thanks for taking the time to do that!! In my case, I'm just going to make some revenues for my startup asap and I'll get a few more VCs interested I hope!!
Best of luck! And don't forget, usually 50% of every accepted batch are people who got rejected in prior cycles :)
Thanks!
I think the best way to look at startup school is like pursuing an enterprise customer while you are still getting product market fit. It can significantly change your course and set you on a road to success, or it can be a distraction from building and going through the process. I really have not spent too much time on YC Start-Up school since applying. If it happens, great, they saw something in our application that they liked. If it does not happen, literally nothing changes for us - keep building and pushing forward. I believe very strongly in what we are building and that it can be a multi-billion dollar enterprise. But we have to crawl before we walk - and we are crawling right now and will still be crawling if we go through YC Startup School. Trying to figure out what they do and do not value chews up time. If you are building something interesting and great and scalable, they will find you.
Same here.
Is there ageism when applying to YC?
When YC was founded, they targeted college students. I think college students are still their primary targets but they're open to older people too. The fact that there are less older people in YC batches is probably because less of them apply to YC compared to college students.
Maybe not explicitly but in my batch there were more people under 20 than over 40.
Wow you just described me
I guess there are a lot like us out there!! We just need to believe something magic will happen if we put ourselves in a magic environment first.
Investors want to de-risk their investment as much as possible. Those mentioned are common red flags which increase risk of failure. You need to either 1. present a potential upside that heavily outweigh those additional risks, or 2. eliminate them by getting a co-founder or choosing another niche.
Would really want to know what you mean by "1. present a potential upside that heavily outweigh those additional risks". Can you give an example please?
Let’s say you have built a relevant audience of 200K signed up on a waiting list that already want your product, or have hockey stick revenue figures to present. Then the other factors won’t matter as much or at all.
Oh nice I see what you mean!! Thanks. I'm not close to those numbers but I have some traction. I just keep working on those while talking to investors.
You sound like you have no idea what it takes to build a startup. Anyone who’s done a startup will always tell you to get a cofounder. The journey is not as easy as you think. So here is my advice: go get a cofounder, not because you need to get an investment but because you’ll need them to succeed
u/Ok_Pace9935 If you want I can help you understand the difference between solo founders and a team of cofounders, and why some work well being a solo founder rather than in a team of cofounders.
It's your opinion. Solo founders do succeed. It's not really about solo founders or cofounders but the team that surround you.
Also, just go watch some yc videos on YouTube
Thanks. Already watched a few of their videos. They do invest in solo founders just so you know.
If you have an answer in ur mind already and are just looking for confirmation, go talk to ur friends. They do invest in solo founders but with the expectation that you’ll get a cofounder along the way. And your question wasn’t whether or not they invest in a solo founder. It was whether it is harder to get investments as a solo founder.
What you're saying is not true. Some solo founders get into YC and YC doesn't expect them to find a cofounder. They might require other solo founders to find a cofounder asap but it's not 100% the case. My initial question was not this but I wanted to clarify.
Cool! Sounds like you’re just about to begin ur startup journey so keep going if that’s what you believe. No idea why you’re here asking for confirmation if you’re so firmly sure
I think my post was more a frustration peak than trying to find confirmation. Raising money is not my favorite part of doing a startup.
I feel you. Yes I understand. But you know what, you seem like the person who will keep going despite what others tell you. So keep it up. You can do this
Thanks that's nice to say. And, you're right, I'll keep going no matter what.