Is it possible to get into YC as a sole founder?

4 pointscodeme13y ago5 comments

How can I increase my chance as a sole founder? And most importantly why is this bias against sole founders?

5 comments

pdog13y ago

> Is it possible to get into YC as a sole founder?

Yes, in the sense that they've accepted single founders before.

> How can I increase my chance as a sole founder?

Find a co-founder ;)

> Why is there this bias against sole founders?

Because they have the data to back up the assertion that multiple founders makes a startup more likely to succeed.

codemeOP13y ago

I know:)

I prefer to be sole founder as I had bad experiences from previous gigs.

Is there any other attribute (like strong IP and customer demand) that can compensate for not having a co-founder? What else?

argonaut13y ago

What do you mean by "compensate"? Having a co-founder will always boost your chances vs. being a single founder, no matter what.

But obviously single founders do get into YC because they're strong in other areas.

sand_999913y ago

I prefer to have a 2-3 people founding team. But its so difficult to find partners especially when all my school friends are married and busy working for large companies.

sand_999913y ago

We are in the same boat. I am 30+ techie & marketing person. Most of my school friends are happily married and are busy with their jobs in large corporations. I am kindof a misfit when it comes to living a "normal" life of 9-5 job. I have tried 4 times to start new company...and failed all 4 times. Left the job last year and started another company. It was moderately successful (Ramen profitable). But I know its limits..it will not be more than Ramen successful. Now I am trying to start another company. But I know that I can not pull this project off by myself. I need a team. And its so darn hard to build a team. Went to meetups, startup weekends, hackathons etc etc. No luck. I even tried elance and odesk. They are not very useful for startups anyway. How do people find partners to build a company?

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5 comments

pdog13y ago

> Is it possible to get into YC as a sole founder?

Yes, in the sense that they've accepted single founders before.

> How can I increase my chance as a sole founder?

Find a co-founder ;)

> Why is there this bias against sole founders?

Because they have the data to back up the assertion that multiple founders makes a startup more likely to succeed.

codemeOP13y ago

I know:)

I prefer to be sole founder as I had bad experiences from previous gigs.

Is there any other attribute (like strong IP and customer demand) that can compensate for not having a co-founder? What else?

argonaut13y ago

What do you mean by "compensate"? Having a co-founder will always boost your chances vs. being a single founder, no matter what.

But obviously single founders do get into YC because they're strong in other areas.

sand_999913y ago

I prefer to have a 2-3 people founding team. But its so difficult to find partners especially when all my school friends are married and busy working for large companies.

sand_999913y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse