Each journey to entrepreneurship is exclusive. I discover the world of startups fascinating as a result of the will to deal with an issue or want — usually one you’ve struggled with your self — is simply too tempting to withstand.
Taking over that drawback by yourself as a solo founder could be daunting, nevertheless it can be releasing. Alternatively, beginning up an organization with co-founders could be productive but might have its personal challenges.
Once I began DocSend, I by no means needed to think about whether or not or not I needed a co-founder, as a result of I knew I needed to construct an organization with two particular people who I appreciated personally and revered professionally. However for a lot of entrepreneurs, the query of whether or not you’ll be able to tackle that problem by your self or need a co-founder by your facet isn’t a simple one. It’s comprehensible why.
Going solo may give you extra management and freedom to steer the corporate the best way you see match. It additionally means you’re the one one answerable for pitching VCs, working board conferences, staffing a crew, and making main choices.
Whereas a solo founder can deliver on executives and managers to assist with this work and these choices, co-founders can stability out the management crew. They will deliver totally different areas of experience, their very own skilled networks, and share duty.
Whereas the information present solo founders increase extra funding, a holistic strategy to understanding your gaps and how one can fill them is crucial.
If you’re beginning up an organization or at present working your startup all by your self, listed below are 4 issues to contemplate when bringing in a co-founder (or not).
Experience
Each entrepreneur ought to objectively assess their abilities and decide if their capabilities are well-rounded sufficient to run a enterprise alone. In the event you’re not technical and you’re beginning a tech firm, you might have to discover a co-founder who fills that hole, or on the very least a powerful engineer to steer product improvement.
Even if you happen to’re technical and may start coding from day one, it’s essential to think about different key enterprise areas and determine if bringing on a co-founder with experience in these areas will assist you to get to a viable product, market traction and income quicker.
I reached out to my community to see how they felt concerning the resolution. I not too long ago spoke with Aneto Okonkwo, co-founder and CEO of Chatdesk, about why he determined to usher in a number of co-founders, and he stated that totally different areas of experience are an enormous driver.
“I believed concerning the totally different capabilities wanted to make Chatdesk profitable. Since we deliver collectively tech and personalised, human assist, it was vital to determine three capabilities: technical, operations, and gross sales. I knew if every individual might personal an space, it will guarantee we’d obtain our mission,” he stated.
The variety of founders in your crew may influence your fundraising success. Our evaluation discovered that solo founders had essentially the most fundraising success, securing a mean of 42 investor conferences and elevating a mean of $3.22 million, in comparison with firms with 4 or extra founders, which secured a mean of 30 conferences and raised a mean of $1.7 million.
Whereas the information present solo founders increase extra funding, a holistic strategy to understanding your gaps and how one can fill them is crucial.