[eloff]

There are always exceptions. It still makes it a bad idea.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with using it to meet like minded people who you might collaborate with one day.

But let's not ignore the fact that single founders can be successful too, and one of the biggest causes of startup failure is co-founder disputes, according to YC's own data. The real question is, will it help more than it hurts? The good news is we may know in a few years with this experiment YC is running.

[codesushi42]

Successful single founders are very rare.

Agreed that the biggest cause of failure is issues between founders.

One could say then that you should only start a company when you have a cofounder, and one that is good. But in reality there's no way of knowing who will be good.

The best proxy is choosing someone you have worked with before. A coworker for instance.

Simply choosing a founder because you hang out with them is not a good idea.

Try moonlighting with your founder dating buddy before making the leap.

[tim333]

Some counter evidence:

>Entrepreneurs Are Better Off Going It Alone, Study Says Startups founded by a single person are more likely to survive and succeed than those founded by a team (wsj article on paper by Jason Greenberg)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/entrepreneurs-are-better-off-go...

[nl]

Successful single founders are very rare.

It's unclear they are remarkably more rare than other types. The data appears to show that single founders are the second most successful arrangement after pairs.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/26/co-founders-optional/

[codesushi42]

Second most doesn't mean anything when you're talking about three arrangements, realistically.

I would like it to be true that solo founders have just as much chance of success. I have been unable to find a cofounder for years, and I am not biased against solo companies. People are unpredictable, and even wildly successful companies have some disheartening back stories. I've learned that from books like Idea Man (Microsoft) and Masters of Doom (id Software) where founding members got screwed by morally challenged cofounders. In the case of id, Tom Hall received nothing from id in the end, and forfeited all of his equity when he was fired. Because they decided he wasn't needed anymore, despite him being there from the beginning through the tough times.

But it stands to reason that you are better off if you can find someone who is honest and is going to work hard with you, simply because two heads are better than one. When used together at least. Emphasis on honest, I would rank trust and ethics over experience and intelligence.

If you can't find that person, and you are determined, then may as well go ahead and go it alone. You only live once. Just realize the odds are stacked even higher against you. You are only lying to yourself if you refuse to accept that truth.

And you can be a cofounder of a successful company, but still fail miserably and have it all taken away by a bad cofounder.

[eloff]

You just dismissed the data and replaced it with nothing of substance. Forget your feelings and look at the data, single founders are successful especially when you're talking about smaller companies that might not go the VC route. VCs are really only interested in companies that have a shot at being unicorns.

[codesushi42]

What data? OP's link is a silly TC article without any negative examples (failure rates of single vs pairs).

[eloff]

That's still more than you offered to the contrary.

[nl]

Second most doesn't mean anything when you're talking about three arrangements, realistically.

Exactly. You have expressed the argument perfectly.

There seems to be little link between the number of founders and success.

The rest of your post seems to have a simple counter argument: hire people.

[codesushi42]

Depends on the scale of success. A successful lifestyle business can be achieved by a solo founder. A unicorn or company with large exit is less likely.

An employee is never going to be as personally invested as a cofounder. But the upside is you can terminate them if your working relationship goes awry.

[felipap]

Aren't successful founders very rare, "period"?