[over50]

I don't need cofounders. Anyone who is married knows just how tough that can be.

The primary reason for which cofounders are useful with a young team is because entrepreneurship is horribly difficult and 20-somethings are not necessarily equipped to deal with this reality. In this context, having more people on the boat makes it less likely that one person absolutely imploding will implode the startup.

I don't have this problem. I have taken stress in business that would cause most people to jump off a bridge or in front of a train.

It's a lot easier for me to hire the help I might need rather than get into a situation where you open yourself up for cofounder strife that can damage the business. Like I said, had it been not for the 2009 economic implosion I would have had a pretty sizable exit for a business I self-funded started and ran from my garage for a couple of years. I did all of the electrical, mechanical, software and optical engineering on the first product. And, when it was done, I packed it all up and flew to Europe to sell it (it just so happened that the first industry conference that year was in Europe). I then built an international sales network consisting of a dozen resellers and got sales going. I did not hire another engineer to help me until I was out of the garage, about two years after launch. I eventually hired assistants, web designer and assembly people as we transitioned from a garage-based outsourced business to manufacturing in house. I setup and ran my own surface mount assembly line as well as CNC shop.

I think it is important to understand why cofounders are important for the younger demographic. I don't see this as a negative, BTW, it is definitely a good idea for YC to favor multi-founder teams given their younger demographic. It is impossible for a 20-something to have the depth and breath of experience as well as the business chops and thick skin someone like me can develop over decades.

[blacktriangle]

Very much agreed with this. I've seen just as many startups blown up by founder drama as I have by a single overworked founder. And like you say, I think the value prop of multiple founders ships from postive to negative as the founder age increases.

That being said, YC has a very clear and vocal preference for multiple founders, which comes back to maybe YC isn't the right choice for you.