VCs are going to look at a solo technical founder, and ask:
* Are they going to have an interest in the business side? If not, they may ignore/be unaware of problems that are existential to the company.
* Will they have the capacity to deal with non-tech issues? Running a company, esp a fast growing company, is too much work for one person to handle.
* Can they attract other talent to work for them? If they're a solo, are they difficult to work with/for?
It'd be good to address some of these underlying issues, rather than check the box.
* As you mentioned, having previous success helps alleviate some of the concerns.
* If your product is growing very quickly, they may take the risk.
* Finding another potential cofounder organically as a pre-condition for funding. VCs will rarely force you to find a co-founder. That might actually introduce further friction into the team and risk the investment. The hope would be for you to find another person with whom you have good working relationships, which is the key. Even if they're also technically inclined, they can be trained to handle the other sides of the business. Generally speaking, it's easier to train a tech founder on sales/business skills, rather than vice-versa.
Personally, I'd recommend you continue building, but with the intent to find other folks who are also interested in the product/business. It'll be good for you whether you decide to get venture fund or not.
“Why is nobody working with this solo founder? Is it bcause they are difficult to work with, greedy, or unable to sell their vision to other people?”
Each of those make rocket ship growth less likely because big companies require teams. So convincing evidence would be success or an obvious different reason for solo status like just got out of prison.
I mean if you know a cofounder improves your chance of getting to the next level, but you are unwilling to do that, how likely is it you will get to the level beyond the next level?
All my friends who I trust to be actually technically competent are immigrants, Chinese or European, who can’t work on startup because they’re sponsored by their companies.
It sucks :(
I need CTO, I’m highly technical and business minded. I need someone I can offload the technical decisions to while I spend all day on sales, outreach, and executing my vision.
I’d rather use AI agents in the meantime than foreign contractors who do the bare minimum (if that).
We all have 24h in the day. You can survive on 5-6h of sleep and sleep a bit more on your rest day. Personalized sales outreach takes me like 5 min per person, and I get burned out after like 50 of these. I can code all day long in the mean time with multiple agents working across 4 repositories.
VCs are going to look at a solo technical founder, and ask:
* Are they going to have an interest in the business side? If not, they may ignore/be unaware of problems that are existential to the company.
* Will they have the capacity to deal with non-tech issues? Running a company, esp a fast growing company, is too much work for one person to handle.
* Can they attract other talent to work for them? If they're a solo, are they difficult to work with/for?
It'd be good to address some of these underlying issues, rather than check the box.
* As you mentioned, having previous success helps alleviate some of the concerns.
* If your product is growing very quickly, they may take the risk.
* Finding another potential cofounder organically as a pre-condition for funding. VCs will rarely force you to find a co-founder. That might actually introduce further friction into the team and risk the investment. The hope would be for you to find another person with whom you have good working relationships, which is the key. Even if they're also technically inclined, they can be trained to handle the other sides of the business. Generally speaking, it's easier to train a tech founder on sales/business skills, rather than vice-versa.
Personally, I'd recommend you continue building, but with the intent to find other folks who are also interested in the product/business. It'll be good for you whether you decide to get venture fund or not.
If I were a VC (I am not) my concerns would be:
“Why is nobody working with this solo founder? Is it bcause they are difficult to work with, greedy, or unable to sell their vision to other people?”
Each of those make rocket ship growth less likely because big companies require teams. So convincing evidence would be success or an obvious different reason for solo status like just got out of prison.
I mean if you know a cofounder improves your chance of getting to the next level, but you are unwilling to do that, how likely is it you will get to the level beyond the next level?
But I am not a VC. Good luck.
All my friends who I trust to be actually technically competent are immigrants, Chinese or European, who can’t work on startup because they’re sponsored by their companies.
It sucks :(
I need CTO, I’m highly technical and business minded. I need someone I can offload the technical decisions to while I spend all day on sales, outreach, and executing my vision.
I’d rather use AI agents in the meantime than foreign contractors who do the bare minimum (if that).
We all have 24h in the day. You can survive on 5-6h of sleep and sleep a bit more on your rest day. Personalized sales outreach takes me like 5 min per person, and I get burned out after like 50 of these. I can code all day long in the mean time with multiple agents working across 4 repositories.
I’ll sleep 10h a day when I am done.
You need revenue or confirmed Product Market Fit with an LOI.