1-man startups

53 points by nivi 13 years ago | 29 comments

bdcravens 13 years ago |

Bit of a bait-y title. Not about 1-person startups, but how the team members at AngelList all have high levels of autonomy and how the culture at AL facilitates that.

soneca 13 years ago | |

Totally misleading title (good choice for AL, bad for HN). I am myself a 1-man startup and it is hard to get any good advice other than "don't be a 1-man startup". Well, I am. And I am pretty sure is the right choice for me for now. I don't want to get in an accelerator, I don't want VC money, I don't need to correspond to anyone expectations about what makes me more likely to succeed. I just want advice on how to improve my chances being a 1-man startup.

Well, so I share my experience for those who came to this post thinking the same thing as I did. An obvious statement is that 1-man startup is not a 1-man's work. I outsourced design and engineering (code to developers, infrastructure to Microsoft Azure). Mostly I am responsible for customer development, product management and growth marketing.

But this year I quit my job in order to learn how to code (simultaneously HTML/CSS, javascript and C#/.NET) and be able to better take charge of my startup. Still, I am talking to two developers (a junior and a senior) to work by the hour, with the expectation to become a full-time member of the team - as a freelancer-mode experience period that, if successfull, become co-founder or Director/VP of Engineering.

My to-do list is long, dynamic and diversified. It is not that hard to keep changing hats, but it is extreme hard to know when to and to which hat change. What is my priority? I have no idea. Talk to early adopters, fix some spceficic bugs, A/B tests on design, handle twitter account, learn how to code, better develop my vision, the product roadmap, etc.

One thing I learned is that complete development outsourcing is a mistake. It is expensive and hard to manage. I wish I had the freelance-as-a-test-to-co-founder approach much sooner. Other lesson (opinion) is that the "learn to code" advice is prioritary to "don't be a 1-man team".

I would love to read more advice out there on how to be a better 1-man startup. Don't bother telling me the best option is not to be.

trevelyan 13 years ago | | |

If you want advice from a fellow single founder, mine is not to give out equity. Keep full control and full flexibility. You will save lawyers fees and will do better in the long run. Focus on covering costs and grow from there.

nivi 13 years ago | |

We call them “1-man startups” internally. Hence the title. =) Actual 1-person startups are an interesting topic too, for a future post.

soneca 13 years ago | | |

Waiting for that post! ;)

airnomad 13 years ago |

A little bit offtopic, but I really don't get why anyone should care about "how to make successfull company" tips from VCs? VCs are probably better then you at detecting possible winner whey they see one. They also should know a thing or two about traits of successful companies.

But if they really know how to make one, they would do just that. Last time I checked, making a successful company is way more profitable then investing other people's money in one.

SatvikBeri 13 years ago | |

Let's say the average startup has a 10% chance of succeeding. An investor-mentor who could groom startups to raise that chance to 20% would be considered a genius and contribute a lot of expected value. But the investor's expected utility would be much higher by coaching and investing in multiple companies than by trying to start their own.

purplelobster 13 years ago | |

It seems to me that once you have money, it's easier to make more money through investing than it is starting more businesses.

rokhayakebe 13 years ago |

Can you guys list your one-man startup here?

31reasons 13 years ago |

The idea is interesting and can work when employee count is small. but when it grows to hundreds or thousands, someone will have to take roles of managing those 1-startups or form groups.

togasystems 13 years ago |

I really like this idea. I was just wondering to myself, how one can teach themselves entrepreneurship much in the way people learn how to code. Using method at AngelList, you can quickly iterate, get feedback quickly and probably the best lesson of them all, Fail. Founding a startup in its present form involves putting all of your eggs into one basket and failing can have a large consequence. Practice makes perfect.

alexdevkar 13 years ago |

Interesting idea. I would guess that this idea, like many good things at startups, will be have to change when you get to 20 or 30 people. Correct?

trevor99 13 years ago |

This is great. My favorite part is that you have internal "support services" to help with design/refactoring, etc.