Is YC right about solo founders?

I started my company single-handedly even though people said it couldn't be done.

It's a scientific laboratory where I needed to continue a tradition of building labs, in this case assaying international petro/chemical commodities in a more reliable high-stakes way than well-funded research labs of major multinationals can usually come up with. And they are using teams led by chemists or engineers having advanced degrees which I do not have.

I always took comfort that I was making more scientific progress than I would have been able to make If I had a PhD at Exxon, Shell, DuPont, or places like that. Plus I own my own technology.

I did not want to stay by myself, I started to build a staff but the business was ruined by natural disaster, then I was back on my own like I was the first few years. I decided not to give up completely, only give up on expansion which would have required capital anyway, so I just worked in the ruins ever since, developed techniques to profit far more per job than the competition, and the best years eventually came. That is how I completed the survival process then.

There was no initial sign that it was sustainable, but on my own again I never had any turnover like there was at my employers where my operational advantages occasionally had escaped the lab and been adopted by commercial competitors worldwide. So I have been fearless ever since, eventually inventing something new every day.

Later, what really hurt was a death in the family where I had to leave town for too long a time.

In a one-man business, if you are not there, there is usually no money being made.

Now I plan to make a comeback starting with just me again, but I've seen this coming, and over the last few years have identified members for an awesome team whose trust has now been well established, and can tap them individually as needed.

It's not easy but you can do it, as long as you are capable of outperforming an actual team whenever needed.

Solo's definitely have a chance. For questions, please ask Henry Ford, Dell, or most small businesses.

Startups are with out a doubt a lot of work. That being said, with good time management skills and a lot of drive single person can be successful. Plus, less founders equals less splitting of the company ownership!