Episode Details

Michael Grinich built WorkOS solo — now a $2B company and the enterprise infrastructure behind OpenAI, Anthropic, and Replit — with no co-founder. So when he says "it's not the blood bond it was made out to be," it lands. This conversation is his case against the ride-or-die co-founder myth, the question he thinks actually matters before you start a company, and the honest bear and bull case for going it alone.

Topics covered:

• Why co-founders aren't a blood bond — and "are you the one who holds it forever?"
• The founder "mental disorder," and why you only need one person who has it
• The bear and bull case for solo founding — from John Lennon to "the company is a mirror"
• How to pick the idea: a notebook, four filters, and lessons borrowed from stand-up comedy
• Why "pivots are the most traumatic thing you can do to a business"
• The case for founder-led sales — and hiring a head of sales as a partner, not a handoff

Guest: Michael Grinich — solo founder and CEO of WorkOS, the infrastructure that makes startups enterprise-ready.