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What It Actually Takes To Build a Startup Solo | 6 VC-Backed Successful Solo Founders
Description
Everyone thinks going solo means answering to no one. Six solo founders behind WorkOS, Fondo, Plug, Lighthouse, Hamlet, and Julius AI say the opposite: you have more bosses, not fewer, and the job is convincing all of them. Julian revisits the six moments that deserved more attention the first time around.
Topics covered:
- Why going solo means more convincing, not less (Rahul Sonwalkar, Julius AI)
- The original-insight test: "if you don't have one, don't start" (Sunil Rajaraman, Hamlet)
- The "wrong" business model behind a 16-to-429 hockey stick (Jimmy Douglas, Plug)
- The $40,000 filter that picked David Phillips' company for him (Fondo)
- How services scale like software now (Minn Kim, Lighthouse)
- Why sales is the one job a founder should never hand off early (Michael Grinich, WorkOS)
Featuring clips from Julian's conversations with all six founders. Full episodes at solofounders.com and on the Solo Founders YouTube channel.