Solo Founders

Charles Hudson is the founder and managing partner of Precursor Ventures, where he's invested in over 500 companies as a solo GP. He shares a data point that challenges the co-founder consensus: 25-30% of his portfolio companies lose a co-founder before Series A. In this conversation, he explains why talented solo founders beat mismatched teams, the real cost of dead equity, and why you should never give away 40% of your company just to make fundraising easier.Topics covered:- The co-founder breakup rate: 25-30% before Series A- Dead equity and cap table damage from co-founder departures- Rivalry and resentment dynamics in co-founding teams- Why investors underrate solo founders- The "team sport" analogy reframed- Denominator delusion: failed co-founding teams nobody counts- Don't give away 40% of your company for fundraising optics- Authorship and full accountability as a solo founder- Fundraising advice: don't apologize for being solo- Late-joining co-founders and how to evaluate them- The solo GP / solo founder kinship- The emotional reality: loneliness is 10x what you expect- Bear case and bull case for solo foundingGuest: Charles Hudson — Founder and Managing Partner, Precursor Ventures. Solo GP. 500+ investments. Former partner at SoftTech VC (now Uncork Capital). Former Google and Genentech.

Paul Klein IV applied to 500 internships and got rejected from 498. Now he's the solo founder of Browserbase – a headless browser infrastructure company for AI agents – valued at $300M in under 14 months. He didn't choose to be a solo founder. He tried to find a co-founder and couldn't. In this conversation, he explains why that turned out to be the right thing.Topics covered:Why Paul thinks first-time founders should not be solo foundersThe five-tool founder concept: product, sales, fundraising, hiring, and operationsStreamClub founding story and lessons from having co-foundersHow a 3,000-word memo validated the Browserbase ideaSolo founder by circumstance: trying and failing to find a co-founderHiring philosophy: contractors as work trials, DM recruiting on TwitterFundraising as relationship building, not a tight processCompany culture: emotional vulnerability, second chances, non-traditional backgroundsThe quarterback to head coach to GM evolution of a solo founder CEOOperating cadence: daily standups, weekly syncs, monthly all-hands, quarterly board meetingsBrand building through word of mouthThe honest case for and against solo foundingGuest: Paul Klein IV, Solo founder and CEO of Browserbase. Former CTO/co-founder of StreamClub (acquired by Mux). Former software engineer at Twilio.Notes & more from this episode: https://solofounders.com/blog/from-500-rejections-to-a-300m-company-paul-klein-iv-on-solo-founding-browserbase/Apply to Solo Founders Program: https://solofounders.com/program

Ben ran global teams at Travis Kalanick's Cloud Kitchens and left to build Polsia — an AI company builder — completely solo. Now he's hit $1.5M ARR in two weeks with 1,500 companies running on the platform.In this conversation, we explore how his method of building might be the future of solo founding: his 80/20 framework for AI-native companies, why he designed his product after a video game about an AI apocalypse, the Daft Punk song on his about page, and what it actually looks like to run engineering, support, marketing, and strategy with zero employees.Topics covered:The 80/20 framework for AI-native companiesScoping AI agents like real employees: trust boundaries and authorityBuilding for yourself vs. building for imaginary customersUniversal Paperclips and Daft Punk as design inspirationThe Polsia product: how it builds and runs businesses autonomouslyMaking a company 100% AI-autonomous: the thought experimentAdvice for new builders: push AI to the edgeGuest: Ben Cera — Solo founder of Polsia, an AI company builder. Former Global GM at Cloud Kitchens.Notes & more from this episode: https://solofounders.com/blog/80-ai-20-taste-ben-cera-on-the-future-of-solo-founding/Apply to Solo Founders Program: https://solofounders.com/program

This is a new show about building companies solo in the age of AI. Six months after launching the Solo Founders program, which has seen founders reach millions in ARR and sell to public companies and governments, this podcast brings together early-stage builders and experienced solo founders to share what's working, what's not, and what it actually looks like to grow a company without co-founders.