VCs donโt like solo founders.
But should they?
Brand new report on all things solo our today from our friends at Solo Founders featuring lots and lots of Carta data.
Read the full thing here: https://lnkd.in/gS87PySY
5 highlights:
๐ญ) ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐
But a much lower percentage of those will end up getting VC-funding than their co-founder peers. Are VCs missing out on generational returns by demanding co-founders?
๐ฎ) ๐ฉ๐ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ผ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฐ๐ผ-๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐
Once they cross the hurdle into being funded, solos perform pretty equally to co-founded companies
๐ฏ) ๐ฆ๐ผ๐น๐ผ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ-๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ
Big opportunity here for solo founders to wield their "extra" equity in ways that benefit the company. Solo does not mean alone!
๐ฐ) ๐ฆ๐ผ๐น๐ผ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ (๐ฎ๐ด%) ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ-๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ (๐ญ๐ฒ%)
Most of those exits were M&A deals, but the obvious point holds: not splitting equity among other founders is a boon to the solo founder economics
๐ฑ) ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ผ-๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ-๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐
At least not in our data so far ๐
Absolutely loved getting to watch Hamza Shad collab with Julian Weisser, Kieran Ryan, and Noรฉmie Federico on this massive report. Read the full thing at the link in graphic.
And for the aspiring founders out there - having co-founders can be amazing. But if you are called to build as a solo founder, answer that call!
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