Team, Co-founders & Legal

Do I actually need a co-founder, or can I go solo?

A starting point

You don't strictly need one, but the data says teams outlast solos: complementary skills, shared load, and someone to argue you out of bad calls all matter. If you go solo, do it because you couldn't find someone great, not because you're avoiding the hard conversation. Never take on a co-founder just to fill a seat, a mediocre partner is far worse than none.

Go deeper

Read

📄 Article
Free Beginner

Finding a Co-Founder (YC Startup Library)

From YC Startup Library by Y Combinator Curated essay + video collection

Why we picked it

A curated collection of YC's best primary guidance on how to find, evaluate, and test a co-founder, straight from the people who've seen thousands of founding teams. It's practical, opinionated, and free.

  • Prioritize people you've worked with over strangers
  • Run a paid trial project before making it official
  • Have the hard money and equity conversations early, not later
Open ycombinator.com →
📄 Article
Free Beginner

How to make your co-founder matching profile stand out

From YC Startup Library by Y Combinator Short read

Why we picked it

A concrete, tactical guide to presenting yourself well to potential co-founders, useful whether or not you use YC's platform. It clarifies what a great co-founder is actually evaluating.

  • Treat your profile as an elevator pitch for yourself
  • Show a specific accomplishment that reveals how you think
  • Be explicit about what you're looking for in a partner
Open ycombinator.com →

Use

🛠️ Tool
Free Beginner

Y Combinator Co-Founder Matching

From ycombinator.com by Y Combinator Free platform, ongoing

Why we picked it

The largest and most credible free co-founder matching platform in the world, with vetted founders and 100,000+ matches made. It's the default starting point when your own network doesn't have the right person.

  • Create a profile like an elevator pitch and match on complementary skills and preferences
  • After matching, meet fast and run a trial project before committing
  • Completely free and open beyond YC applicants
Open ycombinator.com →

People also ask

Where do I actually find a co-founder if I don't already know one? Start with people you've already worked with, ex-colleagues and classmates beat strangers because you've seen them under pressure. If your network ... Beginner 2 resources → What should I look for in a co-founder, and what are red flags? Look for complementary skills, shared values on money and ambition, resilience under stress, and someone you can fight with and still respect. Red ... Beginner 3 resources → Should I co-found with a friend or family member? It's the most common path and one of the riskiest, familiarity is not the same as compatibility as business partners, and a bad split can cost you ... Intermediate 2 resources → How do I 'date' a potential co-founder before committing? Run a real trial: work on a scoped project together for a few weeks, ideally under a deadline, and pay attention to how they handle disagreement, d... Intermediate 3 resources → As a non-technical founder, how do I find a technical co-founder? Earn it: show up with customer proof, a clear plan, and ideally a scrappy no-code prototype so you're offering a partnership, not just an idea. Goo... Intermediate 3 resources →