ODF

Explore starting a startup in SF: | Co-founders matched @traba_work @tryfinch @primer @contra @levels + more | @solofounders @mergedotclub

[weisser @julianweisser]

Trying something new: Solo Talk

Solo Founders Podcast guests have been on a tear:

$30M raised
$10M ARR
Bootstrapped to 8 figures

I rewatched the first six episodes and pulled one idea from each that deserved more commentary.

01:14 @bencera: automate 80%, the 20% is taste
04:26 @pk_IV: why the solo culture is "beautiful"
07:31 @chudson: don't take a co-founder of convenience
11:05 @ekuyda: the personal is universal
14:45 Daniel Francis: when the mission does the work
18:14 @yasser_elsaid_: "it's very hard to lose as a solo founder"

[weisser @julianweisser]

Great story of quietly sticking with an idea long enough:

Frederic and Steijn started Lassie years ago after ODF and built one of the most incredible high-growth startups in Silicon Valley.

They wisely stayed under the radar to anyone other than their customers.

Congrats!

[weisser @julianweisser]

Solo-founded $2B company. Used by OpenAI, Anthropic, Replit.

Solo Founders ep 13 is live with @grinich of @WorkOS.

07:49 The co-founder "blood bond" is a myth
10:55 There's only room for one Zuck at Meta
32:51 Pivots are the most traumatic thing you can do to a business
43:18 The best ideas always look like bad ideas
50:14 Sales is the ultimate expression of the company's value
53:57 The "founder pixie dust" no hire can replace
01:07:42 You only get one life. Why not swing as hard as you can?

[weisser @julianweisser]

55% of unicorn companies have been founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.

Unblocking immigration is one of the most important problems of this generation to ensure America stays ahead.

@minney_cat built @lighthousehq_ to make it easier (and faster) to navigate the immigration process.

Solo Founders episode 12 is live:
0:49 - From AI investor to immigration firm, solo
11:47 - The six-figure sale that made it real
13:54 - Company building is a mirror
19:36 - The anonymous survey she sent 20 friends
24:50 - Complicated vs complex problems
29:54 - Lessons from her first co-founder
45:36 - Talent infrastructure for frontier tech
54:51 - The case for solo founding

[Solo Founders @solofounders]

Yasser is seriously raising the bar for what it means to be a bootstrapped solo founder.

[weisser @julianweisser]

Just met a founder who got royally screwed by a "VC"

Worse, the lawyers they talked to in India before signing the docs assured him the terms were customary.

I built a free tool to evaluate investor terms and avoid these catastrophic issues.

Like/reply if you want access.

[ODF @joinodf]

@julianweisser So many horror stories of founders not understanding that "customary" is usually anything but!

[ODF @joinodf]

Congratulations, Namanyay! Incredible journey since ODF24 🔥

[Namanyay @NamanyayG]

"I was waiting for an idea like this, glad that you made this" - $9B valuation tech company CEO

"this is the best thing to happen to our company" - Customer, Series B CEO

"you are going to be the Stripe for AI software i can see it" - 2x Founder

[ODF @joinodf]

@julianweisser @davj @Fondocom Fondo is keeping so many ODF startups on track 🫡

[weisser @julianweisser]

He had 4 co-founder breakups across 4 startups.

Then he went solo and hit $10M ARR.

Solo Founders Podcast ep 11 is live with @davj of @fondocom.

05:04 Refounding Fondo with $40K left
09:00 The investor email that pivoted the company
17:03 Find one investor who's in your corner
20:44 The $40K filter that surfaced Fondo from a list
28:37 Bezos heuristic: build for what stays the same
34:04 Why one big customer wasn't product-market fit
36:00 Delaware franchise tax: 100 free filings → first 10 customers
49:22 Your co-founder lives in Claude now

[guglielmo @_guglielmo]

we're writing $100k checks in solo founders

dm me if:
> people think you dream too big
> your customers love what you are building
> you don't wait for permission, you just get started

no resume, just show us you are moving really really fast.

[ODF @joinodf]

Jimmy Douglas has been focused on used electric vehicles since his days leading the division at Tesla.

After ODF1, he set out to build Plug (marketplace for EVs) teaming up with the marketplace masters at Floodgate.

They're now on track for $100M in revenue.

[weisser @julianweisser]

He quit Tesla to start a company but it wasn't a smooth ride.

It took 14 (!!) GTM pivots but now he's on track for $100M this year.

Solo Founders Podcast ep 10 is live with @jimmydouglas of @plugmotors.

Chapters:
00:00 Cold open
06:52 Running the largest used-EV operation in the world
13:25 Disprove, don't validate: the Tesla muscle
15:30 Reality doesn't negotiate / 14 GTM pivots
20:35 The fake-board-meeting question, 16 to 429 sellers
26:03 "You must have a co-founder" is the worst factory setting
37:46 Lost $3K on the first sale: what market pull feels like
44:12 Raising a Series A in the EV hellhole
52:09 Self-manufactured constraints: Elon's superpower
01:03:11 SaaS apocalypse and the new venture playbook

[Noémie @FedericoNoemie]

Moving to SF changed my life.

In the last 2 years, I paid it forward and helped hundreds of founders relocate to do their life's work.

I want to work with you & invest $100K if you:
- are building solo
- feel what you’re building is a calling
- have paying users who love you

[ODF @joinodf]

Congrats Brandon and team! You've come a long way since the very first ODF cohort!

[Brandon Hill • Vori.com @IamBrandonHill]

Grocery is a $1.5T domestic market — bigger than restaurants, bigger than hotels. But it's running on technology from the Reagan administration.

We just raised a $22M Series B for @VoriHQ to make every supermarket in America autonomous.

[ari dutilh @aridutilh]

we're investing $100,000 in solo founders building something that feels like their calling.

paying customers are great but not required if moonshot.

dm me if this is you – let's work together.

[weisser @julianweisser]

I want to work with you (and invest $100k) if you…

1/ are building solo

2/ feel what you’re building is a calling, not work

3/ have paying customers (or have a good reason you don’t yet / building a moonshot)

DM me about the upcoming Solo Founders Program

[weisser @julianweisser]

I spent 7 years helping people finding co-founders (1,000 startups, $10B)

Then I went all-in on Solo Founders.

Solo Founders Podcast ep 8 live. I swapped seats and was interviewed by @davj (solo founder of @Fondocom)

We talk about:
01:46 The Co-Founder Myth & Origins of ODF
06:23 The Moment That Sparked Solo Founders
08:30 The New $100K Investment
12:31 Why There's No Demo Day
17:34 Solo Founders Program
20:59 Why Startups Really Implode
27:15 The Solo Founding Trend & Denominator Delusion
30:55 When to Raise a Seed Round
32:10 True Solo, Free Solo, Juiced Solo
36:40 The Tailwinds Behind Solo Founding
40:03 The Bear Case for Solo Founding
43:12 The Bull Case: The Company Only Dies If You Do
47:14 Solo Together, Not Solo Alone
49:08 Outro & How to Apply

[weisser @julianweisser]

6 pivots. Cease-and-desist from Microsoft. Then Harvard picked his AI over ChatGPT.

Solo Founders Podcast ep 7 is live with @0interestrates of @juliusai.

We talk about:

How Rahul ended up solo
The football analogy for building momentum
Why 8/10 co-founder teams are fighting in private
"I need to be the worst coder on the team"
Why "less cash, more equity" is a green flag
Six pivots and the Microsoft cease-and-desist
Why Sam Altman can't sell you a pen (but can sell you AGI)
Rahul's bear and bull case for solo founding

[weisser @julianweisser]

The Solo Founders Program turns one today.

Many say you need a co-founder to get started.

They're wrong.

The best founders have never waited around for a co-founder.

Will you?

[weisser @julianweisser]

$9M ARR. No VC. Solo founder.

Solo Founders Podcast ep 6 is live with @yasser_elsaid_ of Chatbase.

We talk about:
00:03 Discovering RAG before ChatGPT existed
11:44 First Stripe payment 30 minutes after launch
14:37 "Free solo" founding, beyond indie hacking
27:39 Why bootstrapping changes the definition of success
35:37 The "benevolent dictatorship" of solo founding
44:43 Scaling bootstrapped, profitability from day one
54:14 The B2B playbook: pricing, content, cold outbound
1:08:20 Bear and bull case for solo founding