Julia Yu

Should solo founders join forces instead of searching for co-founders?

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Have you searched for a co-founder, or are you looking for one now? Many products try to help, but even success stories like YC’s Co-founder Match may be a case of survivor bias. At the same time, I often see startups working on similar ideas to mine. Some founders have strong VC expertise, while I bring product and management experience. What if, instead of competing, we joined forces? If we’re all early-stage startups, merging is still simple—there’s no complex cap table yet, no heavy commitments. But most matching platforms only introduce you to a person based on skills and interests. What if you met someone who is already solving a similar problem? Someone who is building, facing the same challenges, and actively working on a complementary solution? Currently, Unicorns Club has profiles of many solo founders who are building similar things. I’m thinking—what if we gave them a way to match and connect? Instead of two separate projects, they could create one but 10X stronger—because the right people working together can achieve exponentially more than individuals alone. 💬 What do you think, guys? Do you need this feature?

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Filip Panoski
Definitely! But if they've already started building their products perhaps merging would be more difficult? I think as long as co-founder roles are clearly separated, merging could work.