E2: Why Co-founders Are Overrated (And AI Changes Everything)

Everyone says you need a co-founder. Y Combinator barely backs solo founders. VCs prefer teams. But what if the conventional wisdom is wrong?

I went from 5 co-founders and 14 team members to running two companies with just 5 people total. We almost went bankrupt in 2023. Four co-founders left. Now we're stronger than ever.

The controversial truth: In 2025, you probably don't need a co-founder.

In this episode, I break down:

• My journey from 5 co-founders to 0 (and why it was liberating)
• How AI tools eliminate most reasons for needing co-founders
• Why coordination overhead kills more startups than product-market fit
• The equity drama that wastes months of founder time
• When unequal risk destroys co-founder relationships
• How to evaluate existing co-founders (including performance reviews)
• Why speed of execution beats consensus decision-making

Real stories: The 8pm-midnight coordination meetings. Waiting for 5 people to agree on every decision. Watching co-founders contribute part-time while taking full equity.

This isn't about being anti-team - I still work closely with amazing people daily. It's about understanding that AI changes the co-founder equation completely.

Cursor and Claude can code. ChatGPT can strategize. You can hire marketing and sales skills. But you can't hire back the speed you lose managing co-founder relationships.

Disagree with me? Email [email protected] - I'll read your arguments in future episodes.

New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Full transcript: founderreality.com
Daily insights: @TheGeorgePu on Twitter/X
Email: [email protected]

Episode details: https://www.founderreality.com/e2-why-co-founders-are-overrated-and-ai-changes-everything/