ODF

@julianweisser @chudson @PrecursorVC Charles has backed many ODF companies over the years. Founders say he's one of the best investors they've worked with.

25-30% of his portfolio lose a co-founder before Series A. Solo Founders Podcast ep 3 is live @chudson of @PrecursorVC has invested in 500+ companies as a solo GP. He's our first VC guest. His take: the co-founder consensus is broken, and you should never give away 40% of your company just to make fundraising easier. 00:59 — Why the co-founder consensus is wrong 02:57 — The 500+ company data set 03:37 — Dead equity and cap table damage 07:21 — Rivalry and resentment 09:29 — The "team sport" analogy deconstructed 11:47 — Talented solo founder vs. mismatched team 13:37 — The emotional journey of solo founding 15:28 — Solo founder advantages 21:07 — Don't give away 40% to fundraise easier 23:25 — Authorship 27:03 — Fundraising advice for solo founders 28:28 — Don't apologize for being solo 36:45 — The solo GP / solo founder kinship 41:06 — Bear case for solo founding 43:22 — Bull case for solo founding

they put every hot take i have into a single podcast.

500 rejections. 0 co-founders. $300M valuation. Solo Founders Podcast Episode 2 is live with @pk_iv of @browserbase. Paul tried to find a co-founder. Nobody took the role. So he started Browserbase alone. Now they've raised $67.5M and have customers like Perplexity and Vercel. All in under two years. His take: "First-time founders should not be solo founders." 03:39 – StreamClub: from 72-hour coding binge to #1 on Product Hunt 06:41 – The 3,000-word memo that became Browserbase 08:32 – Solo by circumstance: co-founder dating and getting rejected 09:50 – The five-tool founder 18:48 – Company culture as a mirror of your flaws 30:46 – 500 rejections and hiring from non-traditional backgrounds 35:44 – Quarterback → head coach → GM: how the CEO role evolves 45:08 – The case against solo founding 51:49 – The case for solo founding

They were rejected by nearly every internship they applied for. Then they built a company with a larger market cap than those that rejected them. Check out the first ODF alum appearing on the Solo Founders podcast tomorrow.

@julianweisser Another hint: ODF alumni on our Top Companies list

1st Solo Founders podcast episode: 1M views 2nd episode launches tomorrow. Any guesses?

Polsia backwards is "AI SLOP". It grew to $2M annualized run rate since our podcast earlier this week.

$1.5M ARR in 2 weeks. Zero (human) teammates. Solo Founders Podcast is live with @bencera of @polsia, an AI that runs your company while you sleep. His solo founder rule: 80% AI, 20% taste. 0:00 — How "solo founder" has changed with AI 2:40 — Scoping and trusting AI agents to ship 5:30 — Cloud Kitchens with Travis Kalanick 9:52 — Mount Fuji: Where Polsia was born 13:55 — 80/20 rule: 80% AI, 20% taste 21:24 — Building for yourself, not imaginary customers 23:10 — The game that inspired Polsia 29:55 — Polsia as an economy: The bigger vision 40:59 — How Polsia actually works today 51:35 — Why not just build businesses yourself? 57:55 — Advice for new builders: Push AI to the edge

Announcing the Solo Founders Podcast. Conversations with founders building the most ambitious companies without co-founders. First episode drops tomorrow.

@joinodf 27 - that’s a wrap! So many talented friends, the future belongs to builders. I’m grateful to shape it with you all 💙

Julian Weisser spent 7 years helping people find co-founders Then realized the bigger problem: people not starting at all They were waiting for "the one." And when they forced a match, it imploded So after 27 cohorts of ODF he built something new Solo Founders. A 3-month residency. 6 people. They live and work together One member from the first cohort coined it: "like having five co-founders, but everyone's building their own thing" Solo together > solo alone The results so far: one founder hit $1M ARR in two months. Others landed government and public company contracts The advice for anyone sitting on an idea: stop waiting. Make progress. If you find a co-founder later, you'll have a way higher bar for who qualifies 🎙️ @julianweisser, Founder & CEO, @solofounders & @joinodf on @fondocom @thestartpod 02:07 7 years helping more people start great companies 02:20 ODF’s starting belief: expand how people find co-founders 03:05 The inflection: maybe co-founders aren’t essential 03:24 The risk: treating co-founders as mandatory → bad matches 03:42 The outliers: “we’re just going to start anyway” 04:13 The limiting belief: you need a co-founder to succeed 04:53 Solo Founders: you can start solo and make real progress 05:21 Why accelerators work: energy, feedback loops, camaraderie 05:35 “Solo together” vs. solo alone 07:19 Solo founders "around the same dinner table" 08:24 Advice: make progress without waiting for a co-founder

What a group of legends @joinodf

Introducing Contra Payments. The first payments platform that lets you sell to AI Agents. RT + Comment “Contra” and I’ll send you 100 products AI agents are looking for.

@contraben congratulations on the launch!

Solo founders are becoming more common. 2025 was the first year more than 1 in 3 startups were solo-founded. @PeterJ_Walker at @joinodf

So excited for ODF (27), which starts tonight! I’ve talked with several hundred founders in recent months, and the ones joining us are up to truly incredible things. To more core memories and impactful companies.

2,424 days ago. That's when we ran our first @joinodf cohort. Tonight we start our 27th. It's the place where founders meet co-conspirators and build companies like @Traba_Work, @contra, and @tryfinch. ODF27 we can't wait to see what you make.

Save the dogs, save the world. Congrats Loyal (ODF2) on the incredible progress.

Excited to announce @timelapsio: brand tracking for modern marketers. I believe people matter more than anything in a startup. @henkpret and I met via @joinodf. After chatting every day during the program and getting to know each other beyond professionally, I knew he was special. I believe in validating ideas by doing. Henk shares that belief, among many other things. So we began exploring ideas together part-time after ODF26, syncing regularly. We kept asking: what matters most in the age of AI? Excited to share our answer to the world: timelaps.io/why-timelaps/w…. Building a startup from zero is hard. I'm beyond grateful to build alongside Henk. We couldn't have gotten here without the incredible support from: • @Matt for leading product engineering • @Danielgbright for crafting our brand identity • @yutongs492 for bringing our vision to life visually • @julianweisser, @FedericoNoemie, @_guglielmo for making ODF26 an unforgettable experience • @realleolu, @drdanielkang, Noah, Evan, and many more friends for bouncing ideas back and forth since ideation The AI revolution has transformed what brands can create. It's time for tracking to catch up.