What It Actually Takes To Build a Startup Solo | 6 VC-Backed Successful Solo Founders

Everyone thinks going solo means answering to no one. Six solo founders behind WorkOS, Fondo, Plug, Lighthouse, Hamlet, and Julius AI say the opposite: you have more bosses, not fewer, and the job is convincing all of them. Julian revisits the six moments that deserved more attention the first time around.

Topics covered:

- Why going solo means more convincing, not less (Rahul Sonwalkar, Julius AI)

- The original-insight test: "if you don't have one, don't start" (Sunil Rajaraman, Hamlet)

- The "wrong" business model behind a 16-to-429 hockey stick (Jimmy Douglas, Plug)

- The $40,000 filter that picked David Phillips' company for him (Fondo)

- How services scale like software now (Minn Kim, Lighthouse)

- Why sales is the one job a founder should never hand off early (Michael Grinich, WorkOS)

Featuring clips from Julian's conversations with all six founders. Full episodes at solofounders.com and on the Solo Founders YouTube channel.