He Helped Founders Raise $2 Billion. Now He's Sold on Solo Founding - Julian Weisser

Today I walk with Julian Weisser, founder of Solo Founders and co-founder of On Deck. Julian has run 27 ODF cohorts, helped more than 1,000 founders collectively raise over $2 billion, and spent eight years matching people with co-founders, and now he believes AI has made the co-founder optional. He gets into the $400,000 payout demand from a co-founder who did two months of work, and why he compares co-founders to car phones now that solo founders have the cell phone.We get into:- Calling his own teenage taste in jazz "musical masturbation," and the moment that actually taught him to love it- The $400,000 payout a co-founder demanded for two months of work, and why there was no mechanism to force them out- His run co-founding On Deck, where 27 cohorts helped over 1,000 founders raise $2B+, and why he thinks the co-founder problem is basically already solved- The Hacker News post that got almost no response except one email from Dropbox's first employeeso much more!Timestamps(00:00) Trailer (00:51) Julian Weisser, Founder, Solo Founders (02:06) Calling his old jazz taste "musical masturbation" (20:17) 27 cohorts, thousands of founders, more reps than any VC (35:50) The $400K co-founder payout demand (39:45) The Hacker News post that led to Dropbox's first employee (44:45) Golden Gate Park was built from sand dunes (54:50) Why co-founders have seasons, not forever contracts (58:53) The "oddballs" who never wanted co-founders, including Loyal's Celine Halioua (1:00:59) Co-founders are the car phone. Solo founders are the cell phone. (1:06:47) Why owning less equity can mean more freedom (1:16:18) His two-word life philosophy: keep going (1:16:34) OutroFollow Julian X: https://x.com/julianweisser LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianweisser/Follow Luba Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeoflubaa/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal/ X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina