Ask HN: Work alone or in a team? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Work alone or in a team?

2 pointsbgnm20005 comments

I was in an entrepreneurship in residence after graduating college. My mentor told me, that when most people commit a crime, they won't do it alone. He then told me, the same goes for starting a small business. The idea being, that people are afraid of taking that much risk (and cost) all on their own.

Personally, I like working with others - whenever I have a new project brewing I like to have a team of 3. Sometimes I wonder if I'd be better off doing it all alone - if I fall into this category of people who is just too afraid to take on that much risk.

That said, when you start a new project, do you prefer to include others? Or would you rather attack everything by your lonesome (coding, design, marketing/sales, business/accounting, fixed and variable costs).

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Our startup would not be as fleshed out if we only had one person. In addition to having two minds and four hands working at the same time. We actually have synergy going when it comes to fine tuning our vision and then putting it into operation.

We eat dinner together every night and most of the time, the focus of conversation revolves around where we are now and what needs to be done to get where we are going. It really serves to keep the fire lit on our efforts. It’s like having a half-time pep talk in a football locker room every night. If you sat in on one of these dinners with us you would come away confident and energized, ready to put your all into it without reservation. Synergy is an amazing asset.

I think that there is so much to do on a startup that having the right person to work with makes it more valuable, especial if you have synergy between the founders.

I freelanced for years, doing projects for small business, where I would often go in and work and be the only developer working on the project-often working remotely, from my home.

The best thing I ever did was find another like-minded person to work with (well, actually, he found me, but I stuck around). It was quite an adjustment at first, since I wasn't used to working so closely with another developer, but it's made the good parts tons more fun, having someone to share them with, and has made the unpleasant bits all the more barable as well.

It has also greatly increased my productivity and the quality of work I'm producing. I've learned, from his perspective, to think in ways I never would have before.

I wouldn't want to work with just anyone, I don't think, but I do believe I have been fortunate enough to find the perfect co-worker.

I enjoying working with others. The issue I face is many people might "like" an idea, but so few are willing to commit to it. So I am currently working on my own just out of shear tenacity.

I'm almost of the opinion to work on a startup with someone you have to come up with an idea with thatperson/those people.

"I'm almost of the opinion to work on a startup with someone you have to come up with an idea with thatperson/those people."

I've done that a few times - and once both people could almost contribute nothing at all, besides sales/marketing. And neither wanted to do sales or marketing. It was a big lesson learned. Certainly taught me something about picking partners.

Yes, that is definitely a lesson well leant.

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