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Comment by tribeofone | Hacker News Reader

The being nimble and touchy relationship stuff is nice, but the real reason you dont need a cofounder is: why split the equity 50/50, 75/25 or whatever it is? You used to need partners to share risk (mainly the infusion of capital). In this industry there are very small barriers to entry, faster returns, and plenty of money available if you have a good idea. Meaning there is very little risk on the part of a entrepreneur.

Why give up a substantial chuck of the equity for a "co-founder" when you can bring that same or similar person aboard 6 months later for a percent or two (5 at most) and get the same results.

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Meaning there is very little risk on the part of a entrepreneur.

This line, more than anything else in the last year, is pinging my bubble radar. Ping, ping, ping!

It isn't skydiving without a parachute, but essentially everybody capable of doing a fundable business is also capable of getting a six figure job tomorrow in the current economic environment. If it takes 1.5 to 3 years of your life to discover that the brilliant idea to upend ad distribution through social networks on iPhones was not quite so brilliant, you've very much lost something. (1.5 to 3 years of your life, and, by the way, some money.)

You have probably learnt a lot however. Also, you assume that if someone was not working on their start-up, they would be doing that high paid tech job you refer to. But the reason that many people do a start up is that they could not stand to do that high paid tech job in the first place.

You have probably learnt a lot however.

Well, that is inevitable, regardless of what you do.

That's a way to look at things that has some value from a decision-making perspective, but it's not the only way. When people talk about there being little risk to opening a business nowadays, they mean there is little risk of an outcome more catastrophic than a little wasted time — the outcome might not necessarily be rosy, but you can keep going and hardly miss a beat. If you forgo that six-figure paycheck for a business that goes belly-up, good news: You're still the kind of person who can get a six-figure job tomorrow.

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