Is being a solopreneur really that fatal?

Okay, so I need to get something off my chest...

People love to say that solopreneurship is a death sentence. That if you can’t find a cofounder, you’ll never build a team, never scale, never succeed. But I wonder about the other side of the coin—something that, browsing here and in other subs, doesn’t seem to get nearly as much attention—how fatal cofounder conflicts can be.

I’ve personally seen three startups fail before even getting to an MVP because of cofounder issues. One of them was a company I was briefly a cofounder for. The other two are startups coworkers were previous cofounders for that fell apart before they even got to an MVP. In each case, it wasn’t lack of funding or product-market fit that killed them—it was the people.

Yet, somehow, the startup world keeps pushing the idea that finding a cofounder is the most important thing you can do. But here’s the thing: if you can’t find a cofounder, that doesn’t mean you can’t build a business. It doesn’t even mean you can’t build a team. With the tools available today (no-code, AI, fractional hiring), a single person can get an MVP off the ground, validate demand, and take those first steps without needing to rush into a partnership with someone they barely know.

And also—I wonder how many people actually succeed with a cofounder they met casually at a networking event or online? People talk about the risks of going solo, but not enough about the risks of tying your company’s future to someone you just met. (If you’re going to have a cofounder, IMO it should be someone you trust deeply, someone whose skills and working style you know complement yours—not just someone you brought on because startup X/YouTube told you to.).

At the end of the day, I honestly think it’s about the product. If you can build something valuable and find market fit—whether solo or with a team—you’ll have the leverage to hire, partner, and grow. That’s what actually matters.

That said—I know how incredibly hard it is to be a solopreneur—and not to have someone along the journey with you who can take half of the emotional and psychological burden, in addition to the actual work...

What do you think? Any thoughts here appreciated.