We noticed something important while helping founders get started at ODF: solo founders are significantly underestimated in the startup ecosystem.
Despite solo-founded companies like Midjourney, Vercel and ODF startups like Loyal, Pave, and Settle proving the model works, many investors continue to push founders to find co-founders before taking them seriously.
We're changing that narrative, starting today.
We're launching two initiatives to help encourage and support solo founders:
- Solo Club — a community for solo founders. Early members have raised from top investors, are successful second-time founders, etc.
- Solo Founders Program — a three-month program for ~6 solo founders in SF.
- Housing in SF with an additional full-floor office
- Incredibly talented founders who want to spend 3 months building alongside each other
- $800K+ in perks/credits
- Stipend for personal costs (as an investment)
Our inaugural Solo Founders Program (S25) kicked off May 15th
While applications for this cohort are now closed, we're accepting applications for our next batch and the broader community
The caliber of S25 participants is remarkable:
- Open source projects with over 30,000 GitHub stars
- Previous successful exits
- Some have already raised millions and hit 5-figure MRR
Why are we doing this?
Twenty years ago, Y Combinator challenged convention by backing young technical founders when others wouldn't. Today, we believe solo founders represent a similar opportunity - an undervalued group building remarkable companies.
Through ODF, we've seen that while finding great co-founders works for many, others thrive on their own. We want to support both paths.
If you're a solo founder building something exciting — join us.
If you apply for the Program you are automatically considered for the Community