28
25 Comments

Working on a startup alone has been really lonely

I didn't realize how lonely working on my startup solo during my gap year from Stanford would be. I have a friend or two in the space, but no founders I get to work with or talk to every day.

For background, I'm really serious about making a startup that succeeds -- I've made a combined $180k on my past projects, but this year, I have been really struggling, and I wish I had people I could go to.

If you're in the same boat and want to grind with ambitious founders, I’m leading this community called https://FoundersCafe.io - Founders from Stanford, YC, etc., co-work, shoot the shit, and make friends. Lmk if you'd like an invite!

  1. 4

    Is this geared more towards "traditional" startups (e.g. looking to raise capital, scaling quickly, becoming a unicorn) or "indie hacker" startups (bootstrapping, staying independent and small, growing profitably)?

    1. 1

      Both -- I'm an indie hacker. Others are seeking VC. We're all struggling to get product market fit.

      1. 1

        Thanks for the reply. Also, are you targeting a specific age demographic? Most people on your website look in their 20's. I'm in my 40's.

  2. 3

    Cool. I'm intrigued, what if you're not from Stanford etc.

    Also, how did you make 61k from a minecraft server?

    EDIT: Oh the community is $50 a month...

    1. 2

      It’s open to all founders! I just vet founders who are serious about building and community.

      For Minecraft, I sold premium ranks on my servers 😩

      Yeah the pricing is meant to weed out flakers. It’s for commited founders looking to shoot the shit and grind on their startups together.

      I just onboarded two YC alum yesterday and lot of the value comes from the network — spending 8 hrs a day with likeminded founders

  3. 2

    Hi Maddie,

    I'd like an invite. Note that I'm from Romania, I see you have some people from London, so that's timezone -3H for me. I'd also like to ask -- is this supposed to be a 1h/day event, where you'd do co-working, or all day, or how does this work?

    Anyway - a tip on handling loneliness - get a dog😁.I have two - have no idea what I would have done without them throughout the last few years 😊

    1. 2

      It's drop-in co-working. so founders (of all timezones) jump in to co-work when they wake up.

      Events are at 8:30 am PT! Does that work with your timezone?

      1. 1

        8:30amPT is 6:30PM for me. So that would be Ok-ish for me.
        I would probably be able to stay for 2h or so, mostly every day.

        Q: what will the meetings be held on? Zoom is a huge NO for me.

        Fyi: I haven't done co-working in the past, and I've been doing remote for close to 20 years. Being a founder (roughly, the last 3 years) is a different ball game, so bouncing off ideas/asking for advice sounds definitely cool.

  4. 2

    It can be lonely for sure. But I think the prolonged covid pandemic has greatly contributed to everything. Hard to have any fun in life in many places at the moment.

    1. 1

      how have you been dealing with it?

      1. 1

        Trying to stay positive, and using common sense! We will get thru this crap eventually 💪

    2. 1

      I KNOW!!! Honestly I have more online friends that offline friends rn 😂

  5. 1

    Cool - Just applied! I'm working on a paid community too but a slightly different twist =)

  6. 1

    Hey Maddie- not working full-time but when I was, this would have been awesome! Great work and when I go full-time again, count me in!

  7. 1

    I have a full time job but I want to start my own business. I dont have an idea yet. I would love to have a chance to talk to real founders and maybe even find cofounders for a future projects. Can I have an invite too please?

  8. 1

    thanks I filled the form but 50 $ is lot for me LOL

  9. 1

    Hey, this looks pretty cool. I'm from Eastern Europe, so I'm not quite sure I fit the bill because of different time zones, but I'm interested.

    Are you only open for established founders or accept people who are just starting out?

    1. 1

      Both! Looking for serious builders (eg: full time) who made the jump to working on their startup. Founder track record doesn't matter cuz we all start somewhere

  10. 1

    Just filled out the form :)

  11. 1

    Great idea. I've signed up ;)

  12. 1

    I would love an invite, I am big on giving and getting perspective, alternate takes, etc. and helping people refine ideas.

    1. 1

      hell yeah! ill dm you!

  13. 1

    being a solo founder can be lonely and sometimes you just feel like giving up. This have happen to me a LOT! That's why I decide to give me another shot and start working on a new business idea Quonective - A new social network for investors and founders. (Still in idea stage!)

    A place to build real relationships, share ideas, find co-founders , virtual pitch investors and to join startup competitions.

    quonective.com

    I would love to have a chat with you maddie. We're both building a tool that would benefit founders like all of us. You can email me at: [email protected]

    Regards,

  14. 1

    This comment was deleted 3 months ago.

Trending on Indie Hackers
How I grew a side project to 100k Unique Visitors in 7 days with 0 audience 49 comments Competing with Product Hunt: a month later 33 comments Why do you hate marketing? 29 comments My Top 20 Free Tools That I Use Everyday as an Indie Hacker 16 comments $15k revenues in <4 months as a solopreneur 14 comments Use Your Product 13 comments