Question
My company has a great working product, 2.5 yrs of revenue and traction, however I don't have a co-founder, or any employees. In fact, I have set it up so most of my business is outsourced: product fulfillment, customer service, etc. I am currently going through the Founder Institute program in San Diego, and I am looking to raise funding in order to bring on some actual in house employees, and increase my marketing spend. I am at the point where I am looking to begin meeting with investors, however I am just wondering if it would be in my best interest to find a co-founder before I begin these meetings, or just assemble a good team of advisers and then hire key employees after funding? Look forward to hearing back.
For a detailed look at Founders and Cofounders Startups.com produced a great guide: https://www.startups.com/library/expert-advice/startup-founders-and-cofounders
Answer
The only reason why a co-founder makes sense is if you are looking to give away sweat equity in lieu of salary.
The business proposition and founder track record matter more than the size of the team. Even worse, a large team has the risk to be perceived as window dressing if not much has been accomplished thus far.
You will inevitably need to find sweat equity partners as it is increasingly difficult to get financing at interesting valuations if you don't have a working product or some indications from the market that your business model works.
If you have an interesting proposition, you should not have issues in finding people that are willing to work for free in exchange for a piece of the action (or funding without having a large team).
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