Is a co-founder necessary for raising capital?

Bharat

It is true that investors almost always want to see more than one co-founder, and in my experience, less than 4. EG 2 or 3 is a good number.

I think there are a several reasons:

• It is very unlikely one co-founder will have the combination of skills, engineering, marketing, fundraising etc. Which is why you see matching events for founders to meet potential co-founders with complementary skills
• One person cannot physically do everything. There are not enough hours in the day.
• Bing a sole founder is a very very lonely experience. You need a shoulder to cry on, someone to bounce ideas off, to parse the issues with.
• In a single founder business if for some reason they cannot continue (health, change of heart etc) the business folds. In a multiple co-founder environment the business is larger than one person and thus more stable.

I believe most accelerators and incubators for these and probably other reasons do not like single founder businesses.

David

If you're a sole founder, the investment is in you as a person. Everything is carried on your shoulders. What happens if you get sick? No co-founder to carry the burden, everything is put on hold. This is quite high risk, as opposed to a partnership or team where responsibility is shared and decisions are usually team-based instead of originating from a single mind.

VCs are unimportant. If your project makes sense, they will come to you and try to look their best for you to accept them in. If it doesn't, no amount of additional make up will make you attractive to them. Hence, VCs are unimportant.