{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Solo Founders","title":"30M Users, No Co-Founder | Eugenia Kuyda (Replika, Wabi)","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":4565,"description":"Eugenia Kuyda has spent over a decade building at the frontier of AI consumer products. First by founding Replika in 2014, hitting 30M users in conversational AI before ChatGPT even existed. Now, building Wabi: giving everyone the ability to build personal software. In this episode, she breaks down why she’s repeatedly chosen the solo founder path, why “co-founders by pressure” create long-term damage, and what it actually takes to keep going when things get brutally hard.This is a conversation about conviction, authorship, loneliness, team-building, and the emotional reality of leading through uncertainty. Eugenia shares the difference between being truly solo vs. being isolated, why she treats founding as a team sport anyway, and how she thinks about hiring high-agency people who can operate like owners.Topics covered- Why many “co-founder” setups are functionally one decision-maker anyway- The risk of “co-founder by default” decisions- Why it’s better to be solo than misaligned at the top- Streamlining your startup's layers from three down to two by removing co-founders- Storytelling as a core founder advantage- Team-building without co-founder hierarchy- The emotional bear case for solo founding- The speed and clarity bull case for solo foundingGuest: Eugenia Kuyda — founder and CEO behind visionary AI products like Replika and Wabi.","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/Mj10Aagf8Fn8vlPjgqrVjy6o35AHmBKx1tPfNCCPiYo/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80OWE2/Y2E3NGM5MjYxYmQ1/Njk2YjU5YTlkMmMw/OTZmYy5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}