Charles Hudson is the founder and managing partner of Precursor Ventures, where he's invested in over 500 companies as a solo GP. He shares a data point that challenges the co-founder consensus: 25-30% of his portfolio companies lose a co-founder before Series A. In this conversation, he explains why talented solo founders beat mismatched teams, the real cost of dead equity, and why you should never give away 40% of your company just to make fundraising easier.
Topics covered:
- The co-founder breakup rate: 25-30% before Series A
- Dead equity and cap table damage from co-founder departures
- Rivalry and resentment dynamics in co-founding teams
- Why investors underrate solo founders
- The "team sport" analogy reframed
- Denominator delusion: failed co-founding teams nobody counts
- Don't give away 40% of your company for fundraising optics
- Authorship and full accountability as a solo founder
- Fundraising advice: don't apologize for being solo
- Late-joining co-founders and how to evaluate them
- The solo GP / solo founder kinship
- The emotional reality: loneliness is 10x what you expect
- Bear case and bull case for solo founding
Guest: Charles Hudson — Founder and Managing Partner, Precursor Ventures. Solo GP. 500+ investments. Former partner at SoftTech VC (now Uncork Capital). Former Google and Genentech.
What is Solo Founders?
The Solo Founder's Podcast features in-depth interviews with solo founders building remarkable companies. Each week, host Julian Weisser sits down with solo founders who are either operating at serious scale or doing something right now that you need to know about. From Series B and beyond to founders breaking out in real-time, these are the conversations that define what it means to build solo. New episodes every week.