Michael Grinich built WorkOS solo — now a $2B company and the enterprise infrastructure behind OpenAI, Anthropic, and Replit — with no co-founder. So when he says "it's not the blood bond it was made out to be," it lands. This conversation is his case against the ride-or-die co-founder myth, the question he thinks actually matters before you start a company, and the honest bear and bull case for going it alone.
Topics covered:
- Why co-founders aren't a blood bond — and "are you the one who holds it forever?"
- The founder "mental disorder," and why you only need one person who has it
- The bear and bull case for solo founding — from John Lennon to "the company is a mirror"
- How to pick the idea: a notebook, four filters, and lessons borrowed from stand-up comedy
- Why "pivots are the most traumatic thing you can do to a business"
- The case for founder-led sales — and hiring a head of sales as a partner, not a handoff
Guest: Michael Grinich — solo founder and CEO of WorkOS, the infrastructure that makes startups enterprise-ready.
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.