Don’t Be “Hero ball” Kobe
3 Reasons why VCs don’t like to invest in solo founder startups
Why Venture Capitalists are hesitant to invest in solo founders
I’m an 80s baby. I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s. So after witnessing the greatness of Michael Jordan, I welcomed the emergence of his basketball version 2.0 — Kobe Bryant. I always loved Kobe the basketball player. All the guy wanted to do was win. He had a vision and an approach on how to put his team in the best position to win. In Kobe’s opinion that meant 12 times out of 10, that he should shoot the ball. And I loved that. Even though, many of the decisions on the basketball court that he made during critical points of his career, were terrible basketball plays. But hey that’s hero ball.
If you aren’t familiar with the term, Urban Dictionary defines “Hero ball” as:
“A style of basketball played by a person with average or mediocre talent who nonetheless believes he is the second coming of Michael Jordan. It involves lots of ball-hogging, mindless spinning and jumping, and taking a bunch of highly contested fadeaway jumpers that almost never go in.”
This definition came to my mind last week after a few entrepreneurs emailed me asking for my honest thoughts (and VC view) on startups with a solo founder. When I asked myself, “how do I feel about startups that I have done due diligence on who have only one founder?”, I immediately thought of this Kobe and not this Kobe. I believe there are 3 reasons why VCs are hesitant to invest in startups with a solo founder, and they are very similar to why hero ball typically doesn’t lead to success on the basketball court.
Signals some lack of self awareness and/or a vote of confidence
When basketball players go into hero ball mode, they usually exert unmerited and irrational confidence. They believe that they can take on the huge moment on their own. This usually leads to that player being ridiculed for their selfishness and their respective team coming up short. And then sometimes there are exceptions (Jordan & Kobe) — but exceptions do not constitute a rule. Most individuals that follow the tech industry know that few successful startups have had a solo founder and that’s because creating a company from scratch is really hard. Venture Capitalists know this and also understand that very few entrepreneurs are great at every aspect that is necessary to build a high growth tech company. Very few individuals have the unicorn skill set of technical expertise, marketing/sales savvy, and management experience. Therefore being a solo founder suggests that you have too big of an ego or can’t convince anyone to join your vision for a startup. Both aren’t promising characteristics for a journey that will consist of peaks and valleys and this causes VCs to pass on an opportunity to invest.
Leads to burnout
Even in a pickup basketball game, when I play on the same team as a wannabe Kobe Bryant, I notice the same narrative no matter if our team wins or loses (although we typically lose in these situations). The hero baller always exerts too much energy on the offensive end by trying to shoot over three people. Their defense effort suffers and their stamina towards the end of the game declines. As a solo founder, you and you alone will be responsible for all problems and opportunities that arise as you grow your startup. For instance, when you sign a new strategic partnership or bring on a new large enterprise client, you are bound to face more problems that you didn’t even know were there. And you will have to determine the prioritization and strategy alone. It’s easy to see why VCs would anticipate a solo founder becoming overwhelmed or burnout quickly.
Limits upside for startup
“There’s no I in TEAM” is a phrase that I heard over and over since playing organized basketball as a 9-year-old. It’s really true. I’ve seen teams with really strong individual talents that have lost to less talented teams. This happened to Kobe. I remember when the 2004 Lakers team was heavy favorites against the Detroit Pistons but ultimately lost the NBA Finals 4–1 because they played as individuals and not as a team. Even if a founder can do all the work herself, the company will always miss it’s full potential because good team members have the potential to help you reach new highs. As a founder you need colleagues that will brainstorm with you, talk you out of dumb decisions, and to encourage you when things go wrong. The accountability that is fostered through founding teams is also something that is lost when you are a solo founder. When you experience low points as a co-founder you always have someone to bear the disappointment with. Accountability derives from these shared experiences where each co-founder feels “I can’t let my co-founder down.” This is a powerful resource that VCs bet on since they know the hard road ahead of any startup.
Earnest Sweat is an Investor in Residence for Backstage Capital and a Startup Advisor for Camelback Ventures. If you have any questions or requests please connect with Earnest through LinkedIn, Twitter, or AngelList.
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