👨💻 Building solo or with a team?
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I’m curious how other makers prefer to build.
There are obvious advantages to both.
Building solo can mean faster decisions, complete ownership, and no need to constantly align with someone else.
With a team, you get different perspectives, more skills, and someone to share the ups and downs with.
But of course, teamwork also brings communication, coordination, and sometimes slower decisions.
So what’s your experience?
Do you prefer building solo or with a team?
And if you’ve tried both, which one worked better for you?
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I’d probably lean toward a small team.
Right now I’m building solo mostly because I don’t really have anyone to build with. I like the speed and freedom of making decisions on my own, but I can definitely see the downside too — especially when you have to handle product, development, marketing, and everything else yourself.
I think a small team of 2–3 people with complementary skills could be the sweet spot for me: still fast, but with someone to challenge ideas and share the workload with.
So for now: solo by necessity, small team by preference.
@herkaba Got it!
Do you see yourself bringing someone onto the team mainly as an employee, or do you think your teammate should really live the product - understand it deeply and dream about its future like you do?
I mean, when a product is founded by a small team ( friends, former teammates, etc. ) - the team naturally exists from the beginning.
But when the idea starts with one person, I think it can be much harder to share that vision with someone from outside.
Building alone gives me freedom, but having someone around to share the difficult days with can make a big difference. The emotional side of building is easy to underestimate.
@ali_laiquit But do you think having a teammate is only about the emotional side?
There are so many other aspects too - sharing responsibilities can give you more freedom, help you achieve goals faster, and of course, there’s also the emotional support and satisfaction that comes from having someone by your side.
Totally prefer building solo. I have been working as a solo technical founder CEO since 23 years now. I also lead large teams with at one point having 200 people in my team. Even before AI, I found that I am able to take decisions very fast regarding architecture, UI/UX, testing and so on. So, I got used to building myself. Now, with AI, the only team I need is Cursor with Grok and GPT 5.6.
@jogindertanikella Sounds inspiring!
That definitely means you’re a good decision-maker.
Managing a team of 200 people is slowly becoming a thing of the past?..
Seems like everyone is starting to prefer a team of Cursor and the other AI tools you mentioned =D
Connected with you on LinkedIn - it’ll be interesting to follow your journey!
I prefer building solo when speed matters most. The freedom to decide quickly is great, but I sometims miss having someone challenge my assumptions. Do you think a small two person team gives the best balance?
@advin_jadis I think it can.
Being solo has its advantages, but having someone who cares about the product as much as you do, challenges you on milestones, and whose work depends on yours - and vice versa, can actually make you even faster.
And of course, there’s someone to share the wins and the bad days with.
I think there are two critical pieces to this, and while I prefer what's conventionally considered the "build" to happen on as small a team as possible (i.e. myself or a small trusted team) the full realization of a quality product invariably requires more people and perspectives than can typically execute on standing something up efficiently. This is a big part of why there are so many paradigms on "the right way to build" which continue to evolve - because it's always balance that will vary dependent on what you're making and how.
@heresalexandria Yes, interesting point of view. I think in this AI era teams are much leaner and can achieve much more than they could a while ago. A team of two = a team of 10 =)
That’s why I think it’s possible to go as far as possible with a small team, build a strong enough foundation, and then expand when it makes sense.
I have built both ways. Solo is faster but having someone challenge your assumptions is hard to replace.
@ashir_murtaza1 Indeed! Have you worked in a small or big team before?
I build solo, but I take a piece of advice from people who are in my network.
When it comes to work I have – we are a team :)
@busmark_w_nika But what do you enjoy more? Would you prefer to build with a team?
I’ve done both and honestly I prefer a hybrid.
Solo is great for speed and clarity, especially early on. You move faster, make sharper calls and there’s no waiting around for alignment. But you also miss blind spots, especially in UX and edge cases.
With a team, you get better thinking and more robust decisions, but only if communication is tight. Otherwise, things slow down and you end up over-discussing simple calls.
What’s worked best for me is:
build solo early → validate → then bring in people where depth actually matters
For me, that’s usually design thinking, product strategy, and distribution. Not everything needs a team, but the right 1–2 people at the right time can 10x the outcome.
@kabirsalunkhe Really nice approach.
You’re right, if communication within a team is weak, it can be fatal =/
So, at this point, are you working solo or with a team?
I've tried both and I prefer building solo. But at some point I will have to hand this off to someone else if I am to grow the business.
@ismaelyws I see two ways of handing things off.
In the first case, solo makers build a team for growth and marketing while continuing to focus on the product.
In the second, as you said, they hand off the building process and focus on growth themselves.
@adana Yes, I agree with both points. I have been thinking about this a lot recently and for my part I think your first case is what I think I should do. Build a growth team and focus on the product.
@ismaelyws Wishing you good luck on your path!
And is the product you’re working on Hello Inbox, or do you have a new project as well?
@adana Thanks Adana, yes currently working on Hello Inbox and will be re-launching it in Sept.
I don't know but i prefer solo if there's no one as focused and dedicated for the thing you are building
If there's a whole team who have same goal and same focus and dedication to build then i prefer team🫶
Teamwork is dreamwork
@love_agarwal Agree with you. I also see a team as one whole thing. I guess you’re working solo now?
@adana yes i am but i am looking for people who are as curious as i am so we make a good team 🫶
@love_agarwal Which position would you mostly like to have a teammate for?
@adana i don't need many just 1 technical nerd
And 1 marketing nerd😆