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.
