So, Sarah Choudhary just dropped an article telling us all how she built her empire without investors, co-founders, or even a glorified intern to fetch her oat milk lattes. And let me tell you — the energy here screams, “I didn’t need you then, and I definitely don’t need you now.”
In a startup culture where people collect co-founders like Pokémon and investors like they’re trading baseball cards, Sarah decided to say, nah, I’m good. She chose systems over people, clarity over committee meetings, and results over the endless validation circle jerk that most startups call “strategy sessions.”
And honestly? She’s not wrong. But she’s also not pulling punches. Let’s break it down, with a healthy dose of snark, because this article practically begs for it.
The Startup Myth: You Need a Partner to Hold Your Hand
Sarah opens with the “hard truth”: most co-founders slow you down, investors want to boss you around, and half the people starting companies are just doing it to look cute on LinkedIn.
Ouch. Somewhere out there, a 3-person “founding team” just spit out their cold brew and screamed, “We’re different!”
But she’s right. Co-founders are basically the group project partners from college — except now, they own 30% of your company while contributing 10% of the work. Investors? They’ll happily swap your vision for their KPI spreadsheet the moment you sign the term sheet.
Sarah’s point: if you want to move fast, stop asking permission. Build the damn thing.
“Isn’t it Risky to Go Alone?”
People apparently ask Sarah this a lot, probably with the same wide-eyed concern they reserve for solo travelers in horror movies. “But what if something bad happens?”
Her answer? The real risk isn’t building solo — it’s letting someone else hold the steering wheel of your dream while they’re also Snapchatting, checking Slack, and asking, “Wait, where are we going again?”
Sarah had a clear idea:
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A face recognition AI product before the market caught on (translation: she was the nerd in class who did the homework before it was assigned).
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A delivery platform that could become an ecosystem (read: Amazon Lite but with less drama).
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A wallet that scales without making a sound (because stealth wealth is sexy).
No co-founders. No investor babysitters. No “advisors” whispering outdated nonsense in her ear. She just… built it. Bold move, Sarah.
The Hidden Cost of “Help”
This is where Sarah throws serious shade at the idea that solo means small. She didn’t hire a team — she built systems that operate like one.
Meetings? Gone.
Slack pings? Nope.
Brainstorming sessions where everyone eats donuts and nobody decides anything? Dead.
Instead, Sarah runs her business like a Swiss watch:
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Notion is her COO.
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Zapier is her operations department.
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Canva and ChatGPT? Her entire creative team.
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Stripe and Google Workspace? Her finance and legal crew.
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Calendly? Her gatekeeper.
Translation: she automated human inefficiency right out of the equation. Somewhere, an actual COO is sobbing into their MBA diploma.
Her approach is simple: if it can be systemized, automated, or deleted, do it. Humans are optional. Efficiency is mandatory.
Focus Only on What Moves the Needle
Here’s where Sarah drops some serious mental game wisdom: building alone isn’t about grinding yourself into a sleep-deprived husk while wearing 37 hats. It’s about knowing what only you can do, and letting systems (or contractors) handle the rest.
Her daily rule?
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Lock in a plan the night before.
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Delegate what doesn’t require her brain.
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If a task takes more than an hour, she either automates it or hands it off.
And just like that, she keeps her energy where it matters — on decisions that actually grow the business, not on fiddling with spreadsheets like some corporate intern.
Proof Comes From Action, Not Hype
Sarah didn’t waste months perfecting a pitch deck or begging for VC coffee meetings. She built, tested, and sold. Quietly. Like a business ninja.
Example: she created a face recognition demo, handed it to the right people (not “Twitter influencers” with blue checks and no substance), and boom — one buyer signed immediately. Two more asked for pricing.
No hype. No press release. No 3-hour Clubhouse talk about “disruption.” Just product → value → deal.
This is the part where every pre-seed startup founder crying about “runway” should take notes.
Why She’d Still Build Alone — Even Now
After that first deal, Sarah kept scaling — negotiating terms, securing deposits, managing production — all without investors breathing down her neck or co-founders fighting over whose name comes first on the press release.
She didn’t just keep control; she kept ownership. Investors love to tell you that dilution is “part of the game.” Sarah just didn’t play their game.
Her takeaway? Co-founders and VCs aren’t milestones. They’re optional accessories. Build with clarity, protect your IP, and execute — you don’t need more voices in the room. You need more control.
Building Alone Isn’t Isolation — It’s Power
Sarah ends by clarifying that solo doesn’t mean lonely. It means focused. It means building on your terms, not on the terms of people whose only contribution is sending you an “urgent” Slack message at 11 p.m.
You don’t need to go viral. You don’t need to raise millions. You need to go all in with vision, systems, and the guts to bet on yourself.
Because at the end of the day:
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Clarity beats consensus.
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Speed beats committee.
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Vision beats noise.
Or, in less polite terms: stop asking for permission, stop waiting for investors, and build the damn thing.
Final Snarky Thoughts
Sarah’s approach is refreshingly ruthless in a startup world obsessed with optics over outcomes. While everyone else is busy forming “founding teams” with their college roommates and hosting pitch events for “networking,” she’s over here quietly shipping products and cashing checks.
She proves what most people in tech secretly know but won’t say out loud:
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Most co-founders are dead weight.
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Most investors are control freaks with fancy job titles.
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Most meetings are a waste of oxygen.
So if you’re still clinging to the idea that you need other people to succeed, Sarah’s here to slap that notion out of your hands. Build smart. Build lean. Build solo. And when the VCs come knocking with their term sheets, maybe just smile, wave, and get back to work.
Because nothing is scarier — or more powerful — than a founder who doesn’t need anyone’s money, permission, or applause to win.