luba yudasina(@LubaYudasina):27 cohorts. Thousands of founders. Zero VC funds that saw what Julian Weisser (@julianweisser ) saw. He ran ODF, On Deck's founder program, watching people build companies in real time instead of hearing about it after they'd already figured it out. He says the closest thing to that vantage point is YC (@ycombinator ), and even that doesn't fully compare. "I got so many reps of seeing the things that worked and the things that didn't with co-founders." "You literally can't pay for that experience anywhere." Full episode:

2026.09.20 01:00

27 cohorts. Thousands of founders. Zero VC funds that saw what Julian Weisser (@julianweisser ) saw. He ran ODF, On Deck's founder program, watching people build companies in real time instead of hearing about it after they'd already figured it out. He says the closest thing to that vantage point is YC (@ycombinator ), and even that doesn't fully compare. "I got so many reps of seeing the things that worked and the things that didn't with co-founders." "You literally can't pay for that experience anywhere." Full episode:

luba yudasina@LubaYudasina

2026.09.17 15:30

New pod drop! Full circle - I met Julian (@julianweisser) almost 10 years ago in ODF 1 (~100 people, in person in SF). They’re on cohort 27 now, wild! He also recently launched Solo Founders (@solofounders) - we love to see it! We cover: - From Jazz to startups: let people play their own instruments - Giving early employees high equity - Co-founders aren’t forever — they have seasons - “If they don’t get it, that’s your fault” - Music school → On Deck → Solo Founders - Biggest risk isn’t dilution. It’s co-founder conflict - Life philosophy: keep going so much more! Timestamps (00:00) Trailer (00:51) Julian Weisser, Founder, Solo Founders (02:06) Calling his old jazz taste "musical masturbation" (20:17) 27 cohorts, thousands of founders, more reps than any VC (35:50) The $400K co-founder payout demand (39:45) The Hacker News post that led to Dropbox's first employee (44:45) Golden Gate Park was built from sand dunes (54:50) Why co-founders have seasons, not forever contracts (58:53) The "oddballs" who never wanted co-founders, including Loyal's Celine Halioua (1:00:59) Co-founders are the car phone. Solo founders are the cell phone. (1:06:47) Why owning less equity can mean more freedom (1:16:18) His two-word life philosophy: keep going (1:16:34) Outro Link -