For years, incubation centres and mentors have sworn by the mantra: get a cofounder. The logic was simple — two or more founders bring balance, complementary skills, and the magic of the “1 + 1 = 11” effect. Solo founders were often warned about burnout, blind spots, and loneliness at the top. But the tide is shifting. In the last decade, the proportion of startups founded by solo entrepreneurs has more than doubled — from 17% to 37%. That’s not a blip, that’s a movement. So what’s driving this reversal? Here are some probable reasons: AI as the New Cofounder Artificial Intelligence and AI agents have become more than productivity tools — they’ve become thought partners. From generative AI copilots to assistants like Bixby or Siri, founders now have “digital teammates” that handle ideation, coding, design, marketing, and even strategy support. For many, AI fills the gap that a human cofounder once did. The Digital-Native Dilemma Gen Z has grown up in a culture where relationships are more fluid, fragmented, and fragile. New vocabulary—ghosting, orbiting, situationship, Caspering, nanoship, squeeze, Rizz, BAE—says it all. In such an environment, trusting a cofounder for the long haul feels riskier. For some, going solo feels simpler and safer than navigating brittle human bonds. Equity Preservation Cofounders mean shared ownership. Many founders now prefer to keep their equity intact, betting on their own resilience and the scalability of AI support rather than splitting the pie early. In a world where dilution starts fast, holding on to equity is itself a survival strategy. Moonlighting Realities A large share of today’s founders begin as moonlighters — employees by day, entrepreneurs by night. For them, stealth mode is essential. Timing rarely matches with a cofounder, and secrecy often makes solo work the default path until the startup is ready to surface. किसी से कहूं के नहीं कहूं ये जो दिल की बात है कहने को अपने साथ एक दुनिया चलती है पर चुप के इस दिल में तन्हाई पलती है..... very well captured lyrics for SOLOpreneurship