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“Kingmake yourself,” a $20M solo raise, and how to stay alive.
Kieran Ryan
February 02, 2026
Let’s kick off the week with a few solo founder threads worth your time!
Kingmake Yourself
Yasser Elsaid has built Chatbase into an 8-figure business as a solo founder without venture capital.
On self-kingmaking:
“You do not need permission to act like the person you are trying to become. You do not need the VC, the gatekeeper, or the external validation. You need the behavior first. The body follows. The bank account follows. The title follows.”
The gap between action and the actual result is where most people break. “They act for three months, see no results, and decide they were delusional. The fact is that they were not delusional enough.”
He uses Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral campaign as an example: polling at 1% a year ago, yet acting as if victory was inevitable. “He never sounded like he did not belong... When he gave his victory speech, he spoke about ushering in a generation of change as if this were the natural order of things.”
The takeaway: Reality is perception. “Your job is to design a narrative then paint it in the canvas in their minds.”
A must-read for solo founders.
Plug Raises $20M to Scale Its EV-First Marketplace
Congrats to Jimmy Douglas and the Plug team on their $20M Series A led by Lightspeed.
Jimmy left Tesla in 2023 after noticing something in the Inflation Reduction Act: any leased EV qualified for the federal subsidy. He knew leasing would surge—and that a flood of used inventory would follow 36 months later. He started Plug solo to build critical mass before the wave hit.
It's working. In Q4 2025, Plug sold more EVs than in all of 2024. “The used EV wave isn't coming,” Jimmy says. “It's here and building fast.”
Read the full story behind Plug's unusual seed raise and how they landed Lightspeed for their Series A.
The Craft of Getting Better
Martin Scorsese, Director of The Wolf of Wall Street and Taxi Driver, on what it actually takes to be great:
This is about film, but it applies to everything: Anjan Katta (solo founder of Daylight) developed his taste by flooding himself with domain-specific inputs, then forcing rigor by talking through problems out loud and using AI to find holes in his reasoning.
How to Stay Alive and Slow Down Time
Stop what you’re doing and read this from Eugenia Kuyda (solo founder of Wabi). It’s the most practical thing I’ve read recently on staying fully present and connected to life while still performing at a high level.
“A famous VC asked me recently: Is it even possible to feel everything - to really take life in - and still be a high-functioning person?
“The answer, it turns out, is yes.”
Read Eugenia’s full piece.
Solo, together.
— Kieran, Julian, & The Solo Founders Team