I am 35 now and live in Kauai (moved here after the Maui fires). I am a 'creative developer' with an agency where I help good people doing good work make great impact. It's a solo operation because I wear multiple hats and am starting to leverage AI to do more faster.
I am thinking about applying to YC with an app I building. I am a solo founder but will definitely find a co-founder one way or another. I am starting to get the feeling that AI is getting so good that if I focus on designing, marketing, and sales with enough understanding of product development, all I would really need is a small team of engineers (with equity) to make sure everything is functional, secure, and scalable.
Am I oversimplifying this or missing something? I believe what I am building is very unique, has great potential, solve real problems for the entire biosphere, and FEELS GOOD as a brand, a way of life. It would challenge the current paradigm to think bigger and feel deeper about many things.
It seems like you're doing things right. Just keep iterating, learn from experiments, and do it again. Sure, you might be over-simplifying some things, but you'll figure those things out with each experiment. Go with your energy and keep iterating.