Profile picture of Jean-Yves Delmotte
Jean-Yves Delmotte
$38k MRR. $0 raised. 0 employees. โ€ข Co-founder @ BuddiesHR.com โ€ข 5x SaaS Founder โ€ข YC alum โ€ข Aspiring Marathon Runner
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March 21, 2024
๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ-๐—ณ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ? ๐Ÿค” This week, Fabien and I are soaking up the vibes in Lisbon for our monthly founders meeting. It's not just about the work; it's about strengthening our bond and ensuring we're on the same page. Here are the 5 key practices we're implementing to enhance our co-founder relationship: 1๏ธโƒฃ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—”๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฏ๐—ป๐—ฏ Diving into the daily life - discovering each other's morning routines, favorite breakfasts, and personal habits. Living together, even briefly, reveals the nuances of our thinking and approach to life, invaluable insights for remote collaboration. 2๏ธโƒฃ ๐—›๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—™๐˜‚๐—ป ๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ All work and no play? That's not us. We make sure to engage in activities we both enjoy outside the office - be it sports, gaming, or exploring local cuisines. It's about finding joy and relaxation beyond the workspace. 3๏ธโƒฃ ๐——๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—•๐—ถ๐—ด & ๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ We constantly align our visions and strategize for the future. It's a time to reassess our goals, celebrate our progress, and ensure we're both satisfied and excited about the direction we're heading. 4๏ธโƒฃ ๐——๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜-๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐˜€ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. We openly discuss potential challenges and worst-case scenarios. This not only prepares us for unforeseen circumstances but also strengthens our trust and resilience as a team. 5๏ธโƒฃ ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฒ Never underestimate the power of appreciation. We often remind each other how fortunate we are to have found a like-minded partner in this journey. The odds were slim, yet here we are, making our mark together. Building a strong relationship with your co-founder is crucial for the health and success of your venture. It's about more than just business; it's about building a partnership that can withstand the highs and lows of the entrepreneurial journey. #Startup #Entrepreneurship #CoFounderRelationship
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March 21, 2024
โ€œVibe codingโ€ is absolute sh*t. I donโ€™t care what the Twitter threads say. I donโ€™t care how cool that Notion-esque โ€œcollab with AIโ€ demo looks. In real life? Itโ€™s a train wreck. Let me paint you the masterpiece: You finally hack one dumb feature into place. It barely works. Itโ€™s fragile, like Jenga at move 27. So naturally, you think, โ€œCool, letโ€™s build feature two.โ€ This is where the bomb detonates. Touch literally anything and feature one falls apart. You debug for hours, fix one thing, and now feature two is broken. Smash them together and your codebase is a landfill of duplication, hacks, and accidental copy-paste genius. And weโ€™re not even talking about code quality. Or structure. Or actually understanding what itโ€™s building behind your back. Survive that? You get spaghetti code that looks like it was written by four drunk interns and a golden retriever. GenAI gurus still act like itโ€™s magic. Wrong. Quick check: Would you drive a car if you knew the self-driving software was vibe coded? Would you store your life savings in a bank with vibe-coded backend? Would you get on a plane if you learned โ€œwell, the AI did its best with autopilot, but wow, those first two buttons work greatโ€? No. Nobody with survival instincts would. Hereโ€™s the reality, today: โ†ณ Vibe coding โ‰  productivity. It's a slot machine. โ†ณ One feature โ€œworkingโ€ is pure luck. โ†ณ Add another? Enjoy the chaos. โ†ณ Your codebase becomes a museum of bugs and TODOs. Want code with integrity? Consistency? Something actual developers can ship, maintain, and scale? Forget it. Maybe one day these tools can take your napkin doodle and ship Stripe-level systems. Right now? Itโ€™s brute force, constant rollback, and praying nothing explodes when you add a second button. Thatโ€™s why, at BuddiesHR, we still build the hard way. The proper way. Actual engineering discipline. Shipping features that stay shipped. No magic shortcuts. No AI hallucinations. Founders: stop deluding yourselves. You want one โ€œAuto-GPTโ€-built feature? Maybe. A product? Not this decade. Stay sharp. Write real code. Ship things that last. Or strap in for the vibe-coded rollercoaster. Good luck getting off alive. ---------- ๐Ÿ‘‹ Hey, I'm J.Y! I'm the co-founder of BuddiesHR, the #1 Employee Engagement Software that lives in Slack. I post 1x a day about my journey and share what I've learned along the way. Follow me for more content like this ๐Ÿ‘† P.S. I'm writing a no-BS B2B SaaS playbook with everything I've learned. Want a free copy? Click โ€œVisit my websiteโ€ to sign up.
249 comments
May 26, 2025
VC funding is silently killing startups. Not because venture capital is toxic. Not because founders can't close rounds. But because raising money has replaced solving real problems as the North Star. TechCrunch headlines hype us up daily: โ†ณ "Startup secures $2M to revolutionize paper clips" โ†ณ "$5M seed raised to build Netflix for hamsters" Suddenly founders aren't chasing product-market fit. They're chasing term sheets, investor validations, and vanity headlines. Here's exactly what happens next: 1/ Startups pitch investors more than they talk to users. 2/ Teams design slides rather than solve critical pain points. 3/ Companies spend against money they haven't truly earnedโ€”burning runway and trust simultaneously. But here's the raw truth no one admits: โ†ณ Millions raised โ‰  product validation. โ†ณ Buzz doesn't pay salaries. โ†ณ Most VC-backed startups still implode spectacularly. โ†ณ Secretly, overfunded founders envy ruthless, profitable bootstrappers. I know exactly WTF Iโ€™m saying โ€” because I have "been there, done that": โ†ณ Got into YC. โ†ณ Raised a $6M seed. โ†ณ Lived that TechCrunch dopamine hit. But guess what? Raising doesnโ€™t protect your startup from implosion. It speeds it up. Today, with BuddiesHR, Iโ€™m clean as ever: โ†ณ Bootstrapped. โ†ณ Profitable at $30K MRR. โ†ณ Lean. Free. Focused. No toxic cap tables. No investor breathing down my neck. No more chasing vanity metrics like a trained monkey. Founders: Solve real f*cking problems. Stack real revenue. Own every inch of your company. Because raising money isn't the real game. Survival, profitability, and freedom are. Stay lean. Stay focus. Stay bootstrapped. _________________ Enjoyed this post? Drop it a like (๐Ÿ‘) โ€” or I'll take it personally. (And follow J.Y for more content like this)
177 comments
April 18, 2025
FanDuel: acquired for $465M. Now worth $20B. Founders got... NOTHING (lol) If you think "that wonโ€™t happen to me," youโ€™re not paying attention. Tech Twitter pumps you full of unicorn dreams. VCs sell you โ€œpartnership.โ€ But hereโ€™s how it really plays out: Founders build a beast. 9-figure revenue, market heat, timing so perfect you can smell the gold rush. But somewhere between all those โ€œraising our next roundโ€ PR blasts, they surrender control. Board flips. Investors pile on $550M+ in liquidation preferences. Suddenly, โ€œdrag-along rightsโ€ means they can unload the whole companyโ€ฆ founders be damned. Thatโ€™s exactly how FanDuelโ€™s founders ended up owning zero from a $465M acquisition. The investors walked with the winnings. The people who built it walked away empty, watching their creation soar to $20B while lawyers fight over the crumbs. You think this is rare? Thatโ€™s cute. Every month another founder show up, eyes wide, cap table bleeding, shocked that the board cashed out and left them holding air. Hereโ€™s the game: โ†ณ You never really own your company once you lose the board. โ†ณ Preferences > passion, every single time. โ†ณ If the people writing checks want out, youโ€™re a passenger, not the driver. At BuddiesHR, we chose our path early. No mystery terms. No board filled with strangers. No upside casino. Founders: Donโ€™t become another FanDuel headline. 1/ Learn the f*cking math. $465M can = $0 for you. 2/ Control your board until it hurts. 3/ Youโ€™re not building for a press release โ€” youโ€™re building for freedom. Real game = survive, grow, own your f*cking outcome. _________________ Enjoyed this post? Drop it a like (๐Ÿ‘) โ€” or I'll take it personally. (And follow J.Y for more content like this)
88 comments
May 13, 2025