The Rise of High-Agency Builders

Here’s an uncomfortable truth: The idea of the “perfect founding team” is dying. More and more, the people who actually build something meaningful start alone — not because they couldn’t find a co-founder, but because they didn’t want (or need) one.

This isn’t just a trend. It’s a shift in how ambitious founders are choosing to start. Solo-founder startups accounted for 35% of new venture launches last year, a number that’s more than doubled in the past decade. So what does that mean? Founders aren’t waiting to assemble a dream team before they begin to build. They’re starting with vision and purpose, and now, they’re equipped with tools that amplify every move.

The new operating system of company building isn’t collaboration. It’s agency. And for founders, that means the pace, the standard, and the direction are ours to own.

So let's talk about this rise of high-agency builders, why it matters, and what it means for anyone bold enough to start before everything feels ready.

The Age of Agency

For years, the startup world preached that you needed a co-founder. Investors echoed it. Accelerators enforced it. Blogs repeated it until it felt like law. But look around: The tools we have now like AI, automation, and global distribution have obliterated most of the original reasons for needing a partner.

It’s not about working together for consensus anymore — it’s about taking ownership with intention.

You don’t need someone to split the work. You need the guts to start before you’re ready. The clarity to know what matters most. And the willingness to carry the vision until others can see it too.

That’s agency. Not autonomy or ego, but the internal drive to make decisions, take action, and build. Agency is what moves the work forward when no one’s watching. It’s what separates those with ideas from those who bring them to life. And in this new Age of Work, it’s the single most valuable trait a builder can have.

What Building Looks Like Now

Today’s founders aren’t defined by their access to tools. They’re defined by how intentionally they use them. The ones who thrive know how to bend modern technology to their will — not to replace themselves, but to multiply their impact.

AI is an accelerant. Great founders not only see that, they use it to their advantage. Automation is their silent partner in the background helping them move faster, test smarter, and stay focused on the work only they can do. The bottleneck to building a successful company is no longer bandwidth. It’s clarity.

High-agency builders don’t just experiment with these tools. They use them with purpose. They know when to let AI take the first pass and when to step in with their own judgment, experience, or empathy — the things machines can’t replicate.

That’s the shift. These founders aren’t just moving quickly. They’re building intelligently. They turn workflows into systems, systems into leverage, and leverage into scale. Not by accident, but by design.

Platforms like Ninety exist to support exactly this kind of Work, helping high-agency builders create clarity, build structure, and stay focused on what matters most.

Solo, Not Isolated

Even multi-founder companies usually start with one person. Someone who spots the problem first, decides to take the leap, and isn’t afraid to hold the standard.

That’s what really defines a solo founder — one person willing to make the first move. Who takes action before a team has even formed. Who makes decisions without needing permission from anyone else. Who isn't afraid to own the outcome. 

There’s a cost to that kind of agency though. When things break at 2 a.m., there’s no one else to blame. Just themselves, the problem, and whether they care enough to fix it. For a lot of people, that can be a hard reality to face.

But here’s something we all need to remember: Solo doesn’t mean isolated. It means you’re willing to carry the vision before it’s popular, profitable, or proven.

The best solo founders build support systems around themselves. Coaches, right-hand advisors, peer groups, strategic counterparts. Not to share the load, but to sharpen it. Not to split the decision-making, but to bring clarity to the chaos.

The Reality of Building

Here’s the bottom line: If you’re building without agency, neither a co-founder, a system, nor AI will save you. You’re either the kind of person who carries the vision before anyone else believes in it — or you’re not.

Being a founder is hard. Solitude is real. But so is the leverage, the clarity, and the power that come with owning your Work, solely and completely.

If you’re a founder building alone right now, just know that you’re not behind. You’re exactly where you need to be.

The world is finally catching up to how you Work.