A solopreneur is not obligated to do everything in complete isolation. They can interact with other specialists, services, AI agents, and partners. The key criterion is the preservation of autonomy.

An autonomous solopreneur determines their own direction, owns their knowledge and tools, is capable of terminating unprofitable interactions, and does not depend on a permanent organizational structure. Therefore, a network of independent specialists does not contradict solopreneurship. A contradiction arises when a person loses their agency and becomes part of someone else's hierarchy without the ability to independently determine critical decisions.

However, autonomy is not only about how one structures relationships with others. It is also a quality of the person themselves. Freedom to make decisions only makes sense when a person is capable of managing those decisions: understanding the consequences, learning, reviewing mistakes, choosing technologies, working with people, and acting without a constant external push. In the HVQ model, this capability is comprised of ethical thinking, creative potential, an understanding of human interaction, technological wisdom, and volitional autonomy.

Therefore, one can be a solopreneur formally and operationally. Formally, working independently is enough. Operational autonomy emerges when a person is truly capable of maintaining their own circuit of decisions and development.

This thought is continued in the concept «A network of solopreneurs does not have to turn into a company». In the general model of the solopreneur of the future, autonomy is especially important because it reduces the distance between a hypothesis and an experiment.