Most startup "post-mortems" are written too late. Here is how to spot the fire early.
We’ve all read the post-mortems on why startups fail. "No market need," "Ran out of cash," "Team disharmony." But these are just symptoms.
After writing "Startup Inferno", I’ve realized that the real causes are often psychological traps we fall into long before the bank account hits zero. We don't just fail; we descend through specific circles of dysfunction.
If you are running a startup right now, ask yourself which circle you are currently navigating:
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Circle 5 (Wrath): Are your co-founder meetings becoming "shouting matches" or, worse, "cold silences"? This is the fastest way to burn your legacy from the inside.
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Circle 8 (Fraud): Are you "faking it" so hard to investors and users that you’ve started believing your own inflated numbers? The Inferno always demands the truth eventually.
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Circle 2 (Lust): Are you chasing "shiny object" features instead of fixing the core boring problem that actually pays the bills?
The goal isn't just to build a startup; it's to survive the journey without losing your sanity or your integrity.
I’m curious to hear from the founders here: What is the "hottest" problem you’re facing in your startup right now? Is it a people problem, a money problem, or an ego problem?
I’ve mapped out the way through these traps here: dub.sh/MfnhapC
#Startups #Founders #Entrepreneurship #BuildInPublic #StartupInferno
The "boring problem" trap is the one that got me early on. I was building accounting tools and kept wanting to add analysis features when the core workflow - just getting transactions coded correctly - was still flaky.
The early warning sign I've learned to watch for: when you're excited to work on Feature X but keep "scheduling" time to fix Core Problem Y. That excitement gap is usually the signal. The stuff you avoid is usually the stuff that matters most.
For solo founders without daily co-founder check-ins, writing a weekly "what am I avoiding?" note helps. It's embarrassing how often the answer is obvious once you write it down.
This really resonated with me. It’s so true that many “failures” are just the late signals of a problem that started much earlier, and often internally. The way you framed psychological traps like chasing shiny features or ego issues helps put why things go off track into perspective instead of just listing symptoms like “no market need.”
I’d love to hear more about practical ways you’ve helped founders spot the early signals before they spiral, especially for solo founders who don’t have co-founder check-ins every day.
Circle 2 (Lust) hits hard. The "shiny object" trap is real, it's easier to build exciting new features than to grind on the boring stuff that actually moves metrics. For me right now: it's the discipline problem. Knowing exactly what I should do (talk to users, fix conversion, write content) but finding reasons to optimize my dev setup instead. Not a people or money problem, just me getting in my own way. What circle did you find most founders underestimate when you were writing the book?