Progressive Overload for Founders
The effort feels the same. The weight never is.
NPU
A home for founder mistakes, insights, and things we wish we knew earlier.
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Latest posts
What the Founder Mindset Actually Means
Social media has done something strange to the word "founder."
Building Mode Quietly Kills Your Network
The connections you make while heads-down are the ones that save you two years later.
The Most Expensive Way to Be Wrong
Founders model what a big pre-seed buys them if it works. Almost no one models what it costs them if it does not.
If They Ask About OpenAI, They Did Not Read Your Deck
Every era has its boogeyman question. Ours was Theranos. Here is how to know when it actually matters, and when someone simply has not done the work.
When "Promising" Becomes Dangerous
The most dangerous startups are not always the ones where nothing is working.
Raise Small, Stay Sharp
Raise less than you can. Most founders do not need a multi-million pre-seed.
The SAFE Stack Trap
You raised four post-money SAFEs at caps that looked founder-friendly.
Rejection Never Killed Me. Waiting Too Long for an Answer Almost Did.
Every founder talks about rejection like it is one thing. It is not. It comes in two forms, and most people only prepare for one.
A Founder’s Guide to Moving to Bay Area
TLDR: Start in the East Bay if you want lower rent and focus.