The Classic Founder Tale - (Formerly) Daily Laterals #10

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Welcome to Edition #10 of (Formerly) Daily Laterals - these are little thought pieces that come out every Monday and Friday (unless I change my mind again).

They’ll cover growth, marketing, life, startups, AI and all things business.

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I’m meeting more and more first time founders lately. It’s an exciting time. The new AI gold rush has everyone and their uncle fighting to start a company.

Looking at them, I can’t help but see myself when I was first starting off.

Like the saying goes, “the master has failed more times than the student has tried”. While I’m nowhere near a master, I thought I’d share the classic steps I’ve seen most startup founders go through.

Before we dive in — a quick homage to the only company that didn’t skip the “make something people want” (you’ll read more about it soon) phase: HubSpot.

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Back to the classic founder tale.

1. The “Better Internet” Dream

Fix the world, one clever algorithm at a time.

You begin by watching the social feeds, the endless noise, recycled memes, engagement farms. You think: “If only someone could build something different…” You genuinely believe your mission is noble.

So you launch your platform: a social layer, content arbitrage scheme, some “interruption-free” feed, maybe an influencer economy of your own.

You’re supposed to be the Robin Hood of content: take from the big platforms, give to the creators, fix the system.

But the problem: people don’t actually sign up because they want “a better internet.” They sign up because it helps them do something useful.

2. The Marketplace Pivot

When you realise “fixing the internet” is too big, you settle for matching dog-walkers and mug-collectors.

After some feedback, you realize: this one’s too tough.

So you narrow it down to your specialty. “Ok,” you think, “we’ll match supply and demand instead.” You build a marketplace.

Likely something in a field you’re familiar with.

Now you’re winning cases: provider meets consumer, platform takes cut, everyone’s happy (in theory).

It’s a more “adult” idea. More manageable. More investor-friendly.

You’re still optimistic, but slightly upset. You’re trading “world-change” for “make something people will pay for.”

But note: narrowing scope doesn’t mean simple execution.

3. The Feature-Overload Phase

You build fifteen features because you can, but users only needed “export to CSV.”

You build the marketplace, but you’re haunted by “our competitors have many more features”.

So you add: social feed, rewards, analytics dashboard, AI-matching, community chat, built-in payments, premium tiers… The list goes on.

You spend weeks debating UI, UX, edge-cases. But you skip the plain old “export to CSV” feature that 90% of users quietly whisper they want.

You’re obsessed. You are product-driven, not customer-driven. You think you’re building the future, and competitors just don’t see it yet.

Meanwhile, others are making headlines with features you consider obsolete.

4. Blame Everyone Else Phase

“People don’t understand…”

Now you’re building, features are piling up, traction is thin. But you’re sure the problem is them. The users don’t “get it.” The competitors are idiots. The investors are short-sighted.

You adopt the rhetorical posture of the misunderstood visionary. You think your greatness is obvious. You blame the ecosystem.

It’s a familiar stage. Many first-time founders fall into it.

It’s lonely up here. The view is beautiful. The air is thin.

5. The Fads & Burn-Out Chapter

Web3! NFTs! Crypto! Chrome extensions! Anything if it saves the startup.

Then one of two things hits: the market changes, you run out of runway, or a fad glints in the corner and you leap.

You chase the trend because you’re idealistic and slightly desperate. Maybe you add crypto tokens. Maybe you pivot to “community owned” model. Maybe you go all in on “AI influencer marketplace.”

All hope. Very little certainty.

At some point you burn out.

You might tell yourself: “It was the timing. It was the niche. It was the market.”

6A. The Simplify & Build What People Want Path

Less drama, more practicality.

Some founders land here. They decide to strip out the noise. They stop blaming. They stop chasing “big vision” and return to basics.

They zoom in on the core need: “What are people actually using?” They build the one thing they’ve ignored: yes, sometimes that “export to CSV” feature.

They stop watching competitors. They stop caring about hate. They build quietly. They listen. They iterate.

And slowly, but surely, they gain traction. They make something real.

They become less flashy. More effective.

You see the difference: one version of you chasing legendary disruption. Another version focusing on what works. Who wins? The latter.

6B. The Internet Critic Route

From builder to observer. The startup turned commentary gig.

Alternatively, some founders don’t quite make the leap. The fatigue, the feature-logout, the market’s indifference - they all pile up.

So they quit building. They begin writing. They tweet. They talk about “how broken the startup scene is,” “the hype of Web3,” “why nobody builds real companies anymore.”

They become critics: of tech, of startups, of entrepreneurs. They lurk on podcasts, join panels, claim they saw it coming.

They become part of the broken system they wanted to change.

Final Thoughts

Nearly every first-time founder travels this arc. Some live multiple steps at once.

Starting with grandeur. Narrowing to survival. Building badly. Blaming loudly. Then choosing one of two endings: rebuild wisely, or retire to commentary.

If I had to gamble: the winner is the one that is self-aware enough to know they’re not special, but arrogant enough to know that won’t stop them.

The sooner you accept you can’t really skip these phases, the sooner you’ll land on something great.