The Startup Lie Everyone Believes
Warning: Most people quit by Day 3 when they realize their idea sucks. That’s the point.
I’ve spent 20+ years with founders. The pattern never changes.
So I built a simple test: 10 Brutal Emails.
One task per day. 10 days to either get your first paying customer — or prove your idea isn’t worth it.
⚠️ Warning: most quit by Day 3. That’s the point.
👉 Ready to see if you’ve got it?
10 Brutal Days – Get Your First Customer or Kill Your Idea
No fluff. No theory. Just reality.
The Founder Test
Day 3 is the line between founders and tourists.
Tourists want to be seen as founders.
Founders want the truth, even when it hurts.
The truth is what builds companies.
The lies are what kill them.
The Truth Filter
By Day 3, polite lies stop working.
No more “That’s a great idea!”
No more “I would definitely use that.”
When you push for truth, you get silence. Or worse: shrugs.
And shrugs don’t pay bills.
That’s why most people quit by Day 3.
But that’s also why Day 3 matters most.
It’s not failure. It’s clarity.
Better to kill a fake startup in 3 days than in 3 years.
Most Founders Fail on Day 3
STOP PRETENDING. START TESTING.
Most people don’t fail because of bad ideas.
They fail because they never test them.
Day 1 is easy: you write down problems you’d pay to solve. Feels like progress.
Day 2 still feels safe: you look for others with the same problem. You find a few, maybe.
Then comes Day 3.
Day 3 is where the fantasy ends.
That’s when you ask real people:
“When did you last face this problem?”
“What did you do about it?”
“What did it cost you?”
The answers hurt.
👉 You realize nobody cares as much as you do.