Founder Reality Newsletter

Real founder insights and contrarian business wisdom from a technical founder building AI-powered companies.

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Business

$300K burned: Why I stopped following Y Combinator advice

Oct 3, 2025

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6 min read

$300K burned: Why I stopped following Y Combinator advice

I burned $300K following Y Combinator's advice. Then I discovered the consulting-first model and hit $10K/month in 90 days. Here's the complete playbook.

George Pu

Articles

Life Reflections

Mar 5, 2026

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15 min read

The Dubai You Knew Is Dead

What 21,000 cancelled flights taught 11 million people about sovereignty

George Pu

Business

Feb 19, 2026

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17 min read

The Tale of Two AI Worlds

OpenAI's $100B round. Anthropic's $30B raise. $250M in Super Bowl ads. And your rent is up 36%.

George Pu

Business

We're in survival mode (and we're not broke)

Feb 12, 2026

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7 min read

We're in survival mode (and we're not broke)

I have 2 years of runway. I've never been more scared.

George Pu

Business

SaaS Is Dead. The Market Just Priced It In

Feb 5, 2026

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13 min read

SaaS Is Dead. The Market Just Priced It In

$300 billion vanished in a day. Here's what to do about it.

George Pu

Business

They're not laying you off. They're swapping you

Jan 29, 2026

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15 min read

They're not laying you off. They're swapping you

46,000 jobs. One day. The receipts.

George Pu

Business

Jan 22, 2026

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9 min read

I killed my first business last week

Five years to build. Four days to let go.

George Pu