Founder Reality Newsletter

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

Featured

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

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

Life Reflections

Jan 15, 2026

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6 min read

Am I the QA Now?

Everyone says coding is dead. I just signed up for Frontend Masters.

George Pu

Life Reflections

The Room Where Irrelevance Feels Intelligent

Dec 18, 2025

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4 min read

The Room Where Irrelevance Feels Intelligent

A monk, a slur, and the thing I keep catching myself doing

George Pu

Startups

I Just Watched a Smart Founder Make a $200K Mistake

Dec 12, 2025

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9 min read

I Just Watched a Smart Founder Make a $200K Mistake

50/50 odds became 10/90.

George Pu

Business

The Real Cost of Building at Full Speed (It's Not What You Think)

Dec 4, 2025

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11 min read

The Real Cost of Building at Full Speed (It's Not What You Think)

What Freedom Actually Costs in 2025

George Pu