The Startup Therapist. Common Founder Mistakes.
The Startup Therapist. Common Founder Mistakes.
Aron Meystedt
July 30, 2026
In partnership with
Hey, Aron here.
What if your startup idea could have a therapy session? It might look like this.
The founder:
Nick. Age 30. Has a day job. Can’t shake this awesome idea he’s had:
An app that lets people scan their collectibles, creating a 3D model of each that they can spin, share and sell in the built-in marketplace.
The therapist:
Val. Age 55. Startup industry veteran turned mentor / advisor. She’s seen it all.
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Therapist:
Welcome in Nick, have a seat.
This is your third visit this month. I see the idea keeps slightly changing. We are seeing that 31% of people that come through here rethink their idea after their first try. I was expecting you to be back.
Nick:
Thanks for having me and for putting up with my neurotic thinking. Haha. I just love this idea I have and I’m totally stuck.
Therapist:
Tell me where you’re stuck.
Nick:
Ok, so I have been collecting coins and sports cards for 10 years. An app doesn’t exist where you can scan your collectibles with your phone and render a 3D like image that you can manipulate and share. And I think there’s a clear marketplace here that might work… collectors are always looking for more sales.
Therapist:
Are you sure who your customer is here? We’re seeing that less than 40% of people come in here with a clearly defined customer.
Nick:
Yeah. Collectors of sports cards and coins. There are literally millions of us. It won’t be hard to find the right people if I could only get this app built. They’d love it.
Therapist:
So, what’s the hold up?
Nick:
I need to raise money. The app is going to cost $50,000 according to a few quotes I have received from development studios. It’s going to be epic… I just need money and then I need the app built - tons of functionality required… 3D imaging, a marketplace etc. Game changer for the collectible industry.
Therapist:
So, what have you been currently working on?
Nick:
My pitch deck. Gotta raise $100,000 minimum. $50K for the app, $50K for everything else (marketing, my expenses etc.). So, I’ve been polishing this pitch deck… it’s got 22 slides of really detailed market info and opportunity. I keep sending it to angels and VCs… no replies yet. So, I am looking for introductions to wealthy angels.
Therapist:
I see. How’s that coming along? And what are you doing in the meantime while you wait?
Nick:
Well, it’s not going good. I am tapping my network daily. It’s all I am doing. It’s a chicken and egg thing. I can’t move forward without funding, and I can’t really get funding without showing these investors the big vision. Hence my detailed pitch deck.
Therapist:
Ok, so here’s the deal…
Nick:
Oh boy. Yes?
Therapist:
The scope of your project is just too big for, basically day one.
Nick:
Uh huh.
Therapist:
Of the people we see in here that move forward, nearly 30% of them reduce the scope of their project before they make progress. This everything app, 3D imaging, cataloging, sharing, marketplace… it’s just too big to make any meaningful progress. You’re stuck on building it ALL, or nothing. You have to find a much simpler place to start.
Nick:
Ok, but I know this app will go over. Collectors will love it.
Therapist:
Did they tell you that? Of every 100 collectors you have spoken to, how many find this to be a clear need?
Well, I haven’t talked to anyone. I want to keep it a secret, so it doesn’t get stolen.
Therapist:
So, you have no users ready for when this thing opens up? And you haven’t talked to collectors to find out if this is solving the one pain that keeps them awake at night?
Nick:
Correct. On both questions.
Therapist:
And when you do build it…how will you reach these collectors?
Nick:
I sell a lot on eBay and in forums. I can probably get a small mass of people to check it out when I’m ready.
Therapist:
Do you have any existing relationships? A waiting list? A newsletter?
Nick:
No.
Therapist:
The other elephant in the room is distribution. The #1 misalignment signal we see here, is unclear distribution. So, not only are you staring at way too big of a starting point, you also aren’t sure of where to land those first 10, 100, 1000 collectors.
Nick:
(Sarcastically) this is going well.
Therapist:
While we’re at it, another huge misalignment signal is having an unclear first step. You believe your first step is to raise $100,000 as a first-time founder with a big idea. That’s unlikely to happen, so you’re stuck treading water until an investor falls in your lap.
Nick:
Well. Tell me what I should be doing. Please.
Therapist:
Narrow the customer. “Collectors” is too broad. Why don’t you start with basketball card collectors located in your city.
Find what the daily pain is.
I know everyone wants to sell more cards and coins. But are they wanting this 3D style portfolio viewer? Is that solving a major problem?Narrow the idea to something manageable.
Pick one feature. The 3D digital display, or the social sharing or something else. You can’t start with EVERY feature. Pick the ONE THING that collectors tell you they want. Which brings me to my next point…Go talk to your well-defined customer right now.
Find people and sit with them. A problem you might have may not be what they are having. Find out what they really need and maybe that’s your first version.
Nick:
Well, this is brutal. And I have to pay YOU for this advice? (Laughing)
Therapist:
(laughs). Yes. What we just discussed is where all new founders get tripped up. They think they have to build something huge, hit a home run with funding and then people will show up as customers.
We see that 75% of people that come through, remain in exploration mode indefinitely. It’s not easy to move something forward. Which is why you have to take very small, calculated, manageable steps.
Nick:
I just have this HUGE vision, and I know it will be well received. I do see what you are saying, though. I just feel stuck. Stuck until I raise money. It seems everyone else is raising big rounds. Why not me?
Therapist:
You’re not stuck because of funding needs. You’re stuck because you aren’t willing to go interface with your customer to find out if you’re right, or wrong. Fear of rejection and being wrong is a huge hurdle to get over. Once you shift that mindset, you will really enjoy talking with these people.
Also, as of this week (July 31, 2026) we are seeing that Platforms are actually the category that stalls the most.
Nick:
Oh great, why? So, I have that on top of everything else. (Laughing)
Therapist:
Because with platforms, you need both sides to participate (buyers and sellers, or creators and consumers, for example) and it’s a huge cold start problem. Which side do you get first? Will they show up without the other side? That’s why we are seeing this as the highest stalling category this month.
Nick:
Hmm. How can I remedy that?
Therapist:
By reducing the scope of the project.
Build something for just one side… something they’d love even if the other side never shows up. For any two-sided platform or marketplace to work, you have to be deeply entrenched with one side or heavily subsidize one side (which we don’t want you to do here) to get the other side to show up at all.
So, let’s build something for just the one side you can most easily reach. Cool?
Nick:
Got it. What would that model be?
Therapist:
Well, that’s for you to go out and discover in your conversations.
Times up. Same time next week?
Nick:
Yeah. Maybe. (winking)
Therapist:
Let’s do this….
Bring a shorter version of the idea.
And tell me about 5 collectors you actually talked to.
And then well me what your first step should be.
Would you like to talk with a startup advisor?
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Aron Meystedt
Chief Data Nerd - ValidatorAI
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