5 founder mistakes that nearly killed their businesses
5 founder mistakes that nearly killed their businesses
Grow & scale your company by systematizing revenue, eliminating bottlenecks, and using AI to build massive competitive advantages.
Jason Katz September 17, 2025
Hi,
Most founders try to build the perfect business on paper. Websites, logos, funnels, dashboards. Everything except customers. Dan Koe learned that the hard way. He spent three years “building” before realizing that copywriting and distribution matter more than tinkering. Wes Kao made the opposite mistake at Maven. She chased big-audience instructors only to discover that smaller, hungrier teachers often ran the most successful cohorts.
Aadit Sheth assumed referrals would flow if his product was strong. They didn’t until he leaned into real relationships and gave away most of his knowledge for free. Ed Latimore undervalued his work for years, watching people he trained charge more for worse results. Katelyn Bourgoin trusted client assumptions instead of doing real customer research, and her startup collapsed even with glowing press coverage.
The lesson is not that mistakes can be avoided. It is that ignoring them is expensive. The faster you see where you are drifting: building without customers, chasing the wrong market, neglecting relationships, undervaluing yourself, or skipping research, the faster you can recover.
What about you?
We’ve all been there. What’s the biggest business mistake you’ve made, and how would you handle it differently? Just hit reply, I’d love to hear it.
Onward.
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Mindset
I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall. - Serena Williams*
Simplify. Systemize. Scale.**
I help small business owners put the right systems in place so growth feels exciting, not exhausting. Let’s build the kind of business that works for you, not because of you.
Ready to grow smarter? Let’s talk.
Hot Takes
Feel free to forward this on to someone who might benefit.
Thanks for reading.**- Jason
p.s. When you’re ready, here’s how I can help.
Ready to stop working so hard in your business?** I help growing companies break free from unpredictable revenue, founder bottlenecks, and manual processes that kill competitive advantage. Using the exact same frameworks from my 8 and 10-figure exits, I build complete operating systems that generate predictable growth, eliminate your dependency, and deploy AI where it actually matters. The goal isn’t just bigger revenue, it’s systematic growth that works whether you’re there or not.