George Pu

George Pu is a technical founder building AI-powered companies across three countries. At 27, he's bootstrapped multiple profitable businesses without VC funding, including SimpleDirect (embedded financing) and ANC (global venture studio).

How to Bootstrap a SaaS to $100K MRR Without Co-Founders: The Complete 2025 Guide

Most founders think you need $500K and 2-3 co-founders to start a SaaS. I built SimpleDirect to $103K MRR with $0 funding and 0 co-founders. Here's exactly how. I've bootstrapped 3 companies to profitability. Spent 18 months consulting first, built SimpleDirect with AI tools, and scaled

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The Freedom-Based Business Model: How to Build for Independence, Not Exit

I walked away from a $3M acquisition offer in September 2025. My advisor called me insane. "That's life-changing money," he said. I ran my Sunday Night Test. Score: 1 out of 4. Here's why I said no—and why you should build for freedom,

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Why I Can't Read Business Books Anymore (And Why That's Actually Good)

Real talk from a technical founder building AI-powered businesses Published November 12, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 42 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube Yesterday I went to a bookstore and had the strangest experience. I couldn't get past chapter one of any book. Self-help section?

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Episodes

The VC Market Has Split Into Two Different Games (And Most Founders Are Playing The Wrong One)

By George Pu | Founder Reality Podcast | November 10, 2025 I spent the past week doing something I haven't done in years: analyzing the venture capital funding landscape. As a bootstrap founder, it's not my world anymore. But I realized something shocking that every founder needs to

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I Wasted 6 Years Building in Stealth Mode (Here's Why You Should Start Creating Content Today)

Real talk from a technical founder building AI-powered businesses Published November 07, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 40 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube For six years, I thought being public about my business meant sacrificing privacy and competitive advantage. I thought I needed VC funding to earn

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Why Learning How to Learn Is Your Only Competitive Advantage Left (And My 5-Step Framework)

Real talk from a technical founder building AI-powered businesses Published November 05, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 39 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube I sat in that accelerator orientation, listening to them brag about mentors who'd been teaching entrepreneurship for 15+ years. Everyone clapped. I

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My Worst Hires Almost Destroyed Us (Here's What I Learned About Building Teams in 2025)

Real founder insights about surviving the AI commoditization era Published October 29, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 36 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube I've never shared my actual hiring criteria before. After scaling SimpleDirect from 15 people down to 4, then back to 5, I

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Why I Changed My Mind About Multiple Products (And You Should Too)

Real founder insights about surviving the AI commoditization era Published October 31, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 37 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube For years, I preached the gospel of single product focus. "Build one thing really well," I'd tell founders. "Don&

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The AI Exercise That Almost Destroyed Me (In the Best Way Possible)

Real founder insights about surviving the AI commoditization era Published October 29, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 36 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube Last night, I did something uncomfortable. I asked Claude to tell me something I don't know about myself - good or bad,

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Episodes

When to Stop Consulting and Build a Product: The $200M Basecamp Question

Real talk from a technical founder building AI-powered businesses Published October 28, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 36 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube I've been getting this question a lot since publishing "The Anti-Unicorn": "George, I've built a successful consulting

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Why I Just Wrote 350 Pages Telling Founders to Ignore 99% of Startup Advice

Published October 21, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 32 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube I just finished writing my first free e-book, and I'm pissed off enough about the state of startup advice to give it away completely free. The book is called "The

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Episodes

How to Know When to Pivot vs. Shut Down Your Startup (The 8am Text That Saved My Company)

Published October 15th, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 30 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube Last week, I almost killed SimpleDirect Financing. Not because it was failing. Not because customers weren't using it. But because I was completely burned out. I had already drafted the sunset

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Episodes

3 Thoughts That Changed How I Run My Companies

The goal isn't to feel busy. Published October 17, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 31 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube This week, three ideas clicked in a way that fundamentally changed how I think and run SimpleDirect and ANC. They might not seem connected at

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Episodes

Three Expensive Lessons About Money That Changed How I Think About Wealth

Real founder insights about surviving the AI commoditization era Published October 24, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 34 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube I just finished Morgan Housel's "The Art of Spending Money" and it hit me like a brick. Five years ago,

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Episodes

Why Everyone's Chasing the Wrong Thing (And It's Making Them Replaceable)

Real founder insights about surviving the AI commoditization era Published October 22, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 33 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube I walked away from a $3-5 million partnership deal two months ago. Not because the numbers were bad. Not because the terms sucked. I

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Junior Jobs Are Disappearing and Nobody's Talking About It

Real talk from a technical founder building AI-powered businesses Published October 08, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 27 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube Last week, Yale University released a report analyzing 33 months of labor data since ChatGPT launched. Their conclusion? There's no proof AI

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Infrastructure Owners Are Killing Middlemen. Here's How to Know If You're Next

Don't end up saying "Shoot, I messed up. I didn't see this coming." Published October 10, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 28 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube This week, three things happened that look completely unrelated: 1. FICO changed their licensing

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The AI Performance Gap Is About to Become Permanent. Here's Which Side You're On.

In 12-18 months, it'll be too late.

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The Startup Playbook Just Changed: Three Stories That Reveal How to Build in 2025

Real talk from a technical founder building AI-powered businesses Published September 30, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 23 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube Three stories caught my attention this week. When you connect the dots, they reveal something fundamental changing about how you actually build businesses in

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Episodes

Why My Friends Making $500K at Google Regret Their Careers (And What I Learned About Freedom)

Don't be them in 10 years Freedom compounds. Start now. Published October 1, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 25 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube I have a friend named Sha who's worked at Google for 15 years. He finally made it to Managing

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Episodes

The $60 Million GitHub Move That Just Killed Startups (And Why That's Perfect for Bootstrap Founders)

Real talk from a technical founder building AI-powered businesses Published September 26, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 22 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube The Infrastructure Shift Everyone Missed While founders debate whether ChatGPT beats Claude or if Google Gemini will rule them all, something massive happened last

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Episodes

Governments Are Giving Away ChatGPT for Free (Your Startup Should Too)

Are you giving your team AI tools? Published October 6, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 26 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube Something fascinating is happening in AI adoption that most founders aren't paying attention to: governments and corporations are racing to give away premium AI

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Episodes

AI Will Copy Your MVP in Three Weeks: Why I Never Build Single Product Companies Anymore

Real founder insights about surviving the AI commoditization era Published October 3, 2025 • Based on Founder Reality Episode 25 Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube I tweeted something this week that got a lot of reactions: "AI will copy your MVP in three weeks. This is why I

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Why I'm Shutting Down My 5-Year Startup (Hard-Learned Lessons for Founders)

Don't let attachment blind you to reality.

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Why I Stopped Checking My Metrics 20 Times a Day (And Everything Started Working)

Stop checking. Start building. The numbers will follow.

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