E1: Why I'm Starting This Podcast (And Why Most Founder Content is BS)
Published August 9th, 2025 • 17 minutes
Lost a major partnership at 8pm. Pivoted our entire strategy by morning. This is founder reality - not the highlight reel you see on LinkedIn.
Listen/Watch:
Also available on: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • YouTube
Main Arguments
- Most founder advice comes from people who've never founded anything - VCs with MBAs, consultants who've never taken real risk
- Startup theatre vs. substance - Everyone's sharing highlight reels instead of real challenges
- Speed and authenticity matter - Pivoted entire strategy overnight after partnership loss
- Platform limitations require depth - Twitter can't capture the full founder experience
Controversial Quotes
"You have VCs posting about 'here's how to be a founder' when they've never spent a day running a company - they're just finance people with MBAs from Wharton."
"People don't talk about their fails on Twitter or LinkedIn, which I think people should be sharing more about."
"I don't think you can actually learn anything super useful or life-changing from Twitter."
Key Frameworks Introduced
- Substance Over Performance Philosophy: Core value proposition of authentic sharing vs. startup theater
- Overnight Pivot Decision Process: How to make rapid strategic changes when catalyzed by crisis
- Five Types of Wealth: Financial, physical, social, time, and mental wealth.
Episode Highlights
[0:13] The Problem with Founder Content
George explains why he's frustrated with the current state of founder advice - VCs and consultants teaching what they've never done.
[2:00] The Partnership Loss Story
"Two nights ago, we lost a major partnership at 8pm. I got a letter saying 'our partnership is over, you guys are not doing a good job, we're out.'"
[2:41] The Overnight Pivot
"We changed social media strategy, marketing strategy, updated our website overnight. Historically it would take weeks - now it takes just a day."
[5:00] Why Podcasting vs. Blogging
George shares his thinking on audio format reaching broader audiences and enabling longer-form thoughts than Twitter allows.
[8:30] The Freedom Realization
Reference to Naval's insights about entrepreneurial freedom and how George's internship experience drove him to start companies.
[10:15] SimpleDirect Business Overview
Embedded lending for home improvement companies - helping businesses offer buy-now-pay-later for $10K-$100K purchases.
[12:30] The Venture Studio (ANC)
George's second business where he launches and tests new ideas before taking them to market.
[14:30] Content Format & Commitment
"Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday - no matter what's happening, no matter if I'm traveling, there's not going to be a gap."
Companies & Projects Mentioned
SimpleDirect
- What it does: Embedded lending/buy-now-pay-later for home improvement companies
- Target range: $10,000-$100,000 purchases
- Current status: Recently pivoted strategy after partnership termination
- Founded: 2019
ANC (Venture Studio)
- Purpose: Launch and test new business ideas before market
- Previous attempts: Quantity equities (didn't work), consulting (profitable but time-for-money model)
- Current focus: Business experimentation and development
Resources & References
Books Mentioned
- The Five Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom
Platforms & Tools
- Twitter: Primary platform for daily insights (@TheGeorgePu)
- Website: founderreality.com for full transcripts and blog content
Inspirations
- Naval Ravikant: Referenced for insights on entrepreneurial freedom
- University of Waterloo: George's educational background (Computer Science + Business double degree)
Full Episode Transcript:
Why Most Founder Content is Complete BS
I've been a founder for about six years, running two companies simultaneously. This is obviously my first rodeo, but I'm absolutely sick and tired of the founder content circus happening right now on Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms.
You have VCs posting "great advice" about how to be a founder when they've never spent a single day actually running a company. They just have an MBA from Wharton or whatever. Who are they to tell you how to start a company when they've never taken that kind of risk in their entire lives? They're finance people, not operators.
Then you have LinkedIn consultants teaching "business growth strategies" who have honestly never spent a day of their lives actually running companies. The founder content space is filled with people who have never done anything—at least when it comes to starting a company or being a tech founder.
I think their takes are misleading and frankly not doing well for the ecosystem.
What I'm Trying to Do Differently
What I'm trying to do as a young founder—I'm 27 as of this recording—is speak about the actual ins and outs of running a company. I'm fairly young to be talking about this stuff, and I learn new things every day. I think it's exciting to share those discoveries with you and talk about what's actually happening in the world.
Hopefully we can all learn something together.
The Reality: What Actually Happened This Week
Let me tell you about the reality of what happened this week with my company.
Two nights ago, we lost a major partnership at 8 PM. I got a letter from them saying "Our partnership is over. You guys aren't doing a good job, so we're out." This was basically one of the largest partnerships we had.
As of this recording, we only have one partner left, and we're thinking: "Are they going to pull out next week? Tomorrow? Are they talking behind our backs?"
That's the reality of running a company. These are the things people don't talk about on Twitter or LinkedIn—the failures. People should be sharing more about this stuff.
The Overnight Pivot
Here's what happened next: The same night we lost that partnership, I worked until 10-11 PM thinking about pivoting. I'd been considering a major change for my company for a long time—something that wasn't working, something that didn't feel right. But there wasn't that final push to actually make the change.
That partnership termination was the straw that broke the camel's back.
The next day, we changed everything. Social media strategy, branding strategy, marketing strategy—we updated our website overnight. By the time you hear this podcast, our new website is up and running.
Historically, this would take weeks to design and develop. Now, obviously, it takes just a day. That speed and velocity is what creates opportunity.
Why This Podcast Exists
If you know me, you probably follow me on Twitter (@TheGeorgePu), where I talk about building in public and share my thoughts. But Twitter has limitations—you can't really dive deep into the content you want to discuss.
I use Twitter for absorbing real-time information about markets, AI, and tech. While you can get inspired on Twitter, I don't think you can actually learn anything super useful or life-changing from 280-character takes.
A podcast format—audio or video—actually helps communicate longer thoughts that I've been developing. Anyone can listen anywhere without much effort.
The Commitment Problem
This isn't my first time podcasting. I've tried before, primarily interviewing other people. The difficulty as a founder isn't really about time—it's about commitment and finding people who share your values.
I had a podcast with two other founder friends, and it was extremely difficult to do even one episode per week because it's hard to get everyone together for recordings.
For Founder Reality, I'm committing to publishing new episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There won't be gaps. No matter what's happening, no matter if I'm traveling—you heard it from me.
Substance Over Performance
The core value of this podcast is substance over performance.
A lot of people in the founder world won't share what's not working. Some people do share failures, which I appreciate, but most don't. I'll be unfiltered. I'll talk about things that are working and things that aren't working.
More importantly, I'll share the lessons I've learned and thoughts that Twitter's character limit couldn't cover.
What Founder Reality Means
"Founder Reality" means we're all waking up each morning and facing reality—not living in a dream world. As a founder, that's what it really teaches you.
I saw a post about entrepreneurial freedom recently—about having your own business and being able to taste that freedom makes you unable to go back to corporate life. Many of you listening might have that freedom now. Some might not, but there's something inside screaming "I don't have freedom."
That feeling is powerful. I had it myself before I started my first startup.
My Journey to Founding
When I was at the University of Waterloo studying computer science and business, I had internships at two different tech companies. Even as a junior intern, I felt constrained. I felt like I couldn't make decisions for the team, even when I thought there were better ways to do things.
The team actually had setbacks because they didn't adopt my suggestions. I wasn't feeling that freedom, which prompted me in my third year to go full-time and launch my own startup.
My Two Companies
I'm currently running two companies:
SimpleDirect - The brand I've been running since 2019. Until this week, we did embedded lending for small businesses and home improvement companies, helping them offer buy-now-pay-later to customers for purchases between $10,000-$100,000.
We're pivoting—changing almost everything we're doing. The change didn't happen overnight; we'd been planning it for a while, but that partnership termination letter was the trigger. When you know something's not working or you're not motivated by it, why not just change it?
I personally prefer making quick decisions. I don't like slow-playing things. When something's not working, kill it, cut it, and move on.
ANC (Venture Studio) - If I have an idea, I launch it in this studio before going to market. We've tried quantitative trading (didn't work but learned a lot about portfolio management), consulting (worked but hated selling time for money), and other ventures.
The Reality of Entrepreneurship
Running businesses involves daily ups and downs. We're not dopamine addicts looking for that high every day. Some days go really well, some don't. When things aren't going well, you fix them. It's not about being addicted to huge wins—that's not the truth.
What to Expect
Episodes will ideally run 15-25 minutes. I want to record fresh takes—not three episodes in one go, because that feels inauthentic.
We'll talk about:
- Real actions and their consequences
- AI features my company is building (without the hype)
- Bootstrapping vs. taking VC money (I'm bootstrapped and a strong believer in it)
- Day-in-the-life experiences with SimpleDirect and ANC
Since we don't have VCs on our boards, we can share things transparently and unfiltered.
The Five Types of Wealth
If you take anything away from this first episode, think about substance over performance. This podcast isn't just about building businesses—it's about life and the five types of wealth:
- Physical health
- Social health
- Financial health (important but don't be consumed by it)
- Time wealth (having time to do what you like—I'm low on this one)
- Mental/emotional wealth
This won't just be a founder show; it'll be personal, covering different topics.
Moving Forward
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I'll release a new episode breaking down something happening to me. This isn't Instagram-worthy content or startup theater—just actual decisions, mistakes, and lessons that don't make it into LinkedIn posts.
Sometimes it'll be prolonged thoughts about Twitter topics I discuss. For daily insights, follow me @TheGeorgePu on Twitter. I'll upload full transcripts of every episode to my blog at founderreality.com.
This is George, this has been Founder Reality, and I'll see you in the next episode.