Founders love a good origin story. So do we — until that story ends in, “and then… nothing happened.”
In this episode, JDM and Cam play a game where they evaluate startup anecdotes with one simple question: did you actually learn anything?
They hosts take three real startup scenarios — full of MVPs, waitlists, Chrome extensions, and warm fuzzies — and rate each one based on whether the founder actually got a usable insight. Along the way, they uncover the hidden traps of vanity learning, founder fear, and “procrastivity”.
Also: the phrase “Startup Catfishing” makes an unscheduled cameo.
In This Episode
Why activity ≠ progress, and why momentum ≠ learning
How founders use fake experiments to avoid hard truths
What it means to be your own first investor—and how to think like one
Unprocessed fear, founder psychology, and the emotional landmines of real validation
When a waitlist is a signal… and when it’s just a polite ghosting
Startup Stories Reviewed
Freelancer SaaS MVP shared in Slack communities
400 views, 120 signups for “real version”
Verdict: Cool Story + Still Don’t Know Anything
Insight: Great motion, zero measured value. Was this an MVP test or just a fancy landing page?
Mental wellness app surveys 3,000-person waitlist
700 respond, journaling prompts “win”
Verdict: Mistaken for Iteration + Startup Theater
Insight: When your research confirms the obvious, maybe you asked the wrong question.
Chrome extension for ethical shopping gets 800 installs
Now “watching how people use it”
Verdict: Startup Theater
Insight: If your experiment has no hypothesis, you’re not learning—you’re lurking.
Frivolous Thoughts
JDM’s brother wins an Emmy (again). Turns out talent runs in the family.
Cam recommends Stick on Apple TV, a sports comedy with yips and heart.
Bonus meta-commentary: The team calls themselves out for “procrastivity” on launching their own referral program. If you’re listening… hold them accountable.
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