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The Thought Almost Every Founder Has

We started our first company together in 1998.

We were dating. Not even married yet.

No playbook.

No investors.

No idea what we were doing.

About a year in, we were running out of money and I (Mike) say to Kass, “maybe we’re just not good at this.”

After selling that company to Time Warner and, years later, selling Buddy Media to Salesforce, people assume that we have always known what we were doing.

Not even close.

The dirty secret of entrepreneurship is self-doubt.

Research suggests about 70% of people experience impostor syndrome at some point in their careers, and surveys show the number can be even higher among entrepreneurs and CEOs.

Almost every founder we know has had the same quiet thoughts:

“Am I about to screw this up?” Or worse, “Do I even have what it takes to build a business?”

The difference between people who build companies and people who don’t isn’t confidence.

It’s continuing anyway.

Go ahead and send this to an entrepreneur in your life and tell them that you believe in them. Sometimes the difference between continuing and quitting is a gentle nudge from someone you trust.

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INSIGHT

🤓 Impostor Syndrome is Everywhere — You have to have faith in what you know.

👏 Prioritize Diversity — Better teams are built through different perspectives.

🥊 Fear is Your Business Partner — It'll never go away, but you can't let it run the show.

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CHEAT CODE: NUMBERS ARE BORING UNTIL THEY'RE NOT

If you can't show us how a customer makes you money, you don't run a business yet.

Unit economics aren't an accounting exercise. They are the plumbing that tells you whether your whole company will hold up when you scale. You should know three numbers cold: how much it costs to acquire a customer, what that customer actually pays over time, and how long it takes to get your money back.

If the math doesn't give you room to hire, market, and survive the next downturn, you have a model that will fail under real pressure.

Prove the economics before you automate. If it isn't profitable at scale, the answer isn't to polish the UI. It's to fix the economics.

Let the unit model be your priority filter. A hire, a feature, or a channel that does not improve unit economics stays on the bench. Be brutal on channels that grow your top line but destroy payback. Use the model to tell investors the exact path to profitability, not wishes.

Numbers are boring until they save your business. Treat unit economics like oxygen. If you respect it, you buy time. If you ignore it, you'll run out of steam.

Want more of our cheat codes? Follow along on Instagram.

🆘 Access the 49 other cheat codes every entrepreneur needs to know from
Shoveling $H!T: A Love Story

🚜 Have you dived into building a business? Jump into the Founders Farm and share some stories.

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FOUR FAVORITE FINDS

📉 Here's an analysis of why stock markets are acting the way they are after the U.S. strikes on Iran.

📱 Prediction markets are starting to come under fire for clear evidence of insider trading.

💵 Venture capital funding is becoming stingier as geopolitical tensions rise, but why?

🤖 As autonomous AI agents proliferate, they are also posing a new risk to company data.

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AROUND THE FARM

🤑 We joined Kareen Zahr on her podcast to discuss the money mindset behind our success.

😯 We get retrospective on our path from Golf.com to now on The Dan Evans Show.

🎙 Mike joined Travis Chappell on Travis Makes Friends to discuss what's hot in entrepreneurship right now.

💭 Mike wrote a piece for Forbes on how successful businesses can get stuck.

♟ We sat down with Stifel's Brad Ellis to talk about the tactical aspects of startup success.

🤩 We're honored that the Goody Business Book Awards rewarded our book Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story as a winner in the Entrepreneurism and Small Business categories!

📚 Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story debuted on the New York Times & USA Today bestseller lists! We couldn't have done it without the support of this community—the purchases, the shares, showing up to events, writing reviews and more!

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FINALLY, WANNA GET INVOLVED?

📖 Get bulk copies for your team.
⏰ Invite us to speak at your event.
🤯 Share your thoughts on social: #FoundersFarm

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STAY CONNECTED!
Email: info@kassandmike.com

Follow on LinkedIn:
Kass Lazerow | Mike Lazerow

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Kass & Mike, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, Floor 2, #1043, New York, NY 10019