Startup Porn Is Killing Founders: The Lies You’re Buying Online
Instagram and LinkedIn Are Selling Lies
Everywhere you look, you’re being sold start up p*rn. The fake highlight reel. The rented Lamborghini. The “overnight success” post that skips the sleepless years, the debt, and the failures.
It’s curated, polished, and deadly. Because founders buy into it.
What Startup Porn Looks Like
Start up p*rn isn’t just flashy cars or “I made $100k in 30 days” scams. It’s more subtle than that:
The influencer selling a fake startup success story through a $997 course.
The LinkedIn humblebrag announcing a funding round but hiding the burn rate.
The “digital nomad” shot working on a laptop from a beach while ignoring the 12-hour grind in a noisy hostel.
The VC darling on stage who conveniently forgets to mention the millions lost before one lucky exit.
Startup lies look glamorous. They sell hope. But they hide reality.
Why It’s Toxic
Startup p*rn poisons founders in three ways:
It distorts reality. You compare your garage setup to someone else’s yacht — and you feel behind.
It creates fake timelines. You expect to “make it” in 12 months instead of the 5–7 years most businesses need.
It rewires your brain. You chase likes, validation, and perception instead of customers and revenue.
The result? Founders build for the feed, not for survival.
The Cost of Chasing Illusions
Buying into startup p*rn costs more than money. It eats confidence, time, and grit.
You blow cash on branding before testing your idea.
You hire too early because “real startups scale fast.”
You obsess over perception — when the only metric that matters is survival.
Start up p*rn creates an entire generation of founders addicted to optics. And then it spits them out when reality hits.
How to Escape the Cycle
Here’s how you cut the cord:
Unfollow the liars. Curate your feed. Block the hype. Follow real builders who show the grind.
Set brutal timelines. Think in years, not months. Overnight success is a fairytale.
Measure what matters. Customers. Cash flow. Retention. Not likes, shares, or vanity awards.
Anchor to purpose. If you’re building for applause, you’re not building.
Your Move
Start up p*rn kills founders. Don’t be the next casualty.
👉 Take the Unfounded Course — 100 five-minute lessons that strip away lies and force you to execute.
👉 Read the book: Unfounded: Broke. Brilliant. Broken.
