The Popcorn Problem

How Most Businesss Fail Before They Even Start

Most business ideas don’t fail because they’re bad.

They fail because of a series of small, seemingly reasonable decisions—choices that feel right in the moment, but quietly move the venture off course.

In The Popcorn Problem, Michael Wells examines one of the most overlooked dynamics in early-stage entrepreneurship: how minor trade-offs, convenience decisions, and short-term thinking can compound into major strategic mistakes.

Drawing on real-world experience and decades of teaching entrepreneurship, this book explores:

• Why logical decisions often lead to poor outcomes
• How small compromises reshape the direction of a business
• The hidden forces that influence early-stage choices

At its core, The Popcorn Problem is about understanding how businesses actually unfold—not in theory, but in practice.

This is not a book about bold moves or big ideas.
It’s about the small decisions that determine whether those ideas succeed or fail.

This is a concise, focused brief designed to be read in a single sitting—delivering one clear idea you can immediately recognize in your own decisions.

Published by the International Entrepreneurship Institute, established to bridge the gap between academic theory and the raw, often brutal reality of building a business—where entrepreneurship meets the real world.