Why Most Startups Fail: The Founder Mistakes No One Warns You About with Andrew Ackerman

Most startups don’t fail because founders lack ambition.

They fail because founders build in a vacuum, avoid the real problem, and keep operating at the wrong level for the stage of the company.

In this episode of Tenacity with Sonia C, Sonia sits down with startup founder, investor, and author Andrew Ackerman, who has built multiple companies and invested in more than 70 early-stage startups.

Andrew shares the patterns he sees repeatedly across founders, the mistakes that quietly kill startups, and the habits that separate companies that survive from those that disappear.

One of the biggest misconceptions founders have is that building a startup is about big ideas and innovation. In reality, most founders spend the majority of their time doing whatever needs to be done just to keep the business moving forward.

Throughout the conversation, Andrew breaks down the practical lessons founders usually learn the hard way, including why startups should test ideas before building, how to identify real customer problems, and the signals investors look for when deciding whether to back a founder.

Sonia and Andrew also explore the realities of scaling a company, the pressure founders face as teams grow, and how leaders must evolve their skills at every stage of the startup journey.

This episode is a reminder that building a company isn't about avoiding mistakes, it's about recognizing signals early, learning quickly, and adapting before time and capital run out.

If you're building a startup, launching a product, or trying to turn an idea into a real business, this conversation offers insights that could save founders months, or even years, of costly mistakes.

In This Episode You’ll Learn

• Why founders should test ideas before building products

• The most common mistakes first-time founders make

• How investors evaluate startup founders

• Why coachability is one of the biggest signals of success

• The importance of customer discovery in startup growth

• How founders transition from operator to CEO

• Why founders must constantly learn new skills as companies scale

• How to identify real problems vs surface-level startup challenges

Subscribe to Tenacity with Sonia C for conversations with founders and leaders building real companies and sharing the lessons they learned along the way.

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