Did you know your startup reveals your attachment style? In this episode, I break down how founder psychology and attachment theory explain micromanaging, ghosting investors, burnout, and team conflict.

This isn’t therapy (though you might feel called out). It’s a founder’s guide to building healthier leadership, stronger resilience, and better startups by understanding your own patterns.

Because startup leadership starts long before the pitch deck - it starts with who you are.

Ever feel like your startup is you? When metrics = your mood and fundraising feels like a swipe on your self-worth, you’re deep in founder identity fusion. In this episode, I share why it’s risky and how to step back before burnout takes over.

Sarah Massey said it best: “My startup might fail, but I’ll be okay. I am not my company.”

👉🏻 Watch our conversation here

Sarah Massey doesn’t do boring. She’s built media companies, queer-safe tech platforms, and helped visionaries launch businesses with meaning, all while staying true to joy, purpose, and radical self-trust.

In this episode, we talk about pivoting like there's no tomorrow, building in punk mode, and what it really means to queerify your business (and possibly life). There’s drag, and there’s disruption, and there’s a reminder that your startup doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s.

💌 Sarah Massey (she/her) is a serial entrepreneur on a mission to spread queer joy.Massey Media works with social change organisations on their marketing and helps small businesses to launch and grow.Get in touch: sarah@sarahmassey.com

🎧 Hit play if you're into business that breaks the rules, in the best way of course.

You know this. Everything’s on fire, your co-founder’s avoiding eye contact, and you’re saying “I’m fine” like a startup war cry.

In this episode, we talk about the dysfunction founders normalize way too early: overworking, ghosting feedback, hiring the wrong people (and keeping them), and saying that chaos = “just how we operate.”

If you’ve ever skipped lunch (or sleep) and called it strategy… this one’s for you.

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🔗 Follow on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ZerotoSomethingwithPolina

🧠 More raw founder talk every week. Subscribe & regret nothing.

Kendra Caruth didn’t plan to be a founder, but when constant no-shows kept derailing her schedule, she and her co-founder built Sure Attend, a tool that sets clear expectations for online meetings.

Just a few months into building, Kendra opens up about leading without a roadmap, navigating decision overload, finding confidence in a male-dominated space, and staying grounded through early-stage chaos. This one’s about courage, clarity, and all the things no one tells you when you're just starting out.

👩‍💼 Connect with Kendra on LinkedIn: Kendra Carruth🚀 Join the Sure Attend waitlist: sureattend.com🔗 Follow Sure Attend: LinkedIn Page

You spent weeks on that one feature… but does anyone actually need it?
In this episode, I break down the sunk cost fallacy — the psychological trap that keeps founders clinging to ideas, features, and even entire directions long past their expiration date. I’ll share our own pivot story, how we finally let go, and why moving on helped us grow.

🎧 Missed the previous episode on shiny object syndrome? Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6XzlGCHfRWkcBCr51Bs0z6?si=AC4Xu6CYRza_2v-IYu6OFA

Get ready to kill some darlings.

If you’ve ever felt pulled toward the next shiny idea instead of sticking with what’s working, this one’s for you. Shiny object syndrome is one of the most common startup traps — especially when things get hard. In this episode, I unpack how this shows up for founders, why it feels productive, and why it often isn’t. I also I share how it’s shown up in my own startup journey and tools and mindset shifts that have helped me stay focused (even when I really didn’t want to).

In this episode, we dive into the toxic myths of hustle culture and what it really costs startup founders. You’ll hear a personal story from launch week chaos, explore how overworking can backfire, and learn how to spot the early signs of burnout in yourself and your team.

Plus: practical tools, mindset shifts, and reflection questions.