Your attitude toward risk didn’t start with your startup. It started at home.

In this episode, we unpack how family stories and culture shape how founders handle risk, make decisions, and face uncertainty. Because before you fix your business model, you might want to understand the one you inherited.

Toxic clients. Manipulative investors. Draining co-founders.

In this episode, I talk about the dark side of startup relationships: how to spot toxic patterns early, protect your boundaries, and walk away without burning yourself out.

Because “early stage” shouldn’t mean “emotionally destroyed.”

Founders optimize everything - except themselves.

In this episode, we dive into why therapy might be the most underrated startup growth tool. Why founders avoid it, how it helps prevent burnout, and what it really means to ask for support without feeling weak. Because therapy isn’t about fixing you, it’s about giving your brain the clarity it needs to build better.

That task you’ve been avoiding? It’s not laziness. It’s your brain protecting you from rejection, failure, or shame. In this episode, I break down why founders procrastinate, how avoidance shows up in startup life, and what to do when you’re stuck staring at your pitch deck.

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.

—

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

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