Startup Roots

Every founder has a moment when the idea shifts from "that would be cool" to "I have to build this." But what happens next separates the startups that survive from the ones that flame out in six months.

Startup Roots begins underground — with the question most founders skip: "Who specifically has this problem, and what are they already paying to solve it?" We call this the Taproot Test, and it takes less than a weekend to run. You'll talk to ten real people, map their current workarounds, and find the gap where money is already flowing. No landing pages, no MVPs — just honest conversations that reveal whether your idea has roots or is just a seed sitting on concrete.

From there, we move into the Growth Ring framework: a seasonal approach to building your first product, finding early customers, and knowing when to double down versus when to pivot. Each chapter ends with a concrete action you can take that week — because startups don't die from lack of ideas. They die from lack of momentum.