can't believe how many "founders" are just marketing themselves instead of actually building something. your story is not a product, folks.

fair play innit, sounds like someone's saltier than my Auntie's attitude after a few pints

amen to that. and meanwhile, "thought leaders" are renting dusty old condos and driving teslas. sorry not sorry for calling out the hucksters

haha tell me about it! guess i'll just market my "furry best friend" startup instead 🐶🐱

i know, right? it's like "hello, i'm an entrepreneur - let me tell you all about my entrepreneurial !" 🙄 where's the product, Karen?

then what exactly are you building? 🤔

Name recognition and personal brand is a product, don't be naive.

idk, but i feel like a lot of founders think their "story" is a product line.

guess that means all my years of founding the couch for Netflix is finally paying off.

Do you really think branding and marketing are mutually exclusive from actual product development?

lmao yeah and can't believe how many "influencers" are just posting about how much they hate

what's the difference between a valid founder story and "merely" marketing themselves, then?

Wow, way to oversimplify a complex issue. Building a successful business involves way more than just "building something." Founders have to market their product.

you clearly don't know what it takes to build a successful business. marketing is just as important as the product itself. without it, no one will even know your product exists.

Couldn't agree more, it's a massive misunderstanding of what being a founder is all about. You gotta earn your stripes with actual work, not just a sweet Instagram bio.

That's not entirely fair. A lot of successful founders have used their personal story as a launchpad for their product and it's helped them

and how many products have you actually built and shipped yourself? easy to criticize from the sidelines.

do you think that's fair when some "founders" are genuinely working towards something new, even if

story sellin' is a product tho, ain't it

I'm totally fine with founders sharing their story, as long as they're also putting in the work to actually make it happen.

if you think "marketing yourself" is easy, try actually building something that people want to use. just because you can't see the hard work doesn't mean it's not happening. maybe focus on your own business instead of judging others.

are these "founders" actually succeeding if they have no real impact but a successful email list?

yeah, for real. all the 'culture' and 'mission' bs is just a distraction from the fact that they dont actually have a working product.

what qualifies you to make that distinction, have you ever taken a legitimate risk and thrown everything into starting a business?

okay that's just kind of humble bragging at this point.

yeah no kidding, it's wild how many "founders" are just trying to build a personal brand instead of

yeah, totally agree. it's like people have forgotten that the real work happens behind the scenes, not in the headlines. we need more doers, less talkers.

Totally agree. Too many founders seem to be more focused on hype and personal branding rather than actually shipping a real product.

word. these "founders" are all about the sizzle, not the steak.

hot mess alert. dont get me started on the performative founders. yeah, your wild entrepreneurial "" might get you some followers, but can

i guess that's what happens when "content creation" starts to sound like a career path

same ppl selling their " to success" e-books for $500 lol

can't believe how many "founders" are just marketing themselves instead of actually building something.

like, has anyone ever built something worthwhile in a 'cool' part of town and gotten truly wealthy off it, or is that just a myth too?

same. and let's not forget the 'thought leaders' who have never actually led anything but a Twitter thread. it's time to separate the signal from the noise

are you kidding me? people connect with stories, not just features and specs. don't @ me

do you think that's just a new way of saying "you're not as good looking as your story"?

not everyone has to be an engineer or builder, storytelling is a valuable skill too, and it's annoying that we keep devaluing 'soft' skills like marketing and community building

building and marketing go hand in hand. customers aren't going to magically appear once you launch. no one wants to build in a vacuum.

Preach! I'd take it a step further - these "founders" are not only flooding the space with fluff, but they're also raising the bar for the

a lot of ppl also hide behind the term "founder" because they have no one to share the responsibilities with. yikes.

my story is literally the app where i scroll for hours complaining about entrepreneurs being liars

lol are you kidding me? a good story is literally the only thing that'll get you funded and bootstrapped to build anything in the first

true. too many people focus on hype instead of actual work. building something real takes time and effort. Not just a good story.

finally someone says it. but you know what's even more cringeworthy than fake founders?

do you have a guess how much of the vc funding goes to "thought leader" sponsorships and speaking fees?

preach. and can we also talk about how a lot of these "founders" have no actual expertise in what they're "disrupting"?

are you kidding me? a lot of startup founders are actually creatives first and entrepreneurs second, their "product" is a book or a film or

found a great example of irony in this post, though

um no, your story is actually exactly what you're selling, whether you're building an app or a restaurant. branding is a thing, btw.

fr tho, it's wild how many "entrepreneurs" are just trying to sell a "vision" instead of actually

yeah, for real. too many people tryna be the next big thing without putting in the actual work.

idk, are you saying building a social media presence and community isn't a part of running a startup?

fair enough but let's be real, most of us are just marketing ourselves as 'founders' instead of just saying 'i have a discord server

I get what you're saying, but there's value in telling a story, it's part of what drives people to believe in a product and founder. Selling doesn't have to be seen as false.

sounds like someone's bitter they got left out of the founders club. maybe if you put as much energy into ur own ideas as you do

preach. and it's even worse when they charge you for their 'expertise' after getting famous off a mediocre startup

um isn't that the difference between a company that disrupts and one that just exists to make money off of a good sales pitch?

lmao what a load of bullshit. maybe you should actually look into some of these "founders" before you go running your mouth.

dude that's wild, my is literally my product

omg preach!!!! and can we also talk about how every other tweet is "i'm a founder, but here's a paid promotion"? authenticity is dead

that's some bullshit. The founders i know are working their asses off.

you're saying my backstory in bukowski-esque struggle is not a viable business plan?

how many of those 'founders' r getting funded and featured on podcaster's shows, though?

ya you betcha? and what's your story then?

same energy around research these days, people talking about 'disrupting the field' without a tangible outcome to back it up

tf are you talking about? building shit takes time and money. founders have to market themselves to get funding and attention.

Oof, tell me about it. I'm still trying to figure out how to turn my morning routine into a billion-dollar wellness empire. Guess I better get crackin' on that app!

couldn't agree more, but let's be real, folks, not all founders have hte luxury of dropping out and dedicating

are you kidding me? a founder's personal story is a huge part of their product, it's what sets them apart and builds a loyal customer base

ugh, tell me about it. it's like these "founders" think they can just slap a label on themselves and rake in the cash.

deadass, that's some bullshit. founders gotta market themselves these days - the product is only half the battle.

mate, you're not wrong. half these "founders" are just tryna sell their "personal brand" innit.

yeah no kidding. so where's the actual tech and roadmap behind all these hype projects anyway?

what makes you an expert on what a founder "should" be doing?

what makes you think you can define who gets to be a founder and who doesn't, just based on your own narrow definition?

fr tho, what even counts as "building something" these days? seems like the bar is always moving.

tf is a "founder" anyway? do you even know what it takes to build a real product from scratch?

yeah pretty wild how many 'thought leaders' out here just leading us straight to their patreon page

yeah no shit, can't sell a background check and a veneer of charisma for a series a

lol yeah hte "founder" title is just a fancy way of saying professional selfie taker these days.

bruh, you got a problem with founders or something? isn't the whole point to sell yourself and your vision?

lmao same energy as the guy who has a dozen "leap of faith" slides in his pitch deck but no actual

preach. and same with "thought leaders" who just regurgitate what everyone else is saying.

are you a founder now?

your story is literally the only product a ton of "founders" have to sell.

Preach. This obsession with personal branding is just a symptom of a culture that values image over substance. Our ancestors built things that lasted, they didn't build their personal legend.

lmao same people telling you to "build in public" meanwhile their product is just a tweet deck and a vc connection

yeah, so true. a lot of these "visionaries" are just good at talking and raising money, not actually executing. gotta separate the hype from the real progress, you know?

i'm pretty sure i founded my identity crisis in college

also can't believe how many venture capitalists are giving 'founders' life advice

same here - its like people think hustle and hype r an alternate route to innovation. lets build smth, ya?

Yeah, that's why I invested all my time and money into this "marketable" business plan... said no one ever

i'm shaking in my boots, my 'founder' fiancé was making that the business model

um who gets to decide what actually constitutes "building something" in this space?

fr tho, way too many people out here just trying to build their "personal brand" instead of making anything real.

im a founder too. And yeah i've built something. and btw having a story to share and being genuine about it doesn't

amen to that. doesn't the "founder" label come with the responsibility of actually founding something though?

tf do you know about what we're building? you think it's easy to start a company from scratch?

same energy as the "thought leaders" who don't actually lead

who are you to decide what's 'actual building'? on hte other hand, which 'founders' have you actually met or worked w/?