Stop building. Do this first.

AI for Founders with Ryan Estes · Feb 19, 2026 · 54m · transcript

Your startup idea is probably garbage.

Not because you are dumb.

Because you are in love.

And love makes you build… a product nobody wants.

Here’s the controversial take: If you cannot survive 10 uncomfortable customer conversations, you do not deserve to write a single line of code.

Because validation is not “vibes.” It is evidence. It is bruises. It is getting told “no” until your ego stops bleeding on your roadmap.

Deep question before we go any further:

If your idea fails, does that mean you failed… or does it finally mean you are free to become who you said you wanted to be?

Welcome to…