Founders love a good origin story. So do we — until that story ends in, “and then… nothing happened.”

In this episode, JDM and Cam play a game where they evaluate startup anecdotes with one simple question: did you actually learn anything?

They hosts take three real startup scenarios — full of MVPs, waitlists, Chrome extensions, and warm fuzzies — and rate each one based on whether the founder actually got a usable insight. Along the way, they uncover the hidden traps of vanity learning, founder fear, and “procrastivity”.

Also: the phrase “Startup Catfishing” makes an unscheduled cameo.

In This Episode

* Why activity ≠ progress, and why momentum ≠ learning

* How founders use fake experiments to avoid hard truths

* What it means to be your own first investor—and how to think like one

* Unprocessed fear, founder psychology, and the emotional landmines of real validation

* When a waitlist is a signal… and when it’s just a polite ghosting

Startup Stories Reviewed

* Freelancer SaaS MVP shared in Slack communities

400 views, 120 signups for “real version”

Verdict: Cool Story + Still Don’t Know Anything

Insight: Great motion, zero measured value. Was this an MVP test or just a fancy landing page?

* Mental wellness app surveys 3,000-person waitlist

700 respond, journaling prompts “win”

Verdict: Mistaken for Iteration + Startup Theater

Insight: When your research confirms the obvious, maybe you asked the wrong question.

* Chrome extension for ethical shopping gets 800 installs

Now “watching how people use it”

Verdict: Startup Theater

Insight: If your experiment has no hypothesis, you’re not learning—you’re lurking.

Frivolous Thoughts

* JDM’s brother wins an Emmy (again). Turns out talent runs in the family.

* Cam recommends Stick on Apple TV, a sports comedy with yips and heart.

* Bonus meta-commentary: The team calls themselves out for “procrastivity” on launching their own referral program. If you’re listening… hold them accountable.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zerototraction.substack.com