Let’s be honest for a second.

The wildest part about hustle culture? It was built on a lie.

A well-packaged, spreadsheet-backed lie that made sense on paper—but never quite in real life.

Here’s the lie: if you work hard enough, stay up late enough, raise just enough money, maybe—just maybe—you’ll be one of the winners.

VCs called it the Power Law.

They said 1 in 100 startups would make it big. So you, the founder, just had to outwork everyone else to be that one. And if you failed? Well… that was expected.

And they were right—from their side. The Power Law does work for them. Their portfolio math is built that way. But here’s the thing:

Most founders never had a shot.

That was always part of the design.

What they didn’t say out loud is what many of us now know: you’re not just playing against the market—you’re playing against a game that was never built for your well-being in the first place.

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That doesn’t mean all VCs are complicit in a harmful system—many genuinely want to help founders thrive. But we need to be more honest about the incentives, the outcomes, and how we define success.

I’ve talked to dozens of founders in the last few months—friends, creatives, engineers, operators—and the story is the same.

It’s not just burnout. It’s spiritual fatigue. A quiet asking: Does any of this actually matter?

And what we’re waking up to is this: building big things shouldn’t require burning ourselves to the ground.

The Hustle is Global—and So is the Reckoning

I’ve spent the past 10 weeks in Vietnam, and the energy here is electric. People are building like crazy—apps, marketplaces, hardware, services. Talent is world-class. Ambition is everywhere.

But something else is happening too.

Founders are exhausted. Teams are stretched. Communities are lacking structure. Young builders are asking for strategy, not just speed.

One student I spoke to said: “I want to build something meaningful, but I don’t even know where to start. Everything just feels like noise.”

Across SEA and the world, a shift is coming.

The old playbook of zero-sum competition and hypergrowth-at-all-costs? It’s crumbling.

And not because ambition is dead—but because we’ve seen what happens when we only optimize for scale:

* Burned out founders

* Fragile products

* Shallow communities

The good news? A new model is already being built.

"We’re entering a new era: post-COVID burnout, rising interest rates, and a generation that questions the 100-hour week. The old playbook just doesn’t cut it anymore."

Smarter Teams. Smaller Bets. Bigger Impact.

NFX talks about the 3-Person Unicorn—a startup that scales not with mass hiring, but with small, hyper-focused, high-trust teams.

We’re seeing it more and more: lean, values-driven founders making sharper decisions—not because they have more capital, but because they have more clarity.

But here’s the catch: these teams don’t just need resources.

They need support. They need mentorship. They need space to build without breaking.

That’s what I want to build with The Inner Circle—a private community for founders who believe in doing things differently. A place where:

* Relationships are real

* Values are aligned

* Support isn’t performative—it’s practical

This isn’t a “network.” It’s an ecosystem.

Because let’s face it—if 90% of founders won’t make it, maybe it’s time to design a system where more of them actually can.

Where the process of building doesn’t destroy the builder.

The Future Is Already Happening (Just Unevenly)

We’re not alone. Communities like Conscious Capitalism, Febe.vc, and Founders First CDC are already doing the work—quietly, consistently, intentionally.

They’re funding underestimated founders. They’re prioritizing sustainability over speed. They’re building models of growth that feel more like care than conquest.

This is the next generation of entrepreneurship.

More founders are waking up to the idea that:

Success isn’t just about what you build. It’s about how you build it.

And when you give people the right environment—not just capital, but community—they build better.

“One founder told me he raised a seed round, hit his KPIs—and still felt empty. Not because he failed, but because he built something that no longer felt like his.”

What You Can Do Today (Without Burning Out)

You don’t need to overhaul your entire life. But you can take a step:

* Block one hour this week to talk to another founder—no agenda, just connection.

* Audit your week: how much time do you spend on things that give you energy vs drain it?

* Start or join a micro-community: three people who share your values is enough.

* Ask yourself: Is your current path leading you to success or to sustainability? If not, what can you shift?

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

We don’t need more unicorns. We need more sustainable builders. We need more Inner Circles.

Let’s stop chasing the hype and start creating real momentum—together.

Because the future isn’t coming. It’s already here.

It’s just unevenly distributed.

Ready to be part of the shift?

Subscribe to The Inner Circle for exclusive insights on building smarter, more sustainable businesses, and get actionable strategies to level up your growth—without the burnout. Join a community of like-minded founders and leaders committed to making a real impact, not just a quick win.

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Keep it simple, keep it fresh, smile and let it go

Yours truly, Trung

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