Founders, what was your story for 2025? And more importantly, what will be your story for 2026? 🤔
I'm talking about the internal story you're telling yourself (about what you're doing, why you're doing it and how well or not well you're doing) as opposed to the external story being told about you by the market (your P&L, your team, your customers, your investors, the media).
To be sure, the latter story matters - in PR language "what people say about us when we're not in the room." But in many respects it's a lagging indicator of the founders' internal storytelling.
In startups, where by definition we're missing at least one of or all of:
a) a product;
b) a market;
c) a business model;
d) a team; or
e) capital...
...ALL A FOUNDER HAS IS A STORY.
A story about the problem they love, their vision for a solution, and crucially, about their ability to make it a reality.
So if 2025 left you feeling battered, bruised, disappointed or unsure I challenge you to challenge the story you're telling yourself.
Is it the truth? Is it what you actually believe or are have you just been ground down or sucked into the pervading negative sentiment of the time?
Are you being honest with yourself about your motives for building a startup and about the current state of your energy, health and mindset? Is there a mismatch? If so, is it temporary or does it require a deep and considered realignment of your goals and expectations? Is it time for a pivot, a timeout, or an honourable withdrawal in the face of what you have learned since starting out?
Great founders are able to align the clarity, power and conviction of their story to attract everything else they need. More importantly, they are able to draw on it for inspiration, strength and direction when nothing seems to be going right. Are you?
Richard Liew is a cofounder at FoundrPR.