a not-so-gentle reminder that Canva carousels and Notion templates don’t make a company
If this hits a nerve, maybe it’s meant to.
If not, you’re probably doing fine.
No hard feelings, just perspective.
Startups aren’t aesthetics. They’re systems.
Real startups have strategy, structure, stress, and sleepless nights.
Not just a cute title and a pastel pitch deck.
But now?
People slap “CEO” in their bio and think they’re building the next unicorn.
babe!! it’s not that easy…
Worse, some hire 20 unpaid interns to look “legit”,
But nobody (including the founder) actually knows what’s going on.
Real teams know what they’re building and why. It’s not just about assigning roles, it’s about shared direction. If everyone’s just doing vibes-based tasks with no clarity, that’s not a startup. That’s a group project gone rogue.
You can have the most stunning landing page on earth, but if you don’t know your ops flow, your CAC math, or what happens after user #50 joins… you’re not building a startup, you’re staging a performance.
A good startup backend isn’t sexy. It’s spreadsheets, bugs, late payments, and fixing shit at 2AM. But that’s what makes it real.
So… What Is a Startup, Really?
I opened 14 tabs, spiraled a bit, and made my AI assistant explain it like I’m five.
Here’s what the internet (and my spare braincell) told me feel free to correct me, I’m a potato.
A startup isn’t just a small biz with a fancy website. It’s a company built to solve a real problem in a scalable way, usually under pressure, chaos, and caffeine.
Key traits of a real startup:
- Solves a real pain point
- Built to scale, not just survive
- Moves fast, adapts faster
- Tests, fails, learns — repeat
- Vision-led, not vibes-based
It’s more than a buzzword. It’s a mindset, a model, and a mad grind.
What matters is how you think, build, adapt, and solve problems. That’s what separates a real builder from a hobbyist.
If you’re gonna build something, know what you’re building. You don’t need to fake it. Just know your dream, your limits, your next move.
Ask for help.
Learn.
Go deeper.
Don’t just repost a “10 habits of successful founders” carousel and call it a business plan. No shade, just real talk. I’m still learning too.
But fr?
I’m just tired of people bragging, “my startup this, my startup that…”
You didn’t build a startup.
Your SaaS is 90% Cursor output and you called it a day.
Now, real talk?
I built a Discord bot once and suddenly people called me the dev.
But I never claimed that title. I don’t think I earned it.
Half the logic came from Claude, the finesse from GPT,
and the reinforcement? Straight outta China, shoutout to our distant cousin, Deepseek.
But okay, let’s put things in perspective.
I built that bot.
I gave birth to four full websites, coded from scratch, A to Z, top to toe.
No templates. No shortcuts. Every pixel was mine.
And even then, I still don’t call myself a “founder.”
Because I know I’m not done learning.
And that’s the whole point.
If anyone out here is still panicking like
“AI will take over the world!!”
No, Martha. Sit down.
AI won’t. But people misusing it absolutely might.
I truly believe the ones who built these tools just wanted to make life easier. If it all goes sideways, blame the humans, not the machine.
Yee I use spare brain too (shoutout AI, Google, StackOverflow, and a guy named Andrew from Reddit), but at least I’m not out here pretending I invented gravity and feeling like Einstein in 2025.
Let’s normalise building things the right way. Use the tools wisely. It’s not the tools’ fault.
It’s not even about whether it’s a real startup or not.
It’s just… some people are doing weird, shady sh*t in the holy name of “startup,” and now there’s a whole stigma around the word.
People hear “startup” and think: scammy, fake, messy, unserious. And that sucks—because there are people doing it right. Quietly, slowly, intentionally.
The idea? Valid. It’s yours.
The tools? Also valid.
We all know even senior devs Google how to .map()
or ask StackOverflow why == is suddenly not working.
We’ve all rage-searched: “javascript string not undefined but also undefined???”
What’s wrong here?
Maybe me.
Maybe I’m just chronically online and mildly unhinged.
But the point of this wall of text is:
They turned “startup” into a sticker and I just miss when it meant something.
You’re allowed to be small.
You’re allowed to take your time.
You don’t need to overclaim to feel valid.
Build something real, even if it’s quiet.
Even if it’s weird.
Especially if it’s weird.
So if you’re serious about creating something real, something with heart?
That’s already a great start.
Just don’t wear the title.
Earn it.
kthxbai!!