Why this book exists
The book Founder Fallout couldn't be.
Founder Fallout answered the 100 questions every operator should ask before they sign a partnership agreement. It was the field manual. This is the campfire story behind it.
Ashes to Empires is the long version. Two bankruptcies. More than $20M lost. A year sleeping in a Dodge with a four-year-old who didn't know any of it was wrong. The 70% YoY rebuild. The Inc. 5000, six times. The $60M-per-year portfolio that grew out of the burn pile.
It's not a redemption arc. Redemption arcs lie. This is what it actually costs to rebuild from zero, and what nobody on a stage will say into a microphone.
From the manuscript
Year one in the truck.
The first thing you lose isn't the house or the company. It's the way you sit down at the end of a day. You don't sit down anymore. You crouch. You crouch in the bed of a truck so your four-year-old has the back seat, and you stay quiet because you don't want her to learn the sound of a man losing.
That year taught me the difference between resilience and stubbornness. Resilience knows when to put the bag down. Stubbornness drags the bag through every door until the door breaks. I broke a lot of doors that year. The Murphy Door came later, after I learned the difference.
More from the manuscript will surface as the book moves toward release.
Available now
Start with Founder Fallout.
If Ashes to Empires is the story, Founder Fallout is the field manual. 100 must-ask questions every operator should answer before they share equity with anyone. The first book in the trilogy. Available in the Shop.