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Before You Fail. Founder Risk Checklist

22 Questions to Ask Before You Commit Capital, Partners, Reputation, and Family Time

According to research compiled by the Founders Forum Group, 90% of all startups ultimately fail. That figure has remained consistent since the 1990s. But when you examine why they fail, the data is specific and sobering: 42% built products nobody wanted, 29% ran out of cash despite showing profit on paper, 23% assembled the wrong team, and 65% of high-potential ventures imploded due to co-founder conflict. These are not market failures. They are preparation failures. And preparation failures are preventable.

This checklist is not a motivational tool. It is a structured set of questions drawn from Before You Fail that surfaces the preparation gaps most likely to damage a venture before the market has had a fair chance to judge the idea. If any of these questions make you uncomfortable, that is the point. Discomfort now is less expensive than a preventable failure later.

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Cover page of the Founder Risk Checklist, 22 questions drawn from Before You Fail

Six pages. Score each statement from 0 to 5. The maximum total is 110.

What the Checklist covers

  • Category 1

    Personal and Family Readiness

    Before committing to a venture, it helps to know how prepared you and the people closest to you actually are, not how prepared you assume you are.

  • Category 2

    Market, Business Model, and Financial Readiness

    Ideas feel validated long before they actually are, and a business model feels clear in conversation long before it has been tested against real numbers.

  • Category 3

    Team and Governance Readiness

    Most damaging founder conflicts trace back to agreements that were assumed rather than made.

  • Category 4

    Execution and Sustainability Readiness

    A good plan means little without the discipline, the right people, and the structure to carry it out.

After the Checklist

Individual founders

The self-paced Before You Fail course is in development. The waitlist gives you priority enrollment and early-access pricing.

Join the Before You Fail Course Waitlist

Accelerators, investor groups, and family offices

A three-day immersive for organizations that want their founder cohorts prepared before capital and reputation are committed to avoidable failure.

Request the Before You Fail Founder Readiness Workshop

Before You Fail Online Course

The self-paced course version of Before You Fail is in development.

The Before You Fail Online Course is a self-paced, six-module program built from the Six Pillars framework in the book. Each module is followed by a dedicated one-hour advisory session, providing you with both a structured framework and senior advisory support to apply it directly to your business situation. The course is designed for founders and entrepreneurs who want the depth and rigor of a structured advisory engagement, at a pace and format that work regardless of geography or schedule.

The course is in development following the completion of initial live founder readiness workshops. Joining the waitlist ensures priority enrollment when the course launches, as well as early-access pricing.

Join the waitlist