Founder F**K ups

Ben Bagg
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  • Entrepreneurship

Behind every glossy founder story is a graveyard of mistakes, missteps and meltdowns. Founder F**k Ups digs them up. Every week I sit down with a Founder who'll tell you what actually went wrong - the hire they kept too long, the co-founder they gave half the company to, the pivot they made two years late. No humble bragging. No highlight reel. Just the decisions that cost real money and what they'd do differently. Most of my guests are building in Southeast Asia, and most are early enough that the scars are still fresh. Episodes run 25–35 minutes, because you're busy and the lesson doesn't need an hour. If you're making these mistakes in a vacuum, stop. Come and hear how someone else already made them. Hosted by Ben Bagg - Founder coach, 100+ Founders coached one-on-one. www.founderfuckups.co

  1. 5d ago

    Thousands On Meta Ads, Then The Leads Ghosted Him | Maurizio Rosini, My Masterman

    He spent thousands of ringgit on Meta ads. The leads came in, then went quiet. Maurizio Rosini spent 17 years in fashion with Prada and Gucci, rode the highs of money and fame, and came back from addiction. He now runs My Masterman, the men's circles that a thousand men have been through in four years across Kuala Lumpur, Penang and abroad. But when he took it to paid ads, he hit a wall. Men messaged, he replied, and then nothing. He was asking cold strangers to sign up for a room they couldn't picture, and assuming 10 out of 10 should say yes because he was convinced. The fix wasn't more leads. It was one open question, a landing page, and putting 20% of the ad budget into education that isn't meant to convert. This one gets into: Why a lead that messages you isn't a conversation yetBoosted reels, a PDF people thought was a scam, and DMs that don't scale past 100 leads"Is this a gay thing?" and why social proof answers it better than you canThe open question he now sends every new leadSpending 20% of your budget on awareness, and why nurtured leads end up costing nothingAn ex-luxury exec turned men's coach who still says "f**k" when it matters. If you're paying for leads that never turn into conversations, start at 13:44. CHAPTERS 00:00 Maurizio's story in 60 seconds 00:59 Why admitting a f**k up is harder for men 03:14 From Prada and Gucci to addiction, and the pattern he saw in men 06:15 Why a circle: shoulder to shoulder, you can't hide 07:38 How do you get men to drop the armour? 11:42 From experiment to My Masterman 13:44 The mistake: thousands on ads, no way to convert 15:05 Reels, PDFs, "is this a scam?": everything he tried 16:32 "Is this a gay thing?" and why social proof matters 17:00 The one question that starts the conversation 17:54 B2C or B2B, outreach is about starting a conversation 19:28 Did he ever think he was building the wrong thing? 24:39 Educate first, ask second: 20% of budget on awareness 29:04 Does nurture bring acquisition cost down? 31:37 One piece of advice before you run ads 32:24 Where to find Maurizio GUEST Maurizio Rosini, Founder, My Masterman (men's circles, retreats, coaching) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mauriziorosini/ Instagram: @mymasterman.coach FOUNDER F**K UPS The podcast where Founders talk about the thing that actually went wrong. https://www.founderfuckups.co https://youtube.com/@founderfuckups #founders #startups #leadgeneration #metaads #salesfunnel #menscircle #founderfuckups

    Thousands On Meta Ads, Then The Leads Ghosted Him | Maurizio Rosini, My Masterman

  2. Oct 9

    Don't Hire Your Friends, My Intern Was Texting Clients Behind My Back | Firdaus Mohamed, GoBarakah

    He spent 20 years assessing risk for Malaysia's banks. Then he hired his friends. Firdaus Mohamed built a career on one skill: knowing what could go wrong. Corporate strategy at Bank Islam, Zurich, Etiqa and AmBank. Credit committees. Zakat committees. Then he left to build GoBarakah, a fintech that turns donations into trackable, traceable e-vouchers, and his team went on to launch Impakrintas, Malaysia's first Social Exchange. But when it came to his own team, the risk expert skipped the due diligence. A conversation over Hari Raya dinner became a job offer. An old uni friend with C-suite banking experience came in as his number two. Within a month the red flags were obvious. She wouldn't talk to the CTO. She turned 30-second decisions into 30-minute phone calls. She showed up two hours late to a government meeting he'd sent her to in his place. Then he did it again. A friend who needed a break came in as an intern, and after she left, the business found out she'd been messaging clients behind their backs to undermine the founders. It ended with a letter under threat of legal action. And the friend was his wife's. His wife is also his CTO. This one gets into: Why the people you trust most can be your worst hiresThe red flags that show up in month one, and why Founders ignore themWhat protecting a friend tells the rest of your teamManaging someone you'll see at the next family dinnerThe hiring process he runs now: hire slow, fire fastWhy big-company experience doesn't transfer to a startupA banker who learned the hard way that a great CV and a great friendship don't add up to a great hire. If you're about to bring your best mate into the business, watch this first. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:54 Why a risk expert didn't apply it to hiring 01:47 From Hari Raya dinner to job offer 02:59 The ex-bank C-suite friend 04:34 Red flags in month one 06:16 How long it took to act 07:26 The 30-minute phone calls 08:37 Two hours late for a government meeting 10:33 Why he kept giving chances 11:52 What the team saw 13:07 Hire number two: the intern 15:42 The letter under threat of legal action 18:12 When the friend is your wife's 19:11 What happened to the friendships 23:55 How he hires now 26:21 Tying pay rises to probation 26:39 His advice: don't hire your best mate 29:08 Why bank experience doesn't transfer 30:31 Every salary transfer hurts GUEST Firdaus Mohamed, CEO & Co-founder, GoBarakah and Impakrintas LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/firdaus-mohamed-289b576/ Website: https://impakrintas.com FOUNDER F**K UPS The podcast where Founders talk about the thing that actually went wrong. Website: https://www.founderfuckups.co YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@founderfuckups #FounderFuckUps #Founders #Hiring #StartupMistakes #HireSlowFireFast #Malaysia #Fintech #Leadership #StartupCulture

    Don't Hire Your Friends, My Intern Was Texting Clients Behind My Back | Firdaus Mohamed, GoBarakah

  3. Oct 2

    10 Years Feeding Google and AMEX, But Her Team Kept Walking Out | Yuet Kim Lim, PichaEats

    She hired hundreds of people. Most of them gave her one good year. Kim Lim co-founded PichaEats in 2016 with two fellow volunteer teachers, to keep refugee kids in school. Refugees can't legally work in Malaysia, so PichaEats lets refugee chefs cook from home and get paid properly for it. Ten years on, they've partnered with 45 chefs from 7 countries and fed clients like Google, AMEX and Bank Negara. But a company built on heart got hired on heart too. Early hires were friends of friends, or people the team could vibe with. Mission-driven people joined, then found out it was a food business with targets, not mission work. The real wake-up call was the maths. People stayed about two years. Training took the first 3 to 4 months, and the last 6 months they'd already checked out. So PichaEats got about one year of full performance from each hire, then started again. What fixed it was a coach, a rebuilt set of values, an employee handbook the old team hated, and an HR hire before anything else when it was time to scale. Average tenure is now 3 to 4 years. This one gets into: → Why "we can vibe with them" is not a hiring criteria → The trap of hiring people who love the mission but can't do the job → How to let go of someone who genuinely cares → The one-good-year maths most Founders never run on their own team → Why her first hire for scaling was HR → The four values every PichaEats hire now has to hit, and why they always check references Kim is one of the most honest Founders I've had on about the cost of leading with your heart. If your best people keep leaving at the two-year mark, watch this before your next hire. CHAPTERS 00:00 Kim's story 01:11 Why a food business? 03:42 The mistake: hiring on feeling 06:10 When the mission makes you a worse judge of talent 07:57 Letting go of people who care 10:30 The two-year problem: one good year per hire 12:10 Bringing in a coach and rebuilding the values 13:12 Why the first scaling hire was HR 14:49 Tenure now: 3 to 4 years 16:17 The uncomfortable part: professionalism and the employee handbook 17:56 How PichaEats hires now 19:11 The culture-fit checklist GUEST Yuet Kim Lim, Co-Founder & CEO, PichaEats LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/picha-kimlim/ Website: https://www.pichaeats.com FOUNDER F**K UPS The podcast where Founders talk about the thing that actually went wrong. Website: https://www.founderfuckups.co YouTube: https://youtube.com/@founderfuckups #FounderFuckUps #Founders #Hiring #CompanyCulture #SocialEnterprise #StartupMalaysia #PichaEats #Leadership

    10 Years Feeding Google and AMEX, But Her Team Kept Walking Out | Yuet Kim Lim, PichaEats

  4. Sep 11

    Their meeting room is an ice bath, and they're married | Lyv & Paul, The Contrast Club

    One in five startups dies of co-founder fallout. Most co-founders at least go home to different houses. Lyv and Paul go home to the same house, and the same dog. They met through a work enquiry that produced no business whatsoever. Seven years later they were married, and three months ago they opened The Contrast Club, an ice bath and sauna studio in Kuala Lumpur. So for this episode we did the whole thing inside their own protocol. Coffee at the bar, questions in the sauna, rapid fire in the plunge, and the honest stuff in the magnesium bath. Ten weeks after opening they had to shut the doors for four days and strip out work they'd already paid for. The part Paul admits in the ice bath is the part that makes it a Founder F**k ups episode: they could see it coming and kept going anyway. This one gets into: Why a second yes matters more than the first one, and how Lyv knew Paul was finally inWhat actually happens when two people who work at different speeds run one businessSelling a habit instead of a treat, and why that's a business model problem rather than a marketing oneThe packages that didn't sell, and what they changedWhy people who come with a friend buy again more oftenClosing a three-month-old business for four days on purposeWhether a couple's session ever stays a couple's session Lyv and Paul are the rare pair who answer the co-founder question honestly rather than sweetly. If you're thinking about starting something with your partner, watch the last five minutes before you do. CHAPTERS 00:00 A work enquiry that led to no business 01:00 The dinner table, and Paul's hesitation 02:10 The second yes, and how Lyv knew 03:45 The walkthrough: what they took from onsens, bathhouses and New York 05:30 What contrast therapy actually does 07:00 Why founders in particular need somewhere to put it 08:20 The paint job, and closing four days in month three 10:10 Habit, not treat: the retention problem 13:00 What didn't sell, and the fix 14:20 Two speeds: the event that went sideways 15:30 Does it stay out of the house? 17:00 Rapid fire, three degrees 19:25 The magnesium bath: it always turns into a meeting 21:30 Advice to a couple thinking about it GUEST Lyv & Paul, co-founders, The Contrast Club, Kuala Lumpur FOUNDER F**K UPS The podcast where Founders talk about the thing that actually went wrong. www.founderfuckups.co youtube.com/@founderfuckups #founderfuckups #startups #cofounders #kualalumpur #contrasttherapy #icebath #smallbusiness #foundersjourney #malaysia #entrepreneurship

    Their meeting room is an ice bath, and they're married | Lyv & Paul, The Contrast Club

  5. Sep 4

    15 Years In Private Equity, One Year Lost To A Dev House | Wes Barnes, Associum

    In 2022, Wes Barnes had everything a Founder is supposed to need. He just had no way to build it. Wes spent 15 years in private equity. He built and sold a fund platform he had been quietly trying to make smarter with AI back in 2018, years before anyone was calling that a category. When he started again he knew the customer, because he had been the customer. He had a network that opened doors to VCs and buyers. And the smartest people around him agreed the idea was good. He is not technical. People told him to go and find a technical co-founder. He heard them and decided it could wait, because he had managed dev teams before and figured he could manage some more. So he went to dev houses instead. A dev house delivers the scope and nothing else. Every change is an expansion and another quotation. And 2022 was the year the whole industry moved from machine learning to generative AI, so the product kept changing underneath him while he was paying by the scope. He ended up faking demos in CustomGPT just to have something on a screen. In every meeting, once everyone had agreed the opportunity was real, came the same line: okay, but can you show me the product? That cost him the best part of a year. This one gets into what that year actually bought him. Why the dev shop model is built for companies that already have technical people to manage it, and breaks at startup speed. The pivots he paid for twice. The long dating period with the co-founder who eventually reached out to him, and the values conversation that convinced them both. What happened in the first ninety days: a team he could never have recruited on his own, an MVP in six months, a commercial product six months after that. How they split equity when one of them had already spent the money, and why "until you have something, you have nothing" was the only way he could look at it. And the poker question he now asks before he spends a single cent. Wes is a Founder who did everything right except the one thing everyone told him to do. If you are about to sign with a dev house, or you have convinced yourself that Cursor and Lovable mean you can skip the technical co-founder, watch the last ten minutes twice. CHAPTERS 00:00 "Can you show me the product?" 00:15 Selling venture one and starting again 04:21 The advice he heard and parked for later 06:33 Why a dev house instead of a co-founder 09:50 "That model is not designed for startups" 11:03 Faking demos with CustomGPT 13:47 The meetings where the idea was never the problem 17:39 The long dating period with Vishal 21:29 What changed in the first ninety days 23:36 "Until you have something, you have nothing" 26:51 Could Replit and Lovable have saved him? 30:05 The poker question before you spend a cent GUEST Wes Barnes, Founder, Associum LinkedIn: /in/wesleybarnes2 FOUNDER F**K UPS The podcast where Founders talk about the thing that actually went wrong. Website: https://www.founderfuckups.co YouTube: /@founderfuckups #FounderFuckUps #Startups #Founders #CoFounder #PrivateEquity #AI #DevShop

    15 Years In Private Equity, One Year Lost To A Dev House | Wes Barnes, Associum

  6. Aug 28

    Worth €67 Million On Paper, Firing Staff The Same Week | Chris J Reed, Black Marketing

    In 2016, Chris J Reed was worth 67 million euros. He couldn't touch a single one of them. Chris had built Black Marketing from nothing in Singapore. Three profitable years in, one of the founders of a roll-up called The Marketing Group approached him with a plan: buy four agencies, list on the Nasdaq in Sweden, scale everybody. Chris said yes. He owned 25% of a company that hit a quarter of a billion euros in market cap inside two months. Then he tried to borrow against it. Ten banks said no. Not one of them thought it was a substantial company. While the share price was climbing, the actual business wasn't. The promised synergies didn't exist, because the other agencies were B2C and he was B2B. He was flying to Sweden, drinking champagne and ringing the bell, and firing his own staff in a Singapore co-working space at the same time. His team thought he was a millionaire and had stopped trying. Then his divorce lawyers found the Nasdaq listing. The first draft of the settlement had him paying his ex-wife ten million dollars against money that did not exist. He renegotiated when the share price collapsed, but it started from an artificial number, and he is still paying against it ten years later. This one goes deep on what a roll-up actually costs a Founder. The deals announced on the Nasdaq before they were signed. The Sydney hotel meeting where Chris congratulated two agency founders on joining the group and they had no idea what he was talking about. The 19 missed calls and the threat to report him to the police. Three CFOs in a single year. And how he got out: closing the Singapore entity they had bought, moving every client into the Hong Kong entity they hadn't, and rebuilding leaner with teams in the Philippines and South Africa. Chris is a Founder who ended up worth less than he sold for, spent what was left on lawyers, and had to explain to every new prospect why his company still existed. He built the brand back anyway. If you have a term sheet, an earn out or a lovely paper valuation sat in your inbox right now, watch the last ten minutes twice. CHAPTERS 00:00 67 million euros he could never touch 01:35 "There's a Nasdaq in Sweden?" 06:47 25% of a quarter of a billion 08:01 Ten banks said no, and he ignored it 10:21 Ringing the bell while firing staff 11:52 The synergies that never existed 12:41 When your divorce lawyer finds the share price 14:56 Sydney: the deals that hadn't actually happened 17:33 19 missed calls and a threat to call the police 20:11 Founders out, bean counters in, shares under one euro 22:18 They bought Singapore. They didn't buy Hong Kong. 24:19 "You're fired, you're fired, you're fired" 26:10 When Google becomes your biggest objection 27:48 The question to ask before you sign anything 32:15 What he'd do differently GUEST Chris J Reed, Founder & Global CEO, Black Marketing LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theonlyceowithamohawk/ Black Marketing: https://blackmarketing.com FOUNDER F**K UPS The podcast where Founders talk about the thing that actually went wrong. Website: https://www.founderfuckups.co YouTube: https://youtube.com/@founderfuckups #FounderFuckUps #Startups #Founders #Singapore #Nasdaq #Acquisition #LinkedIn

    Worth €67 Million On Paper, Firing Staff The Same Week | Chris J Reed, Black Marketing

  7. Aug 21

    My CTO quit with no runeway left with Glenn Tan

    Glenn Tan is co-founder and CEO of Zavior, the Singapore RegTech using AI to get teams compliance-ready on PDPA, ISO and everything buyers ask for. He is a sales and partnerships founder. So he did what almost every non-technical founder does: he left the building to the person who builds. Then the product ran badly behind, the money ran out, and his technical co-founder left. Two options. Ship fast or shut it down. Glenn took over the tech himself while still running sales, delivery and partnerships, and inside a year they built every feature they had wanted since day one. This one is about what it costs to outsource the thing your company is made of, and what you find out about yourself when the floor goes. Takeaways "Almost there" is the warning sign. Every almost there hid two more things to do, and they piled up while he kept selling what was still in progress.His co-founder leaving was not dramatic and not personal. It was money plus a gap too expensive to close.Talking to more people can be a way of delaying the call. At some point it is your decision and nobody else's.The blocker was never the tech. It was fear of starting things that used to take too long.Domain expertise is the new advantage in building. If you know what the client wants, you can now build it yourself.Build the functionality of the city first, then the piping.Chapters 00:00 Losing a CTO with no runway left01:12 Clients on the books, product way behind03:43 What the delay did to the money04:33 Climb Everest, or take the helicopter05:40 He builds, I sell, and the first cracks06:33 The "almost there" trap07:49 Did you see the quit coming?08:58 Money or product: the real breaking point09:35 The first ten seconds after "I'm out"10:43 Ship fast or shut it down12:49 The conversation with his wife15:13 Why he picked up the tech himself17:05 Cursor, and fear as the actual blocker18:10 Three to six months of hammering20:47 "I lost a limb, but I'm on a rocket ship"21:08 Why domain experts are the best builders now25:57 For the founder one resignation away

    My CTO quit with no runeway left with Glenn Tan

  8. Aug 14

    Right Partnership, Wrong Timing with Dan Gericke

    Dan Gericke, co-founder of Shift Control and former CTO at Express VPN, shares his experience with AWS partnership, compliance challenges, and the impact on sales. The conversation explores the partnership mirage, compliance issues, and the importance of early sales cycles. The conversation delves into the challenges and insights of partnering with AWS and the impact on a startup's growth. It explores the ROI, time investment, and considerations for founders when entering a partnership program. Takeaways Partnership MirageCompliance Challenges Partnership programs like AWS require significant time investment and may not yield immediate ROI.Founders should focus on direct sales and partnerships, avoiding distractions from ecosystem partnerships. Chapters 00:00 The AWS Partnership Mirage03:03 The Compliance Challenge12:50 Navigating the Sales Cycle17:52 The ROI of Partnership18:21 Navigating the AWS Ecosystem19:06 Challenges of Startup Partnerships26:01 The Impact on Product Development30:32 Considerations for Founders

    Right Partnership, Wrong Timing with Dan Gericke
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About

Behind every glossy founder story is a graveyard of mistakes, missteps and meltdowns. Founder F**k Ups digs them up. Every week I sit down with a Founder who'll tell you what actually went wrong - the hire they kept too long, the co-founder they gave half the company to, the pivot they made two years late. No humble bragging. No highlight reel. Just the decisions that cost real money and what they'd do differently. Most of my guests are building in Southeast Asia, and most are early enough that the scars are still fresh. Episodes run 25–35 minutes, because you're busy and the lesson doesn't need an hour. If you're making these mistakes in a vacuum, stop. Come and hear how someone else already made them. Hosted by Ben Bagg - Founder coach, 100+ Founders coached one-on-one. www.founderfuckups.co

Information

  • Creator
    Ben Bagg
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    33
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Ben Bagg