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How Speed Masks Failure: The 5Ps of Founder Success

Georg Chmiel, Co-Founder and Chair, Chmiel Global Advisory

08-Dec-25 11:00

How Speed Masks Failure: The 5Ps of Founder Success

In an era where AI and no-code tools let founders build products in a weekend, speed has become a double-edged sword. While it accelerates innovation, it can also mask weak fundamentals, allowing poorly defined problems and shaky business models to survive longer than they should.

Georg Chmiel, Co-Founder and Chair of Chmiel Global Advisory, joins us to unpack the "5Ps of Startup Reality": Problem, Passion, People, Perseverance, and Pivot. He explains why solving a real business problem is the ultimate priority, why "boring can be beautiful," and why founders should ignore the P&L in the early days and focus entirely on cash flow.

We discuss:

  • The 5Ps: Problem, Passion, People, Perseverance, and Pivot.

  • Why speed often masks weak fundamentals in early-stage startups.

  • The "second mouse gets the cheese": why being first isn't always best.

  • Why cash flow, not P&L, is the ultimate survival metric.

  • How to distinguish a strategic pivot from a "panic pivot."

  • For founders and business leaders, this is a back-to-basics deep dive on building a resilient, high-growth company.

Produced by: Roshan Kanesan

Presented by: Roshan Kanesan


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Categories:  technologyCorporatesentrepreneursSMEfinancial wellness

Tags:  business fundamentalsentrepreneurshipbusiness strategyscalingleadership





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