Why Founders Struggle to Define Their Mission—and How to Get It Right
From Vision to Reality: How to Craft a Mission That Actually Moves Your Business Forward We hear it all the time: “I want to change the world.” But when you ask what the company does or why it exists—you get buzzwords and blank stares. In The Start-Up Puzzle, we challenge founders to get specific. Because […]
Think You Have a Great Business Idea? Here’s How to Know for Sure
Waiting for a ‘Eureka’ Moment? Don’t. Here’s how successful entrepreneurs find winning ideas, and let’s get one thing straight: the best start-up ideas don’t come from sudden inspiration. They come from observation, inquiry, and iteration. In The Start-Up Puzzle, we guide entrepreneurs through the process of discovering viable business opportunities—not dreaming them up in isolation. […]
The 4 Puzzle Pieces Most Founders Miss—And Why They Matter
You Can’t Build a Business with Only Half the Puzzle Building a startup is exciting. But it’s also messy, chaotic, and full of blind spots. At The Start-Up Puzzle, we’ve spent years interviewing founders, investors, and researchers to decode why so many start-ups fail and what the most successful ones do differently. The result? A […]
The #1 Misconception Founders Have, And How to Avoid It
If I Love My Idea, Customers Will Too.” Why That Thinking Could Kill Your Startup. It’s one of the most common (and dangerous) misconceptions in entrepreneurship: “If I think my solution is brilliant, surely others will too.” Founders fall into this trap all the time. They become so enamored with their product or technology that […]
How Blending Research and Real-World Experience Makes The Start-Up Puzzle Different
The Hidden Power of Bridging Theory and Practice What happens when a seasoned business leader and a leading entrepreneurship scholar listen to the same interviews and walk away with completely different insights? That’s exactly how The Start-Up Puzzle was born. When Robert van Pappelendam (RvP) and Dr. Joris Meijaard began their research journey, interviewing dozens […]
Want to Build a Unicorn? Start by Falling in Love with the Problem
The most iconic start-ups of our time, Airbnb, Stripe, Nutrafol, didn’t start with flashy tech or grand visions. They started with a deep obsession with a very real, often personal, problem. As The Start-Up Puzzle puts it: Great founders don’t just solve problems, they live them. In fact, many successful founders are their own first customers. They feel the […]
