Why Everyone Should Start a Startup (Even If It Fails 👀)

​Adrian Cole July 22nd

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Huge thanks to everyone who’s reading this.

I appreciate you being here. I’ve got a lot more to share moving forward, and I’m excited to keep showing up for founders like you every week.

This week also kicks off my new newsletter format. Here's what you can expect in every issue:

• 🧠 Today’s Big Idea – a core insight or story from the product and startup trenches
• ⭐️ Founder Spotlight of the week - Highlighting a Founder building something dope
• ⚒️ Toolstack Drop – curated tools that help you move faster
• 🤪 Crazy Product Idea of the Week – a fun, unconventional product concept
• 🏁 Challenge of the Week – a tactical push to keep you building
• 🚀 What’s Launching – new offers, programs, and resources
• 🚿 Adrian’s Shower Thoughts – raw reflections from my founder brain

Let’s get into it:

💡 Today’s Big Idea

Why Everyone Should Start a Startup (Even If It Fails)

Most people assume startups are about solving a problem, chasing an exit, making money, or gaining clout. And sure, those are real outcomes.

But the most underrated reason to start a company?

It’s the ultimate soft reset for your career.

Soft reset? - A soft reset means starting fresh without throwing everything away, you keep your experience, but you re-discover your path.

Here’s why.

Most of us were told to choose a career path at 17 or 18, right when we had the least life experience, no real-world exposure, and zero idea of what we were naturally great at.

We picked majors.

Took jobs.

Built careers based on limited information and external pressure.

Fast forward a few years.

• Only 7% of Americans say they’re in their dream career
• 22% say they fell into their job by accident
• Around 50% are actively considering a career change
• And while 65% of workers say they’re happy, only 20% feel truly passionate about what they do

That means most people are operating in the wrong field, not because they failed, but because they never had the space to explore what else was possible.

Startups give you that space.

As a founder, you don’t get to specialize. You touch everything, marketing, sales, product development, customer interviews, pitch decks, finances, legal, even design. You wear all the hats.

And in doing that, you get reintroduced to yourself and your hidden talents.

Take me for example.

I started my career as an electro-mechanical design engineer. I was good at it. But when I launched my first tech product and couldn’t afford a designer, I opened Canva and created the UI myself (Yes, Canva! Then I learned Adobe XD and then Figma!)

To my surprise, it was actually good. That single moment revealed a skill I never would’ve discovered if I didn't build something.

Fast forward a few weeks. Yes, weeks. I redesigned the entire app in Figma 👇🏾

That led me to product development, strategy, and eventually tech leadership, spaces I now know I’m built for.

Design is just one of many skills and talents that i've unlocked throughout my journey.

Only because I took a leap of faith and built something.

That’s what starting something can do.

It doesn’t need to go viral or raise millions. It just needs to show you what you’re capable of when fully engaged.

Even if the startup fails, you walk away with sharper skills, deeper self-awareness, and the confidence to architect your career instead of drifting through one.

And that? That’s worth everything.

So, what are you going to build?

What happened to VoiceBlasts you ask?

I built it, assembled a team, raised funding, went through 2 accelerators, grew the user base to a few thousand and learned enough to fill up a few books!

That's a win!

🌟 Founder Spotlight of the Week

This week we’re spotlighting Geri Glass, who just completed the 30 Days of Product flagship program with her app My Co-Parent Companion.

​Geraldine R. Glass is a healing-centered co-parenting coach and the creator of The Peaceful Co-Parent Framework™. She helps parents navigate high-conflict separation with emotional clarity, strategic support, and soul-rooted resilience.

A little over 30 days ago, Geri came into the 30 Days of Product program with a bold vision, to support co-parents across the country with a platform she had dreamed about building for years. Through our blueprint, we worked with her to define her mission, crystallize her vision, and bring it all to life.

My Co-Parent Companion is a mobile platform designed to help separated or divorced parents collaborate around their children’s needs in an emotionally safe, structured, and supportive way.

The MVP focuses on improving decision-making, emotional healing, and communication structure. It includes an AI-powered companion for decision-making, a full LMS for learning how to co-parent, and many more features planned in the roadmap to support co-parents at every stage of their journey.

Key features include:

• An AI-powered decision-making tool
• A personalized Healing Path (LMS)
• Structured onboarding to create tailored experiences

During her sprint, we didn’t just help Geri launch her app, we worked with her to design and launch a high-ticket coaching program rooted in her trademarked Peaceful Co-Parenting Framework™. The result is a powerful combination of tech + high touch: a mobile product and a boutique coaching experience, both serving the same mission.

We also helped her build her pitch deck, develop her landing page, and position her for funding. Her next step is raising a pre-seed round. If you're an investor interested in generational healing and conscious family design, reach out to Geraldine R. Glass​

We’re excited to watch her journey unfold and proud to have helped bring this vision to life.

🔧 Toolstack Drop

🧠 AI Tool: Base44 An early-stage AI coding assistant that helps you build full-stack apps from natural language. Great for non-technical founders or those building faster with lean resources.

🗺️ Productivity Tool: Miro Still the king of collaborative product planning. I’ve been using it heavily inside 30 Days of Product to visually map sprints, structure founder journeys, and ideate faster.

🤯 Crazy Product Idea of the Week

Unlocking the Luxury Gym Economy

Most high-end community gyms are beautiful, fully equipped and wildly underused.

Imagine a platform where certified personal trainers could book time in these gyms to train both residents and external clients.

• Communities get a revenue stream
• Trainers get space access + clients
• Residents get real motivation through on-site classes

Group classes. One-on-ones. Habit stacking for health + wealth.

Somebody build this. 💰

⚔️ Challenge of the Week

For the Founders: Talk to 3 users. In real life if you can. Virtually if you must.

Ask:

• How are you using the product?
• What do you love?
• What’s annoying or missing?

Listen. Don’t pitch. Insights > assumptions.

🔥 What’s Launching

Power Sprints from 30 Days of Product – Now Live (BOGO offer 🔥)

Power Sprints are expert-led, high-impact, 4-hour strategy and execution sessions designed to help founders accelerate traction, adoption, and revenue.

We pick one big challenge your startup is facing and solve it. Fast.

The format:

• 2 hours of deep work
• Short recharge break
• 2-hour final push to get it done

It’s perfect for:

• Founders who already have something in motion but need clarity, focus, or momentum
• Idea-stage founders who want to stress-test and roadmap their idea fast

Whether you’re stuck, scaling, or just need structure, you’ll walk away with a battle-tested game plan.

Right now: Buy One, Get One Free. Bring a co-founder. Gift one to a friend. Double your momentum.

📅 Learn More about Power Sprints​

🛁 Adrian’s Shower Thoughts

Hard work compounds.

It’s not what you do when people are watching that defines your outcome, it’s what you do when no one sees it.

Discipline in the dark is what creates visible success.

Nothing meaningful comes easy.

So do the hard thing.

Let’s Build ⚡️,

​Adrian Cole ​

Founder

30 Days of Product

www.30daysofproduct.com​