Judgment
Recognizing self-deception and cognitive errors
Cognitive biases, illusions of control, groupthink, and sunk-cost dynamics influence which information a startup notices and which information it ignores.
Thematic connection
From Internal Breakdown to the Loss of Market Trust
The two titles are independent books. Together, they form a closely connected analytical and practical project: the first book examines why startups can lose clarity, accountability, communication quality, and decision-making capacity internally. The second shows how related patterns become visible in sales, market validation, and customer relationships.
The shared starting point is simple: technical quality, capital, and commitment do not automatically protect a startup from harmful developments. What matters is whether facts are separated from interpretations, counterarguments are allowed, responsibility is clear, and market feedback is treated as a learning signal.
Idea and Identification
Make assumptions and emotional attachments visible.
Perception
Recognize confirmation bias and selective interpretation.
Power and Communication
Protect disagreement, clear roles, and accountability.
Market Validation
Test behavior and willingness to pay instead of false signals.
Trust
Build credibility through listening, transparency, and consistency.
Organizational Learning
Review, correct, and explain decisions.
Relevance for founders and practitioners
Why Startup Failure and Sales Belong Together
Failure rarely begins with an empty bank account or missing sales results. It often develops earlier: assumptions are no longer tested, criticism becomes personal, accountability becomes unclear, and positive feedback is mistaken for reliable demand.
Power and organization
Protecting accountability and disagreement
Concentrated power, unclear roles, and fear-driven communication can prevent warning signs from being voiced and addressed in time.
Market validation
Do not confuse interest with demand
Attention, politeness, registrations, or pilot projects are not sufficient evidence of willingness to pay, repeated purchases, or Product-Market Fit.
Trust
Understanding sales as contact with reality
Sales is not merely a revenue function. It reveals whether customers recognize a real problem, trust a solution, and are willing to change behavior or allocate budget.
The two startup books
The Psychology of Startup Failure and The Psychology of Startup Sales Failure
Each book can be read independently. Together, they describe two closely connected levels: the internal breakdown of a startup and the external loss of contact with customers and the market.
Startup Psychology · Power · Organization · Decisions
The Psychology of Startup Failure
Why Great Ideas Die Because of People, Power, and Poor Decisions
The book examines startup failure as a psychological, communicative, ethical, and organizational process. Its focus includes sound judgment, cognitive biases, power, conflict, diffusion of responsibility, health, organizational culture, and decision architectures.
- Distinguish facts, interpretations, and narratives
- Analyze power, conflict, and diffusion of responsibility
- Use PROACT, Red Teams, and structured decision-making
- Strengthen psychological safety and learning cultures
Startup Sales · Market Validation · Customer Psychology · Trust
The Psychology of Startup Sales Failure
Why Good Products Fail Because of Distrust, Self-Deception, and Market Blindness
The book applies psychological and organizational perspectives to sales, market validation, Customer Discovery, and trust building. It understands sales as contact with market reality and as an early warning system for startups.
- Use Customer Discovery as a learning process
- Evaluate willingness to pay and behavior instead of approval
- Recognize vanity metrics and false validation
- Build trust through listening, transparency, and consistency
Two levels of the same problem
Internal Breakdown and External Loss of Reality
What deteriorates internally
- judgment and fact orientation
- open communication and constructive disagreement
- clear roles and accountability
- psychological safety
- fair and reliable decision processes
- health and organizational learning capacity
What is lost externally
- genuine contact with customer problems
- realistic assessment of willingness to pay
- the distinction between interest and demand
- trust in the product, provider, and relationship
- reliable market validation
- early warning signals from sales and usage
The books examine complex psychological, social, organizational, and economic relationships. They do not reduce startup failure to a single person or a single cause.
Target audiences
Who These Startup Books Are For
Founding
Startup founders
For people who want to examine their assumptions, leadership behavior, risk perception, and market decisions critically.
Teams and leadership
Startup teams and executives
For clarifying roles, conflicts, power, accountability, psychological safety, and organizational learning.
Product
Product managers and product leaders
For distinguishing internal product assumptions from genuine customer problems, usage behavior, and market evidence.
Sales
Sales leaders and business developers
For Customer Discovery, trust building, realistic market validation, and the avoidance of manipulative sales practices.
Funding and support
Investors, coaches, and consultants
For evaluating decision quality, team dynamics, market readiness, learning capacity, and potential warning signs.
Teaching and learning
Lecturers, students, and researchers
As a basis for seminars, workshops, and discussions about startup psychology, organization, market validation, and responsible sales.
Shared capabilities
What Readers Can Develop Across Both Books
Contact with reality
Distinguish observable facts from interpretations, hopes, and narratives.
Critical judgment
Reflect on confirmation bias, the illusion of control, groupthink, sunk-cost dynamics, and founder ego.
Decision architecture
Examine problems, objectives, alternatives, consequences, and trade-offs in a structured way.
Limits on power
Design roles, responsibilities, escalation paths, and institutionalized counterarguments transparently.
Market validation
Evaluate statements, behavior, willingness to pay, retention, and repeatable demand separately.
Trust building
Develop customer relationships through listening, transparency, consistency, and credible communication.
Psychological safety
Allow disagreement, warning signs, and uncertainty without turning them into blame or power struggles.
Organizational learning
Correct decisions, use warning signals, and learn transparently from market and team feedback.
Orientation instead of a success formula
Questions the Books Help Startups Structure
Problem and need
Is the startup solving a genuinely relevant problem, or mainly confirming its own product idea?
Market evidence
Which signals come from observable behavior, willingness to pay, usage, and retention?
Decisions
Are objectives, alternatives, consequences, risks, and follow-up decisions transparent?
Power and accountability
Can team members disagree, and are tasks, decisions, and consequences clearly assigned?
Sales and trust
Does the sales organization understand customers and buying processes, or mainly defend a predetermined solution?
Strategic alternatives
Are continuation, focus, pivot, partnership, restructuring, or an orderly withdrawal compared openly?
Scope and limitations
What the Books Cover — and What They Do Not
Covered in the books
- psychological and organizational failure patterns
- cognitive biases and decision errors
- power, conflict, and accountability
- Customer Discovery and market validation
- trust, customer psychology, and sales
- PROACT, Red Teams, and structured failure analysis
Not documented on this page
- book budgets and publishing calculations
- financing of book production
- internal team and project structures
- scheduling and resource planning
- reporting and escalation paths in book production
- sales planning and revenue forecasts
The books do not replace individual therapy, legal advice, tax advice, company restructuring, or specific investment decisions.
Frequently asked questions
Questions About the Two Startup Books
Are the two books an officially published series?
No. The two titles are independent books. However, they form a closely connected analytical and practical project: the first examines internal startup breakdown, while the second explores the loss of market contact through failing sales processes.
Which book should be read first?
Both books can be read independently. For a continuous learning path, The Psychology of Startup Failure can be read first, followed by The Psychology of Startup Sales Failure.
Who are the startup books for?
The books are intended for founders, startup teams, executives, product managers, sales leaders, investors, coaches, consultants, lecturers, students, and researchers.
Are the books only about startups that have already failed?
No. The books also support prevention. They describe warning signs, cognitive errors, and problematic organizational patterns before they develop into economic or organizational breakdown.
Why is sales described as contact with reality?
Sales reveals whether a relevant customer problem, trust, and willingness to pay are actually present. Interest, politeness, or attention alone do not demonstrate reliable demand.
Do the books replace consulting, therapy, or legal advice?
No. The books provide analytical frameworks, decision models, and practical orientation. They do not replace individual therapy, legal advice, tax advice, or company restructuring.
Questions About Books, Workshops, and Lectures
For workshops, seminars, lectures, professional discussions, or questions about individual books, you can get in touch by phone or email. Content, target group, duration, and fees are agreed in advance.
Phone
Please send sensitive or confidential documents only through a secure transmission method agreed in advance. Time-critical deadlines are only accepted when this has been expressly confirmed.