He interviewed users, built a waitlist & raised $1.1M—but it still didn't work. | Frankie Le Nguyen, Founder of Staging Labs

Frankie lost $10K in a crypto transaction—so he started Staging Labs to find a way to help others prevent crypto scams. He was head of an incubator called Entrepreneurship First and had seen dozens and dozens of founders build startups. He knew exactly what to do—and he did everything right. He found a co-founder, built an MVP, did customer discovery, checked willingness to pay—but he still failed.The world changed when crypto crashed in late 2022. The people who were originally interseted in paying for crypto insurance nolonger were. And by the time Frankie realized it, it was too late.Here's how it happened—and how he was able to sell his startup even though the product wasn't working out.Why you should listen: How to sell your startup even when it's not working out.Why sometimes the best ideas come from personal struggles. Why you need to constantly validate willingness to pay.Why you can't treat lean startup as a series of checklists.The last 10% of execution is often what determines success or failure.Partnerships can be a double-edged sword in startup strategy.How aligning personal values with customer needs is essential for founders.Keywordsentrepreneurship, startups, crypto scams, fundraising, product launch, market timing, personal experience, validation, community building, business challenges, willingness to pay, user experience, scams, customer alignment, market cycles, acquisition, strategic partnerships, investor relations, startup lessonsTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:25) The Idea & The Origin of Staging Labs(00:08:07) Next Steps & Pre-Seed Fundraising(00:13:27) Why you should never depend on partnerships(00:18:28) How to create urgency(00:24:55) Pivoting(00:28:43) Trying to sell the business(00:35:55) Biggest Lessons LearnedSend me a message to let me know what you think!