True Founder will help you navigate the challenges of launching your first startup.

WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR? First-time founders, all-time founders. If you’re looking to pull the trigger and quit your job, this book is for you. If you’re trying to figure out whether you should hire your first team member based on experience, or take a chance on hiring friends, this book is for you. If you’re trying to decide between angel funding, venture capital funding, or debt, this book is for you. If you’re sitting there reading this feeling like you’re about to burn out and that you’re doing everything wrong, this book is definitely for you.

No doubt you’ve had someone make a comment about how you work too much or you need to take a break. As a first-time founder, you’re guilted for setting work-life balance aside. Yet, anywhere else in life, sacrifice is encouraged. Think about a ball player who decided to go to the league after one year of college, or a billboard artist who spends every night and every last dollar in the studio working on their debut album. Consider a PhD student who’s given up on even starting life until they’re done with their 10-year specialization. In all these situations, you get a pat on the back for your risk and sacrifice. Starting your own company shouldn’t be any different.

It’s time to stop feeling guilty and lean into the sacrifice. Your willingness to chase your dreams is what sets you apart, and your personal competitive advantage and the strategies presented in True Founder will help you double down on the sacrifice.

10 Things This Book Will Teach You

• Becoming a professional problem solver
• Understanding that business is a series of sprints, not a marathon
• How your job is to make decisions, even if they aren’t the right ones
• How to stay motivated when everything is on fire
• How to create opportunities by shooting your shot and putting yourself at the table
• Avoiding cofounder drama with difficult conversations and a shareholder’s agreement
• The truth about early-stage hires
• Working with freelancers, dev houses, and marketing agencies
• Raising capital with angels and venture capitalists
• How to build a community by finding your own niche

It doesn’t take someone special to succeed in business. It takes absolute dedication, the willingness to sacrifice in the pursuit of your goals, and a little bit of luck.

MARC LAFLEUR had holes in his shoes at sixteen. As the only Black kid in an all white Catholic school, life was tough. His entrepreneurial journey didn’t begin until he heard that Snapchat turned down a $3 billion offer from Facebook. That’s when everything changed. By 2016, at the age of twenty-five, he founded truLOCAL— an online marketplace for consumers to connect with local farmers and producers. Over the course of five years—as cofounder and CEO—he grew the business to over sixty employees and expanded across the country. Following a successful pitch on Dragons’ Den, truLOCAL became a runaway success culminating in a $16.8 million acquisition in 2020. Marc was thirty years old at the time.

Today Marc shares his unique perspective on business from the lens of someone who nobody thought would make it. He has been asked to share his knowledge with the likes of Lululemon, Google, FedEx, and various academic institutions. Marc is currently doing keynote talks at conferences across the United States and Canada

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