Free until October 8. Regular price $499.
A self-paced course

A business can't outgrow its founder.

Founder Syndrome is the self-paced course that shows you exactly which of your own assets have subtly become liabilities, and gives you the sixteen tools to convert them back.

Get Instant Access → Free until Oct 8 · then $499
Created by Darrell Vesterfelt & Corey Wilks, Psy.D.
Format 16 self-paced modules
Built for founders who've hit six figures and are stuck
Start here

Is this actually a strategy problem?

Before you buy anything, take the same diagnostic that opens the course. Check what's true.

0/12
Check what's true. Four or more, and this usually isn't a strategy problem.
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The pattern

The assets that built your business are now liabilities capping its growth.

Founder syndrome is what happens when a business gets structured around a founder's psychology instead of an operating system. Every bottleneck in your company is a place where a fear, a preference, or a coping habit hardened into a process.

Once an asset
↓

Control

Got the first version shipped. Now it's the reason nothing moves without you.

Once an asset
↓

Perfectionism

Made the product good enough to matter. Now it's why you polish instead of ship.

Once an asset
↓

Self-reliance

Is the reason the company exists at all. Now it's the wall around every seat you won't fill.

The method

Three moves, in order.

You can't fix a pattern you can't see, and you can't act on a choice you haven't made. The course follows the same sequence every time: see it, choose from it, then act on it.

01 — See Clearly

Name the pattern

Surface the fears, defaults, and identity stories currently running your business without your permission.

02 — Choose Deliberately

Decide on purpose

Trade inherited assumptions and endless deliberation for judgment you can actually stand behind.

03 — Act Congruently

Make it real

Turn clarity into the hard conversation, the boundary, and the redesigned week your business needs.

What's inside

16 modules. See it, understand it, change it.

Each module runs 10 to 15 minutes and follows the same Mirror, Pattern, Move format: see yourself in it, understand why it's happening, then do the one thing that changes it.

Part 1

See Clearly

Module 0
The Founder Is the Ceiling

Score yourself on the founder syndrome checklist and find out if this is a strategy problem, or you.

Tool 1
The Four Horsemen of Fear

Name the fears running your decisions before you notice you're afraid.

Tool 2
Identity

Separate the identity that built this business from the one your next stage requires.

Tool 3
Default Settings

Inventory the beliefs, habits, and calendar patterns you've never actually chosen.

Tool 4
Desire and Contrast

Find what you actually want by starting with what you can't stand.

Tool 5
Perspective Tools

Three ways to zoom out on a decision before it costs you a year.

Tool 6
Defining Success and Enough

Write your own definition of success before you chase another year of someone else's.

Tool 7
Circle of Control

Stop spending energy on outcomes you can't control and start building the processes you can.

Part 2

Choose Deliberately

Tool 8
First Principles

Strip your biggest problem to what you actually know, then solve one thing instead of three.

Tool 9
Tiny Experiments

Turn the decision you've been sitting on for months into a two-week test.

Tool 10
Pivot, Persevere, or Prune

A simple way to decide when to keep going, change course, or cut your losses.

Part 3

Act Congruently

Tool 11
Hard Conversations

A four-part structure for finally having the conversation you've been avoiding.

Tool 12
Boundaries

Set them, communicate them, and hold the line even when it's uncomfortable.

Tool 13
Rest Without Guilt

Treat rest as part of the work instead of a reward you have to earn.

Tool 14
Breaking Avoidance

Close the gap between what you know you should do and what you actually do.

Tool 15
Environment Design

Redesign your week and your workspace so the right behavior becomes the easy one.

Who it's for

This isn't for everyone.

This is for you if

  • You're running a six-figure business and the growth has flattened.
  • You've tried the tactical fixes and the underlying problem hasn't moved.
  • You privately suspect you might be the bottleneck.
  • You want a structured, private way to work through it at your own pace.

This isn't for you if

  • You're pre-revenue or still validating your first offer.
  • You're looking for a marketing tactic or a funnel template.
  • You want someone else to run the business for you.
Who built it

Built by founders who've guided hundreds like you.

Darrell Vesterfelt and Corey Wilks leading a working session with a room of founders.
Darrell Vesterfelt
Darrell Vesterfelt
Founder

Darrell has scaled companies past $10M, including Kit, and currently serves as VP of Growth at Mighty Networks. He's coached founders from their first hundred thousand dollars to eighteen million a year, and has watched the same pattern show up at every level: the business runs into a ceiling, and the founder is standing there.

Corey Wilks, Psy.D.
Corey Wilks, Psy.D.
Partner

Corey brings the psychology: why the brain automates under pressure, why founders revert to old defaults, and what it actually takes to change a pattern instead of just naming it. He built every tool in this course to turn that psychology into something you can actually act on in your business, not just understand.

From founders

What founders say about working with Darrell and Corey.

Founders who have worked through these same tools with Darrell and Corey. The sixteen modules put that sequence in your hands, at your own pace.

“As entrepreneurs we draw a line between our personal lives and our businesses, and this work made me see how false that line is. Darrell and Corey have a way of reflecting your own answers back to you, the ones you've been too busy fighting fires to actually hear. I'm coming away more excited about the next twelve months than I've felt in years.”

Justin Moore
Justin Moore

“I went in with my critical business brain on, ready to clock everything I'd do differently. I came out cataloging everything I loved. As a solopreneur, it's rare to find something that surfaces things I genuinely haven't considered, and I had aha moments back to back, each one paired with a concrete next step.”

Mallory Rowan
Mallory Rowan

“This work didn't hand me a new business model. It handed me an honest mirror, revealed the fear that's been keeping me small, and gave me the courage to start saying out loud what I actually do.”

Mike Schmitz
Mike Schmitz
Pricing

Free until October 8.

After that, Founder Syndrome is a $499 one-time purchase. Right now, it's not.

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Days
–
Hours
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Minutes
–
Seconds
$499
Free
Through October 8 at 11:59pm Central.
  • 16 self-paced video modules (Module 0 + Tools 1–15)
  • A written framework and worksheet for every tool
  • Bonus: The Founder Syndrome Workbook, a printable, fillable companion with all 16 Move exercises in one place
  • Bonus: a live Q&A with Darrell & Corey, open only to this launch cohort
  • Lifetime access to every module you claim during launch

After launch: 14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.
Questions

Before you get started

Each module runs 10 to 15 minutes of video plus a short written exercise. Most people move through it in two to four weeks at a relaxed pace, though it's fully self-paced and yours to keep.
The course becomes a $499 one-time purchase. Anyone who gets access during the free launch keeps full access, permanently, at no extra cost.
Start with Module 0. It's the diagnostic that tells you where to focus. After that, the three parts build on each other, but each tool also stands on its own if you want to jump to what's most urgent.
Neither, exactly. It's built on real psychological frameworks, taught by founders who've spent years applying that psychology to real businesses, and every module ends in a concrete move for your business. Think workbook, not couch.
Everyone in this launch cohort gets one live Q&A with Darrell and Corey to work through whatever's not landing. Details and scheduling go out by email after you claim access.
Once the course moves to $499, it comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked. This doesn't apply during the free launch, since there's nothing to refund.

Ready to get out of your own way so your business can grow?

Sixteen modules. One checklist. Free until October 8.

Get Instant Access →