Founder
Gauntlet
Can your product idea survive reality?
You're about to take your idea through the founder journey without Ava Labs in the room. That means every quote, feature, prototype decision, vendor promise, customer reaction, and launch problem is on you.
Make your choices. Watch your clarity, cash, credibility, technical risk, and sanity change. At the end, you'll see how your founder instincts held up — and whether you want to run the gauntlet again with Ava Labs helping you avoid the traps.
Ava
Story Guide
She'll walk you through every scenario — the pitch, the pivot, the crisis at 2am. Warm, sharp, and she's seen what happens when founders ignore the warning signs.
Zach
Your Mentor
He's the ground truth. Real experience, no filter. After every decision, Zach tells you what it actually means — and what most founders get wrong.
The game is fake. The traps are real.
Dedicated to my son
Randolph Robert IV
The inspiration behind the Founder Gauntlet, and the one who helped craft it into what it is today.
A founder reality simulator by AVA Labs