We Built a Startup That Died Before It Lived
Published on October 16, 2025 · Duration 00:18:09
The Hilarious & Heartbreaking Tale of GouBlue: A Startup That Died Before It Lived!
Ever dreamt of launching your own startup, fueled by passion, code, and enough caffeine to power a small city? Well, buckle up, buttercups, because the latest episode of “Bootstrapped for Cash” takes you on a wild, honest, and painfully relatable ride through the often-unseen world of startup demise! In “We Built a Startup That Died Before It Lived,” hosts Iván Peña and Giorgio Azzinnaro (via an awesome AI-translated experiment!) sit down with the brilliant Juan Sanz to spill the tea on GouBlue, a carpooling platform that promised the moon but met an untimely end.
From MBA Dream to Real-World Scheme
Our story begins in an MBA classroom in Madrid, 2018. Juan Sanz, with entrepreneurial stars in his eyes, co-founded GouBlue. The idea? A clever carpooling solution for co-located companies, aiming to reduce traffic, optimize parking, and generally make commutes less soul-crushing. Think BlaBlaCar, but for your daily grind, and with a super-smart genetic algorithm (yes, AI before it was generative AI!) that made magic happen by perfectly matching drivers and passengers based on everything from route to music preferences. Sounds amazing, right? A superior product, even. But as Juan and Iván reveal, a fantastic product doesn’t always guarantee a fairy-tale ending.
The Founder Frenzy & The “Decelerator” Days
GouBlue kicked off with a whopping four founders – a number that would make most startup gurus clutch their pearls. While the academic phase was smooth sailing, the real world quickly introduced friction, conflicting visions, and the dreaded “too many cooks in the kitchen” syndrome. Juan wisely points out that a business partnership is “a romantic relationship without sex” – and if there’s no trust, it’s doomed!
They even dove into an accelerator program with Bankia. While accelerators offer invaluable networking and exposure, Juan hilariously rebrands some of them as “decelerators” due to the bureaucracy and time-consuming reporting that can pull you away from what truly matters: building.
When COVID-19 Crashed the Carpool
Just as GouBlue was finding its footing, securing pilot programs, and building a product so good it was valued at ten times its development cost (a mere $10,000 for a beast!), the world screeched to a halt. March 2020. COVID-19. Lockdowns. Remote work. Suddenly, no one was carpooling. The pandemic effectively pulled the rug out from under GouBlue, cancelling pilots and crushing morale. As Juan recalls, the internal dynamics, coupled with this external catastrophe, led to the heartbreaking decision to cease operations.
The Ghost of GouBlue: Lessons from the Rubble
Despite the painful end, Juan Sanz describes the GouBlue journey as one of the best experiences of his life. The lessons learned are gold for any aspiring entrepreneur:
- Choose Your Co-Founders Wisely: Really know them, beyond just their skills. Alignment of vision and unwavering commitment are non-negotiable.
- Roles, Roles, Roles: Every founder needs a clear, owned area of responsibility to avoid confusion and friction.
- Embrace the Roller Coaster: Startup life is an emotional marathon.
- Accelerate (In-Person!): If you join an accelerator, go all-in and be on-site for the full networking benefits.
- Build Smart & Lean: Use the cloud, be efficient. (They built a monster for peanuts!)
And for those wondering about that “dead code on GitHub”? Juan and Iván are still pondering what to do with their beloved, dust-collecting algorithm!
This episode is packed with raw honesty, humor, and practical wisdom that only comes from navigating the choppy waters of startup life. Whether you’re dreaming of your own venture, currently in the thick of it, or just love a good underdog story, you NEED to hear this.
Don’t miss out on the full, unvarnished story! Tune into “Bootstrapped for Cash” and listen to “We Built a Startup That Died Before It Lived.”
Want to connect with Juan Sanz? Find him on LinkedIn: Juan Sanz
