I had tears watching this. For any founder out there, this is a must watch. I’ve been there myself, and this captures exactly why we do what we do at @Simple_Closure. Close clean. Begin again.

We spend a lot of time talking about which startups are getting funded. Running @SimpleClosure gives me a different view: which ones are shutting down. We analyzed every company we helped close in H1 2026. A few things stood out: → AI was just 14.4% of shutdowns, down from 17.7% two years ago. → B2B SaaS was 27.3%, nearly 2x AI. → AI companies closed with a median $30K in the bank vs. $11.9K for B2B SaaS. → Founder choice drove 27.6% of shutdowns, nearly equal to the 28.1% driven by insufficient capital or cash flow. The “SaaSpocalypse” may already be here. It’s just not hitting the companies people expected. Our H1 2026 Shutdown Report: simpleclosure.com/blog/insig…

I talked to Kate Clark at The Wall Street Journal about what we're seeing at @Simple_Closure and what the "SaaSpocalypse" looks like from where we sit. More than half of the venture-backed companies we wound down in H1 were software/tech companies. A year ago it was 44%. Non-AI companies are having a tough time fundraising right now. In some cases, it's easier for founders to shut down and restart. @KateClarkTweets @WSJ wsj.com/tech/ai/saas-softwar…

Today we’re rolling out a new brand for @Simple_Closure. Over the last few years, we’ve helped thousands of companies navigate one of the most difficult moments in the startup journey. Along the way, we’ve learned a lot about the founders we serve and the role we play in helping them move forward. Our new identity reflects that. It’s not a new mission. It’s a better expression of the one we’ve had from the beginning: helping founders close with the same care and professionalism that goes into building. As the shutdown standard, we wanted a brand that better reflects the company we’ve become, the trust founders place in us, and the category we’re defining. Today, we’re proud to share the next chapter of SimpleClosure. See it in action here: simpleclosure.com

More than 90% of startups fail. But what happens after shutdown is still one of the least talked-about parts of the founder journey. I sat down with @bayareawriter and @crunchbasenews to talk about what we've learned at @Simple_Closure over the past three years, and where we're headed. Founders who close well carry that credibility forward. That's what this work is really about. Read the full article here: news.crunchbase.com/startups…

Millions of companies shut down every year. The code, data, and IP they leave behind mostly just disappears. Now we're doing something about it. Today we're launching the @Simple_Closure Asset Hub: Source Code Sales for founders looking to license or sell their source code, and Workspace Data, a beta offering for founders looking to surface value from their company's internal data. What you built still has value. Now there's somewhere to take it. Grateful to be featured in @Forbes by @annatonger. Read the full article here → forbes.com/sites/annatong/20…

The startup “fail fast” narrative is outdated. Most people assume early-stage teams shut down because they can't find product market fit. Our data shows a different pattern this year. Early-stage shutdowns are down year over year: • Pre-seed: minus 20 percent • Seed: minus 22 percent The real increase is at Series A, where shutdowns jumped 133 percent. Series A companies closing in 2025 are not early experiments. They are teams that: • Raised an average of 18.5 million dollars • Operated for about seven years • Built real products in fintech, proptech, and B2B SaaS • Secured institutional backing and survived multiple rounds The shift we are seeing is not about ideas falling short. It is about later stage companies struggling to scale profitably in today’s market. After supporting more than one thousand shutdowns at SimpleClosure, we are seeing founders navigate a correction that is hitting companies with real traction, real teams, and real products. These are credible businesses that pushed through early challenges but could not raise a next round in an efficiency driven environment. This is only one part of our 2025 State of Startup Shutdowns report. The full data story breaks down how stage, age, capital raised, geography, and sector mix have shifted. Link to the full report is in the comments below.

December 2024 hit us hard and changed SimpleClosure. We went from a handful of daily leads to tens of founders reaching out every hour. Companies were racing to shut down before year end tax deadlines, and the truth is that no good solutions existed. Our team was completely overwhelmed. That chaos taught us a lot. This year we're entering peak season prepared. We have built the tech, expanded the team, and refined our playbooks after helping 2,500+ founders through this process. We are ready to support every founder who needs us. Here's the reality: shutting down before December 31st saves you from 2026 tax obligations. State franchise taxes, registered agent fees, and compliance penalties. The difference between December 30th and January 2nd could be thousands in avoidable costs. If you know founders considering a shutdown, send them our way now. Waiting until mid-December creates unnecessary stress and risk. Our entire team is on deck through year-end to provide clean and compliant closures. We've been where you are, and we'll get you through this.

For our first 100 customers at SimpleClosure, I handled every sale personally. But then I needed to let go. We needed to scale empathetic selling. This was a delicate shift. Empathy is not traditionally a scalable feature. But it is integral to our sales. We are selling something that founders wish they didn’t need. Something they essentially don’t “want.” When I was selling, the empathy came naturally. We connected over being founders and my experience facing a potential shutdown in my previous company. That built rapport, trust, and comfort from the start. But my personal experience doesn’t scale. We had to find a way for our sales team to connect with founders at their lowest moments. The key to doing this was communicating why every team member was at SimpleClosure. Communicating their belief in the mission, their own experiences, and their desire to help founders above all else. Our goal is to sell peace of mind for founders, and that peace of mind needs to start from the very first call. Scaling past founder-led sales is tough for every company, but I have to humbly say that our team is crushing it beyond my wildest expectations. In helping founders find peace of mind, they have given me my own as well!