Episode #7
Their meeting room is an ice bath, and they're married | Lyv & Paul, The Contrast Club
One in five startups dies of co-founder fallout. Most co-founders at least go home to different houses. Lyv and Paul go home to the same house, and the same dog. They met through a work enquiry that produced no business whatsoever. Seven years later they were married, and three months ago they opened The Contrast Club, an ice bath and sauna studio in Kuala Lumpur. So for this episode we did the whole thing inside their own protocol. Coffee at the bar, questions in the sauna, rapid fire in the plunge, and the honest stuff in the magnesium bath. Ten weeks after opening they had to shut the doors for four days and strip out work they'd already paid for. The part Paul admits in the ice bath is the part that makes it a Founder F**k ups episode: they could see it coming and kept going anyway. This one gets into: Why a second yes matters more than the first one, and how Lyv knew Paul was finally in What actually happens when two people who work at different speeds run one business Selling a habit instead of a treat, and why that's a business model problem rather than a marketing one The packages that didn't sell, and what they changed Why people who come with a friend buy again more often Closing a three-month-old business for four days on purpose Whether a couple's session ever stays a couple's session Lyv and Paul are the rare pair who answer the co-founder question honestly rather than sweetly. If you're thinking about starting something with your partner, watch the last five minutes before you do. CHAPTERS 00:00 A work enquiry that led to no business 01:00 The dinner table, and Paul's hesitation 02:10 The second yes, and how Lyv knew 03:45 The walkthrough: what they took from onsens, bathhouses and New York 05:30 What contrast therapy actually does 07:00 Why founders in particular need somewhere to put it 08:20 The paint job, and closing four days in month three 10:10 Habit, not treat: the retention problem 13:00 What didn't sell, and the fix 14:20 Two speeds: the event that went sideways 15:30 Does it stay out of the house? 17:00 Rapid fire, three degrees 19:25 The magnesium bath: it always turns into a meeting 21:30 Advice to a couple thinking about it GUEST Lyv & Paul, co-founders, The Contrast Club, Kuala Lumpur FOUNDER F**K UPS The podcast where Founders talk about the thing that actually went wrong. www.founderfuckups.co youtube.com/@founderfuckups #founderfuckups #startups #cofounders #kualalumpur #contrasttherapy #icebath #smallbusiness #foundersjourney #malaysia #entrepreneurship
