William Holsten went from corporate marketer to carnival game inventor—then turned failure into a business-saving framework that’s helping founders avoid costly mistakes.

What started as a fun idea to support a charity carnival became Pitch Burst, a hit water balloon game that gained national attention. But behind the scenes, poor materials, refund requests, and engineering missteps nearly tanked the business.

Rather than quit, William went back to the drawing board—and created a smarter way to build and scale. He turned hard-won lessons into a repeatable system: one that’s now captured in his book Uh-Oh: Avoiding Dumb Mistakes in Business, and shared with founders across the country through his work as a SCORE mentor.

In this honest, tactical episode, William shares:

• The product launch mistake that wiped out his capital
• His 5-part decision tree for what to do when things go wrong
• Why most “testing” isn’t nearly enough
• How he sold his patent and walked away whole
• The power of pre-mortems, quitting coaches, and self-assessments
• Why optimism can blind entrepreneurs to early warning signs
• The one question from his son that changed everything

Key Lessons:

Test Like It’s Life or Death – Real-world stress testing beats optimism every time

Decide Smarter – Use William’s five paths to respond to failure: fix, pivot, quit, accept, or ignore (spoiler: never ignore)

Learn Before You Leap – Pre-mortems and customer journey maps help avoid “uh-oh” moments before they happen

Get Out With Grace – Even struggling businesses can sell—if you structure the deal right

Mentorship Is Free—Use It – The smartest founders ask for help early and often

Host: Tyler Martin, Think Business Podcast

Want to build a business that avoids dumb mistakes? Let’s talk:

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