After Pitch with Joanna Trojak

A child gets a cello instead of a diagnosis, learns to perform "normal," and spends two decades getting good at it — through a needy friend, a co-founder who ran textbook love-bombing and gaslighting, and a body that eventually refused to keep up the act with headaches, vomiting, and asthma it couldn't explain. This episode traces one founder's path from masking to an autism diagnosis to a redefin...

A new season, a new name, and a completely different reason to record. Joanna Trojak — autistic founder, hospital patient, serial restarter — explains why she quit scripting herself into someone acceptable and what it costs to spend years pitching your way into rooms that were never yours.

When growth stalls and doubt gets loud, most founders push harder—or walk away. In this vulnerable solo episode, Joanna Trojak shares how a stretch of unsettling silence revealed not burnout, but disconnection —and how one pivotal book (Rob Fitzpatrick’s The Mom Test ) plus nine honest user conversations changed her roadmap for Heart Renew from isolated journaling to shared solitude and gentle, no...

What happens when the glossy promise of an event collides with the gritty truth of reality? In this deeply honest episode, Joanna Trojak takes us to Ericeira, Portugal, where she pitched her startup Heart Renew —not with perfect slides, but with a clear why . What began as a retreat that looked stunning online but fell short in real life became an unexpected masterclass in clarity, resilience, and...

s a Saturday night alone a red flag—or a research-backed power move? In this episode, Joanna Trojak unpacks the neuroscience and psychology behind self-dating and explains why chosen solitude is fundamentally different from loneliness. We dig into polyvagal theory, self-compassion research, and attachment science to show how intentional time with yourself lowers stress, boosts creativity, and buil...

What truly happens when a founder decides to show everything — the wins, the doubts, and the messy middle? In this deeply personal episode, Joanna Trojak , founder of a self-dating app, shares seven powerful lessons from over 100 days of building in public — a journey that began as an experiment in transparency and evolved into a practice of self-awareness, consistency, and authentic connection. T...

Most startups don’t end with headlines—they fade with a flicker. In this candid episode, Joanna Trojak shares the slow, quiet signs that her first company was failing and the psychology that kept her pushing long after the data (and her gut) said “stop.” We unpack sunk-cost fallacy, loss aversion, confirmation bias, identity fusion, and why intermittent wins can make founders addicted to “one more...

What if success in tech meant helping people log off ? In this thought-provoking episode of Founder Unfiltered , host Joanna Trojak challenges one of Silicon Valley’s most sacred metrics: retention. She explores the radical idea of building digital products that respect attention instead of hijacking it. Joanna introduces her concept of Healing-Focused UX — a design philosophy that prioritizes use...

Heartbreak doesn’t just make you miss them —it can make you miss yourself . In this episode of Founder Unfiltered , I unpack what really happens to your brain and identity after a breakup and why “just give it time” isn’t enough. We dive into the neuroscience of romantic loss (why rejection lights up pain and craving circuits), how identity gets entwined in relationships, and the founder-specific...

What if your next big startup win wasn’t about streaks, growth hacks, or crushing it — but about creating space to simply be ? In this episode of Founder Unfiltered , I challenge the assumptions behind today’s attention economy and explore what happens when we design apps that prioritize presence over productivity. From Duolingo’s gamified guilt trips to the rise of digital burnout, I unpack the h...

As founders, it’s easy to let our startups define us. Metrics rise and we feel unstoppable. Metrics fall and we feel worthless. What starts as passion can quietly morph into identity fusion — where who we are becomes completely entangled with what we’re building. In this episode, I unpack one of the most overlooked challenges in entrepreneurship: the psychological trap of founder identity captivit...

There’s a moment in every founder’s journey when you realize you’ve changed — when you’re no longer the rookie trying to prove yourself but the confident, capable founder you once dreamed of becoming. In this episode, I share a personal story of how an ordinary LinkedIn scroll turned into an unexpected mirror of my growth. What used to trigger self-doubt and comparison now gave me clarity — clarit...

In this deeply vulnerable and empowering solo episode of Founder & Filtered , Joanna Trojak explores the often overlooked emotional terrain of entrepreneurship: self-worth, self-compassion, and what it means to truly show up for yourself—especially when everything feels like it's falling apart. She shares her raw personal rituals from her first startup days, unpacks the neuroscience behind sel...

The spotlight burns bright when you're building in public. Transparency, authenticity, and community-building opportunities abound—but at what cost? While founders everywhere rush to document their journeys, few talk about the psychological toll of turning your life into content. Drawing from personal experience and backed by research on creator burnout, I take you behind the scenes of what happen...

 Forget hustle culture. If your nervous system is fried, your strategy doesn’t matter. In this episode, Joanna Trojak explains why designing a business around emotional regulation isn’t soft—it’s smart. She shares the research, rituals, and real-life lessons that keep her grounded as she builds HeartRenew , a self-love app for people healing in a chaotic world.  Support the show https://app.blissf...

What if your app felt more like a supportive friend than a demanding boss? In this powerful solo episode of Founder Unfiltered , host Joanna Trojak pulls back the curtain on the emotional design philosophy behind her self-dating app — a radical alternative to dopamine-driven platforms. Joanna explores how traditional tech exploits our attention and how Emotional UX can reshape digital experiences...

Two years ago, my first startup crashed and burned. I was broke, exhausted, and questioning if I had what it takes. But that failure became the blueprint for everything I’m building now. In this episode, I share the 5 brutal lessons that startup taught me — about burnout, building for hype instead of humans, emotional avoidance, and chasing metrics over meaning. You’ll hear how I’m building smarte...

What if the most important relationship in your life is the one you've been neglecting? In a world obsessed with swipes, funding rounds, and external validation, this episode is a rebellion. I explore the radical concept of self-dating — not as a bubble-bath cliché, but as a deep practice that builds resilience, clarity, and emotional grounding. You’ll hear:  ✨ The personal story that changed how...

Can I tell you a secret? This app wasn’t just a startup idea—it was a survival tool. In this raw, honest episode of Founder Unfiltered , I share why I created a self-dating app after my first startup collapsed—and how building in public became both my healing process and my new business strategy. You’ll learn: What a “self-dating app” really is (hint: it’s deeper than you think) Why building in pu...

In this closing chapter of my first startup journey, I walk you through the final months—marked by rushed decisions, misplaced trust, and the quiet unraveling of a vision I once believed in. From launching an unvalidated product to hiring the wrong experts and chasing PR instead of customers, this episode is a reflective look at what went wrong—and what I’ve learned. But this isn’t just about fail...

Getting a grant felt like our big break—until the invoice hit. In this raw and revealing episode, I unpack the hidden costs of “free money,” the financial chaos that nearly crushed my first startup, and the mindset traps that made it worse. From undercharging and overpromising to learning the true price of optimism, this is the episode every founder should hear before their next funding round. Rea...

In this episode of Founder Unfiltered , I talk about the most expensive mistake I made during my first startup—trusting the wrong people and hiring too fast. From vague job descriptions and poor vetting to network-based hiring without alignment, I walk through how team-building backfired—and how going solo forced me to grow sharper, clearer, and far more intentional. I’ll share real stats, honest...

 This is the part of the startup story no one glamorizes. I talk about why I stopped chasing EU funding, what the CEO of Liquid Death said that reframed how I think about risk, and how I started creating momentum without a single investor.  It’s not about waiting to be chosen—it’s about becoming undeniable first.  Support the show https://app.blissfulheartrenew.com/ https://www.blissfulheartrenew....

 In this episode, I open up about the first big mistake I made when launching my startup—the moment I realized I was like a flag in the wind, swaying with every opinion except my own. Inspired by my blog post, I dive into what happens when you build without direction, and how easily your vision can get hijacked by the loudest voices in the room. I share the lessons I learned the hard way about tru...