Solo founders do not have a board, a co-founder, or a manager to call out their blind spots. The decisions are all yours, and so is the pattern recognition. Most founders run into the same seven cognitive biases, and most do not see them operating until it is too late.

1. **Overanalysis Loop** — Endless research that does not converge. The exit: a public deadline and a commitment to stop researching after it.

2. **Confirmation Trap** — "Validation" that reinforces what you already believed. The exit: ask the question that would falsify the belief.

3. **Sunk Cost Drift** — Continuing because of prior investment, not forward-looking data. The exit: re-ask the decision from a fresh-start frame.

4. **Avoidance Pattern** — Postponing hard calls by delegating or "needing more data." The exit: name the specific thing you are avoiding, and the date by which you will decide.

5. **Impulse Cascade** — Acting on the latest input (a customer request, a competitor move, a Twitter post) without testing fit. The exit: 48-hour rule — no major decision for 48 hours after a triggering event.

6. **Perfectionism Freeze** — Waiting for unattainable conditions before shipping. The exit: ship the smallest viable version, then iterate.

7. **Comparison Spiral** — Anchoring your decisions to peer moves instead of your own data. The exit: write down your specific number (revenue, growth, runway) and compare to that, not to the timeline of someone else.

Each of these has a one-line move. None of them are sophisticated. They work because the patterns are not about intelligence — they are about the structure of the decision.

Lumina detects all seven. The free analyzer is at the top of the page.