Starting a company means embracing a strange, often uncomfortable reality: status limbo.One day, you’re managing a team, earning a solid paycheck, and working in a nice office. The next, you’re back to zero—no salary, no brand recognition, no credibility beyond your own conviction. It’s the most disorienting transition in a founder’s journey, and if you don’t learn to sit with it, it can lead to some really bad decisions.In the latest Founders & Empanadas episode, Joshua Eidelman sat down with Patrick Rafferty, co-founder of UserHub, to unpack the mental game of startup life, the role of AI in software businesses, and the often-overlooked challenge of communicating across cultures.