Another month, another founder accused of fraud. This time it’s Christine Hunsicker of CaaStle, indicted on July 18 for allegedly falsifying financial records, misrepresenting profits, and continuing fraud even after her removal by the board. According to reports, before meeting with an audit firm, she searched online for the terms “fraud,” “created an audit firm fake,” and “JP morgan 4m records faked”—an apparent reference to fraud charges related to yet another disgraced founder, Charlie Javice of Frank. These incidents are no longer outliers. They’re becoming a pattern, and the startup world has yet to confront what that the pattern reveals:

The startup ecosystem is designed to encourage deception.

Risk-taking and self-confidence

We all know that most founders share a penchant for ri

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