Imagine you’ve just launched a side hustle that’s an immediate hit—you’ve built a prototype, tested the market, and presold a massive number of units. But as you scale up, the dream starts to turn into a nightmare as your products begin breaking in the field, leading to a wave of returns and expensive repairs.
You are standing at a crossroads where you can either watch your profits evaporate or find a way to convince your customers that your product is worth even more than they originally paid.
Our guest today didn’t just save his business from an “uh-oh” moment; he turned that crisis into a systematic method for spotting hidden risks before they destroy a company.
Welcome to today’s episode of Your Business Growth Podcast. I’m your host, Jeremy Shapiro, author of Your Business Growth Playbook, and my guest today is William Holsten.
About William Holsten
William Holsten is a Business Mistake Prevention Specialist who has spent his career studying how pressure, stress, and distraction change the way founders make decisions. He grew up in Mineola, New York, where he learned the value of results early on by selling greeting cards and delivering newspapers. He holds a B.S. in Communications and an MBA in International Business from St. John’s University.
Before his entrepreneurial journey, William spent decades leading innovation inside global corporations. He served as a Senior Brand Manager for iconic brands like Alka-Seltzer and Bayer Aspirin, leading over 100 innovation workshops in 10 different countries. Trained in creative problem solving and design thinking, he developed a deep expertise in “goof-proofing” products and processes where mistakes were simply not an option.
Alongside his corporate career, William and his wife Janet founded WhirlWhims LLC, a side hustle that grew into a major success. They invented and marketed patented carnival games, including Pitchburst and Downpour Derby, which were sold throughout the industry. After successfully navigating his own “uh-oh” moments regarding product quality and scaling, William eventually sold the business and turned his lessons into the book Uh-oh! How to avoid unintentional blunders that derail entrepreneurial success.
Today, William serves as a volunteer mentor with SCORE Delaware, helping founders recognize rising risks before they damage customer trust or show up on the P&L. In 2026, he completed a national study of over 300 U.S. entrepreneurs to identify the behavioral patterns that lead to preventable mistakes. He is the creator of the Preventable Business Mistake Risk Quiz and is dedicated to helping leaders strengthen their execution habits to protect their momentum and scale sustainably.