The Thought Almost Every Founder Has
We started our first company together in 1998.
We were dating. Not even married yet.
No playbook.
No investors.
No idea what we were doing.
About a year in, we were running out of money and I (Mike) say to Kass, “maybe we’re just not good at this.”
After selling that company to Time Warner and, years later, selling Buddy Media to Salesforce, people assume that we have always known what we were doing.
Not even close.
The dirty secret of entrepreneurship is self-doubt.
Research suggests about 70% of people experience impostor syndrome at some point in their careers, and surveys show the number can be even higher among entrepreneurs and CEOs.
Almost every founder we know has had the same quiet thoughts:
“Am I about to screw this up?” Or worse, “Do I even have what it takes to build a business?”
The difference between people who build companies and people who don’t isn’t confidence.
It’s continuing anyway.
Go ahead and send this to an entrepreneur in your life and tell them that you believe in them. Sometimes the difference between continuing and quitting is a gentle nudge from someone you trust.
