Betting on Founders

On the trivial notion that certain folks will “figure things out”

Starting April 6, for the next 30 days, I’m writing a brief essay every day and posting it to my Medium account in an effort to get off social media and focus on doing something good for me, both personally and professionally. To read my last essay, click here.

When I was pitching my startup throughout 2019 and bringing in some capital, I kept hearing phrases like “We believe in you!” and “People called you a rockstar!”

In the past, I’ve written about how my feelings during this time period affected my mental state, but the main thing I wanted to touch on was this idea that became universally-accepted among startup and VC folk throughout the 2010s: betting on founders.

From a confidence-inducing perspective, the feeling of people backing you — both with their minds and their wallets — is incredible. It gives you newfound confidence in your vision, and a modicum of proof that all that time grinding when no one was watching was time well spent.

However, there’s something to be said about how it potentially invalidates the content of your actual ideas. In my experience, it felt like people only started caring about what I had to say because a group gave their blessing with a open checkbook, not because…