You just closed your first round of funding. Or perhaps you just signed your first major enterprise client. Everyone around you is offering congratulations. They are telling you how great you are. But inside, you feel sick. You feel like you are waiting for the other shoe to drop. You feel like a kid wearing a suit that is too big.
This is Imposter Syndrome.
Imposter Syndrome is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud. Despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve all they have achieved.
For founders, this is not just an occasional worry. It is often a chronic condition. You are inventing a future that does not exist yet. You are selling a vision that has not materialized. The gap between your current reality and your stated ambition creates a fertile breeding ground for feeling like a liar.
The Founder’s Specific Burden
#In a traditional corporate job, you have a job description. You have a boss who tells you if you are doing well. You have metrics that were established years ago. There is a roadmap.
In a startup, there is no roadmap. You are making decisions with 50 percent of the information you need. You are hiring people who are often smarter or more experienced than you are.
This ambiguity feeds the syndrome. Since no one has done exactly what you are doing before, you cannot know for sure if you are right. You have to project total confidence to your team and your investors while harboring crippling doubt internally. This dissonance is exhausting.
Imposter Syndrome vs. Dunning-Kruger
#It is helpful to compare Imposter Syndrome to its opposite, the Dunning-Kruger effect. Dunning-Kruger is a cognitive bias where people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. They do not know enough to know what they do not know.
Imposter Syndrome typically affects high achievers. You feel like a fraud precisely because you are competent enough to realize how difficult the task actually is. You are painfully aware of your own knowledge gaps.
If you are worried that you are an imposter, it is usually a strong signal that you are not one. Actual imposters rarely doubt themselves.
Reframing the Feeling
#Silicon Valley culture often promotes the idea of “fake it till you make it.” This advice is dangerous because it validates the fear that you are faking it.
A better way to view this dynamic is “hypothecate it until you build it.” When you sell a vision, you are not lying. You are making a promise. The gap between where you are and where you want to be is not evidence of fraud. It is simply the work that needs to be done.
Founders need to accept that the feeling of being unqualified is a feature, not a bug. If you felt totally qualified for your job, you likely are not pushing the company hard enough. Growth happens in the zone of discomfort.
Managing the Signal
#You will likely never cure this feeling. As the company grows, the stakes get higher. The problems get harder. The suit will always feel a little too big.
The goal is to manage it. Use the doubt as a tool. Let it drive you to prepare more thoroughly for board meetings. Let it force you to ask more questions rather than assuming you know the answer. But do not let it paralyze your decision making.