Why most startup founders become liars
Saul Fleischman
5 replies
There is huge pressure to lie. I am going to rant, and then, ask you: where do you find any semblance of truth and useful information from startup founders?
If you pitch to investors, you probably sell a dream, even when you know there are faults to some of your logic and projections.
When you are going after customers, there is a lot of pressure to convince them that you are going to be around for years to come. Anyone else who's read Crossing the Chasm understands that in time, we need conservative buyers - and they need to see that famous people love your thing, and that big famous companies already put their trust in you.
And so, we're pressured to inflate, exaggerate and flat out lie. It's hard to find fault with those who do so - since the finish line looks so good. We could get out from under. We could stop being tempted to believe the bullshit that invades our favorite forums. We could find that if we stick with our thing long enough, work it for enough years of seven-day weeks, perhaps we, too, will have a success story.
*****
It's all blue skies and clear vistas.
Where do you find actionable information and without it being 95% bullshit, from startup founders?
Replies
Kyle Tummonds@kyle_tummonds
Very interesting topic! I find that I can even lie to myself at times. In my opinion, it's best to have real friends close to you, to help keep you in check. It may hurt, but it will guide you to a better path, so you don't have to lie to both customers and investors about what you've got. Most investors have been in your shoes before (if they had some successful exit or started from the ground up) so their expectations should be realistic. Customers on the other hand want really good products, but most importantly, products that they can actually trust. So if you lie to them, you can be digging yourself a grave. I completely agree, IT'S HARD NOT TO LIE. We see stories of tech founders lying their way into problems so large that they are beyond repair. Take for example the lies from Fyre Fest, Theranos, etc. In my opinion, everyone lies, and everyone sins, but you need to try your best not to do it!
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@kyle_tummonds Thanks for that.
I feel like the worst are the founders who lie to founders, setting them up for impractical goals.
@osakasaul oh, absolutely!
Because most of the humans are liars.
DeepBrain AI
In my opinion,
This is because most competitors use lies to jump over obstacles and save time and resources.