Look at yourself in the mirror
In a world that pushes us to expose only the best part of ourselves, we slowly believe the bullshit we tell/show others. People over-emphasize their strengths while avoiding conversations about when they fucked up.
It’s a mistake many founders make. Too many people want to live in la-la land and think they are doing a good job. Many founders think their companies are doing great when they don’t even know how to quantify success. And some founders don’t even send any updates to investors (side note: good luck raising your next round with them!).
And very often, the reason is simple: they are afraid of reporting the status because it’s terrible. They are afraid of looking in the mirror and realizing their reality does not align with the world.
The problem is not making mistakes (first-time founders’ decisions will be mistakes the majority of the time). The real problem is not to talk and solve them.
If you think it’s only about founders and startups, the same rules apply to our personal lives. We often make mistakes, what matters is to accept them and move on while doing our best not to repeat them.
Brutally honest feedback is the google maps of your progress and decisions. Without it, you have no idea you are on the right path. Honest feedback is rare. People may not want to give it and the best you can do is to gather unbiased metrics about your progress.