Why it’s important to reach Mt. Stupid
Mt. Stupid — knowing when you finally made it!
It’s all too common nowadays to find people who say that overconfidence or let alone general confidence can be a bad thing.
We’ve been told that humility is a virtue, and for the most part, it is.
But I would argue that confidence, and even overconfidence is very much needed, especially in startups and entrepreneurship.
When I talk about confidence, I’m not talking about arrogance, although sometimes they can be correlated. I’m referring to self-belief in yourself, confidence in your vision, and the company you want to build.
Here’s why it’s important.
For first-time founders specifically, there’s a special pilgrimage these people need to make in becoming a fully-fledged entrepreneur. We call it climbing the famed Mt. Stupid — probably needs a rebranding.
Mt. Stupid usually has negative connotations, but I think of it as a rite of passage and a necessary and important step and journey for all founders.
ICYMI — I’m talking about the infamous Dunning-Kruger effect.
This is the phenomenon where an individual (or group) overestimates their capabilities with limited competence, then finally figures out there’s a lot more work and learning to be done — you can see it in the image.
The big takeaway here is that Mt. Stupid is reached early. In fact, it should be reached as early as possible.
I would also suggest that people who go through this journey should fall as quickly as they reach the peak — think of it as a spike!
But why reach it all?
You want people who are confident (and perhaps even overconfident) — it’s a strong signal that they are the type of people who can take calculated risks, make giant leaps of faith, are resourceful, and have a grand vision of knowing what they want.
So the quicker you can reach the peak and descend it without getting injured/harmed (this can mean many things) along the way, the quicker you can get onto the path of enlightenment and wisdom.
Ultimately, doing something hard, unique, and different from what is commonly accepted can be extremely uncomfortable and it needs to be met with extreme confidence.
So surround yourself with people who have reached it or are on their way to doing so. You’ll learn a lot more about yourself and go much farther together than alone.
A series of short notes as a reminder for myself (and others) on how to do great work.
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