Dear founders, have you ever felt like a fraud? You may be experiencing imposter syndrome. But you're not alone. Research suggests that an astounding 70 percent of people will experience this at some point in their lives.
In this week's Iterative Podcast episode, Charles and Hsu Ken open up about their own experiences with imposter syndrome and offer advice on dealing with it.
Topics discussed in this episode:
00:00 Introductions
00:48 Hsu Ken's experience with imposter syndrome
004:50 Charles' experience with imposter syndrome
08:31 Different types of imposter syndrome
10:35 Cases of disillusionment
13:55 The impact of (not) having a co-founder
15:00 Who doesn't have imposter syndrome? (entering the fictional realm)
19:20 Dealing with imposter syndrome: Goal-setting
20:30 How your objectives affect imposter syndrome
22:35 Dealing with imposter syndrome: acknowledging and identifying the root cause(s)
24:00 Having agency
25:50 Labels
29:40 Dealing with imposter syndrome: collective solidarity and feelings
38:20 Just doing it
39:42 Should anyone feel more imposter syndrome than they do?
40:50 Is imposter syndrome inevitable without experience?
42:40 Reacting to imposter syndrome
45:15 Reframing emotions and feelings
49:18 Dealing with imposter syndrome: gain a broader perspective, get more data points
52:42 Identifying over-confidence and under-selling
56:24 Dealing with imposter syndrome: ground it in reality
57:30 Dealing with imposter syndrome: make a plan
Let us know what you think! We would really appreciate your feedback. https://airtable.com/shrO0s884vjdI1emD
About Iterative Iterative is a YC style accelerator focused exclusively on Southeast Asia by the founders of Divvy (a16z, GIC), Weave (YCS14), Decide (acquired by eBay) who have collectively raised $100M+ in VC. Iterative invests US $150K into early stage startups twice a year then works with them intensely for 3 months culminating in a Demo Day.
Find out more about Iterative: https://iterative.vc
About the Speakers
Charles Lee | Co-Founder and CEO at CoderSchool | https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleslee5/
Charles is the co-founder and CEO of CoderSchool. Charles started CoderSchool in 2015 to bring opportunity to everyone, everywhere, by developing the highest quality technical training programs in the world. Prior to Vietnam, Charles had 10+ years of industry experience working as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. His experience spanned across various industries, including gaming, e-commerce, and digital health. He was an early engineer at Luvocracy, acquired by Walmart; A Bit Lucky, acquired by Zynga; and GemShare, acquired by NextDoor. Charles holds a B.A. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley. In his free time, he raises a poodle named Chuon Chuon, trains for Ironman Triathalons, and repairs antique typewriters.
Hsu Ken Ooi | Founder and General Partner at Iterative | https://www.linkedin.com/in/hsukenooi
Hsu Ken was previously the Chief Product Officer of Workmate, an on-demand blue collar staffing platform in Southeast Asia. In 2014, he was VP of Product at Weave (YCS14). In 2009, he started Decide, an early machine learning company that predicted the future price of consumer goods. It was acquired by eBay in 2013. Hsu Ken has a BS in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Washington.