Fake it Until You Make it (we all do!)

If we aren't faking it (at first) are we even doing it right? [View this email in your browser]( • [Forward to a Friend]( We All Fake it ‘Til We Make it TL;DR: "How do I create a credible company when everything about where I'm at right now is kind of bullshit? I have no staff, no real customers, and no credibility in the marketplace? How does anyone get over this?" Faking it as a startup is pretty much what being a startup is all about. As first-time Founders, we just don't realize that it's the norm. Instead, we worry ourselves about not being a big enough company, not having a full staff, or not having a proven product. Well, guess what? If we're just starting out, we fake everything! Today’s Advice Sponsored by [Good Ranchers]( Our Fake Website "But wait, won't people find out that all we have right now is a cheap landing page that my cousin created and just a couple of products available?" Yes, and they generally won't care. When is the last time you deliberated on the corporate structure of a company before making a purchase? Probably never. Most customers assume there is some level of functionality and deliverability in our product because that's generally how companies operate. As a startup, so long as we CAN deliver on what we're proposing, how we package it to the world is less important. So yeah, our website can look like a bigger, more established company, even if we're still working another job, so long as when someone hits the "buy" button, they get exactly what we proposed. Our Fake Staff In the early days, we’re the CEO, CFO, CMO, and Global Director of Answering Every Frickin Email Our Company Gets. There's no big staff, there's no org chart. It's just us handling every operation until one day, hopefully, we build enough of a company that we can afford to have someone else pick, pack, and ship our product. Once again, our customer doesn't care. Will they be put off that the Founder is answering their tech support questions? Absolutely not. Worst case, we can give ourselves a nickname to "look bigger" but guess what — every Founder runs support for a ridiculously long time. It's OK. Our Fake Credibility "But how are we going to convince customers that we're a legit business when the two of us have never run a company like this?" Guess what — no one has run a startup until they have. So we're all "Fake Credible" until we prove otherwise. Despite what some may think, very few Founders are coming from an industry where they did "exactly this job" in their previous life. That's often because we're typically inventing new products for customers that don't exist yet. So how do we fake it? We deliver to anyone that will listen, then ask them to support our claims. That often starts with getting family, friends, and colleagues to buy in, then using that social proof to get their friends to buy-in. We bring Advisors on board and use their social proof. We give away our products to customers just to get their testimonials. We basically do whatever we can for whoever will agree to establish our credibility as we go. We all start from zero — that's really the point. Everything we work on is "fake" until we make it real. That's our job as Founders, and no one gets a free pass. [View Article Here]( Get top-quality cuts of 100% American beef delivered to your door with Good Ranchers Considering what grocery stores and meat companies like Omaha Steaks and Butcher Box cost, it’s tough for average American families to get top-quality cuts. Even more alarming, these expensive meats are mostly imported from overseas and lack a USDA grade. [Good Ranchers]( takes the guesswork out of what you put on your dinner table. They only sell 100% American beef and better than organic chicken from carefully-selected farms, delivered to your door for an affordable price. Quality meat shouldn’t be a luxury only some can afford, so Good Ranchers makes them available to all. [Subscribe today]( to get $25 off and free express shipping on American meat delivered with code STARTUPS at checkout. In Case You Missed It [You Are NOT Your Startup (podcast)]( Wil and Ryan discuss why Founders should separate themselves from their Startups, the lack of predecessors to guide young founders, what else to focus on besides building the business, and maintaining individuality. [I’m Killing Myself. How is Everyone Else Finding Work/Life Balance?]( supposed to believe that we can build a world-changing startup from nothing while simultaneously traveling to exotic places and enjoying our "best life". For most of us, that just doesn't add up. What's blowing us up, though, is how we approach the problem. [How to Mix a Family and a Startup.]( How do we create a proper balance between growing our family and growing our startups? Do we have to swim in a sea of guilt through this entire journey or is there some other way to get ahead? Love this topic? Hate it? Let's chat on social media! Wil Schroter Founder & CEO @ Startups.com [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( Copyright © 2022 Startups.com, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you joined Startups.com. Our mailing address is: Startups.com 1201 Dublin RoadColumbus, OH 43215 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.