Fake It Till You Make It

December 12, 2013

in Sales, Starting Up

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“People look at him and think, This guy’s really got it together! He’s brave!” says Toby Thomas, CEO of EnSite Solutions. “And the man riding the lion is thinking, How the hell did I get on a lion, and how do I keep from getting eaten?” –As told in Inc. Magazine

“Fake it till you make it,” is one of those trite sayings that gets repeated in entrepreneurial circles. The concept is that early startups can and should project themselves in meaningful ways to their market and customers, even though they are brand new and really have little to show other than vision and dreams.

It’s all about having a good appearance.

I’ve seen different entrepreneurs project their startups in different ways that would fall under the “fake it till you make it” category. One of my favorite examples is shared by Josh James in the 4 minute segment from 31:15 to 34:50 in the video below:



Examples of “fake it till you make it” from the video above and from other sources include:

  • Filling the seats in your office with random friends so that visitors think you have more employees than you really do.
  • Reference the heck out of early initial customers.
  • Answer the phone and take the appearance of different roles each time so that you’re not answering the phone as the founder or C-level exec.
  • Use different email addresses and usernames to respond to customers so that they feel as if they are getting great service from a routine employee, rather than from the founder or C-level exec.

There are, of course, many situations where it is helpful to project a smaller image of your startup, such as in negotiating with vendors.

In any case, it is interesting to hear from seasoned and successful entrepreneurs about the strategies they use to get their businesses off the ground.

What are your thoughts on “fake it till you make it?”

 

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