I liked the article, but it just seems like a way to justify whatever self-doubts come from being a founder. It seemed like the author was just reinforcing the doubts they had about succeeding. A big part of being in a startup is belief in one's self. They said they became more confident than they thought was warranted through 'self-hypnosis' , but in reality that just means they had a ton of self-doubt and listened to that little voice of doubt in their head. Sometimes you just have to take a chance and realize that nothing is irreversible; you will learn from your failures/successes. You don't have just one chance, you have as many chances as you're willing to take.