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Fake it Till you Make it: 4 Things Every Entrepreneur Should Keep In Mind

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Iniobong Uyah & Alex Christidis
May 19, 2024

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Fake it till you make it" is an aphorism that suggests that by imitating confidence, competence, and an optimistic mindset, a person can realize those qualities in their real life and achieve the results they seek.

This may sound deceptive but according to science, our brain doesn’t know when it is being tricked. Researchers from the University of South Australia published a study that proves the concept of “Faking It” can have real impacts on our lives and business (if applied). The researchers asked 120 participants to hold a pen between their teeth so it looked as if they were smiling. It was discovered that simply altering facial expressions this way affects our emotions and perceptions.

According to the researchers;

  1. “When your muscles say you’re happy, you’re more likely to see the world around you in a positive way…”

  2. “When you forcefully practice smiling, it stimulates the amygdala– the emotional center of the brain – which releases neurotransmitters to encourage an emotionally positive state.”

  3. “For mental health, this has interesting implications. If we can trick the brain into perceiving stimuli as ‘happy’, then we can potentially use this mechanism to help boost mental health.” 

The researchers concluded that…”A Fake It Till You Make It Approach could have more credit than we expect”

Here is the good news. They are right. The approach is as effective in our personal lives as it is in business. Reddit is one company that successfuly applied the apporach in it early years.

Reddit was founded by two university students Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian in 2005. These cofounders were roommates and No, Reddit wasn’t their first idea. The two had initially come up with the idea of an app where users could order food using SMS text messaging. They called it My Mobile Menu, but like its name, the idea was a complete mess. 

After their first business idea failed, Huffman and Alexis came up with another idea, that would eventually become Reddit. With the help of funding from Y combinator, the front page of the internet was born. But despite its catchy tagline, Reddit looked empty. This is expected since the platform had no users at the time. 

But the founders had to find a way to get people talking, and so they deployed the oldest trick in the book, fake it till you make it. Huffman and Alexis created several fake user accounts and started posting on the platform. This was all the momentum the platform needed, the rest is history. Today, Reddit is the 7th most visited website in the world with about 6 billion users. 

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There is no doubt the approach works, but before you try this approach in your business, here are four things you should keep in mind. 

Be honest

Giving your business the push it needs is not a bad idea, as long as you don’t break the laws or cross certain ethical lines doing so. The problem is lying about it when asked. I understand why founders would be concerned about revealing some of the tricks they employed to get their startups off the ground. But as long as it doesn’t cause any harm, I think most users will be willing to let it slide. Especially if you come clean about it. But of course, there are lines you shouldn’t cross. For instance, posting fake reviews will damage the reputation of a business. 

Make sure you actually have an MVP

There is a wide gap between “It Can Be Done” and “It Has Been Done”. This is one of the mistakes Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes made. She made bold claims that she must have believed would work, and then after many years of trying and failing, she came up with schemes to hide her failure. Creating an MVP without external funds can be expensive. But you should at least have a proof of concept that actually validates your idea. Otherwise, you may find yourself in the same position as Elizabeth Holmes.  

Own up to your mistakes early 

I read a comment that said Elizabeth Holme's mistake was not opening up to her investors about “the state of her company and technology”. Of course, if she did so, many investors would back out, but she wouldn’t have been accused of financial fraud. However, the ambitious CEO dug her own grave when she claimedthe technology was already in use by the US military in Medevacs deployed in war zones. 

Owning up to failure can be a difficult decision, but it is not the end of the world. Many founders and entrepreneurs failed multiple times before they eventually succeeded. So if a venture is not working out the way you had thought, the right thing to do is nip it in the bud early in the process.  

Start small and keep it simple

While it is a good idea to launch your business with a loud bang by disrupting the system, it is not always a necessity. There are many businesses that didn’t have any disruptive ideas at launch but are still relatively successful. Sometimes, the magic happens when we look small. 

That’s all for now folks.

Until next time, stay inspired and keep chasing your dreams!

Cheers,

Alex