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IMPOSTER SYNDROME ISN'T INCAPABILITY, IT'S INEXPERIENCE... understanding this difference changed my life👇🏾
5 years ago today, at 27 years old the BBC called me and asked:
"Do you want to become a Dragon on Dragon's Den".
I was shocked. But I said, Yes.
To me it’s not just an iconic show, it’s a culturally, economically and entrepreneurially important one.
I was 28 when I entered the Den.
About to sit in a chair I'd role-played myself in since I was 12.
To my left: Peter Jones. There since episode one, 2005.
To my right: Deborah Meaden. 19 years in that seat.
Producer counts down: "30 seconds until the first entrepreneur."
My hands are sweating?! Heart thumping in my ears!
Not because I couldn't evaluate businesses. I'd built and sold companies and made investments - in fact my first ever investment was into a young Hyrum Cook for an idea he pitched me pre-launch called Adanola.
But I'd never done it with cameras rolling and millions watching.
For 15 years, I'd watched from my parents' sofa.
Paused the TV as a child to give my verdict before the Dragons.
Played businessman in my living room.
Now I was.... inside the TV. In the actual Den.
The lights really hot. The chair stiffer than expected and the silence before that lift opens, deafening.
Here's what I learnt:
Imposter syndrome isn't about incapability. It's about inexperience.
Your brain literally can't tell the difference between: "I've never done this" and "I can't do this"
Same signal. Same fear. Completely different realities.
First entrepreneur walks in. Pitches. The Dragons turn to me.
My mind goes blank for exactly one second.
Then muscle memory kicks in.
"Your customer acquisition costs across social media is 3x your lifetime value," I hear myself saying. "How do you fix that?"
Peter nods. Deborah builds on my point.
I belonged there. I just hadn't belonged there before.
One pitch in, the nerves are gone. 10 pitches in and I forgot the cameras, 50 pitches in and that chair felt comfortable, 500 pitches later - I'm having fun, experimenting, pushing boundaries a little.
And the thing is, Imposter syndrome hits the hardest when you're doing something that really matters - that you really care about. When you're exactly where you should be. When you're growing!
That's why I call imposter syndrome, "growth syndrome" - who would choose a life without that?
I wasn't an imposter. I was a 28-year-old who'd never been a Dragon before.
And, it turns out that's exactly what they wanted - someone who was a bit naive, inexperienced - different.
The lack of experience is not the problem,
but it always holds an advantage - that's what you focus on.
To everyone facing their own Dragon's Den moment...
You belong in every room you're brave enough to enter and the room that intimidates you most is the one that needs your perspective the most!
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