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\n\t\tOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.\t<\/p>\n
Early in my career, I remember sitting in a doctoral seminar, looking around the room and thinking, \u201cI don\u2019t belong here.\u201d Everyone else seemed sharper, more prepared and more confident. Meanwhile, I was mentally editing every thought before I let it leave my mouth.<\/p>\n
Eventually, I realized I had developed a pretty effective system for never embarrassing myself: Don\u2019t say anything until I\u2019m certain I\u2019m right. Unfortunately, it was also an effective system for never growing. So I gave myself a different rule: If I\u2019m not embarrassing myself at least once a day, I\u2019m probably not pushing myself hard enough.<\/p>\n
Decades later, after moving into entrepreneurship and venture investing, I\u2019ve turned that lesson into a more disciplined approach. I call it Act, Adjust, Absorb.<\/p>\n
\u201cMove before you\u2019re ready\u201d is terrible advice if it means ignoring evidence. Leaders need to distinguish between certainty, which is rare, and a sufficient signal, which they can actively look for.<\/p>\n
When I began exploring what would eventually become Desert Forge Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund focused on the Las Vegas ecosystem, I didn\u2019t have every detail figured out. I felt limited in my ability to act, so I did what I\u2019ve learned to do with consequential decisions: I talked to people who understood the opportunity, challenged my assumptions, and looked for evidence that the idea could work. I started by talking with my nephew, who is deeply involved in the Silicon Valley ecosystem. His advice helped me frame and focus the fund, preparing me for the wave of AI startups that was coming. I also spoke with a friend in Tucson who founded venture capital funds focused on the University of Arizona. His advice helped refine the fund\u2019s positioning in Las Vegas. He also shared the legal documents from his first fund, giving me a practical template to work from.<\/p>\n
These conversations were instrumental in shaping the fund. The key is not to seek validation for what you already believe, but to ask questions that might prove you wrong. What am I missing? What has to be true for this to work? Where could this fail? At some point, more analysis stops reducing risk and starts postponing action. That\u2019s when leaders need to act.<\/p>\n
My first two investments taught me the importance of starting small and remaining flexible.<\/p>\n
I launched the fund with a strong interest in deep tech emerging from university labs, and our first two investments fit that thesis perfectly. Both companies, however, wanted fairly substantial lead investments, perhaps more than we were ready to make. I agreed to move forward even though we were still raising the necessary capital, and that put us in a difficult position.<\/p>\n
To get out of it, I had to adjust. We accelerated fundraising, recalibrated conversations with investors and became much more deliberate about communicating timelines to both sides. That experience reinforced an important rule: Move early on reversible decisions, but proceed carefully when your decisions create obligations for others.<\/p>\n
Today, before making a consequential commitment, I pressure-test it with five questions:<\/p>\n
Leaders often act and adjust but skip the most valuable step: absorbing the lesson. We get busy and move on. But entrepreneurship gets easier when we treat this mindset like a muscle and strengthen it through small, repeated efforts. To put this into practice, set aside time each week to identify one conversation, question, or decision you\u2019ve been avoiding. Address it early, then reflect on three questions:<\/p>\n
What did I expect would happen? What actually happened? What did I learn?<\/p>\n
My experience with the fund changed how I think about readiness. I no longer ask only, \u201cAm I ready to move?\u201d I also ask whether the people and resources affected by my decision are ready. I distinguish between what I know, what I believe, and what still needs testing. And I deliberately seek out people willing to challenge my thinking.<\/p>\n
Experience should give leaders more than confidence. It should give them better filters.<\/p>\n
Entrepreneurial advice often encourages people to push beyond their comfort zones. The Act, Adjust, Absorb framework can help you do that, but when applied consistently, it offers something more valuable: a process for comparing the outcomes you fear with what actually happens. Over time, you build evidence. You learn that asking the supposedly stupid question often reveals that others were confused, too. You discover that respectful disagreement rarely leads to the catastrophe you imagined. And you begin to recognize which risks are real and which exist mostly in your head.<\/p>\n
Earlier in my career, uncertainty sometimes felt like evidence that I wasn\u2019t ready. Today, I see it as my judgment zone. I\u2019m not fearless, but my decisions are better calibrated. I embrace uncertainty as an opportunity to learn, and while I\u2019m certainly not immune to mistakes, I\u2019m better at learning from them and applying those lessons to my next decision.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the confidence gap leaders need to close. Don\u2019t wait to feel confident before acting. Act when you have sufficient evidence, adjust when reality teaches you something, and absorb the lesson so your next decision is better. If you want more confidence as you contemplate your next move, take heart in Goethe\u2019s words: \u201cDoubt can only be removed by action.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Early in my career, I remember sitting in a doctoral seminar, looking around the room and thinking, \u201cI don\u2019t belong here.\u201d Everyone else seemed sharper, more prepared and more confident. Meanwhile, I was mentally editing every thought before I let it leave my mouth.<\/p>\n
Eventually, I realized I had developed a pretty effective system for never embarrassing myself: Don\u2019t say anything until I\u2019m certain I\u2019m right. Unfortunately, it was also an effective system for never growing. So I gave myself a different rule: If I\u2019m not embarrassing myself at least once a day, I\u2019m probably not pushing myself hard enough.<\/p>\n
Decades later, after moving into entrepreneurship and venture investing, I\u2019ve turned that lesson into a more disciplined approach. I call it Act, Adjust, Absorb.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n