The Most Underrated Entrepreneurial Superpower: Showing Up
Entrepreneur Office Hours - Issue #297
As you know, I usually like to begin these newsletters with a story — something that happened to me recently that taught me an interesting lesson about startups or entrepreneurship. But this week? I’ve got nothing.
The truth is, classes just started back up at Duke, which means the past couple weeks have been a blur of prepping, teaching, advising, and trying to keep all the plates spinning at once. And now, sitting here in front of my computer, I’ll be honest: I’m tired. I don’t have a clever story or a perfectly packaged anecdote. I’ve just got the kind of exhaustion that comes from caring a lot and working hard.
The reason I’m still writing anyway is because that, in itself, feels like the lesson worth sharing this week. Sometimes, entrepreneurship isn’t about brilliance or big breakthroughs. Sometimes it’s just about showing up, even when you’re tired. It’s about staying consistent. It’s about keeping your promises, even if the best you can offer that day is a little less polished than usual.
If you’re building something, you’ll have weeks like this. Weeks when the tank feels empty, when you don’t have the perfect idea or the boundless energy. And that’s okay. What matters most isn’t that you’re dazzling every day — it’s that you keep going.
So here’s to all of us who are showing up this week, tired or not. You may not feel brilliant right now, but trust me: consistency is its own kind of brilliance.
-Aaron
This week’s new articles…
The Obsession That Dooms Bad Founders
Bad startup founders are easy to spot because they’re always focused on the wrong thing.
You Can’t Be a Great Founder Without Feeling Like an Idiot
Whether you realize it or not, every founder’s origin story starts with people laughing at them.
Office Hours Q&A
QUESTION:
Hey Aaron,
I’ve been in the startup world for a few years now — worked at two early-stage companies, both of which flamed out spectacularly. I learned a lot, but one thing I still can’t quite wrap my head around is this idea of “finding product-market fit.” Everyone talks about it like it’s a moment — some magical thing that just clicks and then growth happens.
But is that actually how it works? Like… how do you know if you’re getting close? And what if your product is decent but the market is just kind of ‘meh’? Can you ever create product-market fit, or does it just have to show up?
Curious what your take is,
Miles
You’re right — “product-market fit” gets treated like this mythical Eureka! moment, where the clouds part and a chorus of angels sings while your Stripe dashboard explodes. But in real life? It’s messier. Slower. Muddier.
The first thing I’ll mention is that product-market fit isn’t actually a moment. It’s more of a feeling, a shift in energy, and/or a change in tempo. When you’ve got it, you stop needing to push your product onto people. They start pulling it from you. That’s it. That’s the whole secret.
But that shift doesn’t always come suddenly. Sometimes it's a slow build. Sometimes it’s barely perceptible at first — just a few customers coming back without being reminded. Someone recommending you to a friend without being asked. A cold email that actually turns into a conversation. It’s more of a “tide turning” thing than a “light switch flipping” thing.
Regarding the deeper part of your question: what if your product is solid, but the market seems “meh”?
As you’ve seemed to note, that’s where things get tricky because product-market fit isn’t just about how good your product is. It’s also a question of how badly people want it. And sometimes, unfortunately, people just… don’t. Or they want something different. Or they don’t want it yet. And that’s not always fixable with better marketing or smoother UX.
Can you create product-market fit? Sometimes. But not by polishing the same product over and over. You get closer by experimenting. Pivoting. Repositioning. Testing different markets. Solving a different pain point. Sometimes it’s not even the product that’s off — it’s the customer you thought wanted it.
That’s why the best founders don’t obsess over product-market fit like it’s a finish line they’re sprinting toward. They treat it more like tuning a radio. Static, static, fuzz, then… wait… something comes through. Clearer now. Keep adjusting.
So no, it’s not magic. But it is real. You’ll know you’re close when people start asking for what you built before you finish telling them what it does.
And when that happens — when it really clicks — trust me: you’ll feel it in your bones.
Got startup questions of your own? Reply to this email with whatever you want to know, and I’ll do my best to answer.