Monday Meditations - Being Vulnerable

I’ve been thinking about vulnerability lately. Not the polished, inspirational-post version, but the kind that actually costs you something. The kind that makes you a little uneasy when you say out loud what you’re wrestling with. In startups and in venture, we celebrate conviction, but conviction without vulnerability can slip quietly into self-deception.

The founders I respect most don’t pretend they’ve got everything figured out. They don’t bury red flags or present some idealized version of themselves. They trust their teams and their investors enough to reveal what’s real, even when it’s uncomfortable. And because they do, they get help at the moment it matters most. That kind of honesty keeps everyone anchored in reality.

There’s more to it, though. Vulnerability isn’t about dramatic confession. It’s showing your full range: what you excel at, what you’re trying to learn, what’s still unclear, and the instincts you’re developing. It’s one of the most reliable antidotes to imposter syndrome. When you acknowledge what is true, including your strengths, your blind spots, and the parts you are still figuring out, you stop feeding that quiet fear of being found out. You let go of the performance and operate from a more grounded place.

And when someone does that, the dynamic changes. People finally know how to support them. Teams get clearer. Co-founders sync faster. Investors respond with more honesty. Inside a startup or a venture firm, openness creates psychological safety instead of quiet doubt.

Vulnerability isn’t weakness. It is alignment. It gives the world the coordinates it needs to rally around you.

It is also a quiet signal of strength. People who are steady can show their edges. People who are not tend to hide them.

And it is not about oversharing. It is being clear about the parts of yourself and your business that others need to understand in order to work with you in a meaningful way.

Vulnerability and confidence aren’t opposites. The strongest founders and investors I’ve worked with manage to hold both at the same time. Vulnerability makes their confidence feel grounded. Confidence gives their vulnerability a safe place to land. When those two show up together, they create a kind of clarity that’s rare in our industry.