Colin C. Campbell and Michele Van Tilborg spoke with Dr. Rowshanak Hashemiyoon to discuss one of the most common and least understood forces in entrepreneurship: fear.
Fear is the most expensive mistake entrepreneurs make.
Not bad ideas. Not lack of capital. Not timing. Fear.
And it shows up in ways that look smart, responsible, and even strategic.
Entrepreneurs are not thinking as clearly as they think
Most founders believe they are making rational decisions.
They are not.
As Dr. Hashemiyoon explained, the nervous system reacts to risk before the brain has time to process it, which means hesitation, overthinking, and delay often feel logical even when they are not.
That is why someone can know exactly what to do and still not do it.
It is not a knowledge gap.
It is a response.
Success creates pressure, not just upside
Fear of failure is obvious. Fear of success is quieter.
More visibility, more expectations, more responsibility, and more people relying on the business all show up at once, and the brain registers that as risk.
Colin pointed out that even experienced founders feel this tension when launching something new, not because they doubt the opportunity, but because they understand what comes with it.
So instead of accelerating, many founders slow down at the exact moment they should be leaning in.
They convince themselves they need more time or more certainty.
What they are really doing is managing pressure.
The fear is not about ego
Early-stage fear is often misunderstood.
It is not about embarrassment or looking bad.
In the discussion, Michele Van Tilborg, CEO of Paw.com, described how the real stress in launching came from the potential impact on others, not personal reputation.
Employees, partners, and customers raise the stakes.
The more people involved, the heavier each decision feels, and the easier it becomes to hesitate.
This is not insecurity.
It is responsibility.
Staying small can feel like the right move
There is a version of discipline that is actually fear.
If the business does not scale, it cannot fail at scale.
If the founder does not push, they cannot let people down.
It feels careful. It feels rational. It even sounds strategic.
But it limits what the business can become.
Sometimes staying small is not strategy.
It is protection.
You cannot outthink a stress response
One of the clearest takeaways from the conversation was that fear cannot be solved at the level of thought alone.
Dr. Hashemiyoon emphasized that founders need to regulate their state before making decisions, because the body is often reacting faster than the mind can keep up.
Simple tools like slowing the breath or writing things down are not soft tactics.
They are ways to interrupt the stress response and regain clarity.
Once the system settles, better decisions follow.
Action is what builds confidence
There is a common belief that confidence comes before action.
The reality is the opposite.
Confidence is built through evidence, and evidence only comes from taking action.
Small steps create momentum.
Momentum builds a sense of control.
And control reduces fear.
That is the loop founders need to understand.
At some point, the noise has to be shut out
Colin C. Campbell reflected on starting his first business when almost everyone around him advised against it.
The feedback was logical and well-intentioned.
It was also wrong.
Every founder eventually reaches a point where they have to choose between external opinions and internal conviction.
Setting clear targets and committing to them without constant outside interference becomes critical.
Focus creates progress.
Progress creates belief.
Worth and outcome are not the same
One of the most important distinctions raised in the discussion is that many entrepreneurs tie their worth to the outcome of their business.
If it works, they feel validated.
If it fails, they question themselves.
That is a dangerous equation.
A business can succeed or fail for many reasons, many of which are outside a founder’s control.
Separating identity from outcome makes decisions lighter and faster.
And speed matters.
Fear does not disappear as a business grows.
It evolves.
The founders who win are not the ones who eliminate fear.
They are the ones who understand it, manage it, and keep moving anyway.
