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The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

665: (Solo) Why Waiting Until You Feel Ready Is the Biggest Mistake You Can Make

The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Nathan Chan

Entrepreneurship, Business, Marketing

4.9664 Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2026

⏱️ 8 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

I still remember the day I launched Foundr. After all that work, all that effort — I made $5.50. And when I told someone close to me, they laughed. I was embarrassed, jaded, and genuinely questioning whether any of it was worth it. Here's the truth: that feeling never fully goes away. It just shows up in different forms. And if you're avoiding it, you're avoiding the exact things that grow your business. In this episode, I share why embarrassment isn't a sign you're doing something wrong — it's a sign you're doing something that matters — and walk through the real stories, including one of our Foundr Plus members who went from terrified of founder-led content to selling out her brand in days. Here's what you'll take away: Why visibility isn't about confidence or personality — it's about reps, and what happens when you commit to showing up before you feel ready How Foundr Plus member Donna launched Journey, put herself out there, got a shoutout from Brittany Saunders, and sold out in days The pattern every successful founder shares: awkward beginnings that nobody sees, and what that means for where you are right now Why avoiding embarrassment doesn't protect you — it just slows your growth How the discomfort of posting, launching, pitching, and hiring compounds into a skill set that gets easier over time The reframe that changes everything: stop asking "what if this is embarrassing?" and start asking "what if this moves my business forward?" If you've been sitting on a piece of content, a product launch, or a partnership pitch because it doesn't feel ready — this episode will show you that the discomfort you're feeling isn't a warning sign. It's the starting point. If you're loving this solo series, I'd love to hear your feedback. Email me directly at nathan@foundr.com — I read every reply. Hope you enjoy it. WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS? Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/operators⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ → Already have a store? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/foundr/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcast → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/podcast⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey Founder fam, before we jump in, I want to take a quick moment to talk about our sponsor Omnisend,

0:06.8

the email marketing and SMS platform built specifically for e-commerce founders.

0:11.9

We've been recommending Omnisend to Founders students and members of our platform for a while now

0:16.4

because it just works.

0:17.9

So whether you're launching your first store or you're scaling it to seven

0:20.8

figures, it really helps you automate your marketing and get results. And did you know, on

0:26.2

average, Omnysend customers make $79 for every $1 they spend, which is an insanely good return on

0:33.1

investment? And if you're already on another platform, here's the thing. In just five days,

0:37.0

you could actually be paying 35% less without doing an absolute thing. Omnysend will move every flow across, list and template. You just show up when it's done. And finally, because you're part of the founder community, you get 50% off your first three months with the code, founder just head to omniscend.com forward slash founder

0:56.5

and that's founder without the e to get started all right now let's jump in the show

1:00.3

hey guys nathan here welcome back to another founder to founder solo episode these are quick

1:10.3

solo episodes where i share lessons that I've

1:12.7

learned, Building Founder, and also interviewing some of the greatest entrepreneurs of our

1:16.8

generation building founder for the past 13 years. So today I want to talk about something really

1:21.6

simple, but I've been thinking about it, which is super powerful. And it's something that I think

1:25.6

it holds a lot of founders back way more

1:28.4

than they realize and that is the fear of embarrassment the fear of putting yourself out there

1:33.4

the fear of getting it wrong the fear of people watching you fail and I've actually felt this at

1:38.9

every stage of my journey and it's something I hear more and more in our community how scary or

1:44.1

uncomfortable it can be to put yourself out there for your business.

1:47.9

But here's the truth.

1:49.3

If you want to build something meaningful, embarrassment is the price of admission.

...

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