Happy Tuesday!

Beyond grateful to be coming back to the keyboard today after nearly five days offline. Although I travel a ton for work these days, its rare that I actually get to shut it down and just be present with my friends for a true “vacation.”

If you haven’t seen from my IG stories (go follow @chrismeade) I’ve been dealing with a nightmare the past 72 hours! Me and my friends took our annual trip out to Bonnaroo Music Festival and it ended up turning into FYRE Festival.

What started as all fun and games with my boys turned into 80,000 people trapped in mud during a four day thunderstorm. 10 hours into day 2 of the festival after being trapped in our RV for the entire day we got the notification that the concert was cancelled for the first time in 30 years!

We then packed up the RV in under three minutes and sped through the parking lot as everybody was making a mass exodus. Cars trapped in mud. Rain pouring down flooding campsites. We knew we couldn’t afford to get stuck in the mud or trapped as our generator on our RV was running low, our sewage line was full and we were nearly 100% out of water.

But luckily we drove through the night and caught a 7am flight out of Atlanta with 42 minutes of sleep. Safe, tired, and mildly traumatized.

How this has anything to do with entrepreneurship beats me. But I still wanted to get this to you as I dive through a week’s worth of unread emails.

Because if there’s one theme I’ve been thinking about lately (beyond weather-proof shoes), it’s this:

Nobody knows what they’re doing. And that’s actually your advantage.

Sure, most founders might sound polished or light years ahead of you. They’ll talk big game on calls, their Instagram look sweet, their press releases looks great and their headcount’s climbing.

But peel it back and you’ll find it:

It’s mostly all bullshit.

The doubt. The guessing. The impostor syndrome.

And no one wants to talk about it because we’ve been taught that founders are supposed to be certain.

Confident. Convincing. “Clear the vision.”

But here’s the truth: Everyone’s figuring it out as they go.

And if you accept that, you win.

Let me explain.

Where Impostor Syndrome Really Comes From

Impostor syndrome gets a bad rap. We think it’s weakness. A mindset issue. Something we need to fix before we scale.

But in reality? It’s just evidence that you’re in uncharted territory. You’ve never built a company this size before, never hired this many people or never launched this product, and never raised this round, scaling this fast.

Hell, I even get imposter syndrome typing this newsletter half the time. I’m just a kid from a farm who worked harder than 99% of the people I know. Who the hell am I to offer “advice” or suggestions on business?

Going after your dream is supposed to feel shaky. It’s supposed to. Constantly going back and forth between should I do this or should I not?

That’s not a flaw, it’s the tangible proof you’re growing.

Impostor syndrome isn’t a stop sign, it’s a signal.

You’re pushing beyond what you’ve already mastered, and that’s where the real leverage is.

MERCURY: The Modern Banking Solution

I got a call a few months back from one of my good friends who runs a brand called Jesus Loves You. He was panicking because he just landed his largest order to date but had no idea how he was going to fund it. 

The business was going incredibly well, but no matter how fast they scaled they couldn’t get past the need for capital. Bigger orders, tighter timelines, more moving pieces, and old banking partners that simply didn’t understand. 

His modern, old boring bank that we all started with after highschool didn’t understand the concept of selling tshirts on the internet and said the business was too risky. 

I told him to check out Mercury, and everything changed for him.

They were able to lend him the money he needed because they understand how ecommerce businesses actually work. And their underwriting process proves it. He didn't even have to provide a personal guarantee on the loan.

And it wasn’t just a one-time loan. It came with a full banking solution making it easier to manage everything in one place.

• Banking with no monthly fees or minimums required

• Free USD ACH and wires

• 1.5% cashback with an industry-low minimum and no personal guarantee

• And yeah, a clean UX and real-time visibility that just work

Because as the stakes get higher, you need banking that keeps up, not holds you back.

If you’re scaling, hiring, or prepping for a big moment (like retail expansion or holiday push), Mercury Working Capital gives you fast, founder-friendly funding, with no prepayment penalties and actual ecommerce specialists in your corner.

It’s the infrastructure every serious operator should be running on.

Mercury is a fintech company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Mercury’s FDIC-insured partner banks. Lending products provided by Mercury Lending, LLC (NMLS ID 2606284), a subsidiary of Mercury Technologies, Inc.

What I’ve Seen Inside of TFC

In The Founders Club, we’ve got operators doing 7, 8, and even 9-figures in revenue. You’d assume they’ve got everything dialed. Systems tight. Teams humming. Confidence off the charts.

But the reality? The more successful they are, the more they talk openly about where they’re unsure.

They ask:

“Is this the right person to lead the next phase?”
“Do we need to reposition our brand before scaling again?”
“How do I delegate without losing the magic?”
“Am I still the right CEO for what we’re building?”

That humility and curiosity?

That’s what keeps them winning. They’re not stuck pretending, they’re committed to evolving.

How to Weaponize It

If you’ve ever felt like you’re guessing, good. You are. We all are.

But here’s the shift: Stop letting impostor syndrome slow you down.

Start using it to sharpen your questions.

Instead of spiraling, ask:

“What am I actually unclear on?”
“Who’s already solved this?”
“What assumption am I afraid to challenge?”
“What decision am I avoiding because it exposes me?”

The founders who win don’t have fewer doubts. They just interrogate them faster. They ask better questions. They get better answers.

They move faster, not because they’re more certain, but because they’ve accepted uncertainty as part of the game.

What You Should Do (If This is You)

If you’re feeling the creep of doubt right now, here’s what to do:

Say it out loud
To your team. To your circle. To your cofounder. Vulnerability creates velocity.

Get around sharper circles
Nothing kills impostor syndrome faster than hearing someone 3 steps ahead say “yeah, we struggled with that too.”

Ask better questions
Don’t look for affirmations. Look for friction. Let your doubts drive you to smarter inputs.

Decide anyway
Clarity doesn’t come before action. It comes from it. Move. Adjust. Iterate. Repeat.

Most importantly.

If you need to have a hard conversation. Go have it now.

It is NOT GOING AWAY WITH TIME.

I’ll say it again. Go have the conversation now. You’ll sleep better. There’s no escaping it.

Doubt is a Privilege

You only feel like an impostor because you’re doing things you’ve never done before. That’s a privilege. A signal that you’re not standing still. You’re in the deep end because you chose to swim past your comfort zone. So the next time it hits, the voice that says:

“You’re not ready,” 

“You’re not good enough,” 

“You’re not the one,”

Don’t fight it. Thank it.

Then ask the next right question. Because nobody knows what they’re doing. And the ones who win, stopped needing to.

Keep building, to your success,
Chris

Ps. We just switched all our banking to Mercury at Founders Club. If you need a personal introduction to my rep please shoot me a note back!