Mental Models For Founders: Circle of Competence

Learn about yourself to know what you know and where you need help.

circle.of.competence

“Know your circle of competence, and stick within it. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital”.
– Warren Buffet

As a first-time founder, you face daunting challenges from time to time whilst having brand-new experience. If you don’t understand yourself enough to choose the game that you are good at and ask for help where needed, your ‘hard thing about the hard things’ may become harder.

For example, in the case study of Quincy Apparel, the author of Why Startup Fail commented that the founders’ lack of fashion industry experience and connections was the root cause of their failure. It took a lot of time for those founders to master the fashion business.  

You may argue that there are people who go out of their circle of competence and still succeed. I agree but we don’t know their whole stories. At the end of the day, every strategy you choose depends on your tolerance of risk and your margin of safety.

Focusing on your circle of competence and expanding it gradually helps you play your first game safer. If you are knocked down completely at your first game, chances are, you may think the startup career isn’t for you and don’t want to start over again. 

Leave a comment