The Balancing Act

Conviction, delusion and everything in between

Like many founders, I believe that I can change the world for the better.

For me, that belief revolves around transforming the way people manage their finances. The journey to get there - especially the past few weeks - is filled with compelling tensions: clarity and ambiguity, excitement and boredom, but especially the fine line between conviction and delusion.

As a founder, especially in the early stages, I've found myself juggling multiple roles: fundraiser, product manager, engineer (Bubble has been a lifesaver), customer service, and more. Throughout this journey, my conviction has been my guiding north star – the belief in a better way to manage our finances, a vision of how the world should work, even if it doesn't today.

At its core, being a founder is an ongoing learning process. Each user interview, prototyping session, investor meeting, and founder-to-founder therapy session offers an opportunity to learn and challenges my initial conviction.

My new venture, moneyfeels, is shaped by my experiences and those of many friends, as well as users I interviewed while at Stackin.

Time and again, I've witnessed the need to help people feel better about managing their money: Group trips where the final note was an uncomfortable venmo; sticker shock when you visit a friend’s new apartment; the enforced frugality of a user too scared to spend, and confusion how someone can afford a ludicrously capacious bag.

My conviction has grown as friends, acquaintances, and clients who tested prototypes light up at initial designs, introduce new ideas and excitedly text friends.

But constant learning and exposure to different perspectives can also challenge that conviction.

Investors remind me of the deep graveyard of failed consumer finance startups and a tightening investment market. Former colleagues tear through pitch decks and business models, peppering comments in that can overwhelm in a way that consulting never did. Family and friends ask far harder simple questions like “why not just get a job” or “are you sure you want to do this”.

Personal finance management (PFM) is a notoriously difficult space to succeed in, combining consumer fickleness of attention with the hard economics of finance. There is no shortage of opinions about how tough what I’m trying to do is, and how long the odds are. As I erode my own savings to pursue my dream, I can't help but feel the weight of financial anxiety.

I spend a lot of time reflecting on the difference between conviction and delusion. Both imply a strong belief, but one is grounded in evidence while the other is blind. As a founder, learning to be vulnerable enough to change assumptions without losing conviction is essential. It’s the only guard against delusion.

Delusion is belief despite incontrovertible evidence; conviction is belief because of evidence. Taking all feedback into account, not just what validates my idea, is key to making moneyfeels a reality. Every excited user interview can be countered by a skeptical investor; every concerned question answered by consistent progress.

So that’s what I’m doing: leaning into the vulnerability to challenge my own assumptions; to invite feedback, not just what validates me; to have the tougher conversations and make the bolder edits. To go on this adventure with eyes wide open, willing to be wrong, but sure that I’ll figure it out one step at a time.

Just because something is improbable, does not mean it is impossible. I’m convinced of that.