// Morning 🦃
Sending this out a day early because Thanksgiving hits tomorrow and my house is going full Southern theme this year — fried everything, collards, hoppin’ john, mac-n-cheese. Before I disappear into a sweet-potato coma, here’s the Signal.
And for any new readers, welcome to Signal // Noise — the newsletter read by founders, CEOs, execs, and scrappy builders every Thursday. Each week, what I’m listening to, one deep dive, notes from the field, three links worth your time. No buzzwords, no bullshit.
While I Was Writing Today’s Signal // Noise:
🎧 Want the whole vibe? The running playlist is right here.
From sound to signal, let’s get this baby rolling with what’s on my mind…
The Signal
One big idea, insight, or take - grounded in the real work, not theory.
The Imposter Loop (And Why So Many Founders Live There)
About a month ago, a reader emailed me with a question I’ve heard a hundred different ways from a hundred different founders. He said:
“I feel totally confident in my business, but I freeze up when I have to talk about myself.”
He wasn’t asking about go-to-market or hiring or fundraising.
He was asking about imposter syndrome, the quiet, uncomfortable gap between “I know what I’m doing” and “do I look like I know what I’m doing?”
And honestly, the longer I work with entrepreneurs, the less surprising that feels.
When I stepped in as CEO of Hampton, one of the first things I noticed was how many of our members — brilliant, battle-tested operators — quietly felt like they didn’t measure up.
I’m talking about people doing eight figures who swore their business was “too small.”
Founders with legit exits who insisted it “doesn’t really count”, bootstrap killers who felt insecure because they didn’t raise, or people living in small but great cities who thought their zip code made them JV.
Everybody had their own private flavor of not enough.
Even the ones you’d bet your house on.
And I’m not immune either.
Every time I’m about to talk to someone famous, or step on stage, or sit across from a founder whose net worth has commas inside of commas inside of commas, that underdog, Philly voice pops up: “Who the hell do you think you are?”
So I wrote something about it — not the polished Instagram version, but the real thing founders deal with.
Here’s the core idea to take away:
Imposter Thoughts vs. Imposter Syndrome
Imposter thoughts are normal.
They’re quick, passing, and — believe it or not — useful.
They make you prep harder, double-check the plan, stay curious.
They keep you from drifting into delusional territory.
But imposter syndrome is different.
That’s when doubt moves in and starts narrating your entire identity.
That’s when “Is this good enough?” turns into “Am I good enough?”
That’s when comparison stops being fuel and becomes friction.
The truth is, startups already hand you enough chaos for free. They’re nuts — by design.
You don’t need to compound it by believing the loudest voice in your head is the accurate one.
And here’s where I see folks having the biggest challenge:
You can be rock-solid in your product, your market, your team — but completely freeze the moment you have to talk about yourself.
Because now you’re not pitching the business. You’re pitching you.
And that’s where, sometimes, thoughts turn into syndrome.
In the full post below, I share the four things I tell every founder who’s stuck in that loop — simple shifts that take you out of “branding yourself” mode and back into actually doing the work.
If you want those four pieces of advice (they’re actually practical) the whole thing’s here:
// A Thanksgiving Gift
Since this week is all about gratitude, here’s mine: thanks for reading, for replying, for arguing with me, and for letting me write weirdly long things about startups, growth, and Philly.
As a small give-back, I finally put every report, download, template, and resource I’ve made in one place. All free.
A few Jawns to Check Out
Smart reads, sharp tools, or internet gems.
If your team is still arguing about what the hell your North Star Metric should be, this piece from Lenny Rachitsky is the clearest, most useful breakdown I’ve seen in a while. It uses specific case studies, and explains how to actually pick the thing that drives the business instead of the thing that just looks good in a deck. Great read for any early- or mid-stage startup still debating this stuff. Check it out here.
The Ringer has a really well-written piece on Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorsese, a behind-the-scenes look at two legends living together, making art, losing sleep, doing drugs, all the good stuff. A very fun read for anyone who loves music & cinema. Check it out here.
If you loved Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe’s new autobiography Uncool is… better. It’s f*king unimaginably cool. The man has lived the kind of life that makes you stop mid-page and question all your life’s choices in the best way.
Crowe’s the mind behind Singles, Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky — and also the teenager who spent a full week on the road with the Allman Brothers. The stories are insane. The access is unreal. This book is a classic holiday easy-read. Check it out here.
Grateful for every one of you who reads.
Wishing you a happy, healthy Thanksgiving with the people you love most.
Good food, good naps, minimal family chaos.
And until next time, thanks for reading.
Jordan
P.S. Wanna work on something? Got a pod or content idea? → Email me | Need 30–60 min of advice? → Book here | Want a coach in your corner? → More info
