Entrepreneurs are frequently considered confident, overconfident, or even hubristic. While many entrepreneurs may feel this way, an alarming number of entrepreneurs in fact feel like they are impostors (i.e., that others have wrongly overestimated their competence). Yet, little is known about the outcomes of such feelings for entrepreneurs and their ventures. In this research, I seek to build an understanding of why entrepreneurs may feel like impostors, and how these experiences affect their behaviors and ultimately venture performance. In Study 1, I conduct qualitative analysis involving interviews with 28 entrepreneurs. My findings suggest that experiences of the impostor phenomenon affect the way entrepreneurs hire employees, perceive the growth and scalability of their ventures, and engage in generally avoidant behaviors. In Study 2, I corroborate these findings using a sample of 226 entrepreneurs recruited via Prolific. My findings show that over three-fourths (77%) of the total entrepreneurs surveyed for Study 2 experienced rare to intense impostor experiences and that these experiences negatively predict venture performance. I conclude with evidence that support from an entrepreneur’s network can mitigate these negative effects.
