There is an unwritten expectation in entrepreneurship: founders should have all the answers.
Investors expect certainty. Customers seek confidence. Teams look for reassurance. Yet startups are built on uncertainty. Every pitch is a promise about the future, asking people to believe in something that does not fully exist yet.
It was this contradiction that set the tone for Venture Center's ninth Journal Club, where Jagadish Bennale, biotech entrepreneur and innovation professional, and Kriti Chandel, Business Development Intern at Venture Center, led a discussion on the Harvard Business Review article Entrepreneurs and the Truth. Rather than asking whether entrepreneurs are honest or dishonest, the article explores a far more nuanced question: why do well-intentioned founders sometimes find themselves bending the truth?
The Burden of Certainty
One of the article's central arguments is that the problem is often larger than the entrepreneur. Founders operate in an ecosystem that rewards confidence. They raise capital before every question has been answered, attract customers before products are fully validated and persuade talented people to join ventures whose futures are still unfolding.
The pressure is relentless. Every investor meeting, product demonstration and customer conversation becomes another opportunity to prove that others were right to believe in the venture.
The discussion reflected on this reality. Most founders do not wake up intending to mislead. Instead, they work in an environment where confidence is rewarded, hesitation is questioned and uncertainty is often mistaken for weakness. The article suggests that this is where ethical dilemmas often begin—not with outright deception, but with small compromises that gradually blur the line between aspiration and reality.
When Belief Becomes a Narrative
Entrepreneurs are, by definition, advocates. They are expected to champion an idea long before it has reached its full potential.
The challenge begins when advocacy turns into assumption.
One of the article's most thought-provoking observations is that founders do not always deceive others deliberately. Sometimes, they begin believing the very narrative they have been repeating. Predictions become promises. Possibilities begin to sound like facts. Optimism quietly transforms into certainty.
It is a subtle shift, but an important one. The article argues that many ethical lapses emerge not from a single dramatic decision, but from a series of rationalisations that become easier with every repetition.
Making Space for "I Do Not Know"
Among the many ideas discussed during the Journal Club, one stood out for both its simplicity and practicality: the truth sandwich.
Rather than masking uncertainty, founders can begin by acknowledging what they do not yet know, follow it with what has already been validated through evidence and conclude with a realistic prediction of what comes next.
"I do not know" is rarely associated with successful entrepreneurship. Yet the discussion challenged exactly that assumption. When uncertainty is paired with evidence and a clear roadmap, it does not diminish credibility. It strengthens it.
For deep-tech entrepreneurs, where scientific validation often takes years, this distinction is especially relevant. The goal is not to appear certain at every step, but to be transparent about what has been proven, what is still being tested and what remains a possibility.
Where Vision Ends
The discussion also ventured into the founder myths that continue to shape modern entrepreneurship. Few founders embody that mythology more than Steve Jobs. He built products people did not know they needed, announced technologies before they reached consumers and inspired teams to pursue what often seemed impossible. His ability to persuade people to believe in the future became as much a part of his legacy as the products themselves.
The challenge with founder mythology, however, is that it can sometimes blur the line between vision and infallibility.
Elizabeth Holmes embraced many elements of the Jobs playbook. She adopted his signature black turtleneck, emulated his keynote style and positioned Theranos as another company that would change the world. She understood, much like Jobs, that great entrepreneurs often ask people to believe in possibilities long before they become realities.
Yet that is precisely where the comparison ends.
Jobs asked people to believe in a future Apple was working towards. Holmes asked people to believe that the future had already arrived.
Although Theranos itself was only briefly mentioned during the discussion, it became a powerful illustration of the article's central argument. Entrepreneurs have every right to advocate for a bold vision, but vision cannot replace evidence. In science-led ventures especially, where every claim carries implications for investors, regulators, clinicians and patients, credibility is built not by having all the answers, but by being honest about the answers that do not yet exist.
The Journal Club did not conclude with a formula for ethical entrepreneurship. Instead, it left participants with a simple but important reminder: confidence and honesty are not opposing ideas. Founders can acknowledge uncertainty without diminishing conviction. They can say, "We do not know yet," and still inspire people to believe in what comes next.
Entrepreneurship has never been about predicting the future. It has always been about building it.
The challenge is making sure that, in the pursuit of tomorrow, the truth does not become yesterday's casualty.
The truth sandwich is best served around a table. Join the Venture Center Library WhatsApp community and pull up a chair for the next Journal Club.