Integrity IS a Life Hack…
Why “Fake It Till You Make It” Will Destroy Your Brand
“Fake it till you make it” is a detriment to not just you, but to your brand, to your company. If you have investors, it’s a detriment to them.
You should actually try living in reality. It is a freeing experience.
Pretending like something is more than it is tricks even you into believing you’re doing something valuable when the reality is most of the time you just need to put your boots on, put your work gloves on—whatever it is that you do—and just go and do the work and let the results speak for themselves.
Everyone’s always going to be chasing more. Investors are always going to want more. Your board or your boss or whatever is always going to want more from you. But if you can consistently produce a result, then that is worth way more than a fantasy about growth because all they’re doing is masking their own insecurities about either their job or their investment.
And if you play a part in that, then you just become sort of a victim of their story. And so you need to be firm. You need to be confident in your own abilities so that you can present properly about what you’re doing.
Something every founder (including me) needs
There’s persistence in the pause. There’s patience in the persistence. You need all of these in order to succeed when you’re first starting out.
There are a lot of days spent waiting for something to happen. Each day is not filled with an opportunity to move forward. Some days are spent in neutral, or some days are spent with your foot on the brake waiting for the light to turn green.
There’s nothing wrong with this.
I think some people just don’t ever want to admit it. And these are the times that an unseasoned or undisciplined, or dare I say, an arrogant founder can lose themselves. They want so badly for movement to be happening that they force something to happen that shouldn’t. And that sets a chain reaction in place of other things falling apart.
You need to have patience in the pauses and you need to have persistence in the pauses in order to continue moving forward. Sometimes you have to slow down, and that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that.
The Real Cost of Lying to Yourself
I have opportunities all the time to lie or to be deceitful about what it is that I’m building with Thirsty Friends and in my life.
The other day, I posted a photo that said 23 members. And, you know, for a minute I thought, “What if I just put 30?” And I remembered that if I put 30, then I would actually think that there are 30. And then that gap of seven isn’t real. And then I’m chasing after this lie.
You know what happens when you don’t achieve a lie? You give up.
So if you celebrate the actual wins with the actual data, then you have an opportunity to actually feel real progress instead of the fake progress.
Because otherwise, let’s say I did that. Then the next time I went to go post, maybe I really was at 30. Then what do I say? 40? And then you’re just constantly behind the eight ball. And then one person sees something, or you make a mistake in the way that you talk or the way that you’re presenting to someone else, and then you immediately lose trust.
When you’re building, trust is the most important thing. And that comes with just being honest and being transparent about what it is that you’re doing.
What We’re Building at Thirsty Friends
We’re building something real here. Not a fantasy, not an inflated story, but a genuine community of investors who believe in the next generation of food and beverage category creators.
We’re at 24 members (NOW) and growing. Real numbers, real progress, real impact.
Every deal we present is grounded in reality. Every brand we back is built on substance, not hype. Every conversation we have is rooted in truth.
Because at the end of the day, the brands that win, the ones that create categories and shift culture, they’re built on authenticity. They’re built by founders who understand that persistence requires patience, and that real progress happens when you stop pretending and start building.
Join Us in Building Something Real
If you’re an accredited investor interested in backing category-creating food and beverage brands, let’s talk. Not about fantasies or projections, but about real opportunities with real founders building real brands.
Visit thirstyfriends.com to learn more about our syndicate.
Until next time,
Andrew Heppner
Founder, Thirsty Friends
P.S. - The next time you’re tempted to inflate a number, remember: the gap between the lie and reality is the distance between you and giving up. Choose truth. Choose progress. Choose building something real.