On blindspots
And how to fight them
Daunting feedback. Recently, I received feedback about a founder I work with — someone I care about deeply and respect immensely. Yet, this particular piece of feedback landed in my inbox with an ominous and daunting weight.
The issue raised is not unsolvable. In fact, it’s one of the more straightforward things to address. It’s not tied to a character flaw or a personality problem, nor is it a result of malice or incompetence. It’s also not the first time I’ve encountered this specific feedback about this individual. By all accounts, this feedback should not have been particularly difficult or upsetting to receive. And yet, it felt especially challenging for one overarching reason: as I read it, I realized we were dealing with a blind spot.
In this case, it has to do with prioritizing one type of business activity (getting a product into customers’ hands) over another (product iteration and perfection). The founder believes he is prioritizing rapid release over product perfection and genuinely wants to maintain this focus. However, in practice, this is not what’s happening. Instead, the product appears to most outside observers as bogged down in iterations and refinements, delaying its release and adoption. The problem is not one of strategy. The problem is one of perception.
Blindspots tend to disappear when you look for them, so look harder. Entrepreneurs face countless challenges on their journey, often dozens in a single day. These problems span every domain of building a company, developing a product, and managing people. Most entrepreneurs are natural problem solvers: they are drawn to difficult, complex challenges and relish breaking them down into smaller, solvable pieces. Blind spots, however, represent the most difficult class of problems to address because, by their very nature, they disappear when you search for them. A blind spot, in essence, is an inbuilt inability to acknowledge a specific issue — either its existence or its problematic nature.
As a VC, I have a view from the sidelines. I can observe and comment, suggest and recommend, nudge and encourage. Sometimes, I can make a noisy nuisance of myself until a founder pays attention to the issue I am worried about. However, dealing with a blind spot is uniquely difficult because, even when the issue is pointed out, the founder just can’t see it. Even when a founder is prompted to address them by a well-meaning friend, advisor, or VC, they may remain invisible.
So how can you detect if you might have a blind spot?
- Start by actively seeking feedback from diverse perspectives — team members, advisors, peers, and even customers. Look for recurring themes in the feedback you receive: if different people highlight the same concerns, it could indicate a blind spot.
- Closely examine areas where you feel confident. These feelings can sometimes mask deeper questions and uncertainties. If you find yourself having the same argument with different well-meaning people, you might be suffering from a blind spot. What if they are right?
- Intellectual honesty and a willingness to question your own assumptions are vital to recognizing and addressing blind spots. Cultivate these habits in every way you can. Attempting to think from first principles at every opportunity can be helpful here.
- Finally, get explicit. At every opportunity, openly acknowledge the potential existence of blindspots in your discussions with others. Accept that everyone has blindspots and that learning to detect them and address them is critical to every successful entrepreneurial journey. The more you have explicit conversations about potential blindspots, the more likely you are to eliminate them.
Blindspots can add tremendous amounts of risk and massively delay the progress of a company towards its goals. The good news is that blindspots disappear as soon as they are detected. The tricky part is that no one can see them for you.