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Comment by josh2600 | Hacker News Reader

At the root, Ponzi schemes stem from dishonesty, an unwillingness to tell people that your vision did not align with consensus reality. It is a manifestation of imposter syndrome and an unwillingness to align expectations with reality.

This is why everyone who is smart about raising money for ventures underpromises and overdelivers. The opposite, overpromising and underdelivering, is a road to hell.

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>This is why everyone who is smart about raising money for ventures underpromises and overdelivers. The opposite, overpromising and underdelivering, is a road to hell.

The vast majority of startups fail! From a financial point of view, most startups look a lot like Ponzi schemes; the difference is that startup investors know it's risky.

And if you're doing it right you're telling them the whole time about how the ship is sinking. The Ponzi don't have that

Impostor syndrome is when you see yourself as an impostor but are actually competent, not vice versa.

You overpromise when you fear that what you can actually deliver is inadequate.

Obviously imposter syndrome doesn't lead inevitably to ponzi schemes, but it's a possible maladaptive response to those feelings. Bernie Madoff was probably competent enough to be successful at a high level, I have no idea why he actually went off the rails but I can see how imposter syndrome could lead someone in that direction.

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