Feeling Like a Fraud at Work? A Founder's Guide to Beating the 'LinkedIn Highlight Reel'
- Grow Millions
- Nov 11, 2025
- 5 min read
Is Everyone Else Faking It, Too? A Founder's Guide to the 'LinkedIn Highlight Reel
It's 8 AM. You're scrolling LinkedIn, and you see it.
A founder in your space just announced a huge Series A. Another just launched a new feature that looks perfect. A third just posted a "We're Hiring!" photo with 20 smiling new employees.
And you? You're just trying to figure out why your project's code is broken, and you're feeling the quiet, cold panic of feeling like a fraud at work.
You think, "Am I the only one who doesn't have it all figured out? Is everyone else faking it, too?"
Yes. The short answer is yes. And anyone who tells you otherwise is probably the best at "faking it."
This feeling—Imposter Syndrome—is the 'common cold' of entrepreneurship. It's that awful, sinking feeling that at any moment, everyone is going to find out that you're just making it up as you go.
But this feeling like a fraud at work isn't a personal failing. It's a design flaw in the system we all live in: the "LinkedIn Highlight Reel."
Why We're All Feeling Like a Fraud at Work
The "LinkedIn Highlight Reel" is the root of the problem. It's the endless stream of wins, polished headshots, and "I'm thrilled to announce..." posts.
It is a curated feed of everyone's best day.
Here's the lie: We are comparing our messy, chaotic, behind-the-scenes—the 2 AM panic, the failed launch, the client who just churned—to their public, polished, final product.
We're comparing our "Chapter 1" to their "Chapter 20."
This isn't just a "feel good" problem. This constant business comparison trap is a business problem.
It leads to paralysis. We stop working on our great idea because "what's the point?"
It leads to burnout. We chase the [Internal Link: "hustle guilt"], working 16-hour days to "catch up" to a standard that isn't even real.
It keeps us in the [Internal Link: "Founder's Trap"]. We're too afraid to delegate because we feel like we have to do everything perfectly ourselves to prove we're not a fraud.
This feeling is a symptom of a broken process, and you can fix it.
A 4-Step Playbook to Stop Feeling Like a Fraud at Work
You can't stop the feeling from ever happening, but you can build a system to deal with it. This is the playbook I use to get my sanity back.
1. Curate Your Feed: The "Mute" Button is Your Best Friend
This is the most practical first step. Your mental health is your #1 asset. Protect it.
Go through your LinkedIn or Instagram feed. Anyone who consistently makes you feel defeated or small? Click the three dots. Click "Mute" or "Unfollow."
This is not mean. This is not "being a hater." This is strategic. You are the CEO of your own brain space. You are the bouncer at the door of your own mind. You get to decide what comes in.
You can't win your own race if you're constantly staring at someone else's.
2. Build Your Own Highlight Reel (This is the real hack)
The social media algorithm is designed to show you everyone else's wins. You need to build a system that shows you yours.
We all have these tiny wins, but we forget them in 5 minutes.
That one email from a client saying, "You saved us!"
That small bug you finally fixed.
The fact that you just paid your bills for another month.
Here's the system: Create a "Wins Folder."
In your email, create a folder called "WINS" (or "Happy Clients" or "Good Stuff").
Any time you get a nice email, a piece of praise, or a testimonial, drag it in there.
The next time you're feeling like a fraud at work, close LinkedIn and open that folder.
At Growmillions.in, we take this a step further. We're building a simple [Internal Link: n8n automation workflow] that connects to our testimonial form. When a client submits a 5-star review, it automatically posts it to a private "wins" channel in our Slack.
It's our own internal highlight reel. We are building a machine to remind us that we're good at what we do.
3. Talk About the Mess (The 'Vulnerability' Hack)
The easiest way to dismantle the "faking it" feeling is to stop faking it.
You don't have to air all your dirty laundry. But you can be human. The "thought leaders" who are winning right now aren't the ones who pretend to be perfect.
They're the ones who are vulnerable.
Post about a small mistake you made and the lesson you learned.
Talk about a feature that didn't work.
Ask a question you don't know the answer to.
As world-renowned researcher Dr. Brené Brown has proven, vulnerability is not weakness; it's the single greatest measure of courage.
When you're vulnerable, two things happen:
You realize you're not a fraud; you're just human.
Your audience's trust in you goes up, not down, because you're the one person who is finally being real.
4. Change Your Scoreboard: Focus on Process, Not Position
This is the final, crucial mindset shift. Stop measuring yourself against their position. Start measuring yourself against your process.
Bad Scoreboard (The Trap): "Am I further ahead than [Competitor X]?"
Good Scoreboard (The Fix): "Did I do what I said I would do today?"
You have zero control over what your competitor does. You have 100% control over whether you send that email, write that code, or make that call.
This is how you stop feeling like a fraud at work. Frauds are obsessed with looking the part. Real founders are obsessed with doing the work.
Conclusion: Yes, Everyone Is Faking It. (That's Just What 'Building' Is.)
The truth is, nobody knows what they're doing. Not really.
"Faking it 'til you make it" is a bad phrase. A better one is: "Learning it 'til you make it."
The founder you admire who just raised $10M? They're feeling like a fraud at work, too. They're just terrified of failing in front of their new investors.
We're all just learning in public.
So yes, everyone is "faking it" in a way. That's what "building something from nothing" is. It's an act of faith.
The difference is that you can either let that feeling paralyze you, or you can accept it as part of the journey, mute the noise, open your "wins" folder, and get back to work.
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