In 2016, I went on stage for my first Demo Day at AppWorks accelerator. I had prepared for three months, revised my slides countless times, and my hands were still shaking five minutes before going on.

The result? No one remembers what I said that day. Including myself.

But I remember one thing: the fear before going on stage was ten times greater than anything that actually happened after I got up there. That was the first time I realized that the magnitude of fear is completely disproportionate to the magnitude of real threats.

This discovery was repeatedly validated throughout my entrepreneurial journey. Housetung Farm Market, Ban Mu Tang, the company—every transition, what held me back was never insufficient ability, but being paralyzed by fear before even starting.

Fear is Outdated Firmware

The fear system was originally a good thing. Tens of thousands of years ago, you saw a wild beast, adrenaline spiked, you ran for your life, and survived. The problem is, where are the wild beasts now? But our brains are still using the old firmware of “being abandoned by the tribe means starvation” to process a work email, a rejected proposal, or an awkward social situation.

This is a serious misalignment between biological instincts and modern society. Except for life and death, all other fears are illusions created by the brain. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of what others think of you—these aren’t real threats. You’ve magnified the world’s difficulty by ten times, then deified the rules and trapped yourself.

Psychological overload is the invisible prison of mediocrity.

Demystifying the Strong

The habit of seeing others as big and yourself as small is the main cause of lost confidence.

I’ve met many “legendary” people in the startup world. After close contact, I discovered that any strong person’s rise is essentially the result of the combined effect of timing and basic resources. Strip away the halo and everyone is ordinary, everyone has moments of failure, everyone has times when they don’t know what to do.

Don’t let others’ light extinguish your own lamp. Everyone has their own rhythm. Only by seeing others as equals can you regain your sense of home field advantage.

Just Make Something Crappy First

The difference between winners and mediocre people lies in 0.1 seconds—mediocre people wait for “foolproof conditions,” winners choose “just make something crappy first.”

My best example is this website. The first version of paulkuo.tw was so ugly I was embarrassed to show it to people. But I put it online. Then during those 12 days I wrote about in “Super Individual Case Study,” I used it while improving it, improving it to this current version. If I had waited until I was “ready” to start, this website would still be in my head.

Once you start moving, 50% of problems automatically disappear, and the remaining 50% will grow their own solutions during the process. Resources aren’t something you wait for—they’re drawn to you by your energy when you charge forward.

Spiritual Independence is the Ultimate Trump Card

Switching from “seeking approval” to “self-upgrade”—once this switch is flipped, fear automatically dissipates.

The I Ching speaks of this realm: even when not understood, the heart remains untroubled. I spent fifteen years in seminary, and the greatest gain wasn’t knowledge, but learning to continue walking without an audience. When your life’s main thread changes from “pleasing others” to “self-evolution,” many things become clear—dare to express yourself because you no longer fear judgment; can enter the game because you no longer obsess over gains and losses; dare to persist because you know destiny is forged through collision.

From Personal Psychology to Systems Thinking

This is the same as entrepreneurship. In circular economy, there’s a concept called “minimum viable cycle”—you don’t need to wait for a perfect recycling system to start; run a rough loop first, then optimize while operating. Personal psychological construction is the same: don’t wait until you’re “ready” to set out; get yourself spinning first.

This is even more true in the AI era. Something you spend three months planning might see the world turn thirty times over. Taking action first isn’t a compromise—it’s the only rational strategy.

Correcting in motion is a hundred times more effective than planning in stillness. Seeing through fear’s underlying logic—it’s outdated survival programming, not your actual circumstances—is the opening move for breakthrough.