This content was created by Dave Kashen. This content was uploaded by Dave Kashen. This is a YouTube video titled "The Unworthy Story That Success Can't Fix. #innergame #founderpsychology #startupleadership" (posted 2025-11-25 UTC). The excerpt is a first-person personal reflection by Dave Kashen about a 25-year pattern of feeling unworthy and trying to prove himself through investment banking, hedge funds, elite schools, and startups. He describes taking the Landmark Forum, learning to separate events from the stories he told himself, letting go of the unworthiness narrative, quitting the company that acquired his startup to become a coach, and choosing authentic purpose and family over chasing money and external validation.
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Frankly, for 25 years, I think I was operating with a story that I was unworthy and was just trying to prove my worth by working as an investment banker and a hedge fund guy. And even like my first, you know, going to like the best schools and all that. Even my first startup, I think I was still just trying to, and I was like in Silicon Valley and what's the hottest thing you can do is start a startup. And like, it was all just trying to prove my worth. So that was kind of where I was focused, very ego-driven, very much just trying to like prove I was worthy inside of a story that I wasn't. The story wasn't actually true, right? I think I tweeted today something like, you can't fill an imaginary void, right? It's like I made up that I wasn't worthy, so no amount of accomplishments is ever gonna overcome the fact that it's— I made up that story, right? What will is letting go of the story. So that, you know, some of my I guess I'm starting to give you kind of the arc of my journey, but I did a program called the Landmark Forum, and in it they had us look at like what happened as distinct from the stories you make up about what happened, which I alluded to earlier, and could you let go of those stories? And so I let go of the story that I was unworthy and created the possibility of living an authentic life. That led me to coaching because I realized that's what I really wanted to do. I quit the company that acquired us. Started coaching. We just had our first kid. Everyone thought I was crazy leaving all this money on the table, but I was like, I know what I'm here to do. I got to go do it and stop making this choice of like money and worthiness and proving over authentic purpose.
