Paige Finn DohertyFounding Partner, Behind Genius · Founding Partner at Behind Genius Ventures

how are people going to take me seriously?

20 May 2023 · 1 min

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0:57

In this reflective monologue, the speaker discusses the personal and professional challenges that arise when transitioning from a light‑hearted, meme‑driven online presence to a serious, business‑focused identity. The difficulty of being taken seriously is amplified after a split with a business partner, which left the speaker feeling isolated, anxious, and overwhelmed as they now manage a second fund alone. The loss of a collaborative partner also removed the source of humor and shared creativity, turning the speaker’s daily routine into a purely serious, adult‑focused effort. Additionally, the speaker notes how their relationship with Twitter evolved from a source of fun and magic to a platform for work, fiduciary responsibilities, and key performance indicators, further intensifying the pressure to be perceived as professional.

Chapters

If I'm shitposting and like making fun and like being not serious, like how are people gonna take me seriously? But so I think that was challenging. And then it honestly got a lot worse when my business partner and I decided to go our separate ways for our second funds to focus on different investing strategies, which we talked about in a previous podcast episode that I'll link down below as well. But I felt really alone. Not only could I not share what I was like feeling or building online, I also didn't have a partner anymore and didn't make memes or crack jokes. I was just like serious. I just worked and worked and like everything felt so like serious and adult and I got like anxious and overwhelmed and I just felt like the stakes were a lot higher. And then Twitter kind of turned from magic into work and fiduciary duty and KPIs.