How to navigate trust
...and the varying dynamics of high trust, low trust, and no trust entrepreneurship
Trust is a dynamic that governs most of our lives, whether we realize it or not. As little kids, we learn to explore and take risks, learning along the way what actions bring rewards (new ideas, play, hugs, and high-fives), and what kinds of things to avoid in order to return to rewards and fun. Intrinsically, we develop a trust lens around the world, guiding the actions that bring us to a more developed mind.
Building ventures is an inherent exploration to create value and ultimately a rewarding effort for the entrepreneur and all those involved: team members, investors, customers, and anyone benefiting from the type of new offering.
Yet, between all the varying participants lies a link of trust - entrepreneurship inherently creates new value beyond initial resources -- and as such, there is risk. If you’re not alone, you must have trust that the other party will deliver on your expectations. What happens if they don’t? How much do you believe that your partner, investor, team, customers, etc will do what you expected them to do?
Sometimes, you just don’t know what’s going to happen, then you must rely on some certainty - Will your co-founder figure out the solution? Will your customers pay? Will you investors share the upsides that you expected? What happens if they don’t? What if for a subset of these you don’t expect them to meet their goals? Can you still create success?
This is an exploration of these questions and more through a dynamic of a trust map that shows the core linkages between each entity. It is a summation of hundreds of interviews with entrepreneurs, investors, team members, and all the participants to create a roadmap how to navigate this.
Through these explorations, you will find a guidebook to help navigate some of your more tortuous situations.
Ultimately, this guidebook will be available in the upcoming book, “High Trust, Low Trust, and No Trust Entrepreneurship.” slated for release in 2026.
Join the conversation here in the substack, or reach out and schedule a direct interview, and I’d be happy to share feedback.
Sava