I Called It Infectious Enthusiasm in 2015. Here’s What I Know Now.

Hiten Shah revisits his 2015 observation of "infectious enthusiasm" in founders and argues its source is not charisma but a prior, settled decision to pursue the work regardless of outcome. He contends that investors and customers sense this resolution before any pitch, and that the common "reality distortion field" framing describes only the effect while ignoring what lies beneath it. The argument matters for PMs and founders because it locates persuasive conviction in internal clarity rather than performance, which should change how investors evaluate founders and how founders prepare themselves.

01Key takeaways

• Persuasive conviction tends to come from a prior, settled decision to pursue the work regardless of outcome.
• Investors should evaluate whether a founder's commitment is unconditional rather than how polished their pitch is.
• Strong founders can be openly uncertain about operational details while remaining fixed on whether they are doing the work.
• Founders should resolve the question of whether they will keep going before seeking validation from others.
• Charisma-focused frames like the reality distortion field can lead to funding performance over substance.

02Key sections

The source of the quality

Shah describes the founders who gave him this feeling as having already decided, before meeting anyone, that they would pursue their work regardless of results. He frames this as having answered the hardest question about themselves first.

Why the reality distortion field misses the point

The traditional term, coined at Apple, captures the persuasive effect on others but not its origin. Focusing on the effect leads investors to fund performed charisma rather than underlying resolve.

Settled commitment versus certainty about details

Founders with this quality are often openly uncertain about operational specifics and willing to change their minds. What is fixed is only the commitment to doing the work at all.

Sara Blakely's example

Blakely kept Spanx secret for months, reaching a point where she knew she would not turn back regardless of feedback, and only then began building.

03From the post

“I wrote about this in 2015 after I’d met hundreds of founders. I called it infectious enthusiasm. The pattern I described then has held for every founder I’ve met since. Back then, I described these founders as people who would “always figure out how to do the right thing, not the easy thing, not the obvious thing but they’ll make…”

04Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.