I have sat across hundreds of founders over the years. When I ask a woman founder what she is building, she will often tell me what the product does before she tells me what she intends to become. The ambition is there. You can see it in how she has structured her cap table, in the market she has chosen, in the fact that she is in the room and pitching. But she hesitates to own her ambition, as if it is something she needs to earn.

I understand the instinct. I have felt it myself. But I have also watched what happens when a founder learns to articulate the big, audacious goal. The conversation changes. And often, so does the outcome.

This month, I have been thinking about ambition, specifically the cost of carrying it silently.

— Vani Kola

Click here to read the full newsletter: