> preferably one that doesn't feel they got into their position out of mostly luck. This part stood out to me. I think it's important to see that almost all su

> preferably one that doesn't feel they got into their position out of mostly luck. This part stood out to me. I think it's important to see that almost all successful CEOs (or founders, as it seems closer to what you wanted) have gotten into their position out of mostly luck. I don't mean this in a disparaging way and I am definitely not implying that they haven't worked their assess off to get there. But the reality is that there are a lot of hard working people, with sellable ideas, with experience, knowledge, resources... and most end up failing. And that's because there's a lot of luck in having the right idea at the right time (e.g., Jeff Bezos wouldn't be in the position he's in had he been born 20 years later or 20 years sooner) and finding the right people (customers, employees, relationships) at the right times too. I think assuming that there's a massive amount of luck at play will help you a lot if you want to get those projects off the ground. First, from a personal, mental perspective: it's not necessarily that you're failing or doing things wrong or are not capable, but that it's a hard process and a lottery in many ways. I think that helps relieve some pressure and mental stress. The second is that, knowing how much of it is luck, you can be more critical about the "advice" you receive. Most founders and CEOs will tell you the things that they think worked for them, but they might not be reproducible or, as i_dont_know says, might not even apply to a different problem-space. And the character traits that they have might be just a byproduct of being a founder/CEO and not what helped them get there.