I use this in negotiation as well. You convince yourself that you are playing a role and do what is consistent with the role you are playing. You are an actor. Takes quite a bit of practice.
I'm having difficulty squaring what you do with what pg is recommending:
> And by convince yourself, I don't mean play mind games
> with yourself to boost your confidence. I mean truly
> evaluate whether your startup is worth investing in.
I think it's reconciliable over the fact that by setting out to become a certain kind of person/startup/something, you become it. After you're there, it'll be the truth, and not a mind game anymore.
As a personal example, I started dancing, and after watching the movie Step Up 3, I decided that this guy (http://youtu.be/EKIgbR_V8fs?t=1m2s) danced really well. So I set out to dance just like him. At the beginning, it was me akwardly dancing in front of my bathroom mirror at 3 in the morning. Now I can do what he does, and more.
So yeah, fake it till you make it, and then go get some investors.
It's more like, if you can't truly convince yourself that your startup is worthwhile (or becoming the character via method acting), then your startup/character/acting method should be changed because other people won't believe it either.
Isn't that backwards? The whole point of the method is that you break down the distinction between you and the role, and become the character - you're explicitly not thinking about being an actor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_acting
I use this in negotiation as well. You convince yourself that you are playing a role and do what is consistent with the role you are playing. You are an actor. Takes quite a bit of practice.