The Meisner Technique & Startups
Some similarities from the world of acting and startups
A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending the final class of my friend’s two year program learning the Meisner Technique, one of the most popular acting methods out there. Devised by Sanford Meisner, its core tenet is that good actors “live truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” It was super intriguing, especially getting to see a side of the world I don’t necessarily get exposed to very much anymore.
But naturally being who I am, as I learned more, I started seeing a lot of similarities in some of the lessons Meisner suggested to his actors and how I see the best founders operate. Here are some of my key takeaways.
Repetition as Discovery
The foundation of Meisner’s whole method is something called the Repetition Exercise. Two actors sit across from each other. One makes an observation. “You’re smiling.” The other repeats it back. “I’m smiling.” Back and forth, over and over, until something shifts. On the surface it seems almost pointless but the whole idea is to strip away everything premeditated and force you to actually notice what’s happening in front of you. Meisner called it active listening. Not waiting for your turn to talk. Actually hearing your partner.
Watching it play out in the class, I kept thinking about how much of what I do every day is basically the same exercise in active listening. When I’m on a customer call and someone says something I didn’t expect, the instinct is to steer back to my script. To get the conversation back on track. But the best calls I’ve had are the ones where I let go of that and just stayed with what the other person was telling me. “So the real friction isn’t payments, it’s approvals?” “Yeah, it’s approvals.” And you sit with that. And somewhere in the back and forth, the real problem shows up. Not the one I assumed walking in, the one that’s actually there.
Founders are so conditioned to be three steps ahead that we forget to be in the step we’re actually on. I’m in a customer call but I’m already thinking about the next meeting. I’m in an investor conversation and instead of listening to the question I’m loading up my rehearsed answer. And every time I’ve caught myself doing that and pulled myself back into the moment, the conversation got better. The insight came. The connection happened. But it only works if you’re actually there for it. Meisner would say you’re acting from your head instead of from the moment. Same thing applies when you’re building.
Preparation and Surrender
Meisner actors prepare obsessively before a scene. They build emotional context, they understand the stakes, they know the history. But the rule is that once you step into the scene, you let go of the plan. All of that preparation becomes subconscious fuel, not a checklist.
I’ve been in many situations where I spent hours preparing for a pitch or a customer conversation and then walked in and clung to the plan even when it clearly wasn’t landing. The preparation was supposed to give me the foundation to respond to whatever happened, but instead I was using it as a crutch. I think the real skill, the thing Meisner is trying to teach, is learning to trust that the preparation is already in you and letting the moment take over. I’m still working on that one honestly.
The Reality of Doing
Meisner was very explicit about not trying to feel something but actually doing something. The feeling arrives as a byproduct.
This reminded me of my own qualms with people who obsessively read startup books or success stories. It’s great as a source of inspiration or as casual reading but at the end of the day there is no substitute for actually doing it. There’s nothing you can read or no guide that can prepare you more for situations than actually going through them. The readiness always comes after I did the thing, not before. Watching these actors go through scenes where the whole point was to stop manufacturing emotion and just let the doing create the feeling.
Meisner wanted actors to stop performing and start responding. To be a real person in the scene, not a walking teleprompter. In a lot of ways the world of startups is the same. People want to buy from someone who is real, not a rehearsed pitch deck. They want to invest in someone they can tell is actually in it, not someone reciting a script.
Meisner built his technique around three ideas: notice what’s actually in front of you, trust your preparation enough to let go of it, and stop waiting to feel ready before you jump into your craft. Three lessons for actors. Three lessons for founders. Same stage, different lights.
Check out this Podcast Episode!
You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Podcasts
In this episode of Building Blocks, we sit down with Emre Ertan, co-founder and co-CEO of Cenoa, a borderless super wallet revolutionizing how people in emerging markets access digital dollars.
Previously the CPO/CTO at Getir where he scaled the engineering team from 80 to 400 people, Emre shares his journey from a small town in Turkey to Silicon Valley, and how that experience shaped his vision for democratizing financial access globally.
He discusses Cenoa’s explosive growth in Nigeria (50K+ signups in first month), their innovative approach to simplifying blockchain technology for everyday users, and his perspectives on building compliant fintech products across 40+ markets.
Thanks for reading,
Daivik Goel