When Pear VC managing partner Mar Hershenson started her electrical engineering PhD at Stanford, she immediately felt way out of her depth. At the time, she had never heard of “imposter syndrome,” but she’s since realized that it significantly impacted her early career. In tennis, she says, you only learn by “playing up,” and competing against stronger players. In any endeavor, she’s found, the way to beat imposter syndrome is to focus on the benefits of “playing up,” and also to over-prepare.