All the founders said it.
A customer requests a feature that you haven’t created yet. A key hire fails. Revenues are lower than forecast. The roadmap suddenly looks more like a sketch than a plan. In times like these, “we will find a solution” may seem like the most honest thing anyone can say.
The problem is that your team often hears something very different.
In the early days of a business, uncertainty is inevitable. No one expects a founder to have all the answers. What people are waiting for is clarity on what happens next. When “we’ll figure it out” becomes a default response, it can unintentionally create confusion, anxiety, and even doubt among the people who work hardest to help grow the business.
Understanding How Your Words Land is One of the Most Underrated leadership skills in entrepreneurship. Here are six things your team can actually hear when you say, “We’ll figure it out.”
1. “There’s no real plan.”
Most employees understand that startups operating under uncertainty. What makes uncertainty manageable is believing that there is a process behind the chaos.
When leaders repeatedly say “we’ll figure it out” without explaining next steps, team members may assume there isn’t a real plan. They stop seeing strategic flexibility and start seeing improvisation. This distinction is important because people can handle difficult circumstances much better than directionless ambiguity.
A more effective approach is to acknowledge the unknown while charting a path forward. Something as simple as: “We don’t have the answer yet, but we’re testing three options this week” creates confidence because it shows movement rather than drift.
2. “You want us to solve this ourselves”
Sometimes this interpretation is exactly what you envision. Great founders empower teams to make decisions and take ownership of their business.
The challenge is that ownership without support can feel like abandonment. If a major issue lands on a team’s desk and the response is simply “we’ll fix it,” employees may wonder whether management is providing guidance or quietly shifting responsibilities downstream.
Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, has written extensively about the importance of communicating clearly during difficult times. One of the biggest leadership mistakes he observed was assuming employees interpreted messages the same way leaders intended them to. This is often not the case.
When assigning ownership, specify what assistance is available. Teams become more effective when they know where their authority begins and where leadership will come into play.
3. “Things are worse than we are told”
Humans naturally fill information gaps with stories. Unfortunately, these stories are often more negative than reality.
Imagine your company misses an important growth target. The leaders respond with “we will find a solution”. Employees immediately start connecting the dots. Is the track narrowing? An important client has left? Is fundraising in trouble? Even when none of these concerns are true, silence leaves room for speculation.
Research on organizational communication consistently shows that uncertainty fuels workplace anxiety more than bad news itself. Most people would rather understand a difficult reality than wonder about ten possible disasters.
Founders sometimes avoid details because they want to protect morale. Ironically, transparency generally helps preserve trust better.
4. “Our priorities could change tomorrow”
Startups pivot. Markets evolve. Customer feedback forces adjustments. No one joins a startup expecting perfect stability.
However, if “we’ll figure it out” appears in every strategy discussion, employees might start to wonder if current priorities will survive the week. They are hesitant to fully commit because they don’t know if today’s project will still matter tomorrow.
This creates a hidden tax on productivity. People spend more time protecting themselves from wasted effort than achieving meaningful results.
A useful framework is to distinguish between uncertainty and commitment. You may be uncertain about the future while remaining attached to current priorities. Communicating this distinction helps teams move with confidence even when the destination is still evolving.
5. “Leaders are overwhelmed”
Founders carry a huge mental load. Hiring, fundraising, product development, customer acquisition, and cash flow all compete for attention at the same time.
Your team knows it.
What they may not realize is how much pressure there is behind the scenes. When “we’ll figure it out” becomes a common response, employees may interpret it as a sign that management is too stretched to engage deeply with the problem.
This perception is important because trust often comes from the top of an organization. If team members feel that leaders are overwhelmed, they may become more cautious, more reluctant to take risks, or distracted by concerns about the company’s future.
This does not mean pretend everything is perfect. This means combining honesty with action. A statement like “It’s a challenge, but here’s what we’re focusing on first” communicates resilience rather than stress.
6. “You don’t want difficult questions”
Perhaps the most damaging interpretation is that leaders are shutting down debate.
Many founders use “we’ll figure it out” to keep momentum going. They want to avoid getting bogged down in endless debates. Yet employees may hear a different message: Stop asking questions.
Over time, this can discourage valuable feedback. Team members are less likely to raise concerns, question assumptions, or share uncomfortable truths. This is dangerous because startups depend on the rapid flow of information throughout the organization.
Amy Edmondson, whose research on psychological safety has influenced organizations around the world, has found that teams perform better when people feel safe talking about risks and uncertainties. Leaders play a major role in creating this environment.
The best founders accept tough questions even if they don’t have complete answers. They replace defensiveness with curiosity and uncertainty with dialogue.
The real message your team needs
The phrase “we will find a solution” is not bad in itself. In fact, entrepreneurship often requires exactly this mindset. Every success The company has gone through times where no one knew the answer in advance.
What separates strong leadership from accidental confusion is what comes next. Your team doesn’t need certainty. They need context. They need to understand how decisions will be made, what the most important priorities are, and where the company is currently headed.
Founders rarely have all the answers. The goal is not perfection. This helps your team feel that even when the path isn’t clear, you’re walking it together.
