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The Curse of Knowledge Bias The curse of knowledge bias occurs when individuals assume that others have the same level of understanding or knowledge as they do Or Individuals with expertise have difficulty in imagining what it is like to be lacking their own knowledge This often happens in schools or coaching centers where a teacher assumes all students understand a concept, while some are still struggling. In the case of startups, it can be a tech startup founder who is unable to explain a complex concept in simple terms to his non tech co-founder or investors because he believes they are too familiar with the subject and cannot imagine not knowing the information. What can this lead to? 1. Communication gaps and misunderstandings between cofounders 2. Being too focused on technical details while pitching to Investors and loosing out on funding 3. Not collecting timely and proper feedback from customers thinking they understand all the benefits of using the product How to overcome it? 1. Ask for continuous feedback from others to understand how well your message is resonating. 2. Use clear, concise language and avoid industry jargon. As Kunal Shah says, You should be able to explain your idea as if it's a dinner table conversation 3. Before making assumptions about what others know, test your assumptions by asking questions Tell me how would you overcome the Curse of knowledge bias?