In the words of Henry Ford, “whether you think you can, or you think you can't– you're right.”
A recent Hacker Noon article gave advice such as "you have to stay realistic," avoid "too many action items," and not "get drowned in Vision."
I don't know about you, but to me that sounds exactly like the thinking suited to a corporate 9-to-5 world, and not at all suited to tech entrepreneurship. That kind of defensive thinking helps no one.
In the words of business magnate Gary Vaynerchuck, "take action."
I could share the philosophies of all the world's most successful people, whether its "we cannot limit ourselves" (Amancio Ortega), "work hard at it" (Mark Zuckerberg), "seeing opportunity where others see obstacles” (Michael Bloomberg), "achieve your dreams” (Sergey Brin), "dream big” (Jorge Paulo Lemann), or "dream audaciously” (Phil Knight) -- but quickly enough, you'll find that their philosophies are all the same - think big, work hard, don't limit yourself.
Sure, you can listen to the world's most successful people—all telling you the same thing—or you can succumb to one article telling you, essentially, that your dreams are unrealistic.
It's up to you.
However, this isn't to say that one way of thinking is right and the other is wrong. After all, if you think you're the next FAANG, but have nothing to show for it, you might end up like the next Theranos, conning people out of billions of dollars, or the next EOS, raising billions without a product.
Basically, don't bite off more than you can chew, but don't just eat the crumbs instead. There's a happy middle-ground between "staying realistic" and thinking that, regardless of where you are, you'll be the next Google.
That middle-ground is not just for you, but it's to keep investments in check and keep the mission grounded, while the vision soars.