How?

Cognitive dissonance is holding conflicting beliefs simultaneously. For example, believing that immigrants are lazy and job-shy whilst also believing that they are taking all the jobs.

What you described sounds more like either a lack of awareness or revisionism (depending on how conscious it is).

There are parallels, though, and I don't like the snark you're getting from other replies here. Both relate to how identity and image drive beliefs. You could even frame the revisionist founder as having cognitive dissonance about what the primary reasons are for their decisions.

	▲	readthenotes1 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I believe the cognitive dissonance is holding the opinion I did something right because I was wise versus I was forced to do something and got lucky. The resolution is to revise the motivations for doing whatever it was that turned out better. Because people do a lot to avoid cognitive dissonance

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Brian_K_White 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

No one but you knows how you came to have the wrong understanding of a term.

One way it can happen is by unguided learning only from context, ie you heard or saw the term used and formed your own recognition pattern, without ever consulting a reference to find out if the guess was correct.