As a first time founder I feel a constant pull between going fast and going s-l-o-w.
Going fast is attractive.
It allows you to quickly learn what works and what doesn’t. Better to learn a lesson today than to spend time and money to learn that same lesson tomorrow. We constantly hear: time is money, time is of the essence, time waits for no man, etc.
Going slow is attractive too.
My ideas are much more complete when I force myself to think about them over a longer period of time. And, if I don’t put much effort into developing an idea, then I usually don’t fully understand the best way to test it or how best to incorporate feedback. Putting more effort in initially can reduce the number of iterations necessary and the amount of change necessary between iterations.
It’s not an all or nothing proposition though.
I try to put certain projects and subtasks into the “fast”category and others into the “slow” category. Then I act accordingly.
There can be downsides to mis-categorizing in either direction. If I had to put it very simply, I'd say: too slow = wasted time, too fast = wasted money.
I definitely default more towards going slow, at least at this stage of the business.
What about you?
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