Solo founders: How do you decide what to work on each day?

Tyler Dane
8 replies
The biggest adjustment I had after going FT on my latest project was deciding what deserved my attention. It was easy when I was an employee: I'd just grab something off the backlog and start working. And it was easy when I had a parter in past projects: we'd spend 10 minutes weighting our options and picking one to prioritize. But working solo made my judgment susceptible to the whims of the day, which led me down a bunch of low-leverage side quests. I ended up combining GTD, bullet journaling, and Second Brain, so I'd at least have some structure and accountability in this process. Curious what you all did that worked

Replies

Graham Lipsman
I use two lenses to focus my work. First, I ask myself what the the biggest bottleneck to growth is. I'm never lacking for ideas, so I review all the related strategies, tactics, and tasks I've written down that are related to the bottleneck I identify. Second, I pick a few items that seem most promising, then see if I can tweak them to optimize for learning. What questions can I answer, what knowledge can I develop whether or not the initiatives fail. I write down the questions I hope to answer, execute against the redesigned tasks, then follow up after I have enough data and see what I can glean. Helps me preserve a sense of forward momentum regardless of the growth outcome, since I'm always learning more.
Graham Lipsman
@tylerdane Yes well... Hit me up when you figure THAT out 😜
Chris Rickard
@glipsman I love " I ask myself what the biggest bottleneck to growth is" - it's so hard with competing tasks and interests, but focusing on growth is usually always the right direction. (more problems can be solved with more customers)
Tyler Dane
Compass Calendar
Compass Calendar
@glipsman I like the 'what is the biggest bottleneck' question because asking it every day ritualizes prioritizing. My challenge would be figuring out a way to stick to that without letting myself off the hook and just working on what I felt like without asking that question
Graham Lipsman
@chrisrickard What else would a startup focus on?
Chris Rickard
@glipsman If they are engineer founders, traditionally everything else BUT sales and marketing 🤣