Most founders I meet aren’t stuck; they are in motion. They’ve invested money, time, and credibility.
But now, some feel overwhelmed. The signal is lost in the noise, and every task feels urgent. Every decision feels important.
I hear things like:
“Our target customer is anyone who might pay us this quarter.”
“I have to build all these feature requests, because it’s important for client X and he'll pay for it.”
“Should I hire this person as my co-founder? They seem great and know my field.”
And often, there’s no internal mechanism in place to answer the most important questions:
What actually drives value here?
What are our true priorities for this month or quarter?
Well, what they really need is a simple decision-making system. Here’s what I often suggest to founders at this stage:
✅ Use a “Founder Filter” for Decision
When everything feels important, use this lens to focus:
Revenue vs. Distraction: Will this directly generate or retain revenue in the next 30 to 90 days?
Strategic Fit Does this align with the long-term direction, or is it just an opportunistic detour?
Energy Check: Does this person/opportunity energize or drain me? Pay attention. Energy is a great clue.
✅ If Unclear About a Decision- Wait a bit
If a decision feels unclear, take a couple of days to gather a quick perspective from people you trust and only then make a decision and move on. You may not have a perfect answer, but indecision is a decision too.
✅ Prioritize with the ICE Framework
This method may help rank what to do next without overthinking.
How to use it:
List initiatives or tasks: Identify the items to prioritize, such as product features, projects, or business tasks.
Score each item on three of the following factors (scale 1 to 10)
Impact: How much positive effect the task will have on key goals if successful.
Confidence: How sure you are about the impact estimate and success likelihood.
Ease: How simple or resource-light it will be to implement the task.
Calculate the ICE score: Multiply the three values: ICE=Impact×Confidence×Ease
Rank items: Sort tasks by their ICE scores, highest first, to guide what to do next.
✅ Weekly Reflection. Take Mental Notes
Once a week, ask yourself:
What created momentum this week?
What felt like wasted motion?
What should I say no to faster next time?
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