Principle: When you have the data, act
Ben Horowitz threw a right hook that hit me square in the mouth today:
I would say the number one reason why a founder fails at the CEO job is… a lack of confidence…that causes them to hesitate.
It hurt so badly because yesterday I had to write an email to 200 customers letting them know we wouldn’t have their product in for another 3 weeks.
100% my fault. We were waffling about whether to discontinue the product, I got the data that convinced me we shouldn’t, and I still waited “to see how it’d play out a bit.”
Sounds reasonable, but it’s completely stupid. Now we have to wait an unnecessary 3 weeks to serve those customers and gather any of that revenue. And we’ll likely lose a bunch of them.
Tactics
Make a short list of the 5 biggest decisions you have not made yet within your company.
Do we keep this product or drop it?
Are we sticking with this CRM or porting it all over to a new one?
Is it time for a [Product] refresh in 2026?
People are dropping off in droves at the month 4 mark, can I dedicate a week to solving that issue?
Do we need to let her go?
Make that list, and convince yourself one way or the other using data and experience. Then make the decision.
You’ll probably be wrong a time or two. Doesn’t matter.
The downside of default-deciding on the status quo is worse than getting it wrong because it means that that becomes your MO.
Decide. Act.
Habits
Start training your decision maker with dumb, every-day stuff like which cereal you choose, or which way to drive to the gym.
Don’t allow yourself more than 5 seconds to decide, then act like it was the greatest decision you’ve ever made.
Your decision maker is a muscle that can be trained.
Mike
Today’s inspiration: Weird Ways Ben Horowitz Makes Founders More Confident