Another useful thing: Stick to deadlines. Otherwise, there is a tendency to take as much time as time is available. Don't assume that time is infinite. Give yourself short deadlines all day long and you'll get a lot more things done.
Don't. Waste. Time.
21–30 of 75 posts
Re: Don't. Waste. Time.
#22When it comes to efficiency/effectiveness, I prefer to focus on "Do" instead of "Don't".
Richard Hamming (from "You and Your Research"):
1. What are the most important problems in your field?
2. Are you working on one of them?
3. Why not?
Paul Graham's (from "Good and Bad Procrastination") generalization of Richard Hamming:
What's the best thing you could be working on, and why aren't you?
http://www.paulgraham.com/procrastination.html
edw519's generalization of Paul Graham:
Work on the most important thing until it's not the most important thing any more.
I have developed this excellent/horrible habit of not being able to focus on very much of anything if there was something more important hanging over my head.
Excellent in keeping me from trivial pursuits. Horrible at meal time, bed time, other people time. I'm still a work in progress.
Re: Don't. Waste. Time.
#23[deleted]
Re: Don't. Waste. Time.
#24Why can't I learn what 42 floors is without putting in my email? Really annoying.
Re: Don't. Waste. Time.
#25I think lean methodology goes best with this. What matters in initial stages is working prototype, validation and then MVP. Most of the initial time is supposed to be dedicated to this than spending it with operations.
Re: Don't. Waste. Time.
#26Why can't I learn what 42 floors is without putting in my email? Really annoying.
Even if you do they won't tell you anything more than is on the website. Contact jaf12duke if you want details at this time (see http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3188969 )
Re: Don't. Waste. Time.
#27Here's a calculator for founder equity split:
http://foundrs.com/calculator/index.php
(I think its faster than reading the whole QA session linked to in the original post.)
Re: Don't. Waste. Time.
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think he means the entire article to apply mainly to pre-product startups. He would probably agree that after that is the time to work on business cards and stuff.
I think this is incorrect. The business card is the first deliverable of every startup, and whether or not you have a well-designed card is one of the strongest signals that your first prospective customers will use to decide whether or not you can ship what you say you are going to. Trying to save a couple hours and a couple hundred bucks by using one of the templates at Kinkos instead of working with a designer is…
I agree with you that business cards are a prerequisite for talking to anyone you don't already know well about your startup. "We don't have cards yet" sends a very strong negative signal.
Re: Don't. Waste. Time.
#29Most blogs on time-management pale in comparison to The Ultimate Productivity Blog: http://productiveblog.tumblr.com/
Re: Don't. Waste. Time.
#30Just to touch on the essence of this article for interested parties: this concept is also known by the Japanese as "Gemba" and was popularized in industry (among many other lean principles) by Toyota's production system.