Is Slow Better Than Really Fast?

Jenn and I got “company” iPhones last week, and I’ve rediscovered the podcast (Dan still loves his blackberry). I’ve found a set of podcasts I’m a huge fan of - the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders from Stanford Technology Ventures Program . Starting a company has its emotional ups and downs (often for no real reason), and listening to stories of successes definitely keep spirits up. And while I’m not too far into the podcast series, my favorite by far is Joe Liemandt of Trilogy . He’s truly smart, and really entertaining to top it all off.

To me, the most interesting message to me was the power of taking it slow, and sticking with it. Joe & co. took almost 2 years just to get a demo. Now they were building something that had never been made before, but the message applies in ways to every tech startup. Most tech companies fail because they move/grow too fast, and run out of money.

At least from what I’ve heard, when you take Venture Capital money, you’re on a clock, and you are pushed to deliver quickly. This isn’t always the best strategy for the business, as it can be better to take longer to get it right, rather than do a lot of things fast and a little off.

I’ll let you listen to the podcast - I don’t want to just duplicate everything he said. Thanks Joe, for being a good reminder!