I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
“Move fast and break things” - good or bad idea?
|
Hey Reader, You’ve probably heard Mark Zuckerberg’s now-famous saying: “Move fast and break things.” It’s from his letter to potential investors just before Facebook went public: Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster. However, as most companies grow, they slow down too much because they’re more afraid of making mistakes than they are of losing opportunities by moving too slowly. We have a saying: “Move fast and break things.” The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough.
– Mark Zuckerberg, 2012
There’s some sense to the idea that if you’re never breaking anything, you probably could afford to move more quickly. (It is worth noting, however, that Facebook did change its motto a couple years later to “Move fast with stable infrastructure.”) A contradictory phrase you may have heard is “go slow to go fast”. The Navy SEALs have a similar version: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” If you move fast on the wrong things, or in the wrong direction, you’ll scale problems and quickly end up where you don’t want to be. Taking care to make methodical decisions feels slow now but helps you go fast later. So which is correct? “Move fast and break things” or “go slow to go fast”? Well, there’s wisdom in both pieces of advice and a time and place for each. Sometimes, one approach makes more sense than the other:
Ultimately, what we’re after is innovation without sacrificing quality. If you’re not sure whether something works, move fast to figure it out. Move fast to come up with your strategy. Move fast to try new things. Move fast when you want to learn. Once you have something that works, go slow to build and scale stable systems. Go slow when delegating. Go slow with hiring. Speed matters. Regardless of what business you’re in. But you have to know when and where to apply speed. You can’t just be fast and reckless with everything and expect it to work. Focus on speed to learn, iterate, and ship. Slow down and focus on systems to transfer knowledge and scale. PODCASTI Helped Ex-YouTube Employee Grow His Business in 52minsJon Youshaei is back for a second episode on Billion Dollar Creator. If you enjoyed last week’s episode, we go even deeper in this one to bring Jon’s YouTube video roasting business to life. You’ll also learn:
Watch us brainstorm a potential $25,000/mo business in 52 minutes: Watch or listen to episode » CONVERTKIT FEATURENew Creator Profile templatesWhether you’ve just started your newsletter or have been running it for years, you can set up your Creator Profile on ConvertKit (soon to be Kit) to increase awareness of the content that best shares who you are and what you offer. We are excited to introduce three beautiful, new Creator Profile templates to make it easier to build your site on ConvertKit—no code or additional hosting required. Head to Grow > Creator Profile inside your ConvertKit account to select a new theme for your Creator Profile, or click below to learn more: Learn more about Creator Profile » BOOKThe 5 Types of WealthOver the past few years, Sahil Bloom has become a close friend and business partner. What he’s working on here with his new book, The 5 Types of Wealth, is really special. He offers a new way to think about your life:
He’s offering bonuses for anyone who preorders one or more copies (includig a video series, access to live monthly office hours, and a virtual book club appearance). Have a great week! —Nathan |
Nathan Barry
I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
Hey Reader, Back in 2021, I spent five days backpacking 44 miles through the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. At one point we were 20 miles from the nearest road, and we went three full days without seeing another person. It was incredible. Earlier this year, I read about someone who took hiking more seriously than I do: Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, believed physical toughness made him who he was. And he wanted his kids to have it too. On their hikes, there was...
Hey Reader, My friend Josh Kaufman has run his book business for decades without a single employee. He doesn’t even have a customer support team. Every copy of The Personal MBA and his other books sells through Amazon, Audible, or another retailer. So if a reader has a problem with their order, they just contact the store. When Josh came on my podcast, I asked him why he doesn’t add a course or a group program on top of his books. Because that could easily bring in an extra $100,000 to...
Hey Reader, “You don’t own a jet, right?” That question was not directed at me. I was speaking at Main Street Summit recently, a conference for founders running $5 million to $50 million businesses, and I’d ended up in a group of people talking about airplanes. Three of us were pilots. A man walked up who everyone else seemed to know. Halfway through the conversation, one of the pilots turned and asked him about the jet. “No,” he said. “It annoys me how expensive it is, so I go back and forth...