The how versus who tradeoff (and when to make it)

Building something from scratch is a resource allocation problem.

As a builder, you have four finite resources: time, energy, attention, and capital. Rapid iteration comes from allocating your resources to high-leverage projects that push your venture forward. But how should one think about this allocation?

At any moment, there is one project that has the best return on these four resources - this is your highest leverage project.

But while this project might have the highest return on anyone's time and attention, it might not be the highest return on your time and attention.

In the beginning of your venture, these should be aligned. You're working to solve a problem you are uniquely qualified to solve.

But as you scale, there will be less overlap. New projects will emerge that need to be worked on, but not necessarily by you.

This is the how versus who tradeoff.

Before you start asking how to do something, start by asking who is uniquely qualified to do it.

If the answer is you, proceed. But chances are, the answer is not you. It's likely a contractor or a piece of software.

This is where capital comes into the equation. Your capital is a way to free up your time, energy, and attention to work on the projects to which you can best contribute.

It can feel difficult to "spend" your capital instead of gutting it out yourself. You've built this thing from scratch, after all!

But your flywheel really starts to spin when your time, energy, attention, AND capital are allocated correctly.

So as you scale, starting asking who, not how.