Why Building Fast Isn’t Always the Answer
When I first started working with early-stage founders, I thought speed was everything. Launch quickly, iterate quickly, ship quickly.
But after working on a few projects, I realized that “building fast” without direction often leads to wasted months. Teams rush, features pile up, but nobody stops to ask: Are we even solving the right problem?
One recent project taught me this the hard way. We spent weeks perfecting a feature users didn’t care about, while ignoring a simple pain point that could’ve created real value.
Here’s what I’m trying to do differently now:
- Spend more time upfront talking to users.
- Define success in terms of outcomes, not just features.
- Build leaner, even if it feels too small at first.
Curious to know, how do you balance speed vs. focus in your own projects?
Hi Aneesh,
Great topic of discussion!
I co-founded a smart home startup. I was the business brain , my co-founder the Tech brain. We spent a year building, buidling, building... Ummm what about CHECKING IF THIS IS WHAT CUSTOMERS WILL WANT??? This where pulled the breaks on on building/iterating, and devoted much more time with customers to understand if this will SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS...
Sorry for all the CAPS but they are really important factors. Why?
I ended up doing the fundraising on my own, pitching 200+ Angels/HNWI and VCs.
The main questions I used to get is:
-> Finance, Sales - not Tech and features.
Not sure where you are yet in your fundraising journey, but I hope this provided you with some insights.
Glad to speak more if you're up for it!
To balance speed and focus in projects, adopt structured methodologies like sprint planning and time blocking, and use techniques such as the Pomodoro Technique for concentrated work