Stop overthinking. Seriously. We’ve been conditioned to believe that "due diligence" means spending six months in a spreadsheet until every possible risk is color-coded and neutralized. But in a market that moves at the speed of a fiber-optic cable, that’s just a slow-motion way to go out of business. If you aren't moving, you're decaying. The philosophy of don't wait run fast isn't just a catchy motivational poster phrase; it’s a survival mechanism used by the most aggressive tech founders and high-stakes investors in the world.
Think about the "First-Mover Advantage." It’s a classic economic concept, but it’s often misunderstood. People think it means being the first to have an idea. Wrong. It’s about being the first to execute at scale. When Netflix saw the shift to streaming, they didn't wait for the infrastructure to be perfect. They ran. They almost killed their own DVD business to do it. That’s the level of commitment we're talking about.
The High Cost of the "Wait and See" Approach
Hesitation is expensive. In the venture capital world, there's a term called "deal flow," and if you're not fast, you’re eating leftovers. Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, famously said that if you aren't embarrassed by the first version of your product, you shipped too late. That’s a terrifying thought for perfectionists. It’s also the absolute truth.
Most people wait because they’re afraid of making a mistake. They want more data. But here’s the kicker: data is historical. By the time you have enough data to be 100% sure, the opportunity has usually moved on to someone else who was willing to gamble on 60% certainty. We see this in the stock market constantly. By the time a "sure thing" hits the evening news, the institutional investors have already squeezed the profit out of it.
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The mantra of don't wait run fast applies to your internal operations too. Layers of management, endless CC’d emails, and "sync meetings" are the friction that slows down your momentum. Amazon uses a "Two-Pizza Team" rule to keep things lean. If a team can't be fed by two pizzas, it’s too big. Why? Because big teams talk. Small teams run.
Momentum vs. Accuracy: Finding the Sweet Spot
Is it possible to run too fast? Of course. You can sprint off a cliff. But in the current landscape, the risk of "static friction"—the energy required to get a stopped object moving—is far greater than the risk of making a course correction while moving at high speed.
You’ve probably heard of OODA loops. It stands for Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. It’s a concept developed by military strategist John Boyd. The goal isn't to have the perfect plan; it’s to cycle through that loop faster than your opponent. If you can decide and act while they are still observing, you win. Every single time. It doesn’t matter if your move was slightly less "accurate" than theirs would have been; the fact that you moved first changes the environment they are trying to analyze. You become the predator, and they become the prey trying to react to you.
Real-World Speed: How Shopify Ate the Competition
Back in 2020, when the world shut down, retail businesses were panicked. Shopify didn't hold a three-month strategy retreat. They pivoted their entire roadmap in days to focus on local delivery and curbside pickup features. They saw the shift, realized they couldn't wait for a "perfect" rollout, and they ran fast.
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The result? They didn't just survive; they became the backbone of the new economy. Meanwhile, legacy retailers were still trying to figure out their "digital transformation" strategy in Q4.
Psychological Barriers to Running Fast
Why is it so hard to actually don't wait run fast in practice? It’s our brains. We are wired for loss aversion. The pain of losing $100 feels twice as intense as the joy of gaining $100. This evolutionary trait kept us from getting eaten by tigers, but it’s a disaster for modern business.
- Analysis Paralysis: This is the big one. You keep searching for one more variable. You buy one more course. You consult one more expert. It feels like work, but it’s actually procrastination in a suit.
- The Sunk Cost Fallacy: You’ve already spent so much time or money on Path A that you’re afraid to sprint toward Path B, even when Path B is clearly the future.
- Social Approval: Running fast often means looking like a chaotic mess to outsiders. People love to criticize the "messy middle" of a fast-moving project. To run fast, you have to be okay with people thinking you're crazy for a while.
Honestly, the "perfect" moment doesn't exist. It’s a myth sold by people who are too scared to try. If you're waiting for the "right time" to start that project, hire that person, or launch that product, you're basically waiting for a train that isn't coming to a station that doesn't exist.
Implementing the "Run Fast" Culture
You can't just tell people to hurry up. That just causes burnout and sloppy errors. You have to build a system that rewards speed over "busyness."
Get rid of the "fail-safe" mentality and replace it with "fail-fast." In Silicon Valley, failing fast is a badge of honor. It means you tested a hypothesis, found out it was wrong, and didn't waste five years on it. It’s about efficiency of learning.
- Kill the Meetings: If a decision can be made in a Slack message, don't book 30 minutes.
- The 70% Rule: Jeff Bezos often talks about making decisions with about 70% of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90%, you’re being slow.
- Bias for Action: Make "doing something" the default state. Most organizations have "doing nothing" as the default state until a meeting happens. Flip that.
What Happens When You Finally Stop Waiting
When you adopt the don't wait run fast mindset, something weird happens. You start seeing opportunities that were invisible when you were standing still. Movement creates friction, but it also creates heat and light. You meet people. You stumble into "lucky" breaks that only happen because you were out in the field instead of in the bunker.
Take the story of Instagram. It started as Burbn, a complicated check-in app with way too many features. They didn't wait for Burbn to become a massive hit. They realized the photo-sharing feature was the only part people liked. They stripped everything else away, renamed it, and ran fast toward the photo-filter niche. They didn't wait for a "pivot strategy" to be approved by a board. They just did it.
Actionable Steps to Increase Your Velocity
If you’re feeling stuck, here is how you actually start moving today. No fluff, just tactics.
Audit your current "Wait" list. Write down three things you are currently "waiting" on. Now, ask yourself: "What is the smallest possible version of this I could do in the next 24 hours?" If you're waiting to start a business, go register the domain name and set up a landing page today. Don't wait for the logo. Don't wait for the LLC paperwork to be finalized. Just get a "Buy" button live.
Shorten your deadlines by 50%. If you think a task will take two weeks, give yourself one. Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. If you give yourself less time, you’ll be forced to ignore the trivial details and focus on the core value. This is how you learn to run fast.
Adopt the "Done is Better than Perfect" mantra. Shipping a "good enough" product today is infinitely more valuable than a "perfect" product next year. You can iterate on "good enough." You can't iterate on something that doesn't exist.
Stop asking for permission. In most modern environments, it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. If you have a hunch, test it on a small scale without waiting for three levels of management to sign off. The data you gather from a real-world test is worth more than any PowerPoint presentation you could ever give.
The world belongs to the fast. The "slow and steady" folks are mostly just getting outcompeted by people who are willing to trip, get back up, and keep sprinting. Success isn't about never falling; it's about how many miles you cover between the falls. Stop waiting. The clock is ticking, your competitors are already halfway down the track, and the only way to catch up is to start running right now.