Post-YC slump is the thing I’m trying to avoid at all cost.
(I encourage you to read this by Sam Altman.)
Over the past few weeks, my co-founder and I started using the phrase “clear thinking” almost every day.
During YC, I wanted to do everything. I talked about shipping new features, recruiting, running paid ads, spinning up creative campaigns. It felt like momentum, but I was just reacting to whatever seemed urgent.
I actually avoided building a lot of those things at the very last second. And I’m so glad I did.
A few examples:
- A big product feature no one actually asked for
- A hiring push that would have created more chaos than clarity
- Paid marketing experiments I wasn’t ready to track properly
All of those looked like progress. They weren’t.
The real work was sitting right in front of me: the product, listening to users, shipping the painful but important improvements.
I learned this the hard way. Acting fast doesn’t always mean moving forward. A lot of my regrets came from reacting too quickly, chasing noise instead of signal. That kind of movement creates liabilities more often than outcomes.
It’s easy to mistake movement for momentum. Saying no to protect what matters is harder and more valuable.
November 22, 2025