Busy ≠ Building
Protect Your Time Like Your Company Depends on It (Because It Does)
1. The Illusion of Momentum
You’re busy. But are you making progress?
Startup culture confuses visibility with traction. Founders are pushed to show up everywhere: pitch competitions, networking breakfasts, demo days, panels, innovation summits…the list is endless.
But let’s be honest: a lot of it is theater.
It feels like work. You’re out there. You’re attending events, networking, and talking about your idea. People are nodding. Applauding. Maybe even following up. But most of these moments do not move the needle in terms of traction, revenue, or true strategic insight.
In fact, research and insights from Harvard Business Review and others have shown that excessive networking (especially in the early stages) can actually backfire. In his article Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything, Steve Blank emphasizes that early-stage founders should prioritize customer feedback, rapid iteration, and focused building over traditional business activities like endless networking. Similarly, in Why Start-Ups Fail, Tom Eisenmann outlines how a lack of focus and premature scaling (often driven by outward-facing efforts) are among the most common reasons startups don’t survive.
"Busyness is not the same as effectiveness. The calendar full of coffee chats is often a red flag, not a badge of honor."
2. The “Pick Your Brain” Trap
The startup world is full of well-intentioned requests:
“Can I grab coffee and pick your brain?”
(I personally get 5–10 of these per week.)
These meetings are usually vague, open-ended, and lacking urgency. There’s no clearly defined question or outcome. And while they may feel flattering at first, they quickly add up—draining time, energy, and focus.
Worse still, these conversations often place the burden on the more experienced person to “download” insight without compensation, context, or mutual value.
“If someone asked a lawyer, accountant, or developer for an hour of free work, we’d call it unprofessional. But in entrepreneurship, it’s expected.”
It shouldn’t be.
3. The Case for Intentional Connection
This isn’t a call to retreat into a bunker or go off-grid. Building a startup requires people: mentors, allies, collaborators, future hires. But those relationships should be built with intention, not through randomness.
Strategic networking is about showing up where it matters, with purpose. It's about depth, not breadth. A handful of high-value relationships will get you further than a hundred surface-level handshakes.
You don’t need to be everywhere. You need to be in the right rooms, with the right people, at the right time.
4. The Boundary Shift: From Default “Yes” to Default “No”
Early in your journey, you may feel pressure to say yes to everything.
But once you’re building, once you’re testing, iterating, trying to find traction, the best founders shift to a mindset of strategic constraint.
That means:
Saying no to events unless they’re mission-critical.
Turning down vague requests in favor of focused, valuable work.
Charging for your expertise—or clearly choosing when and why you donate it.
Designing systems (newsletters, courses, office hours, public FAQs) that scale your time without draining it.
“Every yes is a no to something else—often the thing that actually builds your business.”
5. Before You Say Yes
Use this gut check to decide whether something deserves your time:
Will this move my company forward in the near term?
Is there a clear, valuable outcome—for me or for the other person?
Would I still do this if no one knew I said yes?
Am I saying yes because it aligns with my goals—not out of guilt, flattery, or FOMO?
If you answer yes to all of these, it's likely worth doing. If you can’t, it’s probably a no. Above all, trust your instincts. That’s your cue to protect your time.
Closing Thought
Startup culture rewards hustle, but rarely teaches discernment. That has to change. Founders need to learn when, why and how to say no.
Say no—not because you’re arrogant, but because you’re focused.
Say no—not because you’re too busy, but because you’re prioritizing what matters most.
And when you do say no, make it clean. You don’t need to justify it. You don’t need to offer alternatives. Something as simple as:
“I appreciate you thinking of me, but I'm not able to take this on.”
“I'm unable to help with this right now as I'm focusing on my key priorities.”
That’s enough. Be firm, be kind, and move on.
Your time is your scarcest resource. Protect it like your company depends on it—because it does.
Let others chase the spotlight. You’re chasing traction.