On Momentum

There is ONE driving force behind startup success. Momentum. But not in the way you know it.

It is not just the Force but not the focus and direction that is important. Where to focus on: that becomes key. But gaining and sustaining momentum is tough. We will talk about

Solution: Focus on one key area.

This doesn't stall other parts of the business. It creates momentum elsewhere. Fixing bugs for your customers? They'll stick around and bring in referrals. Do customers love your product? It attracts potential teammates.

For startups, time is premium. Understanding how momentum in one area can flow into others helps make impactful decisions.

The inverse is also true.

A lack of momentum in a crucial area makes everything else harder.

Struggling with fundraising? It might be due to slow product development or customer acquisition. Difficulty in hiring? It could be a signal that your vision isn't compelling enough.

In startups, momentum isn't just a nice to have. It's the lifeline that can either elevate you to success or pull you down.

Focus, prioritize, and watch how momentum in one area can create ripples across the org.

Momentum has to move bottom-up across the org. Tasks become easier once we start working on them. It is more difficult to start a bike than ride a bike on the road.

Positive momentum propels us, and negative momentum holds us back.

Start small and list the most important things to do the next day today. (Not more than 3-4). Idea: We already started the work by thinking about them, making it easy to resume the next day.

Don't worry about past productivity loss. Start afresh. An important caveat: Momentum works only if we are confident of success. There are two phases of work:

• Uphill: Figuring out the approach and what we need to do.

• Downhill: Executing what we planned.

Downhill momentum is easier to sustain. When we plan the day's tasks, we must pick the ones that maximize our chances of success. Then we can get into harder work to do. For now, we have momentum on our side. The reward for success is a great morale booster.

Starting something from scratch is daunting. The concept of 'activation energy' comes into play. A fleshed-out project needs less activation energy to get started. For example, writing an article once the outline is done is easier. The outline is the activation cost.

The graph gives a good idea about momentum. Pick any phenomenon - wealth, popularity, etc, is only within a few people - almost ~1% of the entire population. And it so happens that they are the ones with the momentum.