The Productivity Wheel

🔗 Houck’s Picks

My favorite finds of the week.

Fundraising

• Arjun Mahadevan on the biggest fundraising lessons he has learned (Link)

• Peter Walker on what you need to consider when raising VC money (Link)

• Itamar Novick on what VCs think when founders don’t share decks (Link)

• Hadley Harris on how unconnected founders can raise VC money (Link)

• Joseph Alalou on what founders should ask a potential investor (Link)

Growth

• Steven Cravotta’s process to decreasing cost per install by 50 cents (Link)

ICYMI

• Overcome barriers, boost productivity, and find true purpose with tactical tools and powerful strategies for ambitious professionals (Link)*

• Pauline’s roadmap on how to build a SaaS in 30 days (Link)

• Jason Lemkin on top issues you face as a startup (Link)

• Scot Chisholm on 7 building blocks of any great financial plan (Link)

 Opportunity: McKinsey of AI

It’s possible that McKinsey generated more revenue last year on AI consulting than OpenAI did from ChatGPT.

And some of the founders I’ve met this year who are making the most actual money are basically building AI consulting firms where they engage with a company to see how they operate, advise leadership on how they can get gains by using AI, and then lead the implementation.

If you’re reading this newsletter, you probably underestimate just how far removed top executives at Fortune 500 companies are from what’s actually happening in AI. They don’t have time to keep up, and don’t know what sources to go to to find the right information.

There is still a massive non-winner-take-all opportunity to build new consulting firms like this right now.

🧠 Framework: The Productivity Wheel

A founder’s default mode should not be reactive.

Yes, there will be situations where you need to react and change course quickly.

But founders fundamentally are creating something. They’re imposing their will on the world around them. They are an embodiment of agency.

Don’t let yourself become reactive, drop the busywork and focus on what you are uniquely able to do.

The Productivity Wheel can help.

Divide your productivity goals into four areas:

• Discipline

• Focus

• Clarity

• Energy

You need all for to maximize the right output.

Set the habits you want in each quadrant. Here’s an example:

Today’s quote expands on this.

📈 Trend: AI Is Getting Better and Better

Even though my view is that LLMs are over, that doesn’t mean they won’t continue to get better.

In fact, it looks like an AI version of Moore’s Law is emerging:

At first, LLMs could help with simple tasks like responding to a question, but now their capabilities are continuing to increase and they’re able to solve longer, more complex tasks.

The right vector to look at for determining LLM progress has become complexity, rather than accuracy.

💬 Quote: Start Delegating

There are two reasons to start delegating:

1. You’ve raised venture and simply can no longer do everything yourself

2. You’re bootstrapping and want to one day sell your startup

No matter which path you take, effective delegation (like the system Johnathan Swanson outlined for me) is a necessary skill to learn along the way.

So… start today.

As you go about your Tuesday, find one thing you don’t actually need to do yourself but find yourself doing regardless, and assign it to someone else.

Record a Loom walking them through the process.

Then do your best to never worry about it again.