The Speed Tax

Speed isn’t a perk. It’s survival. Every unnecessary approval, every overanalyzed decision, every bullshit meeting—it all adds up to a massive fucking tax on your momentum. You don’t see it on your P&L, but make no mistake: you are paying for it, and it’s costing you more than you think.

Most founders track burn rate, payroll, and ad spend like hawks. But time—your most expensive resource—gets wasted like it’s free. And slow execution is a fucking debt you can’t pay back.

The Compound Effect of Dragging Your Feet

Slowness doesn’t just cost you one deal. It snowballs. Every delay sets off a chain reaction:

• Your competitors don’t wait for you. They define the market while you’re still “aligning stakeholders.”
• Costs creep up. That ad spend? Higher. That developer you wanted? Taken. That supplier? Now charging 20% more.
• A-players get the fuck out. The best talent wants to build, not sit through six months of pointless planning.
• Indecision becomes your brand. The more time you waste, the harder it gets to move at all.

And yet, founders sit around, debating instead of executing, mistaking hesitation for strategy. It’s not strategy. It’s self-sabotage.

Why Speed Wins. Every. Fucking. Time.

Execution speed is the ultimate cheat code in business. The faster you move:

• You outlearn the competition.
• You get to revenue faster.
• You kill indecision before it kills you.
• You shape the market instead of chasing it.

Look at any dominant company:

• Amazon deploys new code every 11.7 seconds. Meanwhile, your dev team is still debating Jira tickets.
• Tesla pushed direct-to-consumer EVs while legacy automakers were still writing reports on whether it was viable.
• SpaceX launches, learns, and adapts—while traditional aerospace companies drown in approval chains.

Speed isn’t recklessness. It’s controlled aggression.

The Three Execution Killers (And How to Burn Them to the Ground)

If you’re moving like a corpse, here’s why:

1. Perfection is a Fucking Lie

Waiting for the “perfect” strategy, product, or plan? By the time you launch, the market has already moved on.

Fix it: If something is 70% ready, ship it. The market will tell you what’s broken, and you’ll fix it faster than if you waited.

2. Bureaucracy is a Cancer

More approvals = more delay = more death. Every extra layer of decision-making is an anchor on execution speed.

Fix it: Cut approvals down to one fucking layer. Decisions should be made by the person closest to the problem, not five levels up.

3. Fear of Making the Wrong Call

Most delays aren’t logical. They’re emotional. Fear of failure is the #1 reason founders stall.

Fix it: Flip the script—fast failures are tuition. Inaction is the only real risk.

How to Execute at Lightspeed Without Losing Your Shit

Want to stop paying the Speed Tax? Here’s how to fix it, starting right now:

1. Cut Decision Time in Half

Whatever your default timeline is—slash it by 50%.

👉 Tactic: Default to 24 hours for most decisions. Big ones? 72 hours max.

2. Meetings Should Be Short or Nonexistent

Meetings are execution graveyards.

👉 Tactic: No meeting over 15 minutes unless it’s a strategic war room with a clear outcome.

3. Launch MVPs in Weeks, Not Months

If your first version doesn’t make you a little uncomfortable, you launched too fucking late.

👉 Tactic: Hard deadline: four weeks, no exceptions.

4. Kill Slow Communication Loops

Email threads and Slack debates are where momentum goes to die.

👉 Tactic: Default to voice/video calls for key decisions. Speed > Polished messaging.

5. Treat Speed Like a Weapon

Execution speed isn’t just a habit—it’s a culture.

👉 Tactic: Set weekly execution challenges—one thing that must move forward no matter what.

The Cost of Hesitation is Higher Than the Cost of Mistakes

You want the harsh truth? The biggest business killer isn’t failure. It’s fucking hesitation.

For every week you delay:

• Your market shifts.
• Your competitors advance.
• Your relevance fades.

Speed is a choice. The only question is: Are you paying the Speed Tax, or are you collecting the rewards of relentless execution?

Your move.