Episode 341. 90% and done beats 100% and perfect

Solo

Oct 6

This episode of The Art of Entrepreneurship is for founders whose perfectionism keeps good work from ever shipping.

Last week in my lessons to live by series, I talked about how I make decisions. This time I'm getting into what happens after you decide, and lesson five is one I live by: 90% and done beats 100% and perfect, every single time.

Perfectionism is a form of procrastination, and it's sneaky because polishing feels like hard work while producing almost none of the results. Nobody notices that last 5% of changes except you; the difference lives in testing and iterating.

Here’s an example from my agency: right now, nobody has a playbook for showing up in AI search (and anyone who says they do is selling you something). So instead of waiting for certainty, my team is testing different approaches for different LLMs, and every result (even the failures) teaches us something our clients benefit from.

I also share how I define "shippable" before I start, why a real production date beats "when it's ready," and the one question that tells me I'm done. And because 90% doesn't mean sloppy, I explain where the floor stays high.

Tune in if you're ready to stop stalling on perfect and start getting better through the reps.