Stop waiting for perfect

Welcome to another day, Builders.

I've been in build mode for the past few weeks. Testing ideas. Shipping things that aren't perfect. It’s very energizing.

And I’m asking my community what actually resonates instead of waiting until everything is polished. It feels different than my usual approach. Less controlled. More alive. I'm learning that momentum comes from movement, not from having all the answers figured out first.

This week's newsletter is me thinking out loud about that tension. About ideal conditions that never arrive. About the difference between waiting and building.Enjoy.

Stop looking backward.

Gary Vee was talking to a 39-year-old on his show who kept circling back to what he should've done differently, what he missed, how he got here instead of there.

Gary's response was direct: You're young. You have so much more time than you think. And your obsession with yesterday is literally stealing your tomorrow.

Then he said something that stuck: "If you're not doing, if you're not going for it, you're just crying. And you're crying because you're not doing even though you know the answer."

Here's what I'm realizing. Most of us have figured out what we need to do. We know the move. We know what would move the needle. We're just waiting for something.

But the waiting game isn't a strategy. It's just delay with a better story.

Ideal Conditions Never Arrive (hat tip to this tweet)

C.S. Lewis wrote something that's been rattling around in my head: "The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come."

They don't.

So you're either moving now with what you have, or you're not moving. Those are the options.

But here's where it gets interesting. Marc Andreessen was talking about why ads exist in business, and he said something that reframed how we should think about building and shipping:

"If you really want to get to a billion and then five billion people, you can't do that with a paid offering. You need an indirect business model. Ads are the obvious one."

The principle isn't about ads. It's about distribution. Reach. Access.

If your goal is to serve people at scale, you can't wait for perfect conditions where everyone can afford you. You ship something. You find a way to reach people. You iterate.

"A well-targeted ad at a specifically relevant point in time is actually content. It enhances the experience."

Think about your own work. Are you building for broad reach or for premium pricing? That choice determines everything. One requires you to figure out scale. The other requires you to figure out depth.

But both require you to start before the conditions are right.

I'm building in public right now because waiting for perfect is a waste. Below is a sample of variety of apps/products I have built MVPs of.

So I want to throw this out to the community, are any of these products worth pursuing further?

Is there something here that YOU might find value in? (Reply and I’d love to engage in a convo!)

PipelineOS started because hunting for prospects can be a pain. There’s the first part of finding people/businesses that fit your profile. Then there’s the research to understand what’s the gap you can solve. Thirdly, there’s the content (email copy or phone script). This app can get that for you in minutes.

What if prospect research wasn't a person? What if it was a system that got smarter every time you used it?

MailMind came from a different place. This might just be something I do, but I I’m a big to-do list guy. I also email myself reminders often of things to add to that to-do list. So I asked. What if you could email yourself and get back a clarity report in seconds? What if your inbox became your thinking partner? This product doesn’t just add an item to do a list, but takes it to the next level of trying to understand what you’re doing and meets you there.

Clarity is the one I keep coming back to because I use it every week. It's an online journal, but it's not therapy. It's decision documentation. Write down the choice. Write down what you know. Write down what you're afraid of. Then the system forces you to pick a direction.

None of these are finished. All three are experiments. I'm sharing them because I want to know if they solve real problems for real people.

Here's my ask: Hit reply and tell me which one you'd actually use. Which solves a problem you're facing right now?

I read every response, and your feedback shapes what I build next.

On Deep Work

Sahil Bloom on reading vs. speed:

This is about quality over quantity. Every time.

If you're reading a book that matters to you, slow down. Let it sink in. The best insights don't come from speed. They come from sitting with an idea long enough for it to change how you think.

Side note: I have no idea any sane person can comprehend content through audio going that fast!

What I'm thinking about this week:

You have more time than you think. Ideal conditions never arrive. The people who move are the ones who decide that waiting isn't an option.

So pick something. Build it. Share it. Let the market tell you if you're onto something.

I’ll do my part. 🫡

Until next Tuesday.

Brian

P.S. — If you're thinking about building something but waiting for the conditions to align, forward this to someone who needs the permission to move anyway.