The Founder’s Guide to
Making Faster Decisions
Slow decisions are one of the most expensive things in a startup. This playbook gives you the frameworks, filters, and prompts to make better decisions faster — without the paralysis that kills momentum.
- Why founders make slow decisions — and what it costs
- The decision filter: reversible vs irreversible
- The 70% rule
- How to unstick a decision you’ve been avoiding
- The pre-mortem: stress-testing before you commit
- Decisions that need a framework vs decisions that need a gut check
- How to use AI as a decision partner
Why Founders Make Slow Decisions
Slow decisions come from three sources. Fear of being wrong. Not enough information. And the belief that more time will produce more certainty.
The first is a mindset problem. The second is sometimes real but more often a rationalisation. The third is almost always false — in most startup decisions, more time produces marginally more information and significantly more cost.
The cost of a slow decision is real and usually underestimated: the team loses momentum, alternatives get foreclosed, competitors move faster, and the founder’s attention is split between deciding and executing. A wrong decision made fast is usually better than a right decision made too late.
The question is never “do I have enough information to be certain?” You will never be certain. The question is “do I have enough information to be directionally right?” That bar is almost always reachable.
The Decision Filter: Reversible vs Irreversible
Jeff Bezos called these Type 1 and Type 2 decisions. The distinction is simple and changes everything about how much process a decision deserves.
Irreversible decisions — co-founder agreements, fundraising terms, key hires, pivots — deserve careful process. The cost of getting these wrong is high and the ability to undo them is low.
Reversible decisions — which feature to build next, which channel to test, how to structure a meeting — deserve fast process. Make the call, observe the result, adjust. The cost of being wrong is low and the ability to course-correct is high.
Most founders apply the same level of deliberation to both. This is the source of most decision paralysis. When you’re agonising over a reversible decision, remind yourself: what’s the cost of being wrong here? If you can fix it within a month, make the call now.
The 70% Rule
Amazon’s operating principle: if you have 70% of the information you wish you had, make the decision. Waiting for 90% is too slow and the additional 20% rarely changes the answer.
In practice, ask yourself: what would I need to know to change my current thinking? If the answer is “nothing I can realistically find out in the next week,” make the decision with what you have.
The 70% rule is a forcing function, not a permission slip for recklessness. Apply it to reversible decisions. For irreversible ones, take the extra week.
How to Unstick a Decision You’ve Been Avoiding
Every founder has a decision they’ve been carrying for weeks. They know what they probably need to do. They’re not doing it because the conversation is difficult, the outcome is uncertain, or the stakes feel high.
The fastest way to unstick a decision is to write it down completely. Not think about it — write it. The decision you need to make. The options you’re considering. What’s making it hard. What you’d recommend if a founder friend described this situation to you.
The act of writing forces clarity that thinking alone doesn’t produce. Most decisions that feel impossibly complex become obvious when written down completely.
“I’ve been stuck on a decision about [describe the decision]. Here are the options I’m considering: [list them]. Here’s what’s making it hard: [describe the friction]. Ask me the 3 questions that, if I could answer them clearly, would make this decision obvious. Don’t give me a recommendation yet — just the questions I’m avoiding.”
The Pre-Mortem: Stress-Test Before You Commit
A pre-mortem is the opposite of a post-mortem. Before making a significant decision, imagine it’s 12 months later and the decision failed completely. Ask: what went wrong?
This exercise surfaces risks that optimism bias hides. When you’re excited about a decision, your brain naturally minimises downside scenarios. The pre-mortem forces you to construct them explicitly.
It doesn’t mean you don’t make the decision. It means you make it with eyes open — and often you can mitigate the most likely failure modes before they happen.
“I am about to make this decision: [describe the decision and your current thinking]. Run a pre-mortem. Assume it’s 18 months from now and this decision turned out to be a significant mistake. What are the 3 most likely reasons it failed? For each one: how likely is it, what are the early warning signs I should watch for, and is there anything I can do before or during execution to reduce that risk?”
Decisions That Need a Framework vs a Gut Check
Not all decisions benefit from the same approach. Some decisions are better made analytically — with data, frameworks, and deliberate process. Others are better made intuitively — quickly, from pattern recognition and experience.
Use a framework for: Hiring decisions, pricing changes, fundraising strategy, build vs buy choices, market expansion. These have enough variables and consequences that structured thinking outperforms intuition.
Trust your gut for: Whether a person is trustworthy. Whether a culture fit is real or performed. Whether a pitch narrative is landing. Whether something feels off in a negotiation. Intuition is pattern recognition built from experience — in these domains it’s often more accurate than analysis.
The mistake is applying gut instinct to decisions that deserve analysis, and applying frameworks to decisions that deserve a gut check.
How to Use AI as a Decision Partner
AI is a useful thinking partner for decisions when used correctly. It’s not useful as an oracle — don’t ask it “should I do X?” and take the answer. Use it to structure your thinking, surface blind spots, and stress-test your reasoning.
“I need to make a decision about [describe it]. I’m currently leaning toward [your current thinking] because [your reasoning]. Play devil’s advocate: what’s the strongest case against the direction I’m leaning? What am I probably not weighing heavily enough? What would someone who strongly disagreed with me say — and would they be right?”
“I’m genuinely torn between two options: [Option A] and [Option B]. Here’s what I know: [key facts]. Here’s what’s making it hard: [the friction]. Don’t tell me which to choose. Instead: (1) What’s the most important factor I should be weighting here that I might be underweighting? (2) What does each option reveal about my priorities? (3) If I imagine myself 2 years from now looking back, which decision am I more likely to regret — and why?”
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