Ep. 48: Do your work early

QUICK ASK: Before I leap into to this week's podcast episode intro, I have a favor to ask. If you have gotten value from my Rocket Ship Founder podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could give it a 5 star rating and post a review wherever you listen to it (Apple Podcasts, Spotify) Really appreciate it! Ok, let's get to this week's episode. One thing you should know about me is that I'm a serious NBA fan. I was not built physically for the game of basketball, but I really love it. There's a phrase in basketball: "do your work early." What does this mean? It means that the flashy dunk, the smooth turnaround, the defensive block that brings the crowd to their feet isn't really where the important action is. They are just the end product of the work that was done earlier. They don't happen unless the player has gotten to their preferred spot on the floor to initiate the action. Or defensively, if the player has prevented his opponent from getting to their preferred spot. They don't happen unless the player has studied the tendencies and defensive sets of the other team. They don't happen unless the player has prepared themselves physically to have the stamina to do it at the end of the game when it most counts. This is the early work. It isn't flashy. It's often tedious and repetitive. It's done away from the spotlight. But it's where success is actually born. Mixing my sports up here, I think Muhammed Ali said it best: “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” This is an important lesson for Founders. In this week's Rocket Ship Founder podcast episode I talk about doing your work early. Key takeaways: What is the early work? How you are going to pick your hard, it's just about the timing. How the early work changes as you scale. This 11-minute listen is one of the most important lessons of Founder life.