Saying No for Early Entrepreneurs

One mistake I made as an early entrepreneur was not saying “No” often enough. The same get-out-there-and-talk-to-people that was so important for building our company initially also worked against me because I met with too many people that were not helpful to building our company.

It was especially bad because there are so few people in the general community that have anything to do with high-performance or technical computing. Maybe it’s not so bad for other entrepreneurs in easier-to-understand markets.

It’s important to be totally out there and finding facts outside your building. But it’s also important to say “No” like a boss to meetings. You’re a C-Level executive and sometimes you need to act like one would when it comes to guarding your calendar!

I’m much better about guarding my time now. I use ScheduleOnce like a boss. I take lot’s of meetings that I think are valuable. For instance, I’m interested in meeting startup-minded people regardless of the market. I’m interested in meeting anyone that reads my blog. But I also have no fear of saying “No.”

Who is scheduled on your calendar that should have received a “No?”

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