Think Slow, Act Fast: The Real Path to Sustainable Growth?
Personal Contemplation on choosing Revenue and Profitability for a business. Its not easy but adopting a Mental Model to Think Slow and Act Fast helps
The Pace Question (Still Unsettled)
WSJ + “How Big Things Get Done” → thinking about Ola again
WSJ recently wrote about new founders working 90+ hours for fast execution. Flyvbjerg’s book “How Big Things Get Done“ - which I just finished reading - argues the opposite: Think slow, Act fast. Both made me think about Ola—where we were fast in planning, slow in delivery. Backwards**.**
We worked constantly. Long hours built the business, but I’m still not sure why I did it. Was it necessary? Or was I chasing external validation—proving something to my peers or myself?
Still wrestling with it.
The paradox I can’t resolve:
At Ola, everything was transaction growth. When burn became unsustainable, we shifted gears towards profitability.
Now I run Knighthood without funding. Profit isn’t optional—it’s survival. I walked away from a deal worth ₹48L/month because the working capital would have killed me.
Some would call that foolish. They’d say: take the deal, use it as a stepping stone. Maybe they’re right.
But I can’t figure out why growth and profitability oppose each other. Why can’t I aim for both?
The mental model I’m testing:
Flyvbjerg’s book gave me language for this: Think Slow, Act Fast.
Planning phase: Long, iterative, cheap to fail. Test everything before committing capital.
Delivery phase: Fast, precise, expensive to fail. Minimize time between start and finish.
At Ola, we did the opposite. We moved fast in planning (gut decisions, aggressive targets) and slow in delivery (constant firefighting, break-fix cycles).
For my new project - O9X, I’m trying the inverse:
- Slow planning: Build in constraint-driven sprints, test workflows before coding features
- Fast delivery: Once I know what to build, compress execution time
Too early to know if it works.
What I’m watching for:
- Am I thinking slow because it’s strategic, or because I’m afraid to commit?
- Am I acting fast in delivery, or am I still firefighting?
I don’t have answers yet. Just questions I need to keep asking.