Heads Down

I once asked Naval Ravikant to come down to New Orleans for Launch Fest to speak and he replied with a “no.” But he went on to make it the clearest rejection I’ve ever gotten because he explained why:

I’m going heads down on AngelList and I’m not doing any speaking engagements this year.

I’ve spent the last three years working with entrepreneurs and being the external facing with Launch Pad and it’s been awesome. Now, I’m going back in the product development mode working on our new app, Niko Niko. Product development mode requires complete focus. I’ve come to this realization and benchmarking it for myself by blogging about it.

So, I’ve decided to start putting systems in place to balance both roles. I love working with entrepreneurs but I’m going to be more strict about the time I spend doing it. I’m going to start pointing founders in the right direction rather than taking that coffee and I’ll be available to meet with entrepreneurs on hack night.

I’m excited about this new prioritization though it feels a little bittersweet. Deep focus on product development and building the company infrastructure around Niko Niko is what’s important right now. So, I’m going heads down.