TLDR: Time now is more valuable than time in the future.
Another Monday, another meeting.
Up at 5am today to hit an early flight to Atlanta for tech week number two.
If I have an extra 30 minutes in an airport, I usually check the Priority Pass that comes with the Sapphire Reserve card to see if there is a lounge I can drop into.
It’s almost always disappointing and out of the way unless an international flight.
Today though, I opened the app and not only was there a lounge directly en route to my gate in Termal 2, but it was a Chase Sapphire branded lounge. First time I had seen that.
Apparently Chase is making a run at American Express with this one because when you walk in, not only is it beautiful but the food is on another level, complete mobile ordering to your table, and the ability to book complimentary facials and rest pods.
Anyway, I digress, but a beautiful spot for some Monday Morning Meeting writing no doubt.
Driving here, I was reminded how magical New York City is at 5am. Especially this time of the year. It’s light out early, it’s not too cold, there’s almost zero traffic which creates an unusual calmness, and of course the smattering of committed athletes out for a run or on their way to the gym.
There’s something about those motivated people. Maybe they don’t have kids, making it easier to be up and out before everyone else, but their commitment to extra hours in the day always reminds me of something a friend told me once.
We were in sales at LinkedIn at the time, before he went on to build a unicorn startup.
He told me pretty casually,
People here are smart, but they’re mostly putting in six hours a day net of coffee meetings and lunch. If I put in a normal day, an extra two hours, I’ll get 40 extra hours a month, 12+ extra weeks in my year, the equivalent of an entire extra quarter. And if I actually work hard, an extra two hours a day—8am to 6pm—I’ll get a half year of extra selling time on them. There’s no way I don’t make President’s Club with that kind of effort, and it’s so easy to do.
But the thing is, working 8-6 in New York is nothing.
Truly, it’s not. It’s a different culture, a different work ethic, especially in your 20’s and 30’s. And now that I’m working with founders, I often see committed ambitious people doing 7am to 10pm, plus a weekend day or two.
Call it hustle culture, call it passion, call it a desire to win, I think it really depends on how much you love what you do and how much you love the people you do it with.
But at the end of the day, whether you’re in sales or you’re starting a company, the important thing to internalize is that time now is more valuable than time in the future.
If you front-load your time you inevitably create more leverage sooner. Your pipeline has time to mature, you’re able to raise more money more quickly, hire people and onboard them sooner, write more lines of code, or simply do more of whatever it is you’re working on. Front-loading that time and leverage creation, just like money, allows compounding to go to work for you, and go to work for you sooner.
Don’t spread your time out or backload it simply because the deadlines allow you to or because that’s the culture you’re in. Front-load your time and go win.
See you Monday.