Stop optimizing. Start automating.
I see this pattern constantly: founders spending hours optimising something that should be automated.
The optimisation trap
It feels productive. You tweak the email subject line. You A/B test the button colour. You optimise the landing page copy for the 47th time.
And you gain 3%.
Meanwhile, you're spending 15 hours a week manually exporting data from one tool and importing it into another. You're personally responding to every customer support email. You're building invoices by hand.
The automation leverage
Automation doesn't give you 10% more. It gives you your life back.
When I automate the data pipeline, I don't just save 10 hours a week — I eliminate the errors that happen when a human does it at 11pm. When I automate customer triage, I don't just respond faster — I capture insights about what customers are actually asking for.
Where to start
- **Find the 20-hour task** — What takes the most time? That's the thing to automate first.
- **Map the manual steps** — Write down every click, every copy-paste, every decision.
- **Build the automation** — Start with the highest-frequency, lowest-complexity task.
- **Measure the time saved** — Then do it again.
Optimisation makes things better. Automation makes things disappear. Pick the latter.