While You're “Figuring It Out”, Your Competitors Are Scaling.

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Quick Note: My mastermind is starting on August 1st. If you're tired of solving problems alone while competitors move faster, join us here.

Let me paint you a picture of two founders:

Founder A: Spends 6 months perfecting their hiring process. Researches every framework. Builds custom scorecards. Tests different interview techniques.

Founder B: Calls someone who's hired 100+ A-players. Implements their proven system in 2 weeks.

Guess who has the better team 12 months later?

Here's the brutal truth: Smart founders don't solve problems. They find people who already solved them.

While you're stuck in research mode, your competitors are using borrowed intelligence to scale 10x faster.

Time to stop reinventing the wheel and start winning the speed game.

1. Why Speed Beats Smarts in the Founder Game

You think being thorough makes you smart. You research every angle. You want to understand the "why" behind every decision.

Meanwhile, your competitor just implemented a proven solution and moved on to the next problem.

Real examples:

• While you spent 3 weeks researching email automation, they asked their network and implemented in 3 days
• While you're stuck at $1M revenue "figuring it out," they just hit $3M using frameworks that already work
• While you built your own onboarding from scratch over 4 months, they copied what worked elsewhere and started getting results in week 1

Stop worrying about being the “smartest”; instead, worry about moving the fastest with proven intelligence.

ACTION: The Speed Reality Check

Think of your last 3 major business challenges.

For each one, ask:

• How long did I spend researching vs. implementing?
• Could I have asked someone who already solved this?
• What did this delay cost me in opportunity?

If you spend more time researching than implementing, you're playing the wrong game.

2. The Real Cost of Reinventing the Wheel

Let me show you what "figuring it out yourself" actually costs:

Your version of fixing customer churn:

• 3 weeks researching retention strategies
• 2 weeks rebuilding onboarding sequences
• 1 month developing custom loyalty programs
• $15K on website redesign
• 6 months of your mental bandwidth

Total cost: $50K and half a year of opportunity cost.

Or you could have called someone who solved churn last quarter for $2K.

Same result. 95% less time. 90% less money.

But your ego said: "I should figure this out myself."

ACTION: Calculate Your Reinvention Tax

Pick one problem you solved the "hard way" recently.

Calculate:

• Hours spent researching
• Money spent on trials/experiments
• Opportunity cost of delayed implementation
• Mental energy consumed

That's your reinvention tax. And you're paying it on every problem you try to solve alone.

3. While You're Thinking, Competitors Are Winning

Company A: Spent 8 months building their sales process from scratch. Tested different methodologies. Created custom CRM workflows.

Company B: Implemented a proven B2B sales framework in 2 weeks. Started closing deals immediately.

12 months later: Company B has 3x the revenue and a team that actually knows what they're doing.

Here's what kills most founders: You think taking time to "get it right" is smart.

But while you're perfecting, competitors are iterating. They implement 80% solutions and optimize from there.

You're optimizing for perfection. They're optimizing for speed.

Guess who wins market share?

ACTION: The Competitor Speed Check

Research 3 competitors who are scaling faster than you.

Ask:

• What systems did they implement quickly that I'm still "researching"?
• Where are they moving fast while I'm being thorough?
• What market opportunities are they capturing while I'm planning?

Speed creates competitive advantage. Thoroughness creates delays

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4. Your Problems Aren't Unique. Your Context Is.

"But my business is different!"

No. It's not.

90% of founder problems have proven solutions:

• Hiring: Competency-based interviews with scorecards (works every time)
• Team alignment: Level 10 Meetings with KPI tracking (results in 30 days)
• Customer churn: Value gap analysis + targeted interventions (measurable in 45 days)
• Growth plateaus: ICP refinement + conversion optimization (unlocks in 60 days)

You don't need a custom solution. You need a proven solution adapted.

The hiring framework that worked for a B2B SaaS won't work exactly for your marketplace. But the core principles? The interview structure? The scorecard methodology?

That translates perfectly.

You need an experienced translator, not a guru who's going to reinvent everything from scratch.

ACTION: Match Problems to Proven Solutions

List your top 3 current challenges.

For each one:

• What's the proven framework that solves this?
• Who has implemented this successfully multiple times?
• How can I adapt their solution to my specific context?

Stop looking for custom solutions. Start looking for proven frameworks you can adapt.

5. Why Smart Founders Stay Stuck Longer

The smartest founders often struggle the most. Why?

Because intelligence becomes a trap:

• "I should be able to figure this out myself."
• "My business is too unique for standard solutions."
• "I don't want to look like I don't know what I'm doing"

Result: 6-month detours that become 18-month death spirals.

Your ego is expensive. Really f*cking expensive.

Meanwhile, less "intelligent" founders who ask for help scale faster because they implement proven systems instead of trying to invent new ones.

The paradox: The smarter you think you are, the longer you stay stuck.

ACTION: The Ego Reality Check

Ask yourself honestly:

• How many problems am I solving alone because I think I "should" know this?
• What would happen if I asked for help on my biggest challenge?
• Is my ego costing me speed, money, and competitive advantage?

Pride is the most expensive business expense you'll never see on a P&L.

6. The Myth of the Self-Made Founder

Let me destroy a myth that's keeping you stuck:

"Self-made" founders are a startup mythology designed to sell books.

Reality check:

• Shopify's founder studied Amazon's playbook religiously before building
• Zoom's founder spent years analyzing Skype's mistakes
• Netflix's Reed Hastings had 20+ advisors during the streaming pivot
• Elon Musk hired the SpaceX team by recruiting from NASA and other space companies

Nobody builds alone. Ever.

The founders who win fastest are the ones who shamelessly steal proven frameworks and adapt them quickly.

ACTION: The Influence Audit

List the 5 most successful companies in your space.

For each one, research:

• What frameworks did they copy from other industries?
• Who were their advisors/influences during key growth phases?
• What existing solutions did they adapt rather than build from scratch?

You'll find zero "self-made" success stories. Just smart founders who leveraged proven intelligence.

7. Case Study: From 18 Months of Struggle to 60 Days of Growth

Founder Y, B2B SaaS, stuck at $1.8M for 18 months.

What they tried:

• New positioning (3 months, $20K)
• Team restructuring (4 months, tons of chaos)
• Product pivots (6 months, confused customers)
• New marketing agency (5 months, $40K, minimal results)

Total cost: $80K in failed experiments + 18 months of opportunity cost.

What finally worked:

• Implemented proven ICP framework (2 weeks)
• Launched targeted outbound sequence (1 week)
• Optimized conversion flow (2 weeks)

Result: $1.8M to $3.2M in 90 days using systems that had worked 50+ times before.

His words: "Lacking talent wasn’t the reason I was stuck… I was stuck because I kept guessing instead of asking someone who knew."

The difference? He stopped trying to invent solutions and started implementing proven ones.

8. The Speed Advantage: Implementation Beats Innovation

Here's what most founders get wrong:

They think innovation is the answer. Speed is the answer.

The frameworks exist:

• Hiring systems that work
• Sales processes that convert
• Team alignment that sticks
• Growth strategies that scale

These aren't secrets. They're just hard to implement alone without experience.

What you need isn't innovation. You need:

1. Access to proven frameworks
2. Help adapting them to your context
3. Support implementing them quickly
4. Accountability to ensure they stick

ACTION: The Implementation Audit

Rate yourself on:

• How quickly do I move from decision to implementation?
• Do I over-research or under-implement?
• How often do I reinvent vs. adapt existing solutions?

If you're slow to implement, you're losing competitive advantage every day.

9. Stop Playing the Solo Guessing Game

You have two choices:

Choice 1: Keep figuring everything out yourself. Research for months. Build custom solutions. Hope they work.

Choice 2: Find people who already solved your problems. Implement their frameworks. Adapt as you go.

The founders who choose #2 scale 10x faster.

Because they understand the game: It's not about being the smartest founder. It's about being the fastest to implement proven solutions.

The Proven Solution Protocol

Here's how to stop guessing and start implementing:

Step 1: Identify your top 3 revenue/growth blockers right now

Step 2: Find someone who has solved each one multiple times successfully

Step 3: Map their solution framework to your specific business context

Step 4: Implement with weekly accountability and real-time feedback

Step 5: Track measurable progress weekly. Iterate based on data, not guesswork

This is exactly what smart founders do. They leverage proven intelligence instead of trying to reinvent everything.

Final Reality Check

While you're reading this newsletter, a competitor just implemented a solution you're still researching.

While you're planning, they're executing.

While you're perfecting, they're scaling.

The question isn't whether you're smart enough to figure it out.

The question is whether you're smart enough to stop trying.

And if you want to stop playing the solo guessing game, I can help.

For the first time ever, I'm opening a mastermind specifically for burned-out founders.

10 founders ($250K-$3M). Quarterly planning sessions. Bi-monthly tactical calls. Real-time community support and daily access to me via Slack.

Not another course. Not more tasks. Just the support system that rebuilds your capacity to lead without breaking.

Starts August 1st. Applications close soon.

→ JOIN THE MASTERMIND - 10 SPOTS ONLY!

Stop researching and start implementing.

- Ignacio

P.S. If you're thinking "I should be able to figure this out myself," remember: every month you spend solving problems alone is a month your competitors spend scaling with proven solutions. Speed wins.

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