The One Thing Every Great Entrepreneur Has: A Bias For Action

Entrepreneur Office Hours - Issue #305

My Duke I&E colleague, Shep Moyle, joins me for his first appearance in EOH.

Last week, I introduced you to my colleague Amy Wyron Robinson and her reminder that “only human beings can generate trust.”

This week, I’m incorporating a voice from another colleague, Shep Moyle. Shep spent thirty years in the CEO seat before joining us at Duke I&E. He likes to pretend he’s the old, gray-haired, former CEO who rages at all the young people doing… well… young people thing. But the truth is, he’s the exact opposite.

Shep is the kind of “old, gray-haired, former CEO” I hope to be, in part because he’s more on top of the new technologies than I am… especially around AI. He also spend tons of time coaching CEOs, which means he’s sees all sorts of CEO problems, from the kinds that challenge three-person teams, to the kinds that can kill 500-person companies.

In other words, I’m pretty sure Shep brings a much-needed perspective around here because he’s someone who can discuss entrepreneurship at a level well beyond what I tend to do. I focus on my own experiences with my companies. Shep brings insights from dozens of companies.

We’ll get to learn more of those kinds of things eventually. For now, like with Amy, I asked Shep to share his key insight about entrepreneurship, and here’s what he wrote:

“Talking about ideas is easy. Building isn’t. We must have a bias for action. The best entrepreneurs don’t chase perfect plans — they chase progress. They make the hard calls when others hesitate, and they learn in motion. Great companies are built by people who act before the world gives them permission.”

That last line — “act before the world gives them permission” — is the part everyone should be highlighting and underlining 28 different times. After all, if you’ve spent any time in the startup world, you know exactly how seductive it can be to sit around waiting for permission.

Entrepreneurs love to tell ourselves we’re being strategic. We say things like “doing market research.” Or we’re “refining the plan.” “Building the right team.” And so on. But, really, what we’re doing is waiting — waiting for validation, waiting for funding, waiting for the right moment that never comes.

Of course, the longer we wait, the more waiting starts to feel safe. It feels like real work. But, as Shep reminds us, waiting isn’t building. Building requires movement. It requires the uncomfortable act of making something real before the world says it’s okay to try.

The Bias for Action

Shep calls it a “bias for action,” and it’s the exact phrase that separates dreamers from doers. The people who change the world aren’t the ones with the most ideas — they’re the ones who take the first steps, even when those steps are messy, inefficient, or incomplete.

Simply put, you can fix a bad plan. You can’t fix inertia. After all, strategy doesn’t get better in a vacuum. It gets better through motion, and through testing, adjusting, learning, and adapting in real time.

That’s what Shep means by “learning in motion.” Progress doesn’t happen because we got the plan right on day one. It happens because we started, stayed curious, and refused to stop.

In other words, if you’re sitting on an idea right now — one that you keep telling yourself just needs a little more planning, a little more polish, a little more something — consider this your nudge.

You don’t need permission. You need progress.

Remember, the world doesn’t reward ideas. It rewards movement.

— Aaron

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This week’s new articles…

The Only Six Words You Need to Pitch Any Startup

Forget the fancy pitch decks and slick demos. Getting people to care about your startup isn’t nearly as complex as you think.

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This Type of “Magic Thinking” Is Guaranteed to Kill Your Startup

Some entrepreneurs accidentally kill their companies before customers even get to see them.

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Office Hours Q&A

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QUESTION:

Hi Dr. Dinin,

I’m a solo founder working on a very niche B2B SaaS product. It solves a real problem (I know because I lived it in a previous job), and I’ve managed to get a few paying customers. But I’m struggling to get new ones.

I feel like I’m doing 17 jobs, and I don’t know what to prioritize anymore. Should I be building? Selling? Writing blog posts? Fixing onboarding?

How do you decide what to focus on when everything feels important and there’s no one else to do it?

Thanks for any wisdom you can share,
Mel

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First of all, just to be clear, the fact you’ve built a working product, found actual paying customers, and are still standing after doing 17 jobs solo — that’s already wildly impressive. Most people don’t get that far. So even if it feels like you’re barely holding things together, you’ve already cleared some of the hardest hurdles.

But I know you’re not emailing for a pat on the back, so let’s see what we can do to get you some meaningful help.

The truth is, you’re dealing with a classic startup paradox where everything is on fire, but you only have one bucket and two hands. Worst of all, you’re not even sure which fire matters most.

Here’s the simple framework I use when everything feels important and I can’t do it all:

Focus on the thing that makes the next thing easier.

That’s it. That’s the principle. You don’t have to chase perfection — you just have to chase momentum. Ask yourself:

• If I fix onboarding, does that make converting leads easier?

• If I write a blog post, does it generate traffic I don’t currently have?

• If I do more sales calls, do I learn something that helps refine the product?

• If I improve the product, will it close deals faster or make customers refer me?

You don’t need to do everything. You just need to do the one thing that unlocks the next.

That’s why, in early solo-founder mode, I usually lean toward customer-facing work — sales, outreach, demos, onboarding — because that’s where the feedback lives. That’s how you learn where the real friction is. And, more often than not, that feedback tells you exactly what to build or fix next.

Think of it this way: when you’re in the weeds, talking to customers is the only activity that creates clarity and cash. So when in doubt, start there.

Got startup questions of your own? Reply to this email with whatever you want to know, and I’ll do my best to answer.