Rob Walling

But I see a lot of entrepreneurs who think that reading more business books, reading Hard Thing About Hard Things, or a biography about an entrepreneur, they feel like that is educating them on how to start a company. And to me, it's a distraction. Masquerading is productivity.

One of my most popular blog posts back when I was still blogging was called Startup Founders Should Stop Reading Business Books. And, you know, don't take the title literally because isn't the SaaS playbook a business book? It is.

One of my most popular blog posts back when I was still blogging was called Startup Founders Should Stop Reading Business Books. And, you know, don't take the title literally because isn't the SaaS playbook a business book? It is.

But in the post, I talked about how highly tactical, highly prescriptive books like the SaaS playbook or Traction by Gabriel Weinberg, even like EOS, like things that give you information that actually improves your business, I put those in a category of training, of actually showing you tactics and strategies that will get you there faster. Right?

But in the post, I talked about how highly tactical, highly prescriptive books like the SaaS playbook or Traction by Gabriel Weinberg, even like EOS, like things that give you information that actually improves your business, I put those in a category of training, of actually showing you tactics and strategies that will get you there faster. Right?

Reading books by Malcolm Gladwell and even a lot of, I mean, I like Seth Godin's books, but a lot of Seth Godin and just frankly, most business books that are out there are just not going to help you grow a startup faster. Take this as someone who reads 30, 40 books a year. I have 900 books in my Audible account that I read books via audio.

Reading books by Malcolm Gladwell and even a lot of, I mean, I like Seth Godin's books, but a lot of Seth Godin and just frankly, most business books that are out there are just not going to help you grow a startup faster. Take this as someone who reads 30, 40 books a year. I have 900 books in my Audible account that I read books via audio.

Obviously, if you've listened to this podcast for any length of time, I am pro book. I've just written my fifth book. But I know when I'm listening to most books and most podcasts, even if they are business-oriented, that they are, quote-unquote, a distraction. But many entrepreneurs don't, and that's when distractions masquerade as productivity.

Obviously, if you've listened to this podcast for any length of time, I am pro book. I've just written my fifth book. But I know when I'm listening to most books and most podcasts, even if they are business-oriented, that they are, quote-unquote, a distraction. But many entrepreneurs don't, and that's when distractions masquerade as productivity.

Here's another distraction that I see masquerading as productivity in our circles of entrepreneurs. It's launching another product without marketing the one you've already launched. Or how about this? It's focusing on writing more code or answering support tickets or doing something that's certain

Here's another distraction that I see masquerading as productivity in our circles of entrepreneurs. It's launching another product without marketing the one you've already launched. Or how about this? It's focusing on writing more code or answering support tickets or doing something that's certain

without selling what you've already built, without marketing and selling the thing you've already built, because that's hard. It's scary. It's uncertain. It's where the resistance lies. It's what you don't want to do as a technical founder. So what are the takeaways from this? One,

without selling what you've already built, without marketing and selling the thing you've already built, because that's hard. It's scary. It's uncertain. It's where the resistance lies. It's what you don't want to do as a technical founder. So what are the takeaways from this? One,

I want you to keep in mind this question of what is the cost of engaging with this distraction and what is the benefit of engaging with this distraction? Because the benefit of reading a business book might be it's just fun. It's what I do in my off time. It recharges me. And I understand and admit that this is not being productive. It's a hobby that I have.

I want you to keep in mind this question of what is the cost of engaging with this distraction and what is the benefit of engaging with this distraction? Because the benefit of reading a business book might be it's just fun. It's what I do in my off time. It recharges me. And I understand and admit that this is not being productive. It's a hobby that I have.

And I think weighing the cost versus the consequences as you think about distractions and just being deliberate with your time, that's it. If you've known me for any length of time, you know the value that I put on relationships and on my relationships with my wife and my kids and my friends for that matter.

And I think weighing the cost versus the consequences as you think about distractions and just being deliberate with your time, that's it. If you've known me for any length of time, you know the value that I put on relationships and on my relationships with my wife and my kids and my friends for that matter.

So you'll know that I'm pro you spending all the time with all the people that you want to feed your soul. I just want you to keep in mind the cost versus the benefit and to be extremely aware of distractions that masquerade themselves as productivity. And the end of that story is, I had a distraction yesterday. I knew that the benefit of it was it made me happy.

So you'll know that I'm pro you spending all the time with all the people that you want to feed your soul. I just want you to keep in mind the cost versus the benefit and to be extremely aware of distractions that masquerade themselves as productivity. And the end of that story is, I had a distraction yesterday. I knew that the benefit of it was it made me happy.

And the cost was that I might have to record this episode on a weekend. And here I am Saturday afternoon recording it. And you know what? That's the decision I made. I'm here for it. My next topic is another dichotomy. It's weaknesses versus blind spots. So I was interviewed on a podcast last week and the host started asking me about personality tests like Myers-Briggs, Enneagram.