🪴 2 Minute Monday: Trajectory beats wealth, The price of hesitation
January 5, 2026
Here are this week’s 3 ideas, 2 ICYMI, and 1 big question to reflect upon.
3 Thoughts
I.
Trajectory is more important than position.
“It is so much more fun to be a little richer than you were yesterday, than merely to be rich.”
— Alice Wellington Rollins
II.
There is a price to pay for inaction.
“In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The next best thing is the wrong thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
III.
The companies that survive downturns aren’t the ones with the most cash. They’re the ones that cut fast, and reinvest.
During the 2008 financial crisis, researchers studied over 4,700 companies to understand what separated survivors from casualties.
The best indicator of “winner companies” was they didn’t just cut expenses, but simultaneously invested in other aspects of the business.
Companies that only cut costs? 21% chance of post-recession leadership.
Companies that only invested? 26% chance.
Companies that did both? 37% chance.
When crisis hits, the instinct is to wait and see. But sometimes the hesitation can be more expensive, and half-measures are worthless.
h/t Harvard Business Review analysis of 2008 recession data
2 cool posts you might have missed
I.
II.
1 big question for you
What’s one resource (time, money, attention) you’re wasting right now that could be redirected elsewhere to fuel growth?
How I can help
👨💻 Software
Need a top tech talent for your next product? Are you looking for your next gig? I’ve got you sorted.
📢 Advertising
Advertise in my newsletter to get in front of 11,115 founders.
🤿 Get more deep dives
Upgrade to a premium subscription to get an extra deep dive a week.
That 2008 data point is brutal. The 37% success rate for companies that both cut and invested vs 21% for cost-cutters shows how paralyzing partial action can be.What surprises me is the gap isnt bigger given how counterintuitive it feels to invest during a downturn. Most boards I've seen default to pure defense mode and miss the repositioning window entirely.