Are You Valuing Your Time Correctly?

Most people don’t value their time correctly.

They think that as long as they are working on their ideas on the side

or on company-time, they can afford to take as long as needed.

This isn’t true.

Of all the resources, time is our scarcest resource.

While all other resources can fluctuate up or down,

time only moves in one direction.

For this reason, I place it above all other resources.

This is especially true at the earliest stages of a product

where there is lots of uncertainty and risk

and everything seems possible.

I generally recommend that everyone value their free time

at least at their going market rate.

And, when you factor in the fact that you are using this time to

work on an idea that might have a 1 in 10 chance of succeeding,

you need to multiply your hourly rate by a factor of 10.

Ideas are cheap but acting on them is quite expensive

as ideas can easily consume months,

or more realistically, years of your life.

Time you’ll never get back.

You should do the math to see

what a few months of time can potentially be worth

both in regular billable hours and startup hours.

We talk a lot about seeking investors for our startup.

(or executive sponsors if you are at a larger company)

But you are the first investor in this story.

And your currency of time is even more valuable than money.

Spend it well.