How Future Billionaires Get Sh*t Done

Dalton says programming requires time to load a project’s context into your head, so scattered one-hour blocks make it harder to build and fix things. He favors long, uninterrupted stretches, and Michael describes keeping afternoons clear after meetings and lunch so the team could focus.

Michael recommends starting with the to-do list before email, meetings, or Slack, so other people’s requests do not control the day. He says meeting agendas, notes, and decisions should be written down to prevent follow-up meetings caused by forgotten agreements.

Michael kept business analytics and key performance indicators visible and learned the numbers by checking them regularly. He says founders should know whether metrics such as revenue, daily active users, or video watched are rising or falling, rather than relying on vague impressions.

Dalton calls social media a major time sink and suggests considering how a day would look if someone tracked it. Michael describes unfollowing everyone on Twitter, limiting its features with a browser extension, removing Facebook, and disabling notifications. He argues that productivity tools can help people work around their own weaknesses.

Dalton warns that accelerators, mentors, and advisory boards can absorb years without producing a product or customers. Michael says talking to customers and building and launching a product are direct ways to reduce startup risk. He also cautions that splitting attention between a startup, school, and job options makes it harder to commit, while recognizing that a sincere effort can still be worthwhile if the company closes.