DEV Thinking / Field note
What not to do next
A decision becomes more useful when it closes routes, not only when it creates another to-do list.
A plan without exclusions is still a menu
Founders are often given recommendations that quietly preserve every other possibility. Focus on this segment, but keep the others warm. Build the simple version, but prepare for the full platform. Test one channel, but maintain a presence everywhere.
The language sounds balanced. The workload says otherwise.
Write down the routes you are rejecting
A clear decision should say what will not happen now and why. That protects the choice when a new idea arrives next Tuesday and makes it easier to revisit the decision if the evidence changes.
Rejected does not have to mean bad. It can mean too early, too expensive, unsupported by evidence or simply less important than the chosen route.
Make the next 30 days smaller
The practical value of a decision is what it removes from the next month. Fewer active bets. Fewer half-built routes. A clearer signal from the work that remains.
A good next move creates evidence. A good “not now” protects enough attention to learn from it.
- The route we are choosing
- The routes we are rejecting for now
- The evidence that would make us reconsider
- The first useful test