on the importance of speed

Throughout my career, I’ve encountered many cases where the brakes are pumped for all kinds of reasons. Security, risks of exposing information, sometimes even gatekeeping. Oftentimes, the underlying risk percentages are marginal, sometimes even paper tigers. Many of these reasons are the enemy of innovation — they come at a cost to the thing that matters most: speed.

Now, I will preface this by saying that there are, of course, real reasons to pump the brakes; you don’t want your customer’s data leaking or your whole system blowing up. In this essay I’m pointing at the trivial nature of some of these reasons.

For example, an important help center resource on how to use the platform doesn’t get published because a competitor might just see it and replicate a feature. Or, not allowing a capable member of the team to contribute to a project, because it’s outside of their role.

In 2026, speed is one of, if not the most important metric a company can have. The reason is very simple: if you think you have any kind of edge, you cannot afford to slow down. Moats dry up faster and faster with every new AI model. Keeping speed up applies to all departments within a company, from product to customer support.

Once precariousness takes over, development slows down. There is no way any company can afford to let this happen. When in the business of innovation, it is important to never slow down. I’m not saying to be reckless; you need to be mindful of the direction, whether that means keeping to the path or pivoting.

Innovation must be praised and ownership must be given to employees. A team cannot become anxious about protecting their product, nor the boundaries that a team has created. In a startup environment, lines are meant to be crossed, and ownership should come from every department. That’s how you build a product, culture and team that people are proud of, and most importantly: a company where improvement is the core focus.