When You Slip, Don’t Fall
17 tactics to ship when you slip
Photo by Trần Long
Back from the 7 day Pesach Holiday and back to writing.
I recently hosted Dr. Steven Charlap, Founder and CEO of SOAP Health on my podcast Life Sciences Today.
Steven spent $5M of his own money, 10 years of his life and built a system that eliminates mis-diagnosis with an AI that knows evidence-based primary care. He’s light-years ahead of VC-funded startups that raised hundreds of millions.
My essay today is about What to do when you slip.
Intro
I’ve been writing code for 50 years.
Building, succeeding, and failing with new ventures for the past 25.
I love technology.
But I love people more than software and algorithms.
I'm a therapist, not a technologist.
This essay is for you: the leaders, the teams, the builders in the brutal middle of your venture.
Last week, I wrote about the Messy Middle:
We love the fantasy of the beginning.
We glorify the finish.
But nobody talks about the brutal middle.
So what do you do when you slip in the middle?
When the plan breaks, the sprint slides, the launch gets delayed?
You don’t need to be “ready for the future.”
You don’t need to wait for “transformative insights.”
You don’t need a 40-slide pitch deck.
You need to ship.
When you slip, don’t fall.
Information Theory
Over 30 years ago, Jim McCarthy wrote The Dynamics of Software Development.
McCarthy wrote:
“Slipping a project schedule is often a sign that previously unknown information
has come to light.”
That was true in 1995.
It’s even more true in 2025—when AI tools change weekly and a tariff decision in the U.S. can shift global demand overnight.
We live in the chaos of LLMs, war, volatility, hype cycles, and constant pressure.
So no, we can’t prevent slips.
But we can prevent a slip from turning into a fall—
By taking ownership.
Ownership First
When the schedule slips, don’t point fingers.
Take ownership.
Analyze the root cause.
Fix the root cause.
Move forward.
Not later.
Not after a congressional hearing five years from now.
Now.
Your job is to realign priorities.
To encourage your team to manage up the chain of command
To keep the team pointed at the one thing that moves the needle.
Slipping is normal.
Falling is optional.
17 Tactics to Ship When You Slip
Mindset
1. Redefine yourself: “I’m a person who wins, even if I slip and fall.”
2. See slips as learning moments, not failures.
3. Know that “perfect execution” is a myth.
4. Be honest about where you are.
5. Be weird.
Strategy
6. Analyze why the slip happened—then fix that root cause.
7. Align your team around one clear goal.
8. Communicate issues early, even if it’s uncomfortable.
9. Reprioritize ruthlessly—good ideas will wait.
10. If you're not sure what to fix, ship something small and learn.
Tactics
11. Write one email that moves the project forward.
12. Ship one feature. Even if it's ugly.
13. Publish something publicly. Momentum loves light.
14. Create a deadline—even an artificial one.
15. Call someone who will tell you the truth.
16. Cut features. Do 1 / 3 of what you planned.
17. Build weird traction.
Be Weird
At Intel, I learned the dominant big tech operating principle:
“Execute 80% of the time and you’ll win.”
This works for large, near-monopoly companies like Apple.
And small startups in the perfect niche like Cursor.
But you and I?
We’re in the middle.
We need something else.
We need to get weird.
When I launched my cybersecurity consulting practice, I had no clients.
I had a plan. OKRs. A go-to-market strategy.
I was going nowhere.
So I sent 2,500 oversized postcards with a black background, red text:
“Your data or your life.”
And my phone number.
I got 2 calls from 2 founders.
Closed two mid five-figure deals with Checkpoint and Diamonds.com.
Weird works.
If You Fall
Sometimes, you don’t just slip.
You fall.
That’s when street smarts matter more than book smarts.
Book smarts want recognition.
Street smarts want to win.
Book-smart people avoid looking bad.
Street-smart people fall, get up, and throw another punch.
Outro
The next time you read my work, I want you to remember something:
I write about lessons I’ve lived.
Some of my projects landed perfectly.
Some failed hard.
And maybe that’s the most valuable thing I can offer:
Not perfect solutions.
But honest lessons.
We’re all trying to build something better—while being imperfect people.
💬 Want help getting up after a slip?
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Life Sciences Today is my brand-new podcast
I host leaders in life sciences. We talk about their personal journey. I dive into the business model and how the company captures value - not just how shiny the tech is.
I want to invite you to be a guest on “Life Sciences Today”.
If you’re changing the life science industry in drug development, clinical operations or real-world data, I’d love to host you on the show!
👉If you’d like to be a guest on the show - let’s talk!
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