The Taco Bell Prioritization Method

If you’re reading this on Sunday, July 5th go back outside and grab yourself a hot dog or, better yet, make these meatballs and I’ll see you on tomorrow.

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And now it’s Monday.

You had a good long weekend and you’re ready to tackle your startup to do list but you aren’t sure where to start. Easiest thing? Fastest thing? Most urgent thing?

One of our most successful founders has the answer.

He says he starts each day by looking at his to do list for something that makes him feel “queasy.” Something he reflexively pulls away from. At some point he started calling this Taco Bell Prioritization and it’s stuck. It’s also the best prioritization method I’ve found.

The key with a startup is what my old boss used to call “Divergence Strategies.” The thing you’ll struggle with is being meaningfully, obviously different from competitors. This is important because it’s where all the margin lives - people only overpay for different.

The only way to make something different is to act differently from anyone else looking to solve the same problem.

So, if everyone else pushes away from something, and you lean in, you’ll have a good shot at being different.

Do this enough, and you’ll end up with something that people might overpay for.

So grab one of those meatballs and do something your nervous system is begging you not to do.

And - if nothing on the list creates that feeling - go searching for it.