I’ve never once been sent a colour-coded spreadsheet comparing twelve tools and thought: yes, this is where we should start.
Sometimes it’s a forwarded link, sometimes it’s a screenshot, and sometimes it’s this wonderful colour-coded spreadsheet with 12 tools, nice organised pricing columns, feature notes. You can probably imagine, and it feels like someone spent a LOT of time on it.
Should we be using this? Should I switch tools? Should I be using these AI features? I can almost guarantee one of those will be sitting below the first bit.
They never ask me: “what system would we need for this tool to be effective?”
If you don’t know what the system is, you’re just automating a big mess. Doing things faster, doing things more inconsistently. Beautiful dashboards full of totally useless data that no one trusts.
Some founders I work with already have the system. Their team knows how projects run, there’s a repeatable way of doing things - they just can’t see what’s happening inside very easily. And for them the right tool genuinely does make everything visible almost overnight.
But most don’t have that layer yet - they kind of nearly do, but different people on the team do things differently. There’s no consistent process underneath holding it all together.
Picking a tool first is like choosing paint colours before you’ve built the walls. I get it - paint colours are more fun, way more fun. There’s a visible “we’ve made a decision here” moment that feels like something’s happening.
It’s worth working out where you’re at before you start colour coding any spreadsheets. As much as a colour coded sheet does win a lot of points with me in a general sense.
Have you found yourself chasing tech first?