Why being puttylike is killing your execution

Welcome back to This Isn't a Marketing Problem, a 7-part series on how startups burn cash not because of bad marketing but because they never built the right message, system, or audience to begin with. Didn't read Parts 1–4? Don't embarrass yourself. Catch up here:
📌 Part 1: We Built It. Now Just Make People Buy It
📌 Part 2: You're Selling Features, Not Outcomes
📌 Part 3: No One Knows You Exist
📌 Part 4: Stop Building for "Millennials who save time"
📌 Part 5: Someone's Got a Leaky Funnel

In Part 6, Execution Dies After Week 2

😵‍💫 Why shiny object syndrome is just fear in disguise
📉 The 4 silent execution killers
🧱 How to build a sustainable system that compounds over time

Was this email forwarded to you?

😵‍💫 Why shiny object syndrome is just fear in disguise

Years ago I used to follow this blogger, Emilie Wapnick. Emilie created Puttylike, a blog for multipotentialites: people with many interests and creative pursuits. In Emilie's words:

I saw myself as a multipotentialite. I still do. It's why I read string theory books and applied data analytics to The Office TV show and painted Andre Derain's Charing Cross Bridge and ran a half marathon and love to garden and got a master's degree in theology. I like to think and learn in systems by connecting seemingly unconnected subjects. I once wrote about how a strong US Dollar impacts the price of milk in The Legend of Zelda video game universe.

Why do I tell you this? Because being a multipotentialite can sometimes lead to the "shiny object syndrome." But it's a subtle yet sophisticated way to hide from failure. And failure is my biggest fear. I think fear of failure's sibling is imposter syndrome. I fear failing because I am an imposter. Chasing shiny objects protect me against failing and feeling like an imposter: no one is an expert in the shiny new object so I can't be called out as an imposter.

But these shiny new objects are an escape hatch from the discomfort of staying focused long enough to actually ship the thing I already said mattered: the Growth Marketing OS.

I've talked with founders who are multipotentialites. They built the funnel. They cleaned up the message. They even posted a few times and ran some traffic. Then…silence. No more posts. Ad campaigns sit idle. Your audience hasn't heard from you in weeks. They found a new shiny object to get obsessed over. Execution doesn't give off that dopamine hit of launching something new.

What happened?

You didn't run out of ideas (you've got a bunch of them). You ran out of certainty. The feedback was slow. The dopamine wore off. And without a system or external support, your internal engine sputtered.

This is where founders quit. Not because they don't care. Because they can't feel the signal anymore.

📉 The 4 Silent Execution Killers

Inconsistent Posting
You said you'd publish twice a week. It became once. Then none. Why? Because you don't know what to say next. Your content system isn't built. Your hooks aren't mapped. You're reinventing the wheel every time you post.

Abandoned Campaigns
You launched a test. It didn't work right away. So you paused it, promising to revisit it later. But "later" never comes. No one's owning the rhythm.

Paralysis by Analysis 
You're waiting for more data. For the right headline. For the design to be perfect. You overthink yourself into inaction.

Marketing Loop of Shame 
You quietly believe the product isn't "ready" yet. So you pull back. You delay. You ghost your growth plan. This one's sneaky because it feels noble ("I just want to improve the product first"). But it's not noble. It's fear. In short: most funnels don't need more traffic to "get fixed." They need better flow, better alignment, and a story that holds together after the click.

🧱 How to build a sustainable system that compounds over time

You build a boring system that helps you stay focused even when the dopamine dries up. You can still be a multipotentialite by putting your less shiny object into a framework that runs itself. Here's what that looks like:

Create a Weekly Marketing Rhythm 

• Monday → Check metrics from last week

• Tuesday → Ship 1 new piece of content

• Wednesday → Run 1 creative test or paid experiment

• Thursday → Do 1 customer outreach or interview

• Friday → Share 1 learning or insight

Keep it lightweight. 5 tasks, 1 per day. Repeat. Consistency is the key.

Define a 4-Week Focus Window 

Pick one focus:

• Build UGC flywheel

• Fix landing page drop-off

• Find 10 Ride-or-Die customers

• Test Meta vs Google ads

No new goals. No jumping. No pivots. You're in a monogamous relationship with that one problem for 28 days.

Build a Minimum Marketing System 

You only need three things:

1. One channel (where your people already hang out)

2. One offer (that speaks to their outcome)

3. One metric (to know if it's working)

Here's an example:

• Channel: Organic LinkedIn

• Offer: "Free teardown call"

• Metric: # of booked calls

That's your system. Run it weekly until it stops working. Then improve it, don't replace it.

🔥 TL;DR: Execution Dies Without a System

Your failure isn't a lack of passion. It's a lack of repeatable motion.
Startups don't need more strategy decks. They need reps.
Marketing isn't one viral moment. It's a thousand quiet ones.

Next week: Part 7 – This Isn’t a Marketing Problem
It's the final one. We wrap the series and break down:

• What actually is a marketing problem

• Why most founders misdiagnose their funnel

• How to build a system that doesn't just "do marketing"

This newsletter is for you. What marketing challenges are you facing in your startup journey? Reply directly to this email with your questions or topics you'd like to see covered in future issues.

Until next week,

Adam

P.S. Found this helpful? Forward it to another founder who might benefit—we're all in this together.