Everything’s done slowly in a helicopter

It was my first flight lesson.

It felt nice and steady. I looked at the airspeed indicator: 90mph. Were we on the ground, that’d scarcely feel ‘nice and steady.’

  • Go steady on the ground: Startup teams often rush around at 60mph so much that they miss important details as they whizz by the window – a quick way to ensure they never leave the ground.
  • Go steady in the sky: Once teams take flight, details don’t ‘whizz by’, even at 90mph’. The team won’t appear rushed, but they’ll cover a lot more ground.

My instructor taught me, “Everything’s done slowly in a helicopter.” Perspective matters. They can’t see your airspeed indicator.