Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast: A Stoic Take on Sustainable Growth

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In the world of startups, speed is glorified. Founders are told to sprint, to chase hypergrowth, to “move fast and break things.” Investors reward velocity, media celebrates overnight success, and founders often internalize the belief that slowness equals failure.

Yet history—and philosophy—remind us otherwise. The phrase “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast” originated in military training, where rushing often leads to mistakes and wasted motion. When you slow down enough to act deliberately and with precision, your movements become smooth. And smooth movements, over time, are faster and more effective than frantic ones.

Stoic philosophy echoes this wisdom. The Stoics valued discipline, preparation, and long-term perspective. Epictetus cautioned: “No great thing is created suddenly.” For startups, this is not a call to procrastinate but a reminder that resilience and sustainable growth come from calm, deliberate action—not panic-driven speed.

The Illusion of Speed

It’s easy to confuse motion with progress. A team rushing features to production may feel productive, but if those features don’t address user needs, the work is wasted. Marketing teams spreading thin across ten channels may look busy, but without focus, the results will be shallow. Hiring rapidly might look like momentum, but if culture is compromised, it becomes a long-term liability.

The Stoic perspective forces us to ask: Am I rushing because the task requires urgency, or because I am impatient? Often, the urge to sprint is ego-driven, rooted in external pressure rather than internal clarity.

Smoothness Before Speed

For startups, smoothness is about reducing friction—within products, teams, and processes. Without smoothness, speed simply magnifies chaos.

• In Product Development: Shipping too quickly without understanding the customer creates technical debt and wasted sprints. Teams that pause to validate assumptions build cleaner, smoother roadmaps.

• In Team Building: Hiring slowly and deliberately feels slow, but it prevents cultural misalignment that later drains energy. Smooth teams communicate better, innovate faster, and require less firefighting.

• In Growth: Spending heavily on ads without clarity on ICP wastes resources. By slowing down to test messaging, companies unlock smoother scaling when capital is deployed.

Marcus Aurelius wrote often about aligning actions with reason and nature. For founders, this means slowing down long enough to ensure that efforts are not only fast, but correct.

Lessons from Modern Startups

The best examples of “slow is smooth” often come from companies that resisted the pressure to scale too quickly.

• Stripe: Before expanding aggressively, Stripe spent years quietly refining its developer experience. Their deliberate focus on smooth integration created trust and loyalty. When they did scale, growth was rapid and defensible.

• Figma: For years, Figma operated under the radar, patiently building not just a product but a community. Their slow, community-driven approach allowed them to enter the market with momentum that competitors couldn’t match.

• Basecamp (37signals): Known for prioritizing calm over chaos, Basecamp resisted VC-driven hypergrowth. Instead, they optimized for sustainable profitability. Their measured approach kept the company relevant for over two decades.

Each of these companies could have moved faster in the early years. Instead, they chose smoothness. And that discipline eventually translated into speed.

Practicing “Slow is Smooth” as a Founder

Here are practical ways to apply this principle in your startup:

1. Define First Principles
   Clarify the problem you’re solving, the customer you serve, and the values guiding your company. This foundation makes decision-making smoother and execution faster later.

2. Test Deeply Before Expanding
   Explore one growth channel in depth before scattering efforts. Mastery in one arena builds the confidence and clarity to scale.

3. Document and Systematize
   Slow down to write playbooks, onboarding guides, and retrospectives. This documentation saves time as the team grows, preventing repeated mistakes.

4. Protect Culture Early
   Hiring too fast creates fractures. Invest time in building alignment. A smooth culture reduces conflict and accelerates progress.

5. Embrace Feedback Loops
   Stop to reflect. Use retrospectives, customer interviews, and data reviews. Slowing down to listen creates smoother decision-making cycles.

6. Accept Constraints
   The Stoics viewed discipline as strength. Embrace limits—time, budget, scope—as a way to focus. Constraints reduce chaos, creating smoother paths forward.

Why Founders Resist Slowness

Slowness feels risky when competitors are sprinting. Tech press glorifies hypergrowth, and the startup ecosystem often rewards motion over substance. But Stoicism reminds us to separate signal from noise. Your competitor’s speed is irrelevant if they are sprinting in the wrong direction.

Seneca wrote: “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it.” Replace “live” with “build,” and the lesson is clear. Waste from chaos and rework costs more than deliberate pacing ever will.

Closing Thought

Startups are not simply about speed; they are about momentum. And momentum requires a foundation of clarity and smooth execution.

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast is not a call to drag your feet. It’s a reminder that deliberate slowness—when applied wisely—compounds into speed that is both sustainable and defensible. The Stoic founder resists the noise, avoids self-inflicted chaos, and builds with discipline.

The next time you feel pressured to accelerate, pause and ask: Am I moving fast, or am I moving smoothly? The answer may determine whether your startup burns out—or endures.

Startup News and Updates

• After leaving Mississippi, Bluesky will abide by the age-verification requirements in South Dakota and Wyoming. Link

• Born, an AI game company, has raised $15 million to create "social" AI partners that fight loneliness. Link

• Sources: AI training startup Mercor hopes to be valued at $10 billion or more on a $450 million run rate. Link

• Ramp claims that its yearly revenue has reached $1 billion. Link

Until next time,

— Team Startup Stoic