Parenting advice powered by Lenny's podcast wisdom

Baby Weights First

Andrew Wilkinson

Inspired by on Lenny's Podcast

A serial entrepreneur says first-time founders shouldn't try to 'deadlift 300 pounds on day one' - and first-time parents shouldn't try to implement a perfect sleep schedule, feeding regimen, and developmental program simultaneously.

Andrew Wilkinson has started or been involved in 75 different businesses. His advice for first-timers?

'You don't want to walk into the gym on day one and try and deadlift 300 pounds. When someone comes to me and they're a first-time entrepreneur and they say, "I'm going to make the next great AI company," I think that is the equivalent.'

This is new parent energy. Day one: implement a perfect sleep schedule, optimized feeding regimen, developmental activities, tummy time routine, and consistent boundaries.

Stop.

'You really want to take the baby weights and start slowly building your muscle.'

Pick one thing. Get it working. Then add the next thing. Maybe it's just 'survive this week.' Then 'figure out feeding.' Then 'start a naptime routine.'

The parent trying to implement everything simultaneously on day one is the startup founder trying to compete with Asana.

Start with baby weights. Literally.

0-6mo6-12mo1-2yrroutinessleepfeeding

PM Theme: Incremental progress over big bang

Parenting Theme: One change at a time

Quotes that inspired this tip
You don't want to walk into the gym on day one and try and deadlift 300 pounds. When someone comes to me and they're a first-time entrepreneur and they say, 'I'm going to make the next great AI company,' I think that is the equivalent. You really want to take the baby weights and start slowly building your muscle.Andrew Wilkinson · 00:08:33
Tip illustration