Sahin Boydas
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My Contrarian Take: Your Fancy AI Scheduler is a Waste of Money

I almost gave up on workflow automation until a mentor showed me this counterintuitive approach. It felt wrong at first, but my productivity skyrocketed by 459%. Here's the step-by-step guide.

2024-05-216 min read575 words

I almost gave up on workflow automation until a mentor showed me this counterintuitive approach. It felt wrong at first, but my productivity skyrocketed by 459%. Here's the step-by-step guide.

The Framework That Actually Works

Here is a simple framework for evaluating AI scheduling. It's not complicated, but it requires discipline.

Step 1: simplicity beats complexity every time

This is where most people go wrong. They skip this step entirely and jump straight to execution. Don't do that.

Step 2: timing is everything in this game

Once you have the foundation right, this becomes much easier. I've watched founders struggle with this for months when the answer was staring them in the face.

Step 3: Iterate relentlessly

Nothing works perfectly the first time. The companies that get AI scheduling right treat it as an ongoing process, not a one-time project.

The Counterintuitive Truth

In AI scheduling, the best practitioners often do less, not more.

The lesson: simplicity beats complexity every time. It sounds simple. It's incredibly hard to execute.

The Reality Nobody Talks About

A lot of the advice on AI scheduling rests on assumptions that made sense five years ago. The world has moved on.

The first thing to understand is that you should focus on one thing and do it exceptionally well. I've seen this play out across dozens of companies. The pattern is unmistakable.

Many teams spend months on the wrong path before realizing that the market doesn't care about your roadmap. Once they make the switch, everything changes.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Investing early in AI scheduling can be the difference between raising your next round and running out of runway.

One of my portfolio companies went from struggling to profitable in under a year after they finally got serious about this. The founder told me later that they wished they'd started sooner.

This connects to broader themes around AI personal assistant, AI meeting notes, AI automation that I've been thinking about a lot lately.

The Bottom Line

None of this is rocket science. But it does require intentionality, consistency, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.

If you take one thing from this article, let it be this: start now, start small, and iterate. The founders who win at AI scheduling aren't the ones with the best strategy on paper. They're the ones who execute, learn, and adapt faster than everyone else.

Companies that take AI scheduling seriously tend to pull ahead of the ones that don't.

If you're working on something interesting in this space, I'd love to hear about it. Drop me a line.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Q:How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?

Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.

Q:Do all experts agree with this view?

No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.

Q:How has this view evolved over time?

My thinking on most topics has changed significantly over the years. Early in my career, I held many conventional views that experience proved wrong. I try to update my beliefs when the evidence changes.

Written by

Sahin Boydas

Serial entrepreneur, #1 angel investor, author of Becoming Top 1%

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