The Four Phases of Focus
Do one thing at a time — idea, PMF, then either growth or business model — and shift gears cleanly.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 90%
A startup passes through phases, and in each only one thing matters. You start 'all over the place,' then focus solely on PMF, then — depending on frequency of use — prioritize either growth or business model. The hard skill is shifting the whole company's gears at the right moment rather than staying stuck in the previous phase or doing everything at once.
Origin
Uri Levine, from Chapter 4 of 'Fall in Love with the Problem.' The growth-vs-business-model branching rule is his own heuristic.
Core principles
- 01Focus is not about what you're doing — it's about what you're not doing.
- 02You conceive from many perspectives but must execute only one thing at a time.
- 03High-frequency, word-of-mouth products should chase growth first and monetize later.
- 04Low-frequency products must solve the business model before scaling, because they'll acquire users forever.
How to run it
- 1
Escape the 'all over the place' phase
You start thinking about problem, solution, next year, 10-year vision, and business model all at once. Narrow to one execution priority fast.
Watch out Staying diffuse means you never gain traction on the thing that matters.
- 2
Focus only on product-market fit
In this phase you need product and developers — not sales, business development, or even marketing. There's no product to sell yet.
Pro tip Let a strong product lead define the product and drive the iterations to good-enough.
Watch out If you don't figure out PMF you die; nothing else is worth attention here.
- 3
Branch: growth first or business model first
If the product has high frequency of use, word-of-mouth growth comes by itself — chase growth and monetize later. If frequency is low, solve the business model before scaling.
Pro tip High frequency means every use is a chance to tell someone else; that's what makes word of mouth work.
Watch out Low-frequency products without a business model are 'sentenced to acquire users your entire lifetime.'
- 4
Shift the whole company's gears
When PMF is done, the whole company re-prioritizes — product is no longer the only thing that matters; marketing or monetization now leads.
Pro tip Treat this like finding the clutch: disengage the old phase before engaging the new one.
Watch out Companies that can't find the clutch stay stuck in the previous phase; doing multiple phases at once fails.
In the wild
Waze first assumed it would sell map data and traffic info to governments, but long sales cycles didn't fit a fast mobile-internet company, so they moved to advertising with clear reasoning.
→ Landed on a business model suited to the company's nature rather than the original plan.
Ask 100 people how they heard of Waze and 95–99 say 'someone told me.' A daily-use product gives daily chances to refer; an annual tax product gives one.
→ Confirms the growth-first branch only works for high-frequency products.
Common mistakes
Working on growth or monetization before PMF
Splitting focus before the product creates value stalls the whole company.
Failing to shift gears after PMF
Keeping product development as the only priority once value is locked leaves growth and monetization unbuilt.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders and CEOs deciding where to put the company's single point of focus right now.
Not ideal for
Large corporates that already know value proposition, pricing, and go-to-market and just execute.
From the transcript
“focus is not about what we're doing it's about what we are not doing these are the hard decisions”
“if you have high frequency of use you will end up with a growth coming by itself”
“if you don't have high frequency of you are sentenced to acquire users or customers all of your lifetime”
From the episode
Lessons from a two-time unicorn builder, 50-time startup advisor, and 20-time company board member
Uri Levine (co-founder of Waze)