Is Make More the Right Answer?

Everyone keeps saying you need to make more content. Post more. Show up in more places. 100 pieces a day. 800 pieces a day. Just keep creating and the growth will follow.

We tried that. It didn't work the way we expected.

Comparing Chapter 1 to Chapter 10

When you watch Gary V or Hormozi talk about content, you're watching people who are 10 years in, spending millions on content teams. Full production crews. Writers. Editors. Thumbnail designers. Entire departments dedicated to making them look good on camera.

But here's what's easy to miss: when Gary was building Wine Library TV, he wasn't focused on content. He was focused on customers. Flying across the country to personally deliver wine. Making people feel special. Building a business through service, not through posting.

The content came later. The content machine came much later.

When you look at influencers now and think "that's how I grow my business," you're looking at the end state, not the starting conditions. You're comparing your chapter 1 to their chapter 10.

When Content Becomes a Distraction

This is something we've wrestled with at Clipflow. We're two people trying to build a product. And in the same time it takes to record a video, edit it, schedule it, and review how it performed, we could build a feature that actually moves the needle for our users.

That's not hypothetical. That's the trade-off we make every time we choose content over product.

We found ourselves in this weird place where content felt overwhelming. We didn't want to do it anymore because we knew the same hours could go toward talking to users, delivering on promises, shipping features. Those things leave a lasting impression. They generate referrals. They create organic growth that doesn't require us to constantly feed an algorithm.

Content is important. We're not saying it isn't. But it's not the only path to growth, and for early-stage founders, it might not even be the best path.

The Million Paths Problem

There are a million ways to grow a business. Content is one. Referrals are another. Product excellence is another. Word of mouth. Partnerships. Cold outreach. Paid ads. Community building.

The trap is thinking that because content worked for the influencers you follow, it's the thing that will work for you. Their business model is often content itself. Your business model probably isn't.

If you can drive genuine value to your customers, if you can make them successful, they'll talk about you. They'll refer others. That growth is slower to start but compounds in ways that don't require you to keep posting every day.

What We're Actually Doing

We dedicate as much as one day a week to content. That's a lot of time, honestly, maybe 20% of our work week. But we protect it. Ideation, scripting, recording all happen in that block. As time has gone on we've gotten most of the founder time down to a few hours in most weeks, but we leave room for strategy and tweaking.

Everything we can outsource, we do. Editing, thumbnails, scheduling. The math is simple: if my hour is worth more than what it costs to hire someone, I should hire someone. If editing takes me two hours and costs $100 to outsource, that's $50 an hour of my time. Is my hour worth more than $50? Usually, yes. So we outsource.

This isn't about doing less content. It's about doing content in a way that doesn't consume everything else.

Making It Not Feel Pointless

There's another problem with content that nobody talks about: it often feels pointless. You record something, put it out, get a few hundred views, and wonder what the point was.

We felt this acutely when we were batch recording podcasts off random articles just to have something to post. It felt like a chore. Like something we had to do rather than wanted to do. The content wasn't helping anyone specific, so it didn't feel valuable.

The shift came when we started thinking about our actual customers. Not the algorithm. Not the abstract "audience." The specific people who use our product and struggle with the problems we solve.

If you can picture a real person you're helping, someone you've talked to, someone whose struggle you understand, the content stops feeling pointless. You're not feeding an algorithm. You're helping someone. And if only 300 people watch, that's 300 people in a room listening to you talk. That's a lot of people.

The Long Game Mindset

Hormozi's first podcast was him in a closet talking to himself with almost no views. That's where everyone starts. The difference is he kept going for years until it compounded.

If you approach content as a long game, it takes some of the pressure off. What you're doing now isn't supposed to go viral. It's training. You're getting better. You're building a library. Maybe one or two people watch, but that's not the core driver right now.

This mindset makes content sustainable. You're not chasing a dopamine hit from view counts. You're not measuring your self-worth by whether you matched your last video's performance. You're just putting things out there consistently, knowing that the compound effect will kick in eventually.

The Permission You Might Need

If you're an early-stage founder and you feel guilty about not making enough content, maybe this gives you permission to refocus.

Your product matters more than your posting frequency. Your customers matter more than your content calendar. The relationships you build through actual service will outlast any viral moment.

Content is a tool. It's not the only tool. And for many founders, especially those still figuring out product-market fit, it might be the wrong tool to prioritize right now.

Make content if you can sustain it. Make it for your actual customers, not for the algorithm. And don't beat yourself up if you choose to ship a feature instead of posting another video.

The influencers telling you to post more have millions of dollars and entire teams making that possible. You probably don't. And that's fine. Focus on what actually moves your business forward.