Essentialism for Founders: Doing Less, Better

Exploring key lessons from Essentialism by Greg McKeown, and how founders can apply its principles to lead with clarity, focus, and intention.

For years, startup culture rewarded one thing above all else: activity. Build fast. Say yes. Take every meeting. Launch more. Scale quickly. “Figure it out later.” It wasn’t just a pace—it was a posture. A mindset that being constantly overwhelmed was somehow a sign of being on the right track.

There’s a point in every founder’s journey when the noise gets so loud, the mission starts to blur. Not because the mission has changed, but because it’s gotten buried under meetings, marketing, client asks, investor pressure, and an inbox that never sleeps.

I know that feeling. I’ve lived that feeling.

There were seasons in my life when I thought being successful meant saying yes to everything. Every opportunity. Every introduction. Every possibility. And for a while, it worked. Or at least, it looked like it did. Until the burnout hit. Until the team started to fragment. Until the clarity that launched the company was lost in a sea of shoulds and maybes.

So when I read Essentialism by Greg McKeown, it didn’t feel like new information. It felt like a remembering. A gentle and powerful return to what I already knew to be true: we don’t build meaningful work by doing more. We build it by doing less—but better.

NOTE: RCY Labs has curated a list of 52 books for Founders (2025 Edition) who care about business profitability AND impact. Don't have time to read all 52 books? We've got you! We'll read them for you, and give you the summaries, audio casts, outlines, and frameworks to apply to your business ... all FREE in the Founders' Lab Community (on Slack). Join here.

The Invitation to Pause

Essentialism begins with a simple but radical truth: if you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will. And for founders, that truth hits differently. Because when you’re the one building the thing, every pull on your time can feel like a lifeline. Like something you should say yes to. But the invitation of Essentialism is to pause—to slow the swirl, silence the noise, and choose on purpose.

I remember when I first started pulling back from “shoulds.” I had just come off of a string of major projects. The kind where everything felt urgent and everyone needed something. My days were filled, my nights were short, and my mind was spinning. But the real cost wasn’t just fatigue—it was that I couldn’t hear myself think. And if I couldn’t hear myself, how could I possibly lead anyone else?

McKeown reminds us that we always have a choice. And that clarity doesn’t come from pushing harder—it comes from stepping back.

The Essentialist Mindset

Essentialism teaches us that almost everything is nonessential.

The Essentialist doesn’t just manage their time better—they see the world differently. They understand that almost everything is noise. That the value of something isn’t in how loud it shouts for attention, but in how deeply it aligns with purpose.

McKeown calls it “the disciplined pursuit of less, but better.” And he’s clear—this isn’t about doing nothing. It’s not about minimalism for aesthetic’s sake. It’s about becoming radically selective about what we give our time, energy, and attention to. Because everything has a cost. Especially in leadership.

In my work with founders, I see this all the time. So many brilliant minds, pulled in ten different directions, trying to do it all—and burning out in the process. But the most grounded leaders I know have something in common: they’re willing to disappoint others in order to stay true to what really matters. That’s not selfishness. That’s stewardship.

The most successful founders I know aren’t the ones chasing everything. They’re the ones who know what to ignore.

The Trap of Reactive Leadership

One of the things I’ve noticed—whether I’m coaching a founder through brand strategy or helping a leadership team realign—is how easy it is to fall into reaction mode. The client needs this. The platform changed that. A competitor launched something new. The team has questions. The inbox is full.

And suddenly, a day that started with purpose ends in pure reaction. No time to think. No space to lead. Just survival.

McKeown’s message lands hard here: if you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.

The same is true for your company. If leadership doesn’t clearly define what’s essential, the market, the team, the product backlog, and even well-meaning advisors will define it for you.

The Four Shifts of Essentialism

McKeown breaks Essentialism down into four parts—each one deeply relevant to the founder journey.

1. Essence: Choice Over Default

This is where it begins: recognizing that we always have a choice. Even when the calendar is full, even when expectations are high. The Essentialist sees every commitment as a conscious decision—not a default.

McKeown writes that “if it isn’t a clear yes, it’s a clear no.” That one sentence became a filter for my decisions, and honestly, for my peace. Not everything needs to be acted on. Not every email needs to be answered. Not every idea needs to be built. Sometimes the most courageous thing we can do is delete the thing that no longer aligns.

Elimination creates energy. It restores momentum. And it re-centers the mission when things start to drift.

2. Explore: Make Space to See Clearly

We often treat stillness as a luxury. For founders, it’s essential.
This part of the book speaks to the power of reflection—taking time to pause, observe, and actually discern what matters.

Because without space, everything feels urgent. And when everything is urgent, the important gets buried.

Some of my best ideas—my most strategic shifts—came not during a launch or a sprint, but in quiet. On walks. In early mornings. In deep, uninterrupted thought. But creating that space isn’t accidental. It’s a discipline. One most founders have to fight to protect.

3. Eliminate: Let Go Without Guilt

Here’s where it gets uncomfortable. Because it’s not enough to know what matters. Essentialism asks us to remove what doesn’t. And not just the obvious clutter—the deep, emotional commitments. The projects we’ve outgrown. The ideas we keep trying to fix because we once believed in them.

There’s a story I often share when coaching startup founders. One season, I looked at my calendar and realized that even though everything on it was technically “mine,” almost none of it reflected who I wanted to be. I had filled my days without leaving any space to build what I deeply cared about. I had to eliminate ruthlessly. Not because I didn’t care. But because I did.

This shift is especially critical for founders. Because the ability to say no—clearly, confidently, and without guilt—is what creates the space to build something meaningful.

4. Execute: Design for Ease, Not Grind

The last part of McKeown’s framework is about execution—but not in the way we’re taught to think about it. It’s not about pushing through. It’s about making space so that the essential becomes the path of least resistance. Routines. Rituals. Boundaries. These aren’t tools for control—they’re tools for clarity.

Execution in Essentialism isn’t about force. It’s about flow. It’s designing systems, habits, and routines that make the right actions automatic—and the wrong ones harder to slip into.

For me, this has looked like reimagining how I spend my mornings. How I structure my team. How I design workflows not just for efficiency, but for energy. Because execution isn’t just about getting things done—it’s about doing the right things, in the right way, with the right rhythm.

And that rhythm is sacred.

Why This Matters Now

Founders are in a moment. We’re questioning old models of hustle. We’re craving something more sustainable, more human, more true. Essentialism doesn’t promise overnight results. It offers something better: a way of building that’s rooted in depth, not just scale.

When I look at the founders I serve, the ones I mentor, and the ones I build alongside, the ones who are thriving are not the ones doing the most. They’re the ones who have done the work to get clear. Clear on who they are. Clear on why they’re here. And clear on what they’re willing to release in order to build what matters most.

If you’ve been feeling stretched thin, overwhelmed, or unsure what to let go of—this book, and this practice, is a lifeline.

A Final Word

Essentialism doesn’t ask us to do less for the sake of it. It asks us to protect the things that truly matter—and to stop giving everything else so much power.

This is legacy work. It’s founder work. It’s human work.

So wherever you are today—at the start of a new venture, in the thick of scaling, or recovering from a season of burnout—I hope this reminds you that less can truly be more. That clarity is worth fighting for. And that your why is too important to be buried beneath a pile of unchecked boxes.

Let’s build with intention.

Let’s eliminate with courage.

Let’s lead essentially.

NOTE: RCY Labs has curated a list of 52 books for Founders (2025 Edition) who care about business profitability AND impact. Don't have time to read all 52 books? We've got you! We'll read them for you, and give you the summaries, audio casts, outlines, and frameworks to apply to your business ... all FREE in the Founders' Lab Community (on Slack). Join here.