When Traction Feels Slow, but It’s Still Traction

Some days, I feel like we’re crawling.

Three onboarding calls this week. A couple last week.

We are making progress, but it feels… slow.

Like watching grass grow, but checking every five minutes.

And I’ll be honest, there is this weird guilt that comes with it.

Am I doing enough?

Are we moving fast enough?

Why does it feel like everyone else is on rocket fuel and we’re still at the gate?

The Emotional Marathon (Again)

This is the part no one tells you about.

It’s not just the grind… the hours, the bugs, the late-night Slack messages, the ChatGPT chats.

It’s the emotional marathon of caring so much and still feeling like you’re running in place.

The anxiety creeps in.

You see other founders posting wins on LinkedIn.

You start comparing your behind-the-scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel.

It’s a recipe for feeling stuck.

What’s Actually Working

Here’s what I’m reminding myself:

Getting off the screen helps. 

When I’m overwhelmed, I step outside. Even a walk to get coffee resets my brain.

Talk to someone. 

Mentors, advisors, friends, and sometimes you just need to say out loud, “Hey, this is hard.” Turns out, everyone nods.

Contact me if you feel this way. I am glad I am part of a mastermind support group with fellow entrepreneurs. I love to support anyway I can.

Pipeline instability is normal. 

It’s early. The pipeline is not stable. That’s not failure, it’s just the stage we are in.

Don’t play the comparison game. 

LinkedIn is like the new Techcrunch, “Keeping up with the Joneses” poison for founders. Everyone’s path is different.

What I am Actually Doing

Keep showing up. Even when it feels slow.

Keep booking calls. Even when it feels repetitive.

Keep tweaking the process with my co-founder, even when it feels like we’re having the same conversation for the tenth time.

Collect more data points. The more calls, the more feedback, the more we learn.

Patience Is a Skill

I want to go faster. Of course I do.

But I’m learning (slowly, ironically) that patience is part of the job.

I am learning to be present as best as I can.

Experience the path.

The small wins matter. The slow weeks matter.

It’s all compounding, even if it doesn’t feel like it yet.

If you’re in this phase too, just know:

Slow traction is still traction.

It’s not glamorous, but it’s real.

And it’s building the foundation for everything that comes next.

Read more about my startup journey: https://growthwithgary.com/archive?tags=Startup

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- Wednesday: Memes on product, AI, and marketing
- Thursday: tactical growth tips
- Friday: raw accounts of my startup journey

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I am Gary Yau Chan. 3x Head of Growth. Product Growth specialist. 26x hackathon winner. Building ClarityInbox. I write about #PLG and #BuildInPublic. Please follow me on LinkedIn, or read about what you can hire me for on my Notion page.