Issue 167, Part Time CEO Newsletter

Hey, it's Dhiren 👋,

At yesterday’s Part-Time CEO coffee meetup, I asked a simple question:

“What’s the most complicated part of your business to explain?”

Simple question. Not-so-simple answers.​
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The answers explained why so many founders lose deals to worse competitors.
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🧠 You Can't Explain Your Way to a Sale

Different founders around the table.

Health coach. Financial planner. Interior designer.

Different industries.
Same answer.

Each of them competes against something faster.

Fad diets promising transformation in 14 days.
Crypto schemes promising returns next month.
AI design tools promising layouts in minutes.

Not because those options work better.
Because their value is obvious immediately.

They're all trying to explain why the slow path is better.
And they're all losing.

It's like asking someone to marry you on the first date because you're "worth the wait."

Doesn't matter if it's true.
They haven't felt enough to believe you yet.

You're asking people to trust the long game before they've experienced a single moment of value.

And strangers don't leap.

These founders weren't losing because their work takes time.
They were losing because they were asking for patience before earning trust.
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🧠 Patience Is a Timing Problem

Listening to them, I remembered a clip from a conversation between Nikhil Kamath and Elon Musk.

Nikhil referenced delayed gratification.
Even has it tattooed on his arm.

To which Elon said something that stuck with me.

He’s right.
But here’s the problem

When you explain why your work takes time, you're asking the prospect to delay gratification.

That's a hard sell in a world of instant everything.

Social media trained us to expect dopamine in seconds.
AI promises answers in milliseconds.

You're competing against that.
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Not with a better argument.
With a longer timeline.

That's a fight you can't win by explaining.
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The sale happens in seconds.
The transformation happens in months.

Two different moments.
Two different jobs.

Most founders blur these two moments.

And they lose both the sale and the client.

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Your Turn

Here's the reflection I want you to sit with.

Think about the last prospect who ghosted you.

Did they leave because your work takes time?

Or because you were asking them to delay gratification before giving them a reason to?

🧭 Know a founder who needs to hear this?
Forward this. It could be the push they need.
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📢 Dhiren’s Updates

Over the last two years, I've built a coaching business that works.

And I've noticed something along the way.

The business of coaching is completely different from the principles of coaching.

Being a great coach doesn't mean you know how to package what you do. Price it. Sell it. Deliver it without burning out.

So I'm designing a live workshop for coaches who want to create their signature product.

Still early. But if this sounds like something you need or you know a coach who does, reply and let me know.

📌 Dhiren’s Pick of the Week

The full conversation between Nikhil Kamath and Elon Musk.

The delayed gratification moment is just one part of it. The rest covers everything from building rockets to managing risk to thinking in first principles.

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Well worth your time and attention.
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ps: did someone forward this to you?​
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Cheers,