According to Inc, Bruno Nicoletti, founder and CEO of Hummingbird, has spent the last eight years waking up at 5 a.m. every single day. His system isn’t about grinding more hours, but about creating intentional control before the day’s demands hit. At 7 a.m., he writes a daily task list and ruthlessly prioritizes the three most important tasks that actually move his business forward. He commits to completing those three tasks no matter what chaos the day brings, creating a measurable outcome instead of just a feeling of busyness. Nicoletti argues that this consistent habit of execution, built over years, is what compounds into real business progress, while mistaking motion for momentum quietly kills execution and leads to founder burnout.
The Busyness Trap
Here’s the thing: Nicoletti is absolutely right. I see this all the time, and you probably do too. Entrepreneurs wear exhaustion like a medal. Packed calendars, endless Slack pings, and that frantic, reactive energy feel like momentum. But they’re not. They’re just expensive forms of procrastination. Busyness becomes a safety blanket—a way to avoid the hard, quiet work of deciding what truly matters. Answering emails feels productive. Jumping on a non-essential call feels collaborative. But if revenue is flat and key projects are stalled, what are you really doing? You’re just making noise.
Systems Over Hustle
And that’s the critical shift. Execution isn’t a personality trait you’re born with; it’s a system you build. Nicoletti’s 5 a.m. wake-up isn’t the magic part. The magic is the unbroken chain of days where he forces clarity before the world imposes chaos. Writing down three tasks forces brutal honesty. It asks the uncomfortable question: “If I only do three things today, what must they be to move the needle?” Everything else is secondary. That’s a system. It removes motivation from the equation and replaces it with commitment. When the day goes sideways—and it will—the system ensures the core work gets done. Without it, you’re just putting out fires on a treadmill.
The Real Stakeholder Impact
So what happens when a founder is stuck in busywork mode? It cascades. The team loses clarity because leadership’s focus is scattered. Energy gets wasted on low-leverage activities. Important decisions get delayed because, hey, there are 47 unread emails to tackle first. This isn’t just a founder problem; it’s a business risk. Opportunities slip, execution slows, and burnout becomes inevitable because the effort feels so disconnected from tangible results. For users or clients, this might mean slower innovation, buggier systems, or just a general sense that the company is reactive, not visionary.
Building a Progress Habit
Look, the takeaway is simple but hard: stop measuring your day by how tired you are. Measure it by what you finished. Nicoletti’s method works because it’s stupidly simple. Decide what matters first. Write it down. Do it. The compounding effect of small, daily wins on the right things is what builds a business. Activity keeps you busy. But progress? Progress requires the discipline to ignore the noise and drill into what’s essential. It’s a lesson that applies far beyond startups—it’s for anyone in a leadership role trying to build something that lasts.
