Tactical insights for first-time founders to outsmart the burn, the churn & the breakdown.

Hey Founder,

I once heard someone say, “If I didn’t have to go to meetings, I’d actually like my job.” Funny… until you think about it.

Because what that really means is the time we’re meant to lead, collaborate, and move things forward… often feels like it’s going nowhere.

That’s not a calendar problem. That’s a leadership problem.

A good meeting isn’t a status update. It’s where you get clarity on priorities, solve real problems, and make decisions that stick. It’s where everyone leaves knowing exactly what’s next, and why it matters.

In this issue, I’m sharing how to run meetings your team will actually thank you for. (Yes, it’s possible.)

Let’s dive in.

— Mariya

At Atlassian, one team finally admitted their weekly status meetings were a waste of time.

So they tried something radical:

In two weeks, they’d saved 5,000 hours across the company.

That’s the equivalent of 2.4 full-time years given back to the team - without hiring, firing, or working weekends.

Almost half the company copied them.

Now, I’m not saying you should delete every meeting. Some absolutely matter. But if they do, they need to be worth it.

Steve Jobs had his own rule at Apple: no PowerPoints in meetings.

He’d just ask: “What’s going on with [X]?”

If the answer wasn’t clear and simple, it meant the person didn’t really understand the problem.

He also made sure one person - the “Directly Responsible Individual” (DRI) - owned every issue. No finger-pointing. No “we’re all in this together” vagueness.

Whether or not those exact rules fit your culture, the point is the same: the meetings were intentional and had a purpose.

Let’s be honest: most meetings flop because they’re aimless, overloaded, or allergic to real honesty.

1. No clear purpose.

A meeting without a reason is just calendar clutter. Without a clear filter, you get half-baked updates, off-topic detours, and the dreaded “just one more thing…”

Here’s the rule: Status reports live in Slack. Meetings are for making decisions.

2. No conflict, no progress.

If everyone nods politely, nothing changes. Healthy tension is where good ideas get sharper and bad ideas get scrapped. The problem? Fatigue and groupthink make people default to agreement. Without a real debate, you keep running with the wrong play.

3. Too many people, too few voices.

Large groups breed “social loafing” - the more people in the room, the more each person assumes someone else will speak up. Junior voices get quiet. Loud voices dominate. And most of the airtime goes to rehashing what everyone already knows.

4. No outcomes, no follow-through.

Always ask: What actually changed because of this conversation? If no one’s accountable for the next steps, you might as well have skipped it. Assign names. Assign deadlines. Follow up.

5. Too long, too draining.

Shorter meetings force sharper thinking. Sheryl Sandberg’s sweet spot was 10 minutes; for most teams, 15–20 works. Every bad meeting is a rehearsal for your culture - showing the team what you’ll allow, what you’ll ignore, and what you’ll excuse.

And the cost isn’t just time. Stanford research shows that constant context-switching and mental fatigue drop focus and accuracy by 23%. That’s a hit you can’t afford.

Every meeting costs actual runway.

Six people × one hour × $75/hour = $450 burned.

Would you spend $450 for this outcome? Would your investor nod along?

And here’s the second shift: treat every meeting like a prototype.

If your product flops, you don’t keep shipping it. You iterate.

Do the same here: design → test → observe → improve.

“That didn’t work? Fine. What’s our v2?”

This mindset gives you (and your team) permission to change the format and co-create better rituals.

If people groan when they hear “meeting,” that’s not resistance — it’s feedback.

1. Purpose → Agenda → Results (PAR)

Google’s formula works: anchor every meeting in these three.

Send them in advance. Start with 3–5 minutes of reading a short written brief (no slides, no speeches) to level the room.

Close with a “one-minute takeaway” round so misalignments don’t fester.

2. The “Silent Storm” brainstorm

Before open discussion, give everyone 5 minutes to jot ideas silently (sticky notes, Miro, Google Doc).

It cuts bias from the loudest voices, makes it safer to contribute, and - according to Carnegie Mellon research - doubles original idea output.

3. Audit your cognitive load

Count how many meetings sit in your team’s prime focus hours (usually 11 am–2 pm).

Protect 3–4 hours mid-morning once a week for deep work.

Push low-stakes check-ins to late afternoons. (Sam Altman blocks mornings for deep work and does his meetings later.)

4. Decision tagging (R/Y/G)

In shared docs, tag decisions as:

🟥 Red = Unresolved

🟨 Yellow = Needs alignment

🟩 Green = Decided

5. Timefulness + kindness

Send docs, decks, or financials before the call. Don’t waste meeting time reading together.

End by asking: “What should we change for next time?”

Make space for quick shoutouts - even small wins - so meetings are remembered as useful, not draining.

A founder asked me last week:

Here’s what I told them - kindly, but directly:

Most teams don’t hate meetings.

They hate:

- Feeling like their time doesn’t matter

- Sitting through an hour and solving nothing

- Getting cut off when they finally speak

- Spending their best brain hours in Zoom purgatory

- Leaving with no clarity and no next steps

The fix isn’t “making meetings more fun.”

It’s designing meetings that actually respect people and their time.

Here is how you can decide whether you should hold a meeting or not.

Send it my way, just hit reply.

1. HBR Meeting Cost Calculator

Before you call your next “quick sync,” run the founder math.
Harvard Business Review has a Meeting Cost Calculator that makes the impact impossible to ignore.

Plug in team size, roles, meeting length, and it shows you the cost in dollars.

Use it before adding any recurring meeting. It’s a sobering filter.

2. A Guide To Effective Meetings

Whether you manage a remote team or lead hundreds in a large organization, you’ll find the right steps here for your needs.

This isn’t just Jobs or Atlassian wisdom.

Reed Hastings built Netflix into one of the most adaptive companies in the world with one rule he refused to break:

“Lead with context, not control.”

Translation:

Meetings weren’t for telling people what to do.

They were for showing the truth - messy, complex, unvarnished picture - so the team could make smart calls on their own.

Strategy memos were written, not presented.

Debate was welcomed.

Every decision had a clear owner and a clear “why.”

Sometimes that context creates friction. Sometimes it fuels momentum. But the constant was this: intentional beats perfect.

And that’s the real moat.

See you next Thursday,

— Mariya

Hit reply and let me know. I read every single one (for real).

Hey, I’m Mariya, a startup CFO and founder of FounderFirst. After 10 years working alongside founders at early and growth-stage startups, I know how tough it is to make the right calls when resources are tight and the stakes are high. I started this newsletter to share the practical playbook I wish every founder had from day one, packed with lessons I’ve learned (and mistakes I’ve made) helping teams scale.

Mariya Valeva

Find me on LinkedIn