🤖 #43: Vivian's Deeptech Insider: I used to drown in my to-do list. Here's what finally worked.

Hello and welcome to the #43 edition of the fortnightly Vivian's Deeptech Insider.

I used to drown in my to-do list.

Not occasionally. Every. Single. Day.

As a CEO trying to keep things lean while scaling (and now as Board Advisor with a portfolio of companies), I'd wake up to 50+ tasks screaming for attention. Everything felt urgent. Everything felt important. Nothing actually moved forward.

Revenue-generating work got buried under "urgent" admin. Client strategy sessions pushed aside for invoice chasing. Partnership outreach delayed for email firefighting. Board prep lost in the noise.

I was performing "busy" instead of building the business.

The 5-Minute Morning Ritual That Changed Everything

Now, every morning before I touch my laptop, I grab pen and paper. No screens. Just me and my thoughts.

I dump out every task swirling in my head.

Then I plot them on two axes:

• Effort Required (low to high)

• $$ Value (low to high)

Here's the key: I replaced "impact" with dollar value because it forces brutal honesty.

"Impact" is too vague. Everything feels impactful when you're drowning:

• "This email response is important for the relationship"

• "This admin task is important for compliance"

• "This meeting is important for team morale"

All true. None necessarily high-leverage.

$$ Value makes me ask:

• Will this generate revenue?

• Will it help me help more technical founders?

• Will it move the needle on my March cohort launch?

If I can't attach a dollar value (actual or strategic), it probably belongs in the bottom quadrant.

My Execution Order

I'm a morning person who loves momentum, so:

1. High $$, Low Effort First (Quick Wins)

Examples from today:

• Follow-up with 3 warm Capital Catalyst leads

• Prep for today’s 1:1 board advisory calls

• Set-up GoCardless/Stripe invoicing for new client

Tick, tick, tick. I'm making money before my morning coffee.

These tasks get pushed aside because they're "too easy" or "not urgent." But they're literally the highest ROI actions in my business.

2. High $$, High Effort (The Big One)

This gets my core 2-hour focused block while I'm fresh, so I tackle these before lunch:

• Ensure the post-purchase UX is updated for March cohort

• Brainstorm an event for other fractional providers for startups

• Deep research into updating cohort material with exit options

This is work that builds my business, not just maintains it.

3. Everything Else Follows (Or Doesn't)

Low $$, Low Effort? Batch it or delegate.
Low $$, High Effort? Question if it needs to happen at all.

Even on days when I only complete 5 out of 15 tasks, I know I've done the right 5.

The bottom 10? They can wait, get delegated, or honestly—they weren't that important anyway.

No more guilt. Most importantly? No more overwhelm.

I feel super accomplished every working day.

How This Connects to Exit Clarity

You might think: "Vivian, this is just task prioritisation. What does this have to do with board advisory?"

Everything.

This is exactly how I teach technical founders to think like a board-level CEO.

Most founders operate like this:

• Chasing every grant opportunity or investor call

• Saying yes to every partnership conversation (feels like progress, moves nothing forward)

• Building features because "users asked" (not because they advance your exit)

• Sitting in meetings that don't move strategic milestones

Strategic founders operate like this:

• Know their exit pathway (acquisition? IP licensing? IPO?)

• Ruthlessly prioritise toward that specific outcome

• Say no to high-effort, low-return work—even if it feels impressive

• Build boards that help execute the right 5 things, not all 50

Same framework. Just applied to company strategy instead of daily tasks.

The Tactical Breakdown

Step 1: Brain Dump (2 minutes)

Pen and paper. No laptop.

Write every task bouncing around your head. Don't filter. Just dump.

Step 2: Plot on Two Axes (2 minutes)

Draw your 2x2 matrix:

• X-axis: Effort Required (Low → High)

• Y-axis: $$ Value (Low → High)

Plot each task. Listen to your gut.

Ask yourself:

• "Will this generate revenue or strategic value?"

• "How much effort will this realistically take?"

Be honest. That "quick email" that turns into 2 hours? That's high effort.

Step 3: Rank and Execute (1 minute)

Number tasks in execution order based on your energy patterns.

Morning person? Start with High $$, Low Effort (momentum) → then High $$, High Effort (while fresh).

Afternoon person? Warm up with Low Effort → tackle High $$, High Effort when you peak.

Step 4: Protect Your Top 5

Block time in your calendar with specific outcomes:

Not "work on newsletter" → "Draft newsletter on founder prioritisation (90 min)"

Not "client prep" → "Exit Canvas analysis for [Client] board meeting (2 hours)"

Everything else can float. These 5 are sacred.

How You Can Use This to Audit Company Strategy

Even if this is an individual task priorisation exercise, you can zoom out and apply it to your company strategies to ensure your roadmaps are building towards the right strategic goals.

Your board should be helping you with this.

If board meetings are just reporting metrics instead of helping you prioritise the biggest 5 transformational strategic moves, you don't have a strategy problem.

You have a board problem.

What's your top 5 this week?

Hit reply and tell me: What are the 5 tasks that would actually move your business forward?

Not the 50 things on your list. The 5 that matter.

I read every reply. And if you're realising you don't actually know what your top 5 should be?

That's exactly what Capital Catalyst is designed to fix. Capital Catalyst for recently-funded deeptech and healthtech founders ($250k-5M raised) who need board-level strategic thinking before they can afford a $$$ board advisor. If that's you and you're wrestling with positioning, equity structure, or partnership decisions right now—reply and let's talk. Next cohort kicks off on 9th March.

Until then,

Vivian

P.S. Was this forwarded to you? Read past issues and subscribe here.

P.S.S. Are we connected on LinkedIn? I’m here.

If you have gotten value out of Vivian’s Deeptech Insider, please help us grow by sharing it with your friends!