If you’ve ever met with me, chances are I was on time. Today, I thought I’d share the little trick I use to ensure I’m never late.

I fine myself $10 for every minute I’m late. Being late costs me $600 an hour.

Telling myself “Don’t be late!” is one thing. Putting an actual price on it is quite another.

To be sure I make it on time, I usually dial into the meeting 2 minutes early. Then there’s time for software slowness (I’m looking at you, Microsoft Teams).

Where I Stole the Idea From

I got this idea from Ben Horowitz at a16z. In his excellent book The Hard Thing About Hard Things, he mentions that at a16z, the partners are fined $10 for every minute they’re late to a founder meeting.

Hey, maybe I’m not an a16z partner. But my attitude is that if I don’t learn how to do this job properly on a small scale now, I won’t know what to do in the future either.

We are what we practice.

Showing Respect

Why is it so important to me to show up on time? It comes down to showing respect for the founders I meet with.

I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about VC’s making founders wait for 30 minutes or longer. The VC acts like a king and treats the founder like a poor supplicant.

Startup founders are some of the busiest people in the world. They don’t have time to sit around waiting for me to show up.

When someone is on time to meet you, they’re showing respect for you and your time. That’s something I want to communicate each and every day.

What Happens to the Money?

So if I’m fining myself, where does the money go?

I find a homeless person on the street and give it to them. So far, I’ve only paid out $10. I was late to a meeting with a great SaaS founder — sorry about that Anastasiia!

I like that at least somebody benefits from my mistake. Although at this rate, I probably ought to just start making some donations.

Wrap-Up

It’s amazing how little tricks can help us modify our behavior. I’ve found that putting a price on tardiness works great for me.

Give it a try — I bet you’ll find yourself magically on time for everything!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

More from the blog:

Small Investors Lead to Big Investors

Elon at the All-In Summit

Backing One of the World’s Fastest Growing Startups | The Mr. Bray Labs Podcast

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