Focus Until Mechanical

A framework for how to think about focus and time in business, based on the story of Petroleum Exports (PetEx), a highly profitable Scottish software company.

The Power of Focus + Time

• Takes significant time to turn an idea into a profitable "machine"
• PetEx took 15 years to reach $10M in revenue
• After establishing core business mechanics, attention can be diversified
• Company needs sustained focus even if founder's attention shifts

Key Success Elements

• Highly specialized technical focus

  • Complex software for oil/gas operations
  • Only 420 customers but $78M revenue
  • $67M profit on $78M revenue
  • £911,000 revenue per employee

• Patient Capital Deployment

  • Low capital requirements once established
  • Able to pay out most profits as dividends
  • £41M in dividends to owner
  • Focused on employee costs as main expense

Decision Framework for Long-Term Focus

• Ask "Will I be happy in 10-20 years if I started this today?"

  • Answer is often murky
  • Example: Bezos thought Amazon would max at $100M revenue
  • HubSpot early team thought $1B valuation was stretch goal

• Evaluate Risk of Slow Failure

  • Failing slowly worse than quick failure
  • Wasting time more costly than losing money
  • Need intuition for when to persist vs pivot
  • "Small leak will sink great ship" - Franklin

Signs of Progress

• Early stage companies are naturally "leaky"

  • HubSpot had 30% customer churn initially
  • Took 5 years to get churn under control
  • Focus on making "happy customers" not "customers happy"
  • Product adoption and stickiness takes time

• Power Law of Features

  • 90% of stickiness from 10% of features
  • Don't add 100 features
  • Find working features and double down
  • Team sport to reduce churn across company

The framework emphasizes that significant business success often requires intense, sustained focus over many years before the operation becomes mechanical enough to diversify attention.