Let’s Do It: A Short Manifesto for the Overcommitted

There’s a peculiar optimism embedded in the English language: pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. The phrase is now Silicon Valley gospel—synonymous with grit, frugality, and making something from nothing. Originally, though, it was a joke. A 19th-century absurdity. The physical act of lifting oneself by one’s own bootstraps is impossible. That, of course, is what makes it such a perfect motto for founders.

You tell yourself: yes, I can rewrite the rules of healthcare innovation, host industry-shifting events, build software, secure partnerships, and handle the plumbing in my office—all before lunch. It’s absurd. But it’s also... kind of the point.

Bootstrapping isn’t just a funding model. It’s a worldview. It says: if not me, who? If not now, when? It’s the voice in your head that responds to “somebody should do this” with an aggressive “great, how do we start, and what’s your availability next week?”

Which brings me to the more tragicomic side of hustle culture: The Vanishing Co-Conspirator™. You know the type. You have a coffee or a call. It goes astonishingly well. Ideas spark. Mutual admiration flows. Heads nod. Someone says, “Yes, let’s definitely follow up on this.” And then—radio silence. Your inbox becomes a mausoleum for promising conversations. Every “we’ll be in touch soon” is a future ghost.

My approach, naturally, is to overcompensate. I follow up the same day. Sometimes within hours. I offer three calendar slots. I share notes. Action points. Sometimes even a next step nobody asked for. Apparently, this comes across as aggressive. “Intense,” I’ve been told. And fair enough. But in my defense: I am trying to make things happen. If we’ve just agreed that an idea is good, interesting, and potentially transformative, why would we wait?

The answer, often, is culture. Across the Atlantic, the Americans have built an entire economy on the power of follow-through. They meet, they pitch, they follow up, they ask. Europe, by contrast, suffers from chronic conversational caution. We love a good exchange of ideas—but we treat action as a separate and often optional phase. It’s the polite equivalent of ghosting: we nod, we smile, and then... nothing. We need, frankly, a little more impatience.

But let’s be honest: this “let’s do it” attitude comes with costs. The danger isn’t just burnout—it’s spreading yourself too thin, too fast. You sign up for too many things. You say yes too quickly. Suddenly, your week is an elaborate exercise in time-zone mathematics and logistical regret. You become that person who was “super excited” but never followed through—because you were busy following through on five other things.

Still, I’d rather be occasionally overwhelmed than perennially inert. Momentum, once lost, is difficult to recover. Energy decays. And there is no follow-up email for missed opportunity.

So here’s the credo: when in doubt, default to action. If someone says, “This is a great idea,” respond with: “Fantastic—what’s the next step, and who’s joining us?” Don’t wait for alignment. Create it. Don’t ask for permission. Ask for bandwidth.

And if you find yourself bootstrapping alone, pulling at those impossible straps with one hand while writing follow-up emails with the other—just know: you’re in good company.

Even if nobody replies.