THINKDROP 2- The Strategy of Slow
- Pierre Stanghellini
- Apr 21
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 22
Because not every edge comes from speed.
In a culture that worships speed, there's power in slowing down.
While the world optimizes for hustle, instant growth, and scale-at-all-costs, a different kind of founder is emerging—one who chooses depth, friction, and patience on purpose.
This week’s Thinkdrop is for those builders, creatives, and thinkers who aren’t afraid to pause, zoom out, and rethink the tempo of how they grow.
Because sometimes the most radical thing you can do... is move slow.
Happy Monday!
Pierre Stanghellini
HARi.wtf agency - Founder
1. Slow Is a Feature, Not a Flaw
Why “move fast and break things” no longer moves us
The cult of speed has produced a sea of lookalike startups. But now, a new wave of founders is embracing slowness as a strategy—intentionally designing for fewer updates, deeper value, and more deliberate creation. It's not just countercultural, it's effective: slower companies often outlast the hype cycles that fast ones get trapped in.
Slowness, when intentional, becomes a signal: this isn’t rushed, this isn’t noisy, and this matters.
Further reading:
2. Slow Thinking Is Better Strategy
The most valuable insights don’t come in a rush
Strategic depth requires time. Rushed decisions often reflect assumptions, not understanding. In contrast, slow thinkinghelps uncover better questions, challenge defaults, and reveal more original directions. Great strategy is less about speed and more about seeing the full picture—without flinching.
Further reading:
3. Slower Brands Build Deeper Trust
The quiet brands are the ones we remember
While most brands fight to be louder, faster, and everywhere at once, some choose a quieter path—and win. These companies aren’t chasing algorithms. They’re crafting meaning. With fewer product drops, minimalist content, and a commitment to timeless values, they cut through noise by not contributing to it.
Further reading:
4. Friction as Filter
When slowing users down is actually a smart move
Most digital products aim to remove all friction. But what if some friction is exactly what’s needed to attract the right people—and filter out the wrong ones?
From multi-step onboarding to handwritten community welcomes, these intentional moments of effort create buy-in, raise perceived value, and signal: this isn’t for everyone. That’s the point.
Further reading:
5. Not Slow. Seasonal.
Work in rhythms, not in burnout loops
Nature doesn’t scale endlessly. Neither should you.Seasonal thinking helps you build in cycles—launch, pause, reflect, rest. This doesn’t mean less ambition—it means smarter ambition, timed for endurance, not exhaustion.
What would your business look like if you operated more like a creative farm than a perpetual treadmill?
And What if you worked in seasons, not sprints?
Think like a farmer, not a founder:
Plant → Nurture → Pause → Harvest
Build → Rest → Reflect → Rebuild
It’s not just slower. It’s cyclical.
And it might be the mindset shift that actually makes sustainable growth possible.
6. The New Cult Brands
Obsession > Optimization
The most magnetic brands aren’t scaled—they’re felt.Cult brands create identity. They tell stories that people want to belong to. They don’t rely on mass-market tricks—they create deep emotional resonance with a few, and let the movement grow sideways from there.
These brands aren’t in a rush. They’re building myth, not just market share.
Further reading:
7. Designing for the Fringe
Innovation hides in weird use cases
Edge cases aren’t outliers—they’re insights. The most disruptive ideas often come from serving communities, constraints, or behaviors that mainstream brands ignore. When you build for the fringe, you often discover what the center wants next.
Further reading:
8. Unbundling Brilliance
Breaking the big down into better
From media to medicine, from education to finance—industries are being unbundled into micro-offerings, niche tools, and purpose-built solutions. Smaller isn’t just leaner; it’s often smarter, more flexible, and more aligned with how people actually live and work.
Further reading:
9. Working Without a Map
Strategy in motion beats perfection on paper
Throw out the 5-year plan. Some of today’s most adaptive startups are guided by short sprints, emergent thinking, and live feedback loops. In a world that changes every quarter, clarity comes not from fixed roadmaps—but from knowing how to listen and respond.
Further reading:
10. Exit Is Not the Goal
What if growth wasn’t the only way out?
What if you built something to keep, not just to sell? Not every founder dreams of unicorn status. Some optimize for joy, autonomy, sustainability, or impact. This shift toward post-growth business thinking is quiet—but growing.
Further reading:
About the Creator
Pierre Stanghellini is a creative strategist, systems thinker, and curator of mental rabbit holes. He created Thinkdrop Weekly to feed the brains that don’t want the same old startup advice. If you’re building something bold, beautiful, or strange—this is your corner of the internet.
Connect on email ( pierre@hari.wtf) and on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/pierrestanghellini
About HARi.wtf
HARi.wtf is a creative strategy studio for businesses that hate business-as-usual.
Born in Hong Kong in 2017, we work with restless founders, operators, and teams who’d rather break things thoughtfully than grow them blandly. We don’t do generic decks or bloated strategies—we build clarity, guts, and traction.
From street-level restaurants to global brands, from Asia to Europe, we help shape ideas that move fast when it matters, and slow when it counts.
If your business has soul but needs sharper thinking, you’ll probably like what we’re up to.
→ Explore more at hari.wtf
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