THINKDROP 22: Go, Get Set, On your marks.
- Pierre Stanghellini
- Nov 5
- 5 min read
Or why Motion is the new plan!
🎤 From Me to You
Sometimes, the only way to find your lane is to start running before you know where the track begins.
You might not know this, but I started my sports career as a teenager, running sprints—100 meters.
It wasn’t planned. In 1993, in Congo Brazzaville, I was asked, on a whim, to compete against other schools.
No training, no stance, no technique. Just adrenaline and instinct.
I stepped on the track, waited for the gun… and ran like hell.
I won.
That moment cracked something open.
A year later, I was living in France, already a departmental champion, regional vice-champion, and shortlisted for the national championships.
It happened fast. Not because I was prepared—but because I moved.
I started by running. Not by getting ready. Not by lining up perfectly.
And that’s the same pattern I’ve seen—again and again—in entrepreneurship.
We’re told the sequence should go: on your marks, get set, go.
But in real-life building, it’s the reverse:
Go. Get Set. On Your Marks. Action first. Alignment second. Clarity last.
Below are five insights behind this reversed reality, plus a few ways to start building like a sprinter, not a strategist.
Pierre Stanghellini -
HARi.wtf founder
P.S. The woman in the photo? That’s Marie-José Pérec, the most decorated French Olympic athlete, and my lifelong reference for what a true champion looks like.
🏅 3× Olympic Gold Medalist:
1992 Barcelona – 400m and 1996 Atlanta – 200m & 400m (historic double).
She’s the only woman in history to win both 200m and 400m at the same Olympic Games.
Her style was fluid; her mindset, razor sharp.
My first steps on the track were clumsy. But women like her showed me what greatness could look like.
1. Go: Move Before You Know
Entrepreneurs who thrive don’t wait for perfect conditions.
They launch early, get real-world signal, and refine through impact.
Shipping is more powerful than speculation.
Start before the plan is bulletproof—because it never will be.
👉🏽 Try this: Launch something raw this week.
A Notion doc. A simple offer. A cold email. Get it out there. See what comes back.
💡 And remember: no one cares how perfect it is—only whether it moves them.
2. Get Set: Stability in Motion
You don’t become “ready” before you act—you build readiness as you act.
True preparation happens on the move.
Your audience, your message, and your structure all sharpen through iteration, not isolation.
👉🏽 Try this: Look at one thing you’ve over-prepared. Strip it back. Where can you gather signal instead of polishing in silence?
💡 Add this mantra to your week: Done is directional. Perfect is paralyzing.
3. On Your Marks: Retrospective Positioning
Positioning is earned, not predicted.
Often, you only understand your niche after releasing something into the wild.
What sticks surprises you. What spreads feels different.
That’s the point: clarity lives on the other side of action.
👉🏽 Try this: Review your last 3–6 months. Where did people respond most strongly?
That’s your mark. Double down.
💡 Let this sink in: You don’t need to guess where you fit. You’ll feel it when it clicks.
4. Permissionless Is the New Default
The people who move fast aren’t waiting to be asked.
They self-authorize. They build anyway. They show up loud.
This is the era of creators without gatekeepers. No boardroom.
No blueprint. Just conviction and execution.
👉🏽 Try this: What have you been waiting to be “qualified” for?
Write it down. Then make one move forward without asking anyone’s approval.
💡 If you need a signal, here it is: Go.
5. Resilience > Readiness
Being “ready” is a myth.
The real advantage is staying in the game when things get chaotic, unclear, and hard.
Resilient builders bend, adapt, and rise.
They’re not smarter. They’re just still there when others burn out.
👉🏽 Try this: Add a constraint this week. Half the time. Half the budget.
One take only. Watch your creativity sharpen under pressure.
💡 What if your greatest skill isn’t brilliance, but bounce-back?
🧠 Five Rules from the Reverse Track
Here’s the summary of this flipped mantra:
Go → Action first. You’ll never know enough from the sidelines.
Get Set → Stabilize while moving. Motion builds momentum.
On Your Marks → Clarity follows chaos. Find your footing retroactively.
Skip Permission → If you’re waiting to be chosen, you’re already late.
Resilience Wins → You don’t need to be the most ready. Just the most unshakeable.
🏁 Final Thought: The Future Doesn’t Wait
Whether on a track in Congo or a startup runway in Hong Kong, the principle holds:
The future belongs to those who are already in motion.
If you’re hesitating, over-preparing, waiting for signs… stop.
Sprint. Even if it’s awkward.
Even if you’re not sure. Even if the track’s still blurry.
You will find your lane by running toward it.
And when you look back? You’ll realize you were already on your mark.
Go. Get Set. On Your Marks. Let the world catch up to you.
Do you know what my mantra was back when I ran?
CITO. CITUS. CITISSIME.(Fast. Faster. Fastest.)
I wrote it everywhere—on my shoes, my bags, my notebooks, even my bedroom walls.
It shaped how I moved through life back then.
What’s your mantra now?
Pierre Stanghellini
→ Let’s connect, drop me a line directly at pierre@hari.wtf .
>>>>> Extra gift below from my memory lane…
A witness of truth about being the first to live by the advice I give.
A humble reminder of my previous, short career as an athlete—back in my teenage years.
I don’t say everything I do.
But I do everything I say. (Especially to you.)
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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 Business advice. If you’re building something bold, beautiful, or strange—this is your corner of the internet.
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.
→ Explore more at hari.wtf
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