Every founder has a zombie experiment: a channel, feature or pricing test that is not dead, not alive, and still eating attention every week.
Why experiments get stuck
- No success metric was defined upfront
- Killing it feels like admitting failure
- 'Just one more week' becomes a habit
The rule
If an experiment shows no clear signal after 14 days, you must choose today. There is no third option.
- Kill it: write one sentence about what you learned and free the time.
- Double down: make it your #1 priority with a 24-hour deadline for the next concrete step.
💡 Indecision is a decision — the most expensive one, because it costs runway and focus at the same time.
How to apply it this week
List every open experiment, write its start date next to it and circle anything older than 14 days. Decide on each one before lunch.
Silicon Valley Playbook's Deadlock Breaker does this automatically and won't let a stuck experiment hide in your list.