In the Marine Corps, they have a decision-making principle that sounds completely backward to most business owners:
They learned this the hard way. In combat, waiting for perfect intelligence, perfect conditions, or perfect plans gets people killed. A good-enough plan executed with speed and decisiveness beats a perfect plan executed too late.
They call it the 70% solution—make your move when you have 70% of the information you wish you had.
Jeff Bezos brought this same principle to Amazon. He calls it “high-velocity decision making.” His rule: Most decisions should be made with about 70% of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90%, you’re probably being slow.
He built one of the world’s most valuable companies on imperfect but fast decisions.
Meanwhile, in the syndication world, I watch operators wait for 100% certainty before making any move at all. They’re still tweaking their underwriting model while deals pass them by. They’re perfecting their pitch deck while other syndicators are closing their second deal.
They’re aiming so long that they never fire.
You’ll Never Feel “Ready” (And That’s The Point)
Here’s what nobody tells you about that feeling of being “not quite ready yet”: It never goes away.
Talk to syndicators who’ve done 20 deals. They’ll tell you they still don’t feel completely ready for the next one. Every deal is different. Every market cycle brings new challenges. Every investor conversation uncovers questions you haven’t thought of.
If you’re waiting to feel ready, you’re waiting for a feeling that doesn’t exist.
The dirty secret of every successful syndicator? They started before they were ready. They figured it out as they went. They learned by doing, not by preparing to do.
Think about it: How do you learn to ride a bike? You can read about balance, study the physics of angular momentum, watch YouTube videos about proper pedaling technique. But until you get on the bike and wobble down the street, you don’t know how to ride.
The wobbling IS the learning.
The Compound Effect Nobody Talks About
Here’s what happens when you take imperfect action:
Deal #1: You make mistakes. Lots of them. Your investor presentation is rough. Your underwriting has gaps. You underprice your time. You learn 50 things that no book could teach you.
Deal #2: You fix the biggest mistakes from Deal #1. You still make new mistakes, but they’re more sophisticated mistakes. Your confidence is building. Investors notice you actually have experience now.
Deal #3: You have systems. You have relationships. You have credibility. What took you three months on Deal #1 takes three weeks now.
Deal #4: Brokers call you first. Investors ask when your next deal is coming. You’re not perfect, but you’re effective.
Meanwhile, the syndicator still perfecting their business plan? They’re on Draft #47 of their executive summary. They have a beautiful theoretical business with zero actual results.
One is building expertise. The other is building spreadsheets.
The 70% Rule for Syndicators
So what does “70% ready” look like in syndication? Here’s a practical framework:
You need to know enough to:
- Analyze a deal (not perfectly, but competently)
- Understand the legal structure (not every detail, but the basics)
- Communicate value to investors (not like a Fortune 500 CFO, but clearly)
- Manage the property or hire someone who can (not flawlessly, but responsibly)
You DON’T need to:
- Have every possible investor question answered in advance
- Wait for ideal market conditions that may never come
- Master every aspect of underwriting before making an offer
- Have your entire business systemized before doing Deal #1
Think of it this way: You need to get the big things right, not every tiny detail perfect.
The Difference Between Strategic Speed and Recklessness
Now, let me be clear: I’m not advocating for recklessness.
“Ready, fire, aim” doesn’t mean “fire randomly in all directions.”
It means:
- Ready: Get the fundamentals in place (basic knowledge, basic team, basic plan)
- Fire: Take action while the opportunity exists
- Aim: Adjust based on real feedback, not imaginary problems
The “aim” part is crucial. You’re constantly calibrating based on actual results, not theoretical concerns.
Recklessness is buying a property without running numbers. Strategic speed is running good-enough numbers and moving forward knowing you’ll refine as you go.
Recklessness is raising money without understanding SEC regulations. Strategic speed is understanding the basics and having a securities attorney review your work.
Recklessness is winging it. Strategic speed is prepared improvisation.
The Questions That Reveal Overthinking
How do you know if you’re overthinking versus genuinely unprepared? Ask yourself:
Have I been “preparing” for more than six months without taking concrete action? If yes, you’re overthinking.
Am I adding complexity that investors don’t actually care about? Your 47-tab spreadsheet might make you feel sophisticated, but investors care about: Can you find good deals? Can you execute? Can you be trusted?
Would doing this imperfectly teach me what I need to know to do it better? If the answer is yes, then doing it imperfectly IS the preparation.
Is my “preparation” actually productive procrastination? Building the perfect website, designing the ideal logo, trying to predict every possible scenario—these feel like progress but they’re usually fear in disguise.
What’s the actual downside of moving forward now? Not the imaginary catastrophe your brain invents at 2 AM. The real, probable downside. Often it’s much smaller than the cost of waiting.
The Education You Can’t Buy
Every syndicator I know tells the same story: “I learned more in my first deal than in all my years of preparation.”
Because here’s what actually happens when you do a deal:
You discover which problems are real and which were phantoms. That investor question you spent weeks preparing for? Nobody asks it. That issue you never considered? Three people bring it up.
You build real relationships instead of theoretical networks. The broker who wouldn’t return your calls when you were “thinking about” investing? He calls you back when you have money committed and need a property.
You build real confidence through action. There’s something powerful about turning theory into practice.
You create evidence instead of promises. Your next investor doesn’t have to trust your projection of success. They can see your actual track record, however imperfect.
The Perfect Time That Already Passed
Here’s the uncomfortable truth about waiting for the perfect time: It already passed.
The perfect time was yesterday, before another day of opportunity passed. Or last year, when prices were lower. Or five years ago, when the market was different.
But here’s the liberating truth: The second-best time is right now. Today. With what you have. With what you know. With all your imperfections.
Because every day you wait, you’re not getting more ready. You’re getting further behind.
That deal you’re “not quite ready for”? Someone else—someone who isn’t any more ready than you but is willing to act—is closing it right now.
Your Move
What would you do this week if you knew that imperfect action was better than perfect planning?
Would you:
- Make an offer on that property you’ve been analyzing for weeks?
- Call that investor you’ve been meaning to contact?
- Send that email to your network about what you’re doing?
- Schedule that coffee meeting with a successful syndicator?
- Start that investor newsletter you’ve been planning?
Pick one. Not the perfect one. Just one. And do it this week.
Not when you’re ready. Not when conditions are perfect. Not when you have all the answers.
Now. Imperfectly. But actually.
Because here’s what I know after watching hundreds of syndicators: The ones who succeed aren’t the ones with perfect plans. They’re the ones who start before they’re ready and figure it out as they go.
The question isn’t whether you’re ready. The question is whether you’re willing.
What imperfect action will you take this week?