I really like this way of thinking. For entrepreneurs, you could even go far as "all the work" being to subtract all the key risks/unknowns.
It's not about building a product (i.e. writing code or designing/manufacturing physical stuff), it's about making a list of all the reasons your idea won't work and then subtracting them all as cheaply and quickly as possible.
This is definitely something I wish I could back and beat into 20-year old me. It would have saved me so much time and effort between then and now.
It may be true in some cases, but it's just a mental model--and all models are wrong. Some are useful.
Worrying about things out of your control--once you've decided to move forward--is not useful.
If you can't stop yourself from doing that, you're probably not cut out for life at an early stage start up. That's not a dig--it's just means you should seek opportunities that better fit you.
It's not about building a product (i.e. writing code or designing/manufacturing physical stuff), it's about making a list of all the reasons your idea won't work and then subtracting them all as cheaply and quickly as possible.
This is definitely something I wish I could back and beat into 20-year old me. It would have saved me so much time and effort between then and now.