Stay on the Bus ⇪

Our aim at Athena is to give you your time back so you can spend it in the ways that matter most.

In each issue of our newsletter you’ll get unique delegation tips.

Goodbye to “Post & Pray”

I recently watched a founder friend burn through $50,000 in recruiter fees trying to hire a Head of Sales.

Three months. 127 interviews. Zero hires.

The job description was the kind that makes me cringe:

"Looking for 10+ years of experience, strong leadership and communication skills”

Pure vanilla. Destined to attract mediocre candidates.

Last year, I watched another friend completely flip the hiring playbook on its head. Instead of posting and praying (like friend #1), they had their executive assistant do something fascinating:

The assistant conducted the initial groundwork of identifying and qualifying candidates by reverse-engineering the paths of top performers and mapping their trajectories, while also systematically searching for potential 'wildcards.’

The result was mind-blowing.

Want to know exactly how they did it? I wrote about their full system here: [blog url]

Sometimes the best candidates don't fit in the usual boxes. You just need a system to find them, and here’s ours.

Stay on the Bus

_{Adapted from Oliver Burkeman}

At Helsinki's main bus station, every single bus leaving from every single platform follows the exact same route through the city.

For the first mile, a bus from Platform 1 makes identical stops as a bus from Platform 24.

Finnish-American photographer Arno Minkkinen uses this mundane fact about public transit to explain a pattern he's watched destroy countless promising artists:

A young photographer starts out excited.

A photographer picks a direction, spends years honing their craft, and hears, “This looks just like so-and-so’s work.” Frustrated, they switch directions — only to repeat the cycle, never staying long enough to create something truly original.

Here’s the secret of the buses: while they all start on the same route, they eventually diverge into unique destinations. But you only get there if you stay on the bus.

This isn’t just about art. If you always chase the unconventional, you may miss out on the deeper, richer forms of uniqueness that come only to those who have the patience to explore the well-trodden path first.

It takes time to build the depth of a long marriage, or the roots of a strong community, or the skills to produce something exceptional. Rushing to find the “unique” path means missing the magic that only comes with patience.

Arno's advice is deceptively simple:

"Stay on the bus. Stay on the bus."