The Art of Having Strong Opinions, Loosely Held: A Builder's Guide to Intellectual Growth

Ever caught yourself stubbornly defending an idea that later turned out to be completely wrong? Yeah, me too. As someone who's built multiple products and failed at quite a few (looking at you, podcast shorts tool), I've learned that the secret sauce to growth isn't just having strong opinions - it's being ready to ditch them when they don't serve you anymore.

The Paradox of Strong Opinions

Here's the thing: you need strong opinions to build anything worthwhile. Without conviction, you'll get nowhere. But here's the mindfuck - you also need to be ready to throw those opinions in the trash when evidence proves them wrong.

As a founder and podcast host (#buildinpublic with Pippo and Paul), I've seen this pattern play out countless times. Builders get so attached to their ideas that they become their identity. That's a recipe for disaster, my friend.

The Learning Loop: Build, Break, Pivot

The real skill isn't just forming strong opinions - it's developing what I call the 'learning loop':

Form strong opinions based on available data
Act on those opinions with conviction
Watch for signals that you might be wrong
Have the balls to admit when you're wrong
Pivot or persevere based on evidence, not ego

The Tricky Part: Knowing When to Quit

But here's where shit gets complicated - knowing when to quit. When I was building PostFlow (shameless plug: it helps content creators with ideation and scheduling), there were countless moments where I had to decide: push through or pivot?

Sometimes you quit too early. Sometimes you hang on too long. There's no perfect formula, and anyone who tells you otherwise is full of it.

Learning Through Doing

You can read all the fancy blog posts you want (yes, including this one), but there's only one way to develop this skill: by doing the damn thing.

It's like learning to ride a bike - you're gonna fall, you're gonna look stupid, and you're gonna get some scrapes. But that's how you learn.

The Practical Framework

Want some actual practical advice? Here's what's worked for me:

Set clear success metrics upfront
Define your 'quit conditions' before you start
Document your decision-making process
Get feedback from users/customers early and often
Be honest with yourself about sunk costs

A Personal Example

When I started building PostFlow, I had strong opinions about what content creators needed. Some were right (like solving the ideation and scheduling problems), and some were hilariously wrong.

The key wasn't being right from the start - it was being willing to listen, learn, and adapt. And yes, sometimes that meant completely scrapping features I'd spent weeks building.

The Growth Mindset

This isn't just about building products - it's about personal growth. Whether you're coding an app, starting a podcast, or learning AI engineering (another thing I'm passionate about), the principle remains the same.

The Bottom Line

Having strong opinions isn't about being right - it's about having a clear direction while maintaining the flexibility to change course when needed.

Remember: The goal isn't to be right. The goal is to get better.

Philipp is the founder of Reruption and host of #buildinpublic podcast. When he's not helping enterprises build new business models or talking about growth hacks, you might find him mountain biking in Mallorca. Want to see these principles in action? Check out PostFlow - your first 30 scheduled content pieces are free.