Why Smart Founders Triage Decisions Instead of Moving Fast and Breaking Things

Dalton Bolger, founder and CEO of Penrove, never forgot the cardiac resuscitation call he responded to as a volunteer EMT. Watching a paramedic calmly delegate tasks at exactly the right pace — some immediate, others deliberate — gave him a leadership framework he has carried through healthcare IT and defense software ever since. That single experience became the lens through which he now runs his company.

Urgency Must Match Impact

Bolger argues that most entrepreneurs instinctively assess the likelihood of success but consistently underestimate the consequences of failure. Optimism is a survival trait in business, but applying it uniformly across every decision is where founders get into trouble. Choosing the wrong office artwork costs you an ugly wall. Mishandling a customer concern could cost you ten referrals overnight. Both items can sit on the same Monday morning list, looking deceptively similar in size and urgency.

A Three-Question Triage for Every Decision

His solution is a rapid mental triage applied to every decision: Who or what is affected, and what is the best or worst possible outcome? How likely is each outcome? And when does this decision actually need to be made? Most decisions, he says, should be executed immediately. The monthly newsletter, social copy, a LinkedIn reply — these punish overthinking far more than they punish a quick call. But buried in that same list are typically one or two decisions — a key hire, a first enterprise contract, a pricing change — that quietly demand more careful attention.

Bolger’s core message is simple: the real entrepreneurial skill is not speed alone, but knowing precisely when to accelerate and when to slow down.