#113: The Leverage Question
February 8, 2026 – DevTools Brew #113
I’m Morgan Perry, co-founder of Qovery. Every week, I share the raw, often uncomfortable lessons from building and scaling a tech startup from 0 to 1 and beyond.
This edition is about a question that took me years to take seriously: where to spend my time (that actually creates leverage and fulfilment).
The leverage question
On learning where to spend my time and create most leverage in my life.
It took me more than 15 years to really understand this.
And honestly, I’m still refining it over time.
Like most founders, it’s very easy to become excellent at the average.
Good enough at product.
Good enough at sales.
Good enough at marketing.
Good enough at hiring.
Good enough at ops.
It works but it’s also exhausting.
You end up hitting your own limits.
Feeling average everywhere.
Never truly excellent anywhere.
And never really operating at your highest potential, or your singularity.
What really changed things for me wasn’t doing more or learning even more things.
It was getting clearer on where my time and skills actually creates leverage.
Where things feel natural.
Where decisions move things forward.
Where people rely on me when things are unclear.
This is what people usually call a zone of genius.
(I’ve already written about it here).
I don’t think it’s mystical but truly very practical.
You usually find it by paying attention to a few simple signals:
- where things feel easier for you than for others
- where people ask for your input without you pushing
- where you create clarity when others feel stuck
- where you leave a discussion with more energy than you started with
What I’ve learned about myself
It’s clear that I’m not the best seller.
Not the best product builder.
Not the best marketer either.
But one thing I know I’m particularly good at is connecting dots.
I have a pretty strong analytical side.
I enjoy decision-making with few info and while moving fast.
And I’m comfortable executing when things are still messy.
I (enjoy) spend a lot of time reading market dynamics and people dynamics,
reading + picking up weak signals, and turning all of that into short/ mid-term execution.
I’m usually at my best when:
- the signal is weak and the noise is loud
- the problem isn’t clearly named yet
- people feel something is off but can’t articulate it
- priorities are competing and trade-offs are uncomfortable
- decisions need to be made with imperfect information
- alignment matters more than speed
- someone needs to connect market signals, people dynamics, and execution
- and turn ambiguity into a clear direction others can move behind
That’s where I create the most leverage.
Where things start to move.
Where I feel useful.
Where I perform best.
Stress-testing that leverage somewhere else
For a long time, I admired people who were deeply tied to one industry or one vertical.
I never really felt that way.
What I’ve learned is that I’m fairly industry-agnostic.
I’m comfortable wherever there’s something to crack.
That’s one of the reasons I decided to challenge myself outside of Qovery (a B2B SaaS business) and launch….. a Pilates Reformer studio (yes quite different isn’t 😅)
An absolute different world:
- consumer business
- strong price sensitivity
- local dynamics
- trends, emotions, habits
In SaaS, your product is the software.
Your market is companies.
Your audience is made of experts and professionals.
In a physical, consumer business, the instructor is the product.
Different rules.
Different risks.
But the same questions kept coming back:
- where is real value actually created?
- what really drives retention?
- where does execution break first?
- what matters more than we initially think?
And again, I found myself enjoying the same things:
making bets, taking (fast) decisions, structuring execution, understanding people, and adjusting fast.
That confirmed something important for me:
my leverage isn’t tied to one or any industry but much more to how I operate.
When figured it out, the real shift happened.
The biggest lesson wasn’t “do more of what you’re good at”, but learning to stop spending time where I’ll never be exceptional while other will be.
There are areas where I can improve, for sure.
But there are also areas where others will always be (much) better and happier than me.
Staying too long in that “almost good enough” zone is dangerous.
That’s where progress quietly slows down.
That’s where founders burn out too!
Sometimes, the right move is to:
- delegate what you’re only good enough at
- hire someone better
- step out of the way
- or outgrow your own role
Spend most of your time in your leverage…or go find it!
That’s not quitting.
That’s focus.
That’s fulfilment.
What I keep reminding myself
I don’t need to be great at everything.
I need to be excellent at the few things that compound:
- where I’m effective
- where I’m recognized
- where I feel aligned and fulfilled
- where the company actually needs me “now”
Everything else can (and should) move.
That’s how I stay engaged.
That’s how I avoid boredom.
That’s how the work stays fulfilling.
That’s it for me today and thanks for reading :)
PS:
Same applies in a relationship.
Different kind of work.
Different kind of mirror.
Four months in, I see it more clearly.
Grateful for it. Thanks, L. 🤍
— Morgan
You can reach out to me on LinkedIn.