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This week I spent 45 minutes on work that nobody needed.

A collaborator reached out about a project. My team and I were discussing internally how to handle it: figuring out scope, timeline, who would take point, standard stuff. We hadn't responded yet because we weren't ready to commit to anything concrete.

Meanwhile, the collaborator assumed our silence meant we weren't doing it. So they hired someone else.

When they finally told me, I'd already finished the work.

Here's the thing: I wasn't mad at them. They made a reasonable call. But the whole situation could have been avoided with one sentence: "Hey, just so you know—I'm going to get someone else on this if I don't hear back by Friday."

That's it. Problem solved.

If you're managing any kind of creative business—booking shows, coordinating releases, working with producers, running a label, hiring session players—you're fighting a war on two fronts:

Front One: You need time to coordinate internally before you can commit externally. You can't say yes until you've checked with your bandmates, your manager, your engineer, your budget. Responding too early with half-baked information creates confusion and costs credibility.

Front Two: Silence gets misread. Fast. The person waiting on you doesn't know you're figuring things out behind the scenes. They just know they haven't heard from you. So they move on, hire someone else, book another artist, or assume you're flaking.

Most advice picks a side. "Communicate early and often!" or "Don't respond until you have a solid answer!"

Both are half-right. Both will burn you.

Here's what actually works, and it's stupidly simple:

Acknowledge immediately. Commit when ready.

When someone reaches out, send this:

"Got it. Talking to the team about this—I'll get back to you by [specific day]."

That's it. You've bought yourself time without leaving them hanging. They know you're on it. They know when to expect an answer. If they can't wait that long, they'll tell you, and you can adjust.

Then (and this is critical) actually get back to them by that day, even if your answer is "Still figuring this out, need until [new day]."

The magic isn't in the speed of your response. It's in managing expectations so nobody's left guessing.

In my case, I should have sent one message to the collaborator the moment I saw the request:

"Saw this. Coordinating with the team this week, I'll let you know by Monday where we land."

Would have taken 15 seconds. Would have saved 45 minutes of wasted work. Instead, I was so focused on getting the internal piece right that I forgot the external piece existed.

Never leave someone guessing about your timeline.

If someone's waiting on you: acknowledge immediately and tell them when they'll hear from you. Even if that answer is "I need until Friday to figure this out."

If you're waiting on someone else and need to move forward: give them a deadline. "If I don't hear from you by Thursday, I'm moving ahead with Plan B."

The goal isn't to over-communicate. It's to eliminate ambiguity. Because ambiguity is expensive. It costs time, money, opportunities, and goodwill.

And most of the time, it costs all four at once.

Let's get into it.

Brett Boland (Astronoid): “Authenticity needs to be number one.”

In this conversation, Astronoid founder Brett Boland discusses the intersection of his career in technology and his passion for music with host chr1stoph3r g0nda.

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