The Butterfly Effect

Ever thrown a pebble into a still pond?

The ripples are small at first. Gentle. Harmless. But give it a few seconds and you’ll see how far they travel — disrupting the surface, hitting the edges, bouncing back.

Running a company works the same way. Every decision, every client, every comment in a Slack channel… it all creates ripples. And the earlier you are in your company’s journey, the more amplified those ripples become over time.

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Your Impact Echoes Longer Than You Think

When you’re in build mode, it’s easy to treat decisions like short-term plays.

We just need a client — any client.
We just need a quick hire — we’ll fix it later.
We just need to ship this — we’ll clean it up next sprint.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Every early move becomes precedent.

Bad clients don’t just eat your time — they refer you to more bad clients.
Sloppy culture doesn’t just annoy you now — it attracts people who tolerate it.
And cutting corners? It teaches your team that corners are optional.

You’re not just running a company. You’re setting a trajectory. Small decisions now = big outcomes later.

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“The Clients You Take Today Are the Clients You Take Tomorrow”

This is a line we live by at Nexubis — and we’ve seen it play out with almost eerie accuracy.

Take on a nightmare client who ghosts, micromanages, or demands three rounds of “can you make the logo pop” — and guess who they’ll refer next? Yep. Their business BFF with the same chaotic energy.

On the flip side: work with thoughtful, ambitious founders who respect your time, trust your process, and love collaboration? Suddenly your inbox is full of more of those people.

Type seeks type. Always.

So ask yourself: is this client someone I want to clone ten times over?
Because whether you say yes or no, that’s exactly what you’re doing.

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Choose What You Want to Multiply

Here’s where the butterfly effect kicks in. One small thing — a client, a hire, a comment — flaps its wings, and boom. Six months later, you’ve got a culture shift, a new client base, or a team dynamic that either fuels you or drains you.

Which means you’ve got to be deliberate. Ruthlessly so.

Some questions worth keeping in your back pocket:

• Is this relationship (client or team) making us better or just busier?
  
• If this person/company/project referred ten more — would I be happy or horrified?
  
• Am I setting a precedent I want repeated?
  
  

If the answer’s off, the decision probably is too.

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The Nexubis Case Study

Our entire retainer model is built on this idea. We shifted away from once-offs and toward long-term partnerships — because those partnerships send us more of the right people.

Our early hires? Now leaders.
Our first retainers? Still with us, two years later.
Our systems? Designed to be repeatable and scalable.

We weren’t perfect in the early days (no one is), but we got clear early on about one thing: the ripples matter. And if we could build a system that attracts the right kind of client, the right kind of talent, and the right kind of culture — the rest would follow.

It has.

So next time you make a move, ask:

What kind of ripple is this?

Because no matter how small it feels now…
It will reach the edges eventually.

And you want that echo to come back as opportunity, not cleanup.