From the DESTA Blog
Thinking about decisions, intelligence, and building with clarity.
Practical Frameworks, Not Thought Leadership
The DESTA blog exists for one reason - to give founders frameworks they can use today. Not tomorrow, not after a strategy offsite, not after hiring an analyst. Today. Every article starts from a real problem founders face - information overload, decision fatigue, competitive blind spots, or the gap between data and action - and offers a structured approach to solving it. We write about decision intelligence, competitive strategy, AI-assisted operations, and the daily habits that separate founders who react from founders who anticipate.
How We Think About Decisions
Most founder content focuses on what to build or how to raise money. Very little addresses the meta-skill underneath both - how to make better decisions with incomplete information under time pressure. That is the territory this blog covers. You will find guides on building a competitive intelligence practice from scratch, explainers on how AI is reshaping the Chief of Staff role, productivity frameworks for the first hour of your day, and mental models for knowing what to ignore. Each piece connects back to a core belief - that clarity is a competitive advantage, and the founders who invest in their decision-making process outperform those who only invest in execution.
Explore Articles
What Is Decision Intelligence? A Guide for Founders
Decision intelligence turns information into better decisions. Here is how it differs from BI, data analytics, and competitive intelligence, and why founders need it.
Read article →What Is an AI Chief of Staff?
What a human Chief of Staff does, which parts AI can replicate today, and what to look for when evaluating AI CoS tools.
Read article →The AI Morning Routine for Startup Founders
Most founders start the day reactively. Here is a briefing-first alternative that takes 12 minutes and changes how the rest of the day unfolds.
Read article →How to Build a Competitive Analysis Framework for Your Startup
Most founders do competitive analysis reactively. Here is a four-layer framework covering what to track, where to find it, how to organize it, and when to act.
Read article →The Founder's Guide to Tracking Competitor Moves Without Losing Your Mind
Most founders either obsess over competitors or ignore them entirely. Here is a 15-minute weekly system that gives you the signal without the noise.
Read article →Strategic Planning for Startups: Deciding with Incomplete Information
Traditional strategic planning assumes you have complete information. Startups never do. Here is a decision framework built for uncertainty.
Read article →Competitive Intelligence for Startups: Complete Guide 2026
What to track, where to find it, how to organize it, and how to make it actionable. A four-level CI maturity model for startups.
Read article →Information Overload Solutions for Founders
100+ emails, 200+ Slack messages, 5+ hours of content per day. Here is a framework to filter, prioritize, act, and learn.
Read article →The AVOID TODAY Framework for Founders
Every tool tells you what to do. Almost none tell you what not to do. Introducing the AVOID TODAY framework, inspired by Munger and Buffett.
Read article →