Eightpoint CEO Deniz Gezgin Featured in Fast Company on The Most Underrated Growth Decision
Growth is often associated with expansion: launching new products, entering new markets, and investing in the next big opportunity.
But what if one of the most important growth decisions isn't what you start, but what you stop?
That is the focus of Eightpoint CEO Deniz Gezgin's latest article published in Fast Company, "The Most Underrated Growth Decision: What to Stop." Drawing on more than two decades of experience building and scaling digital products, Deniz explores why organizations often struggle to walk away from initiatives that are no longer creating meaningful value and why learning to do so is essential for sustainable growth.
At Eightpoint, we believe thoughtful decision-making is just as important as bold innovation. Every product, feature, and initiative competes for finite resources, making disciplined prioritization a critical part of building products that deliver lasting impact.
Why Letting Go Is Often the Hardest Leadership Decision
In the article, Deniz argues that companies rarely fail because they lack ideas. More often, they struggle because they continue investing in initiatives long after the evidence suggests those resources could create greater value elsewhere.
As organizations grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to objectively evaluate existing work. Teams become invested. Leaders champion initiatives. Months of engineering, design, and planning create understandable emotional attachment.
The result is that projects often survive because of the effort already invested rather than the value they continue to generate.
Instead of focusing on sunk costs, Deniz encourages leaders to consider a different question:
What opportunities are we sacrificing by continuing to invest in the wrong initiatives?
Building a More Objective Decision-Making Process
One of the central themes of the article is that data should challenge ideas, not simply justify them.
At Eightpoint, performance expectations are established before meaningful investments are made. Defining success metrics, timelines, and clear exit criteria upfront helps teams evaluate products objectively rather than moving the goalposts after launch.
Deniz outlines four questions every organization should answer before committing significant resources:
- What outcome would demonstrate meaningful value?
- How long will the initiative have to prove itself?
- What evidence would justify stopping rather than continuing to iterate?
- Who has the authority to make the final decision?
Establishing these expectations early creates accountability while making difficult decisions less personal and more evidence-based.
A Perspective That Reflects How We Build at Eightpoint
At Eightpoint, building great products requires more than identifying promising opportunities. It also requires the discipline to continuously evaluate where our time, talent, and resources can create the greatest impact.
This mindset allows our teams to stay focused, adapt quickly, and invest where we believe we can deliver the most value for our users.
Deniz's latest Fast Company article offers practical insights for leaders looking to improve strategic decision-making, reduce opportunity cost, and create stronger long-term growth.
Read the Full Article
Read Deniz Gezgin's latest Fast Company article, "The Most Underrated Growth Decision: What to Stop," to learn why some of the most impactful leadership decisions begin with knowing when to let go.
