diff --git a/pgraph.go b/pgraph.go
index 40c52531..57027843 100644
--- a/pgraph.go
+++ b/pgraph.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"sync"
 	"syscall"
+	"time"
 )
 
 //go:generate stringer -type=graphState -output=graphstate_stringer.go
@@ -422,7 +423,8 @@ func (g *Graph) GetDisconnectedGraphs() chan *Graph {
 	return ch
 }
 
-// return the indegree for the graph
+// return the indegree for the graph, IOW the count of vertices that point to me
+// NOTE: this returns the values for all vertices in one big lookup table
 func (g *Graph) InDegree() map[*Vertex]int {
 	result := make(map[*Vertex]int)
 	for k := range g.Adjacency {
@@ -437,7 +439,8 @@ func (g *Graph) InDegree() map[*Vertex]int {
 	return result
 }
 
-// return the outdegree for the graph
+// return the outdegree for the graph, IOW the count of vertices that point away
+// NOTE: this returns the values for all vertices in one big lookup table
 func (g *Graph) OutDegree() map[*Vertex]int {
 	result := make(map[*Vertex]int)
 
@@ -542,6 +545,7 @@ func HeisenbergCount(ch chan *Vertex) int {
 // main kick to start the graph
 func (g *Graph) Start(wg *sync.WaitGroup) { // start or continue
 	t, _ := g.TopologicalSort()
+	indegree := g.InDegree() // compute all of the indegree's
 	for _, v := range Reverse(t) {
 
 		if !v.Type.IsWatching() { // if Watch() is not running...
@@ -555,9 +559,27 @@ func (g *Graph) Start(wg *sync.WaitGroup) { // start or continue
 			}(v)
 		}
 
-		// ensure state is started before continuing on to next vertex
-		v.Type.SendEvent(eventStart, true, false)
-
+		// selective poke: here we reduce the number of initial pokes
+		// to the minimum required to activate every vertex in the
+		// graph, either by direct action, or by getting poked by a
+		// vertex that was previously activated. if we poke each vertex
+		// that has no incoming edges, then we can be sure to reach the
+		// whole graph. Please note: this may mask certain optimization
+		// failures, such as any poke limiting code in Poke() or
+		// BackPoke(). You might want to disable this selective start
+		// when experimenting with and testing those elements.
+		if indegree[v] == 0 {
+			// ensure state is started before continuing on to next vertex
+			for !v.Type.SendEvent(eventStart, true, false) {
+				if DEBUG {
+					// if SendEvent fails, we aren't up yet
+					log.Printf("%v[%v]: Retrying SendEvent(Start)", v.GetType(), v.GetName())
+					// sleep here briefly or otherwise cause
+					// a different goroutine to be scheduled
+					time.Sleep(1 * time.Millisecond)
+				}
+			}
+		}
 	}
 }