18 Building in Public: 4 Uncomfortable Truths [Repost]

GM and welcome to building in public.

I've been sick and a POS the last couple weeks, hence the delay. So, today is a repost. I wrote this one a few months ago, and it still hits home for me.

Back to regular scheduled programming next week!

I’m going to be real here.

We live in a time where people cling to phrases and stories that are usually the result of survivorship bias. Phrases and stories that are curated for social media and hooks that entice clicks and shares. The result is little value and numerous people wondering “why”? Why haven't they found the same success as [insert person here].

When we strip away the BS, there are truths that stand the test of time. No fluff. No clickbait. Just facts. Here are four of them. (for me)

1. Hard work pays off

People will attempt to argue against this point all day long. Just look at the responses from this tweet: https://twitter.com/Jason/status/1505257461661372418

Yes, I do agree that what you work on and who you work with are VERY important. But real hard work will always pay off. It’s like anything in life, the more reps you put in, the better you’ll be. This goes for sports, just as it does business and relationships. Hard work will pay off in all three.

2.  More money will make you happier

Only rich people say ‘money doesn’t make you happy’. And I hope one day I can say that. But until that point, and until incremental amounts of money doesn't increase your flexibility, optionality, and fun, then yes, more money will make you happier.

I was earning $70k annually in 2020 and ~5x'd my income in one year. It would be an absolute lie to say my life hasn’t improved. Because it’s improved immensely.

• Less stress;
• More time [pay for stuff I don’t want to do];
• More investment opportunities; and
• My returns compound much faster.

As Charlie Munger once said, “the first $100k [saved] is a bitch.” Compounding really comes into effect after this.

3.  Starting an agency is the fastest way to [a little] wealth

Elevate Financial would technically fall into the ‘agency’ category. For example, I win contracts, utilize a few employees, charge more than I pay out, and so on. I think people who focus on starting a SAAS company, or the next Netflix are usually competing in a competitive arena and are out of their current weight-class. However, utilizing a skill you’ve already developed and selling it as a service is a quick way to generate cash flow, which can then flow into future, more scalable businesses.

Whether you’re a designer, recruiter, marketer, or accountant, the progression from employee to agency will 3-5x your income and provide optionality to grow more afterwards. Plus, it’s forced learning of the ‘boring’ business stuff: invoicing clients, GST, bookkeeping, website maintenance, etc.

Key point: not all service-based businesses are bad.

4.  Being fit and health is a competitive advantage

Sorry, but being fit does matter. It’s important in many ways, and it’s definitely important in business. If I see a competitor who is unhealthy and working themselves to the ground I know that I’ll outlast them in the long game. They won’t have the stamina to compete. Maybe in the short-term they can keep up. But in one, two and five years there’s not a chance.

So there you have it, my four uncomfortable truths. I haven’t always believed these either. I listened to ‘gurus’ try to discount number three. And ‘wokeness’ has attempted to dismantle one, two and four. But wokeness and the gurus are typically full of sh*t, just as the people who try to tell you that hard work doesn’t pay off, anything more than $75k/annually won’t make you happier, and being fit doesn’t matter.