Wish I read this in 2010. Started my own "agency", which was me trading time for money. It wasn't until I figured that my job was really to recruit talented people, and sales. That was it. Once that clicked, I quickly grew until I hit my next ceiling: inability or lack of knowledge to truly scale beyond a team of 20-ish. It's not easy. But it's doable. And as BTB puts it, the earlier you start, the quicker you "get it".
I had to close sales or we would starve lol. Hunger makes us all closers. I’m also decent at sales in general. Listen a lot, solve their pain, follow up follow up follow up. Sales isn’t “hard”. Happy to help you with specific needs if you want.
Absolutely loved this post - it's so difficult to break free from the time for money exchange. For years, I did consulting work for a high hourly (albeit capped) rate with near endless demand. While the cash is nice and always gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling when it hits your bank account (remember, the most comfortable feeling in the world is a monthly paycheck), I could not scale. There's never enough hours in the day, and as BTB says, if it can't make you money in your sleep, it's not really a business. Even if you're making multiple hundreds of thousands per year, if you have to pull lever 'x' 50 times per week to make 'y' dollars (in my case, it was being on Zoom calls all the time), you WILL have this same realization one day.
Turning down the consulting work has been difficult, but I'm so much more confident in leveraging my skills, reputation, and contacts from my consulting experience to take shots on goal for scalability. It's simply a lot more fun, too. Summarizing: as BTB describes, it's OK to trade time for money for awhile (e.g. you're young, building your skill set and experience) or on select occasions (e.g. high-profile client who can benefit you), but *always* think about your exit plan and the bigger picture.
Thanks for the input. In a similar situation. Young, working a remote job as a software engineer. Don't have any startup ideas for a saas product & don't have $50k (beyond savings) to spend on an ecom biz (yet). Thinking about doing software consulting as a way to generate extra income and hopefully come across problems that could be "productized" into a saas.
I'll say it again here - unbelievable people really take that Gates anecdote as realistic. I always thought it was a joke like the 2 economists walking down the street who see $100 bill on sidewalk and walk past it. Then one turns to the other and says 'there is no way in a rational efficient market there would be free money"
Really liked the concept of internal vs external scalability.
Here’s an example of high external scalability and low internal scalability path - prop trading. Can make shocking amounts of money at a young age if you develop the skill and are well capitalized (doing it professionally like 90%+ won’t), but in your 40s you don’t want to be staring at a computer screen for 10 hours a day in order to compete with the best. You can’t sell your skill or fully designate your ability to make decisions, so its always dependent on the trader.
Has BTB known any people in this position from back in their Wall Street days? Awesome post.
People want to become influencers, but what you want to be is the business employing the influencers
Great read
P.S. As a rule of thumb unless the business is selling a physical product or is a SaaS, it's usually not a great business model to become rich (still not all product or SaaS businesses are equal)
Me being a software engineer, I can only think of ads * my skills after reading this, but I'm a bit drawn to marketing as well (social media, blogging, etc). It makes me wonder what would be the better skill: ads vs other marketing.
It is a great question to ask ourselves. Currently, learning copywriting. While everyone at my W-2 goes for coffee and gossip while scrolling on their phones, I close my office to study copywriting. Waiting for my MBA to finish next semester to move from engineering to finance and have a higher pay to save and finance WiFi money business. (Yeah I know doing my MBA was not the smartest decision but if one semester is remaining, let's get done with it & it was supported by the government in the top university in my country so it was no Brainerd at that time).
Some people at my W-2 get excited when they have the chance to do overtime while I hate it and avoid it. I can see that my time is 3x that hourly rate. Anyhow, this is more advantage to whoever out there grinding. The bar is so low.
What if I can trade my time for something that generates $ in a non-linear way?
I have a special skill (top 1%) that I can spend time for money, but the money is not promised. For example I had a pretty good success recently where I spent about ~20 hours of work during the weekend and made $90K. That translates to $4,5K/h but my W2 pays me $300K.
I have been thinking to shift into doing that thing full time but you have to consider it's more risky, and the income will fluctuate.
Great post. Wish I thought about this stuff before medical school.
Early 40s Doctor currently trading time for money. My hourly is $3-400/hr and I work 1500 hours a year. I have a decent amount of free time each week but still a slave to corporations, insurance agencies, government programs, patients, overnights, weekends, holidays, etc...
Have the opportunity to start a concierge / boutique longevity clinic. Interest fits as I am obsessed with health/fitness and already spend all my free time reading about this stuff and working out.
Mentally very hard to get started on this as it would require a significant amount of time to get it up and running/successful. Can't go back to working 100 hour weeks like I did in residency. It doesn't feel like it would scale the way software does in the sense that at the end of the day, I would still be working with patients/clients so feel like my upside is capped. Maybe I hire some like minded professionals who work under me so could scale in that way. Membership fees also likely more lucrative vs. working at the hospital.
The other big variable is what happens to healthcare reimbursement over the next 5-20 years. It's not looking pretty. Not unrealistic to think I make half of what I do now 10 years from now. Hopefully by then will be mostly financially independent.
What do you say, BTB? Start this endeavor?
In my early 40s time I really value the 2-3 hours/day I have to do whatever I want. Really can't fathom trading this "free" time for business startup work, but perhaps this is shortsighted?
That’s tough. I know a primary care with the same frustration. The benefit of starting the concierge is that you could have equity which could be sold one day close to retirement. It also might help to consider whether you can get the location VERY right (seems like a discretionary expense so you need rich people, helps to be a big fish in an untapped pond, can you poach your patients vs establish new ones). Good luck with your decision.
Something else to consider... is this something you WANT to do? Like, would you enjoy working on this for 9+ hours a day because then it’s not time regrettably spent.
What’s your purpose? Coaching baseball isn’t to maximize income, healing patients isn’t to maximize income either. If looking to maximize income, take a look at agelessrx for longevity. One time visit, then a subscription. Plenty of patients use that because they don’t want medications on their medical/insurance record. Another obvious route are the semaglutides. Have to avoid controls with the new DEA ruling.
Best resources for learning how to create effective ads?
Wish I read this in 2010. Started my own "agency", which was me trading time for money. It wasn't until I figured that my job was really to recruit talented people, and sales. That was it. Once that clicked, I quickly grew until I hit my next ceiling: inability or lack of knowledge to truly scale beyond a team of 20-ish. It's not easy. But it's doable. And as BTB puts it, the earlier you start, the quicker you "get it".
How did you figure out / get good at the sales part?
I had to close sales or we would starve lol. Hunger makes us all closers. I’m also decent at sales in general. Listen a lot, solve their pain, follow up follow up follow up. Sales isn’t “hard”. Happy to help you with specific needs if you want.
Thank you, I appreciate it and will reach out if I really do need help in the future.
Absolutely loved this post - it's so difficult to break free from the time for money exchange. For years, I did consulting work for a high hourly (albeit capped) rate with near endless demand. While the cash is nice and always gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling when it hits your bank account (remember, the most comfortable feeling in the world is a monthly paycheck), I could not scale. There's never enough hours in the day, and as BTB says, if it can't make you money in your sleep, it's not really a business. Even if you're making multiple hundreds of thousands per year, if you have to pull lever 'x' 50 times per week to make 'y' dollars (in my case, it was being on Zoom calls all the time), you WILL have this same realization one day.
Turning down the consulting work has been difficult, but I'm so much more confident in leveraging my skills, reputation, and contacts from my consulting experience to take shots on goal for scalability. It's simply a lot more fun, too. Summarizing: as BTB describes, it's OK to trade time for money for awhile (e.g. you're young, building your skill set and experience) or on select occasions (e.g. high-profile client who can benefit you), but *always* think about your exit plan and the bigger picture.
Thanks for the input. In a similar situation. Young, working a remote job as a software engineer. Don't have any startup ideas for a saas product & don't have $50k (beyond savings) to spend on an ecom biz (yet). Thinking about doing software consulting as a way to generate extra income and hopefully come across problems that could be "productized" into a saas.
Of course you can scale consulting. I don’t get why BTB don’t get it. Plus you have a margin like a drug company
It says right there you can only scale by hiring. So it is labor scaling not great to just consult and charge time for money that's the whole point
I'll say it again here - unbelievable people really take that Gates anecdote as realistic. I always thought it was a joke like the 2 economists walking down the street who see $100 bill on sidewalk and walk past it. Then one turns to the other and says 'there is no way in a rational efficient market there would be free money"
Crazy misunderstanding of opportunity cost
Really liked the concept of internal vs external scalability.
Here’s an example of high external scalability and low internal scalability path - prop trading. Can make shocking amounts of money at a young age if you develop the skill and are well capitalized (doing it professionally like 90%+ won’t), but in your 40s you don’t want to be staring at a computer screen for 10 hours a day in order to compete with the best. You can’t sell your skill or fully designate your ability to make decisions, so its always dependent on the trader.
Has BTB known any people in this position from back in their Wall Street days? Awesome post.
People want to become influencers, but what you want to be is the business employing the influencers
Great read
P.S. As a rule of thumb unless the business is selling a physical product or is a SaaS, it's usually not a great business model to become rich (still not all product or SaaS businesses are equal)
yup
Me being a software engineer, I can only think of ads * my skills after reading this, but I'm a bit drawn to marketing as well (social media, blogging, etc). It makes me wonder what would be the better skill: ads vs other marketing.
What skill are you trying to develop right now?
It is a great question to ask ourselves. Currently, learning copywriting. While everyone at my W-2 goes for coffee and gossip while scrolling on their phones, I close my office to study copywriting. Waiting for my MBA to finish next semester to move from engineering to finance and have a higher pay to save and finance WiFi money business. (Yeah I know doing my MBA was not the smartest decision but if one semester is remaining, let's get done with it & it was supported by the government in the top university in my country so it was no Brainerd at that time).
Some people at my W-2 get excited when they have the chance to do overtime while I hate it and avoid it. I can see that my time is 3x that hourly rate. Anyhow, this is more advantage to whoever out there grinding. The bar is so low.
One of the best articles tbh.
GOD BLESS MURRRIIICCCCCAAAAAAA! HAPPY BH!
What if I can trade my time for something that generates $ in a non-linear way?
I have a special skill (top 1%) that I can spend time for money, but the money is not promised. For example I had a pretty good success recently where I spent about ~20 hours of work during the weekend and made $90K. That translates to $4,5K/h but my W2 pays me $300K.
I have been thinking to shift into doing that thing full time but you have to consider it's more risky, and the income will fluctuate.
For context I'm 25
Very good article, very useful.
Banger
Great post. Wish I thought about this stuff before medical school.
Early 40s Doctor currently trading time for money. My hourly is $3-400/hr and I work 1500 hours a year. I have a decent amount of free time each week but still a slave to corporations, insurance agencies, government programs, patients, overnights, weekends, holidays, etc...
Have the opportunity to start a concierge / boutique longevity clinic. Interest fits as I am obsessed with health/fitness and already spend all my free time reading about this stuff and working out.
Mentally very hard to get started on this as it would require a significant amount of time to get it up and running/successful. Can't go back to working 100 hour weeks like I did in residency. It doesn't feel like it would scale the way software does in the sense that at the end of the day, I would still be working with patients/clients so feel like my upside is capped. Maybe I hire some like minded professionals who work under me so could scale in that way. Membership fees also likely more lucrative vs. working at the hospital.
The other big variable is what happens to healthcare reimbursement over the next 5-20 years. It's not looking pretty. Not unrealistic to think I make half of what I do now 10 years from now. Hopefully by then will be mostly financially independent.
What do you say, BTB? Start this endeavor?
In my early 40s time I really value the 2-3 hours/day I have to do whatever I want. Really can't fathom trading this "free" time for business startup work, but perhaps this is shortsighted?
That’s tough. I know a primary care with the same frustration. The benefit of starting the concierge is that you could have equity which could be sold one day close to retirement. It also might help to consider whether you can get the location VERY right (seems like a discretionary expense so you need rich people, helps to be a big fish in an untapped pond, can you poach your patients vs establish new ones). Good luck with your decision.
Something else to consider... is this something you WANT to do? Like, would you enjoy working on this for 9+ hours a day because then it’s not time regrettably spent.
What’s your purpose? Coaching baseball isn’t to maximize income, healing patients isn’t to maximize income either. If looking to maximize income, take a look at agelessrx for longevity. One time visit, then a subscription. Plenty of patients use that because they don’t want medications on their medical/insurance record. Another obvious route are the semaglutides. Have to avoid controls with the new DEA ruling.
Excellent post
Real, graduating next year and I haven’t learned anything lol biz and Econ degree worthless
Would you be able to provide name or link to the New Year’s post you mentioned? TIA.
Got it, would be interesting to read that essay and hear about your experiences/advice re: switching from a shorter to longer time horizon.