Career Leverage is like having a catapult to launch you forward, while everyone else is marching steadily forward (or for some, pulled backward). [Work in Progress: Part 04]
As someone who has been in all of these leverage classes at some point, high leverage is a great choice early in a career when exploring a novel concept when you have little to lose if wrong, or mid/later career when you fundamentally understand a domain to exploit the pockets of opportunity that exist (TSMC). Great risk lies in the middle.
This is an excellent point. 100% agree with that early/later opportunity.
Early - I will encourage my kids to consider high leverage opportunities early in their career. COL is low, risk tolerance is high, experimentation is rewarded, and if something were to work out, then they'll experience the extreme value of compounding (as I am now).
Later - mid-career professionals underestimate how their established expertise/reputation can translate into higher leverage opportunities. And typically, they don't need to take on as much risk as those earlier in their careers. Hopefully they have a little saved up to create some cushion. And a little bit of risk can go a long way here. Unfortunately, too often people have become extraordinarily risk adverse + living without financial margin, so they can't take these steps.
Some excellent advice herein about building a high leverage career. I especially appreciated the concept that the product or service be replicable and scalable.
That said, historical data indicates that at least 75% of new companies fail. Further, the global economy is consolidating, making it more difficult for a small company to penetrate the market and survive. Entrepreneurship, especially solo entrepreneurship, is not for the faint of heart.
For most of us, then, the best bet for a high leverage career might be a high leverage role at an established, well-capitalized business.
The highest leverage definitely means the highest risk.
That's why I think there are options for increasing leverage over the course of one's career (looks like you have, as an example) and I'm not sure, say, founding a VC-backed business is necessary or even a smart decision for 99% of people.
I vividly remember a quote about the founder of Uber: “He was willing to run through a brick wall” for the sake of the business. Really something, but it doesn’t describe 99% of us, as you noted.
As someone who has been in all of these leverage classes at some point, high leverage is a great choice early in a career when exploring a novel concept when you have little to lose if wrong, or mid/later career when you fundamentally understand a domain to exploit the pockets of opportunity that exist (TSMC). Great risk lies in the middle.
This is an excellent point. 100% agree with that early/later opportunity.
Early - I will encourage my kids to consider high leverage opportunities early in their career. COL is low, risk tolerance is high, experimentation is rewarded, and if something were to work out, then they'll experience the extreme value of compounding (as I am now).
Later - mid-career professionals underestimate how their established expertise/reputation can translate into higher leverage opportunities. And typically, they don't need to take on as much risk as those earlier in their careers. Hopefully they have a little saved up to create some cushion. And a little bit of risk can go a long way here. Unfortunately, too often people have become extraordinarily risk adverse + living without financial margin, so they can't take these steps.
This was excellent!
Thanks for the support, Edward!
Some excellent advice herein about building a high leverage career. I especially appreciated the concept that the product or service be replicable and scalable.
That said, historical data indicates that at least 75% of new companies fail. Further, the global economy is consolidating, making it more difficult for a small company to penetrate the market and survive. Entrepreneurship, especially solo entrepreneurship, is not for the faint of heart.
For most of us, then, the best bet for a high leverage career might be a high leverage role at an established, well-capitalized business.
What do others think?
The highest leverage definitely means the highest risk.
That's why I think there are options for increasing leverage over the course of one's career (looks like you have, as an example) and I'm not sure, say, founding a VC-backed business is necessary or even a smart decision for 99% of people.
Agree whole-heartedly.
I vividly remember a quote about the founder of Uber: “He was willing to run through a brick wall” for the sake of the business. Really something, but it doesn’t describe 99% of us, as you noted.