{"id":17,"date":"2024-04-19T23:04:31","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T22:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alwaysriskon.com\/?p=17"},"modified":"2024-04-19T23:12:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T22:12:40","slug":"guiding-principles-seek-rarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysriskon.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/19\/guiding-principles-seek-rarity\/","title":{"rendered":"Guiding Principles: Seek Rarity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Have you ever looked back at key moments in your life and realized that a single quote you barely remember fits like a glove?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, that happened to me this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

I\u2019ve always been known as a generalist.
Never too deep in a single area, but deep enough to be \u2018dangerous\u2019.
It\u2019s led to creating some great opportunities, but comes with the pain of not fitting \u2018into a box\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a discussion with a friend about our career choices and the principles that guide them, I produced: \u201cTo be the best, you need to be in the top 5% of one thing, or top 20% of two things\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In what felt like a moment of clarity, it became clear that subconsciously, this slight mis-quote was a lynchpin of how I had lived my entire life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t great at a single thing.
I didn\u2019t have a deep expertise in a single area.
I wasn\u2019t a specialist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This quote had been pulled from deep within, and I could not place where I had picked it up, but could tell it had been there for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some digging later that evening, it turned out that Scott Adam (Dilbert comics<\/a>) had a blog post on this from 2007.
I would have been 14 when he posted it. 
My 14 year old mind stored this quote deep down, and it became a guiding principle that drove decisions, whether I acknowledged it or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people specialize.
You go to College, pick a specialism and study it for 4 years.\u00a0
Graduate and work in that field.
You dive deeper into this area for the rest of your life.
Becoming an expert.
But, to get into the top 1%, you need to not only work hard, but get lucky and have some underlying natural talent.
That\u2019s a lot of uncontrolled variables.
All of those dominoes need to fall in your favor to become \u2018rare\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how has the two skilled approach played out so far?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taught myself to code, but wanted to beat the glass ceiling that I viewed a developer would have.
Selected \u2018The Business side\u2019 of things as the second top 25%.
Went to college for Entrepreneurship.
Got kicked out. Ended up with a degree in Economics.
Graduated.
Interviewed at MetLife Insurance. Was told \u201cWe are sure you could do the job (Analyst), but you\u2019d get bored and quit, you\u2019d be a better fit at a tech startup\u201d.
Interviewed at 70+ startups in NYC.
Got 0 offers.
Founded my first VC backed business.
Found that the technical knowledge was incredibly disarming in Sales conversations.
Currently a 4x Founder, with a few of those being moderately successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17 years on from reading Scott Adams blog post, I am still not a specialist.
I have no intent to ever be one.
But, I have been referred to as rare in many of the places I have operated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeking rarity has been, and continues to be, a guiding principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, thankyou Scott Adams, a single blog post has profoundly impacted my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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