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The future of work is self-reliance.
Not flashy startup culture.
Not the entrepreneurship drivel ‘taught’ in colleges by people who have never started up anything.
Not accelerators, or venture capital or grant funding.
The self-reliance of using what you know to create.
“A people … who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.”
Self reliance is not doing everything yourself.
It’s knowing when to ask for help. It’s thinking differently. It’s making hard decisions. It’s going against the grain.
And it’s also accountability.
Its looking yourself in the mirror and literally saying “you messed this up - you need to fix it.”
In the middle of running a 14-year service business we had many ups and downs. I found that the spreadsheet doesn’t lie when making tough decisions.
Put it all into Excel.
Should we hire? Should we fire? Will the growth outweigh the debt?
Answers are right in front of you when take away the ‘feelings’ and put all the facts in a spreadsheet.
Plus and Minus columns.
Values certain employees add.
Intangible developer strengths.
Honest appraisal steps of where new sales came from.
Spoiler alert: if last years revenue all came from previous clients, the new sales guy isn’t worth keeping.
A dishonest mirror starts young - as I learned coaching little league - many parents don’t have an honest mirror of their children’s ability (or their own).
In the 2nd week of Payton and Eli Manning doing Monday Night football coverage they reviewed comments from viewers on how to improve the simulcast.
Someone had written in that Payton was a little stiff but Eli was great. Eli commented about how their mother had said the same thing!
Obviously - those 2 had a microscope on their careers unlike most of us. But the ‘mom thinks I’m great’ trope is alive and well - even with future and Hall of Fame NFL quarterbacks.
Founders vs founders
You can’t even think about an entrepreneurial venture without reading about ‘founders.’
Raising money, building software, growing companies - today’s founders are hailed as business heros.
But very few of them will lose their estates, financial holdings or have their children die in revolution.
I’m not sure many of today’s ‘founders’ embody the individual liberty that the U.S. Founders envisioned.
The value that the Founders placed on self-reliance and entrepreneurship can be seen not only in their writings, but also in the way that they lived their lives.
These concepts were important to the Founders because they believed that only a nation of individuals freely pursuing their own unique interests could achieve a prosperous future in the New World.
But freedom itself wasn’t enough.
The Founders believed that the virtues of individual responsibility and self-reliance were essential for societal well being. They wouldn’t believe the society we have today.
Regulatory constraints and inflationary headwinds are daily reminders to get back to individual responsibility.
Large companies don’t have many options when they need to reduce costs.
We’ve all seen the wrong people lose their jobs during corporate cutbacks.
Don’t get blindsided.
Educate yourself on career portfolio possibilities. How can you monetize your knowledge?
Launch Key describes possibilities in most issues, and highlights subscribers once a month. 3 recent examples for review:
Lifelong learning is a good indicator of the self-reliant.
Most humans are not very good at change. But successful people seek opportunities to learn and improve.
In today’s world they find mentors, independent writers, podcasts, workshops, courses, networking events and more.
Look in the mirror. Be willing to acquire new knowledge to stay prepared.
Change happens.
Now go launch something 🚀
Don’t be pushed by your problems.
Be led by your dreams.
This Launch 🚀 kit guides you through market validation, customer definition and messaging examples to use your uncommon knowledge and create a standout product.
Frame up your unique experience and authentic voice.
Modern Tools
I highlighted Notion in an early Launch Key issue as one of the best ways to organize ideas and act as the main content repository for your startup.
But who really uses all the features of these tools?
Here is a good overview on making the most of your Notion notebooks. And maybe using it to jettison some other software you’ve been reluctant to discard.
Use it as a daily planner and to manage recurring tasks and much more.
Learn AI in 5 Minutes a Day
AI Tool Report is one of the fastest-growing and most respected newsletters in the world, with over 550,000 readers from companies like OpenAI, Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, and more.
Our research team spends hundreds of hours a week summarizing the latest news, and finding you the best opportunities to save time and earn more using AI.
Old School Wisdom
This week’s Old School Wisdom is 19th century old.
In a series of essays, Ralph Waldo Emerson gave new voice to 1800’s America in a sort of intellectual declaration of independence.
Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance,” is by far, his most famous piece of work.
He advocates for individuals to trust in their own instincts and ideas rather than blindly following the opinions of society and its institutions.
Emerson also stresses the importance of being self-reliant, relying on one's own abilities and judgment rather than external validation or approval from others. He argues that people must be honest with themselves and seek to understand their own thoughts and feelings rather than blindly following the expectations of others.
Excellent qualities for today’s career portfolio ideas.
Free Knowledge
Chris Koerner is a very interesting entrepreneurial follow.
He has started and or sold five 7+ figure companies in 5 different industries.
He currently has an incredibly disparate portfolio that includes: Texas Snax the first and world's largest unofficial re-seller of Buc-ee's products, Voltera a healthcare AI startup and he holds minority interest in several RV parks.
He finds unique businesses and writes about the self-reliant on X, Linkedin and in a 7000+ newsletter. Good stuff.
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