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Welcome back to the Launch Key 🚀

In the week that Amazon targets as many as 30,000 corporate job cuts, my friend Patrick McLean guest posts about why you should have both types of professions. Full disclosure: he wrote this weeks ago.

But his timing could not be better.

Let's get into it.

• Gmail users may wish to read online since some parts may be clipped.

• Comment below and let me know if we’re on the right track.

Table of Contents

• Pull to Eject

• Modern Tools

• Old School Wisdom

• Recommendations

• Visual Crapshoot

Pull to Eject

There’s a simple, but brutal calculus that governs all our working lives: If we are useful to other people they will pay us money. If we aren’t they won’t.

We try to hide this fact from ourselves and each other, with all kinds of stories. Some of these stories are called jobs.

In Antifragile, Nassim Taleb has a wonderful passage about two brothers, John and George. John has a job at a bank. George drives a taxi.

John gets a regular paycheck in the same amount and feels safe. George bitches about not having job security because his income varies from month to month, but over the long run, it works out.  Taleb’s punchline:

This thing is, in today’s volatile environment, I think the risks of a traditional job are only hidden if you have your head in the sand. So even if you have a “regular paycheck” job, it’s only prudent to develop some kind of artisanal business. One that allows you to capture a little more of the value you create.

Now, if you don’t create value, that’s another problem. But if you’re reading this newsletter, I think you’ve got more on the ball than your current employer is taking advantage of.

So the way I look at it is: You don’t turn the Launch Key because it’s more dangerous. You do it because, even though it may lead to something new and exciting and uncomfortable, it is safer.

Now go launch something 🚀 

Patrick McLean is an Award-winning author of 13 novels including How to Succeed in Evil series. He’s currently working with inXile on game development.

Modern Tools

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Check out Guidde

Old School Wisdom

Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, and rumors or riots intensify when someone tries to repress them, many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil.

What Taleb has identified and calls “antifragile” is that category of things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish.

Recommendations

💼 Thriving Freelance - Gigs and Growth : Hundreds of job opportunities sent directly to your inbox each week, plus timely resources to support you as you grow and evolve.

🗃️ Dealroom Business Success Uncovered : Learn directly from billionaire entrepreneurs on how to grow a business. Join a community of 2,000+ innovators.

📕 MGMT Playbook : Practical management insights straight to your inbox every Wednesday.

Visual Crapshoot