⚡️ Today’s level up ⚡️
Today’s edition focuses on helping you rethink your tech sales career in a deeper way so that you can lead yourself and others into a new micro-niche movement called The Purposeful Economy.
Let’s go!
Read time: <12 minutes
If you missed last week, read it here.
TL;DR
Warning, this edition is another doozy!
In a world where you can get the next best sales tip or productivity hack with a 30-second scroll on LinkedIn, my aim is to take some time away from that noise and elevate the thinking around tech sales and, more so, where it can lead if you “play” the game right.
Continuing where I left off two weeks ago, here are the key takeaways from today’s issue:
– The Knowledge Economy, a space we’ve occupied essentially since post-World War II, has been led by technology companies
– However, this macro economy, due to accelerators like the decentralization of power, Web3, AI, and Covid, have fragmented it into new micro-niche economies that overlap such as The Attention Economy (YouTube, Netflix, reality TV), The Gig Economy (Uber, Lyft, and Dashers), The Sharing Economy (Airbnb, Hipcamp, and Turo), The Creator Economy (creators on LinkedIn, Substack, Patreon, TikTok), and others
– There is another micro-niche economy quietly emerging – The Purposeful Economy, where participants have the specialized knowledge, skills, financial freedom, and personal principles to intentionally redesign work and life in a way that delivers impact unlike any other generation before
– Elite tech sellers who are highly intentional, have an excellent glide path to participate and lead The Purposeful Economy because of unique factors inherent in the industry and role
Understanding the journey to where we are today
I have a crazy idea that’s not so crazy.
Elite and world-class tech sellers have a winning edge to capture and lead the next wave of the economy, something I call The Purposeful Economy. To understand what it is and how we got here, let’s travel back in time.
The era in which we grew up and began our corporate careers is known as The Knowledge Economy. It’s a term often attributed to Peter Drucker, a prominent figure in the development of modern business management practices. Drucker, an influential Austrian-American management consultant, educator, and author, introduced the concept in the late 50s.
In his book The Age of Discontinuity, he discussed the transformation of the economy from one that is primarily based on the production of goods (born out of The Industrial Revolution and The Manufacturing Economy) to one where the generation, dissemination, and application of knowledge become the primary drivers of economic growth, wealth creation, and employment.
Drucker’s insights into the significance of knowledge as a critical economic resource laid the foundation for understanding the dynamics of the knowledge economy. This economy emphasizes the importance of intellectual capabilities over physical input or natural resources, highlighting the role of information technologies, innovation, and human capital.
It enabled the rise in the power of technology companies. Once reserved for the labs of MIT or the halls of the CIA, technology went from huge industrial mainframes to everyday tools in our homes and schools (btw, anybody else a part of The Oregon Trail generation 🙋♂️?).
No company was more influential in driving that change than Apple. In the late 70s and early 80s, they transformed the perception of computers from niche, technical tools for enthusiasts into essential, user-friendly devices for the mainstream public, effectively bridging the gap between the sub-culture of computer geeks and everyday users.
This transformation can be attributed to several key strategies and philosophies that Jobs and Apple espoused, which not only revolutionized product design and marketing but also altered the cultural and social landscape of technology.
Here’s an overview of how they achieved this (thanks for your help ChatGPT):
1. Focus on design and user experience
Under Steve Jobs, Apple placed an unprecedented emphasis on product design and user experience. The Apple II, released in 1977, was one of the first personal computers designed with the everyday user in mind, featuring a relatively intuitive interface and an attractive, approachable design. This trend continued with the Macintosh, which popularized the graphical user interface (GUI) and the mouse, making computing more accessible to people without technical backgrounds.
2. Simplification of technology
Apple’s products stood out for their simplicity and ease of use. Jobs championed the idea that technology should be intuitive and seamlessly integrated into people’s lives. This philosophy led to the development of devices that required minimal setup and technical knowledge, making them appealing to a broad audience beyond the “computer geek” demographic.
3. Creating a lifestyle brand
Apple, under Jobs, excelled at creating a lifestyle brand that people wanted to be associated with. Through innovative marketing campaigns, such as the famous “1984” Super Bowl commercial for the Macintosh, Apple positioned its products as symbols of individuality, creativity, and rebellion against the status quo. This branding strategy attracted consumers who might not have been interested in technology per se but were drawn to what the Apple brand represented.
4. Integration of hardware and software
Apple’s approach to tightly integrating hardware and software ensured a seamless user experience, setting its products apart from competitors. This control over the entire ecosystem allowed Apple to optimize performance and introduce innovative features, making its devices more attractive to consumers.
5. Innovative retail strategy
Jobs revolutionized the way technology products were sold with the launch of Apple Stores. These stores offered consumers a hands-on experience with Apple’s products in a meticulously designed, welcoming environment. The Genius Bar provided unparalleled customer support, making technology more approachable and demystifying for the average person.
6. Continuous innovation
Apple’s relentless pursuit of innovation meant that it was always at the forefront of technology, continually offering something new and exciting that people didn’t even know they needed until it was unveiled. The iPod, iPhone, and iPad are prime examples of how Apple created entirely new product categories or redefined existing ones, making digital technology an indispensable part of everyday life for millions of people worldwide.
Steve Jobs and Apple’s legacy is not just in the products they created but in the profound impact they had on society’s relationship with technology. They transformed computers and digital devices from exclusive tools for hobbyists and professionals into indispensable components of modern life, accessible and essential to a broad spectrum of users.
Whether you like Apple or use their products or not, it doesn’t matter. They were a pioneer in shaping how technology, and subsequently technology companies, would rule The Knowledge Economy. Their influence on their main competitors at the time, like Microsoft, and future shapeshifters like Google, Amazon, Facebook, PayPal, Tesla, and OpenAI can’t be overstated.
In fact, most tech companies’ DNA (principles, culture, thinking, and a focus on design and CX/UX) can owe a tremendous amount to Apple’s influence. They made tech cool and accessible, and the startup founder emerged as the new rockstar. You likely work or have worked at a company that owes a lot to Apple.
A handful of companies – Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, Radio Shack, and others were influential in driving personal computing into our homes, schools, and offices for work and play during the 80s.
The 90s saw the emergence of the internet, and the likes of AOL, Yahoo!, Netscape, eBay, Amazon, Google, and others shaped how we bought things, discovered news, and connected with others.
As we shifted to the 2000s, SaaS came into play along with the emergence of social media, which opened up new doors, ease and scale of distribution, and new commercial models. These had profound impacts on the business world and our personal lives. It also presented radical ways for people to gain influence, create audiences, and build large personal brands outside of the tradtional domains of entertainment, music, high society, and pro sports.
Coinciding with this rapid evolution of technology, a new sub-culture of divergent thinking began to emerge – with the likes of Tim Ferriss talking about the 4-hour work week, Gary Vaynerchuck using raw authenticity and social media marketing to grow his family’s wine business into a repeatable blueprint for launching his own mega agency, Sophia Amoruso using eBay to build her Nasty Girl empire and inspire a new generation of self-made female entrepreneurs, Chris Guillebeau championing the movement towards creating meaningful businesses fast and cheap while designing work around life, and several others.
This sub-culture gave rise to The Creator Economy, turning those leaders into wealthy and independent solopreneurs and entrepreneurs while providing the blueprint for many of the influencers shaping our thinking today – James Clear, Codie Sanchez, Sahil Bloom, Justin Welsh, Tiago Forte, Ali Abdaal, Sam Parr, Nathan Barry, Nicholas Cole, Dickie Bush, Matt Gray, Ben Meer, Alex and Leila Hormozi, Rachel Rodgers, and so many others.
They all have built:
– Wealth – To free up their time
– Authority – Large networks and audience
– Influence – Compelling content and knowledge libraries
Those with the most wealth, authority, and influence in The Creator Economy started their full-time creator journey pre Covid and saw a huge spike in growth between 2020 – now.
However, as brilliant as these creators are in what they’ve built, most of their wealth was created after the corporate world, if they even participated in the corporate world at all. Their message around wealth creation and lifestyle design thus centers solely on the importance and need for solopreneurship and entrepreneurship to generate wealth in order to redesign your lifestyle – a hallmark of The Creator Economy message.
What’s now emerging is a powerful sub-culture of revenue generators who started their creator journey post-Covid, and have also seen a big growth spike from 2020 – 2024. But what’s unique about us is we have generated a large sum of wealth in the corporate world – mostly via tech sales. Many with net worths north of $5M+ before beginning our journey into the next stage of our career. That’s powerful leverage.
Here are the sub-niche economies that have emerged within the macro Knowledge Economy:
– The Attention Economy: Focuses on the scarcity of human attention in a world saturated with information, where companies compete to capture and monetize consumer attention.
– The Experience Economy: Argues that consumers seek memorable experiences over physical products or services, leading businesses to innovate in creating immersive and engaging customer interactions.
– The Gig Economy: Characterized by flexible, temporary, or freelance jobs, often facilitated by digital platforms, reflecting a shift away from traditional long-term employment relationships.
– The Sharing Economy: Built on the sharing of access to goods and services, facilitated by community-based online platforms. Examples include Airbnb, Uber, and Lyft.
– The Circular Economy: Focuses on sustainability, aiming to redefine growth by minimizing waste and making the most of resources. It emphasizes the reuse, sharing, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling of products and materials.
– The Green Economy: Seeks to reduce environmental risks and ecological scarcities, aiming for sustainable development without degrading the environment.
– The Platform Economy: Centers on digital platforms that facilitate exchanges of goods, services, or social interaction, such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google.
– The Creator Economy: Involves independent content creators, curators, and community builders monetizing their skills and passions directly through platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Patreon.
– The Purposeful Economy: Focuses on revenue generators who build their specific knowledge, skills, and wealth in tech in order to intentionally use them to design new businesses, networks, and impactful communities centered around powerful principles in order to lift up those behind them.
It will only be a matter of time before we leave The Knowledge Economy and enter The AI Economy with the niche economies (and a few new ones) in tow.
Navigating the opportunity ahead
This special class has been heavily influenced by the leaders of The Creator Economy. We were early in our careers when The 4-Hour Work Week came out and have bought many of the aforementioned creators’ courses, joined their cohorts, and even know many of them personally. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to them, just as they owe the ones who came before them and pulled them up.
We were fortunate with our timing to enter the workforce following the Dot-Com crash when the best companies built for long-term growth emerged. We navigated the Financial Crisis and learned how to be resilient, fiscally savvy, and creative in business to earn trust. This left a huge imprint on us psychologically to teach us that authenticity, creativity, and sound strategy created the best recipe for forging strong relationships in business (and life).
Our view of how work should be was always different. We were entrepreneurs at heart. That’s why we got into sales in the first place. For various reasons, we weren’t ready to make the jump into the deep end…but we knew it was only a matter of time. We benefited from learning business operations and cool tech while on the job. Then we used them to become very successful in our craft. Yet, we knew that wasn’t the holy grail – there was much more to explore. There were three levels we climbed:
– Learn: Develop skills, grit, and resilience
– Earn: Turn those attributes into life-changing autonomy and influence
– Evolve: Define what’s next completely on our terms while giving back to those in our industry
The elite revenue generator has the luxury of entering the Evolve stage not needing to act as a CEO, but more like a VC. They have the freedom, autonomy, and cash pile to be more experimental than traditional creators and are able to place long-term strategic bets. Their decisions aren’t money first, life design later. It’s the inverse. They can follow their ideas or ambitions with as little or as much intensity as they desire. They can also draw from a deep background of highly valuable skills because of the intersection of all of the macro and micro economies we learned and earned in:
– Architecting and winning massive deals with huge companies
– Working with the latest technologies – tools used in big business and The Creator Economy simultaneously
– Developing a powerful performance muscle over several years (sales) that conditions grit, ingenuity, and resilience while also being skilled at marketing, building a personal brand online, and growing audiences and networks
But most importantly, because we don’t have to rush to generate cash – the businesses and products we build are designed around purpose. We give back and share knowledge, not because we need to pay for the biggest home on the block or the fastest car in the driveway, but because we love helping pull others up – especially those who share the battle scars and wounds of selling. My friend and former colleague, Sam Silverman, summed it up beautifully recently.
What does that mean if you are still coming through this journey?
Yes, the tech space is experiencing a correction despite the broader economy improving. But like all things in life, there are cycles. The more we can “stay awake,” in tune with our inherent interests and abilities, and ride these natural rhythms while taking control of the things that are in our control (skills development, writing, feedback loops, mental strength, self-awareness, slow productivity, design and systems thinking, being strategic, AI fluency, becoming less distracted, and more), we can more calmly elevate to a level of mastery vs ping-ponging to the whims of social media influencers (who are at the Earn level trying to get rich off of your attention).
It’s important to self-identify where you are – the LEARN stage, EARN stage, or EVOLVE stage. The beauty is they all support one another and aren’t worked on in isolation, but there is a pre-dominant leader based on where you are in your career and influenced by your human factors (location, personality type, culture, religion, gender, race, chronotype), experience, environment, and skill stack…which I’ll unpack further in future editions.
This is just the tip of the iceberg on this subject, and I appreciate you sharing your time and attention with me on this one. Hopefully, this all feels right and makes a few things click for you. This newsletter will evolve (as I’m evolving) and will begin to take on a new shape – one designed around becoming a Purposeful Performer so together we can move The Purposeful Economy from a sub-culture movement to the mainstream.
That’s a wrap. See you next week!
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