WORK LESS WEDNESDAY
WLW #151
👋 Hey Reader!
This is issue #151 of Work Less Wednesday, where I share with you 5 things you should know about, in 5 minutes or less. That leaves you with 10,075 other minutes this week.
💸 1. Why We Choose Profit – Article by 37signals
This week I rediscovered this gem from 37signals (the parent company of Basecamp and Hey).
It is a treatise on optimizing for profit in business, which I’ve been doing myself for years.
So, why choose profit?
Essentially, profit buys you time, flexibility, and freedom.
When you’re profitable, you answer to no one. You don’t need investor approval. You don’t chase fake metrics.
37signals takes money out of the business every year. They reduce risk as they go. Other companies keep reinvesting, adding more risk each year.
They don’t care about valuations. They spend zero hours on fundraising. No pitch decks. No term sheets. No cap tables.
Profit is the ultimate shield against bullshit. It protects you from your ego. It creates reasonable boundaries for your business.
Profit focuses the mind. It forces good (profitable) decisions. It creates stability for customers.
This approach isn’t trendy. But it works. Year after year after year.
Do yourself a favor and read the full article here (it’s short).
🎙️ 2. Podcast I’m Listening To – Naval Ravikant on Modern Wisdom
The first podcast with Naval Ravikant in 6 years just dropped.
It’s 3 hours and 16 minutes long.
Even if you’re not a Naval fan, it’s kinda one of those things that if you’re in the entrepreneur/tech/startup world you gotta check out.
Like watching the Super Bowl or something.
P.S. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, I def recommend reading this book: https://www.navalmanack.com/ (it’s free on this site).
📣 3. Are You Talking About Costs Or Value? – Chart by Tim Williams
Grabbed this screenshot from Tim Williams’ YouTube video about “The Language of Value, Not Costs.”
Most entrepreneurs I work with seem to think their clients care about how much it costs them do to the work they do.
They don’t.
Here’s a tip:
- Cost = what you pay.
- Price = what they pay.
- Value = what they get.
Which column are you communicating from?
💡 4. 30 Minute Read On “The Most Important Idea Of The 21st Century” – High Agency by George Mack
If you’re paying attention, I shared this last week in the “More Things I’m Into” section.
But I think it’s worth further discussion.
High Agency in a meme
What Is High Agency?
High agency is best described as happening to life instead of life happening to you.
It’s seeing the future as something to be shaped, not endured.
It’s about three core skills rarely found together:
- Clear thinking
- Bias to action
- Disagreeability
Remove any one wheel from this tricycle, and it stops working.
The High Agency Software
People with high agency share five similar beliefs:
- There’s no unsolvable problem (that doesn’t defy physics)
- There’s no one “right way” to do things
- There are no “adults” (everyone is human – don’t put anyone on a pedestal)
- There’s no normal (weird survives, normal is forgotten)
- There’s only now (we have finite time)
The good news?
You have agency over your agency.
And you can change at any time.
Read the full article here (it’s actually a pretty fun read).
🖐 5. More Things I’m Into This Week…
🫧 My Current Sparkling Water Of Choice – Vichy Catalan
🎧 What I’m Listening To – Pinegrove – Full Set: Live at First Unitarian Church (4.28.17)
❌ Remove All Your Personal Data From Online (I’m Doing This) – DeleteMe
🤖 If Only 10% Of These AI Takes Are Correct, It Should Have You Paying Attention – Tweet from Greg Isenberg
💬 3 Quotes I’m Pondering – From Positioning for Professionals: How Professional Knowledge Firms Can Differentiate Their Way to Success
“When you really think about it, copying someone else’s business model demonstrates an incredible lack of creativity and imagination. Yet most business and brands are just copies of someone else’s.”
“Every decision you make about your business either contributes to or detracts from your desired brand; very few are neutral.”
“The best growth strategy—in good economies or bad—is to decide what not to do. The best way to expand is by narrowing.”
🎧 ON THE PODCAST 🎧
Ep. 28 – 10 Shifts From $100k
To $500k As A Solopreneur
In this episode, I cover:
- How I scaled two solo businesses to $500k+/year and the exact shifts you need to make to get there.
- Why you need to pick a clear path between two business models to break through the $100k ceiling.
- How to charge 2-5x your current rates by making one simple shift.
- Why your success thermostat may be secretly sabotaging your business growth (and how to reset it).