The “1099 Community” won’t rule the world —
The “E.I. Community” will.
I keep hearing the “1099 community”. But, “1099” is a tax code — that seems like a terrible description for great, independent talent.
I believe the most elite individuals at their craft will continue to accelerate and take those fields further with them. I believe these individuals should be treated and discussed as something much more than a tax code.
I believe “the manager”, as we know it, will die. The “9–5”, as we know it, will die.
I believe the most successful companies will function by running themselves as a network of start-ups — flat, talented, and with laser-focused goals. I believe the most talented individuals will be empowered to take full control of their craft, their time, and their income.
I believe the “E.I. Community” is the future of how we will work.
“E.I. Community” — The Elite & Independent Community.
No offense to them, but I’m not talking about Uber drivers.
You may heard of these engineer, designer, entrepreneur wunderkinds traveling all over the world, making a ton of money, and pushing out dope products and companies. How do they do it?
Let’s break down what makes them “Elite & Independent”:
1. They don’t really need a manager
2. They know how to communicate really well
3. They’re really really good at their craft and have great taste
4. They can take calculated risks
5. They can sell, when necessary
If you fit the 5 above, you should have no one stop you in accelerating your craft/career, starting a business, or being in total control of your time and income.
Let’s break things down a bit though.
1. They don’t really need a manager
Independent means that someone doesn’t need to tell you what to do and when to do it. This means being in total control of your planning, your priority list, your email, and you calendar — or affording for someone else to take care of it for you (A Virtual Assistant can do this for you for a few hundred dollars per month).
2. They know how to communicate really well
… whether that’s out, up, down, or across.
Being able to communicate to just your manager is good, but why stop there?
What is your CEO doing? Communicating down.
What is your account manager doing? Communicating out.
What is your teammate doing? Communicating across.
What are you doing if you’re “managing” your own team? Communicating down.
If you want to be in total control of your career and time, learn to do all of the above.
3. They’re really really good at their craft and have great taste
If you’re a really good designer, you can probably sell your skill independently for far more than you make as a salary. In the U.S., you can bill $150/hr+ for being an elite designer, engineer, or PM (agencies are doing it — why can’t you?). That’s 300K per year, working 40 hours per week — 150K per year, working 20 hours per week.
I also wrote “taste”…
That’s for scale.
If you’re a really good anything, you can bill yourself out. If you’re a really good anything with good taste for other “anythings”, you can probably use a bit of brain power to figure out how to bill them out too. Split the winnings, empower other talented individuals, and grow.
4. They can take calculated risks
Really talented people aren’t simply executors. They thrive in the gray areas.
When an opportunity comes, you have to recognize it and be ok with taking some risks to execute on it — that’s what being a thinker AND an executor means. You need to be both, or you need to keep your cushy job.
5. They can sell, when necessary
We talked about skill. We talked a little bit about scale — both of these require selling a certain craft.
Want to take it a step further? … like, building a venture backed startup? Ok. Now you need to sell VC’s, customers, early employees. Selling is packaging an offer that is good enough for someone else to take. The more customers you can cater to (Employees, VC’s, end-users, etc), the wider and further you can grow.
If the 5 points above seem obvious to you, and you already cover them, you should really consider taking the plunge.
If you can’t confidently say that you cover the 5 points above, but want to be part of the E.I. Community, you just have to make a plan to improve in those areas and execute on it.
Why am I writing this?
I left a “real job” when I was 24, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I know it’s not the right fit for everyone, but I do think it’s a great step for many talented individuals. I know I’m not the most talented of my friends, or my professional network.
I think talented, smart people should take more risks. I think the manager, 9–5 will die and someone needs to run shit (hopefully, the best talent will prevail).
Whether people work for themselves, start or join start-ups, or move the needle at a big corp — I believe in a network of the “E.I. community” being the leaders of the next generation of “work”.
Also, I think it’s silly to wear a suit because someone else tells you to.
Suits should only be worn because they’re high fashiön.
