I'm increasingly interested in the idea of "personal moats" in the context of careers.
Moats should be:
- Hard to learn and hard to do (but perhaps easier for you)
- Skills that are rare and valuable
- Legible
- Compounding over time
- Unique to your own talents & interests
1/ In the literature of growth & marketing, there is this concept called “loops”
I’m curious to explore “loops” in the context of how people make career decisions and think about how to build career capital over time.
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@eriktorenberg
It’s unnecessarily long winded (in a way I find kinda fun) but there’s a
@ribbonfarm
piece on this idea:
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I’ve been into the idea of *legibility* recently as it relates to conveying expertise/skills at scale.
The basic idea is that it’s not enough to be good at something, you also want your expertise to be easy to describe, easy to share, and makes people want to do both.
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@eriktorenberg
@Joekilcullen
You should read The Dip by Seth Godin. It’s about exactly this topic.
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@eriktorenberg
.Truly unique in this theory would be degree of truth from which a personal moat is created (where truth is scarce),
force multiplied by one’s runway length where one can measure a return on their ‘truth moat’ by degree of control of choice,
& ability to leave $ on the table.
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@eriktorenberg
Check out this piece by
@bencasnocha
informed by
@nntaleb
: on scalability vs defensibility of a career.
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@eriktorenberg
"The test of whether a moat exists is quantitative, even though the factors that create moats are qualitative. If "X" has not earned returns on capital substantially exceeding the opportunity cost of capital for 3 to 5 years, it does not have a moat."
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@eriktorenberg
Very hard to consciously create one. Genetics and unusual experiences/circumstances can occasionally create moats as a side effect. Becoming an extreme expert at something intentionally has significant costs
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@eriktorenberg
As "Californian" as this sounds. I wrote a company vision for my life. Basically a personal vision. Surprisingly clarifying.
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@eriktorenberg
You’ll like this piece on how an apprentice moves up the skill ladder to master and eventually stewart.
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