Marco Pantaleon

So many people with traditional corporate or finance careers dream about these seemingly impossible lives of “being their own boss” while also being geographically free, being able to just “get up and go” whenever… Business ownership scares most of them because they’re so used to the romanticization of innovation… that they need a business “idea”.. some brilliant thing. Or they need to buy some SMB and go into debt doing so. You don’t need an “idea.” Very rarely do folks internalize that the very nature of their current employment already proves the value of their skills and experience… that if their employer is willing to pay them, say, $200K for whatever it is they’re doing… then why wouldn’t 5 smaller companies pay them $40K or $3-4/m for some part-time narrower-scope version of that same thing? Maybe it’s a smaller business that doesn’t have the budget for FT. Or maybe it’s a founder who hates the hassle of managing unproductive W2s. Boom… now you have XYZ Consulting making the same amount you were before... but with a 5x stability boost because you’ve spread job-loss risk across five clients instead of just “one client.” And now you can write-off a ton. You can also more easily ratchet down your work-life at a time of your choosing. For example… let’s say you want to work 40% less for some stretch… you can reduce your scope or even cut the relationship entirely with two clients. Now attempt to work 40% less at your W2.. think they’ll just pay you 40% less? No, of course not. That’s not how it works. You’ll be fired. They need someone at 100% and will pay for that. But you can also ratchet up. You now have a diversified portfolio of clients that can refer you. You can build a compelling website, case studies, position yourself as conflict-free and independent, build a brand around yourself, etc. The typical response is then… “OK sure, buddy, now tell me how to get those five clients.” The answer is… you sell yourself. This is all that matters in life and business. Actually being competent in what you do is table stakes, because if you’re not then you won’t be able to sell yourself sustainably over time. I often challenge high-performing people in corp/fin roles… if you’re so great at selling your firm and doing XYZ… then why don’t you go prove your true worth and true skill by selling yourself and testing the true value of your skills and experience on the open market… free of brand affiliations or entrenched systems of institutional preference from which you’ve benefitted? They don’t because they are afraid. Every other reason given is a coping mechanism… prestige, stability, predictability, friends at work, “I really enjoy it here”… So challenge #1 is overcoming fear as a concept before thinking about your business. Each of those reasons mask some insecurity or fear. A desire for prestige is signal for lack of personal confidence or an underdeveloped identity. Stability is signal for fear of not being able to provide. And so on. Fear carries some evolutionary rationale… but it’s nevertheless important that people admit that’s what it is. Literally say it out loud. “I am afraid.” Most of my network these days is made up of self-employed parents living in Europe. Almost nobody is creating some ground breaking app or technology or service. Yet every time we catch up they give me a hit parade of cool stuff they just did … just got back from Spain with wife and kids… just got back from two months in Australia with the kids… just did a 100 mile hike in Brazil… just pushed his clients to a partner and is just chilling for two years and wants to write a novel… They’re always “on” and it’s stressful in its own kind of way. But these people are mostly doing the same things they used to do as W2s in their 20-30s. They’re just wired for independence and think the trade-offs of this kind of work-life are obviously 100x better than letting “one client” make a margin on your time and effort.

🐥 Tweety bird sees that by May 2026: DILG Sec. Sonny Trillanes DICT Sec. Edwin Lacierda DOJ Sec. Benhur Abalos #BolangKrystal