The career move nobody in my industry talks about
This is the first issue of The Shift. I will keep it short.
I want to share something I have never talked about publicly, but it’s the shift that changed everything.
For most of my career, I charged for my expertise the way everyone does: employment, hourly rates, project fees, retainers. Good money, predictable, safe.
Then freelancing and networking brought me something different.
I met someone on Lunchclub.com, a platform that matches professionals for one-on-one conversations.
He runs a small investment fund and needed someone who understood digital content strategy.
Instead of paying me a fee, he offered me a percentage of the business.
From a seasoned executive in the finance industry, that was common practice. But to me, owning a percentage of a business was first of all a formative experience that taught me to think long term. And most of all, that I could use my skills as an exchange token to buy my way into businesses.
It changed how I looked at everything.
Since then, I have done this twice more: both times with partners I found through Fiverr, of all places.
They came to me as consulting clients. I saw what they were building on YouTube, recognised that my skills were the missing piece, and proposed a different arrangement.
We went from a service relationship to a partnership.
No money upfront. Just weekly calls, some async support and a lot of appreciation from their side as I was doing it “for free“ in exchange for a share of their channels.
About six months later I discovered the power of leverage: I kept putting in the same amount of effort with my regular calls and async catch-ups, but slowly, these channels were growing and generating more money.
Same effort. More and more money over time.
And both of them became better and better at the craft, so they ended up requiring less effort.
I had an eye for the opportunity. I believed in these shows. And it worked out well.
So there is a big caveat: you need to be a real expert in your industry to spot those gems.
One thing to try this week:
Think about the people you already work with: your clients, your contacts, people in your network. Is there someone whose business you understand well enough to know exactly what is missing? Not “I could help with their marketing.” Something precise, like “their entire onboarding process is broken and I know how to fix it.”
Or go back further. Is there a past client or contact you lost touch with who is building something you believe in?
And if you do not have those relationships yet: start putting yourself in rooms where they happen.
Lunchclub is one way. Platforms where clients hire you for small projects, like Fiverr, are another. Network as much as possible. Start now, while you are still employed.
This one single shift, from chasing fast cash to seeking to own, is what alone is giving me the time and the money to live my life. Which right now is split between building a tool, creating content online, and planning a two-month trip to the Philippines.
No bragging. I just want to give you a peek at what all this could lead to. And if you ask me, I would not have believed I could make all this happen. I pinch myself.
More next week.
Francesco