I drew this on a hotel napkin last week.
It is how everything I do connects.
Table of Contents
My Flywheel
I am the general manager at Kno Commerce.
That gives me access to 6,500 Shopify brands and some of the best direct-to-consumer operators.
I interview those operators on my podcast.
Learn from them, and share it with the community.
I take those learnings and apply them to Boostcous.
Running Boostcous puts me in the operator’s shoes.
That makes me better at building Kno’s product.
And once a year, I bring operators together at DTSki in Aspen.
Kno to Podcast to Boostcous to DTSki to Kno.
Every piece feeds the next.
Real Example
Here is a real example:
Chad from Grüns reached out to onboard Kno 3 years ago as he was kicking off his company.
Invited him to DTSki.
His now Chief Marketing Officer, Connor, came on the podcast.
I learned from both of them and applied those learnings to launch Boostcous.
Bonus: Connor is now a customer of Boost.
Now, our product roadmap at Kno is built to help the Grüns of the world get the most value from their customer data.
One connection, compounds everywhere.
That is the flywheel.
Not Linear
Here is what I have learned:
The best career moves are not linear.
They are circular.
Most people think a career is a ladder.
Do this, then do that, then do the next thing.
But the real unlock is when everything you do makes everything else better.
Your job teaches you something.
You share it.
That builds relationships.
Those relationships open doors.
Those doors make you better at your job.
Nothing is wasted.
Everything compounds.
The Question
It took me 10 years to figure this out.
If you are building something, ask yourself:
How does this feed everything else I am doing?
If it does not connect, maybe it is not the right move.
Conclusion
The best careers are not linear, they are circular.
When everything you do feeds into everything else, nothing is wasted, and everything compounds.
Ask yourself if what you are building connects to the rest of your work.