There’s a discussion in the comments under yesterday’s post about how intelligence and knowledge affect success—or, to put it bluntly and briefly, money. I personally call this academic knowledge: when someone is well-informed, knowledgeable, and competent in a particular field. This can include both theoretical and practical knowledge that can be applied in the area they work in. I’m mostly talking about expertise within a fairly narrow specialization.
Everything I’m about to write is just my subjective opinion and is not presented as the ultimate truth. If you think differently, you’re welcome to join the discussion in the comments. Now let’s talk about numbers and money—the stuff you love. It may sound blunt, but it is what it is. Let’s define success not as earning $2,000–3,000 a month, since that’s a standard salary in IT, but as earning at least $10,000—and preferably, ideally, $20,000 or more. Why those numbers? I know people working in IT who earn $5,000–10,000 a month. In my opinion, you can reach that level primarily through academic knowledge by working hard for a company from nine to six, Monday through Friday. But to make $20,000 or more, you need a slightly different set of skills. So, let’s get into it.
In my opinion, there is a correlation between academic knowledge and success, but it’s tiny—about 1–5%, no more. Other skills come first, specifically a person’s soft skills. Yes, soft skills rather than hard skills. Otherwise, teachers, scientists, and academics would be the wealthiest and most successful people in society. But in practice, that’s far from the case.
So what do I believe actually matters?
1) The ability to communicate, negotiate, sell, deal with daily shitstorms, and feel comfortable living with uncertainty.
2) The ability to calculate a project’s economics: unit economics, margins, and LTV.
3) The ability to test hypotheses quickly and kill off whatever doesn’t work.
4) An understanding of traffic: where to get people and how much it will cost.
5) The ability to package a product: its offer, positioning, and messaging.
6) The ability to scale what already works.
7) Control over finances and cash flow—not profit, but the actual movement of money.
8) The ability to hire strong people and get rid of weak ones.
9) Building systems instead of relying on manual work.
10) Risk management: legal considerations, bans, and dependence on platforms.
11) An understanding of customer and market psychology.
I know a restaurant owner. In his café, he’s the purchasing manager, courier, cleaner, accountant, lawyer, waiter, and even the guy tending the furnace during winter. I could go on listing his roles forever. If the bartender gets sick, he works behind the bar or finds someone who can. If the cleaner goes on a bender, he washes the dishes. You get the idea.
What kinds of shitstorms should someone aiming to earn $20,000 or more be able to handle?
1) When everything in the business is growing—how to scale without breaking the system.
2) When everything is collapsing and going to hell—how to identify the cause quickly and pull the business out of the crisis.
3) When there’s no money—how to survive until the following month.
4) When there is money—where to invest it so it grows instead of getting fucked away.
5) When the team is underperforming—how to improve it or replace the people who aren’t up to the job.
6) When the market changes—how to adapt faster than your competitors and remain more flexible and agile.
7) When some bullshit hits—bans, regulations, or blocks—how to work around it or adapt.
In my opinion, money isn’t given to you as a reward for your knowledge. More often, it’s a reward for your ability to make decisions amid chaos, complete shitstorms, and uncertainty while taking responsibility for yourself and others. An academically educated, intelligent, well-read person knows how things should be done—often in theory. An entrepreneur does whatever works in that particular place and moment, here and now. Those are two completely different approaches and two entirely different worlds.
As an example, look at the people around you—your relatives and friends. You’ll probably find people who are much smarter than you. But the question is: are they more successful?) Personally, I know plenty of people who are a hundred times smarter than me, both in real life and on Telegram. And I’m completely fine with that. Now some guys will come to the comments and explain point by point why everything I’ve written is wrong and why I’m basically an idiot. Go ahead—you’re welcome))
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