Talent is Always the Constraint

When I used to meet with entrepreneurs and owners who had built multi-million and even billion dollar companies I would always ask them the same question:

What’s your biggest constraint to growth?”

I never got a different answer. Every single one, without fail, replied, “Talent”.

When I asked to what they attributed their success I always got some variation on the same answer too: “I found a great manager/COO/right-hand”.

Humans are incredibly inventive. Though entrepreneurship is somewhat rare (less rare than most people think, and would be far more prevalent if it wasn’t schooled out of kids by petty, pathetic bureaucratic morons), even just a handful of entrepreneurs have a lot more vision than they can execute on. They need people who have skill, and more importantly the hustle and willingness to try and learn, to help them bring things to life. There are just too damn few!

I suspect that if entrepreneurs had double the talent they’d be five times more productive. It’s not linear.

Julian Simon understood that human ingenuity and talent are the ultimate resource. More humans with more freedom to explore and play and niche down would unleash untold benefits for all.

The perpetual talent bottleneck is far greater than any other bottleneck. Lack of good ideas, lack of money, lack of a market – all of these pale in comparison to lack of good talent, because good talent is the one thing that can overcome all the other hurdles. Good talent can adjust and adapt until they match the right ideas and market. Good talent can find or make the money. But ideas and money and market can’t make talent. Only people can make people. And only people can raise people in an environment of freedom that lets them become talented and valuable to the world.

You want to make the world a better, freer, more prosperous, peaceful, and wonderful place? Go produce or adopt some kids and offer them a safe home and a lot of freedom. Keep them away from the conformity factories and movements or causes. Let them be kids. Curious, resourceful, mischievous, annoying, creative, destructive, tiring, and interesting. Increase their independence steadily until they’re totally autonomous. They’ll do the rest.

P.S. – Another thing every successful entrepreneur told me was, “For the right person, I’m always hiring”. This is true for me as well. I am always looking for top-notch talent to help bring visions to life and grow ideas into something powerful. If that’s you, pitch me anytime.