A Tactless YouTuber Exposed the Hidden Truth About the Most Underrated Startup Success Hack

Spoiler alert: You aren’t Satoshi Nakamoto — and maybe you aren’t supposed to be.

I blame my parents for my guilty pleasure’s decades-old origins. Since moving coasts, working in finance, starting companies, and rubbing elbows with an impressively successful (and sometimes eccentric) crowd, it’s only gotten worse.

It all dates back to “The Parade of Homes.”

In case you aren’t familiar, it’s a local showcase of brand-new model mansions — usually among the most costly in a city or state. One year, the winning home had a guitar-shaped pool, indoor basketball court, trapdoors with secret rooms, and sprawling marble floors over 8k+ square feet. I believe it was priced around $4M over 15 years ago in a city and state where the median home price still hasn’t hit $350k.

But this article isn't about real estate. Homes are cool — but I was mostly intrigued by who the heck owned — or could afford to buy — those sprawling architectural masterpieces — and how they amassed their wealth. Even after buying a home myself, my insatiable curiosity has yet to subside. Unfortunately, society has conditioned me to believe walking up to a stranger’s door, ringing the bell, and handing over a short survey of personal, professional, and financial questions isn’t socially acceptable. Name, job, resume, salary, bonus, equity, LinkedIn, net worth, dog breed, etc. Just boilerplate questions, but my fiancé stops me every time.

Lucky for me, one slightly less tactful (or simply more brazen) YouTuber had no shame in his game and did just that — and proved what the internet and social media today would never tell you about the pursuits of money, entrepreneurship, and success. If you’ve been feeling down in the dumps because you’re late to the crypto party or can’t get past the first three pages of “Coding for Dummies”, I’ve got some good news. Not only is there massively underrated opportunity out there, but there’s also a distraction-filled frenzy keeping your competitors none the wiser.

CryptoKittie got your tongue

As a serial founder with a host of failures (and a few successes) under my belt, you’d think I’d know better by now. Nonetheless, I transferred another $10k or so into an array of hyper-speculative early-stage coins. Then, a blockchain-related startup and a Web 3.0-geared VC firm hit me up, and I hopped aboard. One uber-crypto-heavy investor friend of mine asserted the same thing the media’s been milking for months: Crypto is the future.

Some go so far as to say the only startups worth pursuing these days are tech startups or those built on the blockchain. I mean, Web 2.0 is so last decade. And physical products? Forget it; that’s dinosaur era speak.

As far as investing in and advancing innovative technology, that all may be true. However, that also sends a dangerous defeatist message to aspiring entrepreneurs. If they aren’t Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, or Satoshi Nakamoto, they might as well learn to be ASAP or give up now.

If you’re an aspiring or current entrepreneur worried that crypto, blockchain, coding, and technology are taking over the world and eliminating your opportunities for success, good. That’s what all your would-be competitors are probably thinking too — and precisely why now is your time to shine (offline).

An honest mega-millionaire

Back to the tactless YouTuber (who also happens to be a multi-millionaire CEO running a very well-known tech company from his bedroom): He pulled up to modern mansion after mansion, filming the awkward encounters and the insightful intel they produced.

The answers ranged from real estate developer to director of finance, lawyer, construction company owner, designer, architect, and even landlord. CEOs? Yes. Technical geniuses or crypto millionaires? No. However, that’s obviously a biased account based on the chosen location and minimal sample size.

Nonetheless, I found one multi-millionaire entrepreneur interaction incredibly inspiring: “I don’t know…Nowadays it’s so much more difficult. Back then you went to the bank with a plan…and they loaned you the money.”

That quote came from a successful retired racecar driver-turned-architect and construction company CEO. Despite his success, he finds getting started today an intimidating prospect. And he’s already done it!

Truth be told, with today’s tech-obsessed media rhetoric, it shouldn’t be hard to scare off even the most capable, educated, and ambitious of entrepreneurs. And that’s a good thing for you and your waning competition.

If you have a passion, talent, and world-changing mission centered around coding, technology, or cryptocurrencies, by all means, go forth. But with everyone rushing towards the same goldmine, the amateurs, shiny object chasers, and “get rich quick”-ers will likely get sniffed out and fall by the wayside.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs who take an entirely different path and drown out the noise with their own unwavering mission may have a unique opportunity to shine.

I have proof

We all have favorite entrepreneurs, companies, products, or services. Having worked with thousands of aspiring and full-time entrepreneurs of all stages — from those in the red to one with a billion-dollar exit, I can assure you technology is not the only path.

• A 20-something toilet entrepreneur. Yes, toilets. (with both US-based for-profit and global philanthropic initiatives and a hefty IP portfolio)
• A guy who turned a household product into $25M in annual sales (with zero outside funding)
• A very private owner of an 8-figure telecom business (who also exited an even less-sexy (non-tech-related) company for a billion bucks, with a “B”)

Point being, you don’t have to be a technical genius to become successful, wealthy, or bring impactful entrepreneurial innovation into the world. And you can make millions even if you don’t know a line of code. While everyone is letting shiny objects like CryptoKitties, ICOs, and NFTs command their gaze, you just may have a rare opportunity to “zig” when they all “zag”.

And zigging? It isn’t always sexy, but that’s why it works.

But I wanted to zag…

Zagging is fine — if you’re the best or the first. If not? Zigging may be the more efficient, effective, and likely route to outsized success (with limited competition). And yes, you can still make a killing — and even change the world — with physical products, household items, and “not-so-sexy” ventures. Just ask toilet girl and pantry man — and the tens of millions they continue to quietly rake in.