Summary

The article outlines a strategy for personal and professional development by applying Naval Ravikant's concept of "productizing yourself" through leveraging your 9–5 job, building a unique skill stack, crafting a compelling story, embracing enjoyment in your work, and learning to build and sell solutions to problems.

Abstract

In "How I’m Applying Naval Ravikant’s Advice To ‘Productize Yourself’ In 2024," the author provides a roadmap for individuals to capitalize on their unique attributes and experiences to create a personal brand and business. The author emphasizes the importance of viewing your 9–5 job as a competitive advantage, where one can acquire valuable skills and industry insights while getting paid. The concept of a "skill stack" is introduced, suggesting that combining several skills where you are competent, rather than world-class, can make you uniquely valuable. Storytelling is highlighted as a crucial element in differentiating oneself in the market, with the author advising readers to share their authentic life experiences. Enjoyment in one's work is presented as a key factor for sustained success and competitiveness. Finally, the article stresses the significance of identifying problems, creating solutions, and learning to sell those solutions effectively.

Opinions

The author believes that your current job is an asset, not a liability, as it provides a platform for learning and growth.
Building a unique skill stack is more about the combination of skills than mastering a single one, which can set you apart from competitors.
A compelling personal story is a powerful tool for connecting with an audience and making your offerings stand out.
Enjoyment in your work is not just a bonus but a crucial component for long-term success and resilience.
Solving problems and selling solutions is at the heart of creating a successful one-person business.
The author suggests that there is no saturation in the market if you can curate, aggregate, and provide convenience.
Wealth, health, and relationships are identified as the primary problems that, when solved, can lead to significant financial success.

How I’m Applying Naval Ravikant’s Advice To ‘Productize Yourself’ In 2024

Your 9–5 job is your greatest competitive advantage.

“Productize and Yourself.”

“Productize” has specific knowledge and leverage

“Yourself” has uniqueness.

“Productize” has leverage.

“Yourself” has accountability.

- Naval Ravikant.

Here’s how you can productize yourself in 2024.

#1: Exploit your 9–5 job

Your 9–5 job is your greatest competitive advantage.

So don’t give it up too easily. Get paid to learn valuable skills, knowledge, and industry insights. If you have a 9–5 job, you already have a business.

You just sell your skills to one customer: Your employer.

Keep selling it to them. But then also:

Build in public.
Teach everything you know on one platform.
Start a free community around your interests.
Start an email list and a weekly email newsletter.
Listen to customer problems, and then create a digital product.

You can start a productized one-person business in 2 hours a day.

Most weekdays I wake up around 5:00 am. This gives me 2 hours of deep work to write. Writing is the highest-leverage task I can do for my business. Everything relies on my writing.

Don’t quit your day job, leverage it.

#2: Build a profitable skill stack.

Don’t just be someone. Be the only one.

Build a stack of unique skills that only you can deliver. You don’t even have to world class at any one of them. But in aggregate, you are competing with only yourself.

Let’s take my example.

I’ve got deep technical knowledge of government policy. It’s what I studied at university and spent 5+ years of my career working in. But I also supplemented this with learning:

Sales.
Funnels.
Marketing.
Online writing.
Content creation.
Business development.

I’m not world-class in any of these skills, and I don’t aim to be.

I only want to be in the top 20% of any of these skills. While there will be people who will be better than me at a particular skill, as a package they can’t compete with me.

Competition is for losers.

If you’re competing, you’re not being authentic enough. Keep redefining what you do. Add more skills. Combine them in different ways. Apply them to different contexts.

I’m the best at what I do because I am the only one who can do it.

#3: Craft a compelling story.

The best story wins.

A talented person with bad communication will lose to a mediocre person with great communication. The ability to articulate a story will cause emotion and win over hearts.

Here’s how to create a great story:

Map out your life from birth to the present day.
Identify key experiences that shaped your life.
Tell that story. However raw and unfiltered.
Detail what lessons you learned from them.
Use these stories to link with your business

Your story will make you unique. It’ll make your services and products different from the other products in the market.

Stories sell.

#4: Embrace enjoyment

The person who has the most fun wins.

You can’t compete with someone if they are having fun all day. People always ask me how I sit down to write every. Often for hours at a time. Consistently for years on end.

Truthfully, writing doesn’t feel like work to me at all.

Even as a child, I remember I would sit in class writing random stories about people in my life. People thought I was weird. But what made me weird as a child makes me money as an adult.

I would continue to write even if no one listened or read what I wrote.

I just can’t help but write every morning. It’s the cheapest form of therapy. I get so much satisfaction and joy from writing. That’s why no one can compete with me.

Now you’ve got to find that for yourself.

If writing isn’t your thing, try video.

If you like speaking, try podcasting.

Everyone’s got a format they are comfortable with.

Writing suits my lifestyle and is low friction (plus a lot of fun).

Fun > followers.

#5: Learn to build, learn to sell

You are a unicorn to someone.

Your unique blend of lived experiences, professional accomplishments, and skills can serve a group of people very well. You just need to find them.

Marry a problem. And then sell the solution.

It’s simple. But not easy. Here are ideas:

Solve your own problems.

And then:

Sell your sawdust (what did you create to solve your problem?)
Sell your transformation (who did you become at the end?)
Sell your knowledge and experience (what did you learn?)

Many people identify problems but don’t have a product to sell. People will pay for curation, aggregation, and convenience. There’s no such thing as saturation. Read #2 again.

Why do you think fast food is so popular?

It’s quick and easy, even though it will kill you in the long run. People’s daily existence is built on solving their problems.

They work a job to solve their money problem.
They go to the gym to solve their health problems.
They invest in therapy to solve their relationship problems.

Wealth, health, and relationships are the eternal problems that human beings struggle to solve. There’s a never-ending list of problems.

If you want to make a lot of money, solve big problems at scale.

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