Skin in the Game

Building a product of your own means you have skin in the game. And having skin in the game is everything.

Something that I’ve learnt over the past few months is that it’s easier to commentate than get your hands dirty and build something new. When you build something new, you risk facing all kinds of criticism and rejection. To build something new comes with the understanding that most ‘new’ things don’t stand the test of time and eventually fade away into oblivion. It also comes with a kind of insanity or delusion that you will beat the odds, or that the thing you build will be good enough to hold people’s attention for a significant period of time. Essentially, building something of your own and putting it out there means you have skin in the game - whether you're a musician, an entrepreneur or a freelance writer.

It's noble to pursue a unique vision, and it's more noble when that comes at personal risk.

Ancient societies (I’m particularly thinking of Ancient Rome) valued individuals who took risks and had a personal stake in their endeavors. Having 'skin in the game' was seen as a measure of commitment, dedication, and integrity. A particularly alarming and extreme example of this mindset is found in the code of Hamurabi, aBabylonian legal text composed during 1755–1750 BC.

In modern society, however, there seems to be a shift towards valuing commentary and observation over active participation. And to be fair, there’s nothing wrong with being a commentator - it can often be a quite lucrative endeavour, and you often provide others with catalogued information and knowledge they didn’t possess.

Nevertheless, there's still something to be said for buckling down and getting your hands dirty building something, especially when you acknowledge that what you create could turn out to be utterly great or utterly terrible.

The Consultant Economy:

Steve Jobs made a few cheeky comments about consultants over the years. It seems his major gripe with them was that they have no real skin in the game, they never really have to see through the thing they're working on and they have little capacity to learn from their mistakes.

I don't fully agree with Jobs' assessment, however he's onto something about the distinctions between founders and consultants. The founder has more skin in the game, and will probably learn more in the process of trying and failing, while the consultant never has to see the end results of any mistakes they made and thus, won’t get the chance to accumulate scar tissue.

More and more, it seems we are operating in a 'consultant economy', where people are keen to leverage their skills in proposing ideas and solutions to things, without being the one to take responsibility for implementing these ideas. The idea of working with an already-established company and using your skills to guide them in the right direction is quite appealing, because it means you’re not the only one in control of the project. If something goes wrong, you can simply tell yourself that the company didn't follow the guidelines you proposed effectively enough, or they misinterpreted your advice. But ultimately, there’s a right time to ‘pass the baton’, and there’s also a right time to ‘grab the baton’ and be ready to run your own race.

What’s the Takeaway?

1. Learn to build things on your own and put them out into the world.

2. You don’t get skin in the game without being willing to experience fear.

3. Having skin in the game means taking responsibility for the outcome.