You’ll need the “minimum viable money” to keep going and not have to take a job that doesn’t increase your specialized knowledge & skills. You’ll want the “minimum viable network”, to know the right people to help, and the “minimum viable legibility (reputation)” to get them to care.

When it comes to network building, most people make the mistake of focusing on brand awareness, instead of expertise. They focus too much on the “legible” side of things, rather than knowledge and skills.

It’s one thing to be widely networked. Another thing to be strategically networked. And yet another to have created networks that compound over time (e.g Thiel Fellowship, Paul Graham and YC).

four different types of career loops, or assets: * Specialized Knowledge / Skills (“Get So Good They Can’t Ignore You”) * Financial Capital ($) * Brand / Legibility (ability for your skills/assets to be widely recognizable) * Unique Network Access/Strength

Every great product should have a moat, and careers are no different.

Product Tropes that Apply to Careers: Capitalize on unfair advantages, insights, or relationships. Disrupt orthogonally, often from below—try not to compete head on. When you’re younger, take more market risk; when you’re more experienced, take execution risk.

Knowledge and skills is another great loop to attract the other loops. Unique network access and strength? Knowledge and skills allows you to build this as well. Specialized knowledge and skills makes brand legibility much easier too.

do find your tribe of collaborators and go deep with a handful, involving them in the value building process — developing skills, building something together, etc.)

best examples are people who’ve spent time building skills & expertise, and then can build the network instantly, versus the people who build their network first, and then try to bolt skills / expertise on top.

Loops, in other words, are what lead to sustainable, compounding, growth. In a career context, this means asking: “What are the things you can do today which make it easier to obtain your desired resources and career opportunities tomorrow, in a way that’s defensible and compounds overtime?”