The guy who never wrote me back
I was working in one of the sexiest jobs, at one of the sexiest Bitcoin exchanges in the world.
Every room I walked into, I immediately became the person everyone had to know.
Forget working at Goldman Sachs, forget working at the White House, forget working at Google. None of that compared to the instant flair that accompanied this job.
On top of that, not only are the people employed at such places mentioned above often painfully boring, I was the exact opposite — constantly provocative in my well-informed views. Not only was I well-positioned, but I eviscerated so much of the nonsense that was spoken around me.
Sometimes the world really does reward truth tellers, a lesson I have constantly been exposed to throughout life.
And one evening, as I worked late, I received a glowing email from a stranger.
It was so profuse that it embarrassed me, and I hardly even knew how to respond.
The was from a college kid had read a book I had written — The Bitcoin Manifesto — and was ready to drop out of college and come work for me.
He was a student at the university I graduated from and was even a recipient of the scholarship I had received — details he no doubt knew about me, as he subtly mentioned them in the email without even pointing to them as an area of commonality.
He had my attention.
The only problem is that he had my attention once.
And then, when I went back to the time-sensitive thing I was doing, he lost it.
I really wanted to talk to a guy this excited about this industry and I definitely would hire him, even if he did not know a thing about the industry I worked in. I could teach him what was needed.
But what was I going to do about the moral responsibility of encouraging him to stay in school or drop out?
That weighed on me as I read his email through a third time.
Bleary-eyed, ready to get out of my three piece suit and to be at home in bed, now was not the time to answer these questions.
This is what I needed: An email the next morning.
And the next morning.
And the next morning.
And the next morning.
And the next morning.
“Well, you owed him a response,” someone might say, but I would say that person speaking has likely never had hundreds of correspondences a day to wade through and triage.
“You owed him a response,” is no longer how the world works.
I’m not sure if it ever did.
No one owes you anything.
That is a truth of life.
You and I, and everyone, on the other hand, owe the world your very best if you want even mediocre back from the world.
And that means, among other things, giving your very best effort in order to get in touch with the people who you believe can help illuminate your path.
I might send 40 interview pitches to a media personality before he has me on his show.
Had I stopped at 39, I would not have gotten on.
Ten minutes after I close my 35th email of the day on the topic of a health mandate, I probably have no idea what the name of the mom from Ohio with the vaccine injured daughter is. But I know her story. It can be very hard to get back to an email when you do not remember the sender’s name. It can be very hard to get back to an email not immediately dealt with.
No matter how good the sorting system, things get lost in the flow of information.
Recognizing that reality, you keep knocking on the door you wish to enter. You get creative. You put the responsibility on your shoulders to get another person’s attention.
“I hate people who don’t answer emails,” says the boring email writer who does not have an inbox full of emails.
If you want an answer, make yourself impossible to ignore, over and over and over.
Working for me probably would have changed that kid’s life. I had hundreds, even thousands of applicants with each job I opened up. That kid would have gotten to the front of the cue. After all, he was much like me some years earlier. How could I have said no to that?
And I did not say no.
I went on with my work, never prioritized him, and did some other really great things with my time.
And if he would have just sent a few more emails, he would have gotten me to have seen him as the priority.
Perhaps I missed out on something special with him. That’s a harder claim to make when you have a hundred guys like him vying for the same jobs on my team. An easier claim to make is this — he missed out on something special. Not only because of the numbers, but also because of this — over and over I have been told by employees (in mostly good ways) that they have never had a boss like me.
Most people give up too easily.
They get caught in their minds.
They psych themselves out.
Some voice tells them, “Persistence is rude.” Such a debilitating idea was probably told to him by some underachieving midwit who never heard the word diligence.
Tip: if anyone ever tells you that you are “harassing,” “annoying,” or “bothersome,” respond to them using the word diligence. Diligence is “bothersome with good reason.” It’s good to be bothersome with good reason, even if the world does not want that from you.
Most people lose focus.
And they thereby miss out on some really awesome things.
Every day, I intend to invite you to try things that I made especially for warriors like you, especially for warriors like me. If that diligence offends you, the unsubscribe link is below. Diligence is the side I choose to err on.
I will not hear another person say, “I’m on your email list, why didn’t you tell me about that?” No, instead, I intend to go through life hearing people say, “You’ve had a lot to say lately.”
Of course, I have had a lot to say lately. I want to be diligent in getting you every tool that will give you an advantage against this tyranny. And I want to be diligent in encouraging you to rise up and fight by my side. To do otherwise would be nothing but negligent, for I do not see you merely as a reader, but as a client — someone who is under my care and guidance. As such, I owe you a high level of duty to give you everything I believe will be good for you.
And if you have not yet used Face Masks Hurt Kids, I want it to be a tool at your disposal. The mask nazis desire to return the mask mandates, and I desire to help arm you to stop that — for your freedom and mine.
Tap here to buy Face Masks Hurt Kids.
Allan Stevo