(TSE #015) - How to Become a “Corporate Escape Artist”

When I left the corporate world in 2004, I was?in my late 20s and there were not a lot of options available to a “Corporate Escape Artist” like me, looking to build a life of autonomy, freedom, and purpose.

The tech revolutions had not yet reached Australia.

• Google has only just launched in late 2002.
• LinkedIn had only just launched in the USA (2002), and Twitter and Instagram did not yet exist.
• Facebook launched in Australia in late 2006.
• The first generation iPhone wasn’t released until 2007.
• Stripe and other payment gateways were still years away from launch.
• Websites cost thousands of dollars, took months to complete, and could only be built by web developers.

Being a “Corporate Escape Artist” was hard. It required giving up a well-paid career in favour of uncertainty, just at a time in my?life when my earning capacity was accelerating.

Today, it’s very different. You can build a pathway to Corporate Escape Artistry whilst still being a Corporate Captive. The challenge is knowing which stones to use, where to lay the stones, and whether you want to build them alone or have someone help you.

How to Become a “Full Stack Entrepreneur” (FSE)

The key to a successful Corporate Escape is being able to create the pathway.

One of the best ways to do this is by becoming a “full stack entrepreneur”.

You have mostly likely heard the term “full-stack programmer” – that’s someone who has the breadth of knowledge to develop every aspect of a tech product from front end to back end all by themselves.

A?full-stack entrepreneur?is a similar concept – it’s someone who can develop every aspect of a new entrepreneurial venture by themselves with the help of tech solutions.

Being a full-stack entrepreneur is hard because you must learn all the necessary skills in the “entrepreneurial skill tree” (see diagram below) which can be overwhelming for many.

Source: Mark Goldenson

Learning the necessary skills takes time, commitment, and focus. It takes a willingness to learn, practice, fail, and evolve. As a full-stack entrepreneur, you must:

• Define your vision and?the?mission?you want to achieve.
• Create a picture of how you are going to?make the financials work. These projections do not need to be detailed, but you do need to understand what sacrifice and constraints you will face in the early stages of your entrepreneurial journey.
• Plan operations and project milestones, at least for the first 12 to 18 months. There is so much uncertainty in the first 6 months regarding how the market will react to your offer and unforeseen changes in broader market conditions, that tightly planning beyond 18 months is exceptionally difficult.
• Plan for possible?early-stage cashflow crises.
• Lead initial product ideation, design, creation, and launch/distribution.?It all comes down to you. This includes building your website, social media accounts, audience-related content, payment gateways, and any other tech integration you will need to automate as much of your processes as possible.
• Conduct market research, create a sales funnel strategy, and actively build your audience through trust-based content marketing. At this stage of the journey, time is both your greatest asset and your fiercest enemy.
• Negotiate contracts, strategic partnerships, and other critical aspects?that will be crucial to growth from the 12-month mark onwards.
• Have?excellent communication skills?to liaise with a broad range of stakeholders including suppliers, customers, strategic partners, tech partners, accountants/bookkeepers etc.
• Not overcapitalise in terms of monetary or time expenditure?on service/product offerings in the initial 12-month period. It may be prudent to develop an MVP (minimal viable product) and test the market, and then develop the product in line with market demand.
• Have?exceptional time management and project management skills.?This will involve a balancing act of knowing when to do everything yourself and when to delegate to external resources.

As a full-tech entrepreneur, you can learn skills and leverage software to create outcomes that used to take 10 or more employees.

Being a Full Stack Entrepreneur in Practice

Just as a full-stack programmer builds their skills over time, as a full-stack entrepreneur you should add skills as and when you need them.

Example:?when I established my Online Exam Prep Program for Financial Advisers in August 2019, I had to learn how to build the entire end-to-end tech ecosystem to execute my idea. There were so many technology solutions on the market, and I had some experience in building and managing a website through WordPress.

I had to learn the skills to identify, build and integrate an LMS into a new website build. I had to learn how to integrate a payment gateway system (Stripe) into the LMS so that customers could enrol seamlessly online. I had to learn how to integrate a selection of WordPress plugins to provide customers with automatic access to the LMS once payment was received.

The most important skill I had to learn was how to build an audience using social media (my platform of choice was LinkedIn) and being wholly responsible for content creation, whilst trying to run the exam prep program as a One-Person Business / Solopreneur.

I put myself into a very uncomfortable situation and forced myself to learn.

What I discovered was that all the tools are out there and readily available. The difference between success and failure was a willingness to put in the time, and to consistently show up online.

Being a Corporate Escape Artist can be Hard

In 2004, I was 28 years old when I made my corporate “escape”.

To be completely transparent, I had no kids, no mortgage, and was living with a partner who earned income.

I left my corporate job with one month’s holiday pay and a $5k credit card. I had no other capital and no family support.

I will not lie. The first 5 years of my entrepreneurial journey were tough. The fact that I was not able to build a side hustle while working in corporate because the tech tools just didn’t exist, had a major impact.

I was reliant on finding opportunities created by others and, as such, was not in full control of commercial decision-making. Through a series of unfortunate events – some beyond my control and some self-inflicted – I struggled financially and emotionally, and my desire to succeed adversely impacted both my physical and mental health.

But I do not regret any part of my journey. It made me who I am today.

It enabled me to?generate almost $1,000,000 in gross revenue?over a 36-month period as a Full Stack Entrepreneur (One Person Business). The?highest 12-month revenue?peak was just over?$424k.

Words of Advice for Today’s “Corporate Escape Artists”

If I was a “Corporate Escape Artist” today, I would?become a “Full Stack Entrepreneur” and take my expertise online?by building a digital product.

I would stay in my full-time corporate role whilst I learned the necessary skills and built my side hustle.

I would minimise my lifestyle expenditures to essential items and use the safety net of my corporate paycheck to build an escape runway.

I would focus on the fact that having a 9-5 job and only one source of income (that is capped at a maximum amount per annum) is VERY RISKY.

I would frame the challenge not as a “Job Security” issue, but as a “Cost of Not Living” issue.

You?can choose to create additional income streams by creating value for other people?who will be willing to pay you for it.

It will likely be a hard road to walk down and this is why most people do not do it.

Ask yourself …

“What value can I create and put out to the world that people might value?“

If you can make $1 online then you can likely make $100,000 online.

I made almost $1,000,000 online over a 36-month period between 2019 – 2022. This was only possible by sharing learned insights I had accumulated over my career.

What “learned insights” can you share that people will be willing to pay you for?

Start low – sell something for $10, $20, or even $50, and see how you go.

Take this mantra, rework it, and make it your own?“Create, publish, test, fail, learn, iterate, grow, & repeat.”

The One Little Nugget (TL;DR)

The?one little nugget?from today’s edition is ...

you have the?power within yourself?to design a?future. on your terms.??The road ahead will likely be hard but it will also likely be worth it.

Based on my own 25+ years of experience, I found the best pathway out of?corporate captivity?lies?in your willingness and ability to become a “full stack entrepreneur” (FSE).

An FSE means you are less reliant on others, can save on costs, and can implement change quickly.?The downside is it all relies on you and bottlenecks can form if you are not careful, or you can burnout.

I wish you all the best with whatever path you choose.

See you next week, and please feel free to share my newsletter with those you feel may benefit from its insights. Anyone can sign up here?https://lnkd.in/gxYPNVzr.

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