1/99 Rule, Not the 20/80 Rule: Entering The Winner Take All Economy

I talk to many of my single guy friends about their dating experience. It’s really ugly out there, even if you are attractive and fit and well off. The dating market has changed dramatically in the time of globalization and Instagram and other social media. It literally is “the best of times and worst of times”. If you are what is considered a top tier man, which means, attractive, tall, fit and wealthy it’s an amazing time. 

It’s even better for the most beautiful and attractive girls. Before the globalized world, they were limited to males in their town or city. Now, they get pinged by wealthy men from everywhere in the world on IG DMs. Or put this in economic terms, there is a massive supply and demand imbalance. The demand has become global and in excess of the actual limited supply of both top tier men and women, thus they have become more valuable. 

However, there is a dangerous counter-effect. If you are an average guy, ie. not in very good shape and not financially secure, it’s looking pretty bad. And as the world becomes more competitive, it’s harder and harder for those men to keep up. So they just give up. Thus we see a rise in incels. We see a rise of drug use, video gaming, gambling, drinking, pornography, obesity and lack of fitness in men. 

So the point of all this is not a lamentation on the state of men as tragic as it is. But as a point about the future of work and talent. The nature of the world and society, it’s become a winner take all market in almost every realm. This explains the astronomical pay packages and demand for top talent in sports, in technology or even in the music world. For example, it’s reported that Taylor Swift will surpass $1 billion dollars on her Eras tour alone. Estimated to be almost $13M a night. By the way, this does not include merchandise sales either. 

That means you are either the best or nothing. The days of having an average life are over. I don’t think you can aim for a mediocre life or do your minimum. It’s the Red Queen Effect where you have to run twice as fast to stay in the same place you are now. If you thought it was competitive before, it’s only going to get worse.

This is great for type A, somewhat broken, unbalanced and ultra competitive individuals like me. It’s not so great if you have no drive, value comfort or don’t want to do the necessary work. You have to be intensely focused on personal development all the time for a long time. As Roy Bennett wrote: “You make the world a better place by making daily improvements to become the best version of yourself.”  This might be the only way you will ever stay relevant in the work world.