In a great interview (his first in more than a year), Naval Ravikant shared with Samantha Ryan what he would do if he was 28-years old and was dropped in an English-speaking country with no contacts or possessions and how he would start over from scratch (i.e. he provides a foolproof way to land your dream job).
This post outlines his answer.
Location
First, he would find the place in the country where he physically wanted to be. (Side note: I love how Nick Huber did this to land on Athens, GA).
Naval said that he would ask himself, “Where are the most dynamic, interesting, intelligent, and forward thinking people?”
Second, he would explore what are the industries those people are in.
Examples:
- Hollywood = movies
- New York City = finance or arts
- San Fran = tech
Others might include:
- Houston = Oil & Gas
- Seattle = Manufacturing
- Wash, DC = Federal Gov’t
- Vegas = Casinos & Tourism
Knowledge and Skills
Next, once he determined the industry he wanted to work in, he would ask himself, “What are the unique skill sets? The specific knowledge I have to offer? The thing I can do, almost effortlessly that doesn’t feel like work to me, but might feel like work to others that I can do all day long?”
And he would start doing those things.
People
After honing those skills he would ask: “Who are the people that need help with that who *also* have a reputation for being ethical and honorable and open-minded and are the kind of people I want to work with?”
Then, he would approach those people with an offer they can’t refuse.
Offer
That offer might look like this: “I’m offering to work for you for one month for bare subsistence. Pay enough for me to survive. I will treat your business or your endeavor as if it were you. You will have another founder for (basically) free.”
“If, at the end of the month, you wouldn’t make me at least a junior partner in your business then I will leave and I’m automatically fired 30 days later and you won’t even have to worry about getting rid of me.”
This approach makes it a win-win for the employer and a no brainer worth trying.
I’ve (personally) never done this with a full-time job; however, I have leveraged this approach more than once with a freelance side hustle.
And in doing so I acquired:
- Additional income
- Awesome contacts
- Invaluable learning opportunities
Too few people leverage this strategy.
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