Step 3.4: Creating Value
The Greatest Lie of the Internet: That building a personal brand equals building value.
We’re drowning in a sea of personal brands. Every 22-year-old with an iPhone thinks they're Gary Vaynerchuk or a Kardashian. But here's the cold, hard truth that no one wants to tell you: recruiters don't give a sh*t about your TikTok following (unless, of course, they’re hiring you to manage the company’s social media).
When companies are looking to hire someone, you know what they care most about? Results. Hard numbers. The businesses you've actually scaled. The things you made happen. Not your carefully curated Instagram aesthetic or your "thought leadership" newsletter with 12 subscribers.
Value creation is what differentiates people in business. Value creation isn’t what gets you in the door. Its what keeps you there.
The algorithm of value creation is brutally simple: Revenue minus costs. That's it. Everything else is noise.
When companies are evaluating talent, they’re looking for people who understand this fundamental equation. Did you increase sales? Cut customer acquisition costs while you did it? Launch a product that generated meaningful revenue in its first year? These are the metrics that matter.
The market is efficient at identifying value creators. They're the ones who don't just "ideate" – they ship. They don't just "engage" – they convert. And they don't just "influence" – they generate cash flow.
Warren Buffett didn't build Berkshire through hot takes on Twitter. Bezos didn't scale Amazon by becoming an influencer. They created value. Real, measurable, put-it-on-a-spreadsheet value.
Here's the truth about value creation: It's unsexy. It's grinding through quarterly reports. It's A/B testing until your eyes bleed. It's being brutally honest and telling your boss the project needs another month because the unit economics don't work yet.
The market rewards this kind of value creation with something better than likes and shares: Money. Promotions. Equity. Corner offices.
Remember: Your personal brand might get you the interview, but your value creation keeps you there.
Business is the ultimate A/B test, and the data is clear: Value creators win. Every. Damn. Time.
Your Playbook:
Where and how do you create value?
Where have you created value in the past?
Is there a gap between where you think you create value and what your managers, colleagues, teammates and leadership would say?
How large is the gap? What can you do to close it?
Does your resume show value creation? How can you edit it to do so? (without giving away proprietary information, of course)