I’ve been thinking lately about compensation, monetization, and in general… money related things. And I wonder, how much is plenty enough?
For an investor (VCs, Angels etc.), plenty enough is usually a 2x, 5x or a 10x return of investment. This is often the turning point. When such an opportunity comes forth, this is where the exit happens.
For Apple, a trillion-dollar company behemoth, apparently nothing is plenty enough. They are playing ball with so much greed. A 30% cut on App store revenue, is actually hurting the indie developers, trying so hard to stay afloat and make a living. And it has been so recent (and after extreme pressure) that Apple reduced their commission to 15%, when the developer’s annual revenue is below 1M.
Think about it. What if Apple reduced their revenue share to 5%. Do you think this would actually hurt their profitability? Would it stop them from being a trillion-dollar company? The same goes for all these mega-corps, the Googles and Amazons out there, consuming the world like a virus.
Looking at the small-medium businesses, the startups, the freelancers. How much is plenty enough? I so love small-sized companies like Transifex and Basecamp (and others for sure), that prioritize over building great products, sustaining a profitable, independent business, and providing their employees with a great work-personal life balance.
Zooming-in a bit more, on a personal level, how much is plenty enough?
For me, it weighs like this: It is plenty enough, as soon as you stop thinking about it. You stop counting, while living a modest, humble life.
It is plenty enough when you stop micromanaging your personal finance. It is the point where you stop worrying whether you can afford a night’s out, start a new habit, provide enough for your family. It is the point where you no longer stay awake at night, thinking whether you can make it through the month. You stop counting upside down for the next paycheck to arrive.
In my opinion, this is the baseline, the turning point. This baseline will vary from person to person. And it adapts and changes over time. But, as soon as you manage throughout your career to cross this baseline, then it should start a trigger. It’s time to start valuing life more. Job hop (if needed) to a better working environment, with better colleagues, more meaningful work, a better culture. Become less tolerant to toxicity, politics and other pathogenies at work (something that many of us are probably going or went through at some point in their life).
That baseline is providing the space for growth into a more fulfilling life. And it doesn’t matter if you are working alone as a freelancer, you are in a two-person company, or working in a large corp. Having established the baseline, it is the point to start looking for quality and balance. It is the time when you should pivot from “survival mode” to “is it worth it” mentality. Does your work keep you challenged and motivated? Does it contribute towards making you a better person? If not, the baseline provides you the bandwidth to fix it.
But the question yet remains. How much is plenty enough for YOU?
