Callum Laing on the Entrepreneurial Shift from Earning to Making Money

In a recent LinkedIn post, Callum Laing discusses the critical distinction between earning money within a system and making money by creating value for others. Laing, an entrepreneur and founder of VeblenDirectors.com, shares his personal journey of realizing that his corporate success in ‘earning’ did not directly translate to entrepreneurial ‘making’.

Laing highlights the fundamental difference in skills required for each endeavor. In his corporate career, he excelled at navigating internal structures, office politics, and institutional processes to secure compensation and raises. However, he found that the entrepreneurial path demanded a different skillset entirely.

“Making money requires you to convince a complete stranger to part with their cash in exchange for value you’ve created.”

This realization, Laing explains, took nearly two years into his entrepreneurial journey. He emphasizes that while earning involves mastering existing systems, making money is about building and offering a system that delivers tangible value to customers.

The Shift in Perspective: Earning vs. Making

Callum Laing argues that this shift in perspective is fundamental for any aspiring entrepreneur. He notes that his corporate expertise lay in understanding and manipulating established hierarchies to his benefit. This involved aligning with the right teams and leveraging internal approval processes.

Conversely, the act of ‘making money’ as an entrepreneur involves a direct exchange with the market. It necessitates understanding customer needs, creating a product or service that meets those needs, and effectively communicating that value proposition to potential buyers.

“One is about navigating a system, the other is about creating one.”

Laing elaborates on this point, stating that the latter skill is significantly harder to master. He recounts learning this lesson through difficult experiences, underscoring the steep learning curve involved in transitioning from a corporate earning mindset to an entrepreneurial making mindset.

From ‘Learn to Earn’ to Income Generation

The entrepreneur then pivots to discuss how this understanding is applied at VeblenDirectors.com. He explains their ‘Learn to Earn’ program, which is unlocked once members have secured a couple of board seats. This program is designed to teach members how to leverage their board positions into multiple income streams.

According to Laing, acquiring this knowledge empowers individuals with the certainty that they can always generate income by providing value. This is a core tenet of his entrepreneurial philosophy: creating a sustainable income is about consistently delivering value that others are willing to pay for.

“Once you have this knowledge you know you’ll always be able to generate an income by providing value.”

Laing concludes by posing a question to his network, seeking to understand when others experienced a similar realization about the changing rules of the game in their own careers. This invites further discussion on the entrepreneurial journey and the essential skills needed to succeed in creating value rather than just earning within a structure.