Paul Conley

Start a Side Business Not a Side Hustle

I was doing fine.

Good actually. About 71 out of 100.

I lived in a great city, had just gotten married, bought a house, and had a good career. On paper, everything worked.

But I kept asking myself, is this it?
Go to work. Come home. Eat dinner. Do it again. Nothing was wrong, but something was missing.

So I started exploring. I hired a coach. We focused on my career because surely that was the problem.

It wasn’t.

What I wanted was freedom. To do what I wanted, when I wanted to do it.

So I started building on the side using the skills I already had, working with clients. It stayed small because I was scared, so I played small.

Then my son was born. January 23rd 2024. 

I knew one day I would tell him to live up to his potential. I also knew the question he’d ask me back:

"Why didn’t you?"

So we made real decisions. We chose the life first and then figured out the revenue.

Now almost daily the version of me from 4 years ago reaches out to me. 
Successful dads. Comfortable. Doing well. Knowing and wanting more.

⚡️ Here’s what I know

71% isn’t failure. It’s postponement.

The work you actually want.
The business you keep thinking about.
The time you want back.
The dad your kid grows up watching.

I help high-achieving dads stop postponing, ask the real questions, and take action on the thing they’ve been putting off.

🔥 I’d love for you to join High Achievers, our community but I’d rather you start for free.
Check out the featured section and see what happens.

People usually message me a week or two later and say,
“I didn't know I was the only one and that this is possible"

Paul

P.S. If something here hit, DM me, the stories are the reason I show up on LinkedIn everyday

District Executive Director

Effectively lead a diverse team of 130+ associates and 100+ volunteers in leading a $2.8M operation. 
•	Led the Tampa market in sales in 2019 and improved sales by 15% YTD.
•	Fundraising of $300K cumulatively and highest fundraising year in 2021. 
•	Increased revenue by 10% in 2019 and improved net margin position by 8% YTD.

Hours worked do not matter.

Curt Cignetti is leading Indiana to unprecedented success.

And they practice 6 hours a week.
The maximum is 20.

Because no one cares if you win practice.

There are no parades for working the hardest.

Did you succeed or did you fail?

His job is to get his team ready to win games.

That’s how every role is measured in the end.

And he does it.

Executive Coach | Founder, The Conley Group

I want to lose followers in February.

Dude who connects just to raise his connections---Bye.
Cold pitch as soon as we connect? Cya.
Bots from some random country — Hasta La Vista, Baby.

When I started on LinkedIn, I truly cared about the follower and connection metrics.

I accepted every invitation.

I worried that if I said something that pissed someone off, or if someone disagreed with me, I’d look dumb.

So I didn’t do much.
I said vanilla things.

My feed got bigger.
It didn’t get better.

We’re doing something cool all of February.

If you’re here to actually connect as humans, with humans, build, and think bigger, stick around.

If not, peace out, you won’t like February.

You’re Successful. You’re Comfortable. You’re at 71%. Building Community for High Achieving Dads Who Want More

“Why? Because our name is Indiana?”

That was Cignetti’s response when asked if the moment would be too big.

Defined.
Judged.
Limited by history.

But we do the same thing to ourselves.

People from my town aren’t successful.
People like me don’t get lucky.
People like me can’t do that.

We inherit a story and treat it like a truth.
 
Your past explains you.
It doesn’t decide you.

My son will ask me one day if I chased my dreams.

I need to have an answer.

Cooper turns 2 today. 
When he was born, I made myself a promise:

I'd never tell him to go after the life he wants while I played it safe.

For 34 years, I thought wanting more was selfish. Irresponsible. Something to grow out of.

So I aimed for security. Comfort. The responsible path.

Then I held my son for the first time and thought: What am I going to say when he asks why I settled?

I didn't have an answer.

So I stopped building a life I could defend and started building one I wanted.

For me, that looks like: Training for HYROX with Jenna on a Monday. Golf on a Friday. Saying yes to a last-minute trip. Being there every day after school. Coaching Leaders. Writing books. Speaking to rooms full of people. Building a community around people who refuse to settle.

Are there days I have no idea what I'm doing? Absolutely.

Days I wonder what would've happened if I'd played it safer? Yep.

But when Cooper's old enough to watch how I live, I don't want him to see comfort.

I want him to see courage.

Happy birthday, Coop. This is for you.

I talked to 103 new people in 2025. 

Here’s what actually happened: 

– 47 conversations went nowhere.
– 30 were good conversations, and that was it.
– 11 turned into clients.
– 3 helped me enough that I became a client of theirs.
– 2 became real friends.

In 2026, we have a real opportunity.

In a world that keeps getting more digital,
we can choose to be connectors.

Because every positive relationship in your life
started the same way.

Someone initiated the conversation.
Let it be you in 2026.

This might be my least engaged post ever.

The haters will call it cringey.

But it’s meant to serve as a reminder to you. 

So here we go.

 I’m probably in the top 1% in the world at:
• Ice cream consumed
• Paid coaching clients
• LinkedIn conversations
• Dollars fundraised
• Dad communities built
• Miami Dolphins games watched
• Miles run
• Petty debates had
• Businesses Built
• Losing and gaining the same 10 lbs.
• Big questions asked
• Goals set

The list of things I’m bad at is way longer.

But here’s the truth

It’s not arrogant to admit what you’re good at.

It’s useful.

Because if you’re in the top 1% at anything
someone else is trying to figure out how to get there.

So I’ll ask you. 

You. 
Yes, you.

What are you in the top 1% at?

I lied yesterday.

Colin Weatherwax even politely corrected me. 

I said I want to lose followers in February, that's not true. 

I want to gain the right followers, the human ones. 

The High Achieving Dads at about 71% of their potential.

The ones who, 29 minutes into conversation, finally say:

“Actually, you know what I really want…”

Thinking they’re the only ones who feel this way.

They’re not.

That’s who I want to be here. 

That’s who February is for.

If you’re that High Achieving Dad

The one who feels selfish for even wanting more.

Join us in February.

PS. I do still really really want to get rid of the cold pitches from randos--is there a setting for that?

This is one of the worst pieces of advice we got as kids.

“Don’t brag.”

I took that advice seriously.

Get an A in middle school. Keep it to yourself.
Graduate college with honors. Anyone can do that. 
Become an executive at 25. They’ll say you got lucky. 

It didn’t make me more humble.

It made me quiet.
It made me think everything I was good at was easy.
It made me think I couldn’t impact lives on a large scale.

Bragging to make others feel bad makes you a jerk.

But being honest about your wins and  talents matters.

Because everyone has top 1% talents. 

And hiding those is the most selfish thing we can do.

We are connected to people we don’t know.

Thousands of “connections.”
And we aren’t actually connected to half.

Almost every meaningful problem we face
is solvable. 

By a person. 

Not a post.
Not a comment.
Not a like.

A real conversation.

That’s how jobs change.
That’s how businesses grow.
That’s how ideas get unstuck.

Not through boring networking events.

Through actual, intentional connection.

Am I alone in this?
Or are you trying to actually connect in 2026?

The Surgeon General says loneliness is an epidemic.

If you work for yourself, you already know this.

No watercooler.
No team lunch.
No one who gets what you're building.

Just you, your laptop, and a growing list of problems you can't talk through with anyone.

I've felt it. I'm tired of it.

So I'm starting something called High Achievers Connected.

It's simple:

People with big goals get matched 1:1.
You talk honestly. Share challenges. Share wins.
Actually connect with someone who gets it.

Not a networking group.
Not a community with 47 people.
Just two people helping each other.

We start Monday.

If you're one of the 97% who reads LinkedIn but never comments, never reaches out, never asks for help:

This is me inviting you.

DM me or drop a comment. I'll send you the details

7 Steps to Solve Almost Any Challenge You Face:

1. Talk to a friend.
2. Talk to a mentor or coach.
3. Talk to a potential new friend.
4. Talk to someone you can help.
5. Talk to someone who can help you.
6. Talk to a professional.
7. Talk to literally any human.

Replace overthinking and overanalyzing
with conversation and connection.

Because people solve problems.
For people.

Who pushes you?

I have a goal this week.
Pilot High Achievers Connected with 20 people.

Last night, I told Jenna Conley I was at 14.

I was happy with the group.
It’s a great group of people.

She could’ve said “great job.”

Instead, she said:
“I thought your goal was 20?”

“Yeah, but it starts Monday. This is good.”

She paused.

“Sounds like you’ve got more work to do.”

She was right.
I was being comfortable.

Instead of connecting six more people, I was ready to stop.

Not because I couldn’t do it.
Because I had decided this was good enough.

Thankfully, I got pushed.

Who’s your Jenna,  the person in your life that won’t let you settle?

Graduate corporate life for entrepreneurial freedom — without jeopardizing your income or family 💚 | Pod: UncageYourself.FM 🎧

Directors. VPs. Executives.
Ready to go Corporate → Founder in ONE Year?

This is the smart path out — without blowing up your life.

We help corporate veterans turn their employer into an investor, compress their job by 50%, and launch a 1-of-1 premium business.

Corporate becomes a short-term asset — not a lifelong trap.

The system is called Corporate Graduation™.
And it works.

You’ve built a strong corporate life. But you’re likely facing 2+ of these:

1) Your time isn’t yours.
2) Work consumes everything.
3) Family & health get leftovers.
4) You’re just going through motions.
5) You know you’re meant for more — but have no idea what.

It’s costing you — emotionally, physically, financially.
You feel stuck. Fading.

That was me.
Divorced. Burnt out.
Later — remarried, rebuilt, and free.

I made my employer my investor.
Cut hours in half.
Launched a business around my genius.
Graduated corporate life — forever.

Now I help others do the same.

Corporate Graduation™ is the system.
165+ have used it to:

✅ Compress their job into 20 hours/week
✅ Exit with runway, not regret
✅ Build a premium service business that reflects who they are
✅ Create leverage through proprietary IP, not more hours

This is how you build your founder future — without burning bridges.

This isn’t about dabbling.
It’s about reclaiming your life.
For your family. Your future self. Those you’re meant to serve.

No “passive income” BS.
Just active transformation — with revenue, clarity, and agency.

Ready to graduate?

👉 DM me “GRADUATE.”

Matt Doan

I left corporate 4 years ago.

Here’s what actually changed:

1) Mondays have energy again.
I wake up early because I want to. Not out of discipline or obligation, but out of genuine excitement for the week ahead. That feeling was gone for years in corporate. Now it’s normal.

2) The Sunday dread disappeared.
That quiet weight that used to settle in by Sunday afternoon — the sense of re-entering a system that didn’t fit — lifted once I started building something I actually owned.

3) My wife became my partner — in a new way.
Cecilia and I now talk about clients, strategy, and impact together. We’re building something side by side. Corporate never could have offered that, and it’s deepened our marriage in ways I didn’t anticipate.

4) My kids see a different version of me.
They see energy instead of depletion. Engagement instead of exhaustion. They’re watching what it looks like to build something you care about... not just talk about it.

5) My health followed my work.
When work creates energy instead of consuming it, everything else responds. Sleep improved. Stress dropped. At 41, I have more capacity than I did at 35.

6) I’m building skills that compound.
Psychology. Sales. Marketing. Persuasion. Category design. These aren’t corporate skills. They’re human skills. They don’t expire when roles or markets change.

7) I finally understand who I am.
Not my title. Not my employer. Me. The founder path forced me to confront things I could avoid for years in corporate. On the other side was clarity I never found climbing the ladder.

This isn’t about hating corporate.

Corporate gave me my Career Capital:
judgment, pattern recognition, credibility.

But it couldn’t give me ownership.

That required a different structure.

---

For those who've outgrown their container.
Jan 19 → https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

I messed up a lot in 2025.

9 mistakes shaping everything in 2026:

It's been four years since I left BCG. Four years building Corporate Graduation™. This year made one thing clear: being a founder isn't a career — it's a complete reconstruction of how you live.

Here's my honest accounting:

IDENTITY MISTAKES

1) Positioning to be the authority instead of being it.
I kept "getting ready." Waiting for permission that was never coming. Authority isn't granted — it's declared. In 2026, I'm done preparing. I AM the authority in my space.

2) Tolerating small stages and obscurity.
I've been playing too small. Nothing remarkable is done alone — I need multiplier partners. Stages that reach millions, not hundreds. I've talked about "going big" but haven't truly lived it. Obscurity isn't noble — it's a bottleneck.


FOCUS & ENERGY MISTAKES

3) Saying yes to too many things.
Scattered focus = scattered results. I know this. I teach this. I still violated it. Every diluted yes was a no to what actually mattered.

4) Being distracted around my family.
My wife and four kids deserve my presence, not just my proximity. Too often I was physically there, mentally elsewhere. Unfinished tasks follow you into the evening. In 2026: fewer priorities, cleaner endings, real presence.


RESOURCE MISTAKES

5) Not asking enough of my team, coaches, mentors.
I invested tens of thousands in people who could help me — but didn't nearly extract the full value. I made too many excuses to myself.

6) Over-investing but under-implementing.
I was a collector of insights instead of an executor. The gap between what I know and what I do became too wide. In 2026, implementation is what matters.

7) Being too ad hoc with AI.
Random prompts. No system. I treated AI like a convenience instead of infrastructure. This year, I'm architecting it into how I think, create, and operate.


LEADERSHIP MISTAKES

8) Not pushing my clients hard enough.
They didn't join the Corporate Graduation™ program for slow and incremental. They came to compress a decade into a year. My job is to install new fire — and make them feel the cost of not showing up powerfully.

9) Not being bold enough in what I said.
I softened hard truths. Hedged when I should have declared. Here's what I held back: The work world is being restructured. AI is here. The old playbook is dead. Corporate is a burning platform. I'm done holding that back.

---

These mistakes cost me time, money, energy, presence.

But they gave me clarity.

My "hard lines" for 2026: 
Stop preparing. Start declaring.
Stop tolerating small. Start building big.
Stop over-investing. Start implementing.
Stop holding back. Start saying what must be said.

Which mistake hits home for you?

---

PS - Corporate → Founder this year? 
matthewdoan.com/2026

Monday, your Career Capital starts compounding.

Or it doesn't.

One-time, special event:
https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

Here's what most people miss about workshops like this:

It's not information.
It's decision-making.

You slow down and show up.
You become a captive audience — to yourself.
You stop scrolling. Stop reacting. Stop drifting.

And for the first time in months (maybe years), 
you do the actual work:

1) You stop making excuses for your delay
2) You uncover your Career Capital
3) You decide how to deploy it
4) You see what's possible beyond the role
5) You start forging a path no employer could match

That's not just inspiration.
That's the compound effect, taking hold.

Imagine where you'll be 90 days from now.

Not just "thinking about it."
Not merely "planning to start."

Actually in motion.

Energy returning.
Clarity sharpening.
Your family feels the new you.

This is what Corporate Graduation™ looks like.

Those who've already committed to Monday aren't hoping for answers. They're giving themselves permission to move.

One decision.
One workshop.
A new trajectory.

The Career Capitalist™
Monday, January 19
$50: Live + Recording + Assets

One time only.
See you inside.

https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

---

PS - Registrants get the IP Builder GPT, Corporate Graduation Readiness Scorecard, category design tools, case studies, and a private 1:1 Founder Game Plan call. Recording included.

The moment I knew corporate couldn’t hold me.

5 lessons it took too long to learn:

For a long time, I couldn’t name what was wrong.

I was progressing.
Respected.
Trusted.

But every time my thinking stretched a little too far — every time I tried to hold a bigger picture — it was quietly contained.

Not shut down.
Just… redirected.

That’s when the tension started.
Not dramatic.
Just constant.

Here’s what I eventually learned.

---

1) Big thinking can be praised and still be unwelcome.

I’d offer a strategic view and hear, “That sounds good.”

Then came the quiet clause:
“But we’re not taking that outside.”

I wasn’t wrong.
My imagination just didn’t fit the system’s design.

---

2) Being valued doesn’t mean being usable.

I was told my work mattered.

But my judgment had nowhere real to land.

When your best thinking can’t move anything, it doesn’t disappear. It withers.

---

3) Side outlets are signals, not solutions.

Publishing in HBR.
MIT Sloan.
The Atlantic.
Think tanks. External channels.

Those weren’t mistakes. They were proof I was trying to breathe outside the box.

What I didn’t see at the time:
External validation was a symptom, not a cure.

Every byline was evidence of capacity the system couldn’t absorb. I kept finding outlets because the main channel was blocked.

Useful moves.
Never satisfying.

---

4) Breakthroughs aren’t about talent. They’re about ownership of environment.

Everything clicked when I sat in a room full of founders.

They had Career Capital too. Decades of it.

The difference was simple:
They didn’t need permission to create.

They built conditions where judgment could compound.
They said yes to themselves.

---

5) Staying longer has quiet, compounding costs.

The financial ceiling was obvious.

The real toll was energy.
Family.
Self-trust.

Saying yes to work that wasn’t me.
Knowing I could be far more impactful — and accepting I wasn’t.

---

That’s when I stopped asking how to optimize my role.

And started asking a harder question:

Where does my Career Capital actually belong?

That question led me out of corporate.

Four years later, I’m a founder.
Still answering it.
On my own terms.

---

PS - If you’re standing at the edge of that question, don't miss what's unfolding here: https://lnkd.in/eDEkDVb2

If corporate feels a bit "too small" lately, 
you're not imagining it.

That feeling usually shows up when your Career Capital has outgrown the container it's in.

Most people respond the same way.

They start with business logic.
Offer. Niche. Monetization.

Or they quietly reach for passive income.

Passive income won't solve under-leverage.
Only owned Career Capital does.

That's why so many smart exits stall.

The real issue isn't effort.
It's missing conditions.

You can't access, package, and deploy Career Capital into founder leverage if you don't first create:

Space.
Then Self.
Then System.

A recent client — VP in ops — followed this sequence. It changed everything:

1) Compressed his corporate load by ~50%
No drama. No bridges burned. No reputational cost.

2) Reclaimed control of time
Now works 3–4 focused hours/day. Deliberate. Surgical.

3) Restored personal leverage
Energy returned. Health improved. Relationships at home strengthened.

Only then did the founder work begin.

He codified his Career Capital into language, frameworks, and IP.
He clarified category direction.
He ran his first program and delivered real results.

Corporate became optional because leverage was no longer trapped inside the role.

That's real Corporate Graduation.
Not escape. Not dependency.

Leverage.

---

If you want to do this work in the right order, I'm running a live, private, one-time workshop:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁™
Monday, January 19
$50 (Live + Recording + Assets)

Included with registration:

• IP Builder GPT (to structure your Career Capital)
• Corporate Graduation™ Readiness Scorecard
• Category-claiming exercises you can reuse
• Case study pack + common traps guide
• Private 1:1 Founder Game Plan call

See you on the inside:
https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

Has work stopped creating energy for you?
This isn’t burnout.
It’s worse.

Most senior pros describe something quieter.

Disinterest. Going through the motions. Sitting in meetings you've sat in a hundred times, solving problems you solved three years ago. Doing "good work" without feeling engaged by any of it.

(After 15 years, this is how I felt about cybersecurity.)

Work used to create energy. It used to sharpen you. Stretch you. Feed the rest of your life.

At some point, that flipped.

Now it drains energy — and nothing meaningful is replacing it.

That state is not neutral.

When work consumes energy instead of creating it, the deficit shows up everywhere. In patience at home. In health. In imagination. In your sense of building toward a future that's actually yours.

What's really happening underneath is simpler (and more damaging) than most people want to admit:

Your Career Capital — years of judgment, experience, pattern recognition, and hard-earned capability — is going undeployed.

Not unused. Undeployed.

You're applying a fraction of what you've built inside a system that can't fully use it. And when Career Capital isn't exercised meaningfully, it doesn't just sit idle.

It decays.

The most dangerous response here is waiting. Waiting for a reorg. Waiting for renewed motivation. Waiting for something external to force clarity.

Energy doesn't come back on its own.

If work no longer creates it, you have a responsibility to create conditions where it can.

That doesn't require a drastic leap. 

But it does require an environment where your thinking actually matters again — and people who understand what you're navigating.

I'm hosting a private workshop next week for people who recognize this moment and want to think clearly about what to do with the Career Capital they've built.

Details: https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

The cost of waiting is quiet. 
But it compounds quickly.

I didn’t know how valuable I was until I stepped outside the corporate system.

Not because I lacked confidence inside.

But because the environment couldn’t show me.

That’s why I built The Career Capitalist™:
https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

Happening Monday. A live, private workshop designed to surface, package, and deploy your Career Capital into founder leverage.

Inside corporate, your value gets filtered.

Your judgment gets diluted by consensus.
Your instincts get buried in approval chains.
Your best ideas get spent in meetings that go nowhere.

You’re performing.
Contributing.
Delivering.

But not seeing the full picture of what you’ve built.

It took stepping outside for me to realize:

Every story I lived through → raw material
Every pattern I recognized → deployable insight
Every hard-won lesson → Career Capital to be claimed

And it’s why I hear this constantly from clients once the conditions change:

“Corporate feels simple now. Almost optional.”
“I finally feel in control of my days.”
“I didn’t know I had this much to offer.”

That last one makes me so proud.

Because most people don’t lack value.
They lack the conditions to see it clearly.

Corporate systems are too constraining to reveal what you’ve actually accumulated.

You have to put yourself in founder conditions.
Where your thinking is deployed on your terms.

That’s when Career Capital stops being theoretical.

And starts compounding.

---

Details for The Career Capitalist™
Monday, January 19
$50 (Live + Recording)

Included:
• IP Builder GPT
• Corporate Graduation™ Readiness Scorecard
• Category-claiming exercises
• Case study pack + common traps guide
• Private 1:1 Founder Game Plan call

https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

This is a one-time, private event for people who are done playing small inside a big system.

Burnout isn't the real problem.

You've reached a structural mismatch.

After years in the arena, you've built something substantial.

Pattern recognition.
Lived experience.
Relationships.
Reputation.
Judgment.
Talent.

Taken together, this is your Career Capital.

It's stacked. It's real. And it's valuable.

The problem is that the system you're in can only use a tiny fraction of it.

Not because you're capped.
Because the environment is.

Corporate systems are designed for efficiency, predictability, and control. They define a role, reward you for staying inside the lines, and call it success.

Over time, that role becomes a box.
And then a box within a box.

No matter how much Career Capital you accumulate, the system can't meaningfully expand to meet it.

Even changing teams.
Even changing companies.
Even "one more promotion."

The system is the system.

So while your Career Capital keeps compounding, its expression gets constrained.

Your best ideas die in approval chains.
You're solving problems you solved three years ago.
Work that energized you now = going through motions.

That's when the tension starts.

Not because you're ungrateful.
Not because you've lost motivation.
And certainly not from a lack of ambition.

But because you've outgrown the container—which will never change enough to hold who you're becoming.

This might be your first quiet signal that something else is required.

Not a better role.
But a different relationship with corporate altogether.

And a deliberate decision about where your Career Capital will compound.

---

PS - I'm writing deeply about Career Capital this month. The first long-form essay drops on Substack this Saturday — it's about the hidden tax you pay by staying put and what happens when you stop tolerating it.

Subscribe: https://lnkd.in/eDEkDVb2

Career Capital doesn’t sit idle.

It either compounds — or quietly decays.

Inside corporate, decay is the default.

Not because you’re underperforming.
Because the system is designed to consume judgment, not multiply it.

Your experience gets spent in meetings.
Your insight gets diluted by consensus.
Your best instincts get buried under endless “alignment.”

Over time, something subtle but costly happens.

You’re still “successful,” but your optionality shrinks.
Your leverage flattens.
The work takes more energy and gives less back.

That’s not burnout.

That’s Career Capital being used up instead of built on.

Here’s the distinction most people never make:

Most professionals let their Career Capital decay inside systems they don’t own.

Founders decide — deliberately — where it compounds.

Not louder.
Not riskier.
More intentional.

They choose where their judgment is deployed — and who benefits from it.

At some point, the question stops being:
“How do I make this role better?”

And becomes:
“Where does my Career Capital actually belong?”

That question changes everything.

---

PS - I’m writing deeply about Career Capital this month. Saturday’s Corporate Graduation essay breaks down the hidden math of staying put — and what most pros never calculate.

https://lnkd.in/eDEkDVb2

The quiet frustration you feel isn't burnout.

It's trapped leverage.

Your career capital is decaying right now.

Not because you're losing skill.
Because you're not deploying it.

Yesterday I ran The Career Capitalist™ workshop.

Here are the five ideas that hit hardest.


1) Career capital is stored energy.

Years of judgment, pressure, and decision-making accumulate as untapped power. But stored energy doesn't stay neutral. If it isn't released into the right environment, it implodes.

Career capital needs motion, leverage, and somewhere to be used (hint: someone else's system won't do.)


2) Career capital must become a compounding asset.

Your career capital can only compound when converted into something you own. Left unconverted, they get spent linearly through effort.

Ownership is the difference between earning repeatedly and compounding over time.


3) Labels suffocate career capital.

SVP. Director. Consultant. Coach. Speaker.

These are pre-priced containers with fixed ceilings. The market decides what they're worth.

Labels come with limits. Founders build the room.


4) Career capital has a window.

Experience is sharpest when it's recent, relevant, and energized. Delay too long, and it decays.

Not from lack of ability. But from missing your window of opportunity.


5) You must intentionally package and deploy it.

Unpackaged career capital goes to waste. If you don't turn it into assets — frameworks, language, IP, owned systems — it never compounds.

It just leaks out through time, effort, and obligation.

---

This is what I wish I understood five years ago.

Career capital isn't something you simply have.

It's something you either convert and compound.
Or you quietly lose it.

---

PS - If this resonates, doors are open for the February cohort of our Corporate Graduation™ program. DM me "LEVERAGE" for details.

Your career capital has a shelf life.

If you don’t claim it, it dies.

Most people assume experience compounds automatically and forever.

That once you’ve earned judgment, pattern recognition, and credibility, it stays available, waiting patiently for whenever you’re “ready.”

That’s not how it works.

Career Capital behaves like any other form of capital.

If it isn’t surfaced, packaged, and deployed while the window is open, it decays.

Corporate environments are very good at using your best thinking. They are terrible at helping you own it.

So the decay is quiet.

Your instincts sharpen, but only inside meetings.
Your judgment matures, but stays behind the logo.
Your leverage increases, but never sees daylight.

Over time, a dangerous gap opens.

You are highly capable.
And increasingly under-deployed.

Directors, VPs, and executives feel this most.

Not because they lack opportunity.
But because they’ve outgrown permissioned contribution and haven’t yet claimed authority.

The people who notice this early make a different move.

They don’t rush.
They don’t panic.
They don’t freelance their way out.

They slow down long enough to extract what they’ve actually earned.

They turn experience into language.
Judgment into frameworks.
Reputation into owned direction.

They understand one simple truth.

Capital that isn’t claimed gets spent by someone else.

That’s why I built The Career Capitalist™.

A one-time, live workshop for Directors, VPs, and execs who know they’re sitting on real leverage and refuse to let it expire unused.

This isn’t about quitting faster.
It’s about learning how to own what you already have before the window closes.

The Career Capitalist™
Private workshop + recording + working tools
Monday, January 19

Secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/esvq8nuY

This experience is built to create motion, not inspiration.

---

If this resonates, trust the signal.

Hidden Career Capital doesn’t unleash itself.
It gets claimed — or it withers.

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The Battle

Paul Conley

Matt Doan

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taplio

The Battle

Paul Conley

Matt Doan

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Paul Conley's LinkedIn Performance

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