48 Laws emblem
2Law 2 of 48
The Eyes

Don't Make the Product. Make the Meeting.

The person who makes the thing gets paid last and least. The person who makes the meeting gets paid first.

There is a customer with money and a need. There is a supplier with the skill and the time. They cannot find each other, trust each other, or organise each other. The thing they are both missing is not a product - it's a meeting. And the meeting is worth more than the product, because without it the product is worth nothing at all.

Stop trying to build a better thing. The world is drowning in things and in people who can make them. What's scarce is the introduction, the trust, the someone-who-handles-it. Make the meeting and you never have to make the product, because the people who make products will line up to work through you.

The takeaway

Don't compete to build the thing. Own the meeting where the thing gets bought.

This is one of 48 laws from MIDDLEMAN - The 48 Laws of the Money in the Middle. Read it in full to climb the whole building, floor by floor.

The opening chapters of MIDDLEMAN, plus the line that wakes most people up. No spam. Unsubscribe in one tap.