Trust Me, I’m an Expert

 

Buckle your seatbelt because this one’s overdue. 

When someone says ‘trust me, I’m an expert’ remember one thing: if that’s really true, then they’ve made more mistakes in their field than anyone else. 

If they haven’t, or if they won’t own any, then in the words of investor Steven Eismen (played by Steve Carell in ‘The Big Short’), it’s time to call bullshit. If you remember the whole retinue of ‘experts’ who popped up during the pandemic, and somehow keep popping like clowns from a small car, you know what I mean. 

Some time ago, the ‘experts’ told us: 

• Giving Nazi Germany what it wants means peace in Europe. 
• Saddam Hussein has stockpiles of WMD. 
• Mortgage Backed Securities are indestructible. 
• We can build a bullet train from LA to SF for an easy 10 billion.
• More recently—and I kid you not—the experts said: 
• Wearing a mask during sex protects you from Covid. 
• Joining huge crowds to protest George Floyd’s death (and / or fight racism by torching a liquor store) poses no risk of Covid transmission. 
• Defunding police departments makes neighborhoods safer. 
• Printing whatever money you want has no consequences. 
• Giving your money to a whiz kid in the Bahamas helps society through ‘effective altruism’ 
• Open air drug use and street camping (plus throwing 7.2 billion on free housing) reduces harm. 
• The Taliban won’t take over Afghanistan when American forces leave.

And finally, if you can stomach it: 

• That rush-job vaccine pharmaceutical companies aren’t liable for is 100 percent effective… until it isn’t.  

Believe what you want to—or don’t.

But if this shortlist speaks for itself, don’t shoot the messenger.

 

Memes of the day

On Experts

Whatever side of the national rugby scrum you’re on, one thing’s clear. Unlike architects or engineers, experts don’t need to be right to fill whatever hole they fill. Like ye olde soothsayers and oracle readers, we’ve always had them, and owning the consequences of their advice has never been in the job description. Chances are—unless this whole AI thing really blasts off—we’ll always have them. As our perceptions of a complex world grow and evolve, so will the advice-givers. 

Of course, if they’re all repeating the same lie, then something’s going on. I’m not pulling out my tinfoil hat just yet, but when experts take on a priestly infallibility—and when phrases like studies show, climate change, slow the spread, and systemic racism become sacred—I’m putting my guard up. 

On the other hand, it’s a plain fact that I can’t live without them. 

To paraphrase Eric Weinstein, unless I’m willing to find my own water, grow my own food, build my own shelter and fight off all my enemies hand to hand, I need people—lots of people. I need people with skills, time, knowledge and resources I do not have. Unless I’m Amish, I rely on countless experts for travel, technology, communication, all the day-to-day transactions that are more complicated than you or I realize.

That it sticks in my craw doesn’t make it any less true. 

Without experts, modern life is impossible.

 

So How Do I Balance?

For one thing, do more of your own math. By that I mean, stock up on whatever life skills you can. Investing. Home repair. Hunting and shooting. Relationships. Breathing in and out. Whatever it is, practice and practice until you’re standing on your own two feet. Then pick another area of life and repeat the process.

If you think about it, no expert (however wrong) is responsible for your own choices, big or small. That’s on you, partner. 

For another thing, see mistakes for the friends they are. (If you’re an expert by the way, you and mistakes should be besties). If you think about it, everything we know about finance, virology, or even car repair came from mistakes—hundreds and thousands of them. While we’re questioning experts, let’s do what they should be doing: making mistakes and then learning whatever we can. Each mistake is a building block, a lesson we can learn and grow from.

One mistake at a time, the journey pulls us through the wash cycle. Whether we tune in, or whether we trust the experts about that newest, greatest, urgent thing is another story. 

Choose wisely.  

 

All in the Journey

We’ve seen it before, but that doesn’t make the journey any less of a thrill ride. For entrepreneurs and growing companies, it’s the only way forward—step into risk, wrestle monsters, learn from mistakes, and return to the humdrum village with sharpened power and insight. 

We love seeing companies hang in there and succeed—and that same love runs through our Back Room Service for White Label investors.

Partnering with Dare Capital means:

• Greater income (a lot more)
• Owning assets instead of commissions    
• Zero investment down 
• No personal liability
• Fifty-fifty split on risks and profits  

If that sounds like the journey you’ve been thinking about, give us a call. 

Until next time,