Which do you want?
A penny that doubles every day for 30 days?
Or a million dollars?
Most people would rather have a million dollars.
Because if you choose the penny, even on day 26, when your penny is worth about $671k, it feels like you made a bad call.
You've been patient for 26 days and you're still only 2/3rds of the way to that million.
But on day 27, your penny becomes $1.3 million.
And by day 30, you’ve $5.4 million.
That’s the power of sticking with something long enough for compounding to work its magic.
But if you cash that penny in early, you miss your big payday.
That’s what I’ve been doing for five years as a solopreneur.
The Survival Mode Trap
Here's the catch-22 that's defined my entire journey as a solopreneur:
The pressure to make something work NOW has caused me to chase every shiny object.
But the constant hopping is exactly what's kept me in survival mode.
Five years of trying a little bit of this, a little bit of that.
Upwork freelancing when I got started.
A few months on content marketing.
A year on a newsletter.
A year positioning as a business coach.
A couple months as a copywriter.
A detour into TikTok growth hacks.
Back to freelancing on Upwork when things get desperate.
And a dozen other sidesteps and deadends.
Every time something hasn't show quick results, I pivoted.
Because I couldn't afford to wait.
Because I needed money coming in.
Because what if I'm wasting time on the wrong thing?
But here's what I'm finally understanding: I haven't given anything enough time to compound.
What Actually Compounds
While I've been chasing trending tactics and hot new tools, the fundamentals have been sitting there the whole time:
Building an email list around a core problem you solve.
Learning to create offers people actually want.
Getting good at storytelling that connects with real people.
These aren't sexy.
They don't promise overnight results.
They feel slow and boring compared to the latest growth hack or AI tool.
But they compound.
This newsletter I'm writing?
It's fundamentals.
Build an audience. Tell stories. Share what I’ve learned.
Do it consistently.
Some weeks I want to quit because the growth feels slow.
But I've spent five years learning what doesn't work: constantly changing tactics, following trending topics, abandoning strategies before they have time to mature.
The Discipline You Need
The hardest part isn't identifying what compounds.
It's sticking with it when it feels like it's not working.
Day 15 of doubling your penny, you have $164.
Still feels like nothing compared to that million dollars someone else took on day one.
Day 20: $5,243.
Getting better, but you've been patient for 20 days and it's still not life-changing money.
This is where most of us quit.
This is where I've quit countless times.
We abandon the email list that's growing slowly for the TikTok strategy that might blow up.
We stop refining our core offer to chase the trending business model.
We give up on storytelling to optimize for SEO keywords.
But the people who make it to day 30 get the $5.4 million.
What I'm Committing To
I'm done being the person who gives up early and stays broke.
The fundamentals aren't going anywhere.
Email marketing worked 20 years ago and it’s a pretty good bet it’ll work 20 years from now.
Good offers solve real problems regardless of the platform.
Stories connect humans no matter what tool is trending.
When I get bored with the newsletter, I'm going to keep writing.
When some new tactic promises faster results, I'm going to remember the penny.
Five years of hopping got me nowhere.
Time to see what five years of compounding can do.
The proven path isn't fast.
But it's the only path that leads anywhere worth going.
This is Letter #13 of 'Solopreneur Letters' – a series I’m writing where I share the hard-earned wisdom I wish I’d had when I started on my solopreneur journey. See the full list:
This is solid, worthwhile insight.