Charge for Ten Seconds

Markets and prices are an admission that you can't quantify value. They are crude tool to systematically tease out value instead. A price is not what something is worth. It is a tag placed on a container in which something is exchanged. The buyer thinks it is worth more. The seller would rather have the money. It is by getting on the right side of this that value is created *in the exchange* because both feel better off. Win-win.

Time is the laziest container we can count. Full-Time work is the easiest "I don't know, so I'll do this" way to address the problem. The challenge is that a salary is basically an all-you-can-eat exchange with an employer. A Salary then finances whatever lifestyle the employee builds up. The Salary becomes like Mortgage payments. The Lifestyle becomes like the House you turn into a Home. It becomes part of your identity.

You don't have to charge for time. Usain Bolt charges for less than ten seconds. Behind the scenes, there were years of training, risk, investment, and dreams. The container was ten seconds.

The key to sustainable value creation is transparency and symmetric information. If both parties know exactly what they are getting into. Both parties manage expectations. Both parties are empowered to make good decisions. They just see the world differently, and want different things. Things they value. Experiences they value. They make the exchange. They build relationships. They build priceless meaning in lives we can't exchange.