“Let me explain something to you right now,” the goofy looking guy said to the camera. “Here’s a $10 bill.”
And he started to tear the bill up into small pieces in front of the interviewer’s face.
“This is garbage. This is going to zero. Euros are going to zero. The yen’s going to zero. All going to zero… against bitcoin!”
The Bitcoin prophet got louder and his voice started to crack.
“If you don’t understand this, you’re going to be impoverished! You’re going to be out on the street! You’re gonna be begging! You’re gonna be out of business!”
That’s from a little clip I saw today. It went viral so even somebody like me, who doesn’t follow crypto news, got to see it.
The question is why.
It might be because the Bitcoin prophet looked like a kook. He was dressed like Elton John. Even the interviewer was giggling at him. Maybe people who shared the video just wanted to make fun.
But I’ve got my own theory.
Which is that making strong predictions, saying X is dead, Y is the future, is a great way to grab attention and carve out a position for yourself in the mass mind.
Now the clip I saw had a tongue-in-cheek element to it. It seemed even the Bitcoin prophet was about to crack a smile as his performance built up.
But if you don’t hedge your bets like that…
If instead you have the conviction (or connivance) to paint the future black and white… and you do it in a way where people can believe you really mean it…
Then that’s the road to being seen as an authority. A leader. A prophet.
And that’s something all of us crave.
Because few things are scarier and more motivating than the uncertainty and lack of control that come from looking at the frosted glass window that is the future.
Which is why it doesn’t matter if your predictions are right or wrong. People will follow you, or at least some will. Even if you’re wrong. And even if the rest of the world thinks you look like a goof or a kook.
But perhaps pretending to be a prophet doesn’t suit you. Maye you think that’s garbage.
What’s not garbage is your need for positioning in the market. If you don’t understand this, you’re gonna be out of business, begging, out on the streets.
I write about positioning on occasion. I have many ideas about it. If you want to read about them as I write about them, sign up to my email newsletter.