Roy Morejon - Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | Professional Profile | LinkedIn (original) (raw)

CONNECTORS & OBSTRUCTORS The #DTC movement was born out of eliminating the middle man. Warby Parker, Allbirds, Bonobos, Casper, Birchbox and many other high-growth businesses emerged, brands you all know and have likely purchased from in the last ten years. But, in some cases, middle men can be helpful, and even essential. The DTC model was smart: Going direct, cutting slack in the system, saying sayonara to gatekeepers. They promised a future of democratizing accessibility to otherwise high-cost goods and opening up closed middle man-imposed systems for the benefit of consumers and society at-large. Many leaders of this movement are close friends and compassionate leaders. So when are middle men assets not liabilities? ✨When they are connectors, not obstructors.✨ (Middle persons, please excuse me.) For example, when water was pouring into my newly finished basement. True story. For anyone in the Northeast, you know the rain the past 9 months has been biblical.🌊 After one fateful night, I needed a repair guy and I needed one fast. Google that and you’ll create a MESS. If I took that approach, I would’ve waited extra days, paid more, and my basement would’ve been a MESS too. 🗣️Good news: I got a guy who knows a guy. (You probably have those people too.) My guy we’ll call Bob, and he’s a connector. He knows everyone. He’s a middle man, but the good kind. The guy he connected me to we’ll call Eddie and Eddie’s high quality, accountable, and trustworthy. Partly cause that’s how he is. But partly cause he has a relationship with Bob and he doesn’t want to lose Bob’s trust, existing relationship, nor future business. Voila. Interests align. Leak fixed.🏡 So, how does this apply elsewhere in the world of work? Two examples: 1️⃣ Everyone’s talking about AI and what it means for marketing and other fields. Let’s apply the Bob-Eddie construct. AI increases accessibility. It improves search and it handles a ton of heavy lifting material processing. But AI does not (yet) always guarantee quality, accountability, or trust. For that, real people and real relationships win.👯 2️⃣ The same goes for brand-building. Anyone can do the job. They're called vendors. You can Google them. Good luck.😉 But chances are you don't want vendors. You want partners. For quality, accountability, and trust, lean on friends and build a healthy, friendly connector network. They have your interests at heart and they introduce you to better resources, faster, for better results. For quality, accountability, and trust, you need chemistry. And that's as human as it gets. It’s one of the reasons why we’re called We Are Bill! 💪🏼 👬 “Life gets better when you replace transactions with relationships." -Kevin Kelly 👉🏻What relationships have made the difference in your business? 👉🏻When have connectors helped you? 👉🏻What am I missing, what would you add? I’d love to hear from you. #life #work #ai #brand #business We Are Bill 📸: Forex Magnates