Industry: 10 years. Company: 5. Manager: 1-2.

What does this mean? It means if you want to make money, you have to take down your boss and climb up within one or two years. There’s nothing worse in the workplace than someone wasting your time. Never worry about selling out too soon; only worry about selling out too late or not selling at all. Getting a head start isn’t exploitation—it’s taking responsibility for yourself.

If someone has done you a favor and you repay them by stepping on them, you’ll create lingering resentment internally. Don’t underestimate this; it becomes a ticking bomb that caps your potential. Externally, you’ll damage your reputation, and these things don’t stay hidden. So from the start, choose bosses who already have skeletons in their closets—people who aren’t exactly saints anyway. You know they’ll use you, and they know it too, so there’s no psychological burden.