The Secret to Billionaires’ Success Everyone Can Steal: The Law of 100X

There’s probably a lot that separates you from the average billionaire. You might not have the IQ of Bill Gates or Elon Musk, the design perfectionism (and willingness to ruffle feathers) of Steve Jobs, the megawatt charisma of Oprah, or the songwriting gifts of newly crowned billionaire Taylor Swift. 

There are, of course, tips and tricks that you can use to improve in just about all of these areas (I’m just guessing on the songwriting — that’s really not my specialty). But an honest appraisal shows a lot of them include a big element of inborn talent or personality. 

Study techniques and cognitive strategies can help you be effectively smarter, but being smart enough to design rockets or become the world’s best investor probably requires a natural gift. I could take guitar lessons from now until the end of time, and I can guarantee you I would never pen a pop hit. 

So what is it that sets billionaires apart that the rest of us can actually emulate? On his podcast recently, successful entrepreneur Noah Kagan offered a suggestion based on his many personal interactions with billionaires over the years. He calls it the Law of 100X. 

How billionaires think differently

The tidbit about the Law of 100X comes embedded in an “Office Hours” episode of Kagan’s podcast, where he takes questions from the public. Like many an Inc.com reader, one listener wanted to know exactly how billionaires think differently. Kagan claims he has a solid basis to answer the question. 

“Let’s just start with billionaires,” he says. “I’ve met a lot of them. My friends are billionaires.” As an investor and former early Facebook employee, this boast is actually pretty plausible coming from Kagan. 

So what has he observed? First, that billionaires hire people. Well, sure, you might think. They’re billionaires, so they have the money to do that. While the advice to invest in yourself and your business by paying for support — even before you might feel fully comfortable doing so — is solid, it’s probably not something most of us can implement before we’re at least a little ways down the road to financial success. 

Kagan’s next observation, however, is an approach just about everyone can steal, no matter their circumstances. And Kagan insists this Law of 100X will multiply pretty much anyone’s success. 

“They stick with it,” Kagan observes of his billionaire buddies. “I talked about the Law of 100, which is, do something 100 times: 100 videos, 100 emails, 100 podcasts, 100 dates, whatever it is. Most people give up too soon. And most millionaires get rich after sticking with something for some time. Billionaires have stuck with it for 20-30 years plus.” 

Stubbornness isn’t sexy, but it gets results 

Persistence isn’t as sexy as brilliance, or natural talent, or reality-distortion-field-level charisma. But according to Kagan, it plays a larger role in outsize success than many of us realize. And handily, being stubborn and plugging along for longer than some might think reasonable is something just about everyone can realistically aim for. 

You have to choose the right thing to plug along at, of course. Kagan also talks about the importance of choosing a large, valuable market if your goal is financial success. If the jackpot for winning in your field is thousands, not millions, then no matter how persistent you are, you’re not going to make it past six figures. 

Other superstars in their fields, from Jeff Bezos to actor Reese Witherspoon, have also stressed the importance of being brutally honest about your suitability to your chosen area of endeavor. Again, using myself as an example, no amount of blood, sweat, and tears would turn me into a Beyoncé. I can’t even sing “Happy Birthday” in tune. Bezos has spoken about having to accept in college that he just wasn’t smart enough to be a physicist. You have to be clear-eyed about who you are and what you’re good at to be successful. 

But assuming you’ve chosen a field that matches your aspirations and abilities, one of the biggest determining factors of how big you win is likely to be simple persistence. It’s sitting there and banging out that 99th email after you’ve been ignored or rejected 98 times. Kagan insists billionaires know this. Knowing it yourself should help give you the strength to persevere and achieve your own big dreams.