Leverage Everything
Make one input equal ten output — money, people, systems, technology.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 75%
Asked for the one actionable thing a listener could do today, Clary names leverage. He splits it into four classes: leverage money, leverage people (ethically), leverage systems and processes, and leverage technology. His argument is historical — anyone who has ever built anything has leveraged and has not just done it themselves. The practical instruction is a scan: everything you do can be leveraged to some degree, so understand the concept and look for the opportunities. People leverage runs through Upwork, Toptal, Fiverr, or fractional gig-economy hires in North America. Money leverage can mean VC, or using the bank's money to buy an already-built business rather than start one. Technology leverage means AI and automation. Systems leverage means SOPs and the tooling to deliver them to a workforce anywhere in the world. The target he names: make your one input equal ten output.
Origin
Clary offers leverage as his single actionable answer to Hala Taha's closing question — what one thing can a Young and Profiter do today to become more profitable tomorrow. He frames it as the observation behind everything built at scale: 'anyone that's ever built anything has leveraged and has not just done it themselves', and notes the conversation itself had already surfaced multiple leverage opportunities.
Core principles
- 01Anyone who has ever built anything leveraged — nobody did it all themselves.
- 02There are four leverage classes: money, people, systems and processes, technology.
- 03Leverage people ethically.
- 04Every activity you do can be leveraged to some degree — the job is spotting where.
- 05The target ratio: one input equals ten output.
How to run it
- 1
Accept the premise
Nobody who has built anything did it alone. Leverage isn't a shortcut; it's the mechanism by which things get built.
- 2
Scan for the four classes
Take everything you do and test it against money, people, systems and processes, and technology. Every activity can be leveraged to some degree.
Pro tip Set the bar at 10x: does this change make one input equal ten output?
- 3
Leverage people ethically
Use Upwork, Toptal, Fiverr, or fractional talent in North America — hiring someone part-time as a gig-economy worker to fulfil a role in your company.
Watch out Clary explicitly qualifies this one: leverage people ethically.
- 4
Leverage money deliberately
VC money if you have to. Or the bank's money to buy a business that's already built rather than starting one from zero.
Watch out Clary is candid: 'I don't love raising money' — money leverage is a tool of last resort, not first.
- 5
Leverage technology and systems
AI and automation tools for technology. For systems, build SOPs — and use the tooling that delivers those SOPs to a workforce based anywhere in the world, which in turn leverages people.
Pro tip Systems leverage compounds with people leverage: SOPs are what make a distributed workforce usable.
In the wild
Clary's money-leverage example: rather than starting a company from scratch, you can leverage the bank's money to buy a business that's already built out — acquiring the systems, customers and cashflow rather than constructing them.
→ You get something already built and then leverage that, compressing years of construction into a financed transaction.
Clary points to technology that lets you build out SOPs and then deliver those SOPs to a workforce based anywhere in the world.
→ The tech leverage (the SOP platform) unlocks people leverage (a global distributed workforce), stacking two classes on a single investment.
Common mistakes
Doing it all yourself
Founders cap output at their own hours. Clary's point is historical: nobody who built anything did it without leverage.
Only thinking about one leverage class
Most people equate leverage with money or hiring. Clary names four — money, people, systems and processes, technology — and the scan has to cover all of them.
Leveraging people unethically
Clary attaches the qualifier deliberately. People leverage that exploits the people being leveraged isn't the strategy he's describing.
Is it for you?
Best for
Entrepreneurs, side-hustlers, and operators who are the bottleneck in their own business.
Not ideal for
Anyone whose core problem is an unvalidated offer — leverage multiplies what exists, including a bad product.
From the transcript
“I would say learn about the concept of leverage. I am a big believer in leverage, leverage money. Leverage people ethically, leverage systems and processes,…”
“Cause anyone that's ever built anything has leveraged and has not just done it themselves.”
“Everything that you do, you can leverage it to a degree and make your one input equal 10 output.”
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