Wait, They Can Do That?

A friend of mine is opening a climbing gym.

We were talking the other day about how he might use global talent.

Most people think global hiring is about cost savings. Do the same work cheaper. That's fine, I guess. But that's kind of like saying "using the internet saves you money." Sure that's true but that is such an incomplete understanding of the capability.

And it doesn't create any real advantage.

Here's what's more interesting: what can you offer that you couldn't offer before?

My friend's local climbing gym competitors charge $135 a month. They all charge $135 a month. Nobody can win on price because everyone's already priced too low for the value they deliver.

The whole industry anchored to the wrong number years ago and never corrected. So he's not trying to cut costs. He's trying to flood the zone with value his competitors can't match.

So in a typical Jon Golden Retriever fervor I started throwing out random ideas….one of which is below.

Picture this: fixed cameras at the base of certain walls. Members scan a QR code, climb their route, and the footage automatically gets sent to a Experience Mountaineer coach in Argentina. Real climber. Serious climber. Loves the sport. Makes $1,900 a month and is thrilled because he gets to think about climbing all day instead of working at a BPO.

That coach watches the footage async, takes screenshots, adds arrows, sends back personalized tips. "See this heel hook? Try shifting your weight earlier. Here's a drill."

It's not generic advice. It's coaching based on your climb, on that wall, from YESTERDAY.

Now my friend can say: every member gets a free coaching session each month.

Want unlimited access to your personal climbing coach? Upgrade to $250.

His competitors can't do this. Not because they don't have the idea, but because they'd have to pay a New York coach $75 an hour to sit around waiting for videos to come in. The economics just don't work. You can't staff that service at American wages for a $135 membership. The math breaks. But with two coaches in Argentina working async?

Suddenly it’s a profit center!!

The same logic applies everywhere.

When I say that demand for global talent is an elastic good, this is what I mean.

Somebody comes in saying, "I need a part-time virtual assistant," and after 30 minutes with me, hopefully they're thinking about new products and services that they want to build or add that they never thought possible before

Take a plumbing company.

Everyone's competing on response time and price.

What if every customer got a follow-up video the next day?

A quick walkthrough of what was fixed, how to spot early warning signs, what maintenance would prevent the next call.

Recorded by a $10/hour technician overseas who reviews the job notes and photos. Now you're the plumber who teaches me how my house works.

That's worth a premium. That's worth a referral. Surprise and delight.

Or a fractional CFO.

Most deliver a monthly report and a call.

What if every client also got a dedicated financial analyst who monitored their dashboard weekly, flagged anomalies, and sent a 2-minute Loom before anything became a problem?

"Hey, your receivables aged past 60 days just spiked. Wanted you to see it before our monthly call." That analyst costs you $2,500 a month. But now your service feels like a full-time hire, not a fractional one.

You can charge accordingly.

Global talent made new products possible.

Not the same products cheaper. Products that DIDN’T EXIST BEFORE.

Stop: "what can I do for less?"

Start: "what can I do that I couldn't do before?"

The first question saves you money. The second question makes you a category of one.

The companies that win in the next decade won't be the ones who use Global Talent the most. They'll be the ones who figured out what to sell that nobody could sell before.

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

This week on Twitter we spotlighted Brazilian talent. Take a look: