Assets Over Effort: IP, Media and Tech
Scale on intellectual property, media and technology instead of throwing people at problems
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 84%
Priestley argues most productivity comes not from how humans behave but from the underlying assets they use, a chainsaw versus an axe, a Mayfair versus a Blackpool patch. The modern scalable assets are intangibles: intellectual property, media and technology (plus data). To scale, convert delivery into these assets: IP as a method, recipe, poster, step-by-step or dataset; media as recorded videos of how it's done; technology as software where users punch in inputs and the system does the work. Only when a problem can't be solved with IP, media or tech should you solve it with people, because arbitraging people is hard, you must pay them less than you charge, and they eventually leave to capture their own worth. A video course is a media-plus-IP asset that sells unlimited copies; a support-heavy service is people-bound until you asset-ise it.
Origin
Extracted from Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal, offered as the way to scale Ali's support-heavy 5K coaching offering without endlessly adding staff.
Core principles
- 01Most productivity comes from underlying assets, not human effort.
- 02The big scalable assets are IP, media and technology.
- 03It's hard to make money arbitraging people.
- 04Solve with assets first; only use people when assets can't.
How to run it
- 1
Spot the people-bound work
Find where you increase capacity only by hiring more freelancers or staff.
Pro tip People-bound delivery is the constraint asset-isation removes.
Watch out Adding headcount is the default trap that caps margins.
- 2
Codify the IP
Turn your method into intellectual property: a recipe, poster, step-by-step or dataset.
Pro tip A documented method is reusable at zero marginal cost.
Watch out Undocumented know-how stays trapped in individual heads.
- 3
Capture the media
Record videos and content showing how the work is done so it can be consumed at scale.
Pro tip Media plus IP together become an unlimited-copy asset.
Watch out Live delivery only doesn't scale beyond your calendar.
- 4
Build the technology
Create software where users input details and the system or AI does the work automatically.
Pro tip Tech lets you onboard thousands with just usernames and passwords.
Watch out If IP, media and tech still can't cover it, only then add people.
In the wild
Instead of hiring endlessly for a 5K support-heavy program, build a vetted reservoir of certified coaches (with 10K+ subscribers), a software system that allocates coaching credits, and your IP and media for the method. Clients pick a coach, spend a credit and get matched automatically.
→ Delivery scales through a matchmaking platform rather than linear headcount.
A thousand-dollar course that's purely video is a media-plus-IP asset. It can sell unlimited copies and generate up to £100M without hiring more people.
→ An asset that makes money while you sleep, unlike a people-bound service.
Common mistakes
Scaling by hiring
Adding people to grow capacity is costly and hard to arbitrage because staff eventually leave to capture their own value.
Ignoring intangibles
Most people don't even recognise IP, media and tech as assets, so they never build the things that do the real work.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders trying to scale delivery without linearly adding headcount.
Not ideal for
Highly regulated, physically constrained services where assets can't replace people.
From the transcript
“the productivity of the business is mostly media intellectual property and software”
“if you can't solve it with IP media and Tech you have to solve it with people”
From the episode
Entrepreneurship Masterclass: How to Make $10k - $1M per Month - Daniel Priestley
Daniel Priestley