The Eiffel Tower Model
Be the attraction people gather around while a product ecosystem makes the money
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 82%
Priestley uses the Eiffel Tower as a metaphor for how a personal brand should monetise. Almost no one goes to Paris just to pay for the lift up the tower and back; the money is made in the hotels, restaurants, cafes, museums and galleries around it. People are attracted to the landmark, but the surroundings capture the value. A Key Person of Influence should work the same way: be the attraction people gather around, then build a product ecosystem of businesses around yourself that each make money. Priestley describes his own constellation, a publishing company, PR and awards business, a capital-raising business, an accelerator and Score App, all orbiting his personal brand. The model reframes a personal brand from a thing you sell into a gravity well that feeds an ecosystem.
Origin
Extracted from Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal, where Priestley used it to show Ali how a large personal brand can support many businesses.
Core principles
- 01The landmark draws the crowd; the surroundings make the money.
- 02A personal brand should attract, not directly monetise everything.
- 03Build a product ecosystem around the brand.
- 04Judgement matters: only surround yourself with things you'd endorse.
How to run it
- 1
Become the attraction
Position yourself as the Eiffel Tower, the thing people are drawn to via talks, books and podcasts.
Pro tip Attraction, not direct sales, is the tower's job.
Watch out Trying to charge heavily for access to 'you' misreads the model.
- 2
Build the surroundings
Create a product ecosystem of businesses around the brand, the hotels and restaurants that make the money.
Pro tip Each surrounding business can have its own product ecosystem.
Watch out A landmark with nothing around it captures little value.
- 3
Direct attention outward
Point your audience toward the businesses that monetise, connecting people to what they need.
Pro tip Guard your judgement; only endorse things that are genuinely good.
Watch out Recommending poor products around you erodes the trust the tower depends on.
In the wild
Around his personal brand Priestley runs Rethink Press (publishing), an awards and PR business (August), a capital-fundraising business, an accelerator (Dent) and Score App (software), each selling into the attention he creates.
→ Multiple seven-figure businesses orbit one recognisable person.
The world's most famous coffee YouTuber isn't just a channel; he has a coffee brand, gear, and a roastery being built, all booming around him as the key person.
→ The personal brand becomes the tower with a monetising ecosystem around it.
Common mistakes
Monetising the tower directly
Trying to squeeze money from access to the brand itself misses where the value actually gets captured.
Endorsing weak surrounding offers
Poor products around you damage the trust that draws the crowd in the first place.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders with a growing personal brand who want to build an ecosystem of businesses around it.
Not ideal for
Early founders without any audience or recognisable brand yet.
From the transcript
“imagine you're like the Eiffel Tower ... the real money's made in all the things around the Eiffel Tower”
“a key person of influence should be the Eiffel Tower and they should have a product ecosystem around them”
From the episode
Entrepreneurship Masterclass: How to Make $10k - $1M per Month - Daniel Priestley
Daniel Priestley