Writing / 2026

Trade a Paperclip for a House

The mental model I use for stacking wins. One small thing turns into the next slightly bigger thing, and on and on.

Trade a Paperclip for a House
··1 min read

One success for a slightly bigger one, over and over.

Get good grades. Use that to apply to abroad colleges and get scholarships. Use that achievement to brag to startup programs and other opportunities (whoever values college brands).

Drop out of college (big risk, take a calculated move). Do decently well quickly. Use that as a selling point for VCs (they love dropouts). Make a big business.

There can be more similar pathways.


Cover: 'One red paperclip' by Kyle MacDonald / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).

Harsh Agrawal

Founder of TechKareer. I post most days on X, where 13,000+ people follow along, and on LinkedIn.

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