During his rookie season in the NFL, then-Giants running back Saquon Barkley took a page from Marshawn Lynch’s financial playbook. Lynch gained widespread attention for reportedly never spending any of his then $50 million in NFL earnings and living off endorsements and other business ventures instead. (Although it turns out that he was, in fact, spending at least some of that money.)
“When I declared for the NFL draft,” Barkley said, “and kind of realized where I was going to be drafted, I was like, ‘You know what? I kind of want to follow the Marshawn Lynch method. I want to invest it, put it in the right peoples’ hands, and learn as I continue to make investments. And just live off the endorsement deals.'”
It’s hard to fault that approach. Estimates indicate over three-fourths of NFL players face financial hardship within two years of retirement. (An estimated 60 percent of NBA players go broke within five years of leaving the league.)
Why? The average NFL career spans less than four years. If I earn millions of dollars in salary and spend like I’ll always make that much money, once my career is finished…. so is my money.
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Athletic careers last a handful of years, so savings must last for decades. For professional athletes — and for everyone — beating the odds requires planning, effort, and discipline.
And, in Barkley’s case, investing. He put his $31 million rookie contract into long-term investments like the S&P 500. He invested in Stripe, and took all his marketing income in Bitcoin. Bitcoin’s price at the time was approximately $30,000; as of today it’s priced at just over $111,000, turning $10 million in income into an asset worth $35 million.
And he didn’t stop there. As Polina Pompliano writes:
Guided by business manager Ken Katz, he has avoided the typical athlete playbook of podcasts and clothing lines, instead building a portfolio that looks more like an elite venture fund than a celebrity brand.
Barkley has invested a portion of his earnings so far — a mix of his rookie contract and endorsement income — across more than 10 private startups, typically writing checks between $250,000 and $500,000.
The list includes Anthropic, Anduril, Ramp, Cognition, Neuralink, Strike, and Polymarket. Barkley is also a limited partner in funds like Founders Fund, Silver Point Capital, and Thrive Capital.
Not all his investments are quite so high-flying; he’s hedge by putting money into index funds and real estate.
Just as importantly, he’s an active participant in many of the companies he invests in. He starred in a Super Bowl commercial for Ramp. He met with customers. He helped close deals. He’s an athlete and an investor, acting as both talent and as management. He doesn’t just show up, do a commercial or make an appearance, and take home a check. He’s also an owner.
Which means he participates in the long-term upside.
Even though we don’t have Saquon’s income — or access to founders — the same principle applies to you and I.
The fundamental problem with being an employee (I’m not being critical; I worked for someone else for over 20 years) is that as an employee, you build no equity. If you’re a factory worker (which I once was) and make a certain number of widgets per hour, fine: that’s a clear exchange of effort for pay. But if you suggest improvements, find better ways to do things, develop lasting processes or systems — in short, bring innovation and creativity to the table — the exchange is less clear.
In many cases, those things are part of the job. But that means the job includes building someone else’s equity — on your work ethic, creativity, dedication, and willingness to do more than what is expected or required.
Which leaves you with a choice. In return for less freedom, less control, and less fulfillment, working for someone else means your upside is always capped. You can’t decide when, or where you work. You can’t decide how you work. You can’t decide with whom.
Start a business, and you can flip those scripts. Start a side hustle, and you can start to flip those scripts.
Because you can make money helping the people with seats at the equity table… but the real money is made when you have a seat — maybe the only seat — at your particular ownership table.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
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