The best lesson I took from finance at Harvard Business School?
“There’s no free lunch… except diversification.”
It’s finance-speak for this: you can’t avoid risk, but you can spread it around. And the same principle works for careers too. Spreading your bets across multiple projects or clients (through consulting or agency work) is less risky than going in-house and tying your future to a single employer.
In other words: Working at a top-tier marketing agency like Blue Seedling is less risky than working at Google. 💪
Over the past few weeks I’ve been speaking with incredibly talented people at all levels who are figuring out their next career move. My take (yes, I’m biased, but it doesn’t mean I’m wrong 😉):
Going all-in on one company is a mistake. 🔨
The world is more volatile than ever: global macro shifts, markets turning on a dime, and AI rewriting playbooks overnight. Even if you land at FAANG, there’s no guarantee you’ll survive the next round of mass layoffs. And betting on one startup to be the next Wiz is great if you can do it, but most of us can’t.
That’s why I keep coming back to diversification through consulting, advising, and agency work.
One of the top CMOs I know recently found himself back in the job market. His concerns about not being in-house is constant selling (including selling herself, which he hated) and unpredictable, “feast-or-famine” income.
In reality, his network immediately pulled him into three great projects with people he already trusted. When one wrapped, another replaced it right away. There was literally no selling, and definitely no famine. Just steady and fulfilling work, with the only risk being over-feasting.
His story isn’t unique. Top talent is being snapped up faster than ever for consulting, agency, and advisory work.
So if you’re thinking about your next step, consider the advisory fractional route. Or, if you want the benefits of diversification without doing it alone, join an agency.
At Blue Seedling, we’re growing. We’re looking for marketers across all levels of experience: managers, directors, CMOs. We’ve been around for almost 10 years, we’re fully global and remote, and we partner with the very best B2B startups, scaleups, and VCs.
Check out our careers page to learn more and apply.
