The Competence Game.

DT Thomas
July 13, 2025

What do the best people pay for?

A question that’s been sitting in my brain for the last couple of weeks.

I'm spending this Sunday morning in Mexico reflecting.

Looking out into the city from the top floor of this condo gives me a lot of perspective as I’ve been quietly stacking wins and sharpening my skills.

(been diving very deep into engineering propanda and deeper copy psych — excited to share it with you soon…)

This morning in particular, the following questions have been hammering me.

What do decision makers and people of influence and power actually pay for?

What's the deeper psychology behind it all?

Right now, I’ve been micro testing funnels.

paying borderline obessesive attention to each indivual word.

Seeing which ones stroke the ego, validate identity, etc…

And its paying off

back-to-back bookings with 8-9 figure founders,

Getting DMs from some very high-level players (VC kinda people with deep pockets)

And after diving deep into "Marketing to the Affluent" and "No BS Marketing to the Affluent," the psychology has become crystal clear to me.

And I started turning what I was doing on accident into something I could do on purpose.

Stick with me.

The Truth About Real Decision Makers

The true decision makers—the ones with deep pockets and even deeper connections—value what's between your ears more than what you spent your $$$ on.

They value expertise and insight.

They don't care about your Rolex.

They don't care about your car.

They care about whether paying you makes them look smarter.

The level of service they get and the time they save.

And whether you can solve their f*cking problems.

The Expensive Trap I See Everywhere

I see a lot of people in my age group overly spending on the dumbest materials in the world.

Paying $20-80k for a piece of metal on your wrist... to impress those who can't afford it.

Using material possessions to "pay" your way into self-worth.

I'm only 25, but it feels like I'm 40 some days.

That kind of shit never impressed me.

Even when I struck gold at 20 and somehow got my hands on $300k cash (this is another story in itself—I'll probably reveal the craziness of how this happened later), I never felt the need to spend on things to "legitimize" that I was rich.

Instead, I spent it all on books/knowledge... or stocks (gambled a lot and LOST a lot). And time conveniences.

Blowing it on items that don’t actually do anything for my life was never my thing — it just didn’t make sense.

I even spent $11.5k on a submariner and I truly and deeply regret it. I barely even wear the thing.

And the people I want to attract into my ecosystem: relationships, friends, clients, and team members…

Wouldn’t be impressed by that shit anyway. It’d most likely push them away.

Why Knowledge Trumps Material Every Time

To me, what's more important than the material is the knowledge, expertise, and authority that someone has.

It's true respect. And it attracts the right people.

Here's the thing:

When you dangle shiny objects, the masses will gravitate towards it.

Why the hell would someone in business want the masses when 98% of the worlds income is controlled by the top 1-5%?

That’s backwards math.

And not to mention, you'll be forced to be a dancing monkey on screen to keep your low IQ audience from being stolen by other person who's dangling shinier objects.

The Real Strategy

I'm rambling a bit, but this week's newsletter was more of a deeper introspective post.

The psychology, copywriting, and marketing stuff is cool, but sometimes it's good to brain dump to give you a deeper insight to me

This list for me to build a deeper connection with you and talk about the things i’m most likely not going to post about publicly.

So what the hell was the point of this email?

If you haven't already, shift your focus.

Don't follow what's being spewed online too much.

You become what you consume and what you’re surrounded by.

Choose friends, where you live, and your social circles very wisely.

If you’re around people who value low-level things — you will too from simple osmosis. Be ruthless with your brain.

It’s the most powerful weapon you have. Sharpen it or it will become dull and weak.

Heavily guard what goes into your mind and where it comes from.

And most importantly, attract people who matter.

There’s nothing stopping you from going up-market beyond your limiting beliefs.