The Business: Does This Look Like ANYONE In Tabletop To You?

I'd mentioned previously that my interests intersect with some moneyed people now and again. One of them, pitching his business incubator, had this as his sales copy. I've edited it to remove the hard sell salesman vibe. Just imagine this with far more obnoxious formatting.

Let me tell you the simplest way to make money online. Not the prettiest. Not the sexiest. But the one that actually works.

Because the truth is most people trying to make money online are doing everything backwards. Here’s the reality: you don’t need a funnel, you don’t need followers, you don’t even need to know how to solve the problem yet- you just need a market with money and a problem they desperately want solved. That’s it.

Here’s the simplest system on Earth.

1. Find a market already spending money. Competition is good. It means wallets are already open. Trying to invent some genius, never-seen-before niche is the fastest way to starve. Instead, find a group already being sold to such as realtors or local businesses. If people are selling to them then there’s money there.
2. Identify their #1 painful problem. Every market has one. You don’t even need to know how to solve it yet. Just identify the pain.
3. Send 50–100 personalized messages every day. Instagram, X, Email, LinkedIn, Cold calls- doesn’t matter. What matters is this: don’t talk about you; talk about them, their problem, what it’s costing them every month. Then tell them you can help fix it.
4. Give them a call to action. “Want help with this?” “Want to talk more about this?” “Want me to show you how this works?” Simple.
5. Follow up. Most deals happen in the follow up, so follow up until they say “yes” or “please fuck off.” Both are useful.
6. If you can’t solve the problem, find someone who can- seriously. Partner with someone. Hire someone. Contract someone. Just make sure you know your costs BEFORE you price the offer.
7. Collect payment. This is the part where it becomes a business.
8. Do everything possible to get them results because results create the next step.
9. Ask for testimonials and referrals. Now you have proof. Now the flywheel starts spinning. Clients → Results → Testimonials → More clients.

Simple. That’s it. No funnels. No ads. No viral content strategy. Just find problem → offer solution → talk to people.Every day.

This is NO ONE in Tabletop.

You think there would be--the VTT guys are closest--but no, they're not. Wizards of the Coast--as often as they shoot themselves in the foot--are still the closest because they, at the very least, have the language necessary to describe the problem while everyone else refuses to accept it: FRICTION.

Network Effects serve to reduce, and in time to remove, friction if you adhere to the Network; if you defy it, friction increases exponetially because you're swimming against a deep and powerful current.

The VTT guys were the last people to make any serious progress towards solving the Tabletop problem before the Bros came along to solve it by correcting the frame of reference; the only viable form of business in Tabletop is the one that reduces friction to ZERO, which being a PDF Merchant (yes, that means selling anything that isn't The Game That Matters) or YT shillfag (ditto; they admit that their own metrics punish them for going away from The Game That Matters) does not do.

What is the biggest friction point in Tabletop? Playing the fucking game! What does being a Rule Zero jobber do? What does not playing The Game That Matters do? What does ankle-biting the Bros do? Increase the friction by wasting time relearning a game!

Therefore the only viable business left in Tabletop is offering a secure Third Space with a curated, gatekept membership of committed participants. Not shilling on YouTube. Not shoveling product. Running the fucking Continental.

The only viable business left--if you deign to call it such--is the Clubhouse.