---
title: "1.6m"
url: "https://books.joshbraun.com/4/forsale/186/1-6m"
---

**1.6 MILLION**

I heard someone giving advice on how they made $1.6M in tech sales by age 30.

​It was well meaning.<br>
They wanted to help.<br>

To show others what’s possible.​

But the message intentionally or not was:“Do what I did, and you can make this kind of money too.”​

I’ve made $1M in tech sales.<br>
And I’ve given advice too.​<br>
But here’s what I don’t say enough:​I got lucky.​<br>
Right product.<br>
Right timing.<br>
Great marketing. <br>

A boss who gave me equity and it happened to hit.<br>
An industry with momentum.<br>
A comp plan that hadn’t been “realigned” yet.​

Sure, I had skills.<br>
But so do you.​

Had you been in my role, with those same conditions, you probably would’ve crushed it too.​

Maybe even more.​

Flip it around?<br>
Put me in your job, with your challenges and comp plan?<br>
I might be struggling.​

Sales isn’t a perfect meritocracy.<br>
It’s messy.<br>
It’s tilted.<br>
And yeah, luck plays a bigger role than we like to admit.​<br>

This isn’t a knock on anyone who’s found success.<br>
Celebrate it.<br>
Share it.​

Just don’t forget the part we can’t control.​<br>
Sometimes, “Here’s how I made $1.6M in sales by 30”is really just:​“Here’s how things happened to line up for me.”​<br>

And that’s okay too.