The Skill Stack Manifesto (Part 1)
Unlock Your Unique Edge
Being great at one thing isn't enough anymore. Every field is packed with talented people doing amazing work. So why do some people with seemingly average talent break through while others with equal - if not greater - ability remain stuck?
I think Mark Rober has the answer.
If you don’t know who Mark Rober is let me introduce you. He’s a former NASA engineer who has taken over YouTube with his engineering-based videos that both entertain and educate. The numbers are impressive: he gets an average of more than 28 million views per video — even higher than Mr. Beast. And every year over the last 7 years, Mark has had at least one video with more than 50 million views and none with less than 10 million. Extraordinary.
I’ve been reverse-engineering what it is that makes Mark Rober special and I think I’ve found the formula.
Why Mark Wins
Mark isn’t the best engineer in the world and he’s not the best YouTuber. But no one on Earth can do what Mark Rober does. He’s in a category of one. He has a unique combination of skills that allow him to craft high quality, fun videos with ingenious concepts — squirrel obstacle courses, glitter bombs to catch unsuspecting porch pirates — you get the idea. Throughout, he weaves in engineering by building everything from scratch. He does it in a way that’s approachable and appealing. And there’s real value there — he makes kids want to take up engineering and science. And Mark himself is charismatic, funny, and enthusiastic. He’s a smart guy doing cool stuff. It’s inspiring.
But there’s a harsh truth buried in Mark’s success. The fact is that the world disproportionately rewards those that are the best at something. There are “winner-takes-most” power law dynamics involved. It’s ruthless. And since Mark is a category of one he has a monopoly. So, yeah, he’s gonna win. And because of that, he’s gonna get most of the reward.
So what about you and I? How do we become a category of one? How do we become the one that gets the out-sized reward?
Becoming a Category of One
(No Superhero Cape Required)
So, what is it about Mark’s skills that makes him unique? Is he the best engineer in the world? No, certainly not. He seems very strong so I’m going to place him in the top 10%. What about making YouTube videos — production value and so on? Is he the best at that? No, lots of people can do that. Mark certainly is special at coming up with unforgettable concepts for his videos — I put him in the top 0.5% of YouTubers for that. Yet that world class level skill on one thing alone is not enough.
The magic lies in the combination. It’s the whole “stack” of skills that makes it work — not any one skill on it’s own.
Let's break down the math. These numbers are not exact, of course, but I think they’re decent estimates:
The starting pool is people who can create quality YouTube videos (production value etc.): 60 million. Mark is in the top 30% of those leaving us with 18 million.
Of those, let’s say half — 9 million — can whip up a solid video concept and packaging (title, thumbnail, etc.). Mark is in the top 0.5% of that group leaving about 50K people.
Of those 50K people about 1% could provide good engineering content for a mass audience leaving 500 people. Mark would be in the top 5% of that group and so that leaves 25 people.
Of those 25 maybe 20% — or 5 — of them would have decent on-screen charisma and sense of humour. Mark is in the top 1% of that group.
That leaves just one person — Mark Rober.
This is how you become a category of one: by stacking skills — some common, some rare. You don’t need to be a master at everything. Some skills you’re ‘good’ at (top 20-30%) and for a couple you’re world-class (top 1% or 0.1%). But here’s the key: when combined strategically, those skills create something no one else can match.
Once you start looking, you see skill stacks everywhere:
MKBHD pairs impeccable taste with magnetic on-screen presence making him tech's most trusted and influential reviewer.
Lenny Rachitsky combines deep product management expertise with an unmatched network and fantastic curation enabling him to write the #1 business newsletter on Substack.
Ramit Sethi merges financial knowledge with psychology and world-class marketing to build his multi-million dollar “I Will Make You Rich” empire.
Naval Ravikant blends first principles insight and the ability to compress it down to essential truths to become Silicon Valley’s trusted source of wisdom.
Each has crafted their own unique combination of skills. Each a category of one.
The Formula
After spending way too many hours reverse-engineering people's success here's what I've figured out is the formula. You want to combine, create and dominate:
Combine skills to make a unique ‘stack’.
Create value solving real-world problems.
Dominate by being a category of one.
In other words, don’t be the best, be the only.
So here's my challenge to you: start building your skill stack. Not by chance, but by choice. With intention. With purpose. Start with things you’re good at. Follow your curiosity. Build those few things to world class levels and then figure out how to combine them into something special.
Will it be easy? Nope. You won’t know which skills to combine. You'll struggle to find that unique value only you can provide. But it’s the path to extraordinary success. The alternative? Standing still while others soar past you.
If you want to learn more, in Part 2 we'll dive deep into the practical aspects of building your stack - including specific strategies for combining skills, real-world case studies of people who've mastered this approach, and concrete steps you can take to start building your own category of one. We'll explore not just what makes a good stack, but how to systematically build one that puts you in a position to win.