The Unmistakable Weight of the Co-sign

Ascendancy in any domain is a game of two moves: self-made wins and high-status vouches. You alternate between the two, taking leaps from one step to the next, aiming for that mythical high point.¹ You are built by your achievements and by the belief others have in you.

The latter might be even more important than the former, especially in today’s talent-saturated world. The democratization of everything has turned every field into a crowded competition, making it harder than ever to stand out — which means that opportunities to be pulled up and out of the fray are invaluable.

The more subjective the field, the more essential it becomes to have people with influence vouch for you. And the rarity of a genuine co-sign gives it its power. In sports and science, you can get farther on numbers alone. But in art, politics, fashion, or even business, your ascent is locked behind gates — and those gates are held open or closed by people.

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Some notable co-signs that live rent-free in my mind:

• Pharrell Williams made Maggie Rogers when he discovered her as a student musician. You’ve probably seen this viral clip of his stunned reaction.

• Louis Vuitton legitimized Virgil Abloh by naming him Creative Director of one of the world’s most powerful luxury fashion houses. People instantly stopped doubting his potential despite his nontraditional fashion background.

• Usher plucked Justin Bieber from relative obscurity, “discovering” him on YouTube and signing him to his own record label. (Usher beat out Justin Timberlake in a mini bidding war to sign him, which is its own co-sign on top of a co-sign.)

• Carloz Alcaraz had raw tennis talent, but it was Juan Carlos Ferrero — a former tennis world #1 also from Spain — who validated that talent by making him his protégé at his tennis academy. When someone great tells you they think you can be great, you gain self-belief, not just more opportunities.

• Paul Graham — an undisputed tech heavyweight — uses his status and resources to co-sign startup founders through Y Combinator. He also engages in reciprocal co-signing via his essays. Every time he thanks a notable person for their feedback on a draft (seen at the bottom of his essays), he’s building a public bridge between his world and theirs.

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Two things worth thinking about: Who’s co-signing you? And who are you co-signing?

Get the co-sign.

It can be awkward to ask for a co-sign, but sometimes, you should. If you know someone respects you, don’t be afraid to ask them to make it explicit. Co-signs can be big or small, public or private. A retweet, a job recommendation, a financial investment. It’s not just about fame — it’s about influence and intent.

I’ve said that early-stage investing is more than just writing checks — it’s belief capital. Founders don’t just want funding; they want real validation from the right people. (That’s why LinkedIn’s ‘endorsements’ fail: they feel like a box checked, not a belief expressed.)

The small checks I write into startups are often more valuable for my belief and my thought partnership than for the money itself. Yet people forget they can ask for belief without asking for money.

Give it out, too.

If you’re influential enough that any reasonably important person in your field would return your call, you should pay it forward — go out of your way to knight some up and coming talent. Even if you don’t think you’re “influential,” you probably are. Don’t give out empty vouches, though. Be selective, but generous.

We’ve gotten too fixated on large sums of money (at least in the startup ecosystem). I like the idea of more fellowships that don’t take equity (e.g. Thiel Fellowship) or even smaller grant programs (Molly Mielke tried one recently that I appreciated, Buildspace did one too last season). Often I find that people want to support a Substack to support the person, not just because of content behind a paywall. (I’ll probably write more on this.)

There’s an inevitability fallacy around talent: people assume if someone’s so good, they’ll make it no matter what. Or they think what they can offer isn’t helpful. But in this hyper-competitive, talent-saturated, attention-scarce, fleeting-opportunity world, that’s a bad bet.

The unpredictability of success also makes every co-sign a gamble, and you only have so many bets you can make — because their power lies in their scarcity. And the earlier you place your bet, before the world catches on, the more valuable it is.

Play the new game.

In an era where talent is everywhere but attention is scarce, co-signs are a rare currency, a powerful shortcut to being seen. They help navigate a world where, as much as I wish otherwise, merit isn’t always enough to break through. But a caution: playing only for high-status vouches without substance is a fragile strategy.

Co-signs don’t just change individual lives — they can shape entire industries. A well-timed vouch sparks innovations, sets new standards, and drives cultural movements. In today’s world, where influence and credibility and attention matter more than ever, co-signs become the invisible hand shaping what comes next.

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1. … before either crashing down or fading away under the same community’s judgment or, perhaps, the randomness of nature … the circle of every game in life and life itself.