Scarcity Creates Value

In 2012, when I arrived in Malaysia, the company leadership gave me the book the 48 Laws of Power. I remember flipping through the pages, and feeling uneasy. This wasn’t a leadership book filled with inspiration and uplifting rhetoric. This felt entirely different—like a manual for manipulation, a guide to playing with people’s emotions, perceptions and decisions. It felt like the dark arts. The forbidden fruit. Icky. I thought – is this what business is about? It reminded me of the moment Harry Potter stepped into Professor Snape’s class—surrounded by potions and spells that could bend reality IF wielded correctly. Except, in my case, these “spells” were tactics of influence, persuasion, and deception. At first, I was skeptical. But as I read through the laws, I realized that this wasn’t just a book about power—it was a book about human nature. It revealed how people respond to confidence, mystery, and scarcity. Some laws felt aggressive, others seemed cynical, but one stood out to me above all the rest: Be Scarce.

That one hit home because pops used to say the same: “Make them miss you.” It was another one of his strong suggestions—whether it was deciding how to handle crushes or even how to approach career moves. His belief was simple: If you are always available, people take you for granted. I’ve yet to find an example where the opposite is ever appreciated. Except in charity work. BUT... Sometimes… You Gotta Flood the Market. There are times when being everywhere, all at once, works in your favor. Lil Wayne in his mixtape era. From 2004 to 2009, it felt like he was dropping a new verse every single day—features, freestyles, full mixtapes. He wasn’t waiting for anticipation to build; he was the anticipation. The hunger, the consistency, the audacity of it all—it was god-like. There were times in my career where I was on an absolute tear—moving from project to project, delivering results back to back, showing up in every meeting with sharp insights. I wasn’t being scarce, I was flooding the market with motion When you’re in that mode, scarcity doesn’t apply. You don’t make them miss you. So When Do You Use Scarcity? Balance is key. 1. When you’re building momentum? Go on a run. There are moments when your output is so strong that you need to stay in people’s faces. Keep dropping heat, keep making noise, and make it undeniable. 2. When you’re established? Pull back. Once people know your value, once they see what you can do, scarcity increases your power. That’s when you make them miss you. 3. When you need to reset? Disappear. Look at Kendrick. He’ll give us a masterpiece, shake up the industry, and then vanish. No overexposure, no wasted moves—just anticipation until it’s time for another classic. Scarcity isn’t just about disappearing—it’s about being strategic with your presence. You want to be visible enough to keep your value high, but not so much that you become predictable. The balance between mystery and visibility is essential. Too much presence and people assume they have you figured out; too much absence and you risk being forgotten. At the same time, quality matters more than quantity. When you do show up—whether in work, in business, or in life—make it count. If you’re constantly in people’s faces but delivering mid-level output, you’re just noise. If you show up selectively and deliver value, you’re an event. A luxury. And that’s where people get it wrong. Scarcity isn’t about ego—it’s about knowing that the way you manage your presence directly affects how you’re perceived. Think about it this way: if a top chef cooked every meal for you, three times a day, you’d get used to it. But if that same chef only cooked for you once every few months, it would feel like an experience. That’s the difference between being accessible and perceived value. I may have been skeptical about The 48 Laws of Power when I first received it, but over time, I’ve come to appreciate its insights. The more familiar I've got with the dark arts. Not as a playbook for manipulation, but as a mirror reflecting the way influence actually works. Scarcity isn’t about playing games—it’s about knowing when to show up and when to pull back.

Because when you control your presence, you control your value. “Make them miss you.”