Today I want to talk about two real-world apprenticeships that will teach you more than any business school. I didn't start with them but I would if I'd be doing my twenties again.

I remember when I was young, hungry, and unsure where to start - I knew I wanted to learn and do things at the same time. There are a few underrated environments that can teach you more about people, persuasion, sales, community and power than any textbook ever could.

Not everyone needs a formal curriculum. Some of the most valuable lessons in business, community, and leadership are taught on the floor - where stakes are real, people are unpredictable, and you can’t hide behind theory. And you can earl real money and impact real people.

So, here are two real-world paths I tried and I often recommend to people early in their careers - be it teens, twenty-somethings, or a career change at fifty - especially if they want future-proof skills and are not sure where they want to use them.

Think of these as immersive, high-intensity apprenticeships. Done right, one year of these can outperform ten years of lectures or corporate trainings.

Let’s say you want to understand how people make decisions. You want to know how to spot buying intent when the client can’t even put it into words. You want to get sharp at reading hesitation, steering conversations, closing deals.

You want to know how to nudge someone from “just browsing” to “where do I sign?”

Then go work in real estate.

Not in a luxury agency doing five deals a year. You want a volume-heavy, high-urgency environment - an agency that's big, visible, a little bit chaotic. The kind of place that's loved by clients and hated by competitors. Why? Because that usually means they’ve built systems that work. You’ll learn those fast.

You don’t need to be passionate about property. In fact, you don’t need much at all to get started - no degree, no certifications. Just the willingness to learn and show up. Most big real estate shops are hungry for motivated people and will teach you everything from scratch. You'll be taught and trained almost every day and you'll go put it into action every day too.

• How to cold call and not sound like a robot.

• How to ask the one question that reveals what the client really wants.

• How to create urgency without sounding desperate.

• How to frame price in a way that feels like value.

• How to keep deals moving when everything feels stuck.

• How to weed out clients who are not ready to buy to protect your time.

You’ll also learn how to handle rejection - because in real estate, it comes daily. And over time, you'll build emotional calluses that protect your focus and momentum.

I once saw a junior agent close a €235K apartment sale just two months into the job. He wasn’t polished - but he was relentlessly proactive. The buyers later said, “He made us feel like we were in good hands.” That feeling? That’s trust. And trust sells.

I love it when you get to that level of trust with your clients that you can discuss anything, from everyday life to property they want to buy or company they want to build. After all, they're usually interesting people with dreams, same as you.

And you’ll also see nuance. For example, one of the most powerful ideas I learned in real estate is how time can work for and against you simultaneously.

You want clients to take their time deciding to buy - because when they’re not ready, they will waste both yours and their time. But once they’re ready and start searching, time becomes your enemy. Every day they hesitate is a chance for them to lose interest, see a competing offer, or get overwhelmed. That's why a good agent wants to meet with you and show you properties that fit your "wants" as soon as you can make it. The magic often happens in a 5–10 day window where everything aligns - motivation, clarity, and available listings. That’s when good agents close.

And don't make the rookie mistake assuming people know what they want. What we want is shaped by many things - what we see being one of those. 80% of people don't buy what they originally said they want. They're coming for an apartment in the city and end up with château 200km away in the countryside.

Even if you leave after a year, the skills stay with you. I’ve seen people move from real estate into startups, high-ticket coaching, fundraising - and they outperformed everyone else on the sales team. Not because they’re naturally gifted. But because they’ve lived through the grind. They know how to talk to people when it matters.

Now let’s flip it. Say you’re drawn to something softer but just as powerful: the art of connection. You want to know how to make people feel seen, appreciated, and part of something.

You want to understand experience design on a human level—how to craft shared moments that feel magical.

Then go work in hospitality.

That means working in a good hotel, a thoughtfully run restaurant, or even opening your own café. Not as a fly-on-the-wall observer. You want to get your hands dirty - serve guests, clean floors, take reservations, handle complaints, build menus, and organize events.

Why? Because hospitality teaches you the invisible mechanics of perception.

You’ll start to notice how tiny behaviors create emotional resonance. A warm greeting, eye contact, remembering someone’s drink order - these aren’t random. They’re intentional acts that say: you matter.

• How to make people feel welcome within 30 seconds.

• How to handle difficult customers with grace, not ego.

• How to work as part of a team delivering a shared experience.

• How to understand what people value—without them having to tell you.

• How to recover when something goes wrong and turn it into a win.

There was a tiny family-run bistro I used to visit. Nothing flashy. But they had one waiter who made you feel like a local regular - even on your first visit. People came back not for the food (which was fine) but because of how they felt. That feeling? That’s community. That’s what keeps people coming back.

And here’s the main part - guests experience = what is accentuated for them. They don’t see everything. They see what’s amplified. Where you point their attention.

As Rory Sutherland says, “You can’t have a Michelin-star restaurant with a dirty bathroom.” The food may be the hero, but everything else - the scent in the hallway, the music in the background, the smile from the hostess - either elevates or undermines the experience.

The same is true when building an online community. People might join for the content, airdrop, or NFTs, but they stay for the energy, the consistency, the subtle cues that tell them: you belong here.

The skills you pick up in these environments are not only transferable - life they’re foundational.

• Sales teaches you how to navigate the chaos of human decision-making.

• Hospitality teaches you how to curate energy, emotion, and belonging.

Put the two together, and you’re dangerously capable and future-proof. You’ll be able to sell ideas, build products, and grow movements - not because you memorized frameworks or sales scripts, but because you’ve been in the trenches and lived it.

And when everyone else is optimizing their LinkedIn profile, you’ll be the one who knows how to move people, not just impress them.

You don’t need to “find your passion” by 22, not even by your 52. You need to collect experiences that shape your lens, sharpen your instincts, and ideally give you a sixth sense for how people work, what they value, want, and appreciate. You can then put any technical knowledge on top of that and make products and communities that fly.

So don’t overlook the real-world apprenticeships that are hiding in plain sight. Whether you're learning how to sell a house or serve a table, what you're really learning is how to empathize, connect, influence, and lead.

And those are skills that never go out of style.

I know that most Web3 people think working with people face-to-face is scary, but I think intentional change of crowd, environment and industry gives you more perspective and feeds our creativity. And it makes us future proof as well.

Tell me what you think about this? And keep BUILDing BETTER! 😉

Pete (aka BFG)

Coming Up Next:

So I've skipped my favorite underdog themes topic again but it's coming. It felt like (real) summer jobs to become future-proof was a great follow up on previous essay - Web3 GTM is Not 🚀 Science.

Till next time, stay tuned!
Publishing every Tue morning UTC and occasionally over the weekends.

1. Subscription is the new way you can support this writing for builders and curious minds ... pick yours! Show some love via one of the Subscriptions

2. We can als work together on things like - your product GTM Plan, Positioning Audit, Product & Distribution Alignment, BD & Sales Channels System, so I have more topics to write about, you have better business and everyone has more successful products on the market!

3. And you can also mint this post as NFT - yay!

   Collect

   
   For questions and comments, jump in and connect with me:
   - on Farcaster: https://warpcast.com/bfg
   - on X: https://twitter.com/aka_BFG
   - on TG: https://t.me/BrightFutureGuy 

And join the FC channel to meet other builders who want to do it better: https://warpcast.com/~/channel/buildbetter

I still have a LinkedIn in case you're that old.