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In this edition, we’re talking LEVERAGE (through unsexy products).

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There's a thread going around r/sales that's worth checking out. The question was simple: what does the richest salesperson you know sell?

700 comments in, the list is surfacing some interesting opportunities.

Fire suppression systems for data centers. Commercial HVAC, the kind that gets installed by crane on skyscrapers, grossing $2M–$4M a year.

Defense. Missiles. Signs. Specifically, the guy who sold signs on land that could be used for data centers.

A guy in the 90s making $500k+ selling yellow mop buckets to McDonald's and Burger King, and clear buckets to prisons so inmates couldn't hide anything in them.

Window sales. $350k–$500k a year. Same company, same city, for twenty years.

Propane. Plastics. Labels.

401k plans to founders going through nine-figure liquidity events. Mortgage lending to the right clients during the right years, pulling $2M–$3M.

None of this is what your LinkedIn feed tells you to chase (ironic).

The pattern, once you see it:

Sexy industries attract too more sellers. The logo looks good on a resume. The product is fun to talk about. The marketing is pretty. So everyone wants in. Which means more competition for the same deals, pickier hiring, smaller territories, and comp plans that get recut the moment someone starts winning.

Unsexy industries have the opposite problem. Nobody wants the job. The product is ugly. The ramp may be slower. The buyer is old and grumpy. The trade show is in Omaha.

So the company has to pay a lot just to keep a decent seller in the seat.

That's the trade. Glamour gets subsidized by the seller.

Boring gets subsidized by the company.

What this means for you and your sales career:

One commenter put it well: posts like this open your eyes to how diverse sales actually is. If you're not winning in one industry, that doesn't mean anything. It might just mean you're in the wrong one at the wrong time.

If you're picking roles based on how the logo looks, you are unknowingly paying a glamour tax on every commission earned. Accepting less money to feel more impressive to people who don't sign your paychecks.

The money ultimately follows the problems solved, not the prestige.

The companies paying the most are the ones whose buyers have the fewest alternatives, the longest switching costs, and the deepest operational pain. Hospitals need medical devices. Data centers need cooling. McDonald's needs mops. The military needs missiles.

None of it is optional. None of it is trendy.

A quieter lens for your next move:

Try this filter on the next role you consider:

One theme you’ll catch here as well; the richest seller in most of these comments wasn't job-hopping every two years chasing the next hot thing. They found something boring and stayed.

The reframe:

Are you willing to sacrifice your potential earnings for a cool story?

Boring products naturally have a moat around them. Fewer competitors, higher comp, stickier customers, longer careers, and buyers who cannot survive without you.

The richest salesperson you know isn't hiding. They're just selling something you scroll past every time you see it on Indeed.