One thing I have learned from personal experience is that the competition does not even start until you are already in the top 1%.
Getting into the top 1% is a rude awakening.
Most people think reaching the top 1% in their chosen field is the end goal.
It is actually the beginning.
Most people’s understanding of competition is completely inaccurate.
No one is thinking about you right now.
You are not important or consequential enough for anyone to care.
Once you reach the top 1%, you finally become important enough to compete against people who are actually dangerous.
The Gap Between the Top 0.1% and Top 1%
Competition becomes much more extreme as you move up, even after reaching the top 1%.
The difference between the top 0.1% and top 1% is often much larger than the difference between the top 1% and bottom 1%.
I have seen this through personal experience, but you can also see it across tangible metrics.
Here are three examples using United States data.
Income
Level | Approximate Annual Family Income |
|---|---|
Bottom 1% | $7,800 |
Top 1% | $1.07 million |
Top 0.1% | $3.89 million |
Comparison | Difference |
Bottom 1% to top 1% | $1.06 million |
Top 1% to top 0.1% | $2.82 million |
The second gap is approximately 2.7 times larger.
Net Worth
Level | Approximate Family Net Worth |
Bottom 1% | -$76,000 |
Top 1% | $13.7 million |
Top 0.1% | $61.8 million |
Comparison | Difference |
Bottom 1% to top 1% | $13.7 million |
Top 1% to top 0.1% | $48.1 million |
The second gap is approximately 3.5 times larger.
Basketball
You see the same thing in basketball. The exact numbers are not perfect, but the pattern is similar.
This also applies to other sports, music, acting, and almost every competitive field.
Let’s start with boys playing high-school basketball in the United States.
Level | Example |
Baseline | 540,704 boys played high-school basketball in 2024–2025 |
Top 1% | Approximately 5,900 players, or 1.1%, reach NCAA Division I |
Top 0.1% or better | Approximately 0.04%, or 1 in 2,800, are drafted into the NBA through the NCAA pathway |
A Division I basketball player would destroy almost anyone on Earth.
Put him one-on-one against an NBA player and he may look like a small child.
The Division I player did not suddenly become bad at basketball.
He finally reached the level where he had to compete against NBA players.
That is the point of every comparison.
Someone in the top 1% can dominate almost everyone below them and still be completely non-competitive against the people at the absolute top.
Hope this email was worth your time,
Matthew Larsen