I want to explain, for those who don't know, the principle for which Cristiano Ronaldo earns 30 million € a year, Dr. Rossi 30,000€ and Giovanni the barista 10,000€.

First, let's divide the three sectors of the examples above: CR7 works for football in the entertainment industry, dr. Rossi works for the hospital in the healthcare industry and Giovanni works for the bar in the catering industry.

CR7 excites millions of people giving emotions with its play and goals, the dr. Rossi saves hundreds of lives and is a pupil of thousands of people including family and friends with his intervention, Giovanni the bartender cheers for a few minutes hundreds of people who pass in the bar where he works, if he is nice and makes a good coffee.

CR7 to earn € 30 million a year has had to become the best in the world in its category: football. A category where it currently has hundreds of millions of competitors including professional, amateur and aspiring players. To get to be the best he had to train much more than everyone else and much better than others, as well as having natural talent. Dr. Rossi, in order to save lives or cure illness, had to study 18/21 or perhaps more years of his life. John the barman took a month or two of practice down at the neighborhood bar and learned how to make a good coffee and offer good service.

Source: DiarioGol

Now let's divide the three categories by utility and replaceability on a scale from 1 to 10:

Cristiano Ronaldo Utility: 8 Replaceability: 1

Utility 8: being number 1 in the football world is very useful because you combine and entertain billions of people, but it is not fundamental in human survival.

Replaceability 1: means that for the following that has CR7 is not replaceable, he has almost equal competitors (some say even stronger, like Messi, I do not agree) but he has its own style and has created emotions for many years in many people who follow him unconditionally to be 'not replaceable'.

Doctor Rossi Utility: 10 Replaceability: 6

Utility 10: doctors are fundamental in human life. Nothing else to say. Fundamental.

Replaceability 6: it is true that it takes so many years to become a doctor, but it is also true that there are always 5 more behind you ready to take your place.

Giovanni the Barista Utility: 6 Replaceability: 10

Utility 6: it is useful to have a good barman, especially for the employer and for customers who are rushed or demanding, but it is not essential.

Replaceability 10: Finding a new barista or making a new one for an employer is simple enough.

Now we come to the topic that really makes the difference in all this: the scale or scalability. But what does scale or scalability mean?

It simply means how many people affected with your work. In our example, CR7 affects billions of people, dr. Red hundreds or maybe thousands, Giovanni equally hundreds or maybe thousands but with much less useful and much more easily replaceable work. This is what makes the difference. I repeat. How many people affected, how many people influence. It makes the difference for companies, sponsors and products. For everything and everyone.

Attentive readers will have noticed that I compared Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the number one in his field, or at least certainly among the top 3, with a medium doctor and a medium bartender. In every field, excellence pays. The best doctor in the world I assure you that earns a lot as well as the best barista. Two examples: Giuseppe Migliore or Dritan Alsela.