May 28, 2024
Who is Gavin de Becker?
In 2019, NSFW selfies and racy text messages sent by Jeff Bezos were published in the National Enquirer.
Bezos was married at the time, and the messages were sent to someone who was not Mrs. Bezos.
Since JB was one of the richest people on the planet, this was shaping up to be a VERY EXPENSIVE PROBLEM for him.
Bezos announced an investigation into the matter that included the following statement:
To lead my investigation, I retained Gavin de Becker. I’ve known Mr. de Becker for twenty years, his expertise in this arena is excellent, and he’s one of the smartest and most capable leaders I know. I asked him to prioritize protecting my time since I have other things I prefer to work on and to proceed with whatever budget he needs to pursue the facts in this matter.
This passage jumped off the page at me because of the following implicit and explicit terms:
- Expertise
- Trust
- Retainer
- Unlimited budget
- Total latitude
It was like buzzword bingo for value pricing a project engagement!
So this raises the question...
Who is Gavin de Becker?
Based on the Bezos announcement, here are some facts about Gavin de Becker that were unsurprising (to me) when I Googled his name:
- He is highly specialized in a specific area of expertise (i.e., personal security)
- His target market is extremely specific (i.e., public figures)
- His ideal clients are very well known. They are super wealthy, they operate in a volatile business environment, and they have a lot to lose if their reputation is tarnished (e.g., Madonna, Michael J. Fox, Cher, Tom Hanks, George Harrison, etc.)
- He wrote a New York Times best-selling book on his area of expertise that has been praised by Oprah and is still influential 20 years later.
- He has created novel intellectual property (e.g., his security tool, Mosaic, has been used to profile domestic abusers and assess threats to school)
- He is a thought leader in his space who has been credited with revolutionizing the industry
Over the years, Gavin has clearly and relentlessly positioned himself as THE go-to person for public figures worried about their personal security.
He has made himself the obvious choice.
Here’s the thing...
Most people I talk to are highly resistant to crafting a positioning statement as specific as Mr. de Becker’s.
When I suggest drafting this sort of thing, they tend to say things like:
- I’ll never find enough clients!
- I’ll get bored doing the same thing all the time!
- But what if I choose the wrong thing?!
Okay, but...
- Do you think Gavin has a hard time finding clients?
- Do you think he’s bored?
- Do you think he chose the wrong thing?
I would bet that GdB would answer “No” to all of those questions.
Yours,
—J