The Apprenticeship Model
Thoughts on the Apprenticeship Model
The apprenticeship model is a way of learning a skill or trade by working directly alongside someone more experienced, rather than relying on classroom instruction alone. The core idea is simple: knowledge and skill are transferred through guided, hands-on experience in real working conditions.
The trades are probably the most obvious example of this model. Someone enters a trade with limited experience, works alongside people who have mastered it, gradually takes on more responsibility, and eventually becomes capable of teaching and managing others. Over time, the apprentice becomes the experienced professional.
I think there is a lot to learn from this model when thinking about how to build a business.
Enterprise as an Example
When I worked at Enterprise Rent-A-Car out of college, I experienced a version of the apprenticeship model firsthand. The company had a very clear progression within its branches:
Branch Manager
Assistant Branch Manager
Management Assistant
Management Trainee
A recent college graduate could enter the company with little or no relevant experience and learn the business by working directly under more experienced managers. As that person developed, they were given more responsibility and moved up the organizational structure.
What made the model particularly powerful was that it was not simply a training program. It was a system for developing people and building future managers.
The broader management structure at Enterprise was also designed around this idea of progression:
CEO of Enterprise Holdings / Enterprise Mobility
President / CEO of Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Group Vice President / Executive Vice President
Senior Vice President
Regional Vice President
Vice President / General Manager
City / Group / Regional Rental Manager
Area Manager
Branch Manager
Assistant Manager
Management Assistant
Management Trainee
I don't necessarily envision my business eventually having this exact structure, but I think the underlying concept is extremely important. If the physical gold business becomes large and successful, there could eventually be a similar progression of responsibility and management. Some of these positions at Enterprise were very well-paying, long-term career jobs. People could enter the company relatively young and build an entire career there.
That is an important concept.
Applying the Model to the Gold Business
For a physical gold trading business, I could imagine starting with a much simpler structure at the country or territory level:
Territory CEO / Director
Vice President
Associate
The titles are less important than the underlying system.
The idea is to create a clear hierarchy where someone can enter the organization at a junior level, learn from someone more experienced, gradually take on responsibility, and eventually become the person responsible for managing the operation.
This creates several advantages.
First, it gives less experienced employees a path to develop into highly capable professionals. Second, it allows experienced people to delegate responsibility rather than doing everything themselves. Third, it creates redundancy within the organization. If the person at the top leaves, someone underneath them already understands the business and can step into the role.
That last point may be the most important.
A great business should not depend on one person being present every day.
Building a Business That Does Not Depend on One Person
One of the things I remember about Enterprise was that there were a lot of ambitious people trying to move up. The culture encouraged people to work hard, develop themselves, and take on greater responsibility.
That created a pipeline of people who wanted to advance.
I once had an investor tell me that he liked businesses where employees had meaningful upward mobility. I brought him a food franchise business that was for sale, and he wasn't interested because he believed there were limited opportunities for employees to advance beyond a certain point.
I think that observation is important.
If you want talented people to stay, there needs to be somewhere for them to go.
For the gold business, my goal would be to create high-paying, career-oriented positions that people actually want to keep. The work should be demanding enough to be meaningful, but manageable enough that people can sustain it for years.
I think the basic formula for employee longevity is:
High pay + manageable workload + career advancement = long tenure
If you can get those three things right, you can create an organization where good people want to stay and where employees have a reason to continuously develop.
Over time, that creates something much more valuable than a collection of individual employees. It creates institutional knowledge and a culture.
Organizational Bones
The ultimate objective is to build a company with strong organizational "bones."
If I leave, the company should continue.
If a Territory CEO leaves, the business should continue.
If a Vice President leaves, the business should continue.
There should already be someone underneath that person who understands the operation and is capable of assuming additional responsibility.
In other words, the organization itself should be stronger than any individual employee.
A poorly structured organization may collapse when its leader disappears. A well-structured organization can absorb the loss of an individual and continue operating.
That is what I mean by having "good bones."
If the organization is designed correctly, there should be very little true key-person risk. Losing a person may hurt, but it should not threaten the existence of the company.
The Bigger Idea
The apprenticeship model is more than a way to train employees. It can become the foundation of the entire organization.
A junior employee learns from a more experienced employee. That junior employee eventually becomes experienced themselves and trains the next generation. As people develop, they take on more responsibility and move up through the organization.
That creates a self-reinforcing management pipeline.
The trades have used this basic concept for generations. Companies such as Enterprise Rent-A-Car have demonstrated how a similar philosophy can be applied at enormous scale.
For the gold business, I would want to combine that apprenticeship model with four additional principles:
High compensation.
Pay people enough that the opportunity is genuinely attractive.
Manageable workloads.
Create jobs that people can realistically perform well for years without burning out.
Career advancement.
Give ambitious employees a clear path to greater responsibility, income, and authority.
Strong organizational infrastructure.
Build the company so that responsibilities are distributed, succession is natural, and the business does not depend on any one individual.
If those pieces work together, the result is not simply a profitable business. It is a real institution—one that can develop people, retain talent, promote from within, and continue operating regardless of who happens to be sitting in a particular seat.
The Ultimate Test
The way I would ultimately judge whether I had built the organization correctly is this:
Can I take a recent college graduate from any major and any school, with little or no relevant experience, put them into the apprenticeship system, and 15 years later have them become a world-class physical commodities trader and potentially the COO or CEO of the company?
If the answer is yes, then I haven't just created something great. I've created a system for producing talent.
And if that system can repeatedly take inexperienced people, develop them into exceptional professionals, and promote them into leadership, then the business becomes increasingly independent of any single person.
That, to me, is what a truly durable company looks like.
Extra
Something I would be really proud to create is a recruitment pipeline where, as the company grows and becomes successful, we can go directly to colleges and universities to recruit talented new graduates and give them an opportunity to build their careers with us. To me, that could be even more satisfying than the money or the building of the company. Being able to open doors for people who are ambitious, hungry, and trying to make something of themselves would be incredibly meaningful. There is something really special about building something that not only creates wealth, but also creates opportunities for other people to succeed.
