Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In 2025, the business world is defined by complexity. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries, automating tasks and outpacing human specialists across multiple fields. Recently, Workday laid off 8.5% of its workforce, totalling over 1,700 staff, due to AI. If you are a professional or an entrepreneur, the future can appear uncertain, if not scary. Yet, some entrepreneurs are thriving — not by doubling down on specialization but by embracing versatility. A McKinsey & Company study found that AI-driven automation could reshape up to 30% of hours worked across the U.S. economy by 2030, increasing the demand for adaptable, cross-disciplinary skills. This shift requires a new way of thinking: the mindset of what I call the “all-in-one entrepreneur”.
As the CEO of Builderall, a comprehensive marketing platform that has supported over two million businesses worldwide, I have my finger on the pulse of what the best-performing companies are doing to stay cutting edge. For too long, entrepreneurs have been told that success lies in mastering a single skill or discipline. The phrase “jack of all trades, master of none” has been used as a warning against being too broad in focus. But the full quote tells a different story:
“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” The message is clear: Versatility is an advantage. In today’s fast-changing world, the ability to connect the dots across disciplines is far more valuable than narrow expertise.
Related: 8 CEO Mindset Quotes That Keep Me Honest and Inspired
Why specialization is losing its edge
For centuries, specialization was the gold standard of success. Adam Smith’s book, The Wealth of Nations (1776), highlighted how dividing labor into specialized tasks spurred economic progress, and this approach fueled the Industrial Revolution. However, the same forces that once made specialization so effective — efficiency and productivity — are now driving its decline.
A 2023 Goldman Sachs report estimates that AI could replace up to 300 million full-time jobs globally in the coming years. Many of these are highly specialized roles in fields like accounting, legal work and data analysis. Similarly, a McKinsey study found that 50% of workplace tasks could potentially be automated using existing technology.
Software engineering, once considered a rock-solid career choice, is already being disrupted. Tools like GitHub Copilot can now write code autonomously, reducing the demand for traditional programmers. The specialists who thrive in this new environment won’t be those who only know how to code — they’ll be the ones who understand how coding integrates with business strategy, user experience and product management.
Specialists aren’t disappearing, but specialization alone is no longer enough to stay competitive. The future belongs to those who can integrate knowledge across multiple domains.
The power of the “all-in-one entrepreneur”
Throughout history, the most game-changing thinkers weren’t specialists — they were polymaths. Consider Leonardo da Vinci, who combined art, science, engineering and anatomy, producing ideas centuries ahead of his time. Michelangelo was not just a sculptor, but also an architect, poet and military engineer. Benjamin Franklin was a writer, inventor, diplomat and scientist — his breadth of knowledge made him an influential force in history.
They thrived because they didn’t confine themselves to a single specialty — they saw connections others couldn’t. In business today, the same principle applies. The most successful entrepreneurs aren’t just great at one thing — they’re able to connect marketing with data, technology with business strategy, creativity with finance.
I saw this firsthand in my own career. I started as a designer, thinking that visuals alone could drive business success. But I quickly realized that I needed to understand development to bring my ideas to life. From there, I learned analytics to measure whether my designs were actually effective. That led me to marketing, because great design is useless if no one sees it.
With those tools in place, I could build revenue-generating businesses, so I needed to develop leadership and management skills to hire and scale. Then, after selling a few companies, I realized the power of finance and fundraising to take ventures even further.
I never set out to learn all of these things. Each new skill was a response to a challenge I faced. And over time, it became clear: The more I learned, the more control I had over my own success. This is what it means to be an “all-in-one entrepreneur.”
The costs of outsourcing your potential
Too many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of outsourcing what they don’t understand. It can be tempting to hire an “expert” marketing agency without knowing the basics of branding, delegate financial management without understanding cash flow or hand off tech decisions without knowing how they affect business operations.
This creates blind spots that can lead to costly mistakes. For example, an entrepreneur who’s great at product development but doesn’t understand marketing may struggle to reach an audience. A marketing-savvy entrepreneur who doesn’t grasp financial metrics like customer acquisition cost (CAC) or lifetime value (LTV) might overspend on campaigns that don’t generate profit.
The “all-in-one entrepreneur” avoids these pitfalls by learning just enough to make informed decisions and lead effectively. But with so much on your plate already, how is it possible to learn so many things?
How to embrace the all-in-one mindset
Adopting the “all-in-one entrepreneur” mindset is about progress, not perfection. You don’t need to master every skill overnight. Instead, focus on immersing yourself in each area enough to build a foundational understanding. My secret to this process is what I call “learn-sourcing”: hiring experts not just to do the work for you, but to do it with you.
With “learn-sourcing,” you gain practical experience while getting expert support. By collaborating with professionals, you learn the “why” behind the work, pick up their strategies and develop the confidence to make informed decisions.
Here’s how you can use “learn-sourcing” in the most critical areas:
1. Learn finance by working with a pro. If you don’t understand your numbers, you don’t understand your business. Hire a bookkeeper or financial consultant and review your financials with them regularly. Instead of mindlessly outsourcing, ask them to walk you through profit margins, cash flow and break-even points in real time.
2. Learn marketing by running your own ads. Even the best product fails without the right marketing. Instead of handing off marketing to an agency, bring in an expert to set up campaigns with you. Learn how to craft messaging, define targeting, and analyze performance, so you can make informed marketing decisions instead of guessing.
3. Learn leadership by hiring a coach. Scaling your business means scaling your ability to manage people. Work with a leadership coach or mentor, but don’t just take advice — shadow them in real leadership scenarios. Observe how they handle team communication, conflict resolution, and company vision and apply those lessons to your own business.
Note that some vendors will be uncomfortable with this arrangement. That’s okay; it means they are not the right fit for you. Initially, it might be harder to find people who can work this way, but I’ve found that the ones who embrace it are more confident in their ability. As an added bonus, talking through the different steps actually helps them to do a better job.
Related: How Entrepreneurs Can Thrive Through the 5 Stages of Business Growth
The future of business demands more
Being an “all-in-one entrepreneur” isn’t about knowing everything — it’s about knowing enough to connect ideas, solve problems and adapt to whatever comes next.
- Don’t just outsource — “learn-source.”
- Don’t just hire experts — work with them.
- Don’t just stay in your lane — expand your skill set.
The future doesn’t belong to specialists. The future belongs to those who learn faster, think bigger and do more.
