Have you ever found yourself mesmerized by those Instagram reels or TikTok videos where someone proudly declares they’re juggling 15 side hustles, from Uber driving to Etsy crafting, all while sipping a latte? It’s the modern-day equivalent of a peacock’s display—impressive, but is it actually productive? Personally, I think this obsession with stream counting is one of the most overhyped myths in the gig economy. And Cody Berman, a guy who once boasted about running 19 income streams, now calls it ‘so dumb.’ Ouch. But here’s the kicker: his story isn’t just a cautionary tale; it’s a masterclass in what really matters when building multiple income streams.
What makes this particularly fascinating is how Berman’s journey flips the script on what we’re told about side hustles. The conventional wisdom—pushed by countless influencers—is that more streams equal more security. But Berman’s experience reveals the opposite: attention doesn’t scale. Every additional stream isn’t just another income source; it’s another mental tax, another set of taxes, another customer service headache. If you take a step back and think about it, juggling 19 streams isn’t entrepreneurship—it’s self-inflicted underemployment.
One thing that immediately stands out is the brutal math behind low-paying gigs. Let’s say you’re earning $2 an hour filling out surveys (yes, people still do that). Meanwhile, the average private-sector worker in the U.S. earns around $37 an hour. What many people don’t realize is that every hour spent on that $2 hustle is an hour you’re not earning that higher wage. Multiply that by 19 streams, and you’re not just leaving money on the table—you’re burning it.
But here’s where Berman’s story gets interesting: the real value wasn’t in the streams themselves; it was in the skills he picked up along the way. Copywriting, email marketing, podcast editing—these are the levers that actually move the needle. A detail that I find especially interesting is how he reframed his failures. Those $50-a-month gigs weren’t just losses; they were tuition payments for skills that later compounded into six-figure businesses.
This raises a deeper question: what makes a side hustle worth doing? In my opinion, it’s not the immediate income; it’s the skill transfer. Take two $2-an-hour gigs: one is filling out surveys, the other is editing a podcast. After 100 hours, the survey gig leaves you with $200 and nothing else. But the podcast gig? You’ve learned audio production, scripting, and client management—skills that can later bill at $75 an hour. What this really suggests is that not all hustles are created equal. Some are just expensive hobbies in disguise.
The macro backdrop makes this even more urgent. With consumer sentiment in recessionary territory and personal savings rates plummeting, people are desperate for second incomes. But picking the wrong hustle doesn’t just cost you money—it costs you time, the one resource you can’t get back. As Berman bluntly puts it, a side hustle should teach you a skill you don’t already have. Because, let’s face it, skills are the only currency that appreciates over time.
So, how do you avoid the side hustle trap? First, stop chasing income targets and start setting learning budgets. Decide how much time and money you’re willing to invest in a hustle before judging its success. Second, audit your streams against your hourly wage. If a gig pays less than your day job and isn’t teaching you anything, cut it loose. Third, cap your ventures at three—Berman’s sweet spot after trying 30. And finally, schedule a quarterly prune. Drop the lowest performer and reinvest those hours into your winners.
From my perspective, the side hustle game isn’t about counting streams—it’s about counting skills. Income is just the byproduct. If you’re not learning something valuable, you’re not building a foundation for the future. You’re just spinning your wheels.
So, the next time you see someone bragging about their 15 side hustles, ask yourself: are they building skills, or are they just collecting vanity metrics? Because, in the long run, only one of those will pay off.
