THE CONNECTOR’S MANIFESTO

On the Dignity of Paid Goodwill, Strategic Generosity, and the Liberation of Value Creation
A Manifesto by Kevin Chern, CEO of Sanguine Strategic Advisors and Introzy

“The essence of morality is to produce the greatest amount of good.”
— Jeremy Bentham

“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”
— Adam Smith

We live in a world that too often glorifies unpaid effort while demonizing the idea that generosity and gain might coexist. We’ve been subtly indoctrinated to believe that to give freely is noble, but to benefit from giving is somehow transactional, impure, or manipulative.
This is a lie.

We reject the false binary that says you must choose between altruism and prosperity.

Generosity is Not Free or Worthless
To extend your network, to make valuable introductions, to open doors that would otherwise remain closed—this is a profound and rare form of value creation. These acts ripple across industries, generate wealth, forge partnerships, and solve problems no individual could solve alone.
Why, then, do we pretend that these acts should only be offered as favors? Why is the introducer—the connector—so often expected to fade into the background, unrewarded, unacknowledged?

“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
— John Donne

We are all pieces of the greater whole. And yet the individual who helps build the bridges between these pieces—who engineers collisions of value—is too often denied a piece of the prosperity they catalyze.
This must change.
Motive Matters—But So Does Outcome
Yes, intention is critical. The act of making an introduction should be grounded in value creation first, not greed. A helpful connection made purely for money corrodes trust.
But when introductions are made with discernment, alignment, and goodwill at their core—there is no moral failing in being compensated for that value. In fact, that compensation can further empower the connector to keep doing their work—at higher volume, with more care, and for a wider circle.

“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”
— Mahatma Gandhi

Being the change also means structuring a world where those who create value are recognized, supported, and yes, paid.
We Have Been Brainwashed
Too many of us have internalized a cultural narrative that says true generosity must be unpaid. This mindset is a vestige of puritanical guilt and post-industrial systems that sought to control labor, not liberate potential.
Let us remember: money is not inherently corrupt. It is a vessel—a tool. It amplifies the intention behind it. When driven by ego, it poisons. When driven by impact, it empowers.
Strategic Philanthropy is Not Hypocrisy
You can be philanthropic and paid. You can be generous and strategic. You can build a platform of goodwill, and still structure it in a way that sustains you and your family.
We must normalize this duality.
We must liberate the introducer, the connector, the matchmaker—from shame and invisibility.

“To give away money is an easy matter… but to decide to whom to give it, how much, when to give, and for what purpose is neither in every man’s power nor an easy matter.”
— Aristotle

The same can be said for introductions. The right introduction at the right time can change a life, a company, a community.
That is not a favor. That is value.

We affirm that:

• Paid goodwill is still goodwill.
• Making valuable introductions is a form of capital contribution.
• Creating opportunity for others and creating prosperity for yourself are not mutually exclusive.
• The ethical connector is driven first by alignment and value—but is not ashamed to receive value in return.

Let this be the age of intentional, abundant, well-compensated connectivity.
Let us build the world we wish existed—one connection at a time.

Kevin Chern – CEO – Sanguine Strategic Advisors

After 30 years of building businesses while navigating some of the most complex paths to success, Kevin Chern founded Sanguine Strategic Advisors to lend his insight and experience to other serial entrepreneurs, small business owners and folks in need of a roll-up-your-sleeves innovator, deal maker and doer.

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