How to Build Signals That Win Influence

In 1184 BCE, the Greeks vanished from the shores of Troy. All that remained was a towering wooden horse, wheels still damp from the sea. To the Trojans, it was a symbol of surrender—an offering of peace from a weary enemy.

They wheeled it inside the gates and celebrated. That night, Troy fell.

The Trojan Horse is more than a myth. It’s a study in misread signals. A masterstroke of perception. The Greeks didn’t win through force. They won by exploiting the gap between what something appears to be, and what it truly is.

We see this today, though the horses are more metaphorical—designer logos, inflated résumés, curated confidence. The war is different. The signals are not.

And if you’ve ever felt invisible in a high-status room, despite having the goods, you’re not alone. It’s not because you’re not good enough. It’s because others don’t know how to read you.

Or more likely: You haven’t shown them how to read you.

That’s what this piece is about. Not playing the status game louder. But smarter.

The Ultimatum and the Unfair Offer

In 1982, a now-famous experiment played out in labs around the world. It was simple. Two strangers, Player A and Player B, split $10. Player A decides the split. Player B either accepts or rejects it. If B rejects the offer, no one gets anything.

Logically, B should accept any amount greater than zero. But that’s not what happened.

When A offered $1 or $2, B often rejected it. People walked away from free money. Why? Because it didn’t feel fair. It didn’t respect them. Emotion overruled math.

This experiment, known as the Ultimatum Game, opened the door to something bigger.

Game Theory, simply put, is the study of ​how people make decisions​ when outcomes depend not just on their own choices, but on the choices of others. It’s used to analyze strategy, cooperation, competition, and behavior under uncertainty. Once the domain of cold logic, it had to account for something messier: Perception.

This is the real status game. It’s not won by merit alone. It’s shaped by how others interpret your intent, presence, and confidence in an environment of incomplete information. In game theory terms, it’s a signaling game.

In life, it’s what makes someone trust you, follow you, or ignore you entirely.

Game Theory plays out all around us—in job interviews, sales negotiations, investor meetings, even first impressions at a dinner table.

Anywhere decisions are made with limited information, people rely on signals. And the better you understand that, the more strategic your presence becomes.

The Value of a Hard-To-Fake Signal

Michael Spence, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, saw this clearly in the 1970s. He wasn’t studying parties or politics. He was studying the job market.

Spence noticed a strange pattern: Companies didn’t necessarily hire based on knowledge or skills. They hired based on credentials. Degrees. Titles. Certifications. What mattered wasn’t just what you knew, but how you signaled it.

A degree, he argued, is a costly signal. It takes time, energy, and effort—resources not everyone is willing or able to spend. And that’s the point. The difficulty of the signal makes it trustworthy. It filters.

For a long time, I believed college was a waste of time. I didn’t end up working in what I studied. But looking back, I’ve changed my mind. The university gave me something else—exposure. I met people. I worked on projects. I learned how to navigate teams, lead meetings, and present ideas. All those things became invisible assets. And, yes, a signal.

You see this everywhere now. In job interviews. On social media. At investor dinners. The room isn’t asking if you’re talented. It’s asking if it believes you are.

Sometimes the belief precedes the proof. Sometimes, the signal is the proof.

What Apple’s Silence Says

So how do you signal clearly without selling out?

You don’t need to shout. You don’t need a Rolex or a viral thread. But you do need to be intentional.

Apple is a master of this. Not because it markets loudly, but because it doesn’t. Walk into an Apple Store and notice what’s missing: Clutter, noise, desperation. The architecture feels closer to a museum than a mall. Every detail whispers: Calm, considered, premium.

Minimalism, here, isn’t empty. It’s a ​strategic restraint​. It signals confidence without needing to explain.

You can adopt the same principle. No need to overbrand or over-share. Sharpen the edges of your presence. Speak with precision. Create white space around your message. The goal isn’t to prove. It’s to project.

How to Build a Sharp Signal

And now, the part most people skip—how to build this kind of signal from the inside out:

1. Master yourself

Confidence doesn’t come from charisma. It comes from evidence. The kind you build in silence—the work you do when nobody sees.

Track your wins. ​Build routines​ that reinforce your identity. Write down your thoughts, your progress, your ideas. The more clearly you see yourself, the more clearly others will too.

2. Need nothing

Needing nothing is the ultimate power. It lets you walk away, say no, and protect your peace. Build a cushion—financially, emotionally, socially—so you can move through high-status rooms without bending to them.

​Antifragility​ isn’t just resilience. It’s leverage.

3. Proximity over popularity

Status isn’t about being everywhere. It’s about being in the right places, with the right people. The ones who raise the standard.

Choose intentional rooms over noisy ones. Cultivate five high-signal relationships over five hundred followers. Sometimes, the best signal is strategic silence.

4. Curate your appearance

I would argue that you don’t need luxury to impress. You need clarity and intention. Be neat, well-groomed, and considerate.

Don’t overdress. Don’t underdress. Dress like someone who respects themselves. That’s enough. It's far more valuable to allocate your resources to “need nothing” than to use them to buy status symbols to impress others.

5. Lead with evidence

Let your work do the talking. Create case studies. Package your outcomes. When someone Googles you, make sure your trail of proof is stronger than any pitch you could give in person.

And most importantly, show your work consistently. Publish insights. Share results. Document progress. Signals compound when they’re visible over time.

The Room Is Always Reading You

I used to hate the status game. It felt fake—like a performance where loud voices and polished surfaces won over real substance. But over time, I’ve learned that ignoring the game doesn’t protect you from it. It just leaves you out of it.

As Robert Greene writes in ​The 48 Laws of Power​, power dynamics are always at play. You don’t get to opt out. You only get to choose whether you engage with intention—or drift passively through rooms where others shape the narrative.

The good news? You can always pick the game you play.

You don’t have to signal wealth or fame. You can signal clarity, depth, ​discipline​, and generosity. And you can build those signals honestly—one decision, one conversation, one project at a time.