Money. Currency. Cash. Bank balances. These are merely ideas and concepts we use instead of direct barter. It makes things convenient, but it is no more real than a piece of paper with the word “egg” written on it is an actual egg. And yet most of us think more money is what we need or want. Owning money is like owning potential energy. In its current state it doesn’t have any value at all.

But of course we exchange money for goods and services and “real” property. What would change if these things were not valued in terms of a pricetag, but in terms of intrinsic value? Putting aside the chaos and panic this would cause, would we learn to understand the world differently? What would each person consider to be most valuable if nothing had a cost attached? Would a really good blueberry have more or less value than a new pair of shoes, if neither had a monetary value? The shoes turn out to pinch, but the berry was perfect.

One of the most challenging things my business partner and I are tackling is coming up with a clear and concise way of expressing the value of what we do to potential clients and investors. The elevator pitch. And so we have to ask what makes us worth more than a really good blueberry. We know our value, but when we are dealing in the monetary world there is a pressure to prove a monetary value.