---
title: "Place and space"
description: "The intersection that gives the best shot at becoming known."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/known/place-and-space/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Place and space

> The intersection that gives the best shot at becoming known.

Mark Schaefer's framework, from KNOWN, pp. 34 to 40.

Framework 2 of 19 from [KNOWN](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/known/index.md) by Mark Schaefer. Category: Personal brand.

## The steps

1. **Place.** A sustainable interest and what you want to be known for.
2. **Space.** An uncontested or under-occupied niche with enough people to matter.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: CHAPTER 2 Step One: Your Place, pp. 34–40

Schaefer takes issue with advice such as Gary Vaynerchuk's to pick one passion and suffocate every other option. Interviews with nearly 100 people show that what matters is consistency over time, and passion is common while endurance is rare. He defines place as a sustainable interest and space as an uncontested niche with enough people to matter. A sustainable interest is something you will enjoy for years, that you want to be known for and that benefits others, and he shows how Tom Webster and Betty Brennan reframed theirs.

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/known/place-and-space.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/known/place-and-space-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/known/place-and-space.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/known/place-and-space-dark.png