The Money Expert: They're Lying to You—Academic Skills Don't Translate to a Stable Career...

70%. of millionaires are self-made. If you. want to make money, you got to follow. the math. People that have money have. one thing. Entrepreneur, investor, she's. got over 26 businesses, Cody Sanchez. I. have no money. I don't really know too. much about money. Where do I start? What. do I do? Most often we're told things. like follow our passion. I think that's. pretty bad advice. If you don't have. ownership, you're probably never going. to be free financially. You're literally. opening up a whole new doorway for. people.

The number one health and wellness. podcast. Jay Shetty. Jay Shetty. The. one, the only Jay Shetty. Hey everyone, welcome back to On. Purpose, the place you come to become. happier, healthier, and more healed. I'm. fascinated by our relationships with. things that we grew up with, how they've. changed, how they've evolved, or how. they've stayed the same. I believe that. our relationship with money is probably. one of the most underestimated. relationships that we have, and it's. probably one of the relationships that.

we pay the least attention to. We don't. treat it like a relationship, we don't. think of it like a relationship, and. therefore it falls into the binary. category of I'm either good at it or I'm. bad at it. Today's guest has some. incredible insights for each and every. one of us. Wherever you are in your. financial journey, this episode is for. you. Today's guest is Cody Sanchez. Thank you. I'm blushing. I'm excited to. be here. I want to start with a question. that I know you probably get a million. times and I get all the time. Jay, I.

have no money. I don't really know too much about. money. Where do I start? What do I do? There's. two things in life that I wish we were. told earlier. And one is if you want to. make money, you got to follow the math. And I think most often we're told things. like follow our passion. You know, do. what I did to make money. I made real. estate money, you should make real. estate money. And I think that's pretty. bad advice. I think instead we should. look to where are most people rich? What. makes most people rich? So, I kind of go.

to the data. I came from really middle. class. Kind of we didn't have money all. the time. I remember what it was like to. not have money. Remember what it was. like when my debit card, you know, I was. a little worried stuff wouldn't go. through at the grocery store. And I didn't like that feeling. And so I. kind of started looking around and I was. like, wait a second. Where do people. have money? And after being in finance for whatever. it is, 15 years, I'm going to give away. my age, I realized people that have. money have one thing, ownership. So, the. the data is really clear on this.

70% of millionaires are self-made, which. is interesting. I used to think maybe. you just inherit it. Did they just get. lucky? And then 68%. of millionaires have some form of form. of ownership. They have actually bought. a business or have equity in a business. or built a business. And so when I. realized that, I was like, the problem. is. I don't have a brilliant idea. Like I. don't know how to make money. I don't. have any money to make money. But at. least you have step one, which is if you. don't have ownership, you're probably. never going to be free financially. You.

got to get some skin in the game. That. doesn't mean that you have to become an. entrepreneur, it's really hard to do. that. It sucks many days, you know this. very well. There's Fridays when you're. never going to make payroll and that is. like a deep, terrible, dark hurt, actually. But if you realize ownership. is the name of the game, then you should. probably obsess on one thing more than. anything else, which is learn the. language of money. And back when I was young, I was a. journalist originally, made zero. dollars. And. and I realized that I had no idea why.

I had opportunities and ability to make. some money and let's say the women I was. covering at the time in Juarez, who are. they call it La Ciudad de Muerte, right? The city of death, which is where women are mutilated and. raped and brutalized and and found. murdered all over the city every single. day, thousands of women a year. There were many that had the last name. Sanchez. My last name happens to be. Sanchez. I was like, "What's the. difference between us? Is it that I'm. American? No, that's not it alone. I.

think it's also that I had some. financial tools. And like, money is a. pushback against other people's. architecture of your life. And it makes. people care about you one way or the. other, which is sad, but the truth of. the matter is if you are poor, you have. no power. And anybody who's been poor. before knows that is true. You got to go where the game is played. So, the first thing I tell is if you. don't have any cash, you need to find a. way to figure out how to speak the. language of money. And that probably. means you maybe go work in finance like. I did. You get with a company that has.

smart leaders like Jay where you can. actually go and learn from them. And you. obsess on, can I become fluent in the. thing that nobody talks about in the US. because money is supposed to be the root. of all evil. Yeah, you shared a. statistic with me that I thought was. mind-blowing that 62% of Americans don't. want to talk about money. Yeah. That is. so scary, but it's also not surprising. because like you just said, we've. created this narrative that money is the. root of all evil. And it was so.

fascinating because. someone actually said this to me where. if you look up the actual reference, it. says love of money is the root of all. evil. I never knew that. Yeah. How did. we I mean, I do wonder sometimes, how do. we get programmed this way? Because if. you think about it, it's like, what are. the three things you're not supposed to. talk about? Politics, religion, money. Now, politics and religion maybe I could. understand you could offend somebody. I. believe this religion, you believe this. political slant, and if if we collide, that could be bad. But when it comes to.

money, who who's like, "No, I wish you. everybody was poor." Like, what why. wouldn't we be able to talk about it? And the only thing that I can determine. from that is that every time we get a. little bit more ownership, a little bit. more money, we become harder to control. And um when you're harder to control, big institutions and largely our. governments, they don't like that. You. know, you want a controllable populace. by and large. And And I think. that is a big reason why people don't. talk about money. It's actually that we.

have been programmed to be more. malleable sheep in many ways, not. because people are evil at the top, but. because once we get power, we humans are. a little funny. We don't like to give it. up, no matter who we are. I would. probably be the same. And so, that. centralization of power, we start to. think, I know better. You poor person, let me give you some. charity. You can't figure it out. And. instead, we should be saying, you are just as capable as I am, and I. would probably be you if I lived your. life. And so, instead, why don't I. transfer some knowledge, because that's. where money starts. Yeah, what about.

people right now who are looking at the. situation and just like, the economy is. in a bad place, we're super worried. Paint us a picture of where America is. right now. Well, I mean, well, let's. talk first. We'll talk about how it's. tough, and I'll be honest, and then we. can talk about solutions. So, I promise. I won't leave you in a doom scroll. But, um, here's the truth of what's happening in. the world right now. If you're young, young people today are upset about. what's happening in the world around. them, and I understand why. You have. wage stagnation. So, we basically have. not made any more money, and in fact,

this generation, Gen Z, is the first. generation where at their same age as. their parents, they're making less. money, not more. Problem is their. university degrees are three to four X. more expensive. Oh, by the way, so is. housing. Wait a second, inflation is at. a degree in which my dollar today is. worth even substantially less than even. five years ago. On top of that, yeah, we. have all these jobs open, you know, 7. million working age men supposedly are. unemployed at this moment right now, um, even though. the jobs report says that there's so.

many jobs. Are the jobs real? Well, largely not. They're private sec-. They're not private sector, they're. public sector, they're government jobs. And so, young people are like, wait a. second, I can't live, I can't eat, you. know, groceries more expensive. And. that's real, actually. And so the people. that are making fun of young people on. TikToks, you know, when they cry about. their job being difficult, I don't I. don't really vibe with that, cuz the. math says it's hard right now. And not. just for young people, but I think it's. important to talk about them. And the truth of the matter is, though,

that in any market we can make money. And so, although it's really difficult. out there, there's like one silver. lining that I've kind of been screaming. from the rooftops for the past 3 years, and people I think are starting to see. it, which is that. we are, thankfully, I think, going to. have a marriage between baby boomers and. young people that would be very. unexpected. So, right now, and. historically, young people have said, "Okay, boomer. You messed our up up our. economy, boomer. You're not employing. me, boomer. You don't understand my.

life. You listen to the music that young. people like." They don't like that. generation in a lot of ways. Then the. baby boomers are like, "You guys are. quiet quitting. You're not working very. hard. Um get out of my basement." Uh and. so these two generations have been at. war in some ways, like a quiet war. And now, I think, with the transfer of. ownership that we're seeing, and we can. talk about the the great wealth. transfer, I think we have an opportunity. where the baby boomer generation, the. richest generation that we have ever. seen in the US, which has mimic in all.

other countries around the world, by the. way, that are developed countries, um. this generation is about to sunset. They're getting ready to retire. They're. ready to move on. But they own $68. trillion. in wealth in just the US. The interesting part is. the young people think, well, that money. must get transferred somehow, right? Does that mean I get a house? Does that. mean I get a car? Does that mean I get. inheritance? The problem is, that money. is not tied up in just assets. It's not.

tied up in houses and bank accounts. It, by and large, is tied up in small. businesses, because baby boomers own 60%. of all small businesses. And so I think. we got to find a way for the young. people to take over these baby boomer. businesses because otherwise then we're. in a really bad spot. Then we're Japan. Yeah, what is some of the mistakes that. you think we think about what makes. money? Like what are what are we. thinking makes money right now where. we're being distracted where actually. small businesses where you're pointing. the spotlight.

Yeah. But but what are we distracted by? I think a lot of young people today. chase the shiny object, right? And and. think about this for a second. I. remember like many years ago I had an. opportunity to invest in Robinhood. And. I could kick myself financially because. I didn't. But at the time why I didn't. is I was like day trading stocks as. amateurs and then gamifying it so we get. like adrenal response every time a. balloon pops because we placed a trade. Might be a bad idea. Like I don't think. we should probably gamify our finances.

that way. And I think that's what's happened to. young people. They're being told, I. mean, put it in the stock market and day. trade. They're being told NFTs and. playing with crypto monkeys. They're. being told price speculation on crypto. or even Bitcoin. They're taking margin. calls out on their stock portfolios. And. with the little amount of money that. they have they're trying for this get. rich scheme speculation. And the shitty. part is that just never works. You know, the the one sure thing I know about. money. is that you're never going to make it if.

your solution is, "Hey, I'm going to win. at money cuz that guy's going to lose.". If you think that there is a lose-win. scenario and you are the one that's. going to win, I hate to tell you you're. the one holding the bag. Well said. Yeah. And I wish people told us that. more. That actually making money doesn't. have to be lose-win. It could be. win-win. And that is when you know. you've actually found a good opportunity. is when you go, "Okay, why would I make money on this deal? Oh, because I am solving a pain point that. adds value to to human's life and I've.

properly valued what my own skill set. is. The problem is most of us don't even. know what we're good at or how you'd. value that skill. And we can play around. with some exercises so that any human. could figure out, okay, I, Cody, know. how to market something. How do I figure. out how much of that is worth, and how. could I transfer some of that to get a. percentage of equity in somebody's. company just for the skill that I have? And the last thing I want to say there. is like. more than anything, I think one, we. think money's bad, and then two, money's.

scary. Like, I don't really know why, but I think we're we're scared of it, and we're scared that we might not be. able to make it, and we're scared what. if we lose it, and what if our. self-worth is tied up in it, and should. we actually ask for it? So, we have all. these fears surrounding money, which is. probably why we don't talk about it, too. And we got to kind of work through. that because money is just a tool. So, it's just like, if you want to build a. house, do you want to use uh, you know, a bunch of tiny little nails and your. own hammer, or do you want to have a. screw gun? And like in this instance, I.

want to have the bigger gun. You don't. die in your first job from it being. really hard and challenging. You die. from the absolute monotony and the. low-level tasks you have to do for. basically pennies on the dollar. The. average entrepreneur makes about $46,000. a year, which is great, but not when. you've been making zero for 3 years. A. lot of terrible things can happen you. when you don't believe in yourself, and. I think the universe like. it it will tell you kind of what you. need to do, and then if you don't. listen, it'll annoy you for a while, and. then at some point it'll just kick you. in the face. I want to look at three scenarios of our.

audience and where they sit and look at. what your advice would be for them at. that point. So, let's say we have a. listener who just graduated from. college. What should they be doing first? What. should they be thinking about right now? Yeah. Well, here's how I think about. making money. We have a four-step. process that I think, if you don't have. money now, here is how you make it. consistently over time, and you have. your money go out and bring back friends. with it. The first is you've got to. learn. We've got to obsess in the. beginning about one thing only. It's not. what your salary is. It's how can I cram.

as much information as humanly possible. in my brain in order for me to then do. the next thing, which is increase my. skill stack. After I learn, can I. increase my skills so that my skills are. more valuable today than they were. yesterday? And the third is, how can I. increase my income? So, before you go. thinking about investing in things. overall, how can I just make more money. currently with what I'm doing? And then. finally, we can get to invest. So, after. we do these three steps, the final one. is, how do I take my money and make my. money work for me? But in the beginning,

you don't have money. You know, you. don't really have skills. You probably. don't have a ton of connections. And so, what you actually want to do is use your. sweat equity and your experience and. time as a. really, maybe hungry individual to get. money to eventually be able to invest. the money. And I think that's the other. thing young people are told that's a. lie, is that. you can go out as a young person and, you know, you know, fend for Gucci, Prada, Lamborghini on the internet, make. a bunch of fast cash and Airbnb. arbitrage or whatever. Man, I wish.

somebody had told me earlier on that's a. terrible thing to do. Yeah, and I think. what's really interesting though is when. you're talking about improving of. skills, I think when we graduate. college, you think that that was the. skill. Like that your degree was the. investment in the skill, but really what. you're talking about are high-value. skills, talents, abilities that actually. make an impact in a workplace. And those. are really different. And so, I meet a. lot of young people who sadly have spent. so much money on their degree, are.

really smart academically, Yeah. but. then that skill doesn't translate into. knowing how to make their company more. money, knowing how to lead people really. well, knowing how to build functions, systems, processes. And therefore, it's. like, well, wait a minute, I just. studied all these years, but it doesn't. translate. Yeah, I think you're exactly. right. I mean, for a long time, we. employed people from the top. universities in financial firms. We. would go out and we would hand select. them because that would be an indicator. of their grit, perseverance, and. potentially their their intellect, their.

IQ. Now, by and large, you're starting. to see a lot of the top institutions. bypass that. You know, Google doesn't. mandate that you have a college degree. if you're going into an engineering. degree, actually. And I think that. should be really liberating for us. It's. basically breaking down this barrier. that's a six-figure barrier that allowed. for the few, the elites, to staircase. over everybody else. And now it's. actually saying, "How bad you want it? And don't tell me what you learned, show. me what you can do." Or even better, "Show me what you did." And so I think.

the resume of the future is actually if. somebody came to you, Jay, and they're. like, "I just graduated from Wharton. I. am very smart. You know, I also did my. undergraduate degree at Harvard. I now. want to come work for you." You'd be. like, "What do you know how to do? Do you know. how to market? Do you know how to grow a. a beverage company? Do you know how to. increase our investment return?" Oh, you. kind of like theoretically have looked. about how to do that in a case study. That's probably less interesting to you. than somebody that goes, "You know what?

I was part of the beverage team at. Erewhon and Whole Foods, and I figured. out sort of across the country how they. buy different pieces of inventory.". Yeah, you got my attention already. Right, exactly. And and maybe because I. want to help you grow this individual. business, which I know you care about. cuz I see it on your socials, I put. together this little spreadsheet for. you. Here's the things they care about. Could I come work for you for free. for three or six months? And if that. works out, could we do something better. and bigger? The problem that people usually have on.

the internet when I throw out the word. work for free. is young people are like, "Remember that. part where you told us that we were. broke and we don't have any money?" So, I'm not trying to dismiss that at all, but I do think we have to be honest. about the fact that when we're young, you're going to have to work harder than. you think, longer than you think, doing. stuff you don't like with people you. probably don't like until eventually you. get the right to do something really. interesting. But like you don't die in. your first job from it being really hard. and challenging, you die from the. absolute monotony and the low-level. tasks you have to do for basically.

pennies on the dollar. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Absolutely. I fully agree. Let's say someone's 30 years old. Yeah. They've all 30 to 35. They worked 10, 15. years after graduating. They've been at. the same company, maybe they've moved. once. Yeah. I was actually talking to someone. like this yesterday. She's been at this. one company for 6 years. It's a great. company, great on her resume, but she's. like, "I don't really want to be here. I. don't think this is where I see my. future. But I'm so scared of quitting. I don't know how to invest. I probably. didn't save that much anyway. Now I feel.

bad about it. I'm probably feeling a bit. of shame and guilt that I didn't save. that much over the last 10 years. What. would I do, Cody?" Well, what I would. say, these days you do not have to have. money to make money, which is incredibly. powerful. So, when I think about it, if. I'm 30 and I am at a company like that, what would I do today? Well, I would. actually probably sit down and figure. out, what am I actually skilled at that. somebody else would pay me for? Once you know what somebody else would. pay you for, which is really just like, do people ask your opinion on this?

Could you actually get jobs in this. space? If it was me, because I'm kind of. unemployable, like you don't want me to. work for you. I like I got my own ideas. I want to do things this way. If she's. like that, then what you want to do is. you want to try to partner with somebody. where you can be the solution to their. problem, and because you understand what. I call deal making, which is really the. language of money, you can negotiate an. ability for you to own part of a thing. in order for you to have one of three. outcomes. If she can figure out if she. can help a business grow its revenue,

make more money, if she can help a. business cut its costs, or if she can. help decrease the pain of a business. owner, you can negotiate your way into a. business and have equity in it and. upside. And I wish somebody had taught. me that earlier because this is what. consultants do. This is what private. equity firms do. This is what some of. the largest institutions in the world. do. I call it expertise equity. But if I. was her, I'd say, "Don't go find another. job. And if you don't have a brilliant. idea that you're like, I would die for. the want of creating this thing in the.

world. If you have that, please go do. it. But if you're like, I don't have. that, I just want to make money and I. want to feel respected and I want to. feel like my skills fit somewhere and. I'm able to have an outsized income." If. that's you, then I think you should try. to value your skill set, then you should. try to negotiate for an upside deal with. somebody, and you should try your hand. at this game called ownership, which is. where you say, "Hey small business, I. know how to market. Can I help you. market at the side while I'm working on. this company? And because I help you.

grow your revenue by 50%, could I keep. 10% of the 50% I grow?" Do you think a. small business owner would say yes to. that? Of course they would. Because there's no downside. And I think more often than not, we. think that the only risk you can take in. making money in business is putting your. own cash down. That's a risk. Or. starting a business, aka dedicating your. life to something. The last part I'll get a little. statistic on us is. 90% of startups fail inside any rolling. 10-year period. We know that statistic.

Most startups make $0 for the first 3. years. After that, the average entrepreneur. makes about $46,000 a year, which is. great, but not when you've been making. zero for 3 years. And then on top of. that, we've got this nation of of people. who have all these bills to pay and. they're betting on hopes and dreams as. opposed to realities. And so my my. commentary is, can you figure out how to. value your skills so you can negotiate a. little bit more upside for that day. where you can't work anymore? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I I'm so happy to hear such like.

small honest advice because I do you. you're so right. For so long, we keep. telling everyone like. follow your passion, like just quit your. job, like jump over and you know, it's. it's hard because like you said, that. business may not work, your skills may. be better off here, you might not be an. entrepreneur, you might be someone who's. going to work with an entrepreneur and. build. I wanted to address something. though. I do find a lot of leaders. and a lot of founders of small. businesses or up-and-coming businesses.

to also be quite. resistant to recognizing the value. of sharing. So, I'll give an example of. what I mean by this. Like when I was. starting out, I remember speaking to. people who are who are much more. established than I was. And I said, "Hey, I've got a person I'm. going to work with and we're going to. split things 75/25 and and they're going. to get 25% of profits. I'm going to keep. 75 because they have a skill set I don't. have and it'll be complimentary." And I. remember everyone telling me it was a. really bad idea because they're like,

"Jay, like no, you you're building a. platform. You should earn 100% of it.". And I was like, "But no, they're going. to manage stress for me, they're going. to manage teams. I want to see them. grow, I want them to feel like they've. got skin in the game." And now, you. know, 8 years later since that decision, I'm. so much happier and I've a great. relationship with my one of my business. partners. We have a great relationship. He's as invested as he is as he was. then. Things have grown really well and. I'm like the people that were trying to. hold on to that last 5 to 10%. Actually.

haven't grown. And so. it was really interesting to me though. that I see that again and again and. again where even founders and new. leaders are actually scared of parting. with something. How would you encourage. them to think about that differently? Well, I actually would say be scared of. partnerships. Oh, great. Because 50% of marriages end in divorce, but 100% of business marriages typically. end because no business lasts forever, right? And so at some point, you're. going to have a rift with your business. partner. Yeah. By and large. And.

probably you'll have a few rifts with. them. So, I would actually say it's cool. to be scared about that. You should be. The pro- The thing that I I want people. to think about is like I want to make. risk a non four-letter word because I. think the the key to wealth is actually. risk, taking some of it. The question is. if you're like me, I'm kind of a wuss. Like I stayed in a corporate job for 12. years cuz I was too scared to do things. by myself. Even though I was like pretty. highly skilled, I had a decent amount of. cash. I was like. definitely not going to make it. I don't. think I'm I don't think I'm capable. Like it took me a long time to get. there. And so, what I did is I'm all.

about risk mitigation, which is like a. fancy, you know, financy word to say, "How can I just make the outcome so in. my favor that even if I'm not as smart. as I think I am, it's almost like a a. win-win no matter what?" And so, in that. instance, I would probably say. tell the make the founder a deal so good. that they would feel dumb saying no to. it. And so, if if I was coming to you, Jay, and Jay was just starting out, I. wouldn't do this to somebody who has a. big platform. They have way too much the.

too many resources. You need to go with. somebody that's more accessible to you. that doesn't have a lot of resources. It's more on your level. But when you. find that person, you go, "Hey, win-win. deal. Don't give me a cent unless I. provide X value." Like literally. nothing. Don't give me a percentage of. the company right away. I never give a. percentage of my companies right away. anymore. I did once, it cost me a. million bucks, I was pissed, I didn't do. it again. So, um you can do what's. called an earn-in or milestone-based. deliverables, which I know sounds like a.

little maybe boring if people are. listening to this. to do. I'm so glad you're giving this. advice. It's great. Yeah, I mean, what. you want to do is say, "Hey, I love you. You love me. We're going to. be together forever. In the off chance. that you see a hot little side piece and. you run off with them, I want the. ability to get the business back, right?" And so, in that way, I am going. to instead say, "Hey, I'm taking all the. risk in this business for the most part. I'm putting in the capital. Unless. you're going to put in money that is. equal to me, you only get the equity in the business. or the upside in the business if you.

it's either duration or it's execution. So, either you're here for 1 2 3 years, which is called cliff-based investing, or you're here for the first million. that you help me get in and then the. second second million and the third. million. And if you help me hit those. milestones, you get the equity. If you. don't, I wish you well, you wish me. well, but we've already signed a prenup. and this is how it works. And so, I. think we need to start thinking like. that. And it's very non-American. We're. not so used to negotiating. Um probably.

non-British, too. Actually, Indians. incredible at negotiation. Same with a. lot of people in the Middle East. But. British and American people not so good. at negotiating. We think that it's some. like a low-level signal. on average. So, like when I was young, my mom, we call her the people, she's. amazing, and she would all the always. negotiate everything. My dad's an. incredible businessman, like totally. pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, but my mom would go negotiate. And I. don't know if you ever felt like this, but I remember sometimes, you know, my mom would be like.

negotiating for a different price. I'd. be like, "Mom, oh my god. Like please, stop. You just pay it." And she would. look at me and she would say like, "Once it's your money, you pay it. But. it's my money, so like get out of here. if you don't want to deal with this.". And I used to think it was so. embarrassing. And now I realize, oh. that's very smart and it's actually the. thing the wealthy do more than anything. else that the poor do not. Which is the. wealthy negotiate everything and the. poor take price while the rich set. price. Wow, I've never thought about it like.

that. Set price versus taking a price. And and I love your mindful habits on. mitigating risk in a business. relationship, both sides. I think it's. I'm glad that you laid it out that way. because I completely agree with you. The. amount of business relationships that. have challenges and issues and. everything. I want to go back a few. moments to when you were saying you were. stuck for 12 years. Mhm. And the reason why I want to talk about. that is because now when I see you and. whether someone sees you online or. writing a book or you know, you're on.

all these awesome podcasts and you're. talking so confidently and you're so. clear, but to hear that you had doubt. and it took you a long time to get over. it. Walk me through what was going on in. your mind during that 24-month period, 12-month period before you actually. managed to quit. What was going inside. Cody's head? Oh, yeah. Um I think I would have stayed an. employee forever, Jay. Me, too. That's why I'm asking. I like. and and I also think if you're listening. right now and you ever feel less than. for being an employee, you tell that. person a pound sand because I guarantee.

you Sheryl Sandberg is worth a lot more. than many entrepreneurs. And she was an. intrapreneur. She worked inside of a. business and amassed massive wealth, prestige, status, and impact from it. And so I I I don't like when people make. employees feel less than. You and I. couldn't do what we do if we didn't have. people who also wanted to build a vision. with the team as opposed to an. individual. So one, you can make a ton. of money whether you're an employee or. whether you are the founder of the. business. You just got to get a little. skin in the game and upside. And you get. skin in the game and upside when you.

have more value. You don't just ask for. it. You've got to be able to earn it. And so when I was when I was uh you. know, thinking those last 2 years in the. business, I was uh running a business in. Latin America. I had taken the business from zero to a. billion dollars in assets under. management. I had done it for in a place. that I had never lived, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru. Um I didn't have contacts there. I'd. like built something from nothing. And I. was really proud of that. But I wasn't. very good at doing deals back then. And.

I maybe that's why I'm obsessed with it. now cuz I did a shitty deal. With a guy that I respect a lot, but he. was just better than me. And he ran the. company. and I built up this huge thing, but. basically I had no way to take the. assets of the the with me. The only. thing that I could do is stay at that. business and continue to get partnership. until they eventually sold. I was like, "Gosh, I don't want to be here for 30. years." And at the time, again, I I. respected the CEO a lot, but we didn't. believe in the same world. Like, I believe in a world in which we.

can all get rich together. He believed. in a world in which he told me we get. rich quietly. And he believed that if. you told people that you were rich, they. came after you, which sometimes they do. And because of that, he wanted to. protect himself and be quiet. And I. said, "Bah, I don't want to live in that. world.". And so we fought about that. And I. thought we should run the business this. way, he thought we should run the. business that way. And so for those last 2 years, if he. hadn't finally taken me on a beach for a. walk, him and I went, he runs a multi. hundreds hundreds hundreds of billions.

of dollar company, we're still friends. to this day, but he essentially gave me. an ultimatum. He said, "Listen, I want. to row left, you want to row right. The. problem is, you need to get your own. ships. You got to get your own boat. You're on my boat and you're trying to. row this way, and we're going this way. So you got to make a decision.". And at the time, I was so mad. I was. like, "I built this from nothing. You. guys can't even speak Spanish. I'm down. here doing like I was mad. I was super. entitled.". Then I realized, "Cody, did you put any. of the money on the table to build this. business?" No. You know, did did did you.

take the risk? No, besides coming here. Like that was his. And so he was right. And. I couldn't take anything with me. I did. put my old number two. in charge of that business, which is. cool. She still runs it to this day. But. I was really like mad at myself and sad. And so. before I left there, I had done a lot of. little investments. I call them throwing. out my chips. So, you know, once you. start to make a little money, I think. it's really helpful to start investing. in the things that you want to.

eventually earn from. So I knew I wanted. to get into some venture capital like. thing. So I started investing in some. venture capital firms. And so when he. finally gave me that ultimatum, I jumped ship, went to another company, and I didn't even have the balls to do. it by myself then. I was partnered up with a few other. people. And man, like a lot of terrible things can happen. to you when you don't believe in. yourself. And I think the universe, like. it it will tell you kind of what you. need to do. And then if you don't. listen, it'll ignore you for a while. And then at some point it'll just kick.

you in the face. And like that's my. experience. You probably have a nicer. experience with the universe. But it's. kind of like, "Come on, we should do. this. We should do this." And it just. pushes you off the cliff. And so with me, I raised a ton of money. for this company. I had these couple of. partners. And at the end, like it didn't. work out between us. And again, unemployable. I wanted to go left, they. wanted to go right, and I didn't really. do that good of a deal. And so twice this happened. But that. last time, I did a better deal. And so I. said, "You guys have to pay me out for. what I did. And I'm going to go do this.

new business, and I want to take some of. our investors." And so. if somebody hadn't pushed me out of a. company, and if somebody else hadn't. also said, "No, we don't want to do this. with you." I never would have done it by. myself. And so I think it's it's okay if. somebody's listening and you're stuck in. a corporate job, quote unquote stuck, for a long time. That's okay. And it's. also okay if it takes you a few tries. And I don't think that the only way to. make money is to go be a entrepreneur. and founder and do it all by yourself. and never work in corporate America. I'm. very grateful for the money that they.

spent on me for decades. Money is really. attracted to the type of human that. keeps asking questions. You don't. actually have to know the answers off to. to make money, you need to ask the right. questions. Most of the people who are. really shiny on the internet uh don't. actually make much money. In fact, a lot. of celebrities make no money. And you. know this all too well being here. There's a lot of show, and it's actually. quite hard to make money in the shiny. things. They're not celebrities. They're. not singing songs. They're not doing. YouTube. Like we're not even touching. the amount of wealth they have. What do. most of them have in common more than.

anything else? What I'm hearing from you. is it's getting skin in the game, it's. negotiating well, it's being an owner, right? Like that that's really what I'm. hearing and I think if people take those. three things away from what we've talked. about so far, that's what you want to put your. attention to rather than this idea of. oh, I've got to start a business, I've. got to become an entrepreneur, I've got. to learn how to invest. It's like, no, no, no, this this is it. This is what it. is. You're right. Yeah, lots of people. focus on the tactics. They don't focus. on the foundation. The foundation is do. you believe that you have ownership and.

responsibility for the things you spend. more time doing than anything besides. sleeping, which is working. And if you. have what we call an owner's mindset, so. the type of human that's like, I'm I'm. putting like respect and dignity into. what I do every day to the point that I. start to value my own worth and I. understand why I'm valued, then you will. finally be able to negotiate for the. only thing that nobody can take from. you. Somebody can take a job, somebody. can take a salary, nobody can take. contractual ownership in a business. And. I think that's really important in.

today's world cuz it really allows you. then when somebody that you work for. does something you don't like, you just. go, yeah, I'm not doing that, you know? And you become it's what I call my my. you fund in my lady-like fashion, which. is like, hey, I have a certain amount of. money and because I have it, I will. never compromise on a few things. Um. but. the owner's mindset is kind of rare, you. know? And so I think for young people. today so often, and I was one, it's like. my boss is bad, my job sucks, you know,

I don't have upward mobility. And if I. could tell young Cody one thing. differently, it would be like. what would the opposite side of that. story say and which one do you think. would make you more money? Mhm. And it. would be like, probably the one in which. you're like, hey, this is all kind of in my control and if. I make some serious changes in my life, I bet I could be richer than I am today. And I wish more people thought that way. Yeah. How do you have that conversation with. your boss? I remember once, uh I was at an event and um I was just. listening in the crowd and it was. actually a finance event for women. So.

it was a bunch of like kind of well-off. ladies. And we're in the audience and the person. in front asked everybody to close their. eyes. So, we all closed our eyes. And. then they said, "Nobody's looking. I. want you to have your body have a. physical representation of what you feel. when you think of money." So, I was. like, "This is weird hippies. Like, what. are we doing?" So, I was like, I was. like, "I don't know." You know, and you. can't see me, but like I was like. throwing up my hands. I'm like, "Okay, money. I like it. Like, give it to me. Keep it going." You know, these are like. my internal monologues, right? That's awesome. Yeah, like I I'll take.

some. And uh so, anyway, I'm chilling. I'm like this. I'm like nobody's. looking. And then they're like, "Now, don't move, but open your eyes." And. when I looked out, I was like, "Whoa.". Because the rest of the audience, not. the rest, but let's call it 80%, were. like this. They're like They were tight. to the chest. They were like kind of. like maybe small arms to the side. Uh in. some instances, I was like it looked. like they had been hit. They had been. harmed. And uh and I thought it was so. fascinating. And then they let us shake. it off. And I was like, "Oh man, if your. representation of money that you feel in.

your body is closed off, you know, kind. of scared, whatever, I don't know, it. might be hard for you to earn it." So, I. think for some reason. being in finance helped me realize, I. mean, you guys, if you met some of the. guys who were worth a hundred million. dollars that I did in finance, you'd go, "I could I could do that, too. Like, that guy did it? Really?" And so, I. think once you meet a bunch of those. people, you go, "Oh, like this isn't This isn't as. impossible as people say it is." And so,

I learn a lot from not seeing people. achieve it and going, "How could they? How could they?" It's instead going, "Wow, that guy did it. Well, I think if. he could do it, I could do it, too." And. that taught me to keep going, "Okay, she. did it. He did it." And it's like arms. would raise. Arms would raise. Arms. would raise. And so, maybe that's what I. would try to to tell people. It's like. every time you see somebody that has a. lot of money, and you see the humanity. in them, just remember like we're all. kind of the same. Yeah. Definitely. you can Now, don't get me wrong. Intelligence levels, network, how you're.

born, where you're born, real things. But if you're living in a first world. country, in today's day and age with the internet. and what we have at our fingertips, I. think you're in a better position than. you've ever been in order to make a lot. of money today. And I promise you only. one thing, which is you'll make less. money if you think you will. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah, I I wanted you to talk about the. difference between what you just said. and how we cultivate that mindset. Because you're so right. I know a lot of. people, a lot of friends as well. They'll look at someone who's doing well.

for themselves. They'll be like, "That. guy's so dumb, like I could do that. I. could do that with my eyes closed." But. it's actually in a condescending way to. that person rather than like, "Oh, that. guy can do it. Oh, great. Okay, well, I've got this skill. I went to I can do. it, you know?" And so, what is that. mindset shift? Because I think we we're. good at looking at other people, Yeah. but often we either fall prey to being. envious Yeah. instead of studious of. them, like instead of envy instead of. studying them, we envy them. Or we end. up being condescending of them of like, "Oh, well, you know, he's not even that.

smart. Oh, they're not even It's not. even that great." Right? We kind of. justify that. So, how do you shift that? Because I think that's at the core of. what you're saying. Yeah, and don't get. me wrong, I fall prey to all of these. things, too. I still to this day play. the game of comparison. Like, "They're. doing that. Can I Come on, team, where. are we going?" You know, I do it, too. Oh, yeah, me, too. Yeah. And I wish I. didn't, but I still do. But um. I do think cash loves curiosity. If you. remember anything else, it's that. money is really attracted to the type of. human that keeps asking questions. You. don't actually have to know the answers.

often to make money. You need to ask the. right questions. So, I kind of trained. myself every time I saw somebody with. money or I got to know somebody with. money, I didn't need to know anything. else besides like, "Can I just ask them. a lot of questions continuously?" And it. was funny cuz I was talking to I think. another mutual friend of ours, Jesse. Itzler, the other day. And Jesse talks. about how he used to go to a a hotel. here, and she would just ask questions. in the lobby or at the lunch table. He. was like living not in a nice place. He. had no cash whatsoever. But when he saw. people that he thought looked rich or. interesting, he would just ask them.

questions. And I think with the internet. sometimes, we. we think that questions don't matter. anymore. And we go to the internet to to. get answers. And if instead you can make. a human connection and get curious about. them, they'll give things to you. Yeah. And so one of my I played a game when I. was really young, which is I kind of. just started collecting mentors who. never knew they were my mentor. And uh and I think this is a really. clever thing to do. And um I remember. one in particular, um Bob Kendall. And. BK is what we call him. He was super.

high up at. ah I don't know if it was Goldman or. Credit Suisse at the time. One of one of. the companies. And he was so like out of. my range. Like you know when somebody. else is in a company and I was basically. the intern and he was the big dog. Um. but I got a couple chances to interact. with him. And I would just ask him. questions. Like very simple ones. Like, "Oh, um you just took over this area of. the business. Like why did what did you. see there as opposed to this other area. where a lot of people are going?" Which. is kind of be quite curious. And then I. would do a thing that I think probably. helped me make more mentors than. anything else, which is.

I would get their contact information. I. would never ask them for anything. I. would largely just say, "Hey, that piece. of advice that you gave me the other. day, that was really useful and I. applied it this way. Thank you for doing. that." Or I'd see if you his name was. written somewhere. He had done a a. research paper or something. I might. send it to him like with a couple. highlighted things. Like these lines. were incredible. Thank you for doing. that. Then after I had done that a few. times, I might give them one question. Like, "Hey, um you know, I'm thinking. about going into um marketing or sales.

And I'm trying to figure out, how do you. decide which career path is more. interesting to you? Do you have just. like a one sentence about it or do you. have one book that you'd like to read? Like really short.". And I remember I sat down with BK years. later. And he was like, "You know the. funny thing think you?" And I was like, "Oh, oh, what?" You know? And he was. like, "You like somehow made me your. mentor, but you never asked." And then I. started caring about what happened to. your career, but I kind of never meant. to, which is like a very Asperger-y. finance thing to do. And he's like, "Did you do that on.

purpose?" And I was like, I got you. know, I don't know. I was young then, so. I don't know, but maybe. That tiny. transfer of. hey, I have advice and somebody actually. takes it, uses it continuously, wants. nothing from me for it, and then gives. me a positive feedback loop that I'm. making change on their life is so rare. So smart. Right? That's genius. That's. actually the best mentorship advice I. think I've ever heard. Because I think so many of us. when we want somebody to be our mentor,

the first mistake is we ask them to be. our mentor. do that. That also makes me die on the. inside. If somebody asked me that, I'm. like, that's such a huge responsibility. What if I you up? I don't want. that. if I don't have time, what if I can't. respond? Like that's That's the natural. reaction. And same with me, I've always. had mentors that don't know they're my. mentors. It's the only way. But what I. love about your advice, which I've never. ever heard before, is also how you ask. for advice. I think the second mistake, so the first mistake we say is, "Can you. be my mentor?" Yeah. The second mistake. we make is we send our whole life story. with one like really big profound.

question. So it's like, "I went from. this, then I did this, then I dropped. out, then I did this, then I did this. How do I discover my purpose?" And it's. like. And it's like the person on the other. side has no idea how to compute all of. that algorithmically and give you a. really profound answer back that they. genuinely believe will help you, which. means they probably won't respond. Or if. they do respond, it'll be extremely. short. And then you feel disgruntled and. upset that they didn't value your whole. life story. And then now you probably.

lose touch. Whereas your advice was just. so perfect because the idea that you. were sending them their own work with a. couple of highlights, one sentence. question, one piece of insight, and then. that person, like you said, becomes. invested in your life. That is such. great advice, Cody. I really really mean. that. I've never heard mentorship advice. better than that. Yeah, I think it worked for me and I. also think the other piece of advice. that was useful, I never went for like. the top dog. Yeah. You know, I would. never go to the president of Goldman, Lloyd Blankfein, back in the day and be. like, "Lloyd, the thing is, talk to me.

Can I have your email?" Of course not. I. would go to like one or two levels past. what was comfortable for me, right? So, it was like I could still get to the. person and then you can use it as like a. a a leapfrog. And the last thing I'll. say is I totally disagree with the. advice today that a lot of like kind of. well-known people give, which is um. once you outgrow people, leave them. behind you, you know? And a lot of. people say like, "Well, they were my. mentor, but I've superseded all my. mentors.". Oh, no. Ooh. Yeah. And I hear that often. from like the business community, you.

know? It's like you're the average of. the five people you surround yourself. with, so make sure they're awesome. And. it's like, "Yeah, but also don't forget. how you got there." Because you never. know, mentorship has like multi-layers. to it. You can get mentored from above, but also below. I mean, your team was. teaching us beforehand how to not sound. like boomers, right? So, like there's. that. You know, you can also have. somebody that's a higher that like for. instance, I think a lot about the idea. that like. um Peter Thiel, whether you like him or. not, really rich guy, gives money to. Mark Zuckerberg, right? Whether you like.

him or not, Mark Zuckerberg then goes to. become richer than Peter Thiel. Now, is Peter mad because Mark made more. money than him? I highly doubt it. Because Mark made Peter a ton of money. and at one point, you know, the. imbalance was Peter was way up here and. Mark was down here and now it's probably. flipped. And how cool is that that like. somebody who used to be sort of below. you, you've helped in some way get above. you? Yeah. And then you get to like. value transfer the other way. So, I will. say like maybe if I gave one other piece.

of advice on mentorship, it would be. collect and keep with you the people. even after you've superseded them. That's beautifully nice. Yeah. And and try to be their best mentor. Absolutely. Like I mean mentee. I always. try to like have them I want them to be. able to brag about me. Like no matter. what you teach me, I want to be the best. mentee to the point that they're like, "Hey, look how smart I am because of. that." Yes. And I want to give them all the credit. on it. Yeah. And when you do that, then they. introduce you to their really successful. friends, too. So, it's a twofer. Yeah,

definitely. And I want to add what you. were saying earlier, as well. This idea. of you have to act on the advice. And I. think there's a lot of requesting of. advice. There's a lot of looking for. answers, but being a great mentee is. taking the advice, putting it into. action, and then reporting the result. And saying, "Hey, I took your advice. This is as you were saying." And I think. that's so core to what was different. about mentorship, where like you're. saying now in this TikTok Instagram. world, I think there's just so much. advice everywhere that we're not really.

getting the opportunity to digest it, put it into practice, and then report on. it, as well. And and I love your idea of. gratitude. I mean, I I remember when I joined a company as. an intern years ago, and I was only. there for like a summer internship, but. they put up the pictures of the founders. of the company. And then they were like, "Yeah, but we. don't care about them. They're old guys, anyway." And I remember really like I. was just like, "Wow, that's really. ungrateful." Because none of us would be. here right now if it wasn't for them.

And yes, they're not alive anymore, and. yes, that was a long time ago, but I fully agree with you that and also. you just don't know when you're on the. way up, when you're on the way down. Your mentors, generally if they're older. than you in the beginning, even if you. become more successful than them. materially, I believe they have so much. more spiritual wisdom to give you over. time. Like I've got mentors. same way who helped me out when I was in. my late 20s, and. today they're so much more helpful when. they talk to me about what it feels like. being a dad. Like I'm not a dad right.

right but he's been a dad and his kids. are in their mid-20s and he has a great. relationship with them. I'm like, I'm. not there at that level. So, mentorship. also takes across not just financial, but relationships, you know, emotionally, mentally, there's so many. other areas. Oh, yeah. So, leaving someone behind is terrible. advice. Yeah, I agree. And you know, it's one. thing if somebody's negative or they're. unhelpful, which I still believe very much so like. Arthur Brooks, who I just think so. highly of and I remember back before I. knew him as a friend and I was just a.

fan. Last time I was in New York with. him, he. I was having like, you know when. somebody's mean to you online? Does that. ever happen to you? Probably sometimes. Of course. Well, there was one person. that was like really mean and I don't. know why it got to me somehow. It. bothered me and you know, this was a. while ago and I remember telling him for. some reason. And often it only bothers. me if I feel like there's a kernel of. truth to it. So, if they like really. nail my imposter syndrome or they really. nail like, you know, is she as smart as she thinks. she is? Like something that I'm like. that I worried about, too. If they get.

that, I'm like, dang it, I'm paying. attention now. That's not good. But I. remember I said to him like, you know, I'm just bothered and I want to do. something about it. And he was like, are. you going to listen to me? And I was. like, maybe. What are we What are you. going to tell me to do? And he's like, I. want you. to. picture this guy having all the success. in the world. I want you to wish him so. much well, it becomes like. a bit bizarre. And I want you to. actually feel it. And again, I'm not. that touchy-feely. I'm pretty. spreadsheety. So, when he told me that, I'm like, fine, but like I don't think there's.

going to be an outcome here like that. And he's a a wonky, very smart guy. So, it's not. Anyway, so I did it and I like really. thought about it. I was like walking in. New York and I was like, you know what? I do wish this guy well because I bet it. is sad if you are like. if you're in a place where all you're. doing is hating on somebody online all. the time, I bet you are kind of sad. So, I started like empathizing with him and. thinking about it. Anyway, not 2 weeks. later, the guy does a public apology for. like no and and does this long DM to me. You know, my husband has like a long.

memory. So he's like, "No, you know, let's get that guy." But I was like, I. just learned such a lesson. And maybe it. doesn't always work like that and maybe. they're still mean to you later. But um. I really think sometimes you learn just. as much from your haters as you do from. your mentors. And so don't underestimate. not only the saying where we kind of get. all hot and bothered like, you know, if. you don't got hate, you're not doing. anything. Maybe. But also, wow, you can. learn a lot from the type of feelings. you get when people doubt you. And I.

think that's just as important. And I. wouldn't be where I was today if I. didn't have some big haters that I felt. like I needed to prove wrong. Yeah, well. said. I want to dive into the heart of. this book because what made it so unique. for me. is I don't think I've ever heard anyone. really talk about buying ordinary. businesses. And that's the crux of so much of your. work and why it's different and how. you're getting people to think. differently about ownership. You had. this video I remember watching that got. like 11 million views talking about this.

vending machine business. Like what are. some of the most unusual businesses. you've seen people make money from. because I think it goes back to what we. were speaking about earlier. We're all. off to this sexy shiny money. And most. people are making loads of money through. really unsexy random things. Vending. machines being a case in point. Walk us. through some of the most unusual. businesses you've discovered people. making money. Yes, let's do it. And also I realized. first like. most of the people who are really shiny. on the internet don't actually make much. money. In fact, a lot of celebrities.

make no money. And you know this all too. well being here. There's a lot of show. and it's actually quite hard to make. money in the shiny things. The richest. guy you know probably started a. landscaping or sprinkler head company. In fact, that was the case for my. family. When I was growing up, I meant I. interned for a woman who was my. brother's friend's mom and they were. worth what I thought was a bajillion. dollars back then, and it was from an. equipment rental company. So, this guy. was worth somewhere near $50 million. from one idea. I buy some like uh.

landscaping equipment, some tractors, etc. And not I don't sell them, I don't. flip them, but I realized that. construction companies only want to use. them part-time. So, I actually rent them. out. And so, this guy would make the. cost of a piece of equipment back inside. of 90 days. And so, instead of getting. whatever difference is between him. buying the equipment and selling it for. a little bit more, he would make the. entire purchase price over every 90-day. cycle. And I remember like thinking back.

in the day when I saw that, you can make. money doing anything. And in fact, you. probably make it more often in the. things that nobody thinks about because. you have less competition, because it. also sounds really boring. Yeah. And you know, the Mark Zuckerbergs. and brilliant minds of the world, they. don't want to mess around with equipment. rental, but people like me who are maybe. like kind of smart, but not that smart, could make a lot of money doing it. And. so, there's three types of businesses. that I obsess about. I call them. overarching Main Street businesses. So, the idea is basically, what if all the. money is actually made in community.

businesses that we use every single day? Your roofing company, your podcast. production company you send outsourced. editing clips to, you know, the cobbler. uh that actually cleans up shoes on the. corner store. All of these businesses, when you see that they've been in. business for 30 years, it's not cuz they. were making money and they or that cuz. they were losing money, and it's not. because they got venture capital, because they didn't. So, these things. actually are profitable, which is kind. of rare. So, Main Street businesses, and. then underneath it, I call them three.

different types. The first one is the. gateway drug business, which basically I. use that as a little bit of a joke, but. it's like a vending machine. Well, everybody understands how a vending. machine works, right? You get the. machine, you take the cash out, you. input the things. It's a straightforward. business, it doesn't need a a of people, and I think it's a great place for like. young people to start because you learn. the game of business. A similar one. might be what I call a people light. business, which might be like a. laundromat. So, a laundromat is like in. some ways a slightly bigger vending. machine, right? You put clothes in, the.

clothes get washed, you take the clothes. out, you put coins in in return, right? And that doesn't have a lot of. employees, and they're not super super. expensive on the scale of it. And so, you go, "Okay, we got gateway drug. businesses, we got uh as we've got. people light businesses." And then. finally, we get into what I call the. trades businesses overall or. uh boring businesses. And these are. things like we own a company called Resi. Brands that has a window cleaning. company called Pinks, um. a roofing company, a painting company. called That One Painter. And what's wild.

is with these businesses, if you were to. look right now, Jay, at like. the Forbes 100 list of the richest. people in the world, and you were to see. what they made their money from, they're not celebrities. They're not. singing songs. They're not doing. YouTube. Like we're not even touching. the amount of wealth they have. What do. most of them have in common more than. anything else? Finance and business ownership. And the. businesses they own are largely boring. businesses. Richest woman in the world?

Kim Kardashian? No. Roofing magnate. Literally, the richest. woman in the world. This was as of 2022, so we should we should see if the. numbers are updated, but um is a woman. who started a very large roofing. company. And so, you know, I wish somebody told us this. when we were younger because instead, you know who knows this? The private. equity guys. And and I don't mean to. villainize anybody. I know I was in. private equity. I know plenty of good. people in that industry. But again, centralization of power.

Private equity companies in 2000 owned. 4% of the companies in the US. Now they. own 20% That's almost one out of every. four companies in the US is owned by. private equity. You know what they're. buying like crazy? The trades, the. service businesses, the boring. businesses that print money that service. our community. And I think this is our. chance to take those things back. You're. literally opening up a whole new doorway. for people. Like I don't think I've. ever even thought about it. Like it's. it's so far off from what I think we.

were all trained to believe would make. us successful, safe, stable, wealthy. Like you're not you're not thinking. about these areas. And therefore, like. you said, they're not very competitive. There's there's not a lot of new. entrants in there. When when I hear you. say that, the thing that comes to my. mind is. what skills. and talents do people need to be able to. run those businesses? How much industry. knowledge do they need? What business. skills are core and important? Because I.

think the mistake is again with the kind. of world we live in right now, it's. someone goes, "I love what Cody's. saying. I get it. I'm going to go buy. vending machines." And then all of a. sudden you got a garage full of like 20. vending machines, and you don't know. what to do with them because you don't. understand business. So, what business. core business skills are needed and what. should we be developing in order to run. any of these businesses? And how much. industry knowledge do we need? Yeah, it's a great question. Well, first. of all, what I would think about is. there's two different things we need to. know in buying businesses or growing. businesses. And the first thing is.

you've got to learn how to do deal. making and how to actually speak the. language of money, which is what we talk. about in the book, before you buy a. business. So, please don't just hear me. and go buy a business. Read the book or. go to our free newsletter online, but spend a decent amount of up front. time learning. I promise you'll make. more money that way. You know, I kind of. think about sometimes people go, "Well, why don't I use X amount of dollars I. have instead of learning just buying the. business?" And I go, "Does that ever work out well where we. like don't know what we're doing, but we. plow a bunch of money into it cuz we.

want to just go do the thing?" It. doesn't work out. So, spend your time. learning how to execute first. Now, that. said, I really think there's just three. key skills that we need to learn to grow. a business. The first one is deal. making. We got to understand how to do a. deal. The The second one is really the mixture. of grit and endurance. So, it's actually. not tactics. It's how hard am I willing. to work? What am I willing to sacrifice. for the things that I want? And for how. long am I willing to do that? And so,

Angela Duckworth, famously, University. of Pennsylvania, popularized grit as the. most important thing to measure success. So, it's basically like, how much pain. can you tolerate? And if you can. tolerate a lot of pain, turns out you. have a higher likelihood of making. money. Business is really just like. elongated periods of low-level pain. Sometimes you have like what's called an. acute or like a big jump in pain. But. for the most part, you know this, it's. like, what is what is running a business. or starting a business? It's like, well, you're looking at your statements pretty. much often. You're like messing around.

with marketing. It's kind of like. low-level pain. And um and so, that's the second point. And the third point is actually maybe a. little rare, too, which is just a lot of. people obsess on how. So, what skills do. I have to have exactly? How do I start a. business? How do I tax structure. structure the business? How do I get my. first customers? All all important and. good questions, but the real pros know. you don't ask how, you ask who. Who can I go to who already has 10,000.

hours where I can steal their homework? So, now in business, if I go, "Hey, um. I don't know how to do our taxes." I go. find somebody else who has done taxes. for us. And it doesn't mean you have to. pay for them. It just means you have to. talk to them, and often people will help. you. And so, I find my who uh second. And then the third tier is buy. So, the. the really, really rich, when they have. a problem, they don't think, "How do I. fix it?" They don't think, "Who can fix. it?" They think, "How do I buy the. solution to my problem?". Um because if I can buy the business, if. I can buy the solution, then it's almost.

it's a higher guarantee of winning. And. so that last one is really about your. connections. And so I think if you. understand deal making, you you are. honest with yourself about how much work. you're willing to do one way or the. other, and you are willing to ask people. for help, I think just about anybody can. run a business. Now, can anybody run Amazon? No, of course. not. Could anybody run your businesses, which are quite big? No, of course not. It's really like the level of skill to. the level you're at. But we don't say to.

people, you know, well, not anybody could buy a an individual. apartment apartment and live in them. We. ask like, what do you want? And how are. you willing to work in order to get it? And so I think the same thing with. businesses. It's like, okay, we have. what's called a deal box, which is a. little slightly technical, but basically. the idea is. Oracle of Delphi says, know thyself, right? Most important thing we can do. And in business, you basically want to. have your little deal box of what you.

want. So do you want income of X amount? Do you want it to be located in LA? Do. you want it to scratch an artistic itch. and make you money? And you sort of fill. out this box, you know what you want. And then again, you know, the universe I. think a lot of times wants to help us. out, but we don't know what we want, so. how is it going to help us cuz we can't. tell it one way or the other. And I. think it's the same with business. Yeah. You know, cuz we could go 15 ways. from sideways on like we have something. called the nine P's, which are like the. nine ways you scale a business to nine. figures.

But I don't want to stop people. I want them to start small and. reasonable and know that the biggest. thing in between you and the thing that. you want is the knowledge on learning. the language of money, on getting after it kind of intensely, and then on asking for help. And like if. you have those three things, you can at. least start. And I don't want people to. to stop because they don't have XYZ. leadership skill. Like I believe in your. ability to figure it out. Yeah. Yeah, and you might make some mistakes along. the way. You probably will.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, just don't make mistakes like the. only rule that I really have is don't do. a deal so big that it can wipe you out. Make sure your first deal is reasonable. or you help other people bring on risk. to level it out. So, like. if I'm young and I have no cash, should. I go buy a million-dollar business? Of. course not. What would I do? I might go. and I might partner with a couple. friends and I might say, "Hey, do you. want to pool our capital together? Let's. buy this little business together. If it. doesn't work out, it's not going to. murder us. It's going to hurt, but we're. going to learn a lot and we're going to.

diversify our risk amongst us and we're. going to do it together.". Or maybe you partner with your dad or. maybe you partner with your dad's. friends or your mom's friends or. whatever. And so, don't think that you. have to do this game of entrepreneurship. and acquisition by yourself. You don't. The big boys in private equity don't. You don't have to either. How do you. find someone who wants to sell a. business? Because. yeah, I feel like that would be my next. question of like how do I even know. someone? How do I find someone cuz it. must be going great for them. Why would. they sell it to me? Especially when I. maybe know nothing about owning a hair.

salon or vending machines or whatever it. may be. Right. Well, you probably already know. this. How many people offer you. businesses or stakes in businesses now? Yeah, a lot. A lot, yeah. Why? Because. you have a very high-value skill stack. that's very evident. People can directly. attribute if I partnered with Jay. Shetty, then he's probably going to. market my stuff. He's going to give me. brand recognition. There's a high level. of trust. So, there's what's called a. trust transference. So, the higher level. of skill you have, the easier it is for.

you to find businesses. In fact, they'll. often come to you. The thing is though, when even when we. have a higher level of skill, we often. don't really know what to do when it. comes to us. We don't know how to do. zero-risk deals to us. And so, I like. learning deal making even if you have a. ton of skills and a ton of money because. you can do a deal that seems unfair, but. because you recognize your value, the. deal is incredibly fair. In fact, the. the richer you are and the more audience. you have, uh money you have, which I. call capital, the more coding ability.

you have, aka like tech Jeff Bezos. engineering capability, or labor you. have access to, so employees or people. that will work with you, the better. deals you can do. Yeah. And that's like. the 202 303 level. And anybody who's. listening who actually has access to. money and capital, you are crazy if. you're not thinking about doing deals um. and learning it because it is the. ultimate positive form of leverage. So, um I wish that we learned this earlier. This is how so many celebrities get. screwed, by the way. And, you know, they.

get screwed because they do a deal, they. don't understand the terms they signed, their agent understands the terms they. signed, their agent isn't actually. incentive aligned with them long-term, and so they end up getting screwed. Like, it broke my heart when I watched. that documentary with Val Kilmer. Like. I haven't seen it. Oh, god. First of. all, you would love it. It's beautiful. The documentary is beautiful. He wrote. it, produced it, and directed it, and. starred in it. And it's just a beautiful. piece of art. Um but also, he lost. everything. I mean, he has basically no.

money now. No way. Uh-huh. And the reason why is because of. a series of deals that he did where. other people made it and he didn't. Wow. And so, even if you have a ton of. money, you got to be really careful. about how you structure things in order. to keep it. And the bigger that you get, the bigger target you have. And so, it's. important to think about that. And like. the Russian proverb, trust but verify, which is like trust nobody. I'm sorry, trust everybody, but verify. that they are actually on your best. terms, which is why I always doesn't. count unless you've signed on the line. that is dotted, in the words of Alec.

Baldwin. So, if you. don't have deals coming at you because. you don't have massive, you know, fame. or money or whatever, uh like a normal. person, then the easiest way is to find. deals. It's called origination in. private equity. So, in private equity, if you think about what they do, they go. around and they cold call small. businesses. So, they literally will cold. call a plumbing company up all over the. Midwest and ask, "Okay, you guys want to. sell?" Or I get them all the time cuz I. own these. So, our small businesses, "Hey, can we buy your landscaping.

company?" So, one one way you find deals. is called on off-market deal searching. So, you basically turn on what I call. your reticular activating system, which. is basically just a system inside of. your brain that is trained from the. African savanna to say, "If I keep. repeating this thing, brain, it means. it's important and I might die if I. don't pay attention to it." So, in real. life, what happens to you is once you. play the game of business enough, then. once you like deals, like have you ever. gone into somebody else's podcast studio.

and because you probably are obsessed. with podcasting, you walk in and you're. like, "Hmm, that's an interesting way to. do that setup. I don't think I would do. that. Oh, I like that they did that. Let's steal that, right?" Your reticular. activating system is so turned on to. podcast that you can't help but notice. all around you things you would do. differently or that you like. The same. thing happens with business and deals. So, now, I when I go into like a corner. store or when I go into a restaurant, I. go, or gym. Gyms get me for some reason. It's like, "You have me. You have my. credit card. You have recurring revenue. I come in here every single day. Sell me.

more Why don't you sell me more. things? You definitely should." And so, one I will say, as you learn deal. making, I can promise you only really. one thing when it comes to you becoming. a better deal maker, your reticular. reticular activating system comes on. So, what's going to happen in deal. finding? Yes, you could cold call just. like private equity, but instead, kind. of steep yourself in the type of deal. you are looking for. Steep yourself in. what skills you actually have, and then. you're going to see them all around. You. won't be able to turn it off. It'll be.

like when you buy a car, all of a sudden. the car's all over the place after you. bought it. You're like, "Did everybody. Was it a Was this a sale?" No, your. brain starts making you notice it. And. so, the best way to find deals is you. start just having conversations with. guys because again, cash loves. curiosity. Every time you go into a. small business, you just go like, "Oh, amazing. You got I mean, LA is full of. them. You walk into a cool retail shop. Oh, that's cool, man. This is your. store? Oh, it is?". I mean, probably 50% of the time it's. theirs. And then you say to the guy. like, "How long you've been doing this?

A while? Do you want to keep Do you want. to keep doing this? Like how's business. going? You guys make a lot of money? How. long you've been around? Is a kid going. to take over? Are you going to keep. going? Oh, this is so cool. I love this. Maybe I buy a little something. And then. maybe I decide I want to own one of. these businesses with them. All of a. sudden I get to know the owner and I. start getting into the curiosity where I. get them to maybe consider that a young. hustler who is really aggressive might. be good for their business." Absolutely. Yeah, no, I had a really interesting. experience of this last maybe a couple.

of years ago. I was in a store that. curates beautiful sets of books. And. that's not what they do professionally. They sell clothes, but they also have. books in the store. And I walked in there and I was. I love I really enjoy books and I enjoy. collecting and so I was looking around. and these were all like new books. They're all newly published. They're. beautiful and I bought a ton. And they. were just like and then one person at. that store just said to me, "Oh, by the. way, like do you love books?" I was. like, "Yeah." And I was like, "I'm. really looking for vintage books though. It'd be cool to own some like antique. books and things like that." And she.

said, "Well, oh, there's this random. store around the corner and it's like a. printing press, like a old school. binding book, but I've seen books in. there before. Why don't you go check it. out?" So I literally go walk into this. books and and basically actually first. of all, I walk outside. It looks like no. one operates it. It looks completely run down. Uh you. wouldn't walk past it and think, "Oh, cool shop." You'd walk past it and not. even You'd think no one no one's inside. it. So I'm kind of looking around. I'm. like knocking on the door just to see. I. do see some books. And this this lady.

opens the door and she's got like a old. school binding press in there, an old. school, you know, all all the old school. tools that how books were bound in the. past. And then she's got this bookshelf. and I said, "Oh, I heard you might sell. books. Like, could I take a look?" And. she was like, "Oh, no, I just have these. books cuz I got divorced a few years. back. My husband owned a bookstore. He. left me with like 50,000 books or. something crazy." And she goes, "Most of. them are home, but there's probably. like, I don't know, a thousand here or. whatever it is. You can take whatever. you want." And I was like, "I'm happy to.

pay you, but sure." So, I spent like 2 3. hours and I was like getting really, you. know, I loved it. It was like It was. literally like being inside of a secret. cave of books and I was like finding all. this stuff. So, I got a stack of maybe. like 20 books and I was like, "Hey, look, I'd love to pay you for them. Like, you know, I'm good for it and I'm. grateful that you've even allowed me. in.". And I forced her a little bit, she. finally took some money and. and then there was one book while she. was going through and she was like, "I've been looking for this book for. like 5 years." And she goes, "I can't.

sell this one to you." And I was like, "Sure, like, I'm never going to, you. know, have it, whatever." Anyway, I come. home and I start checking all these. books out online. They were all worth. like at least $100 each. I probably paid. like $5 to $10 each for them. And it was. just a really good example to me of like. this random place that And and I wanted. the books, so I kept them, but it was. just this random place that was like. this treasure trove of all of this great. material and had someone wanted to go in. and buy 50,000 books and sell them.

online or sell them anywhere, there was. a real business there. And it was this. small It was a very simple example of. just how easy it was to come across. something that that I wouldn't even I. wasn't even looking for it. Well, yeah, and you know, it's a funny. thing I do sometimes. One, it's so. lovely. And also, how happy was she. probably at the value you found in it? Yeah. Like, did you feel like you were. taking advantage of her or did she feel. like, "Wow, are you sure like, I'm glad. you're spending time with me.". Absolutely. Absolutely, she was so.

happy. And I think this is something we. don't realize because our generation is. highly transactional, we're a highly. transactional generation with immediate. feedback loops, aka social media, um. with a high uh. status game that we play with a lot of. attention on us because you get a lot of. attention when you're young and hungry. and moving. But as we get older, I mean, women will tell you this all the time, they'll warn you that as you get older, you become invisible. Like a middle-aged. woman will say, "Often nobody sees me.". And like one of our our copywriters, she. was so lovely. She said a thing to me. I.

was like, "Oh, she dyed her hair blue.". And I was like, "Marcella, looks great.". Like she's an older woman, probably like. mid-50s. And I was like, "It looks. great. Like, you know, what was the. impetus?" And she's like, "You know, as. you get older, I realized that like. nobody would talk to me and I feel like. they were looking through me." And she. was like, "So I She's like, "So I was. with my one of my little nieces and I we. dyed our hair little strips of it pink. together." And she was like, "And I was. walking across the street and this young. man uh kind of yelled over to me and he. was like, 'Hey mama, like the hair.'". And she's like, "I can't remember the. last time a young man talked to me.".

She's like, "So I Anytime I now feel a. little out of it, I dye my hair blue.". And to be fair, like in the past. sometimes when I saw people do that, I. was like, "Really? What's going on here? Like what's what's the move?" And then I. realized, "Ah, like. just because we value something one way, doesn't mean that everybody else values. it the other way. And so, in order to. break your frame and to see businesses. all around you, don't assume that the. same things you value other people do. It's like I've never really believed in. the golden rule, which is treat others.

how you want to be treated. It's like, by and large, treat them how they want. to be treated unless that breaks how you. want to be treated. And I think that's. the same with business owners. I mean, my Uncle Eb, which is one of the main. reasons I started publicly about. business talking about businesses. online, he had a business, did a couple million dollars a year in. revenue. And you can like it's called Eb. Homes Plumbing, it was in Phoenix, Arizona. And um. he got sick with cancer and um decided. he wanted to shut the business down. You. know, he's in his 70s and was like, you.

know, I'm I'm ready to be done. And what he didn't know at the time is. that a business that is doing a couple. millions of dollars in revenue and a. couple of millions of dollars in profit. is worth millions of dollars. And so. this man who spent his life building up. a plumbing company that probably would. have thought, honestly, like if he was. here, he would say, "Cody, I couldn't. have sold that thing. Like that that. wasn't really, you know, it was it was. sort of And and this is what most baby. boomer business owners think. They're. like, "Who's going to buy this?" Because. how many times have you had a business.

where you didn't want to be in it. before? Have you ever had that before? Yeah, absolutely. Of course, like if you're in a realm, sometimes I go out to speaking stages. and just for shits and giggles cuz. people will always go, "If a business. was profitable and it was going to. continue to be profitable, nobody would. sell it.". And I go, "Okay, let's play a game. Business owners, raise your hand.". Everybody raises their hand that's a. business owner. I go, "Cool. Keep them. up. If you would sell your business at. the right price and the right terms if. it came along, keep your hand up. What. happens?". Yeah, everyone keeps them. Everybody's up. Not one. If you go down.

and I go, "Liars." And I laugh. Uh, because the truth of the matter is. you haven't been in the game long enough. if you put your hand down. Um, but if. you've been in the game long enough, you. go, "Absolutely." Now, I wouldn't sell. every one of my businesses. But there is at some point one business. and if you call me on the right day, maybe I would. So, I think we have to. like change our programming to realize. all around us every business has a. value. That book selling business that. shut down, I bet there was a value in. the lease that they had. It might have.

been in California, sometimes they have. leases that are locked in. There could. have been value in just the lease. contract to transfer it. There could. have been value in the assets, the. books. There could have been value in. the employees uh, because you can do an. aqua hire. There could have been value. in the website listing. What about the. Yelp and Google reviews? There could. have been value in the IP. What about. the the and the brand and the name? What. if they had one of those old school. original, you know, kody.com websites. before like we now have to have websites. that are like 452 words, right? And so.

every single business has some value. And if you can find the business where. the value to the owner is not as much as. the value is to you, then you got a. really good deal. Mhm. So uh said Kody, I I'm just like, you know, I'm so happy. that you're breaking this down for. everyone because I think it's such a. it's just not what I'm hearing. It's not. what people are talking about. It's not. the it's not the. And and I'm glad cuz it's not the. get-rich-quick solution either. It's not. the hey, you can be really rich in 12.

months and not worry about anything and. that kind of feeling. Yeah, yeah, you wish. And and I think I. really appreciate you nailing it by just. saying it's great, right? That that's. what's required. That's that's deeply. required. What's a skill that you think. you wish you'd known you had to develop. at the beginning of this journey that. you learned too late? I wish that I didn't have stories to. myself about me being bad at math and. money. Mhm. I think most people have a. story when they're younger about how bad. they are at math. I have one that I. think really messed me up. I was in uh.

middle No, no, it was high school. I was. at Arcadia High and uh I had a math. teacher and. I I wasn't very good at math. Like I I. struggled. I think I might have a little. bit of dyslexia. I'm not sure. But I. just like couldn't get the numbers to. stay in my head correctly. And so I sort of started struggling and. I remember one day the teacher was. getting really frustrated with me and. teaching is a hard job, so I get it. But. he looked at me in front of the class. and he said, "Man, I think Helen Keller. would have a better shot at winning an. archery contest than you would at.

winning in finance.". And at the time I was like heartbroken. about this and like embarrassed, you. know, and did it in the way teenagers. do, which is like, "Yeah, you know, I don't care. Whatever." But I was like very sad about. it. And then I love my parents deeply, but my parents always used to say to my. brother, "You're so smart. You're so. smart. You're so smart. You're so. smart." And to me they would always say, "You work so hard. You work so hard. You. work so hard." And at the time I was. kind of mad. I'm like, "I'm also smart. What about me?" And they would always be. like, "Well, Cody's not very good at.

math." In the same way that they would. say I'm not very good at singing. The. singing is true. I'm not good at that one. But But that. math thing stuck with me for a long. time. And so I always thought that it. was big and hard and scary to be {quote}. {unquote} good at math. And when it. comes to making money, is really simple, guys. And I'm bad at making math. So bad. that Helen Keller would be better at. archery than I am. And so if if any part. of this skill is scaring you, I think it. often starts with like, "Oh my god, I. look at a spreadsheet and I panic.".

Yeah. You know, I have to calculate. something and I panic. I look at a. calculator and I panic. And I would say. just like lean into that slightly. because I think in finance we do a very. sneaky thing, which is I think we try to. make it seem really scary and hard for. the average person to become rich. Why? Because if it's scary and hard for you. to do it, guess what I get to do? I get. to charge a lot of money for it. And so. that's why most of us take our money and. like think about it for a second. We. take our money and we give it to other. people to take care of.

Now, when you give your kids to other. people to take care of 100%, like there. are opinions about that. People say, "No, you got to You got to take care of. your kids. You got to grow your kids.". But with wealth, we can just say, "No, no, I don't understand anything. I just. give it to this guy over here and he. figures it out." That's really not how. we should treat money. And so the main. skill that I I think you should think. about is one of my mentors said to me, "Money is a a cruel mistress. She'll. leave you if you don't pay attention to. her.". And I think about that a lot. Like just. give the money a little attention. Give. the math a little attention. You're more.

capable than you think you are. And it's. really not possible to be bad at this. type of math. So if you're ahead you. think, "I'm bad at math. I'm bad at. spreadsheets." It's really not possible. I'm bad at calculus, but you can figure. this stuff out. Mhm. Cody, you are. awesome. And I love that advice. And I. think everyone who's listened and. watched this episode now has a game plan. of how to negotiate something at their. workplace, figure out how to invest in a company or.

a small business, recognize if you're at that place of I. just want to get over the fear that I'm. bad at math or that money is bad. And I. can't wait for everyone to dive into. Main Street Millionaire. This is the. book that Cody's got out right now. Want. you to go grab a copy if you've enjoyed. today's discussion. This is one of those. books that I hope you read with your. friends, share insights, maybe you'll. invest in something together, build. something together. It's a great book to. pass on to a family member or friend. who's been struggling with money, thinking about it. Please do not.

hesitate with this because it's so easy. to keep pushing money off and keep. having it be a source of anxiety in your. life. And I think Cody's broken it down. and make it really simple based on how. to overcome your fears and go create. something brilliant. So, Cody, thank you. for putting your heart and soul into. this work. And. we we end every episode of On Purpose. with a final five. These are fast five where you have to. answer each question in one word to one. sentence maximum. So, Cody Sanchez, these are your final five. The first. question is, what is the best financial.

advice you've ever heard or received? That other people's money is actually. feasible. People think that passive income is a. lie, that getting other people's money. is a lie, but they tell you that because. they are usually the ones on the other. side of the coin. So, if you want to see. about other people's money, look to. private equity and mimic it. Mhm. Let's let's go off piece for a. second on that because I think we didn't. touch on that. If you want to raise. investment, for people who want to gain. investment, maybe you got a cool new.

idea, maybe you've been tinkering. something got a deck. What What do you What should you have if. you're going to go and ask for someone's. money? Oh, that's Yeah, that's a really good. point. Like it's really simple. Couple. tactical things. One, something called a. tear sheet or a one sheet. So, this is. basically like um think about it like a. baseball card with all the stats on the. baseball card, but for the deal that. you're going to put. So, it's like. here's why I think it's good, here's why. I think we'll make money, here's what. that's based off of, here's what a. summary it is, here's why I'm good at. it, too, and you should invest in me.

And here's why I think you should be the. one to invest. That's called a one sheet. or a tear sheet. Um the second one is a. pitch deck. From Goldman I learned. something called the three P's, which is. people, process, performance. So, I do. that in all my pitch decks, which. basically is like why us? Why should you. bet on us? Cuz at the end of the day, if. you're asking for somebody's money, it's. about the opportunity, for sure, but. it's really like do I want to invest in. Jay? Do I believe in Jay? And then. second is process. So, like what is the. opportunity? What is the way we're.

structuring this? What are we investing. in? What is the process by which you're. going to take our money and go bring it. back with friends? And then lastly is. performance. So, if I give you this, why. do you think that I'm going to make. money? How much money am I going to. make? Um and why should I invest in you. instead of all these other things? So, if you have those two things, that is. the like typical one-on-one for raising. money. Great answer. Now, I think it's. really important for people to know. because I think so many times we just. kind of turn up and hope. 100% and I. wish people would have told me that.

It's like sometimes when you have those. little easy tactics, you're like, "Okay, now I feel good." You know, there's more. to it than that, but at least you know, like hey, if I want to drive a car, I. need the car and I need some gas. And. so, now you guys got that. Yeah, and I. think sometimes we're so. focused on convincing someone that we. have the best idea and not focused on. convincing someone we understand how to. execute it. And I think anyone who's. looking to give you money is looking to. whether they think you can execute it. because I hear good ideas all the time. The best investors in the world hear. amazing ideas all the time. And ideas.

are just not the thing that works. Like, you know, you were just talking about. like Google was like the 21st search. engine. Like, they weren't the first. search engine. It wasn't a unique idea. It was just that they had a great way of. executing and why they've evolved into. this mega mega mega business now. Yeah, exactly. Best predictor of future. behavior is past behavior. So, if you. can show them you have a history of. winning Yeah. and even show them some. instances where you didn't win, why, and. how you're never going to replicate that. again, people are going to bet on the.

hustler who is on a winning streak. Yeah. You know, often times, right? You. know this, if you go to gamble on a game. in sports, you don't gamble on the. person that's have a losing streak. Why? Because it's actually quite hard to to. break. And so, I think also if you can. show a history of winning, and that's a. narrative you can frame, you're more. likely to get cash, too. That's great. Uh second question. What is the worst. financial advice you've ever heard or. received? That money is scarce and hard. to get. Mhm. If you think money's hard and scarce, then you're probably not going to get.

it. And I think people want you to think. that. And that does not serve you at. all. Mhm. Question number three. The best $500. investment you've ever made. Ooh. Or 2,000. 500 to 2,000. Um. I think this is a little cliche, but um. health and wealth are super tied. And uh. the best money I've ever spent are. probably two things. A sauna and a cold.

plunge. And I know that sounds like. super tech bro Twitter, uh but the truth. of the matter is is that if I can get a. little bit more energy in the beginning. of the day, it seems to carry through. the rest of my day and make me more. money. So, whatever your sauna and and. cold plunges, and I think I bought mine. on Amazon for literally like. a thousand bucks each, uh then. that's money well spent. Mhm. Great. Uh question number four. The. biggest waste of money you've ever. spent. Oof. Not the amount, but like.

something that was a complete waste. The. biggest mistakes I've ever made are. always not things I did or bought, but. people I chose. Mhm. It was it's always about the people, the. good things and the best things. So, be. careful those you partner with, spend. time with, and invest in. And know that those will often be the. things that give you the most heartache. or make you the most money. Let's uh side note on that, too. How. does We talked a bit about it before, too, but for someone who's like thinking. about finding the right business. partner,

knowing whether you can trust someone, obviously you never know anything. We. talked about it, like. how do you set yourself up for success? A bit beyond the negotiation that we. discussed. I have a couple different. rules. One rule is um. you don't get married on the first date. Don't do a deal or start a business on. the first date. Which means I have a. one-year rule. I do not get into a. long-term partnership with anybody that. I haven't known for at least a year in. business. A lot of times there's this, you know that rosy phase you have when. you're first dating with somebody. You're like, "The thing is we're in love.

and we were meant to be." And then about. 6 months later you're like, "Also no.". And so, same thing with business. partners. Give yourself a a nice. 12-month window. It's hard to hide who. you are for a year. The second thing uh when doing business. deals is when you partner with somebody, you don't actually want to partner with. somebody that's just like you. It's the. same with marriage. It's why dating apps. are so tough. I mean, I was talking to. Sean Rad about that, the founder of. Tinder, the other day. I was like, "The. thing is you don't realize what you did, but you allowed people to self-select. for people that are just like them, and.

it turns out the statistics all show. that we do not last in marriages as long. or relationships as long when our person. is just like us. They actually We. actually have to have this like creative. difference between the two of us. There's a yin to the yang in everything. in the universe. And so, the studies. tell us you need two different types in. order to succeed long-term. And you can. Some overlap is necessary, obviously, but you don't actually want to date. yourself. It's the same with a partner. Make sure that if you're a great. salesperson, and I parent with another. salesperson, you got a great operational.

person and a great salesperson, maybe. that works. And the last thing about. great partnerships is everything else is. figure-out-able if there is enough. drive. And so my but my father says, you. can lead a horse to water, but you can't. make him drink. And so I always. over-optimize on this idea of desire. Like why do you want to partner with me? And do I believe that that why is so big. that we can overcome any how? And if. your why is like, "Ah, I kind of want to. make a couple dollars on the side, but I. might do this, but I might do this, but. I might do this." I call you a toe.

tapper. You're actually not all the way. in. You're not fully in with me. And so. at our company, we just had one of these. people the other day. A young kid, he's a stud, but he came to. us and he was like, "Yeah, I want to do. this job with you, but I also have these. other things." And. you know, once you've interviewed I've. interviewed thousands and thousands of. people by now. So, you know, I can kind. of get to the heart of it. And I. remember Tanner sitting in the interview. with me, and Tanner's face was just. falling as he was listening to it. because I was kind of ferreting out a. few things. And the young the young guy. was like, "Well, I have this channel, and I want to grow this, and I want to.

do that.". And I was like, "Why do you want to be. here then?" Like if you want to do all. those other things. Like, "No, no, no, I. want to do this too, and we can do it. all together." I said, "The thing in. life that I wish somebody had told me. earlier is when you're starting out, you. can never be excellent at multiple. things at once. Eventually, you can have. excellence in multiple things because. you can attract top talent. But in the. beginning, you're either all in or you. are a barely concealed series of of. distractions. And so a partnership, make. sure they are all in and their why is. super super big, otherwise they should. go find their why, and it's not you.".

Yeah, well said. Uh, fifth and final question. If you could. create one law that everyone in the. world had to follow, what would it be? Oh, god, that's a hard one. Just one. One law in the world that everybody in. the world had to follow. Take your time. How would we we'd have to think legally. about some of the caveats to this. We'd. want to make sure we crafted the. language correctly in order to not have. perverse incentives or second and. third-order effects. But, it would be. something to the tune of like. it would probably be it would probably.

be something about taxes. It'd be like, "Don't allow centralization of tax power. above a certain amount." And the reason. why is. kind of technical, but but basically, we. want to give as much money as possible. back to you, the builders. The only way. that money and thus freedom is created. is from individual humans who build. things. Governments cannot build things. Governments can take capital from. somewhere else, and they can allocate it. to other things and equalize. And that.

is great and wonderful and and. necessary. But, I would be really. careful about what I see as like core to. our society today, which is are we. allowing too few of people to control. too much of us? And it starts with our. money. And I know there are lots of. other things we could care about when it. comes to politics, and that's very. important, too. But, I was in Argentina when they closed. my business and made it illegal. overnight because they nationalized it. And I have seen countries fall apart at.

the floor of taxation and. nationalization. And so, I guess it. would be a government is never allowed. to nationalize, and a government is. never allowed to overly tax. And every. chance we get, let's believe in the. builder and the individual and not the. big huge entity. Like, you guys can. figure out. You don't need them all the. time. I love it. Cody Sanchez, the book's. called Main Street Millionaire. Everyone, make sure you follow Cody on. social media if you don't already, subscribe on YouTube, follow on. Instagram, TikTok, get the book. Uh. Cody, I hope you'll come on many, many.

more times. Uh it was amazing talking to. you, honestly. You've opened my mind. I'm sure you've blown everyone else's. mind. And uh I want to thank you for. doing the work you do and really. appreciate how practical, tactical, and. accessible that you're making this world. of money that's been so hidden and kept. aside. So, thank you so much. Well, thank you. And maybe the only. thing can I add one thing to the. audience? course you can. The only thing I would. add is like um anybody who is out there. building right now, I hope you know how. important you are. You know, it is it is.

so critical to have builders in this. world and it is so hard and you're never. alone and you are so necessary and. without you the world literally stops. And so, 3% of Americans own a business. 3%. We need more of you builders out. there in the world and so everything we. do is to to try to try to create more. humans who have skin in the game, who. are creating things with your beautiful. brains and your hands and like I'm in. awe of you. So, every time I meet like.

the laundromat owner, the car wash. owner, the entrepreneur that's building. something inside of a business, like I. just hope you know there's so much. dignity in the world. and it's because of the work you do. And. without you, you know, it's actually not good to go. back to the Stone Age. Like we have all. the things we have today because of each. of you and that includes you in building. this business. So, thank you for having. me. I just want to say that I've appreciated. you so deeply offline. Uh and your work online of course speaks. for itself. It's been so successful and. congratulations. And so, to be able to. dive into this theme with you that I.

think is so important for the world. right now is uh a real blessing. So, thank you. Well, thank you. I think you know, you. meet a lot of people in real life that. you kind of know online. So, at a. certain point I think you can kind of. tell when the human is going to match. the human and that's what I felt with. you. So, it's cool for the people. listening too. You got to question. everything and sometimes you meet people. that you look up to and you're like, "Dang it, you know, not quite what I. thought it was going to be." And so, um. like real respect to you for that. I. love it. Thanks, Katie. Yay. That was.

awesome. Thank you so much for listening. to this conversation. If you enjoyed it, you'll love my chat with Adam Grant on. why discomfort is the key to growth and. the strategies for unlocking your hidden. potential. If you know you want to be. more and achieve more this year, go. check it out right now. You set a goal. today, you achieve it in 6 months, and. then by the time it happens, it's almost. a relief. There's no sense of meaning. and purpose. You sort of expected it and. you would have been disappointed if it. didn't happen.