Top Entrepreneurs Reveal the 4-Step Rule Book to Make Your First Million!

Have you ever felt like there's. something bigger you're meant to do, but. you have no idea where to start? Do you. have an amazing idea for a product or a. company? Or you've come up with an. incredible solution to a problem you. feel could help people, but don't know. what to do with it? Or maybe you're stuck at a 9-5 right. now, which is really a 9-9, which is. just funding someone else's dream, when. you could be building your own. Recent. reports show that 19% of the US adult.

population is actively engaged in either. starting a new business or currently. running one. Whether you've been. thinking about starting a side hustle, quitting your job and building a company. of your own, or whether you're in the. process of doing it, this episode is for. you. You're going to hear directly from. five of the best entrepreneurs that I. know. You're going to be hearing from. one of the co-founders of SKIMS, Emma. Grede, which is a company now valued at.

over $4 billion. You're going to hear. from Michael Rubin, founder of Fanatics, the sports apparel company that was last. valued at $31 billion. You're also going to hear from Sinéad. Burke, who sold her last company for. just over a billion dollars. Brian. Chesky, the founder and CEO of Airbnb. And from Cody Sanchez, who's a self-made. millionaire specializing in small to. medium-sized businesses. Whether you're.

fascinated by fashion, tech, apparel, or. whatever it may be, we've got you. covered. You're going to hear from them. directly about how they navigate. innovation, how they dealt with. rejection, how they focused on scaling. their businesses, and the deep personal. journey of balancing gut instinct with. strategy. Do not miss this episode. No. matter where you're from, you have the. opportunity to transform your life right. now. This is a true masterclass in what.

it takes to building something from. nothing, and I've put it together just. for you. The number one health and. wellness podcast. Jay Shetty. Jay. Shetty. The one, the only Jay Shetty. In this first clip, Emma Grede dives. into how she launches purpose-driven. brands rooted in real problems people. face every single day. This is a great lesson for you all. Start with what's missing. The best.

business ideas come from solving your. own unmet needs. Design for the overlooked customer. There are parts of society that don't. get seen, don't get heard. Build for. them. Acknowledging the unseen audiences. builds unshakable loyalty. One of the. things I love that she talks about is. that better business begins with better. representation, and diverse voices lead. to better decisions. If you're someone. who's always felt restricted because of.

your background or walk of life, this. episode will empower you to think. differently about your differences. How. do you select problems to solve? How do. you choose which problems you want to. work on and then make sure that you. build something that actually solves. that problem? I think about it in the. sense of myself. I think it would be. very difficult for me, and I'm not. saying other people can't do it, but to. do things that you can't relate to, right? So, I always start with the idea.

that if it's a problem for me, likelihood is it's a problem for other. people like me, whether that be other. young women or other women in the middle. of America, but it's like the starting. point is always what do I find. problematic? And then I think the lens. and the the kind of red thread that goes. through all of my companies is this idea. that and again, I hate saying it because. in the last kind of 5 years it's almost. become like this sort of buzzword, but. when we think about inclusivity in.

business and what that actually means, including and thinking about the most. amount of people possible. When I. started Good American, it was actually a. reaction to. this idea that so many women, women of. color, plus-size women had just. completely left out of the fashion. conversation. And why is their dollar. any less valuable than anybody else's? And so I had worked in marketing for all. of these years, for 15 years I grew this.

incredible agency, and I'd done castings. and, you know, put projects and. collaborations together for the biggest. and best brands in the whole world. And. I'd been part of actually falsifying an. image of inclusivity. You know, it's. like you have a group cast, you need a. black girl and an Asian girl and then. this and then this and then this. And. actually when you thought about the. product and when you thought about the. senior management of those companies, it. looked nothing like that, right? It just. the product didn't work for anyone over. a certain size and the boardrooms were.

just all made up of typically like white. men making the decisions usually for. women. And I just sort of thought to. myself, there must be a better way to. start a company, but it came from. problem-solving for myself. And I go. back to this idea of like, you know, when you think about businesses, it makes more sense that they would be. geared towards serving more people. That's just good business, right? Forget. D&I, forget like, you know, this idea of.

diversity, equity, inclusion doing some. being something that companies need to. do now. It's just good business. And. when I talk about it, this idea of. inclusivity and diversity being a. superpower in business, it's not something that I just say, it's. something that I do. That's where the. process actually starts. I'm thinking. about how can I best serve customers, the most amount of people. And then when. there's an acknowledgement of someone. who isn't usually acknowledged, of. course it goes without saying that. suddenly they feel seen, they feel. heard, and they're like, "I'm going with.

this girl. I'm going with this brand.". because it's the first time anyone's. spoken directly to them. And I think. that that's such a it's such an under. thought about part of business, you. know, people usually bolt it on at the. end. >> Yeah, yeah. And I'm like, "No, no, no, no, it's right where you start. It's in. the inception of those products. It's in. making 32 sizes. It's in doing nine. different shades. It's in the very, very. beginnings of what you're creating. And. then you can dress it up and make it. look nice and put the right kind of.

branding on it, but actually it starts. way earlier than that." And so I I. actually think about customers in a way. that I think most people don't. Where. did you not learn that, but where did. you learn to look to understand that. obviously it started with yourself, but. I'm like, "Why didn't people do that. before?" cuz like you just said, it's. better business, it's better. financially, it makes more sense, it. makes more people happy. What do you. think blocks companies. >> comes from where decisions are being. made, right? Because it's like you don't. know what you don't know. And I've sat.

in enough rooms trying to pitch enough. businesses to a group of people that. aren't my end audience, and I have. actually said in in meetings before, "Maybe you should phone your wife or. daughter." Mhm. Like literally, like. phone them. Because you don't understand. this because it's not for you. You know? And so I think that decisions are made. in such a abstract way in most. companies, and you know, you see this. when, you know, companies make mistakes, right? There we've seen a lot of like. big fashion brands and big consumer. brands make mistakes that have seemingly.

kind of come across as like insensitive, racist, completely misogynistic. That's. just where a decision is made. A company. isn't inherently racist, like the whole. company. It's just the decision-making. process is flawed. I mean, there's not. enough people in the room of a different. background to say, "Hey, perhaps put the. T-shirt on the other kid." Like, then it. won't be an issue. So, I think that this. just comes from the the idea of like. where are the decisions made in that. company and who's making the decisions. And I know that the more people you.

bring around the table from different. backgrounds, we're not just talking. about race here, we're talking about. age, education, the full gambit, like. the better the company will be. Yeah, that is such great I I love what you. just said about asking someone to call. their partner or their daughter or their. son or whatever it may be because you're. so right. Like, I think so many people. sit in meetings. and they're looking around going, "These people don't know what they're. talking about." Or like they just don't. understand. How have you maintained like.

I guess the question is how many of. those meetings have I did you have to. sit in until you felt like, "I'm just. going to do this or we're just going to. figure it out." Or did you look for. someone who. agreed with you and had your values and. did the research or was it kind of like. we're just going to build it ourselves? Like, how much give give us a bit of. that because I think a lot of people sit. in meetings. You know, it's so interesting. I'm at. that point in my career now where I. don't sit in a lot of meetings. Now they. pitch me. Which is lovely. The shoe's on the other. foot. I'm like, "Come over here and I'll. let you know if you can come in.".

But in the early days, you know, I I. think that I sat in a lot of situations. feeling like. You know, the great thing is I never. doubted myself or any of those ideas. I. just thought I hadn't found the right. people yet. It's a little bit like you. can you know, I'm happy to kiss a lot of. frogs and I always have been because. again, I don't think it should be so. easy. When you're doing something that. is new and without so much definition.

and unproven, like it's supposed to be. hard. And again, it's like anything. I. never let it get to me. I just was like. Poor poor chicken. He doesn't get it. yet. And he will do. And he'll kick. himself. You know? And that's fine. You know, it's just. it's part of it. And I don't mean that. in a smug way, but I never I never. doubted what I was doing. I was very. very clear, especially when we started. Good American. I was like, this thing. people don't understand and we'll just. get them to understand it. Yeah,

definitely. Yeah, no, and I think that's. such a great mindset to have and to not. have the the smugness or bitterness It's. hard to that person just wasn't in the. right space. They didn't get it. >> know, right? >> Totally. It's totally cool. I feel like. that all the time. I'm like, I'm trying. to find the people who want to be part. of this story. And if they don't want to. be a part of this story, that's totally. cool. >> Of course, because they won't be great. partners to you down the line, right? It's like you either get it and you want. to be part of it and you are happy to. know that you don't know it all, right? Because it's it's about new space. It's.

like if we were all doing the same thing. and trying to set up the same companies, we'd never find a skims. >> Exactly. >> like you'd never land on it. You'd be. like, that's too complicated. That's not. how we do things and and you'd skip over. the great stuff. How have you managed to. continue to stay. hungry and also stay innovative when. things are good? Like before you talked. about, I didn't like my job. I wanted to. get out. You know, milk was outdoors. I. was you know, like there's a there's a. pain that pushes you in a better. direction. I'm not saying you don't have.

pain anymore. Of course, there's. stresses and challenges. >> that much pain. I have daily I have daily dramas, but. the pain has gone. You know what it is? You are fueled. every day by. a piece of it is competition, right? It's like I I look at everything. There is no one who knows more about. jeans and knickers than I do. I look at. every competitor. I go out in the. market. I see it. I know like the. promotional cadence. I I everybody else.

is doing. And I think that that that. natural um inquisitiveness is part of. what keeps me good. But at the end of the day, it's like I. just want to win. Mhm. You know, it's. like I don't feel satisfied. And also. it's like how could you? It's just been. a couple of years. There's loads of. people that have had successes for six. and for three years. I don't think. that's the end goal. The end goal is to. build like you know, generational or. generationally defining businesses. And.

that doesn't happen quickly. And also. I'm not stupid enough to think like or. to let a few years success get to me. There's a lot of people that had a few. years success, you know? That's not the. end game. And so I think about now it's. about. you know, really taking the foundations. of what we've built, not sacrificing any. of your principles, and still being able. to grow and to thrive and to hire. people. The next clip comes from Cody. Sanchez, where she breaks down her top.

tips on what it really takes to build. and buy businesses that last. Remember. that business is long-term grit. Success. is enduring low-level pain longer than. others will. Here's what I want you to. focus on in this clip. You're going to fail. You're going to. get rejected. You're going to get pushed. back. Business is not going to be easy. But here's what you need to learn. All of that failure is helping move you. forward when you take it as feedback.

When you learn the language of money, as. Cody Sanchez says, when you focus on. financial fluency because it's a. non-negotiable for ownership. One of the. things I love that Cody emphasizes here. is mastering the art of deal making. If. you're one of those people who struggles. with how to make a deal, how to make a. good one, how to negotiate, this clip. will actually help you do that. 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 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 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. You know, cuz we could go 15 ways from.

sideways and like we have something. called the nine Ps, 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 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. 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. Uh people can. directly attribute if I partner with Jay. Shetty, then he's probably going to. market my stuff, he's going to to 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. Uh 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 in sync with 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, well 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 sign 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, 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. like, "Hey, you guys want to sell?" Or I. get them all the time because 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." And 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 cars all over the place after you. bought it. You're like, "Did everybody. Was it a Was it 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 have you been doing. this? A while? Do you want to keep uh. You want to keep doing this? Like, how's. business going? You guys make a lot of. money? How long have you 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. 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 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? >> 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 their hand. >> Everybody's up. Not one. If you go down. and I go, "Liars.". 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 logos and the. brand and the name? What if they had one. of those old school original, you know, cody.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. Next up, Brian Chesky speaks on how to. transform ambition into meaning and how. to build with heart. Maybe you want to. help the world. Maybe you want to build. something powerful. Maybe you have a. voice that you want to share, but you've. got to turn that into execution. You've. got to turn that into impact. That's. what Brian focuses on. Brian talks about. how your company has to reflect your. inner world and how leadership starts. with knowing yourself. He talks about.

how he views Airbnb as a form of art and. how to transform your creative passions. into a successful company. This clip is. all about how do you take an idea, how. do you take a concept, how do you take a. thought and turn it into something real? I want you to stop dreaming and start. building. What makes you happy today? And how does it differ from what made. you happy 16 years ago? I think that. I'll start with what I thought would. make me happy.

And I'll tell you what does make me. happy and how they're different. When I. started this company like 15 years ago, I started my co-founders, I was totally. broke. I had no status, had no power, no. money, nothing. And I felt like what would make me happy. was climbing a mountain and becoming a. co-founder and I'll be successful. And the challenge is that well, what do. you do when you get to the top of the. mountain? You've achieved it. And what I've realized is.

I thought at this point like I'm 41. years old. and a lot of people ask me like, why. don't you just retire? Like, why don't you or why don't you do. it all over again? And for me, I would tell them because. the fun is just starting. But the fun of just starting isn't to. like get the next billion people. I kind of think of myself maybe more. than a business person. You know, you're kind of who you are. growing up and I was a designer growing. up. And I kind of think of Airbnb is.

like one of the world's biggest canvas. Almost never has a designer been given. so much responsibility, so much opportunity. And what I love is, you know, like a. musician wants to play music, a painter. wants to paint, a builder wants to. build, a climber wants to climb. And as an entrepreneur, I want to create. and connect things and. um. and try to like defy the notion of what. a business person could be or what a.

designer could be. Because I never met someone like me. growing up. And I'm not saying anyone's going to try. to be like me. But if I can remind people that there's. leadership comes in many different. faces, many different flavors. And that a creative person, you know, can run a company. And it can run a. really big company, a Fortune 500. company. Then that's that's the very beginning. And I I feel like. what makes me happy now. is working. with people I love. Like the one of the.

great things about success is you can. choose the people you surround yourself. with. And I get to like work every single day. with people I love. on ideas that I'm obsessed over. And I'm just so obsessed. Like I I think. my motivations changed. I think when I started my motivation was. about myself. becoming something. And once you achieve that, your motivation often turn turns. outward. It's about it's starting to be. about giving to other people, to letting.

them experience a small part of what I. was able to experience. And it becomes just about the work. See, when you're not successful, you get. validation when people praise you. But eventually, like you do it for. yourself. That you're not doing it for. status or success because at some point. you've gotten all of it. Like how much. more is going to make you happy? And so just doing things I love with. people I care about, that's what makes. me happy today. That's beautiful. That's. I I can see that it's true for you, too.

I I I can see that it it's it's real for. you as you're saying it, which is such a. special place to be in. It was. interesting when you were talking about. this idea of climbing a mountain. I've often thought that. there's one journey in life that we take. that's upwards, up a mountain, and then. there's another journey we all have to. take that's inwards to the valley. And that's a journey that not everyone. gets to take or everyone thinks about. taking because we're so busy trying to. get up that we don't often get to go in.

>> Right. And it sounds like you've been. excavating that internal part for some. time. You can learn a lot about yourself. through this journey. And you're right, the biggest journey. I've probably. embarked on is the one inside of myself. The brightest days of my life and the. darkest days of my life have been in the. last 15 years. The highs are incredibly. high, the lows can be incredibly low. The amount of stress can be unrelenting. The rewards are like hard to even.

grapple with. When you go on a journey like this, you. learn a lot about yourself. And you start to also learn like what's. important to you. Starting a company, you know, one of my. first investors said, "Brian, starting a. company is like jumping off a cliff and. assembling the airplane on the way. down.". Maybe another way of saying it is like. playing a video game. And it's like a thousand levels. And each level gets harder. And each. level. you learn something about yourself. You. do something that's uncomfortable. And.

each step of the game, you learn. something. And the problem with success is it tends. to amplify things. I mean, that can be. good, but it all can still can amplify. holes you have in yourself. People that. are a little bit paranoid get very. paranoid. People that are a little. deceitful become like completely. fraudulent liars. People that are a. little narcissistic become like. egomaniacs and stuff. And so, this stuff. can tend to amplify. tendencies inside of yourself. And so, if you're afraid of conflict, that's.

going to actually manifest in like not. actually dealing with things. If you. can't If you're not decisive, there's. going to be an element of bureaucracy. If you're like get overwhelmed and you. get paralyzed, there's going to be. inaction the company. And so, you learn. so much about yourself. And I through. this process. I probably have learned more about. myself than I even have about business. And it's been an incredible journey. And. um yeah, it's it's like incredible. lessons. And the company's like a mirror. about you, right? Like.

When you see a company, it's like a walk in your house. And by walking in your house, I can step. a little bit in your mind. Because the. house, you bought the house, you. furnished the house, you made a thousand. decisions. And you know, it would take a. while for me in conversation to. understand you, but I walk in this house. and I can understand the thousand. decisions you made. A company is like that, but it's like a. hundred thousand decisions or a million. decisions. And so, by seeing the. company, you can like see into the. person's mind, everything they do. And. not even everything they do, but. everyone they surround themselves with.

and the culture they create and the what. they in and that's the thing that's like. so crazy. I'm intrigued. You said. something there that really stood out to. me. You said that the happiest thing and. the best thing about being successful is. that you get to choose the people you. worked with. You obviously built this. with friends. Yeah. And that's how it. started. It started in a place of being. around people you love with. What was. the. biggest point of challenge in building. something with people you love as you. grow it? And what is it that you. experienced?

And what was the biggest lesson that you. took away that actually kept it going. because I can imagine as you're. describing highs and lows, all of this. change for 16 years, but here you are. still building it together. Think about. how many stories you heard of founders. It's like a band. They come together. And then eventually the band breaks up. And people don't stay together. They. resent each other. Maybe things end very. ugly. It's like a band except like it's become. so much bigger than a band because it's.

not just the three of you. Imagine a. band that starts three people and ends. as 3,000 people. And that amount of pressure, the amount. of spotlight, the money, the changes in. like people's status and positioning, it can do a lot to break people up. But. also, unlike a band where maybe I'm not. to say you just have to agree on like. where you perform and what you sing, with a company you have to agree on like. who we're going to hire, what we're. going to call, what markets we're going. to go into, what's the prioritization, like who we're going to raise money for. Like I can go down the list of like the. thousands of things you have to agree.

to. And. with Joe, Nate, and I, I often say it's. really good to start a company with. friends. Not everyone has friends to. start a company with, but you want that. reservoir of goodwill. And we made a decision. The decision was. that no one decision is going to. supersede our friendship and our. relationship. That we're never going to. have Well, debate, we'll argue, but. we'll never allow a situation where. winning an argument is the most. important thing. Because you think about a company as. 100,000 decisions, it could also be. 100,000 arguments. And if you get stuck.

on the first debate, or you like. somebody won the debate, okay, great. You have 99,999. more things to discuss. And so, the. lesson I learned is I mean, first of. all, Jay, I was lucky. And a lot of people when I say I was. lucky, they think, "Oh, you were at the. right place at the right time with the. right idea." And I said, "Well, maybe.". But there's something I was much luckier. about. And what I was most lucky about, what. what made me most fortunate was I met. Joe and Nate. That we have this. unbelievable chemistry. One time we had.

to do like some personality test. It was. like one of those color wheels. And we. took this like personality test to see. about our chemistry. And they plotted. our like personalities and they formed a. perfect equilateral triangle. Not always. you're going to find people that are. perfect complements to you. I'd say a. couple things. Number one, you want to have a team with people that. you are friends with or could see. yourself becoming with that you have a. deep love and respect for that you're. going to probably spend more time with.

your co-founders than your spouse or. your family. If it goes well. If it. doesn't go well, then maybe not. But. that's the best case scenario. That people have shared values because. you can debate anything so long as. you're trying to climb the same mountain. on the same belief system. If you have. different values, eventually those going. to become irreconcilable conflicts. But. you probably also want complementary. skills. The worst case is people with different. values and same skills. Right? We do the same job. We step in. each other's toes and we're trying to go. in a different direction. And so I think. and then I think the final thing is just.

this mutual love and respect and never. losing sight. You know, one of the. things I tried to make sure of is like. even as CEO, I wanted to try to make. sure that like. Joe and Nate, you know, were included in. things and we I wanted to always make. sure that people referred to us. together. We thought of us as a as a as. a unit. When we when I like went public, you write a founder's letter and a lot. of people write the letter and they just. sign the name of the CEO. I made sure. that it was from all of us and was. representing all of us. I feel like they. are the heart and the soul of the.

company and it's like, you know, parents. Like, you know, not every child. has the fortune to have multiple. parents. Not every company has the. fortune to have multiple founders. But. if they're together, they're not. fighting and they have a mutual love and. respect for one another, that's going to. permeate the company just like it. permeates the health of a child. And Joe. and Nate and I kind of thought of as. parents and the company as a child. I'd. never have had kids, but you know, there's something about that and I think. who you are and that relationship. permeates every single thing. If the.

founders fight, the employees fight. If. they have respect for one another, that is going to be a role a model that. other people throughout the organization. are going to copy and that's what I've. learned from that. In this conversation, Michael Rubin shares how staying. obsessed, learning fast, and staying. hands-on drive success. Too many of us. don't learn fast. Too many of us don't. test enough. He talks about how. entrepreneurship is learned in action. A. lot of us are thinking, we're.

theorizing, we're planning, we're. preparing. Rather than diving straight. in, we're focused on trying to feel. ready. We're trying to focus on being. confident. His point is, just do it. He. talks about how pattern recognition is a. superpower. Spotting what others miss is. your competitive edge. I think it's. something for me I was born with. Like, I was born with that entrepreneurial. hustle. I think I came out of the womb. like just, you know, wanting to be an. entrepreneur, like just loving the.

hustle. And you know, to me, you know, I've been at this a long time. I work. harder than I've ever worked today. I. love it. It's an honor to do it. It's. fun. It's an opportunity. Like, I'm. never tired. I'm never worn out. Like, I'm just always I just want to go. Yeah, can it be learned? Can you teach people. to hustle and grind and develop that. mindset or is it born with as you are? >> So, I think I was definitely born with. it. That said, I do think, you know, for. me, the way I learn is by being a sponge. from people. So, I'm always picking. things up from different people. Like, if you just look at the diversity of. people I have around me, like I'm always. taking so much learnings from them to,

you know, be better in what I do. And I. try to give those back. So, yeah, I. think you can definitely learn a lot of. this stuff. Just what, you know, find. people you respect, find people that you. admire, find people that you want to be. like and then, you know, take the good. from them. And by the way, figure out. what they do that you don't like and. ignore that. Like, I see good and bad in. each person. I try to take the good and. learn from the bad and same thing with. me. I got lots of bad habits. I mean. like I'm myself. That's right. >> Yeah. That's all I ask for. That's all I. ask for. There is no judgment here. There's no it's a safe space. I just. want people to be their authentic. selves. And so so please continue to be.

yourself. And uh. what's So what I love that idea of. learning from people, being a human. sponge. What's the most recent or most. memorable thing you think you took away. from someone, a conversation, a moment, something you read or heard or learned? Was there anything that kind of stuck. with you? Yeah, for sure. I mean um. look, I'm in LA for the week. I'm doing. six to 10 meetings a day in my house and. you know, two of the people I met with. in the last two days have been through. some real challenges and just watching. the challenges that they've been. through. I'm like, "Okay, I need to be.

that much more careful about how I. conduct myself in everything that I do.". So to me, I'm always taking learnings. away from people. I think if you're not, like, you know, you have no chance of. like, you know, getting better at what. you do. I mean it's like like life is no. different than sports. You just got to. keep getting better at your sport. And. so to me, I keep working at everything I. do. Yeah. What What do you think? Obviously now like when you started 43. years ago at 8 years old, entrepreneurship. wasn't as touted as this incredible. opportunity. >> was it was actually weird. Like to be.

clear, like I was a nerd like like that. I loved business. Like entrepreneurism. became cool really around technology. Like I I don't think it became cool till. almost the the from my perspective, I. think it was the really the the birth of. the dot com era, you know, kind of late. '90s is when entrepreneurism became. cool. I think before that it was kind of. nerdy and weird. So I was definitely. born before it all. Yeah, and I'd say. even after the financial crisis in like. 2007-8, like that recession, which is. because I grew up in the era where we. still aspired to be investment bankers.

or consultants. So when I was at college. or when I was growing up, that was seen. if you were into business, my goal was. to go into that world because that's. what I aspired for. Whereas I think the. generation after me and the one after. me, they were like, "I'm not going to go. work for someone. I want to build. something on my own." I think that's. amazing. Like, for me, I love One of the. things that I'm fortunate enough to do. is really, I think in a lot of ways, you. know, encourage entrepreneurialism. And, you know, one of our biggest businesses, the collectibles business, which is. trading cards and memorabilia, and. that's all about entrepreneurs. There's. so many entrepreneurs in that business. It's probably the business in a lot of.

ways that I I actually relate to all. three of our businesses, but it's the. business that's maybe the most relatable. for me because I grew up selling trading. cards as an 8-year-old, but also it's. all about entrepreneurialism. >> Talk to me through that business because. So, I remember So, back in London, obviously, where I grew up, I collected. football stickers, right? Soccer. stickers. So, that's what we'd have. We'd have the big You'd have the spread. with all the Premier League clubs, and. you'd collect the little stickers, and. that was a big part of collectibles. How. is that industry evolved as technology's. grown? Or has it stayed the same? Were. people still collecting cards and like.

Top Trumps and things like that? >> Yeah, well, I'll say we got into the. business about 3 years ago in a really. significant way. And today, uh we own. Topps, which is the, you know, kind of. preeminent brand in in in trading cards. I'd say that, you know, until our. arrival in the industry, little less. than 3 years ago, I'd say there hadn't. been, you know, a tremendous amount of. innovation. There hadn't been a. tremendous amount of marketing. You. know, we kind of looked at the business. and said, "Wow, like this is such an. incredible collector base, such an. incredible fan base. Yet, it hasn't. changed for like decades here." And you. go to a, you know, the big trading card.

show where there's more than 100,000. people that come to Chicago this past. summer. It's called the National Trading. Card Show. Yeah, it looks like something. from 20, 30, 40 years ago. So, for us, that was just That just meant. opportunity. Meant if you actually make. innovative products, you actually really. market these products, you build a. better consumer experience, and bring. people forward into 2023, like what an. opportunity. So, for me, like I we do. that in all of our business. Like I love. Like we love finding great. opportunities, big challenges, and kind. of being unrelenting about going after. them. Yeah, how has that changed? How.

has that practically changed? Like, are. people still buying cards and trading. and Physical cards are the biggest part. of business. It's in a lot of ways very. similar to art. But I can tell you, like. just as one quick example this year you. know our team came in and actually CEO. of our business Mike Mann said hey I got. a great idea. Every time a player debuts. for the first time I want to put a patch. on the jersey and then as soon as they. get done the game I want to pull the. patch off and put it in a one-on-one. trading card so you have the card from. the from the first so think about for. for us you know maybe I grew up in the. in the Michael Jordan era had I had you. know Michael Jordan or yeah if I had.

Michael Jordan or Kobe's first. one-on-one card Yeah, that could be the. the most valuable keepsake that I could. ever have and so you know that. innovation like for us it was really. simple like yeah why would you not want. to put a patch on someone's jersey stick. it into a card and make this a. one-on-one card but no one did that. until we created and by the way it's. already live we came up with the idea. this past December it was in it was live. in in April with with all baseball. players it's going to be three to 400. baseball players debut this year you. know with this debut patch that we put. into a one-on-one card so that's just. like one of dozens of examples of.

innovations because you have to be. aggressive we like we have to be great. entrepreneurs we have to push whatever. we do. Yeah, no what I love about that. though for everyone who's listening is I. think we're stuck in this world now that. believes that all innovation has to be. digital or technological or virtual or. some sort of you know AI whereas this is. like the most tangible physical change. but it's still so valuable because it's. what people want. >> Look we're in three business there first. business where we started is what we. call Fanatics Commerce that's our. merchandise business we own Lids the hat. retailer we own Mitchell & Ness we own.

Fanatics which operates you know. obviously all of the different league. you know the NFL shop the NBA store and. we sell you know more than six billion. dollars of mostly fan apparel and. headwear okay but about you know you. know more than 100 million units of. merchandise a year that's a very. physical business okay but AI is helping. us to do things more effectively in the. collectibles business AI is going to. help us to be more effective and then. our third business is the online sports. betting and iGaming business so you know. for me we still do a lot of physical. things but there's so many things in the.

digital world that help us to be better. Yeah, no, but I love that collaboration. and thinking about it that way because. sometimes the greatest value to someone. is a physical change, but you're. learning that through the AI. I still. want to wear my Kobe jersey. Yeah, exactly exactly. >> I want my Braun card. Yeah, that's the. same thing. I'm still buying I support. Manchester United. That's that's my. soccer team and I'm still buying you. know, soccer jerseys every single year. >> Oh, we appreciate that cuz that's a. Fanatics side. That's Fanatics store. Even though I absolutely even though we. absolutely suck right now, but it's you. know, But that's what it's being sports. fans about. Sometimes you have great.

years and you get you get those. championships and other times you're. going to suck and you got to stay with. your team. You got to you got to feel. feel the pain. >> I'm a real fan now. I grew up as a glory. hunter because we just won everything. and now I'm going through real fandom of. 10 years. >> test you now. We're going to see what. you're made of. Are you really committed. to Man United here? Yeah, that's that's. I'm being tested right now. I'm being. tested. But we were talking about people. not being entrepreneurship not being. taught when you started. When you look. at it today, now it's become the cool, sexy, interesting, fascinating thing for. people to want to try. It's not.

necessarily things people are good at. like you said you were. It's not. necessarily a skill that we honor or. give it the the kudos that it deserves. What are the mistakes people are making. when they think about being an. entrepreneur today? Well, first of all, entrepreneurism isn't for everybody, but. if you think it's for yourself, you. better go out there and try it. Put your. best foot forward. You know, for me. look, the biggest mistakes I see people. make. in building a business are kind of a. couple common themes. One is first you. have like are you even going to take the. app back? So many people tell me I've.

got this great idea but like I don't. want to hear about but like let's go for. it. Let's see if you have an idea you. want to do something, you know, I love. the story you were just telling me. before we went on here that you came. over here and you know, you worked one. place for six months then you're like I. want to go out and do this you went out. and did it. Like part of being an. entrepreneur is to have the courage to. fail. Like you just have to go out there. and try. And by the way, when you fail, which many times you will, you're going. to learn from that failure. You're going. to grow from that failure. You think the. best You talked about Kobe being your. favorite, you know, athlete. Well, guess. what? How many times did he fail and. then he got better and he pushed through.

it. And so, that's what being an. entrepreneur is. So, from my. perspective, it's really all about, first and foremost, if you have. something you want to do, if you believe. in it, go for it. Don't worry about. whether you succeed or not. Go out and. take the swing. And if guess what? If. you strike out, if you fail, just go. back again. And I know some people are. going to say, "Oh, well, he's really. successful now, so it's easy to say.". But, I got to tell you something. I like I've seen death in its eyes. You. know, I've almost gone bankrupt multiple. times. You know, I've had epic failures.

And every one of those led me to be. better in what I do. So, that's my first. thing. Second thing I'd say is you need. great people around you to succeed. Like. whether it's great people you're. learning from that you want to be a. sponge from, whether it's you build a. great team to do what you do. Like I. know for Fanatics we have 18,000 people. that get up and go to bed obsessed with. how do we improve the fan experience. each day. But, like I collect and work. with the best people on the planet. Like. if you don't work with great people, you. will fail. Like you can't win a. championship if you don't have great. talent, but that talent also works needs. to work together. And then the last. thing, and this will sound corny, but.

like have fun in what you do. Like I. love what I do. I have the greatest, you. know, job on the planet. I get to wake. up, you know, work 18 hours a day, go to. bed thinking about, you know, what's. next. I dream about my work nearly every. day. Like I'm having work dreams all the. time cuz I'm obsessed with what I'm. doing. It's like it's it's fun. It's. like I should pinch myself. It's so. awesome what I get to do. I think. pattern watching is is an ability, whether it's an algorithm, whether it's. the stock market, whether it's. you know, crypto, whatever it is for. people, watching patterns is such an. unbelievable skill. Would you say that's.

a skill that you've honed and developed. and built? Well, I think it's a really. important skill in business cuz I think. it's very predictive of the future. Mhm. Okay. So, the reality is when someone. comes in and I'm interviewing a top. executive for a role in one of our. businesses, and they could seem great. And then I'm. going to go out and I'm never going to. ask anybody for a reference ever. I've. never asked somebody, "Hey, can you tell. me who to call?" Like that's the You ask. me for a reference on my staff, I'd call. each of those people and say, 'Hey, I. gave you as a reference. Make sure you. say great things about me.'" Right? So, the reality is I'll interview somebody, the first thing I do is if I like them,

as soon as they leave, I go out and I. start calling people that I knew we had. in common to recognize patterns, okay? Because to me, 50% is the interview and. 50% is um what I learn behind the. scenes. And that's probably the more. important 50% because someone can blow. me away and then, you know, you'll find. out 1 minute that person sucks, that. person people don't like working with. them. Or you can find out that person. was a little bit understated, but. they're a beast, you know? They've got. huge followership, um they're super. smart, they've got an unrelenting work. ethic. So, to me, pattern recognition is.

everything that I use in everything that. I do. By the way, I use pattern. recognition when I go play blackjack. with my friends, you know? There's three. types of cards you're going to get. Cards are either going to be, you know, you're either streaking hot, you're. streaking cold, or you're kind of in. between. And, you know, when you're. cold, you should not do what sometimes. I'll do if I'm misbehaved, which is be. aggressive when you're cold cuz you got. a you got a pattern going on. So, you. got to recognize patterns in whatever. you do. In our final clip, Sandera. Madani reflects on building a. billion-dollar fintech by embracing. risk, clarity, and consistency. Maybe.

you don't know when it's time to take a. risk. Maybe you wonder about do you have. enough clarity to move forward. This. clip will help you make that make sense. She talks about how leaving security is. often the first real entrepreneurial. step. You will have to trade your. comfort for courage if you want to. succeed. She'll show you how to do that. She'll also show you how to bet on. boring problems. We think that if we solve this sexy.

issue, if we come up with this sexy. brand, that's what we need to do. Sometimes solving the unsexy issues can. lead to massive success. Check it out. When I talk to my male. friends today and I know a lot of their. wives and partners and girlfriends and. whatever else it may be, they all find that so many women are. scared to go out there and start a. company. They're scared to take that. risk. They're fearful that they can't or. they're waiting till they have. everything like all their ducks in a row. before they give themselves an. opportunity. How did early on in your.

life your dad saying this repetitive. statement to you, how did that not. become a pressure and how did it feel. empowering? Because I feel that. sometimes if you're told you've got it, you can do this, a lot of people see. that as pressure and then they feel they. can't live up to it. What was different. about the parenting aspect of that? Because I think a lot of parents. listening may take a lot from what your. dad did, right? I was always brought in. on all the conversations. I think. something that my parents did, we had. struggles and we had challenges and we.

had to move and we had the various. businesses, but we were always at the. dinner table having the hard. conversations. You know, if there were. hard things that were to, you know, taking place about money or about. business or about family, we were. solving problems together. Wow. So my my. parents would always ask our. perspective. That is something that I I. do feel is very interesting. Just as a. child, I try to do that with my my. daughters at the dinner table now is to. ask them like what they think. So. thinking about solutions versus, you.

know, how they would think about solving. it. So I feel like I was really involved. in hearing my voice felt heard and I. think that's important because as women, I do feel like we're, you know, our. voice isn't heard. And so I grew up in a. place where my voice was not just heard, it was really valued. And my perspective. was valued and there's like so many. memories that I can think of. I had such. an amazing amazing childhood and I know. a lot of people don't have that. On my. 17th birthday, this is really crazy. So. we went to Atlantic City for a Bollywood.

concert. It was like a Shah Rukh Khan. concert that when they would come out. and do the the shows, we went to. Atlantic City for this concert and, you. know, there was a casino. I'm not even of legal age to drink. gamble and my dad takes me to the. blackjack table, okay? And he was an I. like he definitely had not the best. habits as well. And it's and it's. important to see like you you can see. both sides of your parents. Things. weren't perfect. I look back and I think. about mostly the positive, but sitting. at this blackjack table, so I'm all. dressed up to go to this concert. I'm.

sitting next to him. My parents were. also really young. They had me when they. were like 20. And so people are probably. assuming I'm like his girlfriend or. something and you know, but I'm sitting. at the blackjack table next to him and. he hands me a pile of chips and he's. like, "Bet.". And in my head, I'm like, "How much is. this? Like am I going to lose the money? You know, what's the value?" And his. response, he goes, "Just feel it." He's. like, "If you feel like you're going to. win, bet more. If you feel like you're. not going to win, pull back." My ability. to now take risks and listen to my gut.

and not worry about, you know, like. scared money doesn't make money as well, right? So my ability to be able to say, "Okay, I feel. like I'm going to win. I feel like look. at looking at the hands or learning. blackjack and I was great at math and I. can get this concept." That was one of. my like a core memory that I can think. of, but I was always involved in the. conversation. I feel like it was more. tactical with action, not just being. told that you should go do this. I. definitely feel very blessed that I that. I did have that. And now my mom lives.

literally across the street from me. She's like one rock away and we get to. she gets to raise my kids with me, so. it's wonderful. It's amazing. When you. when you go from pitching your idea to. all of your bosses and they kind of look. at you like this is going to fail, this. isn't going to work, and then obviously your dad gives you. that encouraging statement. You said. that you moved back home then. Yeah. So. I'm imagining that you were making a. decent amount of money working at a. financial services firm. and when you choose to start a company,

I'm guessing you took a massive pay hit. and I assume you were living out and. then you moved back home. Now, the. reason why I'm pinpointing that moment. is because I think those golden. handcuffs that so many of us tie around. ourselves with the safe corporate job. and when you've got a great degree and. you finally get that job you've been. waiting to get for like 18 years of your. life and everyone respects you for it, it looks good on your LinkedIn and your. resume, I found so many people struggle at that. point to say, "Well, I'm willing to take.

less money. I'm willing to downgrade my. lifestyle. I'm willing to postpone and. delay the gratification of having nice. things because chances are if I live. with my parents and and I'm not making. the money anymore, life changes." Walk. me through deeply that decision because. I think for so many of our community. listening and so many people that I. mentor, coach, speak to, this seems to. be one of the most pivotal moments of. their life that were you willing to go. two steps backwards in order to go five.

steps forward? And so many of us are so. scared to go two steps backwards because. we've got so used to a certain level of. lifestyle. So, walk us through that key decision. point. I actually ask myself, "Would I. do it again?" Mhm. And I think that it. also depends on. like it's the risk-taking ability, right? It takes courage to take risk. One of my favorite most favorite books. that I've recently read is Die With. Zero. Mhm. It is such an incredible. book. It's this crazy concept of just.

taking risks and you have your golden. years of your life. Like we should be. spending our money doing our things in. our prime. And that makes complete. sense. And the risk tolerance that you. can take also changes with your age. Would I take these risks if I had two. daughters at home and maybe if I was a. sole breadwinner or where I don't know. And so, I can look back and say, "I. didn't have much to lose." And it was a. level of risk. I had a steady job. I was. on a career path. I could have totally. miserably failed. I think you have to.

think about not what is the risk in. doing it. I think you have to think. about what is the risk in not doing it, right? So, what is the risk if you don't. do the thing? And that's kind of how I. try to make those the risky decisions. today and I'm I know we're going to talk. more and this journey is going to come. full circle in 10 years. I left my. company at the most record high of the. company, but the risk of me staying. was a detriment to my health and my.

burnout and my all the things that I had. left to go accomplish. And so, it's. really about the risk of not doing the. action. But at that time, I think it was. I was young and I could and you do have. to take take a step back and I would say. I think social media does a horrible job. of showing us success. There's so much. saturation of success. There's not. enough failures that are being shown. It's not enough It is hard to build a. business. You know, less than 2% of.

founders ever even break a million in. revenue. That is the most insane. statistic. Men are eight times more. likely to achieve that. Venture capital, right? I'm going to go build a fintech. Less than Currently, 2023, less than 3%. of capital goes to women founders. Less. than 1% It's in the decimals goes to. minority founders. What was I even. thinking trying to go raise capital out. of Orlando, Florida? Not even Silicon. Valley, right? And so, I think there's a. naivete when you're young and I think.

it's beautiful. I think that it's the. most amazing thing. Like, I even think. about parenting. Like, oh my god, now if. I knew all the things that I knew, right? When we're young and doing the. things I think that having a little bit. of not knowing what's on the other side. is actually really beautiful, too. Like, embrace that. I feel like this. generation might be missing out on the. businesses that solve real problems that. affect millions of people behind the. scenes that the opportunity to scale. really really fast because we're too.

busy trying to grow an online following. And so walk us through that. understanding of how you encourage. founders to find their niche and build. their product and think about what. they're doing because today it's been. like, oh well if my brand hasn't had a. viral video yet, it probably won't. become big. So so walk us through that a. little bit. It's done so much good, but. it's ruined us, right? Like it's ruined. us in so so many ways. We have to stop. doing things for the gram. We have to It. is It is our mentality of building.

companies, products, services that if. it's not this and it's not that. And I. also think that it's important for us to. have a social presence and to utilize. all these tools that we have. So there's. so much good that can come from it, but. it doesn't have to be all of it. And so. I do think it's important. There's so. much opportunity out there. Most entrepreneurs that I know of. personally that have been really. successful came from a corporate. position that like saw something and. then they wanted to go tackle this one. unique problem. And these unsexy.

businesses are solving the most complex. problems for us. So we did $40 in. payments through this ecosystem that I. almost didn't start. If I didn't build. it, we we solved huge problems in this. It was so unsexy. Card present versus. card not present. So Stripe was focused. on digital transactions, Square was. focused on in-person transactions. Guess. what? There was nobody bridging the gap. for like dentist offices that needed. both in-person and online transactions. Boom. There was the opportunity that. nobody saw in building that tech. And.

it's not about I didn't have the. background. I wasn't a coder. I wasn't. an engineer, but I could see where the. world was going. I think that's what. entrepreneurship is. It's this spirit of. solving for problems. It's not for show. Mhm. Success will come if you just like. let go of that. And you can also have a. social following and build a great band. and have the podcast and do the things. to go reach more people, but you can. solve if you just focus on solving the. problem and seeing it uniquely. And if.

it's one of you, you're really like it's. resonating with you cuz you're like, "I. am that person. I I'm always finding. like you're in the shower and you're. like, "This should be better. This could. be better." Right? You're you're always. finding the next thing. But ideas don't make you an. entrepreneur. Execution does. >> Mhm. Right? Everybody has ideas. It's. really about execution. And that's the. thing. I feel like that's the thing that. I saw maybe in like Sal and I growing up. was like you've got to put in the work. Even after everything that I have, I.

show up every single day and I work. I. put my head down at night and I ask. myself, "Did I like give my 100 and 10?". I work so hard still. And it's just part of and yes, I work. smart, too. So, it's not that I'm not. just grinding my way and being. intentional, but hard work is a huge. part of it because there's no such thing. as a billion-dollar idea. It's the. billion-dollar execution. And to. execute, it's every single day. You've. just got to keep showing up. And like. that mountain, the mountain's going to. be there and then you're going to climb. it and guess what? You're going to get. to the top and you're going to climb.

this thing the next the next day, there's another mountain and there's. another mountain. So, you've got to love. that that challenge. Mhm. That's what. entrepreneurship is. It's not I didn't. build a billion-dollar It took me 12. years to build that business, 10 years. to exit that business. It didn't happen. overnight. It happened because I just. kept showing up. It wasn't this magic. formula. People ask like, "What was the. secret to the billion-dollar success?" I. didn't give up. Like I just somehow kept. showing up. I can name every founders. like every journey where we almost. didn't make payroll. I had to put my.

mortgage on the line. We had to do We. didn't get the investors. We lost the. customers, but you just keep going. And. so, you have to find that why to really. power you through and for me it was I. just love to solve really big problems. And that's why even after I exit, right? It's like here I'm back again in in. building again. It's because I see I see. the problem. and I know we can solve it. Yeah, I. think you're the right person to ask. this question to because you talked. about working hard and working smart. But what was the mindset shift in.

building a million-dollar business, 100. million, and then getting to a billion? Like what changed? Because I think. there may be people listening who've. like built the million and they're like, "I want to get to 10 or 100. I don't. know what's What do I need to do. differently?" Because I think at every. level. there's a different mindset, a different. type of work that's required. And often. we don't talk about that enough. And so. you keep doing the same thing again and. again expecting a different result as. Einstein said is insanity. What was. different? What did you find that you.

had to up-level to go from 1 to 100, 100. to a billion? You're brilliant because. everything has to change. It's. completely different. Going from your. zero to six figures, you know, getting. that validation of your It's a. completely different journey from zero. to six. From six to seven, it's a. completely different journey and. everything breaks and it's supposed to. break. Going from seven to eight figures. in revenue, it's going to break again. Your systems are going to break. People. are going to break. It's going to break. because it's supposed to. Once you get,

you know, you get things right or you. think you get these things right, if. you're doing what you set out to do, which is go get more customers, go get. more revenue, there's pressure on that. system. And then you've got to. recalibrate. You've got to recalibrate. the tools. You've got to recalibrate the. next level of scale. And so it is. supposed to break. But the one thing. that's not different, if I look back, so. we had to change our mentality on. growth. We had to, you know, get new. technology. It's Scale is It's not. simple, but if I were to boil it down, it comes to three things. It's people, process, and profit. You've got to scale.

your people. You've got to scale your. process. And you've got to scale your. profit. Most companies that go beyond. that market validation of million in. revenue and you're trying to get to the, you know, or the 100 million in value, they have multiple lines of revenue. And. so you're thinking outside of the box. So once we were acquiring small. businesses, we've shifted to an. enterprise strategy. Now I'm building. again. We're selling directly to the. banks. We're going directly to. enterprise first because that was the. one-to-many that I It took me 7 years to. unlock that next, and then I'm going to. go to small businesses. So you have to.

be able to tap into that scale of. people, process, and profit. But the one. thing that I would say stayed exactly. the same, and it was so important for. me. I wanted to be the one to see the. company through to exit. And I worked so. hard at being overprepared, over all the. things so that I could be the best CEO. that I could be. Like I put so much. intentionality behind working really. hard to be the best leader that I could. And the thing that carried me through. that was exactly the same was our values.

in the company. I think we hired the. right people. We fired the right people. And those decisions are hard. And our. culture was really built on the value. system. I mean, I have one team tattooed. here on my arm. It comes from that that. meets me my brother. We're one team. We're We're one team, one dream. Like. that's That's how it's been since we. grew up. That's what I wanted our team. environment to be like. And so building. that culture, the DNA value system, and. those core values, those don't change.

Those evolve, but that needs to stay. grounded and the same as you're scaling. Then you just shift into Those are just. like It's just the next playbook. It's a different heart at the next. level, but you can solve it. And you can. find people to solve it. And then at. that next stage, we had amazing leaders. at the, you know, $100 million mark. And. when I started the company, the name of. the company was Fat Merchant, by the. way, cuz I was 25. You know, it was. It was fun, and we were disrupting the. industry. But I knew Fat Merchant was a.

$100 million company. Stocks was a billion-dollar company. And. I had to get comfortable, even though it. was my to make those pivots, to make. those changes. And so you've got to see. where it's going, and you've got to be. willing to just throw it away, and just. start again at that, you know, to bring. in we had to bring in new leaders. That's hard. Change is hard for. organizations. And so you you've got to. go build and to be willing to willing to. change. It's supposed to break, so get. comfortable with it breaking, and you. just get better. It doesn't get easier,

but you get better. These founders. didn't wait to be picked or wait until. they felt ready. They created, they. evolved, but most importantly, they. continued to show up. Whether they built. from passion, necessity, or grit, they. remind us the world doesn't need more. noise. It needs more builders. So if. you've been waiting, start small. Stay. hungry, solve real problems, and keep. showing up. If this is the year that. you're trying to get creative, you're.

trying to build more, I need you to. listen to this episode with Rick Rubin. on how to break into your most creative. self, how to use unconventional methods. that lead to success, and the secret to. genuinely loving what you do. If you're. trying to find your passion and your. lane, Rick Rubin's episode is the one. for you. Just because I like it, that. doesn't give it any value. Like as an. artist, if you like it, that's all of. the value. That's the success comes when. you say, "I like this enough for other.

people to see it.".