Conversations That Changed My Life Ep 496

In a candid reflection on pivotal conversations that shaped his entrepreneurial journey, the host of "The Game" podcast shares insights from various mentors that led to his success, including the importance of aligning actions with desired reputation, the significance of an irresistible business offer, and the courage to leap into entrepreneurship. He emphasizes the value of learning through experience, scaling efforts, and the power of compounding in business growth. The host also discusses the transformative advice on investing in one's strengths, the leverage of an exceptional product, and the underestimated impact of brand value. These lessons not only propelled him to millionaire status by 27 but also informed his approach to building acquisition.com into a billion-dollar portfolio.

• Speaker A reflects on a moment of encouragement and heartbreak when told about the mismatch between skill and opportunity.
• Recognizing the disparity can be an emotional but pivotal moment that drives change and ambition.
• The quote emphasizes the importance of aligning one's skills with the right opportunities to maximize potential.

He said, I think you have a level ten skill set and a level two opportunity, and that was one of those simultaneously incredibly encouraging things and incredibly heartbreaking things for me.

This quote highlights the speaker's realization of having great skills but insufficient opportunities, serving as a catalyst for change.

• Business is seen as a game by the wealthiest individuals.
• The podcast aims to document and share lessons learned from building a successful business portfolio.
• The goal is to help listeners grow their businesses and potentially collaborate with the speaker's company.

The wealthiest people in the world see business as a game. This podcast, the game, is my attempt at documenting the lessons I've learned on my way to building acquisition.com into a billion dollar portfolio.

The quote explains the podcast's purpose, which is to share strategic business insights likened to a game, with the ultimate aim of fostering growth and collaboration.

• Pivotal conversations can significantly influence one's life direction.
• Learning is defined as changing behavior when faced with similar circumstances.
• The speaker's pivotal conversations led to becoming a millionaire by the age of 27.
• Lessons can be paid for with time or money; the speaker chose to invest both to accelerate learning.

So we all have lots of conversations that are pivotal points in our life. And I define learning as similar circumstance, new behavior.

This quote defines learning as the ability to change behavior based on past experiences, emphasizing the impact of pivotal conversations.

• The speaker's father advised on changing reputation by changing behavior.
• Initially, changes in behavior may go unnoticed, but consistency leads to a shift in perception.
• It took two years for the speaker's reputation to align with the new behavior.

My dad told me when I was 19 and I had a terrible reputation... why don't you stop acting like an asshole and your reputation will catch up with you?

The quote conveys the speaker's father's straightforward advice on improving reputation through genuine behavioral change.

• Figuring out what one wants is harder than achieving it.
• Happiness is seen as stringing together as many good days as possible.
• The speaker optimized daily activities to create a desirable life.

Figuring out what you want is 99 times harder than getting it. And I'm pretty sure happiness is living as many days in a row that are good as you can.

The quote suggests that defining personal desires and happiness is a complex process, but once understood, it can guide one's actions towards a fulfilling life.

• The speaker was advised to stop waffling and make a decision about starting an entrepreneurial journey.
• The act of deciding involves cutting off other potential futures.
• Not making a decision can result in the loss of the desired future.

At some point you're not going to know anymore. You just have to jump... which future was I deciding to kill off?

The quote captures the urgency and importance of decision-making in pursuing one's entrepreneurial dreams, emphasizing the cost of indecision.

• The speaker learned that the secret to sales is making an irresistible offer.
• This lesson shifted the focus from persuasion techniques to creating products and services people truly want.
• The approach changed how the speaker developed new offerings, prioritizing customer desire.

The secret to sales is making an offer so good, people feel stupid saying no.

The quote encapsulates the speaker's key lesson on sales strategy, which is to create offers that are so attractive that customers are compelled to accept them.

• A mentor emphasized the importance of pacing for long-term success.
• Consistent, focused effort leads to compounding growth, whereas erratic activity hinders progress.
• The speaker learned to conserve resources and carefully choose new initiatives.

You got to go slow to go fast... what feels slow in the micro looks fast in the macro when you look at the trajectory over a long period of time.

This quote reflects the mentor's advice on the benefits of steady, deliberate progress over quick, inconsistent actions in achieving business growth.

• An early mentor advised on the importance of scale in testing marketing strategies.
• The speaker realized the need for sufficient volume and duration in testing initiatives.
• Committing to adequate levels of activity ensures that failure is not due to lack of effort.

We test with 5000 and then we do 5000 a day. After that... how many things had I done in the past that were the right things, but I just hadn't done enough of them, or I hadn't done them long enough.

The quote highlights a mentor's recommendation for large-scale testing and the speaker's realization that success often requires more effort and persistence than initially assumed.

• The speaker witnessed a disorganized individual at a mastermind who was still successful.
• This observation led to self-reflection and questioning of one's own approach to business.

I saw a guy get up, and he seemed so disorganized and so not passionate at all about his business... we both looked at each other and we're

The incomplete quote suggests that the speaker was reflecting on the contrast between the disorganized individual's success and their own approach, leading to a moment of introspection.

• Witnessing someone's success can shatter limiting beliefs.
• Being in the presence of those who have achieved more can be inspiring.
• Success of others should be a motivator rather than a source of envy.
• Personal growth can be catalyzed by changing one's perspective on others' achievements.

"And it was one of those moments that concrete changes where beliefs are broken, right?"

This quote highlights the pivotal moment when witnessing someone else's success leads to a transformation in mindset, breaking previously held limiting beliefs.

"And when I shifted my perspective from that way, I was able to start using other people's successes to fuel me rather than to make me feel bad."

The speaker emphasizes the importance of using others' successes as a source of inspiration rather than a reason to feel inadequate, indicating a significant shift in perspective.

• The realization that one's skills may be underutilized in their current opportunity.
• Emotional impact of having one's ambitions challenged by an external perspective.
• The value of surrounding oneself with people who can raise one's standards.
• The difference between low-level and high-level opportunities in terms of leverage and scalability.

"I think you have a level ten skill set and a level two opportunity."

This quote reflects the feedback given to the speaker, suggesting that the speaker's skills are not being fully utilized in their current venture, which was a low-level opportunity.

"And that stretched my horizon for what I was capable of."

The speaker acknowledges that the feedback they received expanded their vision of what they could achieve, suggesting the importance of external perspectives in personal growth.

• The impact of fear on driving ambition and urgency.
• The importance of capitalizing on "fat pitches" or rare opportunities.
• The speaker's experience of scaling their business rapidly due to a sense of urgency.
• The potential downside of being driven by fear and the need for reflection.

"When it gets easy is when you need to go hard, because otherwise there's someone who's ten times bigger than you who's going to take everything you have and not even think twice about it."

This quote conveys the advice given to the speaker, which is to double down on efforts when things start going well, as success can attract competition that could threaten one's position.

"That was literally fueled by that one conversation."

The speaker attributes their significant business growth to the motivation and urgency instilled by a conversation, emphasizing the power of a single impactful interaction.

• The temptation for entrepreneurs to diversify too quickly when successful.
• The advice to focus on scaling what works rather than starting new ventures.
• The speaker's experience of significantly increasing their revenue by focusing on their core business.
• The concept of product-market fit and the importance of maximizing it before seeking new opportunities.

"The real win is just doing ten times more of that thing."

This quote distills the advice given to the speaker, which is to concentrate on scaling a successful venture instead of getting distracted by new ideas.

"But the real win is just doing ten times more of that thing."

The speaker reflects on the lesson learned about the importance of focusing on scaling a successful product or service, rather than constantly seeking new wins.

• The concept of a learning budget for testing new ideas in business.
• Accepting the likelihood of failure as part of the learning process.
• The speaker's decision to allocate funds for experimentation without the expectation of immediate returns.
• The long-term benefits of a learning budget for business growth and innovation.

"I learn through giving myself a learning budget."

This quote introduces the idea of setting aside a portion of marketing spend for learning and experimentation, acknowledging that most ideas might fail, but the ones that succeed drive significant progress.

"It gave me permission to spend money without a return immediately."

The speaker discusses how the concept of a learning budget allowed them to invest in new ideas without the pressure of immediate profitability, shifting their focus to long-term learning and growth.

• The speaker's invitation to business owners looking to scale their businesses significantly.
• Mention of Acquisition.com as a resource for those interested in business growth.

"Mosey Nation, real quick, if you are a business owner that has a big old business and wants to get to a much bigger business, going to 5100 million dollars plus, we would love to talk to you."

This quote is a direct call to action for business owners with ambitions to scale their businesses, directing them to a specific resource for further assistance.

• A pastor provided a single piece of marriage advice that has been applied in both personal and professional contexts.
• The advice is: If you don't agree, don't move forward.
• The couple takes time to ensure they agree on decisions, avoiding a false sense of urgency.
• Disagreement often stems from having different information; the solution is to share and discuss the information.
• Using the same data, values, and mission helps reach a consensus.
• This strategy has prevented many mistakes and can be applied to business partnerships as well as marriage.

"If you don't agree, don't move forward."

This quote encapsulates the core principle of making unanimous decisions in a partnership. It highlights the importance of agreement and collaboration before proceeding with any action.

• The concept of total addressable market (TAM) was a key takeaway from a mastermind event.
• Realizing the importance of going after a wider audience to scale a business.
• Initially, focusing on a niche is beneficial, but expansion is necessary for significant growth.
• Facebook is used as an example of starting with a niche market and expanding over time.
• The realization led to considering expanding the avatar and going broader in the market.

"They had a bigger, total, addressable market. They had a bigger tam."

This quote indicates that the speaker learned the importance of market size from successful peers. A larger TAM was a common factor among those who had achieved greater business success.

• The speaker shares insights from a conversation with a billionaire on breaking through business plateaus.
• The billionaire emphasized focusing on others rather than oneself.
• The importance of building a team of talented individuals and sharing equity to incentivize them.
• Delegating and relying on others' expertise is crucial for scaling a business beyond certain revenue milestones.
• The speaker learned to value the collective experience and mastery within an organization.

"You need to have a stable of stallions. You need to give people a slice of the pie and let them get rich, too."

This quote conveys the billionaire's advice on the necessity of empowering a capable team and sharing success to scale a business effectively.

• Recognizing the need for expertise in every department of a growing business.
• The speaker learned the value of acquiring talent with years of specialized experience.
• The cumulative brain power of a diverse team propels business growth.
• Mastery in various areas within the organization sets a new limit for its potential.
• This approach helped the speaker overcome a revenue plateau.

"The business will scale to the cumulative brain power of the organization."

This quote summarizes the concept that a business's growth is directly related to the sum of its team members' expertise and experience.

• A conversation with a YouTuber highlighted the power of content creation for generating inbound interest.
• The YouTuber's experience with receiving thousands of applications from a dedicated audience was an eye-opener.
• This led to the speaker's realization of the potential benefits of creating a personal brand and producing content.
• A subsequent conversation with a famous friend further convinced the speaker of the value of fame for making an impact, despite its downsides.
• The pros of recognition and influence were deemed to outweigh the cons.

"He said on a podcast, nonchalantly, that he was getting 3000 applications a month from this like one or 200,000 YouTube channel."

This quote illustrates the significant impact that a personal brand and consistent content creation can have on attracting a dedicated audience and potential business opportunities.

"If that's the price I have to pay to make the impact I want to have, then I would pay it every day of the week."

This quote reflects the famous friend's acceptance of the drawbacks of fame as a necessary cost for achieving a greater impact, influencing the speaker's perspective on personal branding.

• Emphasizing personal branding can attract like-minded partners and create economic value.
• Initially skeptical about content creation, the speaker learned its importance for inbound marketing.
• Influencers recommend creating content across all platforms and increasing volume to grow audience.
• Consistent, high-volume content creation is linked to faster audience growth.

"And you attract partners who also have the same mission, have the same values, and it creates significantly more alignment and real world value."

This quote highlights the benefit of personal branding in aligning with partners who share similar values and missions, which can translate to real world and economic value.

"But now, having been on the other side of it, I could tell you that it was a mistake and it took me a long time to learn."

The speaker admits their previous misconception about content creation and acknowledges the error in underestimating its effectiveness.

"So I did that, and then I came back six months later and I said, hey, look, we went from zero to 200,000 people in our audience in six months."

The speaker demonstrates the rapid growth of their audience as a result of following advice to produce content across various platforms.

"The more work you do, the more you get out of it, right? And so the boring work applies to everything in business, whether it's relationships, whether it's cold calling, whether it's making content."

This quote conveys the universal principle that effort correlates with results, applicable to all aspects of business, including content creation.

• The speaker shares their conservative approach to investing, preferring cash and treasury bonds over debt.
• A breakthrough was realizing that bonds can offer higher and safer returns than traditional bank accounts.
• Adopts investment strategy focusing on areas of expertise to avoid decision fatigue and ensure better outcomes.
• Cites Warren Buffett's advice to invest in what you know and applies this to personal investment in businesses.

"And this was the breakthrough I had. One is that if you ever have cash in a bank account, you could just put it in a bond and you'll get a higher percentage."

The speaker had an epiphany about the advantages of investing in bonds over keeping money in bank accounts for better returns and safety.

"85% of your net worth should be in real estate, 15% should be in stocks and stuff."

The speaker relays advice given to someone with real estate expertise, suggesting capital allocation based on one's knowledge and experience.

"But it's only risky if you don't know what you're doing. And this is the place. Like, I can write a five or a $10 million check and be fine if I know what."

Investing in areas of expertise mitigates risk, as demonstrated by the speaker's comfort in making substantial investments in businesses they understand.

• An exceptional product can create a compounding effect through word-of-mouth referrals.
• Focusing on perfecting a product can lead to less work and more leverage in the long term.
• The speaker's book, "100 million dollar offers," exemplifies the success of an exceptional product with no advertising.

"And so if you focus on the product, on making something that's so unbelievable that people cannot help themselves, but tell other people about it."

A product of exceptional quality naturally promotes itself as customers are compelled to share their positive experiences.

"An excellent product is a form of leverage because you get more for your time, you put in X and you get out Y for the rest of your life."

The speaker underscores the leverage gained from a great product, emphasizing the long-term benefits that outweigh initial efforts.

• Brand strength can be quantified by the premium price a product can command over its commodity value.
• Brands are a powerful tool for maintaining pricing power and profitability.
• Warren Buffett's investment in brands is due to their ability to compound value and facilitate entry into new markets.

"The amount that you can charge above the commoditized version of your product, the Delta, there is the power of brand."

The speaker conveys Warren Buffett's concept of brand value, which is measured by the premium a branded product can demand over a generic one.

"The brand itself becomes a huge compounding vehicle because the audience and the awareness around the brand compounds."

This quote explains how brand awareness can compound over time, leading to greater market presence and profitability.

• The speaker anonymizes the sources of their insights to respect the privacy of the individuals involved.
• This approach ensures that private conversations remain confidential and prevents name-dropping.

"And by the way, I've anonymized these conversations because I don't want the people that I have these conversations with to feel like I'm name dropping or feel like conversation I had with them in confidence ever come back to them."

The speaker clarifies their decision to keep the names of their sources private to maintain the trust and confidentiality of those conversations.