How To Deal With Haters Ep 371

Alex from Rose, owner of acquisition.com with $85 million in annual revenue, shares insights on dealing with competition and copycats in business. He emphasizes the importance of understanding that competitors acting in their own interest is predictable and not a personal affront. Alex advises aligning others' interests with your own and focusing on providing value to customers rather than retaliating against competitors. He highlights that those who copy or attack your business are inherently limited by their reliance on you and their scarcity mindset. Alex also encourages entrepreneurs to amplify their own message, ignore the noise from the competition, and ensure their actions align with their long-term values. Ultimately, he reassures listeners that enduring success comes from consistently delivering value and maintaining integrity, not from engaging in conflicts with those who attempt to siphon clients or imitate your business model.

• Alex from Rose felt personally attacked when clients and employees repurposed his company's material.
• He experienced feelings of betrayal and viewed those individuals as scum.
• Early experiences with competition led to strong emotional reactions.

As in, it was a true attack on my character. I was like, how could you be this way? I thought that they were scum.

Alex from Rose is expressing his initial reaction to clients and employees misusing his company's materials, which he took as a personal attack on his integrity and character.

• Alex from Rose discusses the inevitability of facing issues like repurposing of licensing material as a business grows.
• He emphasizes that such incidents are a matter of "when, not if."
• He intends to share strategies for dealing with these challenges.

Over the last five years, I've had 22 different clients and or employees try and repurpose our licensing material into their own business.

This quote highlights Alex from Rose's experience with the common issue of intellectual property misuse in business, indicating it's a frequent challenge for growing companies.

• Alex from Rose learned from a mentor to predict others' behavior by assuming they will act in their own best interest.
• This perspective helps in understanding and anticipating actions without taking things personally.
• Aligning others' self-interest with your own can lead to achieving common business goals.

You will become astonishingly good at predicting the behavior of others if you always assume they will act in their own best interest.

The quote conveys a strategy for predicting behavior in business relationships by understanding and considering the self-interest of individuals involved.

• Alex from Rose has faced multiple instances of others repurposing his business's material.
• He has observed that these individuals often disparage his business and try to poach employees or clients.
• He reflects on how focusing on these negative actions earlier in his career was counterproductive.

And so that then creates even more anger because it feels like someone's taking your stuff, et cetera. But this is what I can tell you has happened in the few instances that I did earlier on my career where I focused a ton of time and effort on these people.

This quote illustrates Alex from Rose's past frustration with competitors who not only copied his materials but also attempted to damage his business relationships, and how he later realized that focusing on such individuals was not beneficial.

• Alex from Rose shares a personal experience of changing his business model due to competition.
• He acknowledges the change was a reaction to a competitor soliciting his clients, which ultimately harmed his own business.
• Alex from Rose emphasizes that customers were unaware of the competitive dynamics, suggesting the conflict was internalized and exaggerated.

"I even one time dramatically changed my business model in response to somebody who was trying to solicit my best clients and my current clients and start a business adjacent to me."

This quote illustrates Alex from Rose's reactive decision to alter his business model due to perceived threats from a competitor.

"The reality is, the vast majority of my customers had no idea any of this was happening at all."

This quote highlights that the competitive issues Alex from Rose faced were not apparent to his customers, indicating the problem was largely internal.

• Alex from Rose asserts the importance of recognizing one's value and indispensability in their business niche.
• He claims that competitors who imitate are reliant on the original business, thereby unable to surpass it.

"They need me. I do not need them. I am the source of the thing that they are trying to copy, and therefore, they will always be a subset of me, which means they cannot be bigger than me."

This quote conveys the idea that imitators depend on the original creator and are inherently limited in their potential for growth due to this dependency.

• Alex from Rose discusses the distinction between leaders and followers in business.
• He suggests that those who copy others admit to being followers and lack the capacity to lead in the industry.

"The type of person who operates in this way admits that they are a follower and not a leader, all right? Which means that they cannot lead you."

This quote emphasizes that imitators are self-identifying as followers, which implies they do not pose a leadership threat in the market.

• Alex from Rose criticizes competitors who operate from a scarcity mindset.
• He argues that their preoccupation with competition rather than customer satisfaction is a strategic disadvantage.

"The type of person who operates in this way will always operate from a place of scarcity, right? They will always try and hoard, and they will always be focused on you and not their customers."

This quote suggests that competitors who focus on imitation rather than innovation are neglecting their customer base, which is detrimental to their business growth.

• Alex from Rose advises on how to respond to competition by focusing on one's own brand and solutions.
• He recommends amplifying one's message without acknowledging competitors, drawing an analogy with major brands like Coke not acknowledging Pepsi.

"If they get loud, you get louder about yourself, you get louder about your solutions, you get louder about your purpose, about your mission. You never acknowledge them, ever."

This quote is a strategic recommendation to focus on promoting one's own strengths and not giving competitors any recognition or credibility.

• A brief interjection by another speaker encourages listeners to connect on LinkedIn.
• The speaker emphasizes the value of community and listener engagement.

"Hey, mozanation, quick break. Just to let you know that we've been starting to post on LinkedIn and want to connect with you."

This quote serves as a call to action for listeners to engage with the speakers on LinkedIn, fostering community interaction.

"So send me a connection request, a note letting me know that you listen to the show, and I will accept it."

This quote provides specific instructions for listeners to connect with the speaker on LinkedIn, emphasizing the desire to build a listener community.

• Use competitors' noise as motivation to market and sell more effectively.
• Focus on outperforming competitors practically rather than engaging verbally.
• The scoreboard, or results, are the ultimate measure of success.
• Ignore detractors and instead amplify your own message.

"Right, but if they are loud, then your course of action is to become louder about your message. And so if you need something to motivate you, use it to motivate you to market harder, to sell harder. And the saying that I like to use in our company is beat them in the field, all right? If people are talking smack in the stands, beat them in the field, all right? Look at the scoreboard. That's all we care about, all right?"

This quote emphasizes the importance of focusing on your own goals and efforts rather than getting sidetracked by competitors' comments or actions. The key is to concentrate on achieving tangible results and success in your own endeavors.

• Providing superior value to customers is fundamental to winning and retaining them.
• Acknowledge competitors but focus on enhancing your value proposition.
• Customer loyalty is tested when they choose your solution over cheaper alternatives.
• Redirect negative emotions towards improving customer value.

"And finally, just remember that the person who always gives the most to your customers wins, period. And the founder of HubSpot said something that I think is really cool and powerful. He said, you don't have a customer until somebody has offered them a cheaper version of your solution and they have chosen not to take it. That is when you have a customer."

This quote underlines the idea that true customer loyalty is achieved when customers prefer your product or service despite the availability of cheaper options. It suggests that the key to success is to consistently provide more value to your customers than your competitors do.

• Having something valuable will naturally attract those who want to take it.
• The attempts of others to take what you have should be seen as validation of your success.
• Expect and accept challenges as part of the entrepreneurial journey.
• Mental resilience and strategic thinking are crucial for entrepreneurs.

"And saying from Yellowstone, the show that I like is that if you have anything worth having, people are going to try and take it from you. The only way to have something that no one will ever take from you is to have something that no one wants. And if you want something that other people will, me. If you have something other people will want, then you should expect that people will try and take it from you. And you should take the fact that they are trying to take it from you as a sign of success, that what you are doing is the right thing because they are trying to take it from you, because it's an indicator that what you have is desirable."

The quote draws from a popular TV show to illustrate that the very act of others trying to take what you've built is a testament to its value. It serves as a reminder that challenges and competition are inevitable when you create something worthwhile, and this should be seen as a positive indication of success rather than a threat.

• Entrepreneurs should equip themselves with mental tools to handle adversity.
• Reflecting on past challenges and successes can provide valuable insights.
• Desire for success comes with the responsibility of defending what you've built.
• Long-term perspective helps in weighing the significance of present actions.

"And so having these mental things, these mental tools in your tool belt is very useful as an entrepreneur."

This quote stresses the importance for entrepreneurs to develop a strong mental toolkit to navigate the challenges that come with running a business. It suggests that a resilient mindset is as important as practical business skills.

• Align actions with core personal values.
• Consider long-term pride and integrity over immediate satisfaction.
• Inaction may be appropriate if it aligns with one's values.

"And so I think that the truest guide that we can use for what actions we should take in response to others is what values do I want my life to exude?"

This quote emphasizes the importance of aligning one's actions with their core values in response to the actions of others.

"And if you don't think that inaction will be in alignment with the values that you would have when you're 80 or 90 years old and you look back on this situation, then don't do it right or do the action that is in alignment with those values."

The speaker suggests using the perspective of one's older self to evaluate whether current actions or inactions align with their lifelong values.

• Victory in business or personal conflicts often doesn't provide a sense of fulfillment.
• Adversaries typically fade away quietly without acknowledgment of defeat.
• Success is measured by the continued prosperity of one's business and the value provided to clients, not by public recognition of victory.

"Because when people lose to you, you can't go stand on their corpse and tea bag them like a video game, right? It doesn't work that way in the real world."

Alex from Rose uses a metaphor to illustrate that unlike in games, real-world victories over competitors don't come with overt celebrations or public acknowledgments.

"That's the unfulfilling path of the victor. But the thing you do get to have is you get the scoreboard and you get the business and you get the clients and you get the impact."

This quote highlights that the true reward of victory is not the defeat of others but the tangible results such as business growth and client impact.

• Maintaining integrity is crucial when dealing with competitors or disgruntled ex-employees or clients.
• The actions of adversaries can affirm that one's business is on the right path.
• It's important to avoid actions that one would regret in the future.

"Just don't do anything that 85 year old you wouldn't be proud of."

Alex from Rose advises to act in ways that one will be proud of in retrospect, maintaining a sense of integrity throughout one's business practices.

"The fact that they're doing it shows you that you're on the right path."

This quote suggests that the negative actions of competitors or former associates are indicators of one's own business success.

• The speaker encourages the audience to continue being awesome and to look forward to future content.
• The sign-off reinforces the sense of community and support for the audience.

"All right, lots of love. Keep being awesome. I'll catch you guys in the next video."

Alex from Rose concludes the video with a positive message, encouraging the audience to maintain their awesomeness and expressing affection.

"Bye. Our channel."

The closing remark signifies the end of the video and reinforces the sense of belonging to the channel's community.