The 3 Evil E's Entrepreneurs Make Ep 299

In a conversation with Alex Mosi, CEO of Allied Prestige Labs Gym Launch, the pitfalls of entrepreneurship are discussed, focusing on what Mosi terms the "three entrepreneurial evil E's": expectations, emotions, and expenses. Mosi emphasizes the dangers of unrealistic expectations, advising entrepreneurs to prioritize process over outcome and maintain excellence without setting arbitrary goals. He warns against letting emotions drive decision-making, suggesting that decisions should be made in a state of contentment rather than urgency to avoid flip-flopping. Lastly, he cautions against premature expenses, advocating for growth to fund additional costs rather than incurring debt in anticipation of growth. Mosi concludes that managing these aspects effectively can prevent the cycle of poor decisions that often plague entrepreneurial ventures.

• Alex Mosi introduces the concept of the "three entrepreneurial evil ease" which are common pitfalls for entrepreneurs.
• He emphasizes that these mistakes are prevalent among his direct work with portfolio companies as well as the broader entrepreneurial community.
• Alex plans to explain each "evil E," provide strategies to mitigate their effects, and reveal the one he considers the most detrimental.

What's going on, everyone? It's Alex Mosi, CEO of Allied Prestige Labs Gym launch. We've done $120,000,000 in sales in the last four years. And so today, what I want to talk about is the three entrepreneurial evil ease of entrepreneurship.

This quote introduces Alex Mosi and his credentials, setting the stage for his discussion on the three major mistakes entrepreneurs make, which he refers to as the "three entrepreneurial evil ease."

• Entrepreneurs often have unrealistic expectations about the speed of success and set arbitrary goals with rigid timelines.
• These expectations can lead to shortcuts, risky decisions, and potentially harm the business.
• A healthier approach is to focus on process-based expectations and maintain a standard of excellence.
• Shifting from outcome to process orientation can mitigate the dangers of unrealistic expectations.

The first e is expectations. [...] expectations that we set for ourselves and our teams, we want to be intolerant of anything other than excellence, but focused far more on the process than the outcome.

This quote summarizes the first "evil E," which is having unrealistic expectations. Alex Mosi stresses the importance of focusing on the process rather than the outcome and maintaining high standards.

• Emotional decision-making can be detrimental to business success.
• Successful CEOs like Jeff Bezos, Charlie Munger, and Warren Buffett are noted for their ability to remain emotionally even-handed.
• Emotions can cloud judgment and lead to poor business decisions.

The second evil is emotions, all right? The second thing that will kill your business. If you look at the biggest CEOs in the world, you look at the Bezos, you look at Munger, you look at Buffett, you look at all these guys, right? And what you may notice is that they are very devoid of emotion.

Alex Mosi points out that allowing emotions to influence business decisions is the second "evil E." He references well-known CEOs who exemplify the importance of emotional stability in business leadership.

• Emotions significantly impact decision-making processes.
• Consistent flip-flopping on decisions when presented with the same data indicates emotional influence.
• Emotions can cause entrepreneurs to make decisions that drastically alter the trajectory of their business.
• Recognizing emotional states can help slow down decision-making, contrary to the common reaction to speed up.
• Urgency in decision-making is often a self-created illusion.
• Delaying action by allowing time to pass, such as sleeping on a decision, can prevent major mistakes.
• The world can appear different after a period of rest due to a change in emotional state.
• Decisions made from a state of contentment are more likely to be sound.
• Vacations can provide clarity by putting individuals in the right emotional state.
• It's important to recognize moments of grace and gratitude to make significant life decisions.
• Alex Mosi emphasizes the critical nature of making the right decisions in his role, overseeing multiple businesses.

"But if you can detect when you are emotional, then you can decrease the speed of your decision making, which is usually contrary to what most people do when they are emotional."

This quote highlights the importance of self-awareness regarding emotions to manage the pace of decision-making effectively.

"I can't tell you the amount of huge mistakes that I was able to avoid simply by sleeping it off."

Alex Mosi shares a personal strategy for avoiding significant errors by delaying decisions, suggesting rest can provide a clearer perspective.

"The best decisions that we make for ourselves, in my opinion, or that I have made for myself, have come from a state of contentment."

This statement underscores the belief that decisions made in a positive emotional state are more likely to be beneficial.

"Making the right call is basically my only job now it's really just proper decision making."

Alex Mosi conveys the critical importance of decision-making in his role as an entrepreneur managing multiple businesses.

• Contentment provides the proper emotional state for making sound decisions.
• Operating from a place of scarcity, have to, or deficiency can negatively influence choices.
• Moments of grace and gratitude offer perspective and are opportune times for decision-making.
• Recognizing and utilizing periods of contentment is a strategy for effective decision-making.

"Because you are not operating from a place of scarcity."

Operating from contentment rather than scarcity or deficiency leads to better decision-making, as scarcity can cloud judgment.

"It's in those time periods where you should make big decisions for your life and then know that you made them in the proper emotional state."

Alex Mosi advises making significant decisions during times of contentment to ensure they are made with the right emotional backdrop.

• Recognizing emotional states is crucial for entrepreneurs who make numerous decisions affecting their business's direction.
• Making decisions in the proper emotional state is a focus for Alex Mosi, given his responsibility across four businesses.
• The right emotional state can be a strategic advantage in business decision-making.

"This is something that I'm actively focused a lot on for me, because in our businesses now we have four of them."

Alex Mosi highlights his active focus on managing emotions due to the significant impact decisions have on his multiple businesses.

• Alex Mosi mentions the availability of a video version of the podcast with more effects, visuals, and graphs on his YouTube channel.
• The video content is designed to engage different brain centers and potentially aid in understanding.

"Hey, guys, love that you're listening to the podcast. If you ever want to have the video version of this, which usually has more effects, more visuals, more graphs, drawn out stuff, sometimes it can help hit the brain centers in different ways."

Alex Mosi offers an alternative way to engage with the podcast content, suggesting that visual aids can enhance comprehension.

• Alex Mosi emphasizes making complex decisions from a place of contentment and gratitude.
• He suggests that decisions made when well-rested and grateful have a longer time horizon, leading to better outcomes.
• Alex advises against making decisions when not in a state of contentment and gratitude.

"And so when I sense myself in a well rested, content full of gratitude mood, that is when I want to look at my most complex issues, my most complex multivariabled decisions, and say, this is what I think the best course of action is."

The quote indicates that Alex believes the best time to tackle complex decisions is when one is feeling rested and grateful, as it sets the stage for a more thoughtful and long-term approach to decision-making.

"And if I do not feel that state, I don't usually make the decision."

Alex underscores the importance of his emotional state when making decisions, suggesting that he refrains from making important choices unless he feels content and grateful.

• Alex Mosi discusses three elements that influence entrepreneurship: expectations, emotions, and expenses.
• He notes that emotions can affect what we expect should happen and that expenses incurred can increase the risk of not meeting those expectations.
• Alex stresses the importance of managing expenses to decrease liabilities and increase the likelihood of meeting entrepreneurial goals.

"And the third e of third evils. Evil e. Oops, I'm writing down evil. Is or are? Excuse me, are expenses."

Alex refers to expenses as one of the three critical elements (or "evils") in entrepreneurship, highlighting their importance in the overall business process.

"So if you think about expenses in general, they are liabilities. They are risk that we take on."

This quote explains that expenses represent liabilities and risks, which entrepreneurs must actively manage to succeed.

• Alex Mosi warns against setting massive expectations while in an emotional deficit, which can lead to unnecessary expenses.
• He advises entrepreneurs to focus on growth before scaling up expenses, such as hiring additional staff.
• Alex suggests that flexibility and problem-solving with available resources is key before anticipating growth.

"And so one of the biggest mistakes and biggest evils that will destroy entrepreneurial businesses is because they set massive expectations when they are emotional and emotionally deficient..."

Alex discusses how emotional deficits can lead entrepreneurs to make poor decisions, such as incurring high expenses based on unrealistic expectations.

"Get the growth first, and then the growth will pay for the people. Don't put the cart in front of the horse."

The quote advises entrepreneurs to prioritize achieving growth before increasing their expenses, using the metaphor of not putting the cart in front of the horse to illustrate the importance of sequence in business expansion.

"It's much easier to solve problems with cash in the bank, with contracts signed."

Alex emphasizes the advantage of having financial resources and secured contracts when it comes to solving business problems, suggesting that this approach is more effective than incurring expenses in anticipation of growth.

• Alex Mosi discusses the impact of anticipating business growth on staffing decisions.
• Hired 25 support reps for Prestige Labs expecting growth, but now 4 reps handle more business.
• Overstaffing can lead to decreased team culture and morale, as well as inefficiency.
• Emphasizes the importance of good process over simply adding more staff to address problems.
• Suggests that anticipating growth without understanding its nature can lead to poor business decisions.

"I hired 25 support reps in anticipation of growth for our supplement company, Prestige Labs, two years ago. And I currently now have four people that handle more business than the 25 did."

This quote highlights the inefficiency of overstaffing based on the mere anticipation of growth, demonstrating the importance of understanding the actual needs of the business before making staffing decisions.

• Alex Mosi identifies expectations, emotions, and expenses as the 'three evil e's' that can undo entrepreneurs.
• Believes that expectations are the most deadly because they are essentially beliefs that dictate our actions.
• The way we frame our beliefs, such as calling them assumptions, can make them more malleable and open to change.
• Managing expectations can lead to better emotional stability and decision-making, avoiding unnecessary expenses.

"And so when I look at the things that undo entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial businesses, these are the three evil e's, expectations, emotions and expenses."

This quote introduces the concept of the 'three evil e's' and sets the stage for discussing how each can negatively impact entrepreneurial success.

• Changing the language from 'expectations' to 'assumptions' can alter how we approach our beliefs.
• Assumptions are seen as more changeable and open to new information, whereas expectations are rigid and demanding.
• This reframing can lead to more flexible and adaptable business strategies.

"If you just call all your beliefs assumptions, they will be far more malleable and words matter, right?"

The relevance of this quote is in the power of language and how the words we choose to describe our beliefs can influence our openness to change and adaptability in business.

• Alex Mosi advises focusing on processes rather than outcomes to manage expectations effectively.
• Encourages delighting customers and striving for excellence in processes to maintain emotional stability.
• Argues that stable emotions lead to better decision-making and controlled expenses.
• Suggests that this approach can create a virtuous cycle in business operations.

"And if you can, keep the high, like keep your high expectations, but keep them on process, not on what has to happen, because when you reverse it the other way, you'll start making terrible decisions."

This quote emphasizes the importance of focusing on the quality of processes rather than being fixated on specific outcomes, which can lead to better overall business decisions.

• Recommends making decisions from a place of gratitude and contentment to avoid setting unrealistic expectations.
• Suggests that this mindset can prevent undue expenses and risks that may arise from false expectations.
• Encourages letting growth pay for expenses and extending the decision-making space for better outcomes.

"Let the growth pay for the expenses. When you're making decisions, try and extend the space. This is what I have found effective for me. And try and make decisions from a point of gratitude and contentment, and then keep the expectations driven around process, not outcome."

This quote provides practical advice for entrepreneurs on how to approach business growth and decision-making in a way that is sustainable and grounded in a positive mindset.