1
SPEAKER_00
 these things, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
But it's based on where you're at, the risk you're willing to invest in.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I have friends who've like, I have a good buddy of mine who went on a four month hiring process to find like a $350,000 lead of his team, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
He hired the recruiter, which is expensive.
1
SPEAKER_00
Then he did three or four months of interview process.
1
SPEAKER_00
This guy was like a former vice president at some big company that was exactly what he wanted.
1
SPEAKER_00
 And after three months, it didn't work out.
1
SPEAKER_00
And he spent all this money, and he gave this big salary, and it didn't work out.
1
SPEAKER_00
And so you have to also be aware that not everyone is gonna be this, oh, they're outperforming everyone else.
1
SPEAKER_00
And if I could just find more people and pay them all this money, you have to learn the skill of leading.
1
SPEAKER_00
You have to learn the skill of culture, of building, of also managing, or having someone else who can do that.
1
SPEAKER_00
So yes, and it's also a risk.
1
SPEAKER_01
 We had a CTO that we hired for a software company that we ended up selling.
1
SPEAKER_01
We paid, I think, $140,000 for just the headhunter.
1
SPEAKER_01
Just for the headhunter.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's crazy.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
I mean, it's tech.
1
SPEAKER_01
You don't really like to get that kind of talent.
1
SPEAKER_00
Just to find the talent.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, just to find the talent.
1
SPEAKER_01
Not even pay him.
1
SPEAKER_01
Just find the talent.
1
SPEAKER_01
And we fired him three days later.
1
SPEAKER_01
Oh, my gosh.
1
SPEAKER_01
And that was after three or four months of interviews and vetting, all that stuff.
1
SPEAKER_01
 It's just we like just immediately we're like this was wrong like all these they just it was immediately wrong And so like yeah, I'd like I've been there.
1
SPEAKER_01
It sucks.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's not fun.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I think this is the risk of being an entrepreneur It's not for everyone.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's it's not Easy at times.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, it can be You know, that's why a lot of people fail at it or they're just like oh, this is not for me Yeah, and I respect that too.
1
SPEAKER_00
It is freaking hard man every day.
1
SPEAKER_00
You've got to overcome a challenge Yeah
1
SPEAKER_01
 You know, one of the things that Layla said yesterday in her talk is she's like, you know, if I had one thing that I would wish would be left behind from me, so this is me just stealing Layla's stuff, is I want to normalize hard.
1
SPEAKER_01
She's like, a lot of people feel things are hard, they get stressed, and then they have another voice that judges them for the stress.
1
SPEAKER_01
She's like, if we could just change the narrative to like, it's hard, comma, and, or comma, of course it is, comma,
1
SPEAKER_01
 It's okay.
1
SPEAKER_01
I expect it to be hard.
1
SPEAKER_01
Why wouldn't it be hard?
1
SPEAKER_01
It would be unreasonable for it to be easy.
1
SPEAKER_01
If it were easy, everyone would do it, and then it wouldn't be worthwhile.
1
SPEAKER_01
I remember this.
1
SPEAKER_01
This is a two-minute story, but I think it'll drive home.
1
SPEAKER_01
So way back in another life, I was in a fraternity.
1
SPEAKER_01
 Many, many, many, many lives ago.
1
SPEAKER_01
What school?
1
SPEAKER_01
Vanderbilt.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
And during the pledging process, invariably, two weeks in, it was like clockwork, two weeks in, the whole pledge class would come together and try and quit.
1
SPEAKER_01
And it happened every year.
1
SPEAKER_01
So I got used, I mean, the first time it happened,
1
SPEAKER_00
 They're trying to make you quit?
1
SPEAKER_01
No, they try and quit the process and say, I don't, you don't want to do this.
1
SPEAKER_01
This is not what we thought it was going to be.
1
SPEAKER_01
This is way too hard, blah, blah, blah, blah.
1
SPEAKER_01
Right.
1
SPEAKER_01
Every time.
1
SPEAKER_01
Cause it was such a shift in reality of like parties and fun and whatever.
1
SPEAKER_01
And then you're pledging and you get none of that.
1
SPEAKER_01
At least that's how it was in our school.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's like no drinking.
1
SPEAKER_01
You have to study all the time.
1
SPEAKER_01
You can't talk to girls.
1
SPEAKER_01
Like it was this whole thing.
1
SPEAKER_01
Anyways, it was just, the point was to make it, make them commiserate so they get closer together.
1
SPEAKER_01
That was the whole point of the process.
1
SPEAKER_01
Anyways.
1
SPEAKER_01
So I remember when I was president,
1
SPEAKER_01
 I got to deal with it, right?
1
SPEAKER_01
And so I remember the whole class was there, a little pledge class, and I said, hey guys, who here when you started thought this was gonna be easy?
1
SPEAKER_01
No one raised their hand.
1
SPEAKER_01
I was like, who here expected it to be hard?
1
SPEAKER_01
And they all raised their hand.
1
SPEAKER_01
And I was like, I want you to pause.
1
SPEAKER_01
I want you to close your eyes.
1
SPEAKER_01
I was like, this is what hard feels like.
1
SPEAKER_01
This is what it feels like.
1
SPEAKER_01
The feeling you have right now is hard.
1
SPEAKER_01
I was like, and that's what you said you expected.
1
SPEAKER_01
I was like, you just didn't know what it felt like.
1
SPEAKER_01
 And so I think a lot of people are in the entrepreneurial game and they expect it to be hard.
1
SPEAKER_01
They expect the word, but they don't know the feeling of hard.
1
SPEAKER_01
I'm like, it's okay.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's hard.
1
SPEAKER_01
And you persist and you keep going.
1
SPEAKER_01
And so for me, like learning what hard feels like, I think once you learn it, it's like, oh, there you are, my old friend.
1
SPEAKER_01
This is hard and that's why it's worth it.
1
SPEAKER_00
 Yeah, and I think you get more comfortable with hard where it doesn't feel hard anymore.
1
SPEAKER_00
You're like, okay, I've done this for five years now.
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm used to this.
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm familiar with it.
1
SPEAKER_00
I've learned how to manage my emotions, my feelings around it.
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm becoming a better leader to myself.
1
SPEAKER_00
And so this is more norm.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's not hard.
1
SPEAKER_01
And as a fun one, the feeling of the heart changes.
1
SPEAKER_01
So it's like when you're, you know, in the beginning, the heart is that you don't know what you're doing.
1
SPEAKER_01
You just feel like an idiot all the time.
1
SPEAKER_01
You're like, I have no idea what I'm doing.
1
SPEAKER_01
Right.
1
SPEAKER_01
 And then the feeling is the giving up of control, right?
1
SPEAKER_01
Once you get into the, you know, seven-ish figures, it's like you have to give up control.
1
SPEAKER_01
You can't control delivery anymore.
1
SPEAKER_01
You can't get on every sales call.
1
SPEAKER_01
You have to give up control, and that's hard.
1
SPEAKER_00
And trust people.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's different, but it's hard.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's just different, right?
1
SPEAKER_01
And then as you start making more and more money, then it gets around focus.
1
SPEAKER_01
 You can't pursue every opportunity you want.
1
SPEAKER_01
Like in the beginning you did because you only reported to you, but now you have an entire company that you're responsible for and you have to really allocate resources.
1
SPEAKER_01
And you're like, I've got this idea for the show.
1
SPEAKER_01
I can't start it yet.
1
SPEAKER_01
I really want to, but I can't start it yet.
1
SPEAKER_01
And it might not be for a year.
1
SPEAKER_01
 And you gotta be okay with that.
1
SPEAKER_01
And it's a different kind of hard.
1
SPEAKER_01
So at every level, and if anyone's curious, the one after that is that your character, how you spend your time outside of work starts to come into question.
1
SPEAKER_01
Because the level of talent you're able to attract is going to be attracted to who you are as a person and the values that you espouse, that you represent.
1
SPEAKER_01
And so you're like, well, what I do in my own time shouldn't be anyone else's problem.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's my own life.
1
SPEAKER_01
 It doesn't work that way.
1
SPEAKER_01
Humans can't separate things like that.
1
SPEAKER_01
They just see you for who you are, on the field and off the field.
1
SPEAKER_01
And so it's like you have to start changing things.
1
SPEAKER_01
Like if you're somebody who drinks and does a ton of drugs, hey, more power to you.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's legal.
1
SPEAKER_01
It just might not be what everyone thinks is what they want to admire and emulate.
1
SPEAKER_01
And so it's like, it's a different kind of heart.
1
SPEAKER_01
And so one is about being, one's about control, one's about focus, one's about ignorance.
1
SPEAKER_01
And so at each level, the heart changes.
1
SPEAKER_01
 You're like, there you are, my old friend.
1
SPEAKER_00
I was waiting for you to show up again.
1
SPEAKER_01
This is the heart.
1
SPEAKER_01
And being able to identify which thing you need at every level, that's where the mentors come in, because they'd be like, this is the next thing that's gonna come up here.
1
SPEAKER_01
You wanna get distracted, you gotta keep doing the thing.
1
SPEAKER_01
Or like, right now, I think you need to quiet this outside stuff in your life, because it's a distraction.
1
SPEAKER_01
You're not gonna be able to attract the talent you need to get to the next level.
1
SPEAKER_01
They're not gonna like that.
1
SPEAKER_01
And then you have to change, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
Inspiring stuff, man.
1
SPEAKER_00
I want people to follow you.
1
SPEAKER_00
 They can go to Hermozi dot, or I guess Hermozi on Instagram and also on YouTube.
1
SPEAKER_00
Is that Alex Hermozi on Instagram?
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, Alex Hermozi.
1
SPEAKER_01
If they type Alex Hermozi anywhere, I'll see it.
1
SPEAKER_00
But your YouTube has been blowing up, your Instagram, your TikTok.
1
SPEAKER_00
Also, if you're a business owner and you want to partner with you, go to acquisition.com to learn more about that process.
1
SPEAKER_00
You can apply there.
1
SPEAKER_00
This book is really powerful.
1
SPEAKER_00
A lot of people have gotten this.
1
SPEAKER_00
How many copies have you sold now?
1
SPEAKER_00
A couple hundred.
1
SPEAKER_00
200 and something thousand.
1
SPEAKER_00
A couple hundred thousand.
1
SPEAKER_00
So if you guys want to learn more, this will be an amazing investment for you.
1
SPEAKER_00
I think it's,
1
SPEAKER_00
 You know the digital version is only a few bucks I think on Amazon.
1
SPEAKER_00
99 cents.
1
SPEAKER_00
99 cents for the Kindle.
1
SPEAKER_00
So it would be a great dollar investment for yourself.
1
SPEAKER_00
Make sure you check this out.
1
SPEAKER_00
 If you're looking to really maximize your offers and build your business, check this book out.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's really powerful.
1
SPEAKER_00
Great examples.
1
SPEAKER_00
Again, you do a great job of creating frameworks, which I like.
1
SPEAKER_00
You make it simple for someone like me who can't read, but the images and the framework so I can visualize success.
1
SPEAKER_00
I had to make them simple for someone like me, that's why.
1
SPEAKER_00
I know.
1
SPEAKER_00
Big pages, big spacing, big font.
1
SPEAKER_00
Big text, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_00
 But if you guys wanna learn more, make sure you check this out.
1
SPEAKER_00
What is the thing you're most passionate about right now?
1
SPEAKER_00
Is it the content, in the content world?
1
SPEAKER_00
Is it the long form YouTube stuff?
1
SPEAKER_00
Is it the Instagram?
1
SPEAKER_00
What's the place we should go follow you?
1
SPEAKER_00
If they're gonna pick one place.
1
SPEAKER_01
YouTube or podcast.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
Those are the two.
1
SPEAKER_00
Podcast has been growing too.
1
SPEAKER_01
Podcast is doing really well.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, we got number two on entrepreneurship.
1
SPEAKER_01
I saw that, man.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's big.
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm trying to be like you, man.
1
SPEAKER_00
I'm trying to be like you.
1
SPEAKER_00
It's awesome, man.
1
SPEAKER_00
And what's the biggest,
1
SPEAKER_00
 Results you've seen from your podcast and YouTube growth.
1
SPEAKER_00
What's the biggest benefit you've seen?
1
SPEAKER_01
It's just been you know, people tag me on and I mean like I don't I don't The only thing we quote advertise is that yes, if you're a company doing, you know 10 million a year or more ideally if you're a little below that we'll look at the deal But you know if it just it allows me to just talk to more cool business owners so the more the podcast grows the more cool interesting businesses come our way and we get to grow them and that's like
1
SPEAKER_01
 I don't know if I shared this last time, so we did our stats on, because now we've been doing it for two years, and so the average company that we work with increases their top line by 1.8 times in the first 12 months and triples their profit in the first 12 months.
1
SPEAKER_01
In the next 12 months, the average company increases their profit by 4.27 times, or 4.75.
1
SPEAKER_01
There's a four to seven in it.
1
SPEAKER_01
That's not bad.
1
SPEAKER_01
 Yeah, in the in the next 24 months, it's like we can almost 5x the profit of the companies the first 24 months and so that's just the average so Yeah, it's cool.
1
SPEAKER_01
We love doing it.
1
SPEAKER_01
It's uh, that's the stuff we live for.
1
SPEAKER_00
I mean like i've never been more amped to do What do you feel like your future mentor self?
1
SPEAKER_00
When it hits the billion dollar valuation Would say to yourself now if you were three years out five years out whenever you hit this billion dollar valuation
1
SPEAKER_00
 And you could speak to yourself from the future.
1
SPEAKER_00
What would your mentor, future self, say to you right now that you need to hear?
1
SPEAKER_00
Keep having fun.
1
SPEAKER_01
Because I mean, it would be like, if I had hit that at that point, you'd be like, keep doing it.
1
SPEAKER_01
Like everything you're doing, you got here because you're having a good time.
1
SPEAKER_01
So just don't lose track of that.
1
SPEAKER_01
Because in three generations, everyone's just going to forget that you're alive.
1
SPEAKER_01
No one's going to remember your name.
1
SPEAKER_01
You're not going to be the greatest all the time.
1
SPEAKER_01
Because if you did your job, someone else will be even better and younger than you.
1
SPEAKER_01
 And so like, the only point of the game is to play.
1
SPEAKER_01
It would just remind me of something that I already know to be true, but it would just be from future me, hopefully he would just say it perfectly to my heart.
1
SPEAKER_01
I'd become a new person, I'd transform, I'd ascend, you know what I mean?
1
SPEAKER_01
A halo of light, but that's hopefully what would happen.
1
SPEAKER_00
 Love it, man.
1
SPEAKER_00
Thanks for being here, brother.
1
SPEAKER_00
Appreciate it, man.
1
SPEAKER_00
Great stuff.
1
SPEAKER_00
Thank you.
1
SPEAKER_00
 I really love hearing feedback from you guys, so share a review over on Apple and let me know what part of this episode resonated with you the most.
1
SPEAKER_00
And if no one's told you lately, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter.
1
SPEAKER_00
And now it's time to go out there and do something great.