1 00:00:00,450 --> 00:00:02,580 Welcome back to their episode of the Startup Therapy Podcast. 2 00:00:02,580 --> 00:00:04,440 This is Ryan Rutan, joined as always by my 3 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:07,410 friend, the founder, and CEO of startups.com. 4 00:00:07,410 --> 00:00:12,690 Will Schroeder will we help founders to overcome lots and 5 00:00:12,690 --> 00:00:16,590 lots of little hurdles along their way, hoping that someday 6 00:00:16,590 --> 00:00:19,080 they'll hit the promise land, win the big prize, get some 7 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:21,540 sort of a liquid exit, or just accumulate enough cash from 8 00:00:21,540 --> 00:00:24,600 the years of their startup that they finally now have something. 9 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:29,670 Financial to show for it, and then you and I could 10 00:00:29,670 --> 00:00:33,450 just hang up our hats and say, job done, right? 11 00:00:33,450 --> 00:00:34,380 Mission accomplished. 12 00:00:34,380 --> 00:00:35,340 They've, they've gotten there. 13 00:00:35,340 --> 00:00:35,490 Now. 14 00:00:35,490 --> 00:00:36,540 Nothing else has to happen. 15 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:38,580 If only, except that this is actually the moment 16 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,705 you and I. Get absolutely terrified because what do we 17 00:00:42,705 --> 00:00:44,025 worry about at this point? 18 00:00:44,205 --> 00:00:46,335 We worry about them blowing all of it. 19 00:00:46,665 --> 00:00:49,515 Um, and it happens so often. 20 00:00:49,725 --> 00:00:52,605 You know, Ryan, part of the story, right? 21 00:00:52,605 --> 00:00:55,515 The mythology when we talk about, uh, founders cashing 22 00:00:55,515 --> 00:00:56,420 out and having the big exit. 23 00:00:56,975 --> 00:00:59,285 We always assume that ends well. 24 00:00:59,285 --> 00:01:01,955 And, and it, it does enough, you know, I mean, it's not 25 00:01:01,955 --> 00:01:03,065 like it always ends poorly. 26 00:01:03,305 --> 00:01:06,395 And we've done some episodes on, on how the founders themselves 27 00:01:06,425 --> 00:01:08,645 deal with that, you know, from an emotional standpoint, 28 00:01:08,645 --> 00:01:09,665 a psychological standpoint. 29 00:01:09,845 --> 00:01:13,115 But what we often don't talk about is do they 30 00:01:13,115 --> 00:01:13,955 hold onto that money? 31 00:01:14,405 --> 00:01:16,115 You know, when, when, when they make that cash. 32 00:01:16,589 --> 00:01:17,580 Where does it go? 33 00:01:17,669 --> 00:01:19,080 Does it always go where you think it? 34 00:01:19,169 --> 00:01:21,990 It does because fortunately, it's not in the majority, 35 00:01:22,199 --> 00:01:25,559 but there's enough founders that mess this up with 36 00:01:25,559 --> 00:01:28,380 the same amateur mistakes. 37 00:01:28,710 --> 00:01:30,479 Amateur, because we're all amateur at making money. 38 00:01:31,304 --> 00:01:31,545 Right. 39 00:01:31,545 --> 00:01:32,685 We're all immature at making money. 40 00:01:32,685 --> 00:01:35,235 So like when and if that happens, you're learning 41 00:01:35,235 --> 00:01:37,395 for the first time what to do and what not to do. 42 00:01:37,845 --> 00:01:40,935 So whenever I get a call from a friend that says, Hey, I 43 00:01:40,935 --> 00:01:42,225 just had a big exit, right? 44 00:01:42,225 --> 00:01:44,445 Which Ryan, you get these like, it warms your heart. 45 00:01:44,565 --> 00:01:46,395 It's, I mean, it's the coolest thing ever. 46 00:01:46,399 --> 00:01:46,649 It's fantastic. 47 00:01:47,175 --> 00:01:49,125 It's the founder equivalent of just saying, Hey, 48 00:01:49,125 --> 00:01:49,845 I just got married. 49 00:01:49,845 --> 00:01:50,595 Hey, I just had a kid. 50 00:01:50,955 --> 00:01:51,164 Right? 51 00:01:51,164 --> 00:01:52,785 It's just such a seminal event. 52 00:01:52,875 --> 00:01:54,705 There's always a few things I say outside of 53 00:01:54,705 --> 00:01:55,725 the financial advice. 54 00:01:56,115 --> 00:01:57,884 The first thing I always say is that you've 55 00:01:57,884 --> 00:01:59,265 earned every cent of it. 56 00:01:59,700 --> 00:02:02,700 Every penny you have earned every cent of that. 57 00:02:02,850 --> 00:02:05,520 Or if they buy a house or a boat or whatever, I'm 58 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,130 like, you earned every square inch of that house. 59 00:02:08,250 --> 00:02:08,550 Right? 60 00:02:08,670 --> 00:02:11,460 And I say that to say there's a lot of guilt that 61 00:02:11,460 --> 00:02:13,980 comes with, uh, financial, windfall and exit, you 62 00:02:13,980 --> 00:02:14,820 know, things like that. 63 00:02:15,210 --> 00:02:17,340 And a lot of the people around them are kind like hand 64 00:02:17,340 --> 00:02:19,920 wringing a little bit, like, you know, either screw them or 65 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:21,180 how do I get my hands on it? 66 00:02:21,180 --> 00:02:21,690 Or you name it. 67 00:02:21,690 --> 00:02:21,900 Right. 68 00:02:22,170 --> 00:02:24,330 And I want, I want them to hear at least one 69 00:02:24,330 --> 00:02:25,540 voice that's like, yeah. 70 00:02:25,935 --> 00:02:26,595 Dude, you earned it. 71 00:02:26,715 --> 00:02:27,255 Do with it what? 72 00:02:27,255 --> 00:02:27,975 You will earned it. 73 00:02:28,095 --> 00:02:28,725 But you earned it. 74 00:02:28,730 --> 00:02:30,195 Yeah, but that's not the secret. 75 00:02:30,195 --> 00:02:30,240 It's yours. 76 00:02:30,255 --> 00:02:31,905 You shouldn't, you shouldn't have to feel guilty about that. 77 00:02:31,905 --> 00:02:34,995 I mean, despite the fact that it came so quickly and so 78 00:02:34,995 --> 00:02:38,835 easily and without any sacrifice that you probably should feel 79 00:02:38,835 --> 00:02:40,545 a little bit bad about it. 80 00:02:40,575 --> 00:02:40,875 Right? 81 00:02:41,055 --> 00:02:41,385 My God. 82 00:02:41,385 --> 00:02:43,185 Like we go through so much, and again, like 83 00:02:43,334 --> 00:02:45,405 it's not like everybody gets one of these, right? 84 00:02:45,405 --> 00:02:46,815 This isn't a participation trophy. 85 00:02:46,815 --> 00:02:48,915 It's not like, you know, be a founder for 20 years, 86 00:02:49,095 --> 00:02:51,045 get the golden parachute and right off into 87 00:02:51,045 --> 00:02:51,675 the sunset. 88 00:02:51,675 --> 00:02:51,795 Yeah. 89 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:52,000 Never. 90 00:02:52,590 --> 00:02:52,980 Right. 91 00:02:53,010 --> 00:02:57,450 And so for this one, I have a speech that I, I lovingly call. 92 00:02:57,750 --> 00:02:58,620 Congrats. 93 00:02:58,769 --> 00:02:59,820 Now don't fuck it up. 94 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:03,660 And, and there's a lot to it. 95 00:03:03,660 --> 00:03:05,130 And you know, Ryan, you and I have talked through these 96 00:03:05,130 --> 00:03:07,799 concepts on this show, you know, over the years, but I 97 00:03:07,799 --> 00:03:11,100 thought it'd be really helpful for us to basically unpack. 98 00:03:11,465 --> 00:03:13,565 Not just the speech, like, you know, what we're trying 99 00:03:13,565 --> 00:03:16,114 to convey in the speech, but really the key points of the 100 00:03:16,114 --> 00:03:18,155 speech that people get wrong. 101 00:03:18,364 --> 00:03:21,394 And I wanna say for folks that are listening, this isn't just 102 00:03:21,394 --> 00:03:25,024 for, Hey, I've had an exit, this ha, this has to do with having 103 00:03:25,024 --> 00:03:28,475 money at all or having enough money where the position flips. 104 00:03:28,475 --> 00:03:30,785 Where for the first time in your life, you're worried about 105 00:03:30,785 --> 00:03:31,730 losing it more than making it. 106 00:03:32,650 --> 00:03:33,910 Again, sometimes that's a windfall. 107 00:03:33,910 --> 00:03:35,560 Sometimes it's just work and it's life. 108 00:03:35,830 --> 00:03:39,250 But I think what happens is there's a severe lack of 109 00:03:39,250 --> 00:03:43,180 direction at this level, at, you know, at this level of wealth, 110 00:03:43,180 --> 00:03:45,430 if you will, particularly for founders who are seeing 111 00:03:45,430 --> 00:03:46,300 it for the first time. 112 00:03:46,870 --> 00:03:49,120 And I remember hearing this, do you remember the guy we 113 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:50,230 both used to talk to a lot? 114 00:03:50,260 --> 00:03:53,830 Uh, Steve, Steve, I'm not gonna use the last name, who was doing 115 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:55,420 financial management for, um. 116 00:03:56,865 --> 00:03:58,755 And Steve would always talk about, oh man. 117 00:03:58,785 --> 00:04:01,065 Um, you'd talk about the speech he would have to 118 00:04:01,065 --> 00:04:04,365 give to athletes on the day of signing, you know, 119 00:04:04,545 --> 00:04:05,835 whatever sport they signed. 120 00:04:06,135 --> 00:04:08,385 And he's like, he'd start the same way as yours by any chance. 121 00:04:08,715 --> 00:04:09,165 Pretty much. 122 00:04:09,465 --> 00:04:11,175 Congrats now don't fuck this up. 123 00:04:11,175 --> 00:04:11,685 Exactly. 124 00:04:11,955 --> 00:04:13,395 Congrats on signing with the bulls. 125 00:04:13,395 --> 00:04:14,205 Now don't fuck it up. 126 00:04:14,205 --> 00:04:14,445 Right. 127 00:04:14,625 --> 00:04:15,735 And what he would say is. 128 00:04:16,190 --> 00:04:19,519 I would have to try to explain to this 21-year-old 129 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:22,730 kid who was in study hall three years ago, right? 130 00:04:22,940 --> 00:04:23,090 Yeah. 131 00:04:23,090 --> 00:04:25,520 What to do with tens of millions of dollars. 132 00:04:25,550 --> 00:04:25,760 Right. 133 00:04:25,849 --> 00:04:27,530 And he just got five seconds ago. 134 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,610 And how everything you're about to do is a bad idea. 135 00:04:32,300 --> 00:04:32,420 Yeah. 136 00:04:32,870 --> 00:04:33,320 Whatever your 137 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:35,150 instinct is right now, now at point, everything is jeopardy. 138 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:36,320 It just puts it in jeopardy. 139 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,630 You just, there's nothing you're gonna do that won't just put 140 00:04:38,630 --> 00:04:41,120 this at risk at this point based on what you understand. 141 00:04:41,610 --> 00:04:43,410 And there's a lot of parallel here because he 142 00:04:43,410 --> 00:04:44,550 was talking to athletes. 143 00:04:44,730 --> 00:04:47,700 And with athletes, the idea is the money comes so 144 00:04:47,700 --> 00:04:49,260 fast and so young, right? 145 00:04:49,260 --> 00:04:50,280 You don't, you don't hear about people getting 146 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:51,120 assigned when they're 60. 147 00:04:51,420 --> 00:04:54,780 It comes so fast and so young that they haven't had time to 148 00:04:54,780 --> 00:04:56,430 like learn how life works yet. 149 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:58,590 Uh, so, so they're very vulnerable. 150 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,170 The second part is they assume they'll make more. 151 00:05:01,470 --> 00:05:03,780 So let's say, you know, let's say I, I sign with the bulls. 152 00:05:04,470 --> 00:05:07,350 And, and I get a $5 million upfront check, and I go out 153 00:05:07,350 --> 00:05:10,950 and buy, you know, I pay cash for jewelry and cars and in 154 00:05:10,950 --> 00:05:14,040 house and, and private jet and whatever, and like I burn 155 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:15,480 through 4 million in six months. 156 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:16,410 I'm like, well, what does it matter? 157 00:05:16,410 --> 00:05:17,160 Make 10 million a year. 158 00:05:17,490 --> 00:05:18,510 You do until you don't. 159 00:05:19,140 --> 00:05:19,380 Yeah, 160 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:19,860 right. 161 00:05:20,700 --> 00:05:23,730 Until, until you pull a tendon or you get, you get hit on 162 00:05:23,730 --> 00:05:24,900 the field or you, you name it. 163 00:05:24,900 --> 00:05:25,020 Right. 164 00:05:25,020 --> 00:05:25,380 Exactly. 165 00:05:25,380 --> 00:05:25,560 That. 166 00:05:25,590 --> 00:05:27,480 Or you just suck and, and you don't care. 167 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:28,050 Resign. 168 00:05:28,050 --> 00:05:28,380 Right. 169 00:05:28,530 --> 00:05:28,890 Yeah. 170 00:05:28,890 --> 00:05:29,520 Just get cut. 171 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:30,419 Right, right. 172 00:05:30,419 --> 00:05:32,430 So I guess what I'm saying is this advice, however, is not 173 00:05:32,430 --> 00:05:35,370 just for cashed out founders, and it's not just for people who 174 00:05:35,370 --> 00:05:37,800 just signed, uh, to go play with a major sports league, right? 175 00:05:38,219 --> 00:05:39,390 It's for everyone. 176 00:05:39,390 --> 00:05:41,849 All of this applies in the same way, but as 177 00:05:41,849 --> 00:05:44,430 you have more wealth, it just applies a lot more. 178 00:05:44,789 --> 00:05:48,810 What I would open up with is the key here, if you've come 179 00:05:48,810 --> 00:05:50,849 into some cash or if you've been, you know, started to 180 00:05:50,849 --> 00:05:54,479 make more money, is to step back and recognize how your 181 00:05:54,479 --> 00:05:56,370 position has changed, right? 182 00:05:56,370 --> 00:05:58,740 Like, like you can't just say, I'm gonna keep doing things 183 00:05:58,740 --> 00:05:59,490 the way I've always done 'em. 184 00:06:00,045 --> 00:06:03,405 And always expect the same, Malcolm, because Ryan, in, 185 00:06:03,405 --> 00:06:06,405 in your life, as you saw your, your wealth position 186 00:06:06,405 --> 00:06:08,685 change, you started to see your relationships change. 187 00:06:08,715 --> 00:06:09,165 You know what I mean? 188 00:06:09,405 --> 00:06:10,665 A hundred percent, man. 189 00:06:10,725 --> 00:06:11,205 Like 190 00:06:11,445 --> 00:06:15,585 it's, it's what I will call the three js of wealth, right? 191 00:06:15,645 --> 00:06:19,125 It invites these three things into your life judgment, right? 192 00:06:19,365 --> 00:06:20,085 Did you earn that? 193 00:06:20,085 --> 00:06:20,865 Do you deserve that? 194 00:06:20,865 --> 00:06:22,905 Should you have that jealousy? 195 00:06:23,295 --> 00:06:24,405 You shouldn't have that. 196 00:06:24,794 --> 00:06:28,215 I should have that right, or jockeying, which is, 197 00:06:28,275 --> 00:06:29,594 uh, you have that now. 198 00:06:29,685 --> 00:06:31,395 You should probably give me some of it, right? 199 00:06:31,575 --> 00:06:31,935 Hundred percent. 200 00:06:31,940 --> 00:06:33,705 I, I should probably position myself so that I can get 201 00:06:33,705 --> 00:06:34,664 some of what you got. 202 00:06:35,114 --> 00:06:37,244 And invariably it happens. 203 00:06:37,244 --> 00:06:40,695 And the more visible it is to anybody else on the outside, the 204 00:06:40,695 --> 00:06:42,015 more of it's going to happen. 205 00:06:42,645 --> 00:06:44,955 And, you know, uh, which kinds of bring us to point 206 00:06:44,955 --> 00:06:46,304 number one in the congrats. 207 00:06:46,304 --> 00:06:46,875 Don't fuck it up. 208 00:06:46,875 --> 00:06:47,294 Speech. 209 00:06:47,745 --> 00:06:52,815 Uh, point number one, never ever, ever tell anyone 210 00:06:52,815 --> 00:06:53,864 how much money you have. 211 00:06:54,285 --> 00:06:54,555 Right. 212 00:06:54,555 --> 00:06:57,795 Yeah, because you're putting a bullseye your back. 213 00:06:57,795 --> 00:06:57,975 That's it. 214 00:06:58,785 --> 00:06:59,415 That's why it's hard. 215 00:06:59,535 --> 00:07:01,155 Athletes, all three js right there. 216 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:02,085 That's, that's why it's hard of athletes. 217 00:07:02,085 --> 00:07:03,165 It's literally in the paper. 218 00:07:03,855 --> 00:07:03,945 Yeah. 219 00:07:03,945 --> 00:07:05,505 Like, you know, it's everywhere pops up in 220 00:07:05,505 --> 00:07:06,555 everybody's social media feed. 221 00:07:06,825 --> 00:07:09,615 Can you imagine if everyone's income was publicly 222 00:07:09,615 --> 00:07:10,695 available to everyone else? 223 00:07:11,060 --> 00:07:11,349 Like, 224 00:07:11,655 --> 00:07:12,525 like the lottery check. 225 00:07:12,525 --> 00:07:14,415 Everybody has to stand up and smile with their paycheck 226 00:07:14,415 --> 00:07:15,105 in their hand every week. 227 00:07:15,105 --> 00:07:15,645 Exactly right. 228 00:07:15,645 --> 00:07:16,110 That'd be amazing. 229 00:07:16,110 --> 00:07:16,575 It'd be amazing. 230 00:07:16,995 --> 00:07:20,175 Uh, and, and humiliating, uh, for, for, uh, for, for any 231 00:07:20,175 --> 00:07:21,375 founders in the early years. 232 00:07:21,645 --> 00:07:25,005 But so we have the only people with checks that were giant. 233 00:07:25,005 --> 00:07:25,605 IOU. 234 00:07:26,414 --> 00:07:26,925 Yeah, right. 235 00:07:27,914 --> 00:07:31,215 Um, maybe zero again, this period early in my career, 236 00:07:31,365 --> 00:07:32,655 I'm building my first company. 237 00:07:32,984 --> 00:07:34,965 The company starts to do well, right? 238 00:07:35,025 --> 00:07:37,005 And I'm not fabulously wealthy or anything. 239 00:07:37,005 --> 00:07:39,375 It was just the first time we were getting like some 240 00:07:39,375 --> 00:07:41,895 distribution checks that they were starting to be meaningful. 241 00:07:42,284 --> 00:07:45,135 And I was fortunate enough that my, my business partner 242 00:07:45,255 --> 00:07:47,025 happened to have a father who was a billionaire. 243 00:07:47,565 --> 00:07:49,034 Uh, you know, someone that you obviously know, 244 00:07:49,155 --> 00:07:52,400 he had like a totally different understanding of. 245 00:07:53,159 --> 00:07:55,530 Like, it was so cool because it was almost like, you know, you 246 00:07:55,530 --> 00:07:59,340 and I came from modest means, so wealth and the things that come 247 00:07:59,340 --> 00:08:01,020 with it were, were new to us. 248 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:02,010 He grew up with it now. 249 00:08:02,010 --> 00:08:05,340 Like he watched his dad earn it, but he grew up with it. 250 00:08:05,340 --> 00:08:08,430 So like in his house, like at the dinner table, they were 251 00:08:08,430 --> 00:08:09,810 talking about billionaire shit. 252 00:08:09,900 --> 00:08:10,590 Right, right. 253 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:12,929 That was definitely not happening at 254 00:08:12,929 --> 00:08:13,679 my, my dinner table. 255 00:08:13,679 --> 00:08:13,770 Nope. 256 00:08:13,770 --> 00:08:14,849 Wasn't happening at my dining table. 257 00:08:14,909 --> 00:08:15,060 No. 258 00:08:15,090 --> 00:08:18,419 So, and, and he always, he always did a good job of 259 00:08:18,419 --> 00:08:22,140 offering me advice that I was totally unprepared to accept. 260 00:08:22,469 --> 00:08:22,799 Right. 261 00:08:23,159 --> 00:08:25,320 Like it was, and, and he was only a few years older 262 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:27,840 than me, so, but again, even though he was only a few 263 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:30,239 years older, the store of knowledge he had was, you 264 00:08:30,239 --> 00:08:31,799 know, generations older anyway. 265 00:08:31,859 --> 00:08:32,130 Yeah. 266 00:08:32,490 --> 00:08:33,250 Uh, the pay grade was different. 267 00:08:33,865 --> 00:08:34,284 Yeah. 268 00:08:34,284 --> 00:08:34,615 Yeah. 269 00:08:34,615 --> 00:08:37,164 And so we were sitting down and, uh, we were talking 270 00:08:37,164 --> 00:08:38,424 about our distribution checks. 271 00:08:38,454 --> 00:08:40,044 And again, they weren't enormous, but they, but 272 00:08:40,044 --> 00:08:41,454 this was the first time this was all happening. 273 00:08:41,844 --> 00:08:43,584 And he says to me, he says, now will just. 274 00:08:44,415 --> 00:08:45,735 I gotta give you a piece of advice. 275 00:08:45,885 --> 00:08:47,085 Don't tell anybody about this. 276 00:08:47,220 --> 00:08:47,640 Mm-hmm. 277 00:08:47,725 --> 00:08:50,055 Like, don't tell anybody about this check or, or the 278 00:08:50,055 --> 00:08:50,715 money you're about to get. 279 00:08:50,715 --> 00:08:52,410 And I'm like, like if it was social media, I'm 280 00:08:52,410 --> 00:08:55,125 proud of it back then I'd be, I want, I'd be live 281 00:08:55,125 --> 00:08:56,205 streaming it at that moment. 282 00:08:56,205 --> 00:08:56,505 Right. 283 00:08:56,775 --> 00:08:56,985 Yeah. 284 00:08:56,985 --> 00:08:58,875 And this is how like far off the reservation I was. 285 00:08:59,145 --> 00:09:01,575 And so, you know, when I give this speech, Ryan, all I have 286 00:09:01,575 --> 00:09:03,200 to do is picture 22-year-old. 287 00:09:04,230 --> 00:09:06,480 That I'm giving it to and it has so much more 288 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,750 emotion, like, you're gonna make all these mistakes. 289 00:09:10,079 --> 00:09:10,680 Yeah, buddy. 290 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:11,520 Don't do it. 291 00:09:11,819 --> 00:09:13,620 So here's what he says, and this is some of the best 292 00:09:13,620 --> 00:09:14,730 advice that I've ever gotten. 293 00:09:15,089 --> 00:09:18,000 He said, will never, ever. 294 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,120 Tell anyone how much money you have? 295 00:09:21,180 --> 00:09:21,810 No one. 296 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:22,590 No one at all? 297 00:09:22,620 --> 00:09:22,770 Yeah. 298 00:09:22,770 --> 00:09:24,270 Never, ever mentioned the number. 299 00:09:24,660 --> 00:09:26,670 And he said there are only gonna be two outcomes. 300 00:09:27,150 --> 00:09:29,370 Outcome number one is they're gonna judge you by 301 00:09:29,370 --> 00:09:31,950 it when you say the number, either it's either higher or 302 00:09:31,950 --> 00:09:33,150 lower than what they make. 303 00:09:33,150 --> 00:09:33,240 Yep. 304 00:09:33,780 --> 00:09:36,060 And they'll make an assessment, uh, uh, against it. 305 00:09:36,390 --> 00:09:36,960 That's number one. 306 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:37,620 And that sucks. 307 00:09:37,980 --> 00:09:40,315 Number two, they'll try to find a way to take it from you. 308 00:09:40,750 --> 00:09:43,060 It'll look like you have a bunch of money 309 00:09:43,060 --> 00:09:44,290 that shouldn't be yours. 310 00:09:44,680 --> 00:09:48,010 And there's some way, whether they're a vendor, a family 311 00:09:48,010 --> 00:09:51,730 member, uh, like a, a lost soul, a charity, you name it, right? 312 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,689 They will look at that in and magically say, you owe that 313 00:09:55,689 --> 00:09:58,330 to me in some way, shape, or form, or I plan on getting 314 00:09:58,330 --> 00:09:58,745 from, well, it comes in a 315 00:09:58,745 --> 00:09:59,105 lot of ways, shape. 316 00:09:59,165 --> 00:10:00,730 It comes in a lot of forms too, right? 317 00:10:00,730 --> 00:10:03,189 It's not just like people coming with a major handout. 318 00:10:03,340 --> 00:10:06,490 What I realized was after people knew I had gotten the check. 319 00:10:07,260 --> 00:10:10,260 I started getting the check, meaning like people 320 00:10:10,260 --> 00:10:12,569 just assumed I was gonna pick up the tab for stuff. 321 00:10:12,569 --> 00:10:14,969 They're like, well, we're all out together and you know, 322 00:10:14,969 --> 00:10:19,050 you got paid and so you're gonna buy dinner or drinks or 323 00:10:19,050 --> 00:10:20,040 whatever it happened to be. 324 00:10:20,130 --> 00:10:20,370 Right. 325 00:10:20,370 --> 00:10:23,550 So, and it doesn't come in like just amazing people assume 326 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:25,485 it's gonna come like, you know, uncle Larry wants alone. 327 00:10:25,505 --> 00:10:25,795 Yeah. 328 00:10:25,795 --> 00:10:28,680 Uncle Larry also wanted a loan, but it was actually all 329 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:31,349 the little stuff that I found a lot harder to deal with. 330 00:10:31,349 --> 00:10:31,980 Nuance around the first 331 00:10:31,985 --> 00:10:32,115 exit. 332 00:10:32,790 --> 00:10:33,120 Yeah. 333 00:10:33,359 --> 00:10:35,550 It isn't interesting though if people didn't have that 334 00:10:35,550 --> 00:10:38,130 information, that expectation just wouldn't happen. 335 00:10:38,459 --> 00:10:38,819 Right. 336 00:10:39,089 --> 00:10:40,229 Like, I, I'll give you an example. 337 00:10:40,469 --> 00:10:44,069 Within my family, when they go out to dinner, like anybody but 338 00:10:44,069 --> 00:10:47,069 me and they go out to dinner and the check comes, they naturally 339 00:10:47,069 --> 00:10:48,660 divided among them uhhuh. 340 00:10:48,660 --> 00:10:48,900 Right. 341 00:10:49,050 --> 00:10:50,729 Just a very natural things to do. 342 00:10:50,969 --> 00:10:51,180 Right. 343 00:10:51,209 --> 00:10:53,130 None of 'em have a ton of cash, you know, so, so 344 00:10:53,130 --> 00:10:53,760 they divide among them. 345 00:10:54,239 --> 00:10:54,329 Yep. 346 00:10:54,750 --> 00:10:56,970 As soon as I'm present, everyone looks the other 347 00:10:56,970 --> 00:10:57,905 way when the check is sick. 348 00:10:57,905 --> 00:11:02,370 Man, I've never once in 30 years have ever been at a 349 00:11:02,370 --> 00:11:05,730 family dinner or, or a family event where anybody has 350 00:11:05,730 --> 00:11:07,350 ever said, I've got this. 351 00:11:07,620 --> 00:11:07,890 Yep. 352 00:11:07,980 --> 00:11:08,430 Ever. 353 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:09,665 That's it, man. 354 00:11:09,900 --> 00:11:10,890 You got the check ever. 355 00:11:10,890 --> 00:11:11,520 You get the check. 356 00:11:11,819 --> 00:11:14,280 That's, and I'm not angry about it, but it's 357 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:15,840 an observation, right? 358 00:11:15,990 --> 00:11:16,050 Yeah. 359 00:11:16,050 --> 00:11:18,900 And that observation is a hundred percent based on 360 00:11:18,900 --> 00:11:21,540 them having a sense that there's some sort of money. 361 00:11:21,915 --> 00:11:25,335 That I have, that they're entitled to by virtue 362 00:11:25,335 --> 00:11:27,255 of me having you have more than you need. 363 00:11:27,255 --> 00:11:29,535 So some of it's logically theirs. 364 00:11:29,775 --> 00:11:30,135 Yeah. 365 00:11:30,135 --> 00:11:32,355 And, and so you mentioned this a moment ago though, 366 00:11:32,745 --> 00:11:36,315 the money gets extracted in lots of ways, right? 367 00:11:36,435 --> 00:11:36,495 Yeah. 368 00:11:36,585 --> 00:11:37,750 And often it's with a smile. 369 00:11:38,790 --> 00:11:41,160 It's in, it's in ways that you wouldn't think about, 370 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:43,860 which is family member calls you up and says, Hey, 371 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,140 uh, just, you know, I'm a little behind on something. 372 00:11:46,140 --> 00:11:48,570 If you could just spot me alone, I'll get you back right away. 373 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:49,860 You know, I love you so much. 374 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:52,560 I'm so happy, you know, uh, for your, all your success. 375 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:53,640 Thanks for being able to take care of me. 376 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:54,600 That's a really cool thing you're doing. 377 00:11:55,290 --> 00:11:57,990 And it's honest and it's authentic and, and 378 00:11:57,990 --> 00:11:58,890 you feel good about it. 379 00:11:59,010 --> 00:12:00,180 You're writing the check and you know what? 380 00:12:00,180 --> 00:12:01,200 Now, now that I made some money. 381 00:12:01,710 --> 00:12:02,280 There you go. 382 00:12:02,460 --> 00:12:02,760 Right. 383 00:12:03,180 --> 00:12:04,560 You'll never see that money again. 384 00:12:06,115 --> 00:12:08,130 I, I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and I 385 00:12:08,130 --> 00:12:11,875 was like, in my life I have given so many quote loans. 386 00:12:12,645 --> 00:12:13,725 That have never been paid. 387 00:12:13,725 --> 00:12:15,495 I don't think I've ever been paid back a 388 00:12:15,495 --> 00:12:17,655 loan in my entire life. 389 00:12:17,775 --> 00:12:18,135 Okay. 390 00:12:18,225 --> 00:12:18,465 Yeah. 391 00:12:18,735 --> 00:12:19,575 And I've given a lot. 392 00:12:20,145 --> 00:12:22,875 And what's crazy about this is, this isn't me bragging about 393 00:12:22,875 --> 00:12:23,835 how much money I give away. 394 00:12:23,925 --> 00:12:25,335 A lot of these loans were tiny. 395 00:12:25,365 --> 00:12:26,385 It's like 500 bucks. 396 00:12:26,385 --> 00:12:26,625 Yeah. 397 00:12:26,865 --> 00:12:30,225 Which makes not getting paid back that much more messed up. 398 00:12:30,885 --> 00:12:31,185 Right. 399 00:12:31,185 --> 00:12:31,725 That's the thing. 400 00:12:31,725 --> 00:12:32,085 It's like, 401 00:12:32,085 --> 00:12:33,945 oh, well, at least wasn't 500,000. 402 00:12:33,945 --> 00:12:34,965 Like No, it was 500,000. 403 00:12:34,965 --> 00:12:35,745 I would understand. 404 00:12:35,745 --> 00:12:36,015 Right. 405 00:12:36,075 --> 00:12:36,855 They defaulted on it. 406 00:12:36,855 --> 00:12:37,725 They needed in the first place. 407 00:12:37,725 --> 00:12:37,815 Mm-hmm. 408 00:12:37,815 --> 00:12:38,385 They didn't have it. 409 00:12:38,745 --> 00:12:39,075 Yeah. 410 00:12:39,075 --> 00:12:41,625 When it's like 500 bucks, you're like, you assume that's 411 00:12:41,625 --> 00:12:43,815 coming back to you at some point, because at some point 412 00:12:43,815 --> 00:12:46,365 in pretty much everybody's life, they can scrape together 413 00:12:46,365 --> 00:12:48,825 $500 to save their familial 414 00:12:48,825 --> 00:12:49,215 honor. 415 00:12:49,365 --> 00:12:52,095 The other side of it is that means you had the money and you 416 00:12:52,365 --> 00:12:53,925 chose not to give it back to me. 417 00:12:54,915 --> 00:12:55,905 This makes it way worse. 418 00:12:55,905 --> 00:12:57,825 I'd rather just say, go fuck yourself anyway. 419 00:12:58,245 --> 00:13:00,855 The idea of never telling anybody how much money you have 420 00:13:01,335 --> 00:13:05,625 is basically this idea of not painting a target on your back. 421 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:08,310 'cause again, you've gotta understand people's 422 00:13:08,310 --> 00:13:10,590 motivations and lemme give you some other examples 423 00:13:10,590 --> 00:13:12,810 'cause it comes up in way more ways than people realize. 424 00:13:13,110 --> 00:13:15,750 When I was out raising money for the, for the first couple times 425 00:13:16,020 --> 00:13:18,600 when I was out raising for, uh, you know, last couple companies 426 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,750 out raising venture, um, as part of your intros, you know, 427 00:13:21,750 --> 00:13:24,090 I would talk about how we grew a company at 700 million and we 428 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:25,080 sold it and blah, blah, blah. 429 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:27,645 And I'd, you know, done some other companies, whatever. 430 00:13:28,439 --> 00:13:29,189 Immediately. 431 00:13:29,550 --> 00:13:32,069 And Ryan, I want you to put one VC in your head 432 00:13:32,069 --> 00:13:34,290 specifically that you and I both know specifically. 433 00:13:34,319 --> 00:13:36,239 'cause you, I want you to picture him saying this. 434 00:13:36,449 --> 00:13:37,620 Well, how much money did you make? 435 00:13:37,890 --> 00:13:38,910 Like, like how much money did you put? 436 00:13:39,214 --> 00:13:40,260 Am think you're tenting right now? 437 00:13:40,319 --> 00:13:40,469 Yeah. 438 00:13:40,469 --> 00:13:42,930 Or like taking a nap on a couch Will, which 1:00 AM I doing? 439 00:13:42,959 --> 00:13:43,709 You're already there. 440 00:13:43,949 --> 00:13:44,189 Yeah. 441 00:13:44,219 --> 00:13:45,329 Well, how much money did you make? 442 00:13:45,329 --> 00:13:47,550 How much did you make Personally the guys? 443 00:13:47,550 --> 00:13:50,130 And it was always guys, when it was the guys that were asking 444 00:13:50,130 --> 00:13:54,089 me this question, you, you could just see the insecurity 445 00:13:54,089 --> 00:13:55,199 just pouring off of them. 446 00:13:55,230 --> 00:13:57,630 And chances are they probably made more 447 00:13:57,630 --> 00:13:57,800 than I had. 448 00:13:57,800 --> 00:13:58,410 Please say number smaller than number I can say. 449 00:13:58,410 --> 00:13:59,730 Please say a number smaller than the number. 450 00:13:59,730 --> 00:14:00,030 I can say. 451 00:14:00,035 --> 00:14:00,175 Exactly. 452 00:14:00,195 --> 00:14:00,975 That's, yeah. 453 00:14:00,975 --> 00:14:01,095 Yeah. 454 00:14:01,155 --> 00:14:02,455 That's exactly it. 455 00:14:02,585 --> 00:14:02,935 Right? 456 00:14:03,275 --> 00:14:04,560 That's exactly it. 457 00:14:04,740 --> 00:14:06,015 It's all they wanna know nothing with a B, 458 00:14:06,060 --> 00:14:07,410 nothing with a B, nothing with a B, 459 00:14:07,410 --> 00:14:08,070 exactly. 460 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:10,260 They don't care how much money they make, they have no interest 461 00:14:10,260 --> 00:14:11,460 in my personal wellbeing. 462 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,400 They just wanna know that their's is bigger than mine. 463 00:14:14,490 --> 00:14:14,940 That's it. 464 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:15,210 Yep. 465 00:14:15,270 --> 00:14:15,540 Right. 466 00:14:15,540 --> 00:14:15,760 That's it. 467 00:14:15,875 --> 00:14:17,250 And that's all it comes down to. 468 00:14:17,310 --> 00:14:19,320 And, and I would never share that information because 469 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,870 it, it again, it never leads to anything positive. 470 00:14:22,155 --> 00:14:23,355 And it always frustrated them. 471 00:14:23,444 --> 00:14:24,974 They were always like, well, what are you holding back? 472 00:14:25,545 --> 00:14:28,755 What I'm holding back is I, I, I have no upside in telling you. 473 00:14:29,115 --> 00:14:31,454 What are you grasping for, is the better question. 474 00:14:31,454 --> 00:14:31,605 Right? 475 00:14:31,605 --> 00:14:32,625 Isn't that what I'm holding back? 476 00:14:32,625 --> 00:14:34,395 It's what are you reaching towards right now? 477 00:14:34,665 --> 00:14:34,964 I already 478 00:14:34,964 --> 00:14:35,655 know the answer. 479 00:14:36,855 --> 00:14:38,324 I don't mean to worry about it whether you do. 480 00:14:38,745 --> 00:14:41,655 It was always interesting to me because the folks that had 481 00:14:41,655 --> 00:14:45,255 more security about it never asked, never cared, and you 482 00:14:45,255 --> 00:14:48,795 could always see the insecurity pour through when they needed 483 00:14:48,795 --> 00:14:50,505 to know that number and so. 484 00:14:51,135 --> 00:14:52,364 Play this out at different levels. 485 00:14:52,364 --> 00:14:53,954 Again, you know, I'm talking about exits 486 00:14:53,954 --> 00:14:54,675 and things like that. 487 00:14:54,915 --> 00:14:58,125 That's just one outcome with with one group, right? 488 00:14:58,305 --> 00:15:00,194 This goes down to salary, right? 489 00:15:00,375 --> 00:15:01,425 Distributed, whatever. 490 00:15:01,425 --> 00:15:05,535 Like, you know, like people take this number very seriously. 491 00:15:06,045 --> 00:15:09,104 And by the way, and again, I hate to be chauvinistic 492 00:15:09,104 --> 00:15:12,780 about it, it's almost always dudes, almost always like. 493 00:15:13,470 --> 00:15:15,810 I can't think of many women in my life that have 494 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:17,280 ever asked that question. 495 00:15:17,285 --> 00:15:17,595 Right? 496 00:15:17,595 --> 00:15:18,235 Profession. 497 00:15:18,235 --> 00:15:18,255 My grandma 498 00:15:18,255 --> 00:15:19,530 presses me from time to time. 499 00:15:19,530 --> 00:15:21,780 What my grandma presses me from my grandma presses 500 00:15:21,780 --> 00:15:22,475 me from time to time. 501 00:15:23,100 --> 00:15:23,160 Yeah. 502 00:15:23,250 --> 00:15:24,810 I was saying like, like, you know who's never 503 00:15:24,810 --> 00:15:25,710 asked me that question. 504 00:15:26,250 --> 00:15:27,930 My wife has never come up. 505 00:15:28,260 --> 00:15:31,110 I mean, she has access to our information, but it's never 506 00:15:31,110 --> 00:15:33,750 even like, like, but a question. 507 00:15:33,750 --> 00:15:34,470 She just doesn't care. 508 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,920 But I look at, you know, other friends of mine that I've grown 509 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,770 up with, they would kill to know that information, right. 510 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,520 Not because it benefits them, not because somehow with that 511 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:46,530 information, they're gonna do something positive in the world. 512 00:15:46,950 --> 00:15:48,360 It's literally an ego thing. 513 00:15:48,630 --> 00:15:48,900 Yeah. 514 00:15:48,930 --> 00:15:49,620 Just an ego thing. 515 00:15:49,620 --> 00:15:51,270 And it will likely just make them feel bad. 516 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:52,290 Yeah. 517 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:52,740 Yeah. 518 00:15:52,740 --> 00:15:54,330 I find myself just saying over and over again, 519 00:15:54,330 --> 00:15:56,010 man, it's like, look, I'm not public about money. 520 00:15:56,370 --> 00:15:57,990 I'm fortunate and I'm grateful. 521 00:15:58,350 --> 00:15:58,980 That's what I'll say. 522 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:00,210 Like it's just that it's it. 523 00:16:01,140 --> 00:16:02,010 That's what you need to know. 524 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:04,680 I've done, I've done some good and I'm happy about it. 525 00:16:04,740 --> 00:16:06,719 And, uh, I'm happy to spend some time with you. 526 00:16:06,959 --> 00:16:08,310 I'm not happy to spend my money on you. 527 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:08,819 That's, 528 00:16:09,030 --> 00:16:09,510 yeah. 529 00:16:09,510 --> 00:16:14,219 And so, um, this concept of not painting a bullseye on 530 00:16:14,219 --> 00:16:16,439 your back isn't insignificant. 531 00:16:16,979 --> 00:16:18,120 So here's what I did with it. 532 00:16:18,390 --> 00:16:20,339 I painted the world's biggest bullseye could 533 00:16:20,339 --> 00:16:21,780 possibly find, right? 534 00:16:22,380 --> 00:16:26,250 I'm like, did it come in the form of a. Yellow Lamborghini. 535 00:16:26,250 --> 00:16:27,540 Will a red Lamborghini. 536 00:16:27,540 --> 00:16:28,020 Much different. 537 00:16:28,020 --> 00:16:28,290 Ryan. 538 00:16:28,470 --> 00:16:29,340 Uh, that will come much later. 539 00:16:29,340 --> 00:16:29,400 Yeah. 540 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:29,699 Sorry. 541 00:16:29,819 --> 00:16:34,680 It was so comical, like how badly I use this information. 542 00:16:35,565 --> 00:16:40,095 Every single bit of what I just told you that you shouldn't 543 00:16:40,095 --> 00:16:41,355 do or what will happen. 544 00:16:41,355 --> 00:16:43,515 Yeah, I did do and did happen. 545 00:16:43,605 --> 00:16:43,815 Right? 546 00:16:43,995 --> 00:16:45,920 That's that's why you know, to tell the story. 547 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:46,440 This is speculation. 548 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:46,800 You're, 549 00:16:46,980 --> 00:16:48,855 you're here to warn everyone else 550 00:16:48,885 --> 00:16:49,995 they Right. 551 00:16:50,265 --> 00:16:52,845 And it's so funny because I watch my friends go through it. 552 00:16:52,995 --> 00:16:55,845 Now, here's why people share that information, because 553 00:16:55,845 --> 00:16:57,015 they wanna feel validated. 554 00:16:57,165 --> 00:16:58,305 I wanted to feel validated. 555 00:16:58,305 --> 00:16:59,175 I was a poor kid. 556 00:16:59,235 --> 00:17:00,285 I'd made some money, right? 557 00:17:00,285 --> 00:17:02,115 Everyone thought I was gonna be a giant loser, right? 558 00:17:02,115 --> 00:17:04,065 So it was validating for me to say. 559 00:17:04,709 --> 00:17:06,149 Red Lamborghini or whatever, right? 560 00:17:06,149 --> 00:17:06,419 Yeah. 561 00:17:06,599 --> 00:17:09,270 What didn't occur to me was, I thought it ended 562 00:17:09,270 --> 00:17:12,209 at that it's, Hey friends, look red Lamborghini. 563 00:17:12,270 --> 00:17:14,250 Oh, you're validated will, you're not a total loser. 564 00:17:14,250 --> 00:17:14,609 Right? 565 00:17:14,790 --> 00:17:17,490 And that was like that first off, that didn't happen. 566 00:17:17,550 --> 00:17:17,879 Right. 567 00:17:17,939 --> 00:17:19,619 They're like, you're now a loser with a Lamborghini 568 00:17:19,889 --> 00:17:23,879 and second only losers by the red ones will. 569 00:17:23,939 --> 00:17:24,569 Yeah, exactly. 570 00:17:24,569 --> 00:17:24,990 Exactly. 571 00:17:24,990 --> 00:17:27,540 So, but secondly, I realized that all it did 572 00:17:27,540 --> 00:17:28,349 is make people hate me. 573 00:17:29,220 --> 00:17:32,640 Like, they'll, they'll secretly high five you, you, you'll think 574 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:36,690 you're getting that validation or whatever, but really they're 575 00:17:36,690 --> 00:17:38,040 like, look at that guy, right? 576 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:38,100 Yeah. 577 00:17:38,100 --> 00:17:40,650 Little does he know all five of those were middle fingers. 578 00:17:40,890 --> 00:17:41,370 Fuck him. 579 00:17:44,175 --> 00:17:44,985 But seriously, man. 580 00:17:44,985 --> 00:17:49,125 And so then the other side of it was like, almost like, like 581 00:17:49,125 --> 00:17:50,865 frigging uh, rats to cheese. 582 00:17:51,045 --> 00:17:54,435 All of these like vendors come outta the woodwork, right? 583 00:17:54,525 --> 00:17:55,055 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 584 00:17:55,125 --> 00:17:58,095 Financial planners, life insurance people, realtors, 585 00:17:58,095 --> 00:18:00,345 car dealers, you know, like accountants, like you. 586 00:18:00,525 --> 00:18:04,065 All of these people just pour out of the woodwork, right? 587 00:18:04,065 --> 00:18:04,185 Yeah. 588 00:18:04,305 --> 00:18:05,410 And everyone wants to be your friend. 589 00:18:06,135 --> 00:18:07,875 If you really like steak dinners, it's a great way to 590 00:18:07,875 --> 00:18:08,925 get a lot of free steak dinners. 591 00:18:09,855 --> 00:18:12,585 But short of that, it's their job to go find these people. 592 00:18:12,585 --> 00:18:13,035 I get it. 593 00:18:13,755 --> 00:18:15,435 Like, but I think it's gross. 594 00:18:15,585 --> 00:18:18,825 And so it was all of the wrong attention. 595 00:18:19,260 --> 00:18:20,930 Completely self-inflicted. 596 00:18:21,020 --> 00:18:22,570 Completely self-inflicted. 597 00:18:22,570 --> 00:18:22,820 Completely self-inflicted. 598 00:18:23,235 --> 00:18:23,685 That's the thing. 599 00:18:23,745 --> 00:18:25,755 It's, it's so easy just not to say anything. 600 00:18:25,845 --> 00:18:27,135 Well, yes and no. 601 00:18:27,195 --> 00:18:29,775 I mean, it, it technically, you know, physically it's very 602 00:18:29,775 --> 00:18:30,795 easy just not to say anything. 603 00:18:31,334 --> 00:18:33,794 I think to your point, emotionally it is 604 00:18:33,794 --> 00:18:35,504 psychologically it can be quite hard. 605 00:18:35,504 --> 00:18:37,425 'cause you are looking for validation, right? 606 00:18:37,425 --> 00:18:39,705 You're want to go back and tell those people who said, 607 00:18:39,915 --> 00:18:40,995 you should just get the job. 608 00:18:40,995 --> 00:18:42,645 You shouldn't risk this, you shouldn't do that. 609 00:18:42,645 --> 00:18:45,014 You should just spend your time here instead, why are 610 00:18:45,014 --> 00:18:47,205 you doing all this nonsense and this will never work out? 611 00:18:47,594 --> 00:18:50,895 You wanted to show them in a way that was irrefutable 612 00:18:51,014 --> 00:18:52,425 because they didn't believe all the other things you've 613 00:18:52,425 --> 00:18:53,895 told them all the way through. 614 00:18:54,465 --> 00:18:57,794 They needed some quantifiable measure in the form of a 615 00:18:57,794 --> 00:18:58,905 bank account or a check. 616 00:18:59,160 --> 00:18:59,250 Right. 617 00:18:59,850 --> 00:19:01,110 They made them go, huh? 618 00:19:01,110 --> 00:19:01,710 You were right. 619 00:19:02,460 --> 00:19:03,660 And we do need to be right. 620 00:19:03,660 --> 00:19:04,080 Sometimes 621 00:19:04,260 --> 00:19:06,990 I had a situation with a co-founder around that same, 622 00:19:07,020 --> 00:19:10,050 around, uh, the, the venture time, uh, who had, who'd 623 00:19:10,050 --> 00:19:11,250 done fairly well for himself. 624 00:19:11,700 --> 00:19:14,700 And I remember him grilling me on the number, right? 625 00:19:14,700 --> 00:19:16,050 He's like, just tell me the number. 626 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,200 And what it was is he wanted to know whether I, whether 627 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:21,630 or not I had more leverage in our discussion in the future. 628 00:19:21,990 --> 00:19:22,260 Right. 629 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,830 Ergo, if I had a big number, he was in trouble because 630 00:19:25,830 --> 00:19:28,230 he couldn't like big time me, but if it was a small 631 00:19:28,230 --> 00:19:29,100 number, he could leverage me. 632 00:19:29,100 --> 00:19:31,140 I'm like, how transparent is this? 633 00:19:31,170 --> 00:19:32,010 Is this ask? 634 00:19:32,130 --> 00:19:32,460 Right? 635 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:34,020 I'm like, dude, I'm not telling you anything. 636 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:36,870 And so what's interesting about that is when you 637 00:19:36,870 --> 00:19:37,890 tell people nothing, you. 638 00:19:37,975 --> 00:19:39,415 There's just so much less to go on. 639 00:19:39,655 --> 00:19:41,185 And they look at it one of two ways. 640 00:19:41,185 --> 00:19:41,544 They look at it. 641 00:19:41,544 --> 00:19:43,945 Either he's hiding a lot of money or he is full of shit. 642 00:19:43,945 --> 00:19:45,415 He doesn't wanna say how, how small the number is. 643 00:19:45,415 --> 00:19:45,685 Right. 644 00:19:45,955 --> 00:19:47,754 But either way, both are an option. 645 00:19:47,814 --> 00:19:49,794 So you're not stuck with the check, so to speak. 646 00:19:49,975 --> 00:19:50,215 Right. 647 00:19:50,485 --> 00:19:52,135 You're not, you're not getting leveraged one way or the other. 648 00:19:52,314 --> 00:19:52,855 Correct. 649 00:19:52,855 --> 00:19:54,955 And so the best thing is no information at all. 650 00:19:55,135 --> 00:19:57,145 So that's, that's where the conversation starts. 651 00:19:57,145 --> 00:19:58,135 Like, like step one. 652 00:19:58,139 --> 00:19:58,490 Shut up. 653 00:19:59,460 --> 00:19:59,580 Yeah. 654 00:19:59,580 --> 00:20:01,590 Step one, don't announce anything, right? 655 00:20:01,770 --> 00:20:03,330 Don't social media, this thing, right? 656 00:20:03,330 --> 00:20:04,890 Don't become an influencer with, with all your new 657 00:20:04,890 --> 00:20:06,000 money and your 12 pack abs. 658 00:20:06,390 --> 00:20:11,790 And so the next thing right, is a massive mentality shift, 659 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:17,370 a massive mentality shift from offense to defense. 660 00:20:17,490 --> 00:20:21,390 The idea is, up until this point, up until this point, 661 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:22,860 we've played offense. 662 00:20:22,860 --> 00:20:24,450 Meaning we're just trying to make money because 663 00:20:24,450 --> 00:20:26,100 we have none, right? 664 00:20:26,100 --> 00:20:26,160 Yeah. 665 00:20:26,250 --> 00:20:27,450 We have nothing to defend. 666 00:20:28,215 --> 00:20:29,235 And that's most of the world. 667 00:20:29,265 --> 00:20:31,335 Most of the world has nothing to defend. 668 00:20:31,335 --> 00:20:33,885 So every, every effort, every dollar is upside. 669 00:20:34,215 --> 00:20:37,935 The reason that top 1% that everybody talks about behaves 670 00:20:37,935 --> 00:20:42,585 so differently is because making more really won't change 671 00:20:42,585 --> 00:20:46,035 their lives, but losing it, Allah, taxation, et cetera, 672 00:20:46,275 --> 00:20:47,805 will definitely mess them up. 673 00:20:48,405 --> 00:20:52,815 And so, uh, the next thing I explain that topically is look 674 00:20:52,875 --> 00:20:54,675 from this point on in life. 675 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,330 All you can do is lose. 676 00:20:57,660 --> 00:20:58,560 You've already won. 677 00:20:58,860 --> 00:20:59,070 Right? 678 00:20:59,070 --> 00:20:59,970 You've already won. 679 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:01,740 Now all you can do is lose. 680 00:21:01,740 --> 00:21:04,560 And Ryan, it takes people a while to get to, to 681 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:05,370 get this mentality. 682 00:21:05,370 --> 00:21:05,820 Do you know what I mean? 683 00:21:05,820 --> 00:21:06,480 It does, man. 684 00:21:06,660 --> 00:21:07,050 Well, we've 685 00:21:07,050 --> 00:21:09,150 been a contestant for so long, right? 686 00:21:09,150 --> 00:21:10,620 We've been a contestant for so long. 687 00:21:10,950 --> 00:21:12,210 Now we've won the prize. 688 00:21:12,210 --> 00:21:15,150 We're no longer a contestant A, we're now the custodian, right? 689 00:21:15,150 --> 00:21:15,720 Of the trophy. 690 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,300 And so I think it is, it's a super hard mentality 691 00:21:18,300 --> 00:21:21,330 we've been chasing for so long that once we have it. 692 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:24,420 Like, how do you make that momentum shift from running 693 00:21:24,420 --> 00:21:30,450 on adrenaline to running on caution and care and, and just 694 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:34,380 making sure that you keep what you have so long in build mode 695 00:21:34,740 --> 00:21:37,140 that maintain just doesn't even, doesn't even enter the picture 696 00:21:37,140 --> 00:21:37,560 for us. 697 00:21:37,860 --> 00:21:38,670 Lemme give an example. 698 00:21:39,300 --> 00:21:43,140 Let's say you had $5 million, which is a ton of money, okay? 699 00:21:43,350 --> 00:21:44,850 But I'm, but I'm just gonna use this as a reference. 700 00:21:44,850 --> 00:21:46,080 It doesn't have to be 5 million. 701 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:48,060 This, this applies to 500,000, right? 702 00:21:48,060 --> 00:21:49,230 So I'm just using it as an arbitrary number. 703 00:21:49,770 --> 00:21:52,380 $5 million, depending on how you invested it. 704 00:21:52,380 --> 00:21:54,540 You could earn, let's say, $40,000 a month, 705 00:21:54,900 --> 00:21:56,370 which is a lot of cash. 706 00:21:56,460 --> 00:21:56,700 Okay. 707 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:56,970 Yep. 708 00:21:56,970 --> 00:21:58,260 For the rest of your life. 709 00:21:58,320 --> 00:21:58,950 Rest of your life. 710 00:21:59,010 --> 00:22:00,600 Without, without depleting the principle. 711 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:00,900 Yeah, 712 00:22:01,170 --> 00:22:01,620 exactly. 713 00:22:01,620 --> 00:22:02,610 Without ever touching the principle. 714 00:22:03,060 --> 00:22:06,000 Now, there's part of you that says, well, if it's 715 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:07,140 five, I could make it 10. 716 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:08,130 Right? 717 00:22:08,700 --> 00:22:09,035 You could. 718 00:22:10,065 --> 00:22:10,815 Here's the thing. 719 00:22:11,445 --> 00:22:16,065 What you can earn or, uh, accomplish with $5 million 720 00:22:16,425 --> 00:22:20,205 gets you to 90% of what most people will ever want or need. 721 00:22:20,670 --> 00:22:20,960 Yeah. 722 00:22:20,965 --> 00:22:21,225 Yeah. 723 00:22:21,525 --> 00:22:23,505 Which means you've won, you got to 90%. 724 00:22:24,135 --> 00:22:24,285 Right. 725 00:22:24,285 --> 00:22:27,285 But invariably 'cause of how we're built as founders we're 726 00:22:27,285 --> 00:22:30,075 like, yeah, but the next 10%, you know, I'm still flying 727 00:22:30,075 --> 00:22:31,815 commercial, not private, you know, you name it. 728 00:22:31,815 --> 00:22:32,115 Right? 729 00:22:32,445 --> 00:22:35,385 And it's like, okay, but now think about this. 730 00:22:35,925 --> 00:22:37,665 If you win, you get 10%. 731 00:22:37,695 --> 00:22:39,285 If you lose, you lose 90%. 732 00:22:39,645 --> 00:22:41,955 It takes people a while to understand for the 733 00:22:41,955 --> 00:22:42,975 first time in their lives. 734 00:22:43,455 --> 00:22:44,535 That's a mentality shift. 735 00:22:44,535 --> 00:22:44,595 Yeah. 736 00:22:45,075 --> 00:22:47,175 Like you have something to lose. 737 00:22:47,595 --> 00:22:48,855 Whereas before you kind of didn't, 738 00:22:49,155 --> 00:22:51,765 didn't, and you just, you needed more because you had none. 739 00:22:51,765 --> 00:22:53,595 So you need more to have something, but then you gotta 740 00:22:53,595 --> 00:22:57,375 go from more to keep, you have to move from more to keep. 741 00:22:57,675 --> 00:23:01,155 It's a hard mentality to shift, especially at that point where 742 00:23:01,155 --> 00:23:04,455 you've just finally truly numerically realized success. 743 00:23:05,250 --> 00:23:08,730 From a financial standpoint, you feel like it's like telling Tom 744 00:23:08,730 --> 00:23:10,200 Brady, don't ever play again. 745 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:11,340 You just won the Super Bowl. 746 00:23:11,340 --> 00:23:13,110 This is not a good time to play more football. 747 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:15,690 And he's like, this feels like exactly the time 748 00:23:15,690 --> 00:23:16,530 to play more football. 749 00:23:16,740 --> 00:23:17,460 Exactly. 750 00:23:17,820 --> 00:23:19,680 Okay, so let's, let's talk about that. 751 00:23:20,100 --> 00:23:23,970 The problem is, the moment Tom Brady wins the Super Bowl, 752 00:23:23,970 --> 00:23:26,160 the moment you get your 5 million or you know, whatever 753 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:28,230 the number is, again, the number here is irrelevant. 754 00:23:28,890 --> 00:23:32,100 The moment you get that, you feel the most invincible. 755 00:23:32,595 --> 00:23:36,285 At a time when you're actually most vulnerable because you 756 00:23:36,285 --> 00:23:38,295 think I'm a winner, right? 757 00:23:38,295 --> 00:23:38,355 Yeah. 758 00:23:38,385 --> 00:23:40,660 I go out and I win, so I'm gonna go win more. 759 00:23:40,660 --> 00:23:41,399 That's, that's what I do. 760 00:23:41,504 --> 00:23:42,225 It's all I do. 761 00:23:42,435 --> 00:23:42,764 Correct. 762 00:23:42,764 --> 00:23:46,095 Because up until that very second, it's been all wins. 763 00:23:46,455 --> 00:23:49,754 It's not until you lose it, until you realize, 764 00:23:50,445 --> 00:23:52,905 oh shit, it, it, like, it only goes one direction. 765 00:23:53,205 --> 00:23:56,355 So I always give you, um, uh, give people a, a casino analogy. 766 00:23:56,355 --> 00:23:59,715 And I say when you go to the casino, you can win forever. 767 00:23:59,775 --> 00:24:01,605 If you go to the blackjack table, you can keep on winning. 768 00:24:01,875 --> 00:24:02,235 Right. 769 00:24:02,745 --> 00:24:05,295 But if you lose it all, you can only lose it all once. 770 00:24:05,475 --> 00:24:07,305 Now, let's apply this to this concept of all 771 00:24:07,305 --> 00:24:08,295 you can do is lose. 772 00:24:08,865 --> 00:24:12,015 Let's say you've got your $5 million, and in your mind, I'm 773 00:24:12,015 --> 00:24:14,655 gonna bet it all on, on a new startup, I'm gonna, you know, 774 00:24:14,655 --> 00:24:17,115 put it all in, in frigging crypto, you know, you name it, 775 00:24:17,145 --> 00:24:19,755 whatever your high risk, high reward strategy is, right? 776 00:24:19,875 --> 00:24:21,375 You know, you're betting on an IPO, whatever. 777 00:24:21,765 --> 00:24:26,175 If it goes well and you get from five to 10, that sounds awesome. 778 00:24:26,415 --> 00:24:26,655 Okay? 779 00:24:26,655 --> 00:24:26,715 Yeah. 780 00:24:26,715 --> 00:24:29,115 And, and that will give you a very marginal 781 00:24:29,175 --> 00:24:30,135 improvement in life. 782 00:24:30,660 --> 00:24:32,280 Because you can already afford most of the things 783 00:24:32,310 --> 00:24:33,060 like that you'd want. 784 00:24:33,060 --> 00:24:33,220 Yep. 785 00:24:33,220 --> 00:24:33,420 You've 786 00:24:33,420 --> 00:24:35,730 already got everything you need and most of what you want. 787 00:24:35,820 --> 00:24:37,260 But if you lose it, right, you unless wanna go from 788 00:24:37,260 --> 00:24:40,230 fishing boat to a boat that you can fish for boats in. 789 00:24:40,260 --> 00:24:40,530 Yeah. 790 00:24:40,620 --> 00:24:41,790 Then right. 791 00:24:42,660 --> 00:24:45,840 But if you lose it, you know something that's really funny 792 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:49,230 about everything we talk about here is that none of it. 793 00:24:49,584 --> 00:24:50,094 Is new. 794 00:24:50,334 --> 00:24:52,915 Everything you're dealing with right now has been done a 795 00:24:52,915 --> 00:24:56,754 thousand times before you, which means the answer already exists. 796 00:24:56,754 --> 00:24:58,645 You may just not know it, but that's okay. 797 00:24:59,004 --> 00:25:00,804 That's kind of what we're here to do. 798 00:25:00,865 --> 00:25:03,475 We talk about this stuff on the show, but we actually 799 00:25:03,475 --> 00:25:07,465 solve these problems all dayLong@groups.startups.com. 800 00:25:07,675 --> 00:25:10,945 So if any of this sounds familiar, stop guessing 801 00:25:11,004 --> 00:25:14,004 about what to do, let us just give you the answers to the 802 00:25:14,004 --> 00:25:15,475 test and be done with it. 803 00:25:15,504 --> 00:25:17,125 Here's the part that that, that folks miss. 804 00:25:17,715 --> 00:25:18,945 You don't get it back. 805 00:25:19,095 --> 00:25:22,485 And I think the reason this is such hard advice for founders 806 00:25:22,485 --> 00:25:27,285 to, to process at that time is because when you've just won 807 00:25:27,285 --> 00:25:31,095 so much, it's hard to think about not being able to get it. 808 00:25:31,095 --> 00:25:31,485 Again. 809 00:25:32,025 --> 00:25:33,945 It's an athlete, you know, that young athlete getting 810 00:25:33,945 --> 00:25:37,690 that $10 million as a signing bonus saying, well, if I'm 811 00:25:37,690 --> 00:25:40,095 worth $10 million now, I'm worth at least 20, 30, a 812 00:25:40,095 --> 00:25:41,475 hundred in the future, right? 813 00:25:41,835 --> 00:25:42,645 Until you get injured. 814 00:25:43,139 --> 00:25:45,270 Until the stock market changes, until, until 815 00:25:45,270 --> 00:25:48,060 COVID happens, until you, you, you name it, right? 816 00:25:48,209 --> 00:25:52,620 Until something happens with or without your control that 817 00:25:52,620 --> 00:25:56,189 removes it from you in the statistical probability that 818 00:25:56,189 --> 00:26:00,030 you'll ever get back here is infinitesimally small. 819 00:26:00,179 --> 00:26:01,050 It's tiny. 820 00:26:01,139 --> 00:26:01,620 That's the thing. 821 00:26:01,620 --> 00:26:04,919 I think people don't realize that there's an 822 00:26:04,919 --> 00:26:05,909 elasticity there, right? 823 00:26:05,909 --> 00:26:09,629 It is very easy to hit fortune and bounce back to zero. 824 00:26:10,004 --> 00:26:12,764 It is not easy to bounce off of zero back to fortune. 825 00:26:13,034 --> 00:26:14,895 It just does not happen statistically. 826 00:26:14,895 --> 00:26:15,675 It just doesn't happen. 827 00:26:15,675 --> 00:26:19,395 It's so, so difficult and you know, the, everything had to 828 00:26:19,395 --> 00:26:21,764 align the first time to have to, to create the wealth. 829 00:26:22,425 --> 00:26:25,754 Not very much has to align for it to go the other direction. 830 00:26:25,754 --> 00:26:25,875 Right. 831 00:26:25,875 --> 00:26:28,155 You can just, a couple bad decisions can 832 00:26:28,155 --> 00:26:29,264 absolutely end it all. 833 00:26:29,294 --> 00:26:30,735 I think that that's what we have to understand is 834 00:26:30,735 --> 00:26:34,665 that like the upside is marginal, the downside. 835 00:26:34,995 --> 00:26:37,875 Is catastrophic and can be complete. 836 00:26:38,054 --> 00:26:38,355 Right? 837 00:26:38,685 --> 00:26:42,375 We have to reprice risk in terms of thinking tiny gains 838 00:26:42,375 --> 00:26:44,715 versus irreversible losses. 839 00:26:44,865 --> 00:26:45,105 But 840 00:26:45,284 --> 00:26:47,205 this is a huge mentality shift. 841 00:26:47,385 --> 00:26:49,125 We've never played defense 'cause we didn't 842 00:26:49,125 --> 00:26:49,995 have anything to defend. 843 00:26:50,294 --> 00:26:51,915 We've never played defense before. 844 00:26:52,094 --> 00:26:52,485 Right? 845 00:26:52,665 --> 00:26:55,635 And, and I remember like again early on around 846 00:26:55,635 --> 00:26:58,940 that red Lamborghini time, I bought a. A house. 847 00:26:58,970 --> 00:27:00,800 I moved outta my campus apartment and moved 848 00:27:00,860 --> 00:27:01,490 and bought a house. 849 00:27:01,610 --> 00:27:02,240 Nothing crazy. 850 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:03,410 Extremely modest house. 851 00:27:03,830 --> 00:27:06,620 And I thought to myself, man, if I screw all this up, I'm gonna 852 00:27:06,620 --> 00:27:07,580 get kicked outta this house. 853 00:27:07,940 --> 00:27:09,410 And the first time in my life I was like, I 854 00:27:09,410 --> 00:27:10,550 have something to lose. 855 00:27:11,030 --> 00:27:13,610 And I've never had anything, so I didn't have anything to lose. 856 00:27:13,940 --> 00:27:15,170 And I was like, oh damn. 857 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,170 For the first time, I have to start making decisions 858 00:27:18,350 --> 00:27:20,690 based on a defensive scenario. 859 00:27:21,285 --> 00:27:22,665 Not just all offense. 860 00:27:23,055 --> 00:27:26,505 And Ryan, I'll harken back to when we bought virtual, right? 861 00:27:26,505 --> 00:27:28,125 Remember when we were, we're putting the plans 862 00:27:28,125 --> 00:27:30,495 together, our financial plans, our risk assessment, 863 00:27:30,495 --> 00:27:34,185 et cetera, was basically like all downside risk, right? 864 00:27:34,185 --> 00:27:36,165 In other words, we are already running a successful company. 865 00:27:36,465 --> 00:27:37,545 All we could do is fuck it up. 866 00:27:37,590 --> 00:27:38,760 So how do we make sure 867 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:39,990 this doesn't hurt us? 868 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:40,590 Correct. 869 00:27:40,770 --> 00:27:41,010 Right. 870 00:27:41,010 --> 00:27:43,199 If it goes well, that's not a hard problem to solve, 871 00:27:43,470 --> 00:27:45,600 but if it goes south, isn't that funny though? 872 00:27:45,810 --> 00:27:47,370 But just stick on that for a second, man. 873 00:27:47,370 --> 00:27:48,990 Because this is where everybody's like, they 874 00:27:48,990 --> 00:27:51,149 get out the spreadsheets and they're like, can I 875 00:27:51,149 --> 00:27:52,050 multiply it by a thousand? 876 00:27:52,050 --> 00:27:53,520 Multiply it by 10,000, multiply by a hundred thousand. 877 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:53,635 Oh my God. 878 00:27:53,635 --> 00:27:54,355 It's gonna be amazing. 879 00:27:55,340 --> 00:27:56,000 Yeah. 880 00:27:56,030 --> 00:27:56,300 Right. 881 00:27:56,300 --> 00:27:57,590 And you don't need to plan for that. 882 00:27:57,590 --> 00:27:58,760 You don't need to plan for success. 883 00:27:58,760 --> 00:27:59,150 Yes. 884 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:00,800 Scale comes with some challenges. 885 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:01,610 Believe me. 886 00:28:01,700 --> 00:28:03,440 They're all really fun to solve, right? 887 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:03,680 Yeah. 888 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:04,880 And they're all a lot easier to solve. 889 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:05,205 It comes to challenges, failure. 890 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:06,290 You've got revenue and cash. 891 00:28:06,290 --> 00:28:06,500 Yeah. 892 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:07,610 A lot of leverage to do it. 893 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:09,800 But nobody thinks enough about the downside. 894 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:10,970 Like what if this absolutely rees? 895 00:28:11,300 --> 00:28:12,800 What if this thing becomes an anchor around our 896 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:14,960 neck and we're in deeper water than ever before? 897 00:28:15,170 --> 00:28:15,410 Yeah. 898 00:28:15,410 --> 00:28:17,805 This is where you've gotta spend your time doing the calculus. 899 00:28:18,375 --> 00:28:18,855 Agreed. 900 00:28:18,915 --> 00:28:21,105 And so for, for a lot of folks, you know, again, 901 00:28:21,105 --> 00:28:23,715 they get this big, uh, pile of cash and they're like, 902 00:28:23,895 --> 00:28:25,545 how do I basically bet it? 903 00:28:25,605 --> 00:28:28,995 I just want at the table, I, I hate to align Building 904 00:28:28,995 --> 00:28:31,725 a startup or, or doing a startup With gambling, 905 00:28:31,725 --> 00:28:32,595 it's not the same thing. 906 00:28:32,595 --> 00:28:33,795 People like, oh, there's, there's risk, 907 00:28:33,975 --> 00:28:35,415 or there's luck involved. 908 00:28:35,685 --> 00:28:36,345 Not really. 909 00:28:36,555 --> 00:28:38,535 It's not like anybody that's never tried it. 910 00:28:38,535 --> 00:28:40,260 Anything just magically money fell outta the ceiling. 911 00:28:40,979 --> 00:28:42,270 Like it doesn't work like that. 912 00:28:42,689 --> 00:28:46,469 But regardless, it would be the equivalent of having 913 00:28:46,469 --> 00:28:49,020 like a chance in hell lifetime, uh, chance that 914 00:28:49,020 --> 00:28:51,600 you could win this incredible hand at the poker table. 915 00:28:51,899 --> 00:28:53,939 Then taking all of those winnings and playing them on 916 00:28:53,939 --> 00:28:56,669 another hand being like, well, if I just had this big win, 917 00:28:56,699 --> 00:28:57,750 I'll have another big win. 918 00:28:57,959 --> 00:29:00,750 It's like, dude, you know, statistically unlikely it was 919 00:29:00,750 --> 00:29:02,040 that you got that first win. 920 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:02,100 Yeah. 921 00:29:02,250 --> 00:29:04,439 The dumbest thing you could possibly do is say, 922 00:29:04,770 --> 00:29:05,790 I'm gonna do that twice. 923 00:29:06,090 --> 00:29:08,129 Now that doesn't mean go, don't try something else. 924 00:29:08,129 --> 00:29:09,449 It doesn't mean quit working. 925 00:29:09,929 --> 00:29:10,149 It means. 926 00:29:10,860 --> 00:29:15,930 For the first time, your number one job in life is do not 927 00:29:15,930 --> 00:29:16,380 lose. 928 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:18,450 You gotta, you gotta move to preserve your 929 00:29:18,450 --> 00:29:19,410 optionality, right? 930 00:29:19,410 --> 00:29:20,160 This is your new job. 931 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:21,300 Preserve your optionality. 932 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:24,600 Buy yourself some time compound quietly. 933 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,540 Like I, I have often heard and like, I, I think 934 00:29:27,540 --> 00:29:30,210 it's a great, it's like a cool off clause, right? 935 00:29:30,750 --> 00:29:33,330 Commit to a cool off period where like you've now just 936 00:29:33,330 --> 00:29:35,430 done something you're not, because how often do we see this 937 00:29:35,430 --> 00:29:38,550 will sell startup wire hits? 938 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:40,260 What's the first thing they start doing? 939 00:29:40,725 --> 00:29:42,765 Investing in other startup companies, they start 940 00:29:42,765 --> 00:29:44,655 buying shit or investing in startup companies. 941 00:29:44,655 --> 00:29:46,695 They make one-time decisions. 942 00:29:47,055 --> 00:29:48,945 I would argue buying shit is usually a better idea. 943 00:29:49,905 --> 00:29:50,145 Better idea. 944 00:29:50,895 --> 00:29:51,225 Right. 945 00:29:51,435 --> 00:29:53,565 At least some of that has a, a liquidation value, right? 946 00:29:53,595 --> 00:29:53,745 Yeah. 947 00:29:53,745 --> 00:29:54,015 Right. 948 00:29:54,375 --> 00:29:56,325 But yeah, it's, it's, it's a massive mindset shift. 949 00:29:56,325 --> 00:29:59,475 You have to start playing defense for the first time 950 00:29:59,895 --> 00:30:02,175 ever because there's something to lose, like you said it, 951 00:30:02,175 --> 00:30:03,945 you have to, it's almost like shifting from playing, 952 00:30:03,945 --> 00:30:05,685 I don't know, something like tag or hide and go seek. 953 00:30:06,420 --> 00:30:07,350 To capture the flag. 954 00:30:07,410 --> 00:30:07,710 Right. 955 00:30:07,950 --> 00:30:09,930 You now gotta cover what you've earned. 956 00:30:09,930 --> 00:30:10,110 Yeah. 957 00:30:10,110 --> 00:30:11,280 You just don't wanna play offense. 958 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:11,670 Great. 959 00:30:11,670 --> 00:30:14,850 You cannot just leave everything you've earned fully exposed 960 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:16,260 More often than not. 961 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:17,160 Here's what I hear, though. 962 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:17,850 I see. 963 00:30:17,850 --> 00:30:18,090 Yeah. 964 00:30:18,090 --> 00:30:20,850 But Will, and I hear this a lot, I don't want people to 965 00:30:20,850 --> 00:30:21,870 think I'm a one hit wonder. 966 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:24,690 I've gotta show to everyone that this wasn't a fluke, 967 00:30:24,750 --> 00:30:25,800 and then I can do it again. 968 00:30:26,220 --> 00:30:28,620 Now, once again, I, I'm recounting 969 00:30:28,620 --> 00:30:30,480 27-year-old will, right? 970 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:30,490 Yeah. 971 00:30:30,490 --> 00:30:32,310 You know, years later when he is like, okay, I 972 00:30:32,310 --> 00:30:33,540 had some, some success. 973 00:30:33,780 --> 00:30:34,770 I've gotta go do it again. 974 00:30:35,129 --> 00:30:35,460 Right. 975 00:30:35,669 --> 00:30:36,240 I get it. 976 00:30:36,270 --> 00:30:37,620 I get the validation need. 977 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:38,760 Isn't that funny though? 978 00:30:38,939 --> 00:30:39,870 We don't learn it the first time. 979 00:30:39,870 --> 00:30:40,139 Right? 980 00:30:40,290 --> 00:30:40,800 We go out. 981 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:41,129 We do. 982 00:30:41,129 --> 00:30:41,970 Exactly. 983 00:30:41,970 --> 00:30:42,780 Exactly. 984 00:30:42,780 --> 00:30:45,810 If they were, if we were going to achieve validation, doing 985 00:30:45,810 --> 00:30:48,210 it once, would've done it, and yet we're like, Nope, I 986 00:30:48,210 --> 00:30:51,480 gotta tell everybody so they can see I'm not the fuck up. 987 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:52,365 They thought I was and they're like. 988 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:54,320 Nah, you're just the fuck up. 989 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:54,860 They got lucky. 990 00:30:54,860 --> 00:30:56,450 And you're like, well, I'll just do it again. 991 00:30:56,450 --> 00:30:57,770 And they'll believe me the second time. 992 00:30:57,770 --> 00:30:58,070 Right. 993 00:30:58,159 --> 00:30:58,850 Geez, 994 00:30:58,970 --> 00:31:02,090 what's broken with, with that whole line of thinking and 995 00:31:02,090 --> 00:31:04,340 it sends so many founders off the wrong direction. 996 00:31:04,429 --> 00:31:04,669 Yeah. 997 00:31:04,939 --> 00:31:08,629 Is that the whole point is you only needed to win once. 998 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:09,260 Right. 999 00:31:09,260 --> 00:31:09,500 That's it. 1000 00:31:09,620 --> 00:31:12,814 The whole point is you only needed to win once and, and, 1001 00:31:12,860 --> 00:31:15,050 uh, you know, we talked about this on, on previous episodes, 1002 00:31:15,290 --> 00:31:16,520 mark Cuban said it best. 1003 00:31:16,580 --> 00:31:16,820 Right. 1004 00:31:16,820 --> 00:31:19,159 And I'm not a huge Cuban fan, but I gotta give guy credit. 1005 00:31:19,429 --> 00:31:21,165 He's like, you'll need to win once. 1006 00:31:22,215 --> 00:31:23,685 And, and Cuban did only win once. 1007 00:31:23,685 --> 00:31:25,755 Remember like we went down that rabbit hole and we looked at all 1008 00:31:25,755 --> 00:31:26,835 the other stuff that he's done. 1009 00:31:26,955 --> 00:31:28,365 I'm not knocking him as an entrepreneur. 1010 00:31:28,365 --> 00:31:29,865 I mean, again, he is done way better than I have. 1011 00:31:29,865 --> 00:31:31,215 He had one that worked really well. 1012 00:31:31,245 --> 00:31:35,235 Yeah, but Cuban's whole life was one single moment in the 1013 00:31:35,235 --> 00:31:37,845 nineties that changed everything for him that he earned. 1014 00:31:38,055 --> 00:31:38,385 Right? 1015 00:31:38,445 --> 00:31:41,925 Uh, and since then, has never done anything even 1016 00:31:41,925 --> 00:31:42,885 remotely close to that. 1017 00:31:43,185 --> 00:31:43,395 Right. 1018 00:31:43,395 --> 00:31:44,295 I mean, I mean, Don bought the bs. 1019 00:31:44,295 --> 00:31:46,875 That was pretty cool, but like, like in general, 1020 00:31:47,055 --> 00:31:50,715 that was his thing and he didn't have to do it again. 1021 00:31:51,254 --> 00:31:54,375 Now, every now and again, someone does a Steve Jobs, 1022 00:31:54,375 --> 00:31:57,135 Elon Musk, you know, uh, a three-peat kind of thing 1023 00:31:57,135 --> 00:31:57,645 or something like that. 1024 00:31:57,645 --> 00:32:00,645 Like, okay, cool, but you know, who does, who's not running 1025 00:32:00,645 --> 00:32:01,455 around trying to do that? 1026 00:32:01,515 --> 00:32:04,095 Bill Gates, other than trying to solve malaria and give the whole 1027 00:32:04,095 --> 00:32:06,795 rest of the world his money, dude was like, Nope, I'm good. 1028 00:32:06,945 --> 00:32:08,385 I built, you know, you might have heard of, 1029 00:32:08,385 --> 00:32:09,225 it's called Microsoft. 1030 00:32:09,225 --> 00:32:10,004 It runs every, you know. 1031 00:32:10,905 --> 00:32:11,175 Yeah. 1032 00:32:11,325 --> 00:32:12,975 Every poorly running PC on the planet. 1033 00:32:13,365 --> 00:32:17,145 Uh, and like, so in his mind, the, the win once, now it helps 1034 00:32:17,145 --> 00:32:19,185 if you're, if you're Bill Gates and you're hitting that, that 1035 00:32:19,185 --> 00:32:22,635 threshold, but for all of us are the mere mortals among them. 1036 00:32:22,815 --> 00:32:23,175 Right. 1037 00:32:23,685 --> 00:32:25,485 You only need to win once. 1038 00:32:25,935 --> 00:32:26,205 Right. 1039 00:32:26,235 --> 00:32:28,095 Saying that I have to win twice would be the equivalent 1040 00:32:28,095 --> 00:32:30,435 of saying, I, Hey, I just won the Powerball lottery. 1041 00:32:31,035 --> 00:32:32,685 I'm gonna take all that money and put it on more 1042 00:32:32,685 --> 00:32:35,055 Powerball lottery tickets so I can win more power bowls. 1043 00:32:35,355 --> 00:32:36,795 It's like you could. 1044 00:32:37,155 --> 00:32:38,835 You could do that and it might even work. 1045 00:32:38,955 --> 00:32:43,485 I mean, statistically my, however, you don't have to. 1046 00:32:43,785 --> 00:32:44,505 That's the point. 1047 00:32:44,715 --> 00:32:46,065 The point is you don't have to. 1048 00:32:46,395 --> 00:32:48,255 Now lemme put it differently. 1049 00:32:48,645 --> 00:32:50,745 The other reason that I went out and I wanted to go do 1050 00:32:50,745 --> 00:32:52,635 it again and I would end up doing it eight more times. 1051 00:32:52,635 --> 00:32:53,715 You know, starting eight more companies, 1052 00:32:53,715 --> 00:32:54,645 some work, some didn't. 1053 00:32:55,095 --> 00:32:58,100 Was that I was 27, I don't my whole life ahead. 1054 00:32:58,100 --> 00:32:58,180 Yeah. 1055 00:32:58,935 --> 00:33:01,635 Like even now as I'm much older, I wanna go out and 1056 00:33:01,635 --> 00:33:02,774 build and do more stuff. 1057 00:33:02,835 --> 00:33:04,245 Like I don't wanna hang it up just 'cause I 1058 00:33:04,245 --> 00:33:05,115 made a couple bucks. 1059 00:33:05,264 --> 00:33:06,165 I get that part. 1060 00:33:06,645 --> 00:33:10,274 But that's different than I have something to prove. 1061 00:33:10,754 --> 00:33:15,675 I have something to prove is a wildly dangerous preamble to 1062 00:33:15,705 --> 00:33:17,925 the documentary you're about to build about how you lost it all. 1063 00:33:20,504 --> 00:33:22,004 You don't want that to be your claim to fame. 1064 00:33:22,004 --> 00:33:22,245 Right. 1065 00:33:22,395 --> 00:33:24,465 That one, the top of the charts on Netflix. 1066 00:33:24,554 --> 00:33:24,794 Yeah. 1067 00:33:25,409 --> 00:33:28,800 Look, I, I think at some point I had to have the conversation 1068 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:33,540 with myself and sort of separate my, my identity from velocity. 1069 00:33:33,780 --> 00:33:34,020 Yeah. 1070 00:33:34,020 --> 00:33:37,739 And say like, I can slow down and I can be happy with what 1071 00:33:37,739 --> 00:33:39,550 I've done and still be me. 1072 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:43,290 And to begin to chase meaning more so than magnitude. 1073 00:33:43,500 --> 00:33:44,939 Well, we talked about that last episode, right? 1074 00:33:44,939 --> 00:33:45,689 We, we talked about, 1075 00:33:46,350 --> 00:33:46,439 yeah. 1076 00:33:46,439 --> 00:33:47,820 Pointing your canon somewhere else. 1077 00:33:48,060 --> 00:33:48,959 Somewhere else, right? 1078 00:33:49,110 --> 00:33:50,729 Imagine that another bucket, this bucket. 1079 00:33:50,729 --> 00:33:51,689 Be full, right? 1080 00:33:51,689 --> 00:33:51,870 Yeah. 1081 00:33:51,870 --> 00:33:53,189 Well, how, how about this? 1082 00:33:53,580 --> 00:33:54,780 You solved that problem. 1083 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:55,919 You solved money problem. 1084 00:33:56,189 --> 00:33:59,040 Now go solve 50 other problems that you know, or things that 1085 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:00,270 you can pursue in your life. 1086 00:34:00,754 --> 00:34:01,215 But I think. 1087 00:34:02,145 --> 00:34:04,785 We have to adapt that mentality first. 1088 00:34:04,995 --> 00:34:08,115 We have to men adapt a mentality that if I only ever 1089 00:34:08,115 --> 00:34:13,335 win once, still won 99.9% more than everyone else. 1090 00:34:13,455 --> 00:34:15,195 That's not to say I'm better than them. 1091 00:34:15,465 --> 00:34:18,885 It's to look at the gratitude in saying, damn dude, the 1092 00:34:18,885 --> 00:34:23,445 probability that this was gonna happen at all is freakishly low. 1093 00:34:23,985 --> 00:34:26,655 So for me to look at that and say, but I deserve another. 1094 00:34:27,060 --> 00:34:27,750 Generally doesn't. 1095 00:34:27,750 --> 00:34:27,929 Well, 1096 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,000 the other side of it is like, to, to look at it in a slightly 1097 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,029 different way is to say like, do you wanna risk that, uh, 1098 00:34:33,029 --> 00:34:33,899 that you've already got? 1099 00:34:33,899 --> 00:34:34,080 Right. 1100 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:35,429 You're now in the the 0.1. 1101 00:34:35,879 --> 00:34:36,179 Yeah. 1102 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:36,935 Do you wanna risk that? 1103 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:38,880 For what reason? 1104 00:34:39,029 --> 00:34:40,949 Just to rejoin the 99.99. 1105 00:34:41,340 --> 00:34:42,779 What are you actually doing at that? 1106 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:43,080 There's 1107 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:44,790 some really fascinating studies. 1108 00:34:44,909 --> 00:34:47,759 Remember which book I I was reading this out of is in 1109 00:34:47,759 --> 00:34:49,770 the past year it has more of a reflection, not of 1110 00:34:49,770 --> 00:34:52,199 the book, but of my memory, of the psychology money. 1111 00:34:52,259 --> 00:34:53,275 It was called the Psychology Money Uhhuh. 1112 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:53,930 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 1113 00:34:53,930 --> 00:34:56,370 And, and in the Psychology Money, so the author talks 1114 00:34:56,400 --> 00:35:00,600 about why is it that people who were wildly successful 1115 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:03,480 and wealthy found the need to risk everything. 1116 00:35:04,155 --> 00:35:06,375 To become more successful and wealthy. 1117 00:35:06,615 --> 00:35:09,165 And he gives a couple, uh, case studies of different, 1118 00:35:09,165 --> 00:35:12,525 like, you know, famous rich people that lost it all because 1119 00:35:12,525 --> 00:35:15,465 they was insider trading or, or, or they kind of like 1120 00:35:15,465 --> 00:35:17,175 overstepped the, the bounds. 1121 00:35:17,415 --> 00:35:19,365 And I always thought that was fascinating because I 1122 00:35:19,365 --> 00:35:21,615 thought to myself, these are really smart people. 1123 00:35:21,675 --> 00:35:23,715 Like really interest and already wealthy people 1124 00:35:24,045 --> 00:35:24,675 already wealthy, right? 1125 00:35:24,795 --> 00:35:26,925 They already like won by orders of magnitude, you 1126 00:35:26,925 --> 00:35:29,025 know, they were in some fraction of that 0.1%. 1127 00:35:29,325 --> 00:35:33,105 And I think to myself, the essence of the book, what about. 1128 00:35:33,615 --> 00:35:36,225 What they had made them feel like they didn't have enough. 1129 00:35:36,585 --> 00:35:36,855 Right? 1130 00:35:36,855 --> 00:35:40,125 Like what was it that made them say, any of 1131 00:35:40,125 --> 00:35:40,935 this is worth risking? 1132 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:46,500 And I look at it practically and I say it's just not, 1133 00:35:47,010 --> 00:35:48,870 and I think for, for a lot of these things, the, the, 1134 00:35:48,870 --> 00:35:51,750 the psychology here goes is much more nuanced, right? 1135 00:35:52,050 --> 00:35:52,110 Yeah. 1136 00:35:52,110 --> 00:35:53,430 It's, it's about risk a lot. 1137 00:35:53,430 --> 00:35:56,250 And a lot of times it's, I don't deserve this, so I'm 1138 00:35:56,250 --> 00:35:59,100 going to gamble it until basically life takes it from me. 1139 00:35:59,460 --> 00:35:59,700 Yeah. 1140 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:01,740 I mean, they're gonna let statistics prove to me 1141 00:36:01,740 --> 00:36:04,860 that I should have this and more, or, or take it away. 1142 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:07,230 Or in some cases, like I, I think you and I 1143 00:36:07,230 --> 00:36:09,510 can both name founders that, that fit this mold. 1144 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:09,880 It's that. 1145 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:14,370 They enjoy the, the chase more than they would rather 1146 00:36:14,370 --> 00:36:15,450 chase than accumulate. 1147 00:36:15,629 --> 00:36:17,339 They just actually don't care. 1148 00:36:17,430 --> 00:36:17,850 I agree 1149 00:36:17,910 --> 00:36:19,319 that much about what they've won. 1150 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:19,710 Yep. 1151 00:36:19,710 --> 00:36:22,650 And they're like, honestly, like, I just want to do this. 1152 00:36:22,650 --> 00:36:24,690 And I, I like the risk, I like the adrenaline. 1153 00:36:24,690 --> 00:36:26,310 I like being on the, the bleeding edge. 1154 00:36:26,700 --> 00:36:29,400 And so if I lose it all, I, I lose it. 1155 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:29,730 All right. 1156 00:36:29,730 --> 00:36:32,069 I, until they actually lose it all, then they, then 1157 00:36:32,069 --> 00:36:33,569 they're very, they feel very differently about it. 1158 00:36:33,585 --> 00:36:33,964 You bet. 1159 00:36:33,964 --> 00:36:35,520 Well, but you said something once too, which I think was 1160 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:38,970 really, really smart, which is that create a save point, right. 1161 00:36:39,390 --> 00:36:40,500 Video game style. 1162 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:41,010 Right. 1163 00:36:41,310 --> 00:36:44,040 Just create some level of financial foundation that you 1164 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:47,460 cannot slip back below and then go risk whatever you want 1165 00:36:47,460 --> 00:36:49,560 above that, but keep yourself 1166 00:36:49,860 --> 00:36:51,570 safe at a different level than you were before. 1167 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:53,460 You see us do that in our financial planet. 1168 00:36:53,970 --> 00:36:54,240 Yeah. 1169 00:36:54,540 --> 00:36:54,810 All the time. 1170 00:36:54,810 --> 00:36:54,960 Right? 1171 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:57,030 Uh, we always have a net income number. 1172 00:36:57,180 --> 00:36:58,110 That is our safe point. 1173 00:36:58,380 --> 00:36:58,530 Yep. 1174 00:36:58,530 --> 00:37:00,960 And, and we're basically like, this is the threshold 1175 00:37:01,135 --> 00:37:03,995 at which if we ever get to here, things have to change. 1176 00:37:04,950 --> 00:37:06,720 Once you pass this go, you cannot go back. 1177 00:37:06,930 --> 00:37:09,000 But everyone knows what it is and everyone knows that. 1178 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:12,690 The consequence of that, that safe point is, so 1179 00:37:12,690 --> 00:37:13,740 everyone knows to react. 1180 00:37:14,069 --> 00:37:16,379 If that didn't exist, if it was just like, ah, it's just a 1181 00:37:16,379 --> 00:37:18,839 number and you know, it'll go higher or low or, or positive 1182 00:37:18,839 --> 00:37:19,560 or negative and whatever. 1183 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:19,649 Right. 1184 00:37:19,654 --> 00:37:19,995 It's up this month. 1185 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:21,029 It's down next month. 1186 00:37:21,029 --> 00:37:21,270 Yeah. 1187 00:37:21,540 --> 00:37:24,359 Well, behavior doesn't change and that's super interest. 1188 00:37:24,720 --> 00:37:27,540 And to your point, if you're like, look man, uh, I've got 1189 00:37:27,540 --> 00:37:30,960 5 million, uh, in net in the bank earning money, I really 1190 00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:33,510 need at least, and again, I'm making these numbers up, 1191 00:37:33,720 --> 00:37:34,865 I need at least 3 million. 1192 00:37:35,505 --> 00:37:37,635 Feel comfortable in how I wanna live, you know, with 1193 00:37:37,635 --> 00:37:39,765 my family or, you know, whatever your goals are, right? 1194 00:37:39,945 --> 00:37:42,765 So I've got 2 million in play Now, hopefully that 2 million 1195 00:37:43,035 --> 00:37:46,365 will, will, will double, but if it goes to zero, I'm 1196 00:37:46,365 --> 00:37:48,015 not at zero, I'm at less. 1197 00:37:48,045 --> 00:37:48,135 Right? 1198 00:37:48,165 --> 00:37:49,005 But I'm not at zero. 1199 00:37:49,425 --> 00:37:53,475 It's tricky for folks to, you can mentally put those save 1200 00:37:53,475 --> 00:37:56,205 points in place, but when you start to get to them, this 1201 00:37:56,205 --> 00:37:57,225 is the gambler's dilemma. 1202 00:37:57,765 --> 00:38:00,375 The gambler gets to zero, goes back to the 1203 00:38:00,375 --> 00:38:01,725 ATM, gets more money. 1204 00:38:02,340 --> 00:38:05,700 And says, okay, I'm gonna win it back and then win back more. 1205 00:38:05,850 --> 00:38:06,630 And what, what happens? 1206 00:38:06,630 --> 00:38:07,860 Of course he loses. 1207 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:09,930 Yeah, he goes to the ATM again, he says the same thing. 1208 00:38:10,110 --> 00:38:10,860 I'll double it. 1209 00:38:10,860 --> 00:38:11,820 So I'll bet even harder. 1210 00:38:11,820 --> 00:38:14,280 Take higher risks in order to get back to zero. 1211 00:38:14,700 --> 00:38:17,310 Once you establish the mentality that you're willing 1212 00:38:17,310 --> 00:38:21,540 to lose, it's very hard to unwind the mentality that 1213 00:38:21,540 --> 00:38:22,320 you're willing to lose. 1214 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:25,080 So the premise there is, at what point are you no 1215 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:27,600 longer willing to lose? 1216 00:38:27,900 --> 00:38:29,009 Which tra challenging, you 1217 00:38:29,009 --> 00:38:29,180 know what I mean? 1218 00:38:29,730 --> 00:38:30,060 Yeah. 1219 00:38:30,060 --> 00:38:31,980 Especially when you're trying to balance it against this 1220 00:38:31,980 --> 00:38:35,370 idea that I will win if I just keep being willing to lose. 1221 00:38:35,370 --> 00:38:37,470 Eventually, I, I, I strike gold. 1222 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:38,069 Right? 1223 00:38:38,069 --> 00:38:38,080 Right. 1224 00:38:38,460 --> 00:38:39,900 There, there is a payoff to the end of this. 1225 00:38:39,900 --> 00:38:42,089 I think that's the, the, the really dangerous 1226 00:38:42,089 --> 00:38:44,250 part because there's absolutely no truth to that. 1227 00:38:44,670 --> 00:38:47,250 But I think a lot of people feel that way and they're like, if 1228 00:38:47,250 --> 00:38:50,609 I just keep trying, eventually I will hit a point where, you 1229 00:38:50,609 --> 00:38:51,810 know, this will pay me back. 1230 00:38:51,810 --> 00:38:51,960 Right. 1231 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:52,685 It is the gambler dilemma. 1232 00:38:53,355 --> 00:38:54,135 It's trashed. 1233 00:38:54,135 --> 00:38:54,825 A lot of founders. 1234 00:38:55,035 --> 00:38:58,635 One of the places I see it consistently is athletes. 1235 00:38:58,875 --> 00:39:01,730 The challenge that athletes, you know, that, that have been in, 1236 00:39:01,735 --> 00:39:04,695 in whatever your league is or, you know, getting paid because 1237 00:39:04,695 --> 00:39:07,815 they're, they're one of the unique industries slash careers. 1238 00:39:07,815 --> 00:39:09,615 I suppose that you get paid a lot of money 1239 00:39:09,615 --> 00:39:10,605 very early in your life. 1240 00:39:10,965 --> 00:39:13,305 In a lot of things, you get paid later on in life. 1241 00:39:13,305 --> 00:39:14,775 You know, we're in the startup industry, so 1242 00:39:14,775 --> 00:39:15,405 you have like, it's the 1243 00:39:15,405 --> 00:39:16,275 reverse in this case. 1244 00:39:16,305 --> 00:39:16,965 Yeah, right. 1245 00:39:16,965 --> 00:39:19,515 In most cases, you make most of your money at your youngest. 1246 00:39:19,935 --> 00:39:21,825 Let's say you actually did pretty well, uh, you got 1247 00:39:21,825 --> 00:39:22,845 signed and played baseball. 1248 00:39:22,845 --> 00:39:25,785 You did seven years in the league and you made $20 million. 1249 00:39:25,905 --> 00:39:26,415 Okay? 1250 00:39:26,415 --> 00:39:29,265 At the end of that time period, uh, you've quote retired, you 1251 00:39:29,265 --> 00:39:31,665 got plenty of money, you're good if you just sat on that 1252 00:39:31,665 --> 00:39:33,795 for the rest of your life, let some compound, let you know, let 1253 00:39:33,795 --> 00:39:35,865 some, uh, fuel your, your needs. 1254 00:39:36,225 --> 00:39:36,825 You'd be good. 1255 00:39:37,185 --> 00:39:38,295 But here's what you think, dude. 1256 00:39:38,295 --> 00:39:38,805 I'm an athlete. 1257 00:39:38,805 --> 00:39:39,495 I'm a competitor. 1258 00:39:40,035 --> 00:39:40,365 Right. 1259 00:39:40,785 --> 00:39:43,935 Um, I need to find something that is a parallel 1260 00:39:44,475 --> 00:39:45,615 for what I just did. 1261 00:39:46,125 --> 00:39:47,865 So I'm gonna do startup investing, or I'm gonna 1262 00:39:47,865 --> 00:39:50,174 start my own company, or I'm gonna invest in my, my idiot 1263 00:39:50,174 --> 00:39:51,495 cousin's t-shirt business. 1264 00:39:51,495 --> 00:39:52,634 You like, you name it, right? 1265 00:39:53,115 --> 00:39:55,245 And what ends up happening is you've got that 1266 00:39:55,245 --> 00:39:56,234 same gambler dilemma. 1267 00:39:56,265 --> 00:39:58,065 Like you, you need that rush. 1268 00:39:58,095 --> 00:40:01,515 You need that challenge, which I get, but you also 1269 00:40:01,515 --> 00:40:02,205 don't have a save point. 1270 00:40:02,415 --> 00:40:04,665 Like, I need it so badly that I'm, I'm not willing 1271 00:40:04,665 --> 00:40:07,544 to just like pump the brakes or hit a cold stop. 1272 00:40:07,860 --> 00:40:10,890 I've hit points in my career where I'm like, okay, 1273 00:40:11,130 --> 00:40:12,420 I've hit my save point. 1274 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:14,760 I cannot, like, I cannot afford to keep burning. 1275 00:40:15,580 --> 00:40:15,870 Yeah. 1276 00:40:15,875 --> 00:40:16,125 Yeah. 1277 00:40:16,365 --> 00:40:18,735 I did that with one of my earlier startups, uh, with 1278 00:40:18,735 --> 00:40:21,464 Afford It, where like we had raised a bunch of money, we 1279 00:40:21,464 --> 00:40:24,285 were doing really well, and then we, we hit a point where 1280 00:40:24,285 --> 00:40:26,355 we couldn't raise any more money and at some point I 1281 00:40:26,355 --> 00:40:28,214 was just funding the company outta my own bank account. 1282 00:40:28,275 --> 00:40:28,745 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 1283 00:40:29,025 --> 00:40:32,415 And, and I realized that like it'd gone on for a long time. 1284 00:40:32,415 --> 00:40:33,404 I've gone on for like two years. 1285 00:40:33,404 --> 00:40:33,464 Yeah. 1286 00:40:33,735 --> 00:40:34,430 I am, I am now. 1287 00:40:35,095 --> 00:40:37,944 Burning my winnings from my, my previous efforts like, yep. 1288 00:40:38,245 --> 00:40:41,575 And, and quite specifically, the money I, I'm setting 1289 00:40:41,575 --> 00:40:42,685 on fire every month. 1290 00:40:42,865 --> 00:40:44,214 I'm never getting back. 1291 00:40:44,275 --> 00:40:46,254 At first you're doing it because you think it's just a bridge. 1292 00:40:46,254 --> 00:40:47,995 You think it's a short term, you think it's whatever. 1293 00:40:48,415 --> 00:40:50,725 And then as the money starts to stack up and you kind of forget 1294 00:40:50,725 --> 00:40:53,275 about how much money you spent last year, et cetera, but you 1295 00:40:53,275 --> 00:40:54,444 zoom out and you look at it. 1296 00:40:54,965 --> 00:40:56,105 I'm like, really? 1297 00:40:56,105 --> 00:40:59,285 The probability that I'll ever get liquid on this again and 1298 00:40:59,285 --> 00:41:01,715 even just put that money back, much less earn what it would've 1299 00:41:01,715 --> 00:41:05,015 earned, uh, in the market, whatever is pretty much zero. 1300 00:41:05,525 --> 00:41:10,445 It's hard emotionally to stop yourself, which is why 1301 00:41:10,505 --> 00:41:13,175 we have this speech, which is why we have little pep 1302 00:41:13,175 --> 00:41:16,475 talk to say, you're already gonna mess everything up. 1303 00:41:16,655 --> 00:41:16,955 Okay. 1304 00:41:19,145 --> 00:41:20,255 And, and, and we get it. 1305 00:41:20,525 --> 00:41:23,045 The idea is, like you said, a moment ago. 1306 00:41:23,460 --> 00:41:26,100 To help you establish a save point so that as you 1307 00:41:26,100 --> 00:41:27,960 start to go off the rails a little bit, you don't 1308 00:41:28,020 --> 00:41:29,250 kinda like bump you back in. 1309 00:41:29,250 --> 00:41:29,730 You know what I mean? 1310 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:30,775 Yeah, yeah. 1311 00:41:30,779 --> 00:41:31,080 Yeah. 1312 00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:33,150 I think it's, I think it's important because I think that, 1313 00:41:33,150 --> 00:41:36,240 you know, again, it comes at that time where you're, you're 1314 00:41:36,240 --> 00:41:38,310 gonna be the most confident you've maybe ever been. 1315 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:38,520 Right. 1316 00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:39,990 You've come through a whole lot of shit. 1317 00:41:39,990 --> 00:41:40,560 At that point. 1318 00:41:41,130 --> 00:41:42,600 Everything feels like it's going right. 1319 00:41:42,750 --> 00:41:43,080 Right. 1320 00:41:43,085 --> 00:41:45,569 You, you run into all these paradoxes, like the gambler's 1321 00:41:45,569 --> 00:41:47,549 dilemma, the fact that you are, you, you are at the 1322 00:41:47,549 --> 00:41:48,569 top of your game right now. 1323 00:41:48,569 --> 00:41:48,660 Yep. 1324 00:41:48,660 --> 00:41:49,500 Everything feels good. 1325 00:41:49,830 --> 00:41:52,440 So why wouldn't we just double down? 1326 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:52,680 Right? 1327 00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:54,420 Why wouldn't we just keep going for this? 1328 00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:57,270 If you, can you go back in time and, and think about 1329 00:41:57,270 --> 00:41:59,340 like when that shift happened. 1330 00:41:59,340 --> 00:42:01,230 Clearly, clearly it didn't happen right at the, the 1331 00:42:01,230 --> 00:42:02,190 time of the first exit. 1332 00:42:02,190 --> 00:42:06,720 So what helped you to replace Prove it again with protect it. 1333 00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:06,990 Now, 1334 00:42:07,085 --> 00:42:10,710 I, I can tell you exactly after we sold Blue Diesel, like back 1335 00:42:10,710 --> 00:42:12,720 in the day that that was the agency I was talking to you 1336 00:42:12,720 --> 00:42:15,240 guys about, I had a period of like a couple years where 1337 00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:17,730 I was doing my next startup and I wasn't getting paid. 1338 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,720 Uh, I just wasn't right now, I, I had, you know, stock 1339 00:42:21,720 --> 00:42:23,850 market earnings and all that good stuff, but like, it 1340 00:42:23,850 --> 00:42:25,710 was the first time where I didn't have active income. 1341 00:42:25,890 --> 00:42:28,200 And anyone that'll tell you that, it just like exited 1342 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:28,980 whatever they're doing. 1343 00:42:29,190 --> 00:42:31,260 Even if you have like a strong balance sheet and 1344 00:42:31,260 --> 00:42:32,820 you've got, um, you know, good earnings that you've 1345 00:42:32,820 --> 00:42:35,940 got in the market, et cetera, not having active income. 1346 00:42:35,970 --> 00:42:37,290 Retired people deal with this all the time. 1347 00:42:37,590 --> 00:42:40,350 Not having active income has got a totally 1348 00:42:40,350 --> 00:42:41,460 different mentality to it. 1349 00:42:41,970 --> 00:42:46,350 It's because active income feels like you're actively replanting, 1350 00:42:46,350 --> 00:42:47,700 you know, for future harvest. 1351 00:42:47,940 --> 00:42:50,340 Just pulling from what you have just feels like 1352 00:42:50,340 --> 00:42:52,560 you're constantly in harvest and never plant mode. 1353 00:42:52,830 --> 00:42:53,100 Yeah. 1354 00:42:53,130 --> 00:42:55,170 One is a renewable resource, the other one is not. 1355 00:42:55,590 --> 00:42:56,400 It is a finite. 1356 00:42:56,730 --> 00:42:57,330 Resource. 1357 00:42:57,360 --> 00:42:57,810 Correct. 1358 00:42:57,810 --> 00:43:00,540 And, and I think for a lot of people, the first time 1359 00:43:00,540 --> 00:43:03,480 you, what I call write, write your mortgage out of savings, 1360 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:06,000 so to speak, and it, those savings could be, like I said, 1361 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:06,960 you're earning in the market. 1362 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:09,900 That's obviously, clearly that's income, but when it's not active 1363 00:43:09,900 --> 00:43:11,460 income, it messes with you. 1364 00:43:11,790 --> 00:43:11,850 Yeah. 1365 00:43:11,850 --> 00:43:14,175 And the first time I wrote my bills for the month. 1366 00:43:14,799 --> 00:43:16,750 Out of, uh, non-active income. 1367 00:43:17,380 --> 00:43:17,470 Yeah. 1368 00:43:17,470 --> 00:43:20,080 I was like, shit, that money can go away. 1369 00:43:20,200 --> 00:43:20,589 It happens. 1370 00:43:20,620 --> 00:43:21,279 Wait a second. 1371 00:43:21,339 --> 00:43:22,569 This is an alarming trend. 1372 00:43:22,569 --> 00:43:23,950 Now we're going down. 1373 00:43:24,310 --> 00:43:24,609 Right. 1374 00:43:24,609 --> 00:43:26,950 And if I don't do anything differently, it will just 1375 00:43:26,950 --> 00:43:29,049 continue to go down. 1376 00:43:29,230 --> 00:43:29,710 Exactly. 1377 00:43:29,710 --> 00:43:31,960 And and most of the founders that I talked to that have 1378 00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:35,200 had an exit for the first year or two, they're still trying 1379 00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:36,880 to understand like everything that's just happened in their 1380 00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:39,700 lives that, you know, et cetera, but nearly all of them. 1381 00:43:39,775 --> 00:43:41,665 We'll go back to starting something else. 1382 00:43:41,785 --> 00:43:43,285 Now there's a litany of reasons for that. 1383 00:43:43,285 --> 00:43:44,035 Part of it's boredom. 1384 00:43:44,035 --> 00:43:46,075 Part of it's, you know, again, I gotta prove myself that 1385 00:43:46,075 --> 00:43:46,945 I can do it more than once. 1386 00:43:46,945 --> 00:43:47,395 You name it. 1387 00:43:47,905 --> 00:43:50,395 But one of them is, it's kind of terrifying not to 1388 00:43:50,395 --> 00:43:52,885 have active income, uh, even if you've done pretty well. 1389 00:43:53,215 --> 00:43:54,775 And so I think for a lot of us, it's just 1390 00:43:54,775 --> 00:43:55,765 kind of how we're built. 1391 00:43:55,795 --> 00:43:59,125 For me though, I always kind like, damn, dude, I've always 1392 00:43:59,125 --> 00:44:01,585 been in the mentality that it can all go away tomorrow, and 1393 00:44:01,585 --> 00:44:02,935 I've genuinely believed that. 1394 00:44:03,085 --> 00:44:05,635 Now in 32 years, knock on wood, it hasn't happened yet. 1395 00:44:06,015 --> 00:44:08,565 But at no point have I ever felt more confident that it's, 1396 00:44:08,565 --> 00:44:09,765 that it's never going to happen. 1397 00:44:09,915 --> 00:44:11,655 And I think that's probably saved me. 1398 00:44:11,895 --> 00:44:13,815 Yeah, no, I think that, I think that makes a lot of sense. 1399 00:44:13,905 --> 00:44:16,665 You know, I think that the, the, the minute you do feel that way, 1400 00:44:16,695 --> 00:44:17,985 it's, it becomes problematic. 1401 00:44:17,985 --> 00:44:19,125 I think it's interesting. 1402 00:44:19,125 --> 00:44:21,405 One of the things that occurred to me was that we 1403 00:44:21,405 --> 00:44:24,885 do become comfortable with this concept as founders. 1404 00:44:24,915 --> 00:44:26,835 That is kind of dangerous posts. 1405 00:44:27,255 --> 00:44:30,105 Post outcome, whatever that ended up being, uh, whether it 1406 00:44:30,105 --> 00:44:32,925 was distributions and exits, you know, taking on more 1407 00:44:32,925 --> 00:44:34,815 money and, and getting some liquidity, whatever it was. 1408 00:44:35,085 --> 00:44:40,030 If you are in that position, you end up now with a burn rate. 1409 00:44:41,024 --> 00:44:43,004 And it's a concept that we're actually really comfortable with 1410 00:44:43,004 --> 00:44:46,274 as founders in a lot of cases because we've had to utilize it. 1411 00:44:46,274 --> 00:44:48,884 It's like, oh, this is a tool, a burn rate's a tool, right? 1412 00:44:49,245 --> 00:44:51,555 And so then when you end up within a personal burn 1413 00:44:51,555 --> 00:44:55,154 rate situation, it probably doesn't feel as uncomfortable. 1414 00:44:55,154 --> 00:44:57,645 I'm thinking through like some of my friends, like people 1415 00:44:57,645 --> 00:45:00,104 that I knew who had, who had been corporate folks, right? 1416 00:45:00,225 --> 00:45:02,444 Got laid off, decided to do a career change, whatever. 1417 00:45:02,685 --> 00:45:03,884 Now they're not an active income. 1418 00:45:04,154 --> 00:45:06,524 They had a hell of a lot more urgency around. 1419 00:45:07,575 --> 00:45:09,794 Turning the burn off because they're not comfortable with it. 1420 00:45:09,944 --> 00:45:10,035 Right. 1421 00:45:10,035 --> 00:45:12,855 But founders, on the other hand, a lot of us have 1422 00:45:12,855 --> 00:45:14,595 become comfortable with the idea of a burn rate, right? 1423 00:45:14,595 --> 00:45:15,825 That's just the investment we make. 1424 00:45:15,944 --> 00:45:18,464 The difference in this case is, unless you got some plan 1425 00:45:18,464 --> 00:45:22,035 for how that actually turns into active income again, yeah. 1426 00:45:22,035 --> 00:45:23,145 It's just a downhill spiral. 1427 00:45:23,145 --> 00:45:23,384 Right. 1428 00:45:23,774 --> 00:45:24,225 I agree. 1429 00:45:24,225 --> 00:45:24,615 I agree. 1430 00:45:24,855 --> 00:45:25,814 So here's what I'd say, man. 1431 00:45:26,205 --> 00:45:29,535 The reason we give this speech, the reason I'm so passionate 1432 00:45:29,535 --> 00:45:33,615 about this frigging speech, is I want you to enjoy. 1433 00:45:34,155 --> 00:45:35,355 You hard earned exit. 1434 00:45:35,445 --> 00:45:37,365 I, I want that money to be around long enough, right? 1435 00:45:38,025 --> 00:45:41,715 For, for you to be a champion and not a cautionary tale. 1436 00:45:41,925 --> 00:45:44,895 And fortunately it's a small few that become the cautionary 1437 00:45:44,895 --> 00:45:48,495 tales, but that all, all of the cautionary tales that I've ever 1438 00:45:48,555 --> 00:45:52,095 seen, Ryan could have absolutely been avoided, unquestionably, 1439 00:45:52,095 --> 00:45:53,025 could have been avoided. 1440 00:45:53,205 --> 00:45:56,415 They were never catastrophic, you know, strokes of bad luck. 1441 00:45:56,445 --> 00:45:58,995 They were always in, deliberately engineered 1442 00:45:59,445 --> 00:46:00,105 by the founder. 1443 00:46:00,945 --> 00:46:02,385 They brought it on themselves. 1444 00:46:02,385 --> 00:46:03,045 That's a great point. 1445 00:46:03,405 --> 00:46:03,705 Right? 1446 00:46:03,915 --> 00:46:06,525 And so the reason we give this speech is we want 1447 00:46:06,525 --> 00:46:07,515 you to keep that cash. 1448 00:46:07,515 --> 00:46:10,605 The reason we give these this speech is we at least wanna be 1449 00:46:10,605 --> 00:46:12,105 that voice on your shoulder. 1450 00:46:12,255 --> 00:46:14,415 I think it's the angel in this case, where the devil's 1451 00:46:14,415 --> 00:46:15,405 like, we need a Lamborghini. 1452 00:46:15,405 --> 00:46:17,925 And the angel's like, dude, you don't need a Lamborghini. 1453 00:46:17,925 --> 00:46:18,255 Right? 1454 00:46:18,255 --> 00:46:20,055 Obviously those people did not exist on my shoulders 1455 00:46:20,055 --> 00:46:22,065 at the time, and I wish they had because I would've 1456 00:46:22,065 --> 00:46:23,055 been better off for it. 1457 00:46:23,355 --> 00:46:24,885 So I think for folks that that are. 1458 00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:26,550 About to go down this path. 1459 00:46:26,580 --> 00:46:29,550 Either you are on this path now, newly minted, hopefully. 1460 00:46:29,550 --> 00:46:30,360 Congratulations. 1461 00:46:30,690 --> 00:46:32,820 I just want you to think about these points 1462 00:46:33,210 --> 00:46:34,290 because they're all valid. 1463 00:46:34,350 --> 00:46:36,300 This isn't like an oh, that's just your opinion. 1464 00:46:36,420 --> 00:46:40,770 These are all exactly how these things go and the harder you 1465 00:46:40,770 --> 00:46:42,720 work at preserving your wealth. 1466 00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:45,540 The more likely you're gonna be to have it in the future. 1467 00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:47,820 And when you have that future wealth, you can 1468 00:46:47,820 --> 00:46:50,070 take some swings that you couldn't, uh, make before. 1469 00:46:50,430 --> 00:46:52,650 The key isn't just earning the trophy. 1470 00:46:52,740 --> 00:46:53,820 The key is keeping it. 1471 00:46:53,940 --> 00:46:56,010 If you're gonna work that hard to earn it, work that 1472 00:46:56,010 --> 00:46:57,720 hard to frigging keep it. 1473 00:46:58,950 --> 00:47:00,779 Overthinking your startup because you're going it alone. 1474 00:47:01,169 --> 00:47:04,109 You don't have to, and honestly, you shouldn't because instead, 1475 00:47:04,109 --> 00:47:07,200 you can learn directly from peers who've been in your shoes. 1476 00:47:07,259 --> 00:47:09,600 Connect with bootstrap founders and the advisors 1477 00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:12,029 helping them win in the startups.com community. 1478 00:47:12,180 --> 00:47:16,830 Check out the startups.com community@www.startups.com 1479 00:47:16,919 --> 00:47:17,850 to see if it's for you. 1480 00:47:18,089 --> 00:47:19,140 Could be just the thing you need. 1481 00:47:19,350 --> 00:47:20,339 I hope to see you inside.