The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

The Undercover Billionaire: Building a $1m business in 90 days

ChrisV

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
May 10, 2015
3,141
7,055
Islands of Calleja
So RJ from the show actually has a TEDx talk... and it's actually pretty good

It's from before they filmed the show too.

It's him talking about him quitting his job to start a clothing brand.

I think it fits in well with the Fastlane philosophy

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrYpdlnishY
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Rawseed

Legendary Lurker
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
255%
Mar 1, 2018
421
1,074
45
Atlanta, GA
Episode 7 had a few new nuggets, but more of the same.

Beyond the education value, I'm enjoying the story.

Takeaways:
  • Starting a business is painful.
  • Push through the pain.
  • Success comes to the entrepreneur that endures more pain than anyone else.
  • Stay strong even when everything goes wrong.
  • Manage your inventory well.
  • Become an expert at forecasting customer demand.
  • Maximize your profit margins.
  • Appreciate your customers.
  • You often only get one chance to impress a customer.
  • You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
  • Adults are just large children. They often just need someone to listen to them cry.
  • When conflict arises, combat is optional.
  • Know the right time and place to have heated conversations.
  • Look for team members that handle stress well.
  • Look for team members that are knowledgable and are self-starters.
  • Give your team members support when you find their weaknesses.
  • Shut up and listen.
  • Open your ears and listen to the experts that you've surrounded yourself with.
  • Appreciate the feedback of those around you.
  • Incorporate good feedback when it's applicable and possible.
  • Look for team members that are also leaders.
  • Evaluate your team members under pressure.
  • Know you goals and your numbers.
  • Know your time table.
  • Share your numbers with your team.
  • Congratulate your team for your successes.
  • Learn from your mistakes.
  • Expect your leaders to step-up when times get rough.
  • Have a good attitude with your team and your customers regardless of the situation.
  • Hold your team accountable.
  • Don't make or accept excuses.
  • Don't accept recurring mistakes.
  • Always keep communication lines open.
  • Apologize when you're wrong.
 

Bertram

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
147%
Oct 25, 2015
573
842
Virginia
.
Episode 7 had a few new nuggets, but more of the same.

Beyond the education value, I'm enjoying the story.

Takeaways:
  • Starting a business is painful.
  • Push through the pain.
  • Success comes to the entrepreneur that endures more pain than anyone else.
  • Stay strong even when everything goes wrong.
  • Manage your inventory well.
  • Become an expert at forecasting customer demand.
  • Maximize your profit margins.
  • Appreciate your customers.
  • You often only get one chance to impress a customer.
  • You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
  • Adults are just large children. They often just need someone to listen to them cry.
  • When conflict arises, combat is optional.
  • Know the right time and place to have heated conversations.
  • Look for team members that handle stress well.
  • Look for team members that are knowledgable and are self-starters.
  • Give your team members support when you find their weaknesses.
  • Shut up and listen.
  • Open your ears and listen to the experts that you've surrounded yourself with.
  • Appreciate the feedback of those around you.
  • Incorporate good feedback when it's applicable and possible.
  • Look for team members that are also leaders.
  • Evaluate your team members under pressure.
  • Know you goals and your numbers.
  • Know your time table.
  • Share your numbers with your team.
  • Congratulate your team for your successes.
  • Learn from your mistakes.
  • Expect your leaders to step-up when times get rough.
  • Have a good attitude with your team and your customers regardless of the situation.
  • Hold your team accountable.
  • Don't make or accept excuses.
  • Don't accept recurring mistakes.
  • Always keep communication lines open.
  • Apologize when you're wrong.
Brilliant value! What's your method? Just note-taking?

Two questions about execution:

Could anything have prevented one employees's meltdown?

What could have prevented or quickly corrected the miscalculations which caused loss of sales?
 

GPM

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
376%
Oct 25, 2012
2,067
7,775
Canada
So my wife and I just finished episode 3. Wow, just full of gold.

When he says that he can't wait on the house deal to go through, he still needs to keep moving forward. That really struck home for me. The business that I am in has a lot of waiting. Lots of waiting for pieces to fit together, and for people to complete tasks, or even for shipping and receiving. I need to stop waiting on steps and keep moving forward on the things that I can keep moving. There is always something that can be done...

I loved how he talked to his team and got them to buy in on sweat equity and not pay up front. THAT is who you want to work with. People who believe in the goal. Not people who are in it for some cash up front. If you want some payment for hours put in, go get an hourly job, don't try to create something from scratch.
 

Rawseed

Legendary Lurker
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
255%
Mar 1, 2018
421
1,074
45
Atlanta, GA
I enjoyed the final episode. I won't ruin the outcome for anyone.

Most of the takeaways are repeats. But, there were a few gems in Episode 8.
  • The American Dream is alive and well for all Americans.
  • Talent, hard work, intuition, resilience, and risk-taking lead to success.
  • The American Dream is kept alive by betting on your self and working with a great team.
  • Don't make an excuse. Instead make a sacrifice.
  • Your business' value is based on your differentiators.
  • Your business' value is based on what makes you special.
  • How are you different from your competitors? How are you better? How are you more helpful?
  • Scalable revenue increases value.
  • A strong brand increases value.
  • Franchise potential increase value.
  • High sales and high margins increase value.
  • A great customer experience increase value.
  • Great customer experience leads to repeat customers.
  • Repeat customers increase value.
  • Give hand-ups, not hand-outs.
  • Know your budget and your timetable
  • Place your team-members in the appropriate roles based on their strengths
  • Don't confuse efforts with results
  • Spinning your wheels only works when you're going forward
  • Many people work hard. Successful people work hard and smart.
  • Judge your daily success by how much progress you've made. Not by how many hours you worked.
  • As the owner of a company, you have a responsibility to everyone that works in that company.
  • Make your decisions based on what's best for the whole company. Not just what's best for the individuals.
  • Owning a business is a blessing and a curse. One of the curses is hurting people by firing them.
  • Don't keep the wrong people around because you're too afraid to let them go.
  • Don't hurt the business for fear of hurting the individual.
  • Award your team for their efforts.
  • Show your team that you appreciate them.
  • The cream always rises to he top.
  • Good leaders get better when times get tough.
  • Hire people that can lead well.
  • Hire people that are hungry and ambitious.
  • Creating a great team is a key to business success.
  • It's hard to create a great team.
  • Great team dynamics are key.
  • Be aggressive or people will take away what you've earned.
  • Find proactive, resourceful, and smart people for your team.
  • Find people for your team that are strong where you are weak.
  • Find people for your team that can complete a project without you micro-managing them.
  • Find people for your team that are willing to follow you into the fire.
  • Lead by example.
  • When you are able to, reward the people who have helped you get to where you are.
 

Rawseed

Legendary Lurker
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
255%
Mar 1, 2018
421
1,074
45
Atlanta, GA

Dan_Cardone

Losers make excuses. Winners find solutions.
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
360%
Jul 23, 2019
331
1,192
My Gf seems to think Glenn should have given them more money and more equity. I was ok with the amounts. What do you guys think?
 

Rawseed

Legendary Lurker
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
255%
Mar 1, 2018
421
1,074
45
Atlanta, GA
The amounts of money and equity seemed appropriate.

But, the fact that only two people received equity didn't seem fair.

He could have given like 2% equity each to the supporting members of the team.

But, that may have been a logistic nightmare.
 

ChrisV

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
May 10, 2015
3,141
7,055
Islands of Calleja
My Gf seems to think Glenn should have given them more money and more equity. I was ok with the amounts. What do you guys think?
Anything more would have been charity. They opened a restaurant.

Equity perhaps. 10% to RJ was a bit small. Most of them didn't accept his offers of equity because they wanted to continue with their existing businesses, right?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Dan_Cardone

Losers make excuses. Winners find solutions.
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
360%
Jul 23, 2019
331
1,192
Im thinking 5k to the social media guy was too much! Unless he was doing a lot of behind the scenes work he never really seemed to help with anything.

Edit: According to Forbes, he is only worth $500 million.
 
Last edited:

Bertram

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
147%
Oct 25, 2015
573
842
Virginia
I enjoyed the final episode. I won't ruin the outcome for anyone.

Most of the takeaways are repeats. But, there were a few gems in Episode 8.
  • The American Dream is alive and well for all Americans.
  • Talent, hard work, intuition, resilience, and risk-taking lead to success.
  • The American Dream is kept alive by betting on your self and working with a great team.
  • Don't make an excuse. Instead make a sacrifice.
  • Your business' value is based on your differentiators.
  • Your business' value is based on what makes you special.
  • How are you different from your competitors? How are you better? How are you more helpful?
  • Scalable revenue increases value.
  • A strong brand increases value.
  • Franchise potential increase value.
  • High sales and high margins increase value.
  • A great customer experience increase value.
  • Great customer experience leads to repeat customers.
  • Repeat customers increase value.
  • Give hand-ups, not hand-outs.
  • Know your budget and your timetable
  • Place your team-members in the appropriate roles based on their strengths
  • Don't confuse efforts with results
  • Spinning your wheels only works when you're going forward
  • Many people work hard. Successful people work hard and smart.
  • Judge your daily success by how much progress you've made. Not by how many hours you worked.
  • As the owner of a company, you have a responsibility to everyone that works in that company.
  • Make your decisions based on what's best for the whole company. Not just what's best for the individuals.
  • Owning a business is a blessing and a curse. One of the curses is hurting people by firing them.
  • Don't keep the wrong people around because you're too afraid to let them go.
  • Don't hurt the business for fear of hurting the individual.
  • Award your team for their efforts.
  • Show your team that you appreciate them.
  • The cream always rises to he top.
  • Good leaders get better when times get tough.
  • Hire people that can lead well.
  • Hire people that are hungry and ambitious.
  • Creating a great team is a key to business success.
  • It's hard to create a great team.
  • Great team dynamics are key.
  • Be aggressive or people will take away what you've earned.
  • Find proactive, resourceful, and smart people for your team.
  • Find people for your team that are strong where you are weak.
  • Find people for your team that can complete a project without you micro-managing them.
  • Find people for your team that are willing to follow you into the fire.
  • Lead by example.
  • When you are able to, reward the people who have helped you get to where you are.

What is valued in a country is cultivated there. --- Plato
 

Dan_Cardone

Losers make excuses. Winners find solutions.
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
360%
Jul 23, 2019
331
1,192
I enjoyed the final episode. I won't ruin the outcome for anyone.

Most of the takeaways are repeats. But, there were a few gems in Episode 8.
  • The American Dream is alive and well for all Americans.
  • Talent, hard work, intuition, resilience, and risk-taking lead to success.
  • The American Dream is kept alive by betting on your self and working with a great team.
  • Don't make an excuse. Instead make a sacrifice.
  • Your business' value is based on your differentiators.
  • Your business' value is based on what makes you special.
  • How are you different from your competitors? How are you better? How are you more helpful?
  • Scalable revenue increases value.
  • A strong brand increases value.
  • Franchise potential increase value.
  • High sales and high margins increase value.
  • A great customer experience increase value.
  • Great customer experience leads to repeat customers.
  • Repeat customers increase value.
  • Give hand-ups, not hand-outs.
  • Know your budget and your timetable
  • Place your team-members in the appropriate roles based on their strengths
  • Don't confuse efforts with results
  • Spinning your wheels only works when you're going forward
  • Many people work hard. Successful people work hard and smart.
  • Judge your daily success by how much progress you've made. Not by how many hours you worked.
  • As the owner of a company, you have a responsibility to everyone that works in that company.
  • Make your decisions based on what's best for the whole company. Not just what's best for the individuals.
  • Owning a business is a blessing and a curse. One of the curses is hurting people by firing them.
  • Don't keep the wrong people around because you're too afraid to let them go.
  • Don't hurt the business for fear of hurting the individual.
  • Award your team for their efforts.
  • Show your team that you appreciate them.
  • The cream always rises to he top.
  • Good leaders get better when times get tough.
  • Hire people that can lead well.
  • Hire people that are hungry and ambitious.
  • Creating a great team is a key to business success.
  • It's hard to create a great team.
  • Great team dynamics are key.
  • Be aggressive or people will take away what you've earned.
  • Find proactive, resourceful, and smart people for your team.
  • Find people for your team that are strong where you are weak.
  • Find people for your team that can complete a project without you micro-managing them.
  • Find people for your team that are willing to follow you into the fire.
  • Lead by example.
  • When you are able to, reward the people who have helped you get to where you are.
I think you only missed one.

"The reason im successful is simply because I dont make excuses."

Thanks for taking these notes on every episode!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Bertram

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
147%
Oct 25, 2015
573
842
Virginia
RJ Messenger: "Embracing the struggle creates everlasting strength.
 
Last edited:

Rawseed

Legendary Lurker
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
255%
Mar 1, 2018
421
1,074
45
Atlanta, GA
Equity perhaps. 10% to RJ was a bit small. Most of them didn't accept his offers of equity because they wanted to continue with their existing businesses, right?

He offered equity to four of them. Two out of the four declined.
 

ChrisV

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
May 10, 2015
3,141
7,055
Islands of Calleja
He offered equity to four of them. Two out of the four declined.
Since the others declined maybe he should have increased the percentage on the other deals.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Kak

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
493%
Jan 23, 2011
9,678
47,666
34
Texas
My Gf seems to think Glenn should have given them more money and more equity. I was ok with the amounts. What do you guys think?

I think the amounts were more than appropriate. What we didn't see is the FULL conversation with each of them and how they landed on that final deal. The reasonings behind not taking equity etc. Sometimes I wish Discovery Channel would have given us more of the nitty gritty. They squeezed too much content into 8 episodes.

You can't give away TOO much equity or you won't have equity to give away for other strategic purposes later. Remember, they built this thing to scale it. There are more people behind the scenes.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

ChrisV

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
May 10, 2015
3,141
7,055
Islands of Calleja
Why, that makes no sense at all?
More motivation for RJ to continue building an empire. He's already proven that he's capable of kicking a$$ and the more equity he has the more incentivized he'll feel to build it even further.

I was actually surprised he only offered him 10%. Offering him 10% makes sense within the context of the other members being offered equity, but since only 2 accepted, I think 20% would have been more appropriate.

But then again, Glenn can hold it out strategically and offer him more down the line once he sees how involved RJ continues to be as the business progresses.
 

TheCj

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
191%
Jan 3, 2017
223
425
Ontario, Canada
The equity offer makes sense when you consider if all four of them took it would be 40% and Glen keeps 60%. I kind of thought Dawn looked like she wanted to reconsider when she heard the value of the restaurant.

Worst case they could have taken it and then sold it back to Glen? Instant 75k+ :) j/k kind of.

Was kind of surprised how they all reacted to 20k-25k, when they all run there own businesses. Guess backs up the stat of most businesses being self employed jobs that pay the owners just an equivalent salary.

Would be interesting to know the expectations that Glen had of Dawn and Chris for the 10% ownership. Can see why he wouldn't give them just a few percent, since he basically squared up with them up to that point.

Am guessing being director of the entrepreneurship will just be basically what they did initially with Glen so not adding anymore work for them.

Was nice having them highlight the fact now jobs are being created and that business is a good thing.

Was an enjoyable show.

Thanks for the recommendation Kak!
 

biophase

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
474%
Jul 25, 2007
9,121
43,261
Scottsdale, AZ
More motivation for RJ to continue building an empire. He's already proven that he's capable of kicking a$$ and the more equity he has the more incentivized he'll feel to build it even further.

I was actually surprised he only offered him 10%. Offering him 10% makes sense within the context of the other members being offered equity, but since only 2 accepted, I think 20% would have been more appropriate.

But then again, Glenn can hold it out strategically and offer him more down the line once he sees how involved RJ continues to be as the business progresses.

But that makes no sense at all. So you are planning on giving 4 people 10%. That's the work of 4 people. 2 people don't accept. Now you would just give 20% to the 2 people? Are they going to do double the work? If you are going to hire 2 people and 1 person doesn't take the job, would you double the other guy's salary?

I haven't seen the last 2 episodes but, isn't it pretty clear that Glenn is the brains behind this and if this is going to be a $100M company that he will probably be doing the bulk of the growing? The others are along for the ride when you compare their skill set with Glenn's.

It's basically like your manager and employees can run your restaurant and turn the restaurant into the best one in Erie. Maybe they make $200k profit. So yes, maybe they all deserve 20% of the business each and Glenn get's 20%. That's fine if that was the ONLY plan.

However, if Glenn is out there turning this into a 100 restaurant franchise and now they make $20M profit. Their 20% of one restaurant pales in comparison to 10% of the 100 restaurant company.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

ChrisV

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
May 10, 2015
3,141
7,055
Islands of Calleja
I haven't seen the last 2 episodes but, isn't it pretty clear that Glenn is the brains behind this and if this is going to be a $100M company that he will probably be doing the bulk of the growing? The others are along for the ride when you compare their skill set with Glenn's.
Nah from what I can tell RJ is the one handling the majority of everything. Glenn doesn't even stay in Erie... he's back in Cali working on a new lending company and managing remotely. As far as I can tell it looks like RJ is the one in the trenches.

I mean I'm sure that Glenn is the one with the ability to scale it into a national chain, but as far as I can tell RJ is mostly running the show in Erie.

But I guess it's fair enough to hold back equity and see how things play out. If it ends up RJ being the one doing the majority of the hand-on work, I think 20% might be fair in the future.
 

ChrisV

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
May 10, 2015
3,141
7,055
Islands of Calleja
Are they going to do double the work?
And actually yes - that's kinda what I'm thinking. RJ spends the majority of his time on his clothing line, but with a 20% stake I feel like he's more likely to bust even more a$$ than with only a 10% stake. Especially with Glenn not directly managing. I would want to incentivize it so that he comes over and spends more time at Underdog. So yes, I do think it could get him to do 2x the work. With a larger stake, he's more likely do take the project on full time.


Now you would just give 20% to the 2 people?
And no - the 20% would just be for RJ, because of how much he's contributed. For Chris it would depend on what his role became once they scaled.

I think you're missing the point. The higher stake is to increase his involvement with the company. The more skin someone has in the game the more they'll be willing to do in order to continue working on it. If you already had your own successful business, what would make you more eager to work on a separate business: 10% or 20%?

Watch the finale; RJ was essentially Glenn's main cofounder. He was there from the start, and was there through the end.
 
Last edited:

GPM

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
376%
Oct 25, 2012
2,067
7,775
Canada
Just finished Episode 4. This was very enjoyable.

I really like the way he powers through each step and doesn't sweat the small stuff. He has his eye on the larger picture and never gets bogged down. I like the way he said that he assembles a team to handle each task. He is the high level guy, and finds specialists to run each segment that is needed to build the whole.

I am not sold on the girl that they chose for the pit master role, she seems to just say "yes" to everything without actually being sold on it. But who knows, it is TV, so maybe they edited it that way.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

GPM

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
376%
Oct 25, 2012
2,067
7,775
Canada
Episode 5: Find People Smarter Than You (or go find experts)

Right there is key. You don't need to be the guy who knows everything. Go find the people who are the experts in what you need, and give them the high level.

This is how you blow business up. This really hits home as I have always thought that doing this was so far beyond me, but in the last few days I have really been nudged into going out and doing this myself, so I am actively looking for people more suited than myself to run certain things. It is frightening and liberating at the same time. I am excited to read this post again in 2 years and laugh at the me of today.
 

Vigilante

Legendary Contributor
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
596%
Oct 31, 2011
11,116
66,265
Gulf Coast
More motivation for RJ to continue building an empire. He's already proven that he's capable of kicking a$$ and the more equity he has the more incentivized he'll feel to build it even further.

I was actually surprised he only offered him 10%. Offering him 10% makes sense within the context of the other members being offered equity, but since only 2 accepted, I think 20% would have been more appropriate.

But then again, Glenn can hold it out strategically and offer him more down the line once he sees how involved RJ continues to be as the business progresses.

I thought like you for a long time, until I had a chance to validate my own thinking. I paid what in retrospect was an aggregious percentage to the workers, and the productivity increase that I got as a result was exactly 0. I can tell you from first-hand experience that your hypothesis is incorrect.
 

Vigilante

Legendary Contributor
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
596%
Oct 31, 2011
11,116
66,265
Gulf Coast
I haven’t finished the series yet but I have them all recorded. Watching them with my youngest daughter when opportunity permits. I’ve skipped a lot of the episode specific comments in this thread until I get caught up.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

ChrisV

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
May 10, 2015
3,141
7,055
Islands of Calleja
I thought like you for a long time, until I had a chance to validate my own thinking. I paid what in retrospect was an aggregious percentage to the workers, and the productivity increase that I got as a result was exactly 0. I can tell you from first-hand experience that your hypothesis is incorrect.
Well yea, I think I saw your post a while back about paying employees more money, thinking it would lead to increased productivity; which didn't work. Still I'm not sure. I at least it makes intuitive sense someone would bust more a$$ when they own 20% vs if they only owned 10%. Whether that works in practice is complex and really outside the scope of this thread.

For anyone interested in the complex relationship between 'more pay' and 'more work' this is a good overview:

RSA ANIMATE: Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us
 

lowtek

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
332%
Oct 3, 2015
2,164
7,186
42
Phoenix, AZ
Well yea, I think I saw your post a while back about paying employees more money, thinking it would lead to increased productivity; which didn't work. Still I'm not sure. I at least it makes intuitive sense someone would bust more a$$ when they own 20% vs if they only owned 10%. Whether that works in practice is complex and really outside the scope of this thread.

For anyone interested in the complex relationship between 'more pay' and 'more work' this is a good overview:

RSA ANIMATE: Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

My uneducated thought is that it wouldn't work due to the mindset delta between an employee and an owner. Giving someone an equity stake won't shift their employee mindset to an owner mindset, and hence it's not going to have the desired effect.

There is also little downside for the employee. They get a guaranteed income, but an owner doesn't eat unless the enterprise is profitable. Sure the employee may lose a job if the business collapses, but I don't think many people wargame their career. Otherwise, they probably wouldn't be employees :)
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top