Antifragile's take: The secret to scaling up.

Antifragile · Mar 20, 2023

The secret to scaling up.

Imagine a tailor who has little experience with suits making a one of a kind suit for you. Imagine he had to get it right the first time! It's not going to end well. And that's just a suit.

That's how most people approach business. They have this big spark! Great idea that launches them and then they must create this big thing.

---
Let's back up a little

The story begins in 2010, in Shanghai. We are at one of the most expensive seafood restaurants and ordering a fish. Not just any fish but one that was just flown from Hong Kong. The inspected fish is perfect and to ensure this is the one that gets cooked... our host makes a unique cut.

The host of our lunch was a mega successful entrepreneur in his 50s. He not only launched great businesses, he took them public and created perfect exits, not once but 3 times. He owned properties across the world and happened to have one in Canada, which is how we met.

He told me to quit my job and start a business. His advice was "think about scaling up". Does that remind you of anything?

CENTS - see that S? :rofl:

---
There is a reason why it gets harder to become an entrepreneur as you get older. With age and higher income, you have more responsibilities and more to lose! We feel losses +/- 4x harder than gains, so me being a high earner ...

My host said "quit your job now, it'll only get harder as you get promotions".
---

This thread is for those who have a deep drive to do more.

Get creative and know that it's as natural to you to think outside the box, as breathing. Kids are a great example. They never give up. It's in our DNA! Remember to lean into your nature.

First, let me address the elephant in the room. On this forum you'll see too many threads dominating about freelance work. Nothing wrong with it. Internet made it a new reality but also a new "job". Competition is fierce. If you don't have niche experience, great skills and marketing know-how: you'll likely be on a treadmill accomplishing F*ck all. Don't settle for a treadmill performance.

Now to real business: Think like a CEO and you'll do better than if you do not.

What does that mean? Say I am 20 y/o and have no experience, money or relationships. What the hell do you want me to do now? Shouldn't I just try to become an email copywriter and produce content? Wouldn't I make some money that way? ChatGPT says i would!

NO. You won't. It'll suck. You'll suck. Your work will suck.

Do this instead:

STEP 1: Pay your bills

Do you have a way to pay your bills? If not, what is the fastest way to getting some money?
List 5+ options. Jobs, side hustles, everything is on the table.

What irritates your friends/mom/uncle during the day? Whatever it is, can you help them and get paid?

Examples: we had a snow dump. I'd have paid someone to shovel my driveway, but imagine they had a snowblower. Or someone organized a "student" crew and got a cut for organizing?

And yes, get a job, freelance - all acceptable options at this stage.

STEP 2: Get your creative juices flowing

What unfair advantage do you have?

Do you speak English?

Is your family well connected in your city?

Do you know and have some friends whose parents are entrepreneurs?

Do you have internet access, education, healthy body?

List all of the things that aren't a given. Take nothing for granted. Every little thing can be your advantage over competition.

STEP 3: Lean into your advantages & start...

Talk to someone who's successful. Face to face! Ask them: "You know me, what should I do? How can I make something of myself? What's your advice?"

Remember, you paid your bills already, so you aren't desperate, you are now moving towards something BETTER.

Example: if you approached me now. I am a RE Developer. I'd tell you that part 9 code applies to smaller buildings. This means that it's cheaper to build and there is an opportunity for a young person to learn. How? Start by getting a Project Manager education & a job, so you know you won't F*ck it all up. That's probably a 2 year investment into a specialized education. It can serve you well to build up either a construction or a real estate company! It's something that can serve you long term.

STEP 4: Think like a CEO when you do.

Just because something needs doing, doesn't mean it is you who must be doing it.

You only do it yourself for as long as you cannot afford to hire someone to work for you. Each business idea must begin with the end in mind. End is a liquidity event (either soon or when you are 90!) but business that depends on you working there isn't a business - it's a job. Think like a CEO. And remember that during the early days you are both: CEO and the Janitor.

STEP 5: Think big and bigger and bigger.

If your plan is to make a $10k / mo - then consider what it would take to make $100k/mo. Say you want it in 12 months, now think how to do it in 2.

You will fail.

Why try? Because you are trying to unblock your mind. You'll create ideas you wouldn't otherwise have.

This is an iterative process. Your job is to find something that works, tinker and improve. Then improve again and again. Keep getting better each time. You are building an enterprise.

STEP 6: Many small things

Break down your big and bigger business idea into small "lego" pieces.

One big thing: you go after it for a long time and 11 years later...

You back on this forum "oh shit, I tried this and it didn't work, this place sucks".

Better way: many small things. You've always kept your vision of a huge scale project. But you had realistic expectations, targets and hit them one at a time. You kept building using your "lego" blocks. Each time the block didn't fit, you learned. You tinkered. You changed. Then when it worked you repeated the actions.

Listen, it's so important that I am going to repeat it - the way to scale is to repeat what works many times. You and your team get better at what works and you just keep adding to it.

Eclectic ideas:

You like socialization. Show up to every single public hearing meeting in your municipality. Get to know the pain points of the residents of your area. Find a way to monetize.

Read the local news and what's the latest complaint topic? Go to the areas. Is someone complaining about quality of life going down? Create something for them - events, transportation, whatever. Are you reading that animals got into some building and it took a while to get them out? Was that because the building needs improvements? Is it that animal handling can be improved? How can you benefit?
Be fearless and disrupt the status quo. You see strollers go for $1,000+ a pop? What if you made a minimalist version for $100? It'll suck but maybe it'll be good enough for just a "mall" visit?!
@Kak had a great idea he posted for an outdoor playground for kids, assembly, maintenance, insurance, SCALE! +++

Good luck. Look forward to your comments and questions.

P.S. I started my first business in 2012, it still took me two years to heed the valuable advice I got in Shanghai in 2010. Same person introduced me to many others. One became a close friend, later an investor and then I became an investor in his business! I've had a ton of fun "growing up" as an entrepreneur.

P.P.S. Special thanks to everyone who was openly asking for another thread on positive "how-to". People like @BizyDad @Fox @Black_Dragon43 (yes, even you!), @mikecarlooch (dm questions) @JLE (dm too)... @Kak for walking me off the ledge more than once... + @Andy Black for always being the nicest & helpful person on the forum. @MJ DeMarco for hosting this place, books and making recent positive changes to energize discussions. Lastly @Vigilante - don't know you, but glad you are on here again. Place lit up since you came back, coincidence?

mikecarlooch · Mar 20, 2023

Antifragile said:
The secret to scaling up.

Imagine a tailor who has little experience with suits making a one of a kind suit for you. Imagine he had to get it right the first time! It's not going to end well. And that's just a suit.

That's how most people approach business. They have this big spark! Great idea that launches them and then they must create this big thing.

---
Let's back up a little

The story begins in 2010, in Shanghai. We are at one of the most expensive seafood restaurants and ordering a fish. Not just any fish but one that was just flown from Hong Kong. The inspected fish is perfect and to ensure this is the one that gets cooked... our host makes a unique cut.

The host of our lunch was a mega successful entrepreneur in his 50s. He not only launched great businesses, he took them public and created perfect exits, not once but 3 times. He owned properties across the world and happened to have one in Canada, which is how we met.

He told me to quit my job and start a business. His advice was "think about scaling up". Does that remind you of anything?

CENTS - see that S?
---
There is a reason why it gets harder to become an entrepreneur as you get older. With age and higher income, you have more responsibilities and more to lose! We feel losses +/- 4x harder than gains, so me being a high earner ...

My host said "quit your job now, it'll only get harder as you get promotions".
---

This thread is for those who have a deep drive to do more.

Get creative and know that it's as natural to you to think outside the box, as breathing. Kids are a great example. They never give up. It's in our DNA! Remember to lean into your nature.

First, let me address the elephant in the room. On this forum you'll see too many threads dominating about freelance work. Nothing wrong with it. Internet made it a new reality but also a new "job". Competition is fierce. If you don't have niche experience, great skills and marketing know-how: you'll likely be on a treadmill accomplishing F*ck all. Don't settle for a treadmill performance.

Now to real business: Think like a CEO and you'll do better than if you do not.

What does that mean? Say I am 20 y/o and have no experience, money or relationships. What the hell do you want me to do now? Shouldn't I just try to become an email copywriter and produce content? Wouldn't I make some money that way? ChatGPT says i would!

NO. You won't. It'll suck. You'll suck. Your work will suck.

Do this instead:

STEP 1: Pay your bills

Do you have a way to pay your bills? If not, what is the fastest way to getting some money?
List 5+ options. Jobs, side hustles, everything is on the table.

What irritates your friends/mom/uncle during the day? Whatever it is, can you help them and get paid?

Examples: we had a snow dump. I'd have paid someone to shovel my driveway, but imagine they had a snowblower. Or someone organized a "student" crew and got a cut for organizing?

And yes, get a job, freelance - all acceptable options at this stage.

STEP 2: Get your creative juices flowing

What unfair advantage do you have?

Do you speak English?

Is your family well connected in your city?

Do you know and have some friends whose parents are entrepreneurs?

Do you have internet access, education, healthy body?

List all of the things that aren't a given. Take nothing for granted. Every little thing can be your advantage over competition.

STEP 3: Lean into your advantages & start...

Talk to someone who's successful. Face to face! Ask them: "You know me, what should I do? How can I make something of myself? What's your advice?"

Remember, you paid your bills already, so you aren't desperate, you are now moving towards something BETTER.

Example: if you approached me now. I am a RE Developer. I'd tell you that part 9 code applies to smaller buildings. This means that it's cheaper to build and there is an opportunity for a young person to learn. How? Start by getting a Project Manager education & a job, so you know you won't F*ck it all up. That's probably a 2 year investment into a specialized education. It can serve you well to build up either a construction or a real estate company! It's something that can serve you long term.

STEP 4: Think like a CEO when you do.

Just because something needs doing, doesn't mean it is you who must be doing it.

You only do it yourself for as long as you cannot afford to hire someone to work for you. Each business idea must begin with the end in mind. End is a liquidity event (either soon or when you are 90!) but business that depends on you working there isn't a business - it's a job. Think like a CEO. And remember that during the early days you are both: CEO and the Janitor.

STEP 5: Think big and bigger and bigger.

If your plan is to make a $10k / mo - then consider what it would take to make $100k/mo. Say you want it in 12 months, now think how to do it in 2.

You will fail.

Why try? Because you are trying to unblock your mind. You'll create ideas you wouldn't otherwise have.

This is an iterative process. Your job is to find something that works, tinker and improve. Then improve again and again. Keep getting better each time. You are building an enterprise.

STEP 6: Many small things

Break down your big and bigger business idea into small "lego" pieces.

One big thing: you go after it for a long time and 11 years later...

You back on this forum "oh shit, I tried this and it didn't work, this place sucks".

Better way: many small things. You've always kept your vision of a huge scale project. But you had realistic expectations, targets and hit them one at a time. You kept building using your "lego" blocks. Each time the block didn't fit, you learned. You tinkered. You changed. Then when it worked you repeated the actions.

Listen, it's so important that I am going to repeat it - the way to scale is to repeat what works many times. You and your team get better at what works and you just keep adding to it.

Eclectic ideas:

You like socialization. Show up to every single public hearing meeting in your municipality. Get to know the pain points of the residents of your area. Find a way to monetize.

Read the local news and what's the latest complaint topic? Go to the areas. Is someone complaining about quality of life going down? Create something for them - events, transportation, whatever. Are you reading that animals got into some building and it took a while to get them out? Was that because the building needs improvements? Is it that animal handling can be improved? How can you benefit?

Be fearless and disrupt the status quo. You see strollers go for $1,000+ a pop? What if you made a minimalist version for $100? It'll suck but maybe it'll be good enough for just a "mall" visit?!

@Kak had a great idea he posted for an outdoor playground for kids, assembly, maintenance, insurance, SCALE! +++

Good luck. Look forward to your comments and questions.

P.S. I started my first business in 2012, it still took me two years to heed the valuable advice I got in Shanghai in 2010. Same person introduced me to many others. One became a close friend, later an investor and then I became an investor in his business! I've had a ton of fun "growing up" as an entrepreneur.

P.P.S. Special thanks to everyone who was openly asking for another thread on positive "how-to". People like @BizyDad @Fox @Black_Dragon43 (yes, even you!), @mikecarlooch (dm questions) @JLE (dm too)... @Kak for walking me off the ledge more than once... + @Andy Black for always being the nicest & helpful person on the forum. @MJ DeMarco for hosting this place, books and making recent positive changes to energize discussions. Lastly @Vigilante - don't know you, but glad you are on here again. Place lit up since you came back, coincidence?

Thanks so much for this @Antifragile - Looking forward to using this as a framework for making things happen.

I noticed that I've had some mental "rules" that have stopped me from thinking bigger. For example when you mentioned instead of thinking about 10k think about how to get to 100k, that's a total game changer when you ask yourself that question..

I have a question for you regarding something you said, which is "Be fearless and disrupt the status quo.".

I have a hypothesis for something (regarding an opportunity I found thinking abstractly and just being all in on making social media work for myself and others), that no one else is doing..

And I'm wanting to figure out if the reason no one's doing it is because no one has put together what I've put together or because the idea simply doesn't work (i basically sat for a couple hours writing about the idea and ended up with 50+ pages on google docs, lol)

However obviously a hypothesis is a hypothesis, and my question would be how do you go about an idea that is disrupting the status quo, in terms of testing that hypothesis?

Do you feel that spending TOO much time on an unproven concept could be limiting for it not to work out?

And when do you know to throw a hypothesis out the window as something that probably won't work?

Thanks!

Antifragile · Mar 21, 2023

mikecarlooch said:
Thanks so much for this @Antifragile - Looking forward to using this as a framework for making things happen.

I noticed that I've had some mental "rules" that have stopped me from thinking bigger. For example when you mentioned instead of thinking about 10k think about how to get to 100k, that's a total game changer when you ask yourself that question..

I have a question for you regarding something you said, which is "Be fearless and disrupt the status quo.".

I was honestly hoping someone would ask a question about that.

mikecarlooch said:
I have a hypothesis for something (regarding an opportunity I found thinking abstractly and just being all in on making social media work for myself and others), that no one else is doing..

And I'm wanting to figure out if the reason no one's doing it is because no one has put together what I've put together or because the idea simply doesn't work (i basically sat for a couple hours writing about the idea and ended up with 50+ pages on google docs, lol)

First, ask yourself: where am I on the STEP 1 through 6 above? Am I paying my bills? Do I have the luxury to tinker with ideas or do I need the cash flow NOW?

mikecarlooch said:
However obviously a hypothesis is a hypothesis, and my question would be how do you go about an idea that is disrupting the status quo, in terms of testing that hypothesis?

Experience is key here. I'll quote myself: "Imagine a tailor who has little experience with suits making a one of a kind suit for you. Imagine he had to get it right the first time! It's not going to end well. And that's just a suit."

A project is far more complicated. A business is a combination of projects... so even more complicated.

I love planning. 50 pages of planning is excellent - for the long term. But if you are in step 2, it'll take time to iterate through your ideas to make them viable. Nothing ever goes according to plan anyway.

How can you break it down to the simplest value proposition and test that? Again, think lego-blocks. Small tiny pieces that can assemble into a huge structure. Thousands of them.

The answer often comes down to experience. What can you do with that? Do you have that specific experience? If you don't, it's not a disruption, it's lunacy! Doomed to most likely failure. Unless... you partner or hire talent to give you that experience.

Who has done something similar? To me disruption isn't ever "brand new", it's just different value skew.

Better quality
Better price
Better service
Faster
Nicer
... whatever

That means that whatever you are thinking of doing has likely been done before by someone. Maybe not as well. Maybe not as efficiently etc.

PayPal replaced cheque payments on eBay! It wasn't "new", it was just faster and better way to pay.

mikecarlooch said:
Do you feel that spending TOO much time on an unproven concept could be limiting for it not to work out?

And when do you know to throw a hypothesis out the window as something that probably won't work?

Thanks!

How quickly can you get to a time when you start to iterate doing something that pays you?

There is another way to think. I've willed deals to life after they died 1,000 times. Exaggeration? Sure. But just like Steve Jobs had a "reality distortion field", I have a gut feeling when I see a good deal. I won't let it go.

Are you an expert enough to recognize a good deal? Or are you tinkering with the hypotheticals in a world you know little about? An Amateur trying to compete at a Pro-level? Be honest with yourself.

Be fearless and disrupt the world in Step 6! Because you'll have iterated enough to be the "expert" in whatever you are doing.

This whole thread can be summed up:
1) Most people go after a HUGE ONE BIG THING and they always fail and get frustrated
2) Success is going after many small things that together become a huge business

Have a vision, and iterate, tinker, tweak it. As soon as you see profits - the market tells you to keep going! If you don't, the market tells you your idea sucks.

mikecarlooch · Mar 21, 2023

Antifragile said:
Be fearless and disrupt the world in Step 6! Because you'll have iterated enough to be the "expert" in whatever you are doing.

This whole thread can be summed up:
1) Most people go after a HUGE ONE BIG THING and they always fail and get frustrated
2) Success is going after many small things that together become a huge business

Have a vision, and iterate, tinker, tweak it. As soon as you see profits - the market tells you to keep going! If you don't, the market tells you your idea sucks.

Your whole response is amazing

This part though is an IMPORTANT breakthrough for me.

Myster kouadj · Mar 21, 2023

Thank you to everyone in general and in particular to Antifragile.

Me in my action plan for the process of creating my business, I did not plan to earn money. I want to go through the process and I don't care how long it takes.
If the money comes fast it would be an unexpected wait and I'll embrace it. All I care about is making it happen. After that, I'm sure with great marketing, I'll steal some customers from Amazon, ebay, Alibaba and other e-commerce sites and also build a new audience (customers).

Testing my idea is already validated. yes, as long as e-commerce sites will always make sales, that would mean that I too can make sales on my e-commerce site.

Here in developing and third countries, business owners don't like to charge when they air talk about online services. They say there are not enough competitors and most of the population is not yet used to online services. but before long, they will be forced to move towards services because we are moving towards digital.

The road will be long and paved with unexpected events.

heavy_industry · Mar 22, 2023

Thank you @Antifragile for creating this thread!

Steps 4, 5 and 6 are the ones that I found most valuable. Such a wonderful way of thinking about business.

One of my problems is that I have workaholic tendencies, which means that I have the proclivity to add more and more work on my plate, until everything becomes completely overwhelming.

And I know this is a very bad strategy.
More work does not mean more progress. Your job as the leader is to improve efficiency and efficacy of the system. So without promoting laziness or wasting time, the actual goal is to work less, while generating more value.

I am especially interested in this:

Antifragile said:
Project Manager education

I will do my due diligence and try to find the best resources I can to further my education in this direction.

My timeframe is at least 10 years. This is something that I am willing to invest in long-term, as I believe that strategic thinking and organizational skills are some of the most important abilities in both business and life.

Do you have any specific resources that you recommend for improving education in this area?

PS:
I F*cking LOVE the beginning of the story.
With that special fish, served at the top-level restaurant in Asia, on the other side of the world. :rofl:

It gives the whole story this amazing vibe, as if it was a legend. "The Legend of @Antifragile"

Congratulations for the life that you managed to build in 10 years!
Thank you for sharing your insight!

Andy Black · Mar 22, 2023

mikecarlooch said:
Your whole response is amazing

This part though is an IMPORTANT breakthrough for me.

I'm curious what the breakthrough was Mike.

Andy Black · Mar 22, 2023

heavy_industry said:
I will do my due diligence and try to find the best resources I can to further my education in this direction.

I spent a few K on a project management course a few years ago. The guy teaching it was retired and full of stories.

The only thing I remember was him saying at the start that a project manager's job is to pass a test. He even said we could leave now if we wanted as that's all there is to project management.

Find out what the test will be and on what date. Then pass it.

If the test is to deliver 100 blue widgets on 15-Apr-23 and you deliver them on 16-Apr-23 then you failed.
If you deliver 100 red widgets on 15-Apr-23 then you failed.
If you deliver 99 blue widgets on time you still failed.

I asked "But what if the business needed 100 green widgets and not 100 blue widgets?"

To which he replied "That's not the job of the project manager. Sure, you could explain that they should really be green but at the end of the day you have to pass the test on the day it will be applied."

Stargazer · Mar 22, 2023

Andy Black said:
To which he replied "That's not the job of the project manager. Sure, you could explain that they should really be green but at the end of the day you have to pass the test on the day it will be applied."

He's broadly right though.

'Their's not to make reply
Their's not to reason why
Their's but to do and die'

(Just a snippet of a poem about some long forgotten place of no significance. :smile2:

)

It's the Directors job to make strategic decisions.

The PMs job is to deliver the project on time and on budget unless there is a glaring issue that was not thought of before.

Dan

Fox · Mar 22, 2023

Andy Black said:
I spent a few K on a project management course a few years ago. The guy teaching it was retired and full of stories.

The only thing I remember was him saying at the start that a project manager's job is to pass a test. He even said we could leave now if we wanted as that's all there is to project management.

Find out what the test will be and on what date. Then pass it.

If the test is to deliver 100 blue widgets on 15-Apr-23 and you deliver them on 16-Apr-23 then you failed. If you deliver 100 red widgets on 15-Apr-23 then you failed. If you deliver 99 blue widgets on time you still failed.

I asked "But what if the business needed 100 green widgets and not 100 blue widgets?"

To which he replied "That's not the job of the project manager. Sure, you could explain that they should really be green but at the end of the day you have to pass the test on the day it will be applied."

This is a gem of a post, thanks Andy!

Fox · Mar 22, 2023

Antifragile said:
The secret to scaling up.

Imagine a tailor who has little experience with suits making a one of a kind suit for you. Imagine he had to get it right the first time! It's not going to end well. And that's just a suit.

That's how most people approach business. They have this big spark! Great idea that launches them and then they must create this big thing.

---
Let's back up a little

The story begins in 2010, in Shanghai. We are at one of the most expensive seafood restaurants and ordering a fish. Not just any fish but one that was just flown from Hong Kong. The inspected fish is perfect and to ensure this is the one that gets cooked... our host makes a unique cut.

The host of our lunch was a mega successful entrepreneur in his 50s. He not only launched great businesses, he took them public and created perfect exits, not once but 3 times. He owned properties across the world and happened to have one in Canada, which is how we met.

He told me to quit my job and start a business. His advice was "think about scaling up". Does that remind you of anything?

CENTS - see that S?
---
There is a reason why it gets harder to become an entrepreneur as you get older. With age and higher income, you have more responsibilities and more to lose! We feel losses +/- 4x harder than gains, so me being a high earner ...

My host said "quit your job now, it'll only get harder as you get promotions".
---

This thread is for those who have a deep drive to do more.

Get creative and know that it's as natural to you to think outside the box, as breathing. Kids are a great example. They never give up. It's in our DNA! Remember to lean into your nature.

First, let me address the elephant in the room. On this forum you'll see too many threads dominating about freelance work. Nothing wrong with it. Internet made it a new reality but also a new "job". Competition is fierce. If you don't have niche experience, great skills and marketing know-how: you'll likely be on a treadmill accomplishing F*ck all. Don't settle for a treadmill performance.

Now to real business: Think like a CEO and you'll do better than if you do not.

What does that mean? Say I am 20 y/o and have no experience, money or relationships. What the hell do you want me to do now? Shouldn't I just try to become an email copywriter and produce content? Wouldn't I make some money that way? ChatGPT says i would!

NO. You won't. It'll suck. You'll suck. Your work will suck.

Do this instead:

STEP 1: Pay your bills

Do you have a way to pay your bills? If not, what is the fastest way to getting some money?
List 5+ options. Jobs, side hustles, everything is on the table.

What irritates your friends/mom/uncle during the day? Whatever it is, can you help them and get paid?

Examples: we had a snow dump. I'd have paid someone to shovel my driveway, but imagine they had a snowblower. Or someone organized a "student" crew and got a cut for organizing?

And yes, get a job, freelance - all acceptable options at this stage.

STEP 2: Get your creative juices flowing

What unfair advantage do you have?

Do you speak English?

Is your family well connected in your city?

Do you know and have some friends whose parents are entrepreneurs?

Do you have internet access, education, healthy body?

List all of the things that aren't a given. Take nothing for granted. Every little thing can be your advantage over competition.

STEP 3: Lean into your advantages & start...

Talk to someone who's successful. Face to face! Ask them: "You know me, what should I do? How can I make something of myself? What's your advice?"

Remember, you paid your bills already, so you aren't desperate, you are now moving towards something BETTER.

Example: if you approached me now. I am a RE Developer. I'd tell you that part 9 code applies to smaller buildings. This means that it's cheaper to build and there is an opportunity for a young person to learn. How? Start by getting a Project Manager education & a job, so you know you won't F*ck it all up. That's probably a 2 year investment into a specialized education. It can serve you well to build up either a construction or a real estate company! It's something that can serve you long term.

STEP 4: Think like a CEO when you do.

Just because something needs doing, doesn't mean it is you who must be doing it.

You only do it yourself for as long as you cannot afford to hire someone to work for you. Each business idea must begin with the end in mind. End is a liquidity event (either soon or when you are 90!) but business that depends on you working there isn't a business - it's a job. Think like a CEO. And remember that during the early days you are both: CEO and the Janitor.

STEP 5: Think big and bigger and bigger.

If your plan is to make a $10k / mo - then consider what it would take to make $100k/mo. Say you want it in 12 months, now think how to do it in 2.

You will fail.

Why try? Because you are trying to unblock your mind. You'll create ideas you wouldn't otherwise have.

This is an iterative process. Your job is to find something that works, tinker and improve. Then improve again and again. Keep getting better each time. You are building an enterprise.

STEP 6: Many small things

Break down your big and bigger business idea into small "lego" pieces.

One big thing: you go after it for a long time and 11 years later...

You back on this forum "oh shit, I tried this and it didn't work, this place sucks".

Better way: many small things. You've always kept your vision of a huge scale project. But you had realistic expectations, targets and hit them one at a time. You kept building using your "lego" blocks. Each time the block didn't fit, you learned. You tinkered. You changed. Then when it worked you repeated the actions.

Listen, it's so important that I am going to repeat it - the way to scale is to repeat what works many times. You and your team get better at what works and you just keep adding to it.

Eclectic ideas:

You like socialization. Show up to every single public hearing meeting in your municipality. Get to know the pain points of the residents of your area. Find a way to monetize.

Read the local news and what's the latest complaint topic? Go to the areas. Is someone complaining about quality of life going down? Create something for them - events, transportation, whatever. Are you reading that animals got into some building and it took a while to get them out? Was that because the building needs improvements? Is it that animal handling can be improved? How can you benefit?

Be fearless and disrupt the status quo. You see strollers go for $1,000+ a pop? What if you made a minimalist version for $100? It'll suck but maybe it'll be good enough for just a "mall" visit?!

@Kak had a great idea he posted for an outdoor playground for kids, assembly, maintenance, insurance, SCALE! +++

Good luck. Look forward to your comments and questions.

P.S. I started my first business in 2012, it still took me two years to heed the valuable advice I got in Shanghai in 2010. Same person introduced me to many others. One became a close friend, later an investor and then I became an investor in his business! I've had a ton of fun "growing up" as an entrepreneur.

P.P.S. Special thanks to everyone who was openly asking for another thread on positive "how-to". People like @BizyDad @Fox @Black_Dragon43 (yes, even you!), @mikecarlooch (dm questions) @JLE (dm too)... @Kak for walking me off the ledge more than once... + @Andy Black for always being the nicest & helpful person on the forum. @MJ DeMarco for hosting this place, books and making recent positive changes to energize discussions. Lastly @Vigilante - don't know you, but glad you are on here again. Place lit up since you came back, coincidence?

I read this when posted but something must have distracted me cause I didn't get to finish.

Just reread it now - amazing post. Thanks for taking the time to write this one up @Antifragile

Antifragile · Mar 23, 2023

Wow. I am humbled by how popular this thread became overnight. Thank you all.

But there has been some disagreement, which is healthy! Allow me to push back on "experience is for suckers, I can do this out of sheer will and look at me making money fast, winning winning winning!" nonsense.

How important is experience? How important is slow/long planning?

Some people think that if you aren't failing, you aren't trying hard enough. That my method is too slow. That deliberate approach to improving yourself is outdated and all the internet businesses are taking over.

Creativity (even in how you make money) requires a muse, not experience, not slow thinking / planning. True/false?

Hmm...

What do the following projects have in common?

Jaws movie
Sydney Opera House, &
Electric Lady recording studio

All projects believed creativity is something mysterious and spontaneous. It cannot be scheduled or planned.

“Necessity is the mother of invention”

And succeeded too.

These sexy stories of projects that had no plan, no budget and …

Somehow they not only made it, but are cemented in history.

Why do planning when you “work best under stress”?

Wouldn’t it be better to let what’s natural just be?

No No NO

Daniel Kahlerman wrote in Thinking, Fast and Slow that using reference-class forecasting is "the single most important piece of advice regarding how to increase accuracy in forecasting through improved methods".

Let's back up a little ...

The problem here is that projects that fail miserably are forgotten.

Projects that run into trouble but succeed are remembered and celebrated.

Survivorship bias. Overlooking those projects that failed is a bad mistake.

Sydney Opera House story:

The city held an international competition to design an opera house, and it was won by a Danish architect named Jørn Utzon. He was a relatively unknown when he won this competition. The final bill was 1,400% over estimate, one of the largest cost overruns for a building in history!
And the whole thing destroyed Jørn Utzon's career.
Have you heard of his other projects? Exactly.

But you may counter that Jaws was 300% over budget, no experience, no plan and yet somehow box office made more. It made careers. The odds of that happening are 20% based on a sample of over 2,000 projects.

80% chance it’ll be over budget and under expected value. That’s bad odds!

A Canadian story:

Note that all Olympic Games suffer from "eternal beginner syndrome" because they are done every 4 years and in different countries, no experienced team does it often enough. Each country is a beginner.

1976 Montreal Olympics, result?
720% over budget
Montreal Gazette said “Olympic stadium cost so much it took 30 years for Quebec to pay it off”

How much worse could it be?

My take remains and is supported by data:

Creative process is *slow*, *painstaking* and intensely *iterative*.

It applies to your small business as much as to the little "lego" parts of the enterprise you are building. It literally applies to everything.

Just like a world class surgeon will always command a $7-figure "salary" after "wasting years getting experience"... but if you needed that surgery, would you rather have someone who didn't train as long? nope.

Still in doubt?

Aristotle said that experience is "The fruit of years" and argued that it is the source of what he called "phronesis" - the "practical wisdom" that allows us to see what is good for people and make it happen, which Aristotle saw as the highest "intellectual virtue".

Next time you fly somewhere, remember that you want the flight attendant to be the optimist, not the pilot. Can you imagine hearing from the pilot "I am optimistic about our ability to get there, I took an online course last night"?

I rest my case.

wyattnorton · Mar 23, 2023

Antifragile said:
Note that all Olympic Games suffer from "eternal beginner syndrome" because they are done every 4 years and in different countries, no experienced team does it often enough. Each country is a beginner.

1976 Montreal Olympics, result?

720% over budget

Montreal Gazette said “Olympic stadium cost so much it took 30 years for Quebec to pay it off”

How much worse could it be?

My take remains and is supported by data:

Creative process is *slow*, *painstaking* and intensely *iterative*.

Monkey see monkey do.

It's easy to start and scale a dropshipping company selling Chinese widgets.

But as @MJ DeMarco says, you can market a shitty product as much as you want, but it's still a shitty product.

Obsessing about every aspect of: How can I make this cost effective for both me and the customer AND more valuable to them at the same time? is a great place to start.

Then you dive into that

thechosen1 · Mar 23, 2023

Antifragile said:
Wow. I am humbled by how popular this thread became overnight. Thank you all.

But there has been some disagreement, which is healthy! Allow me to push back on "experience is for suckers, I can do this out of sheer will and look at me making money fast, winning winning winning!" nonsense.

How important is experience? How important is slow/long planning?

Some people think that if you aren't failing, you aren't trying hard enough. That my method is too slow. That deliberate approach to improving yourself is outdated and all the internet businesses are taking over.

Creativity (even in how you make money) requires a muse, not experience, not slow thinking / planning. True/false?

Hmm...

What do the following projects have in common?

Jaws movie

Sydney Opera House, &

Electric Lady recording studio

All projects believed creativity is something mysterious and spontaneous. It cannot be scheduled or planned.

“Necessity is the mother of invention”

And succeeded too.

These sexy stories of projects that had no plan, no budget and …

Somehow they not only made it, but are cemented in history.

Why do planning when you “work best under stress”?

Wouldn’t it be better to let what’s natural just be?

No No NO

Daniel Kahlerman wrote in Thinking, Fast and Slow that using reference-class forecasting is "the single most important piece of advice regarding how to increase accuracy in forecasting through improved methods".

Let's back up a little ...

The problem here is that projects that fail miserably are forgotten.

Projects that run into trouble but succeed are remembered and celebrated.

Survivorship bias. Overlooking those projects that failed is a bad mistake.

Sydney Opera House story:

The city held an international competition to design an opera house, and it was won by a Danish architect named Jørn Utzon. He was a relatively unknown when he won this competition. The final bill was 1,400% over estimate, one of the largest cost overruns for a building in history!
And the whole thing destroyed Jørn Utzon's career.
Have you heard of his other projects? Exactly.

But you may counter that Jaws was 300% over budget, no experience, no plan and yet somehow box office made more. It made careers. The odds of that happening are 20% based on a sample of over 2,000 projects.

80% chance it’ll be over budget and under expected value. That’s bad odds!

A Canadian story:

Note that all Olympic Games suffer from "eternal beginner syndrome" because they are done every 4 years and in different countries, no experienced team does it often enough. Each country is a beginner.

1976 Montreal Olympics, result?

720% over budget

Montreal Gazette said “Olympic stadium cost so much it took 30 years for Quebec to pay it off”

How much worse could it be?

My take remains and is supported by data:

Creative process is *slow*, *painstaking* and intensely *iterative*.

It applies to your small business as much as to the little "lego" parts of the enterprise you are building. It literally applies to everything.

Just like a world class surgeon will always command a $7-figure "salary" after "wasting years getting experience"... but if you needed that surgery, would you rather have someone who didn't train as long? nope.

Still in doubt?

Aristotle said that experience is "The fruit of years" and argued that it is the source of what he called "phronesis" - the "practical wisdom" that allows us to see what is good for people and make it happen, which Aristotle saw as the highest "intellectual virtue".

Next time you fly somewhere, remember that you want the flight attendant to be the optimist, not the pilot. Can you imagine hearing from the pilot "I am optimistic about our ability to get there, I took an online course last night"?

I rest my case.

Amazing post and thread, as usual AF. Thank you so much.

To use a real estate analogy, I would liken this whole concept to betting on appreciation versus actually doing your due diligence, planning, setting up for a nice amount of cash flow, loan paydown, high yield on capital, etc.

BuT the BoX oFfIcE! - That's like gambling on the market to save yo @$$ when you didn't plan right.

Real experience shining through here. Iterative process is the name of the game. What the scammers refer to as "the grind" - 99% of an entrepreneur's career, building more houses, more storage tanks, more airplanes, you name it. Can't skip that part, and definitely can't wing it without planning.

mikecarlooch · Mar 23, 2023

Andy Black said:
I'm curious what the breakthrough was Mike.

All of the times when I've wanted to create something big, I've never yet put in the time to BE the expert who can create those things yet.

I am grateful for @Antifragile for telling me this twice now, I once got caught up in looking for a HUGE problem to solve and asked him if there were any problems in his industry I could solve.

To which he was real with me and said "Mike, you are not the person for that. You don't have any expertise there."

And it's so true. I appreciate him for giving me that "pattern interrupt" I guess you could call it.

Some people are criticizing @Antifragile for making things too complex, but he's literally (from what I can tell) saying to start small and simple, and become an expert over time so that you can lead into bigger, more complex things.

Once you've spent so much time putting together the puzzle pieces (lego pieces as he calls them), THEN you can disrupt the world with an innovative solution.. Because since you're an expert you know for certain that the idea you've got is a gap in the market that you can fill.

@Antifragile let me know if I got any of this messed up, but that's how I interpreted this!

Antifragile · Mar 23, 2023

mikecarlooch said:
All of the times when I've wanted to create something big, I've never yet put in the time to BE the expert who can create those things yet.

I am grateful for @Antifragile for telling me this twice now, I once got caught up in looking for a HUGE problem to solve and asked him if there were any problems in his industry I could solve.

To which he was real with me and said "Mike, you are not the person for that. You don't have any expertise there."

And it's so true. I appreciate him for giving me that "pattern interrupt" I guess you could call it.

Some people are criticizing @Antifragile for making things too complex, but he's literally (from what I can tell) saying to start small and simple, and become an expert over time so that you can lead into bigger, more complex things.

Once you've spent so much time putting together the puzzle pieces (lego pieces as he calls them), THEN you can disrupt the world with an innovative solution.. Because since you're an expert you know for certain that the idea you've got is a gap in the market that you can fill.

@Antifragile let me know if I got any of this messed up, but that's how I interpreted this!

Bullseye Mike !

Now if only BlackDragon would stop trying to slam a revolving door… on this topic.

Back to regular programming…
Mike, how are you going to use this “pattern interrupt” starting now? What action steps are you taking next?

Andy Black · Mar 24, 2023

mikecarlooch said:
start small and simple, and become an expert over time so that you can lead into bigger, more complex things.

I love this and agree 100%. Get really good.

Also, nice story.

MJ DeMarco · Mar 24, 2023

All of BlackDragon's comments have been moved into his own "take" so this thread is back on topic and less discord.

IDEA - SCALING - SUCCESS! - BlackDragon's take: The secret to scaling up.

Moderator Note: This is in response to a prior thread, posted here: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/antifragiles-take-the-secret-to-scaling-up.107711/ @Black_Dragon43 (yes, even you!) Thank you @Antifragile There is some helpful advice here. But most of it is still...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

If you both can abstain from each other's opinion and ignore each other, that would be great.

mikecarlooch · Mar 24, 2023

Antifragile said:
Bullseye Mike !

Now if only BlackDragon would stop trying to slam a revolving door… on this topic.

Back to regular programming…
Mike, how are you going to use this “pattern interrupt” starting now? What action steps are you taking next?

After reading this thread I kind of feel "permission" to keep it simple, for lack of a better word.

50 Social Posts Per Day across all platforms
$15-$50 / Day on FB engagement ads (to retarget people)
50-100 Outreach per day
Finding ways to automate this process as time goes on (to get a business in the area of fastlane commandments)
Make offers, fulfill promises

Ps: all of this is already being done daily, which I'm proud of myself for.

I committed to myself that if I can just keep it this simple, and not get distracted by narratives in my head, and just go at that for 90 days without judging myself, I could gather more serious data.

@Antifragile I also have another question that I've only recently caught myself on and have been trying to make a real effort to change - and I'm sure others may have this issue too - Sometimes I find myself falling into a scarcity mindset, and I'm realizing how much impact it's had.

Sometimes I catch myself viewing the glass half empty as opposed to half full, feeling like opportunities are slipping away, and like markets are shrinking rather than growing.

Have you ever experienced something like this? And if so, how did you empower yourself to think in an abundant state of mind more consistently?

BizyDad · Mar 24, 2023

mikecarlooch said:
@Antifragile I also have another question that I've only recently caught myself on and have been trying to make a real effort to change - and I'm sure others may have this issue too - Sometimes I find myself falling into a scarcity mindset, and I'm realizing how much impact it's had.

Sometimes I catch myself viewing the glass half empty as opposed to half full, feeling like opportunities are slipping away, and like markets are shrinking rather than growing.

Have you ever experienced something like this? And if so, how did you empower yourself to think in an abundant state of mind more consistently?

I've been there. Forgive me if this is a bit of a ramble, but I've been on a roll today...

First off, trust your gut. Let's say you're probably right. Opportunities are slipping away. Markets are shrinking rather than growing.

So what?

You only have so much time in the day anyway. You're not ever going to catch all the opportunities in front of you. So don't worry about the ones you don't catch.

And maybe markets are shrinking. Your competition's going to start feeling the pinch. Pretenders are going to start shaking out.

Excellence shines easier in times like these.

But what if you're wrong?

Maybe market's growing. But if you get lean and mean as if it's shrinking, you're only going to shine brighter if it's actually growing.

And as for opportunities slipping you by, that's just making more time in your day for you to find the next big opportunity that's coming along. And there will always be another opportunity coming along. That's just facts.

The key to maximizing on the opportunities that come along is preparing yourself.

Continue to work on yourself. Continue to expand your abilities. Don't get stuck. Don't get complacent. Continue to work on yourself.

And practice gratitude.

It is very difficult to enter into a negative mind state when one is full of gratitude. Literally count your blessings.

And before you know it, that scarcity mindset will be banished from you. Replaced with an attitude of being on top of the world. Like @Johnny boy said recently, you'll feel like you're running around with a bucket trying to catch all this money that falls from the sky.

Hope that helps...

mikecarlooch · Mar 24, 2023

BizyDad said:
I've been there. Forgive me if this is a bit of a ramble, but I've been on a roll today...

First off, trust your gut. Let's say you're probably right. Opportunities are slipping away. Markets are shrinking rather than growing.

So what?

You only have so much time in the day anyway. You're not ever going to catch all the opportunities in front of you. So don't worry about the ones you don't catch.

And maybe markets are shrinking. Your competition's going to start feeling the pinch. Pretenders are going to start shaking out.

Excellence shines easier in times like these.

But what if you're wrong?

Maybe market's growing. But if you get lean and mean as if it's shrinking, you're only going to shine brighter if it's actually growing.

And as for opportunities slipping you by, that's just making more time in your day for you to find the next big opportunity that's coming along. And there will always be another opportunity coming along. That's just facts.

The key to maximizing on the opportunities that come along is preparing yourself.

Continue to work on yourself. Continue to expand your abilities. Don't get stuck. Don't get complacent. Continue to work on yourself.

And practice gratitude.

It is very difficult to enter into a negative mind state when one is full of gratitude. Literally count your blessings.

And before you know it, that scarcity mindset will be banished from you. Replaced with an attitude of being on top of the world. Like @Johnny boy said recently, you'll feel like you're running around with a bucket trying to catch all this money that falls from the sky.

Hope that helps...

@BizyDad Your posts recently have been a godsend. Thank you.

Regarding gratitude - great tip. I must admit I've been for a long time someone who puts extreme amounts of importance on the future and not looking at what I've got now.

I'm starting to see the importance of it in terms of strategic leverage (getting everything you can out of all you've got in jay abraham's words)

@Antifragile once told me to read The Unfair Advantage. I believe lack of gratitude was one of the reasons I had a hard time finding all of my own strategic leverage (which we all have)..

Now that you mention it here, I plan on putting it on my list of values from here on out.

The truth is, one of the things that's hurt my gratitude is scarcity mindset. It got so bad at one point that as soon as I would see a "shovel seller" for anything remotely similar to what I was doing, it would instantly put me in a bad mood as someone who's "not up to the market and still digging for gold".

I think fixing this limiting mindset could be life changing for everyone.

heavy_industry · Mar 25, 2023

mikecarlooch said:
Sometimes I find myself falling into a scarcity mindset, and I'm realizing how much impact it's had.

Sometimes I catch myself viewing the glass half empty as opposed to half full, feeling like opportunities are slipping away, and like markets are shrinking rather than growing.

Have you ever experienced something like this? And if so, how did you empower yourself to think in an abundant state of mind more consistently?

I don't have as much experience as others (yet), so take this advice with a grain of salt.

Each and every single time when I start having negative emotions about the potential future outcome of my work:

I understand that this is "the scam" my brain is trying to use to sabotage me
I understand that this is the filter every entrepreneur has to get through. If you fall for the scam and give up, you lose, and you join the 99% club.

I get to this psychological point on a regular basis.
And when it happens, I know that now it's the time to shut up and execute the process.

A few days later, the future is looking bright once again.
The scam has failed. I passed once again through the filter of losers.

Antifragile · Mar 25, 2023

Game Excellence vs Excellent Game.

Any game you win is excellent.

Game excellence is when you did everything you possibly could. You trained as hard as you could. You had everything to do and did it all. Even if you lost, you had "game excellence".

That's why odds are important. Excellent game could mean winning a lotto. Game excellence means stacking odds to ensure that you don't need to win a lotto. You'll create the circumstances that attract "luck".

More on planning here: GOLD! - EXECUTION - 8 Steps To Help You Plan for Business Success, a How-To Guide

There are no rules.

Steps 1, 2... 6 are arbitrary. I called them steps because that's what they look like: staircase steps, each higher than one before. Unlike a home where steps are all the same size, these are not. Some are small, others are HUGE.

In Step 1 you may make 2x minimum wage, in step 2 you may make 3x mim wage. Then in Step 3-4 you may make $1 million p.a. And in Step 6 you may be pulling 8 figures like it's nothing.

Life is like that for many of us. For others, cultural hypnosis kills dreams. Life then looks like walking on a treadmill. Busy, tired, no progress.

This thread is for those who want their life to be more like a dream. No rules could explain it.

So when shit isn't working in your business, it feels like the world around you sucks and you are feeling down. Remember: some dreams are bad. You'll have another where like a superhero you do things incomprehensibly amazing. There are no rules in business, you make the rules.

Here's an oldie but goodie:

Q: What do you need to do to make minim wage?
A: Walk into a fast food joint and ask.

Q: What do you need to do to make minim wage + $5/hr?
A: Whistle at the fast food joint job. Your boss will think you deserve a raise because you have the right attitude.

Q: What do you need to do to make $100/hr?
A: Get a bunch of education, become a "professional": lawyer, accountant, engineer, doctor etc.

Q: What do you need to do to make $1,000/hr?
A: Niche specialization? Tax lawyer, surgeon etc.

Q: What do you need to do to make $10,000/hr?
A: ...

Q: What do you need to do to make $100,000/hr?
A: ...

(spoiler: you already know the answer, entrepreneurship, of course!)

Accepting mediocrity kills your future!

Leverage is key to your success.

We all want to get to the highest level of financial and personal success. Blaming the economy, taxes, industry is accepting mediocrity!

To become successful, use leverage! Experience is leverage. Relationships - every single "unfair" advantage you have, is leverage. That's why sometimes it takes time, sometimes it doesn't. Imagine you are building the biggest beam over a fulcrum to lift the largest possible load.

The bigger the beam, the less force you need to lift higher loads. Think about it, Elon Musk can raise $10+ Billion fund with one phone call at 3AM. That's leverage! But 20 years ago, he could not.

With Game Excellence, you get the highest and best use of your time, effort, passion... You build the highest lever!

This is so important, that I'll highlight it again and again. Your reality has nothing to do with the economy, taxes, whatever. Your reality has everything to do with how you leverage your time, your efforts and your opportunities. It is that simple.

How are you spending your time?
How rewarding are your efforts?
How well did you capitalize on the opportunities that were right in front of you?

One of the easiest $$ I've ever made was after being in the industry for a decade. I shared that on @Kak radio show once. Short story: saw land play, tied it up for $50k deposit, flipped it for a $600k profit. Without experience, I would not have seen the deal, would not have seen the opportunity, and no amount of effort would have led to this result. The thing about it is that once you get your "leverage", you'll be able to pull off "lucky" breaks like that with reasonable frequency!

My made up timeframes are fluid too. Some will get there in 3 years, others in 20. The point is to get there. With Game Excellence, everyone gets there eventually. You've created circumstances that make it very, very likely! And even if it takes longer because I am the unluckiest SOB our there, I'd rather be rich and old than old and poor. This is clearly not as sexy as the latest YT guru (or some forum members preaching), but it works. It works exceptionally well.

@mikecarlooch does this help answer your question?

Edit: formatting

mikecarlooch · Mar 25, 2023

Antifragile said:
Game Excellence vs Excellent Game.

Any game you win is excellent.

Game excellence is when you did everything you possibly could. You trained as hard as you could. You had everything to do and did it all. Even if you lost, you had "game excellence".

That's why odds are important. Excellent game could mean winning a lotto. Game excellence means stacking odds to ensure that you don't need to win a lotto. You'll create the circumstances that attract "luck".

More on planning here: GOLD! - EXECUTION - 8 Steps To Help You Plan for Business Success, a How-To Guide

There are no rules.

Steps 1, 2... 6 are arbitrary. I called them steps because that's what they look like: staircase steps, each higher than one before. Unlike a home where steps are all the same size, these are not. Some are small, others are HUGE.

In Step 1 you may make 2x minimum wage, in step 2 you may make 3x mim wage. Then in Step 3-4 you may make $1 million p.a. And in Step 6 you may be pulling 8 figures like it's nothing.

Life is like that for many of us. For others, cultural hypnosis kills dreams. Life then looks like walking on a treadmill. Busy, tired, no progress.

This thread is for those who want their life to be more like a dream. No rules could explain it.

So when shit isn't working in your business, it feels like the world around you sucks and you are feeling down. Remember: some dreams are bad. You'll have another where like a superhero you do things incomprehensibly amazing. There are no rules in business, you make the rules.

Here's an oldie but goodie:

Q: What do you need to do to make minim wage?
A: Walk into a fast food joint and ask.

Q: What do you need to do to make minim wage + $5/hr?
A: Whistle at the fast food joint job. Your boss will think you deserve a raise because you have the right attitude.

Q: What do you need to do to make $100/hr?
A: Get a bunch of education, become a "professional": lawyer, accountant, engineer, doctor etc.

Q: What do you need to do to make $1,000/hr?
A: Niche specialization? Tax lawyer, surgeon etc.

Q: What do you need to do to make $10,000/hr?
A: ...

Q: What do you need to do to make $100,000/hr?
A: ...

(spoiler: you already know the answer, entrepreneurship, of course!)

Accepting mediocrity kills your future!
Leverage is key to your success.

We all want to get to the highest level of financial and personal success. Blaming the economy, taxes, industry is accepting mediocrity!

To become successful, use leverage! Experience is leverage. Relationships - every single "unfair" advantage you have, is leverage. That's why sometimes it takes time, sometimes it doesn't. Imagine you are building the biggest beam over a fulcrum to lift the largest possible load.

View attachment 47942

The bigger the beam, the less force you need to lift higher loads. Think about it, Elon Musk can raise $10+ Billion fund with one phone call at 3AM. That's leverage! But 20 years ago, he could not.

With Game Excellence, you get the highest and best use of your time, effort, passion... You build the highest lever!

This is so important, that I'll highlight it again and again. Your reality has nothing to do with the economy, taxes, whatever. Your reality has everything to do with how you leverage your time, your efforts and your opportunities. It is that simple.

How are you spending your time? How rewarding are your efforts? How well did you capitalize on the opportunities that were right in front of you?

One of the easiest $$ I've ever made was after being in the industry for a decade. I shared that on @Kak radio show once. Short story: saw land play, tied it up for $50k deposit, flipped it for a $600k profit. Without experience, I would not have seen the deal, would not have seen the opportunity, and no amount of effort would have led to this result. The thing about it is that once you get your "leverage", you'll be able to pull off "lucky" breaks like that with reasonable frequency!

My made up timeframes are fluid too. Some will get there in 3 years, others in 20. The point is to get there. With Game Excellence, everyone gets there eventually. You've created circumstances that make it very, very likely! And even if it takes longer because I am the unluckiest SOB our there, I'd rather be rich and old than old and poor. This is clearly not as sexy as the latest YT guru (or some forum members preaching), but it works. It works exceptionally well.

@mikecarlooch does this help answer your question?

Thank you @Antifragile it absolutely does. Had to read this about 6 times to really take it all in.

I never have really understood WHAT leverage is. I've heard it a lot, but couldn't wrap my head around it.

After reading this thread I found this video -

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-cBwnr_LVg
which is showing to be super useful

The fact that there ARE NO RULES just shows that creativity and (ABSTRACTION, like i made a thread about the other day) are superpowers.

Maybe the reason I've had so much of a scarcity mindset is because of the fact that I was looking to everyone else for some step by step process.. taking everything so careful to do it right.. As opposed to utilizing my own creativity to come up with unique solutions..?

I actually talk about bringing together ideas from different industries to get leverage and be different on social media in any market (which is a super powerful concept), and now I'm wondering if the same can be leveraged in business..

Now THAT is something. Everyone needs to understand this.. To forget this concept and not use it would be a shame.

Also, thanks for bringing up your planning thread again. I actually have that thread taped on my wall physically lol.

Thanks again for this great thread.

heavy_industry · Mar 26, 2023

mikecarlooch said:
Also, thanks for bringing up your planning thread again. I actually have that thread taped on my wall physically lol.

This is the proper way to use the forum. Congratulations for your willingness to learn.

I have bookmarked ~300 posts, and I am planning to make a physical notebook. :rofl:

Andy Black · Mar 26, 2023

mikecarlooch said:
Thank you @Antifragile it absolutely does. Had to read this about 6 times to really take it all in.

I never have really understood WHAT leverage is. I've heard it a lot, but couldn't wrap my head around it.

After reading this thread I found this video -

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-cBwnr_LVg
which is showing to be super useful

The fact that there ARE NO RULES just shows that creativity and (ABSTRACTION, like i made a thread about the other day) are superpowers.

Maybe the reason I've had so much of a scarcity mindset is because of the fact that I was looking to everyone else for some step by step process.. taking everything so careful to do it right.. As opposed to utilizing my own creativity to come up with unique solutions..?

I actually talk about bringing together ideas from different industries to get leverage and be different on social media in any market (which is a super powerful concept), and now I'm wondering if the same can be leveraged in business..

Now THAT is something. Everyone needs to understand this.. To forget this concept and not use it would be a shame.

Also, thanks for bringing up your planning thread again. I actually have that thread taped on my wall physically lol.

Thanks again for this great thread.

I've been meaning to come back and reply to you and @Antifragile.

Mike, you have social media /short video skills. When you asked Antifragile what you could help him with did you consider helping him with the skills you have that he doesn't?

I also see you posting text posts on LinkedIn and Facebook. I can't remember what platform you've got thousands of followers on (TikTok maybe?), but if you're good at TikTok short videos (and maybe short videos on all platforms) then why are you not digging deeper into that and getting better and better at it?

mikecarlooch · Mar 26, 2023

Andy Black said:
I've been meaning to come back and reply to you and @Antifragile.

Mike, you have social media /short video skills. When you asked Antifragile what you could help him with did you consider helping him with the skills you have that he doesn't?

I also see you posting text posts on LinkedIn and Facebook. I can't remember what platform you've got thousands of followers on (TikTok maybe?), but if you're good at TikTok short videos (and maybe short videos on all platforms) then why are you not digging deeper into that and getting better and better at it?

Thanks for this comment Andy!

Here's my answer -

From all of my personal references, all of the videos I've made successful that have gotten millions of views, or hundreds of thousands, it was all inside of the structure, topic, headline, and differentiation of a video that made it successful.

Not the fancy editing.

It is hard to say that anything on a short video in terms of editing beyond a headline (maybe subtitles, but not really), and cutting matter very much.

That service in itself is without a doubt a commodity.

It's much more about the actual context in the video.

However, I have "specific knowledge" in this sector, as Naval Ravikant puts it. I do believe that anyone within the entrepreneurship space, I could grow their brand significantly on social media with a combination of engagement ads and my ways of doing things. With the right amount of time, I'm so confident in that, that I'd be willing to refund any compensation I received from it.

However when I think about that - like @Antifragile brings up - what leverage is in that? (I'd be open to some ideas if you guys have any off the top of your heads) - but a concept like that feels like I'm confined to giving up my own time unless the magnitude of compensation is so big that it doesn't matter.

Therefore, the closest thing there appears to be with leverage in short videos, is services. Editing for people, automating for people, distributing, creating derivatives, etc.

And there's nothing wrong with that, what I've added recently is a personalized gameplan that virtually guarantees some kind of success on social, which uses that plan in order to make the actual service work. I'm just having a hard time seeing the path to leverage.

Like @Kak says - I'm wanting to avoid freelancing like the plague (I still edit videos for clients, and the pay is much better than a job) - but if there's a path to leverage and CENTS commandments - I have no problem giving up personal time at first to make that happen. I guess the lack of clarity on that is a temporary handicap. The goal is fastlane and only that.

Edit:

Some may look at Mr Beast and conclude that editing matters a ton. No. Mr Beast is a master at storytelling, persuasion and psychology and implements all of those things into his videos in order to create an extremely compelling video. Fancy editing or not, it's something people want to watch.

Andy Black · Mar 26, 2023

mikecarlooch said:
Thanks for this comment Andy!

Here's my answer -

From all of my personal references, all of the videos I've made successful that have gotten millions of views, or hundreds of thousands, it was all inside of the structure, topic, headline, and differentiation of a video that made it successful.

Not the fancy editing.

It is hard to say that anything on a short video in terms of editing beyond a headline (maybe subtitles, but not really), and cutting matter very much.

That service in itself is without a doubt a commodity.

It's much more about the actual context in the video.

However, I have "specific knowledge" in this sector, as Naval Ravikant puts it. I do believe that anyone within the entrepreneurship space, I could grow their brand significantly on social media with a combination of engagement ads and my ways of doing things. With the right amount of time, I'm so confident in that, that I'd be willing to refund any compensation I received from it.

However when I think about that - like @Antifragile brings up - what leverage is in that? (I'd be open to some ideas if you guys have any off the top of your heads) - but a concept like that feels like I'm confined to giving up my own time unless the magnitude of compensation is so big that it doesn't matter.

Therefore, the closest thing there appears to be with leverage in short videos, is services. Editing for people, automating for people, distributing, creating derivatives, etc.

And there's nothing wrong with that, what I've added recently is a personalized gameplan that virtually guarantees some kind of success on social, which uses that plan in order to make the actual service work. I'm just having a hard time seeing the path to leverage.

Like @Kak says - I'm wanting to avoid freelancing like the plague (I still edit videos for clients, and the pay is much better than a job) - but if there's a path to leverage and CENTS commandments - I have no problem giving up personal time at first to make that happen. I guess the lack of clarity on that is a temporary handicap. The goal is fastlane and only that.

Edit:

Some may look at Mr Beast and conclude that editing matters a ton. No. Mr Beast is a master at storytelling, persuasion and psychology and implements all of those things into his videos in order to create an extremely compelling video. Fancy editing or not, it's something people want to watch.

Being able to grow audiences and generate leads are valuable skills. There's many ways to monetise those skills.

As Antifragile said before:

"Start small and simple, and become an expert over time so that you can lead into bigger, more complex things."

Antifragile · Mar 26, 2023

Think slow, act fast.

Most people do it in reverse. There is this hype from YT gurus (and some forum members too) that odds don't matter. You just need to wish it hard enough, sacrifice family, friends, trade body parts - all if it. If you want it bad enough, you'll make 7-8 figures in your early 20s... and why? Well... just because.

Even after reading all of @MJ DeMarco books most people still do not think before they do. They act and then hope it all works out for their "Lambo" dream. That's a huge problem. Our brains are capable of running great "simulations" without spending any money. Worse yet, most fail to run real life simulations too!

Is it any wonder most people fail? Ironic. Those who scream the loudest "I am the next American Idol" are the blooper material. Same with business.

But some succeed! I applaud them.

In fact, some readers may accuse me of conflicting advice:

A: Do small things. Figure our what works, do more of that.
B: Dream, plan and go for HUGE things! Do not settle for mediocrity, it will kill your future.

Doesn't A conflict with B? Which one is it? Should I try for a massive success in my early 20s or settle for education, job, freelance and build experience?

I am not sure what is harder, to create a successful business or to write on how to create a successful business. Seriously. @MJ DeMarco - maybe you can shed some light. And worse yet, I am not even that great a businessman. I your average guy that doesn't quit. It's really that simple.

A & B do not conflict. Do both over and over again.

What does that look like in real life?

Real Estate

Long ago I wrote out plans in my notepad to create a mega company. But what industry? How quickly? How?

Answer 1: cosmetics. King crab on the east side of Canada was and is a huge business. Legs are sold to restaurants but there's too much waste of the body shell. Shell dried can be crushed into powder. Powder is used in makeup! Huge, massive business opportunity. And I was in my early 20s... full of piss and vinegar. Confident little F*ck.

So I called all friends and found a buyer for the said dry shells, in China. Volume would be almost unlimited.

Next challenge. Called up a few businesses and learned that they pay to dispose of the "waste". They'll gladly give it ALL to me if I just arrange someone to pick it up.

Listen, I just won a lotto. I am about to become a mega millionaire. Free shit that's worth a fortune if I just dry it and ship to China! How much more luck does one need?

That's why I am so rich today and wiring to you all my advice from a private jet plane!
Nope. That's not how the story ends, but it is a good story. I totally f*cked up the execution part. I was such a little "brilliant" confident F*ck that I didn't think "process is king", I thought my idea was worth a F*cking billion dollars. Oh looking back, was I ever wrong. I F*cked it up. I made zero.

Answer 2: shoes. Bruised but not beaten, I leaned further into my "entrepreneur" self. Still in my 20s I come up with the next billion dollar idea. I'll beat Nike in shoes. A classmate from Asia happens to be from a family that owns a factory making sneakers. We were going to be partners. I am great at sales + numbers. Weird but mighty combo. I called retailers, lined up the Bay (they were huge back then, now struggling like most). We had manufacturer on standby.

That's why I am so rich today and wiring to you all my advice from a private jet plane!
Nope. Boy's parents decided their son was going to "grow up" and do it himself. They bankrolled him under a condition of no partners. He was beyond useless and I wasn't going to work FOR him. It all fell apart.

Answer 3:... I won't bore you with the many others. I aimed so high.

The bottom line is this. I feel I was born to be an entrepreneur. I imagine success like standing in a line up. As long as you don't quit... Eventually your turn comes!

Imagine if throughout all that, I didn't do anything else? I'd have nothing. Instead, I kept reflecting. Kept writing plans and thinking back. Eventually when I found (wish it was sooner) MJ's Unscripted book, it was perfectly laid out. It explained my shit experiences AND my successful ventures.

I continued getting my education, then jobs (yikes, but yes!), side-hustles! then promotions, learning, more side hustles... then first successful business, then the big one.

The key is that I got better. A lot better. Hear me on this: If I had to do it with what I am capable of today, I'd scale the cosmetics company into a giant venture! I wasn't good enough back then. And that's ok.

Andy Black said:
"Start small and simple, and become an expert over time so that you can lead into bigger, more complex things."

Thanks Andy, this is exactly right. This is what happened to me. I started getting pretty damn good at some things. I realized the real answer for me was Real Estate. I've ran teams, made the right calls, made money on my own properties and it's just been a blast for me. It hasn't been just good, it's been consistently great.

Why is that? Because everything I did before became my "lever". My "Jobs" taught me all aspects of having a larger business that I now use, including relationships (example: bankers knew me before I went on my own). My "side hustles" kept the fire of entrepreneurship alive (and made me extra money).

And here I am, just getting started! How can I turn this into a multibillion dollar company?

But this thread isn't about me. It's about how to succeed for young forum members like @mikecarlooch

Mike - the Video Guy!

Let's dive into specifics! Hopefully others can help too (calling @Kak, @Vigilante on top of already engaged contributors).

Mike, how do you make money? What is working? What is NOT working?

Applying CENTS, what are you most worried about?

You clearly have the finger on the pulse of how social media works. But your execution (from what I've seen on LinkedIn) isn't great. You failed to get many likes on most of your posts. How do you reconcile that with your plans for expansion? Are you listening to what the market is telling you? What is it telling you?

And what is your main business? Video editing or teaching how to go "viral"? How can we help you get there? What parts of this (or other threads) are most useful? And more importantly, what changes have you made to your process?

Andy Black · Mar 26, 2023

Antifragile said:
You clearly have the finger on the pulse of how social media works. But your execution (from what I've seen on LinkedIn) isn't great. You failed to get many likes on most of your posts.

Have you seem Mike's TikTok accounts though? Very large followings and engagement. What's confused me is why he's left that behind to start anew on LinkedIn.

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

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

Antifragile's take: The secret to scaling up.

Legendary Contributor

The secret to scaling up.​

This thread is for those who have a deep drive to do more.​

STEP 1: Pay your bills​

STEP 2: Get your creative juices flowing​

​

STEP 3: Lean into your advantages & start...​

STEP 4: Think like a CEO when you do.​

STEP 5: Think big and bigger and bigger.​

STEP 6: Many small things​

​

Eclectic ideas:​

Apprentice & Student Of The Game

The secret to scaling up.​

This thread is for those who have a deep drive to do more.​

STEP 1: Pay your bills​

STEP 2: Get your creative juices flowing​

​

STEP 3: Lean into your advantages & start...​

STEP 4: Think like a CEO when you do.​

STEP 5: Think big and bigger and bigger.​

STEP 6: Many small things​

​

Eclectic ideas:​

Legendary Contributor

Apprentice & Student Of The Game

Bronze Contributor

BizyDad's fitness coach

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.

Gold Contributor

Legendary Contributor

Legendary Contributor

The secret to scaling up.​

This thread is for those who have a deep drive to do more.​

STEP 1: Pay your bills​

STEP 2: Get your creative juices flowing​

​

STEP 3: Lean into your advantages & start...​

STEP 4: Think like a CEO when you do.​

STEP 5: Think big and bigger and bigger.​

STEP 6: Many small things​

​

Eclectic ideas:​

Legendary Contributor

How important is experience? How important is slow/long planning?​

Bronze Contributor

Legendary Contributor

How important is experience? How important is slow/long planning?​

Apprentice & Student Of The Game

Legendary Contributor

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.

I followed the science; all I found was money.

Apprentice & Student Of The Game

Heavy Industry helped me achieve overnight results

Apprentice & Student Of The Game

BizyDad's fitness coach

Legendary Contributor

Game Excellence vs Excellent Game.​

​

​

There are no rules.​

Accepting mediocrity kills your future!​

Leverage is key to your success.​

​

Apprentice & Student Of The Game

Game Excellence vs Excellent Game.​

​

​

There are no rules.​

Accepting mediocrity kills your future!​

Leverage is key to your success.​

​

BizyDad's fitness coach

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.

Apprentice & Student Of The Game

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.

The secret to scaling up.

This thread is for those who have a deep drive to do more.

STEP 1: Pay your bills

STEP 2: Get your creative juices flowing

STEP 3: Lean into your advantages & start...

STEP 4: Think like a CEO when you do.

STEP 5: Think big and bigger and bigger.

STEP 6: Many small things

Eclectic ideas:

The secret to scaling up.

This thread is for those who have a deep drive to do more.

STEP 1: Pay your bills

STEP 2: Get your creative juices flowing

STEP 3: Lean into your advantages & start...

STEP 4: Think like a CEO when you do.

STEP 5: Think big and bigger and bigger.

STEP 6: Many small things

Eclectic ideas:

The secret to scaling up.

This thread is for those who have a deep drive to do more.

STEP 1: Pay your bills

STEP 2: Get your creative juices flowing

STEP 3: Lean into your advantages & start...

STEP 4: Think like a CEO when you do.

STEP 5: Think big and bigger and bigger.

STEP 6: Many small things

Eclectic ideas:

How important is experience? How important is slow/long planning?

How important is experience? How important is slow/long planning?

Game Excellence vs Excellent Game.

There are no rules.

Accepting mediocrity kills your future!

Leverage is key to your success.

Game Excellence vs Excellent Game.

There are no rules.

Accepting mediocrity kills your future!

Leverage is key to your success.

Think slow, act fast.

Real Estate