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Dan Pena's system

Odysseus M Jones

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ZF Lee

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You sound like a naive young man. Stop drinking every words that’s coming of Pena’s mouth. Start thinking for yourself. Why do you think he is selling high ticket courses? To help you become rich? No. It only helps him pay his castle so he can scam naive lads like you.
For some reasons, I feel Dan Pena hates fanboys. And he would definitely agree (in strong language) that ultimately, one has to make his own choices.

I don't think its a scam...he mentions lots of his mentees by name, such as Josh Kim and Klaus Kleinfield. Of course, once in a while he mentors gurus like Dan Lok and Brian Rose, but I noticed that the duo somehow polished up their own branding and product after their time with Pena. Much less on selling to the 'thousand-aire' audience, and more towards finer, serious audiences.

TBH, no amount of high-ticket courses will pay off castles haha.
Those kinds of buildings will need repairs forever.

Now if you want to stay a stubborn fool, buy PENA’s course and ask him directly.
His material is already free on his website, but of course, the 'good stuff' like sales scripts are only exclusive to the actual seminar.

He also does free talks to universities (MANY recorded on YouTube)-and don't skip the Q&A sessions, where some folks who did some deals actually ask great scenario questions.

Yet, there's some mentees who stole the M&A idea/materials from him, quit the course early, and went on to become scam gurus.

Here's one such tale:

And Dan Pena's rants:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcj5uUQcs1o

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZQtWtys1cU
 

Ronak

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It's been 3 months since you posted here. In that time, you could have taken action, failed, adjusted, taken more action, failed again, taken a break, mourned your failure while playing video games for a week, then tried again, failed again, then readjusted, and possibly have some first level success by now :)

Just do it.
 

Mr_G

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It's been 3 months since you posted here. In that time, you could have taken action, failed, adjusted, taken more action, failed again, taken a break, mourned your failure while playing video games for a week, then tried again, failed again, then readjusted, and possibly have some first level success by now :)

Just do it.
Just do what?
I was asking right from the start what the "it" was.
 
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Neko

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Just do what?
I was asking right from the start what the "it" was.

It seems you struggle to understand what is said to you.

1. Nobody here is going to build you a step by step plan, help you raise money, assemble a dream team and hold your hand all the way to success.

2. If you want to know Dan PENA‘s system. Read, watch and listen to his content. And buy his courses.

3. You don’t have any money or revenue? Banks won’t lend you money to buy his course or start your business. So you have to make money yourself. Freelance, create a small business, get a job, prostitute yourself... whatever. Save up for it.

4. You are not entitled to anything here. The first thing you did after signing up on the forum is create this thread asking someone to do your work for you.

Get to work.
 

Neko

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For some reasons, I feel Dan Pena hates fanboys. And he would definitely agree (in strong language) that ultimately, one has to make his own choices.

I don't think its a scam...he mentions lots of his mentees by name, such as Josh Kim and Klaus Kleinfield. Of course, once in a while he mentors gurus like Dan Lok and Brian Rose, but I noticed that the duo somehow polished up their own branding and product after their time with Pena. Much less on selling to the 'thousand-aire' audience, and more towards finer, serious audiences.

TBH, no amount of high-ticket courses will pay off castles haha.
Those kinds of buildings will need repairs forever.


His material is already free on his website, but of course, the 'good stuff' like sales scripts are only exclusive to the actual seminar.

He also does free talks to universities (MANY recorded on YouTube)-and don't skip the Q&A sessions, where some folks who did some deals actually ask great scenario questions.

Yet, there's some mentees who stole the M&A idea/materials from him, quit the course early, and went on to become scam gurus.

Here's one such tale:

And Dan Pena's rants:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcj5uUQcs1o

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZQtWtys1cU

Everyone is free to believe in what they want. I don’t have any problem with this.

Legit or not, I just don’t have much appreciation for PENA. If i understand well, he is in the business or hostile takeovers for personal gains. Not in the business of helping people and creating value.

The problem here is that the OP is in need of a serious kick in the...
 

Mr_G

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It seems you struggle to understand what is said to you.

1. Nobody here is going to build you a step by step plan, help you raise money, assemble a dream team and hold your hand all the way to success.

2. If you want to know Dan PENA‘s system. Read, watch and listen to his content. And buy his courses.

3. You don’t have any money or revenue? Banks won’t lend you money to buy his course or start your business. So you have to make money yourself. Freelance, create a small business, get a job, prostitute yourself... whatever. Save up for it.

4. You are not entitled to anything here. The first thing you did after signing up on the forum is create this thread asking someone to do your work for you.

Get to work.
No, I guess this forum will not give me the answer I was looking for.
 
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Varlenheit

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No, I guess this forum will not give me the answer I was looking for.

I think nobody in the world can/will give you the answer you're looking for unless it's someone who wants to take advantage of you and/or sell you something. But good luck.
 

Black_Dragon43

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Just do what?
Build a dream team, identify a buyout opportunity, and get the money from the bank!

Now of course you'll ask "how do I build a dream team?" and on it will go.

That question does not have a specific answer. There are a billion ways to build a dream team. You could start working in the sector that you're interested in and start developing connections as an employee. You could start a freelance business aimed to help that sector in whatever way you can. You could identify who your ideal team members would be, and then figure out ways to get in touch with them. Figure out companies that they've worked for, maybe try to work for that company, etc. There is no specific way "do this" and you'll have your dream team...
 
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Mr_G

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Build a dream team, identify a buyout opportunity, and get the money from the bank!

Now of course you'll ask "how do I build a dream team?" and on it will go.

That question does not have a specific answer. There are a billion ways to build a dream team. You could start working in the sector that you're interested in and start developing connections as an employee. You could start a freelance business aimed to help that sector in whatever way you can. You could identify who your ideal team members would be, and then figure out ways to get in touch with them. Figure out companies that they've worked for, maybe try to work for that company, etc. There is no specific way "do this" and you'll have your dream team...
Thanks!
 

Neko

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I don't either, but not because he's not in the business of "helping people and creating value". People are in business to make money - not to help others and create value. That - helping others and creating value - is a STRATEGY to make money - not the goal of what you're doing. If helping others and creating value was your only goal, then do it for free - start a new NGO or charitable organization. Raise money from other people, and go help others all day. But if you're in business, then don't pretend your goal isn't to make money. It is, I assure you.

Let me add some nuance because I don’t agree.

What I’m about to say is of course personal.

Saying that helping others is just a strategy makes it disingenuous. Like helping people is a mean to an end.

What gave me the most happiness during my life was helping people.

I did it in several ways. But knowing that my actions made the day, week or life of someone better was what got me up of bed. And it still does.

It doesn’t have to be something incredible or heroic. Sometimes, the smallest acts of kindness have disproportionate consequences. It makes me happy and fulfilled.

I want to have a happy family one day too.

That’s why I strive to help people AND make enough money to be secure and live comfortably at the same time. Edit: And being able to indulge more than the average joe.

Don’t we all?

I certainly don’t want to make money by having a negative impact on the world.
The spectrum is large. You don’t need to be either a living saint or the greediest a**hole.

IMO A life with money but no fulfillment, no love, no happiness is wasted.
Best case scenario, you have all of the above.

But if you had to choose, what path will you follow?

You don’t get to take your millions to the other side.
When you’ll be 6 ft under, what will be your legacy?

Edit:

TL;DR Helping people doesn’t have to be a mean to an end. It can be a goal just like money. And both can be pursued at the same time.
 
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Ronak

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If i understand well, he is in the business or hostile takeovers for personal gains. N

No, in most cases, acquisitions will not be hostile. Those are much more complicated and usually fall in the realm of public companies or distressed debt situations. His basic model is to acquire and roll up several companies and exit at a higher multiple than you bought.
 
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Nectarofthegods

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Dan Pena is another fake guru. He hasn’t ran a successful business outside of selling courses in decades. Majority of content creators talking about entrepreneurship nowadays are just undercover salesmen pedaling hopes and dreams.
 

longjca

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All his stuff is free but the devil is definitely in the details and there are a lot of details.

I find what he and MJ says is true, making money is hard (It's a b*itch!) and don't go fooling yourself that it isn't. Whether you started the company yourself or acquired it from another, it's always going to be hard. Your business is now acquiring other businesses.

Having look up his steps, really what seems the most important is having an expert board (whether you gathered them up yourself or even ask the owner of the business to mentor/teach you). That's the real foundation because how do you get a bank to trust you when you don't have a record, how are you going to run the numbers without a good accountant (and taxes CAN kill), a lawyer to make sure all the paperwork is in order and to back you (we're going up in a generation of sensitive people, you'll probably be threatened A LOT), an executive/expert in the field to guide you when shit happens (and shit will happen), etc. Trust in yourself that you'll learn along the way too but always be aware of your board because if they don't like you at any part before and during, you can get booted penniless.

Also, don't go thinking that making big money through acquisitions is a one shot, one kill. If you dig deeper into his content, you will be looking at MULTIPLE acquisitions because some of your deals are gonna suck. The saying of "you just need one home run" still applies. Just like MJ said in Unscripted , you'll hit a lot of singles but be sure you can hit a homerun, that's the best deal.

I get that Dan does a lot of yelling (and that might just be marketing, chest puffing or however you want to take it) but I like to think he is mostly accurate. (He tells you the 12 steps but it's not a blueprint nor step-by-step. Steps coincide with other steps (ie, when you're looking for financial partners, you got to be looking at deals and people at the same time). You can't be rigid in the steps (which is why he hates engineers because they take too long to analyze and be too careful but once they get it, they skyrocket)).
Unlike every other guru that's all like "it's easy, just follow my pdf" "you don't need college, start here" "just do these simple steps", at least Dan tells it upfront that it's hard and if you're not willing to go to court, don't play. Do something else.
Don't do it if this isn't you. You will take that pressure off yourself and do something that's more aligned with how you picture your life.

Also, I'd be aware of Dan Lok's stuff. His content is good from afar but I recommend don't buy (become the best salesman in 7 weeks when there likely are sales people doing it for years ahead of you. Oh, and how may other people are also in class with you?) I will give him credit that his mindset stuff is good but not different from what MJ said in TMF and Unscripted . The 2 biggest things I got was 1) that you do and buy things according to your IDENTITY, "the invisible force" and 2) listening with intent while quieting your own thoughts and beliefs.
Having made many costly mistakes, if the guru isn't selling how they made their fortune, chances are you won't be making their fortune either. (You'll probably be a test subject for a hunch they have and that'll cost you $$$). I might get some heat for this but he's selling a sales course when we all know he made his fortune through copywriting, why isn't he selling his copywriting then? (like MJ said "why will you sell your golden goose?")

From listening to all these gurus (you basically have to become a sociopath if you follow their lead), I'd would just stick with the principles of TMF and Unscripted . It's the most boiled down principles I've come across. CENTS makes sense.
 
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DavidTT

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If I may; sometime last year I went to an M&A club meeting. Basically an expensive dinner with roughly 20 or so people and having an overview of the M&A landscape here in Canada. The presentation was given by an investment banker. I kinda just made up a few things in order to fit in but there were a few guys managing investment firms there and most of them were talking about what deals they had and what they were looking for. All in the multi-million dollars. One was looking for a possible tech acquisition anywhere between $50-500 million while another was looking to invest anywhere between $4-100 million. Needless to say, my $2.6 million deal was too small lol. There was also an older gent, semi-retired who was on the board of director of 4 public companies and was a Vice-pres of one of the 4 four firms. He had a whole pipeline of deals and everyone was on him lol.

It was an interesting meeting really.
 
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longjca

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If I may; sometime last year I went to an M&A club meeting. Basically an expensive dinner with roughly 20 or so people and having an overview of the M&A landscape here in Canada. The presentation was given by an investment banker. I kinda just made up a few things in order to fit in but there were a few guys managing investment firms there and most of them were talking about what deals they had and what they were looking for. All in the multi-million dollars. One was looking for a possible tech acquisition anywhere between $50-500 million while another was looking to invest anywhere between $4-100 million. Needless to say, my $2.6 million deal was too small lol. There was also an older gent, semi-retired who was on the board of director of 4 public companies and was a Vice-pres of one of the 4 four firms. He had a whole pipeline of deals and everyone was on him lol.

It was an interesting meeting really.
$2.6M is a good size deal IMO. From what I've been told that anything sub $5M is small potatoes and the max you'd like to aim for your first acquisition(s). Bigger than that and you're playing with real competition (especially in the $10M+). Crazy to think how the bigger players think.
 

Ing

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Dan Pena?
After having read that name countless times, I think, I will google that name. Seems important!
 

MattR82

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Ugh. Dan Pena. Just threw up in my mouth a little.

Check out his Joe Rogan interview. You won't learn much about his system but he'll tell you how much of a badass he is.
 
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farmer79

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I listened to a few you tube clips, the process he described for borrowing money was extremely unrealistic (for Canada at least).
 

Ronak

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Focus on the message rather than the messenger. If you believe in the message, great. If not, then move on. Endless debating back and forth will probably not get you anywhere on your fastlane journey. My 2 cents.
 

ZCP

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what happened to being able to learn from anyone?
why so quick to 'completely follow' or to 'completely dismiss'?

for those that have paid for and been through his stuff, could you relay a top 3 reasons / things that would help the rest of us?

let's provide some value in here!
 
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Mr.K

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Hi,
Can someone please outline Dan Pena's system very detailed in bullet form for acquiring, financing, scaling and exiting?
I have heard him a lot on youtube but I can not see the overall process. He searches for a motivated seller and then builds a dream team etc.
But how can he be sure that the business will scale? He has to scale it otherwise the exit price would just be the same as the acquiring price.
How does he scale?
/Mr_G
The businesses themselves don't scale but once you purchased enough singular entities to form a network of businesses that synergize well with each other that network can be sold as a whole and through sales and marketing the entire thing will seem more valuable even if zero scaling is done on the individual businesses of the network. With this method you are not really an entrepreneur that is out to create new stuff, instead of flipping houses you are flipping businesses, which is the reason why banks would lend you money. If you were Elon Musk, or even Elon Musk today, the banks ain't lending you a single cent for your ventures to create new stuff that, statistically speaking, most likely will not work, so you go to venture capitalists if you want to be an entrepreneur. Pena's method is often used by the big guys to eliminate competition, like in China; or these companies just don't know what new things they are going to do anymore so they turn to acquisition and merger, like the failing computer companies. This is why Pena emphasizes to sell because you are not creating anything new - Musk, Bezos, Zuck, etc. don't Sell because they innovate. Businesses that you buy will not likely to innovate which is why you sell for a profit asap since the longer you hold your businesses the more you fall behind.
 

Zamokuhle

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Dan Pena is a fraud, I have to laugh whenever I hear his name lmao.
I followed his teachings after reading your First 100 Million and so far it's worked for me. I have a Chairman who funded multiple Billion Dollar projects in Africa and built my dream team because of Dan's teachings. I have now sent a second investment proposal to a company we are looking at acquiring. Mind you prior to this I was a middle manager in a corporation with no idea of how to achieve a quantum leap. I quit my job and started my investment company with zero cents.

So no Dan is not a fraud. If anything he's a hero. God bless him
 
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