The Secret to Turning Failure Into Success | Dhar Mann

Thanks to SoFi for sponsoring this episode! Looking for funding to help grow your business? Get started at SoFi.com/Codie. #SoFiPartner #ad My new book, Own Or Be Owned, is all about building a business so good it doesn't need you. I broke it into the 12 Profit Levers… The 12 levers I've seen determine whether you print cash or hate your life. Check it out: https://contrarianthinking.biz/oobo_bigdeal - cs You've been telling yourself the same story. That you need more resources to start. That you need the perfect plan before you move. That one viral hit will solve everything. Here's the truth: the reason you're not where you want to be isn't because you haven't found the right thing. It's because you keep quitting before it compounds. Dhar Mann is one of the most watched creators on the internet, generating over 80 billion lifetime views and earning $65 million last year. But in 2013, he was broke, depressed, and two weeks from eviction. In this episode, he breaks down the exact frameworks that took him from rock bottom to building a 200 person content empire, why failure isn't the opposite of success but actually part of it, and the four P system that turns ideas into millions of views. In this episode, you'll learn: Why your struggle becomes your greatest superpower and how the depth of your suffering defines the height of your joy, and why broken clay pots put together with gold are more beautiful than perfect ones The four P framework: pre-testing, packaging, pitch, and post-production, and why spending $10 on Facebook tests before you ever hit record is the difference between viral content and wasted effort Why it's harder to make your first $1,000 than your first million and how success begets success once you identify the patterns that actually work The HEART acronym: Honor your audience, Earn their trust, Architect a system, Reach hearts, and Turn views into impact, and how this philosophy builds companies not just content The green lighting ratio: how Dhar Mann tests 10 ideas to get 1 that goes live and why failing fast and cheap gives you the runway to succeed where expensive bets kill you on the first try ___________ (00:00:00) Introduction: From Rock Bottom to 65 Million Dollars a Year (00:01:26) Failure Is a Chapter, Not Your Entire Story (00:04:08) The Stockdale Paradox: Accept Where You Are and Keep Fighting (00:05:26) Your Greatest Struggle Becomes Your Greatest Superpower (00:08:25) Kintsugi: The Japanese Art of Being Beautifully Broken (00:10:27) It's Harder to Make Your First Thousand Than Your First Million (00:14:27) The HEART Framework: Honor, Earn, Architect, Reach, Turn (00:17:27) The Four Ps: Pre-Test, Package, Pitch, Post-Production (00:19:01) Pre-Testing Everything: The Ten Dollar Facebook Test That Saves Millions (00:20:21) Packaging and Pitch: Deliver on the Promise in 30 Seconds or Die (00:23:12) Post-Production Is Where the Magic Happens: Three Times the Effort (00:25:20) Quantity vs Quality: The Birkin Bag vs McDonald's Debate (00:28:16) People and Processes: How to Scale Without Losing Your Soul (00:31:36) The Six Minute Mile Analogy: You Can't See the Breakthrough Coming (00:34:50) From One Employee to 200: The Year by Year Scaling Blueprint (00:36:17) Outsource or Build In-House: The Caruso and Hermes Test (00:40:19) Your Product Is Your Team: The Boeing Lawn Furniture Story (00:41:50) Failure Is Collecting Gems: The Ray Dalio Video Game Principle (00:43:15) Your Excuse Is Somebody Else's Reason Why (00:44:01) The Muscular Dad Story: Breaking Down a Viral Concept in Real Time (00:49:37) The Green Lighting Ratio: From 10 Ideas to One Final Video (00:56:16) It Took Me 100 Videos to Go Viral: What If I Quit on Number 99? (00:58:01) Start Scrappy or Die: The 600 Dollar Bank Account That Built an Empire (01:01:10) The Three Steps to Becoming the First Millionaire in Your Family (01:03:17) Stop Trying to Look Rich Before You Actually Are Rich (01:04:27) The Biggest Sacrifice: When Your Daughter Says She Doesn't Want a Big House Anymore (01:06:45) People's Opinions Don't Matter: The Ones Judging Are Too Afraid to Try (01:07:28) Do You Quit Too Early or Stay Too Long? The Purpose Alignment Test (01:08:54) Always Listen to Your Gut: God Put a Compass Inside You ___________ MORE FROM BIGDEAL 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podcastbigdeal 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigdeal.podcast 📽️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@big.deal.pod MORE FROM CODIE SANCHEZ 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@codiesanchezct 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codiesanchez 📽️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realcodiesanchez OTHER THINGS WE DO 🌐 Our community: https://contrarianthinking.typeform.com/to/WBztXXID 📰 Free newsletter: https://contrarianthinking.biz/3XWLlZp 📚 Biz buying course: https://contrarianthinking.biz/3NhjGgN 🏠 Resibrands: https://resibrands.com/ 💰 CT Capital: https://contrarianthinking.biz/4eRyGOk 🏦 Main St Hold Co: https://contrarianthinking.biz/3YfGa8u Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Speaker 00

  The action's on the court and as the official beer sponsor of the NBA, Michelob Ultra is getting fans closer to the game with a chance to win courtside seats, merch and more. Visit michelobultra.com/courtside to enter. Michelob Ultra Courtside, 26 to 27. No purchase necessary. Open to US residents 21+ Begins on October 1st, 2026 and ends on June 30th, 2027. Multiple entry periods. See official rules at michelobultra.com/courtside for free entry, entry deadlines, prizes and details.

• 0:30Speaker 01

  How am I ever going to become a millionaire when I don't even have a thousand bucks? I would say it's harder to make that first thousand than it is that million. As you start to become more successful, you start to identify the patterns that help make you more successful and that's because success begets success.

• 0:46Codie Sanchez?

  My guest is Dar Man, one of the most watched creators on the internet. Now, we're going to break down how he makes more than $65 million a year, how to actually conquer your fear of failure and how to turn probably the worst chapters of your story into the reason you win.

• 1:00Speaker 01

  It took me 100 videos to go viral. What if I quit on number 99? I put all my money together that I possibly could through all my friends and family, buried myself deep in debt, put it in one video. That one video would have failed. Consistency matters more than anything.

• 1:14Codie Sanchez?

  What advice do you have for somebody today who wants to be successful and win?

• 1:17Speaker 01

  You have to do these three things. Number one is stock.

• 1:25Codie Sanchez?

  Dar, you're the number two creator in the world, according to Forbes. $65 million last year on YouTube and online in earnings, but that doesn't tell your full story. I think the most interesting part is that you also, not that many years ago in 2013, you had lost almost everything. And so I guess my question for you is, for people listening, what is the number one piece of advice you have if you're struggling? So that they can reach the summit that you have?

• 1:56Speaker 01

  You know, if I can go back and tell myself one thing, when I was lost and struggling and thought that my life was honestly over, it would be that failure is a chapter of your story. It doesn't mean that it's the entire book. And so in order to get to that learning, I found myself at 30 years old, entering a new decade, and that's a milestone birthday. You know, you want to think of your 30s as a time that your life is coming together. Maybe you're in that steady relationship. Maybe you bought your first home. Maybe you're in a career that's thriving. For me, it was a total opposite. Everything in my life was falling apart. I was going through a really bad breakup. I was six, I was four weeks away from getting, I'm sorry, I was two weeks away from getting evicted from my apartment.

• 2:41Speaker 01

  And I was, you know, broke, depressed. I thought that honestly, my life was over. And at that time, what I started to do was read inspirational stories. I realized that external success starts with internal success. And so I wanted to sharpen my brain and I started listening to stories about successful people out there that had encountered tremendous failure on their way to success. So I read stories about how like Michael Jordan got cut from his high school basketball team, became one of the greatest athletes of all time. J.K. Rowling was denied by dozens of publishers before, you know, writing Harry Potter. And then even Walt Disney, he went bankrupt about 100 different times on his way to starting Disneyland.

• 3:26Speaker 01

  And what I realized was that failure was not the opposite of success for them. It was actually just a part of their success. It's realizing one more way that didn't work in order to get you to the actual way that worked. And so I would say, start thinking about your relationship with failure in a completely different way. If your life has not worked out yet, maybe that's life just redirecting you to a way that is actually working. And the hard part is, it's the psychological aspects of failure. For me, as this 30-year-old Indian man, I was looking at it as like, my family is ashamed

• 4:07Speaker 01

  of me, my culture I'm letting down, I should have my life figured out according to all these standards and expectations of where society is. But if you strip all those things away, right? I'm alive, I'm breathing, I get to wake up again and try again, right? So I would say, just that mindset is everything.

• 4:28Codie Sanchez?

  What was like the moment that that changed for you? Was there a trigger that you were like, oh, wait a second, I saw this book and I saw this quote and then I made the change?

• 4:38Speaker 01

  I would love to think of it as a moment and sure, there was a lot of breakthroughs, but in reality, it's a process. I think everyone wants that, what is that one pill I can take? Right? Like you can't go to the gym, do this one workout and suddenly you're ripped. So you know, there's something called a Stockdale Principle where the people that survived the longest in war, or when they were actually prisoners of war, are not the ones that said, oh, I'm gonna be released this Christmas, or this Easter, or this Thanksgiving. It's the ones that thought that, hey, you know what, as long as it takes, I'm gonna still keep fighting. I'm still gonna keep pushing forward. Because if you set your mind to, oh, this Christmas, I'm gonna have everything figured out,

• 5:21Speaker 01

  what happens when that Christmas comes and goes and your life isn't figured out? Suddenly you get demoralized. So the best thing is, when you're at rock bottom, just accept that you're there, that you're gonna be there for as long as it takes for you to get out. Don't put a timeframe on it. Don't think that there's some sort of get, you know, rich, quick scheme that is going to pull you out of it because I promise you, that's only going to get you into a lot more trouble. So you know, first is sort of accepting where you are and realizing that it's going to take time. And then, yeah, you know, I like to say that your struggle becomes your greatest superpower. Your greatest struggle becomes your greatest superpower.

• 6:04Speaker 01

  If I was to dig down deep into your story, I bet there's aspects that troubled you, either growing up as a kid or failures that you had that ultimately somehow shaped you into the successful woman that you are today. And so if you look back and you realize like, gosh, if that breakup never happened, if I never got fired from that job, if I never hit rock bottom and promised myself that I would learn how to save money better or invest money, right? I never would have actually built the business that I am today. So think about really your failures as lessons. And if you think about it from that standpoint, you are so much stronger today.

• 6:47Speaker 01

  And so really, you're not starting from zero. You're starting from experience, right? You've learned all these things about yourself that are now going to help make you a better individual and more equipped to succeed. And so for me, you know, it was realizing that I, because I failed, I could empathize with other people who were going through hard times in their life. Like there's this quote by the Dalai Lama where he says, "The height of your, the depth of your suffering defines the height of your joy." And because I had gone through so much suffering and failure, when someone came to me and said, Dar, I'm going through a hard time,

• 7:32Speaker 01

  or I'm broke, or I'm broken, or whatever it is, I could relate to that person because I'd been through such hard times in my life. And ultimately, being able to connect with people became the inspiration for my content because I tell inspirational stories about underdogs who go through tough times and they somehow come out on top. If anyone has ever seen a Dar Man story, that's typically how that formula goes. And the reason I'm able to tell those stories so authentically is because I am that underdog. And had I never been, I would not be able to connect with people the same way possible. So whatever it is that you're going through in some way or another, it's gonna later help you in life. It's just hard to see in that moment.

• 8:17Codie Sanchez?

  Such a good reminder. The Stockdale Paradox is such an interesting one because I remember the first time somebody asked me that question, like, what do you think leads to more success for people who are prisoners of war, which really means people who are struggling? Is it the optimist actually, or is it the pessimist? And I was like, oh, it's the optimist. Of course it is. That's what we all think.

• 8:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 8:38Codie Sanchez?

  But it turns out, it was actually, they don't use the word pessimist. They say the word like rationalist, yeah, realist, yeah. And so the realist was actually the one that says, no, it's unlikely I'm gonna get out of here.

• 8:48Speaker 01

  Right.

• 8:49Codie Sanchez?

  But I'm gonna be okay with that.

• 8:50Speaker 01

  I have this analogy that I use. So I have a podcast called What Happens Next that just came out. And the whole philosophy is based on the Japanese art form kintsugi. So as individuals, we like to think of ourselves often, especially in this world of social media, that we want to show the perfect version of ourselves. And we think that's what's gonna make us beautiful, right? Look how glamorous my life is. Look how I've got everything figured out. And Instagram has put that all on steroids. But the Japanese art form kintsugi, the philosophy is you take a clay pot, you drop it, you break it, and then you put gold glitter in order to put it back together. So the whole philosophy is, the imperfections are not meant to be hidden.

• 9:34Speaker 01

  They're actually meant to be more beautiful because that's what makes something unique. And so if you were to look at all these clay pots that all look somewhat similar, but one was broken and had this gold silver lining, it would just make you stop and think like, wow, there's something special about that. And humans are the same way. If I was to tell you that, hey, you know what, I never failed in life. Everything I did always worked out. I found the girl right outside of high school. I bought my dream home. I had kids. We never, you know, had any hardships. You'd be like, that's boring. That's not relatable at all, right? So humans work the same way as broken clay pots that are put together.

• 10:17Speaker 01

  When you actually look at the pieces that have been brought, it's what makes someone so special and what makes someone so unique.

• 10:24Codie Sanchez?

  You actually have this business that is a new age in many ways, version of a production company. And I think I saw that you have like 80 billion lifetime views of telling inspirational stories. And I was curious, one of the things you mentioned is that you understand this empathy and inspiration. And so you're able to connect with people and tell these stories. It gets millions of views every, every week. What do you think are the repeatable ways to catch people's attention and keep it in 2026?

• 10:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's a great question. So first off, I'll just start with, it's easy to look at somebody and say, oh, you have billions of views or you have millions of dollars. Of course you have it all figured out. But one thing I will say is that

• 11:13Speaker 01

  It is much harder to make a hundred thousand dollars than it is to make a million dollars. And in that same vein, it's much harder to make ten thousand dollars than it is a hundred thousand dollars, or your first hundred dollars versus your first thousand dollars. And that's because success begets success. As you start to become more successful, you start to identify the patterns that help make you more successful. And then you build the systems and you have the teams. And then you also have the credibility. When Darman was starting out, like in my small studio apartment, I couldn't go to the bank to get a hundred dollars from them if I told them what my goal is. But now that we're established business, it's much easier for us to get access to capital and debt.

• 11:56Speaker 01

  And so for anyone that is ever discouraged, looking at, well, hey, how am I ever going to become a millionaire when I don't even have a thousand bucks? I would say it's harder to make that first thousand than it is that million. So always focus on the milestone that's right in front of you. Uh, but you know, in today's world, to answer your question, I would say more than ever, we're looking for relatability, we're looking for emotional connection. And sure, like you can have big dopamine spikes by showing spectacle constantly on camera. But storytelling, being able to have the audience actually see themselves in your content makes for a much more memorable experience.

• 12:37Speaker 01

  So 75% of our audience says that they feel compelled to take some sort of positive action in their life after watching a Darman video. That might mean calling their mom, that might mean going for a walk, that might be trying to squash whatever relationship issues that they're having with their spouse. So our content creates real world action. Even if we don't get maybe as many views as somebody else who is a spectacle based creator, ours are more meaningful views and I would say there's a difference there. And one of the things that is important,

• 13:12Speaker 01

  I think of retention as emotion, right? That really the retention graph of a video is an emotional connection graph as to how invested you are into the actual story. And I like to use this example that if you think about Mission Impossible, have you seen it?

• 13:29Codie Sanchez?

  Yep.

• 13:30Speaker 01

  Tell me the plot line of the last video you saw. It's hard, right? Because it's all explosions and action, action, action. Sure, a lot of people see it, but you didn't actually have a deep emotional resonance in your heart. But if I ask you about a video that you might not have seen for like 20 years, The Lion King. Have you seen it?

• 13:50Codie Sanchez?

  Uh huh.

• 13:51Speaker 01

  When's the last time you saw it?

• 13:51Codie Sanchez?

  Yeah, probably 20 years ago.

• 13:53Speaker 01

  Do you remember the storyline?

• 13:54Codie Sanchez?

  Yeah, of course.

• 13:54Speaker 01

  Because you had a connection. You might've seen yourself as Simba, right? As somebody who was trying to figure out this world all on your own or whatever else. And you know, the journey that that person went on. So I would say for anyone that's looking to create content, forget about all the vanity metrics, which is like views and this and that. I would focus on creating an emotional connection with your audience. And that one view might be worth more than somebody else's thousand views because that one view actually created some sort of impact in that viewer's life that they're always going to remember you for. And by the way, as I talk to brands and they tell me about who some of their most successful sales affiliates are, it's not the people that get millions of views, right?

• 14:38Speaker 01

  Because those people are often an inch deep, but a mile wide. It's the people that might have a thousand views, but have such an engaged audience where they're an inch wide and a mile deep. So I would say, don't focus so much on the views and focus on having that emotional connection with your audience and the rest will come over time.

• 14:56Codie Sanchez?

  That's such a good point because sales is really storytelling in any sense of the word. And you're selling somebody's time if you have a piece of content. You know, you're selling yourself if you want to date, you know, and you're selling the product if you want to get a brand deal or if you want to sell, you know, something in your business. So I guess, what if you had to turn it into a framework? So let's say you had to say, okay, here's the framework for getting a million views on YouTube. Is there a, a framework, a system, a calculation?

• 15:24Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 15:25Codie Sanchez?

  That you use? And if so, what is it?

• 15:26Speaker 01

  Well, first on a philosophical level, I like to use the word acronym HART. So H is honor your audience. You always have to create content that resonates with your audience first. Once you figure out who that is, and that's fine for you to test a lot of different content formats to see which one actually resonates. E is earn their trust. Once you actually have your audience, don't do things that are going to make you sell out or seem authentic to that. If I started as a purpose driven filmmaker and then suddenly started doing things just because it got more views or because a brand deal was paying me to do so, suddenly I've alienated myself from the audience. So you always have to stay true to that.

• 16:11Speaker 01

  A is architect a system, which we'll talk more about during this podcast. No content creator is successful simply because they stumbled upon virality. They might have a video or two like that, but anyone who's very successful, they actually have a system. We have a system for testing content before it ever goes live. If you were to come on my podcast, we probably would have done a hundred different tests to see what we should actually title the video that you're going to be in, which we know ahead of time. And then I formulated my questions based on what audiences want to perceive. And you can create these tests actually very inexpensively, which we'll get to soon.

• 16:55Speaker 01

  But architect a system where you're not just creating content, but you're actually creating a company. And then R is reach hearts. And that's when you go back to emotional connection. If you could move people emotionally, that's what gets them to actually hit the share button. The number one comment that I get in my videos is that, that I love is this video made me cry. Because I know if I move someone, then I'm much more likely to become memorable for them and for them to associate our brand with some sort of positive emotional resonance. And then T is just turn views into impact.

• 17:35Speaker 01

  As you become more successful, you gotta think about how can you make the world a better place than when you started? And so I don't just create views for views, I really care about the impact that we're making. So that's the philosophical framework that can actually not just work for creating content, but for any product that you want to go into. Then there's the more tactical one. In order to succeed as a content creator, you have to think about four Ps. And it used to be three, but I added one. So the three Ps used to be packaging, pitch and post-production. But then as I really thought about what our system is and how it's evolved,

• 18:17Speaker 01

  I added to the first step is pre-testing. So pre-testing, it goes back to if I was to do a podcast with you, instead of just kind of having you in the room and saying, hey, let's see where this conversation goes. The first thing I'm going to do is who's Cody's audience? Okay. Well, you know, you described it to me a little bit earlier, but based on my own research, I'm somewhat familiar that you said it's people in their late twenties, early thirties that might be looking for some sort of career pivot. Okay. Well, if that's the audience, then I can actually take different packaging concepts, right? I might come up with some different titles for what the podcast can be.

• 18:59Speaker 01

  Turn your life around in three steps, you know? Take your life to the next level in your thirties. Here's the one thing that you need to know that can take you from failure to success. I might have all these different titles that I think that that person in your audience is interested in. I will design a thumbnail based on that hypothesis and what I know about your audience. I will actually publish these titles, these, these different thumbnails on Facebook as images. And I will run a paid test. And by the way, it might sound intimidating, but it's actually very simple to do. And you only need about $10 or so to get accurate information on the test. And what I'm looking for is what is the click rate?

• 19:44Speaker 01

  How many people are actually going to click that photo? How many people are going to like it? How many people are going to comment in it? And especially once I start to build that relationship with my audience where they know that I'm testing different concepts, they'll say, I actually really like this one more than the other one. So I'll do about a hundred different title tests to see what my audience is interested in. Learning from you and what overlaps with your audience. And I can create look, I can create tests for my audience or I can create lookalike audience tests, which means I take who your audience is and Facebook will actually serve my ad to similar audiences to see how they interact.

• 20:23Speaker 01

  And based on that result, I will then decide what my title for the podcast episode is going to be. So when you come on my show, I'm going to angle everything based on that. Then you go into actual packaging. So if I know my packaging is going to be, here's the one thing that you need to do to go from failure to success in a show that you come on, you know, my podcast to do, what's the first question I'm going to ask you?

• 20:51Codie Sanchez?

  That question.

• 20:51Speaker 01

  That question. Because people's attention spans are so quick. So whatever, when it, when you figured out your packaging. The next thing you need to do, so you've pre-tested, you've determined your packaging, deliver on that premise right away. And so, right at the opening, the audience should be like, "Oh, I'm here to get whatever I click for." Because if I was to start that podcast when someone clicks and says, "Hey, what is the one thing you need to do to go from failure to success?" And I was just like, "Hey, Cody, tell me about your pregnancy journey, or tell me about how living in Austin is." It's like, wait a second, I clicked under this premise. And so YouTube, or whatever the platform is, what do they care about?

• 21:34Speaker 01

  They care about returning viewers and new viewers. Your returning viewers are your core audience. That too, if Cody's name is on it, I'm gonna watch it no matter what. I just, I'm so in love with Cody. I know it's great. So you always wanna cater to your returning viewers. But if you're not appealing to new viewers, you're not gonna, your content is not gonna be pushed out into the algorithm. Because YouTube, or whoever the platform's gonna see, that, "Hey, you know what? As soon as we go outside of Cody's core, we've noticed that a viewer will come, they'll click, they'll listen for the first like 10 seconds, and they immediately click off. Because the opening did not deliver on whatever that

• 22:15Speaker 01

  packaging premise was, they're gonna stop serving your content in the algorithm." And so as you look at your graphs, you'll wonder, "Why is my audience not growing?" And that's because your content is not keeping them at a high retention level. So pre-test everything to figure out what your best packaging is. When you figure out your packaging, deliver on that premise right away. And then I would say pitch. Pitch is something that I work on quite consistently. Like, you would think that more time is spent in the actual production aspect of a creator, or more time is spent in, you know, if you're a scripted content creator, like writing out the actual script. No, I would say the pitch. How can

• 22:59Speaker 01

  you describe this in 30 seconds, right? It's just like the elevator pitch that any person that's like coming up with, that has a startup idea is told to really perfect. The whole concept being, if you're a creator, and you're being, you're in an elevator, trying to get a viewer interested in watching your video, if you can't in 30 seconds clearly explain to them why they should watch your video, whatever that pitch is, you've lost their interest. And a lot of people I ask that are creators, they can't even explain it to themselves or their own team. So really figure out what that pitch is to make that content interesting. And then the last piece being post-production. A lot of people think

• 23:44Speaker 01

  that the magic is in actual production, but it's really in post. We were talking about this right before the show. All the best creators that I know spend about three times more amount of effort in post than they actually do in production. And that's because-

• 24:01Codie Sanchez?

  Explain post really quick-

• 24:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, so post is like basically editing your video, right? So again, if you're a short form, maybe you don't have to spend as much time on this, but believe it or not, even the short form creators I know could spend like a whole day on editing. And they're just trying to perfect every second. You have to think about every second of your video as you're constantly, you know, trying to get your viewers' attention, especially if it's shorter form content, especially if you don't have a strong relationship with your audience. And so, we analyze every word to make sure, like, "Hey, could this sentence be cut out? Does it work without this? Should we add music here to make it more interesting? Should we add some sort of graphic to visually capture somebody's interest? How can we, you

• 24:47Speaker 01

  know, just cut a little bit faster? Or how could we build emotion, build a little bit of suspense? Because we know that something is gonna get to this climax moment." So yeah, those are the four things I would say, really pay attention to. Pre-test as much as you can to help you identify your packaging, and then really refine that pitch so you can explain it in 30 seconds as to what that value proposition is. And then after you actually, you know, make the video, spend a lot of time in post-production editing it to make it as interesting as possible. Because ultimately, that's what's gonna determine the retention of the video.

• 25:23Codie Sanchez?

  Interesting. Now, you know what also is fascinating to me about you is, you put out a ton of content. So I would be curious on something. You know, there's that kind of famous saying, that quantity always beats quality, that you should just do more, and maybe you don't have the life that you want because you're not doing as much as it takes to get there. What do you believe? Should someone, if they wanna achieve greatness, is the answer that you just need to do more, or is it you have to do more better things?

• 25:55Speaker 01

  It just depends on what your personal goal is, right? So, take the Birkin, right? Or Mez, they sell a fraction of the amount of handbags that Chanel does, or Louis Vuitton, or Gucci. But their valuation is just as strong, and Birkins consistently grow up, go up in price every year. And their whole philosophy is, sure, they could mass produce the Birkin bag if they wanted to, but instead, they hire hand tailors that specialize in this craft, and take so much time on each handbag, that they care more about the quality. And so, right, it just depends on what your goal is. Do you wanna be sort of this premier

• 26:40Speaker 01

  mom and pop steakhouse that is really well-respected, and you have a very comfortable living? Or do you wanna be Morton's? Or do you wanna be McDonald's? Right? They all kinda sell a similar thing, but they have different kind of lifestyles, and different kind of prestige associated with them. For me, it really came down to, my goal was to make impact. I wanted people to watch my videos and say, "Wow, that helped me get to a better place in my life, or not give up on my dreams, or help resolve, help me get out of depression or anxiety," right? Like, so for me, it was really important to reach the masses, because it's a mission-driven company. And so, when I was starting, I was doing one three-minute

• 27:23Speaker 01

  video a week. And I remember we were on a group call, we were a four-person team at that time. And I said, "Guys, a day is gonna come where we're doing two three-minute videos a week." And one of my producers was like, "Dar, are you crazy? Two videos a week? Like, do you care about quantity, or do you care about quality?" And I was like, "I don't see them as trade-offs. Like, I think both are possible." And he ended up quitting, because he thought that that whole idea was crazy. By the, within the next like, six months, I would say, we didn't just go from one three-minute video to two, we went from one to five. And then that next year, we were creating videos for Facebook. That next

• 28:05Speaker 01

  year, we went from, we started focusing on YouTube, so we went from one 22-minute video to five. And then we started a whole division that creates original content for Samsung TVs. Then we went into vertical dramas, where we're doing 40 films for Fox. And now, you know, we're going into a brand-new division where we're gonna be on, you know, some of the traditional platforms that most people watch. And we have a whole short-form department, we have a branded content department. And so, really, for me, it comes down to two P's. People and processes. Everything is scalable. Anytime I start to get into this

• 28:47Speaker 01

  limited belief mindset, I just remember, well, Walt Disney was just an individual who actually failed more times than probably anyone listening to this podcast. Literally went bankrupt 100 different times. Had his early version of Mickey Mouse, like, the rabbit that he invented before Mickey Mouse, was stolen from him. Like, his own, like, founding team members went to go work for his competition. Like, he had to borrow money from his brother, and his spouse, and so many other people. And now, he, Disney puts out, you know, some of the most iconic feature films, has theme parks around the world, it has so many different divisions. And that's all because someone didn't have limited

• 29:31Speaker 01

  belief. So when I start to think of what's possible for us, I just think, "Well, look at what Disney's doing. Why can't we get there?" In order to solve that problem, we either need more people, we need different types of people, or we need better processes. And I always try to start with processes, because that's the easier fix. And so, once you unlock that limited belief mindset, then really, anything is possible. But I would say, it all starts with, what are your personal goals? Because I fall into the trap thinking that everybody has the same ambitions or mindset that I do. And so, I would always

• 30:11Speaker 01

  try to, anyone, anytime I had like, someone that I was the manager of, I'd always try to motivate them in a way that got them to their highest potential. But then I realized that, not everybody wants that. Some people are comfortable, you know, they wanna be able to clock out at 4:00 PM, and they wanna be able to have a nice dinner, and watch the game, and spend time with their spouse. And honestly, I kinda envy that. Like, that's nice. If that's what you're after, then yeah, you don't need scale, right? But if you're like us-

• 30:43Codie Sanchez?

  Unhinged.

• 30:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, and you're just like, "Oh my gosh, like, you have one life to live. There's so much potential. Look at all these people that are doing these incredible things. Why not me?" Then yeah, then you gotta go for it.

• 30:58Codie Sanchez?

  Here's the thing about everything Dar walked us through. Vision and grit will only get you to the starting line. But Dar didn't build his brand just by believing in it. Like, you heard him, he was executing relentlessly. And that takes resources. You can have the idea, a plan, the audience. At some point, it's actually growing the thing, and that means putting fuel behind it. Capital, I think, is what lets you do that best. So let me tell you about a new business lending product from SoFi. SoFi small business loans are built for growth. With a quick digital application, you can check your eligibility in minutes, receive a decision quickly, and if approved, get funding in as little as 24 hours. Here's the part I really like. The pricing is super clear, and upfront. So you'll see your business terms before you even accept it. No surprises, no penalties for paying your loan off early. And you could choose weekly or monthly repayments on a

• 31:43Codie Sanchez?

  schedule that fits how your business actually runs. It's built for solopreneurs and small businesses. You can check your eligibility in minutes. If you're looking to get capital, head to sofi.com/Cody, or click the link in the show notes. Your business moves fast. Your financing should too. SoFi small business loans are originated by- SoFi Bank NA, subject to eligibility and approval. Terms and conditions apply. This is a paid SoFi partnership. What do you think is the most unhinged thing you do to create like 300 to 400 pieces of content? Per month was the number I saw. What do you think you're like, God, people would be shocked that we do this.

• 32:18Speaker 01

  I would love to say that there's a pill that you can take or some quick fix, right? But the reality is, is if you've ever trained for a race, okay? You're going to run a marathon. And I don't know what the average time is for somebody to run a marathon. What is that? Well, let's just say a mile. We'll keep this simpler, the math simpler. Let's say that you want to run a six minute mile. Okay. And the very first time you get on a treadmill, you barely break 15 minutes. You're like, man, that was 15 minutes. Like, how am I going to get to six? There's just no way. But you keep doing that and keep running 15 minute miles, right? And then two weeks later, something interesting happens.

• 33:00Speaker 01

  You actually, the part where you're running at the two minute mark, where you usually will start to hit the speed lower. So you start walking. You weren't as tired at that two minute mark. You actually didn't get tired until the two minute and 30 mark. So now your 15 minute mile became 13 minutes without even really realizing it. You can't say what that one breakthrough was. All you know is that you've been just running, right? For two weeks straight and you didn't stop. And then two weeks later, something interesting happens. At the two and a half minute mark, you suddenly weren't breathing as heavy. You, you might've felt the impulse to hit the speed down, but you didn't, you almost forgot that you're even at the two and a half minute mark. You just kept running and when he looked at the time, it was at three minutes. And now you happen to get to a 10 minute mile, right? And then as you kept going, you kept going.

• 33:45Speaker 01

  Eventually you got to nine minutes and eight minutes and seven minutes. And then one day, before you know it, you, you didn't even set out to try to break the record that day. This was just another day on the treadmill. And you happen to look at the time at the six minute mark and you can't believe it. And you see how the distance you ran was 1.0. So what was that magical moment? It's really hard to say. So I would just say, if you're to try to create 200 pieces of content a month, don't think of how can I go to one to 200? Think of it as, how can I go to one to two? And then, once you figure that out, it becomes easier to go from two to four, four to eight, eight to 16.

• 34:28Speaker 01

  And you just start to realize that the teams you build are different. In the beginning, you're hiring a lot of generalists, right? It's more of a family environment. And so, you know, I started off with, my wife was the one that was giving me ideas. And my brother-in-law was an actor, right? I was using my studio apartment. I was just using every resource I had. We were shooting on iPhones. I was teaching myself how to edit. You know, I had a few hundred dollars in the bank. And everybody was doing everything that was required. So naturally you can only do so much when you're a four person team, you're working in a limited space. But as we became successful, I started reinvesting. I hired more people. I got more space, got more equipment.

• 35:12Speaker 01

  Now all of a sudden, we had two production teams and then four production teams. And the type of people you hire are different. You have a CEO. Could you imagine having a CEO five years ago? Or however, there's no way. I couldn't imagine having a CEO.

• 35:24Codie Sanchez?

  What do you think about, if you had to like, say it tactically, like you started, when did you start, Darman?

• 35:29Speaker 01

  Eight years ago.

• 35:30Codie Sanchez?

  Eight years ago. So year one, how many employees did you have?

• 35:34Speaker 01

  One.

• 35:36Codie Sanchez?

  Year two?

• 35:37Speaker 01

  Probably three.

• 35:39Codie Sanchez?

  Year three?

• 35:41Speaker 01

  About like 25 or so.

• 35:42Codie Sanchez?

  Ooh, so a big jump. Year four?

• 35:44Speaker 01

  Year four is when we got our studio. So we probably went to about 75.

• 35:48Codie Sanchez?

  Five?

• 35:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, about 125.

• 35:52Codie Sanchez?

  Six?

• 35:54Speaker 01

  Six, we started a, we capped out around like 200 or so. And then now we kind of try to stay there.

• 36:03Codie Sanchez?

  So really, every, so you almost have minimum, like doubling, doubling, doubling. And then, once you get to, let's call it 150, two, or whatever, you kind of try to stay. And at some point, it's not just more people.

• 36:15Speaker 01

  Well, then you can start to outsource things, right? And you become more efficient at doing certain things. And so, for instance, our vertical dramas with our deal with Fox. That we have a senior producer, a showrunner. We have a, that's pretty much it. We have a two-person team and the rest, we hire crews to come in and film that kind of content. Eventually, if that becomes successful enough, we might start to hire within. So that's also an interesting thing is like, when do you outsource versus when do you build something internally? And what I would say is, when you know something is such an important part of your business, then don't outsource that thing. Do that internally.

• 37:00Speaker 01

  Like Hermes, I'm sure they can go say, hey, this factory, build us a bunch of Birkins. But they know that their whole brand exists because of the quality of their bags. And so they're never going to outsource that. They're always going to do that in-house. Caruso is a popular real estate developer in Los Angeles, Southern California. If you go to The Grove, have you been to The Grove? Okay. It's one of the malls that are like, few malls, I would say in the country that are really thriving. Anytime you go, it's a magical experience. If you go during Christmas, there's Santa Claus. You go during Easter, there's the Easter Bunny. Do you know who runs that programming? Caruso. When you go in Valet Park, the person is so nice.

• 37:44Speaker 01

  They're just like, hey, they're greeting you, they're in a nice uniform. Do you know who runs a valet parking? Caruso. So Caruso's decided that every aspect of the customer experience, he wants to control because his brand is family. He wants to be able to deliver on those strong family values and that positive customer experience. And that's the reason that he's thriving. So you figure out what is sort of the core product that you're developing and never outsource that thing. If there's things that you're testing, especially as you get more resources, you're interested in this maybe opportunity or not? Don't spend the time hiring a team because that's going to take you six months.

• 38:27Speaker 01

  Instead, if you can just get another team, like, you know, outsource it, get it fired up and get it going. So you can learn as quickly as possible, see if it's even viable. Then you can decide, does it make sense for me to continue outsourcing that? Because it's not that meaningful, but I want to keep it going? Or is this something that didn't work? So I'm just going to scrap it? Or, oh man, that hit. And now this has so much potential that I'm going to bring it in-house.

• 38:52Codie Sanchez?

  You know, it's funny. So in, we model one of our businesses off of this company called Vista Equity. And one of our friends was one of the co-founders of it. And it's a really big private equity company, but based around technology. And they run everything on what's called the Vista playbook. And so if you come into their world, not unlike Disney, Disney was obsessed with every single segment of this park, right? Vista is sort of the exact same way. You run the playbook the same way every time. Well, what is interesting is that, you know, he taught me, his name is Brian, and then a few of his employees that we've hired over the years, taught me that they, they have something called value engines. And sometimes they call them value engines, sometimes they call them revenue engines. But if I was to ask you right now, what is McKinsey's real business?

• 39:35Codie Sanchez?

  Like what you talked about, the core part of the business of what McKinsey sells, what would you say?

• 39:39Speaker 01

  McKinsey, the consulting company?

• 39:43Speaker 01

  Expertise?

• 39:44Codie Sanchez?

  Yeah.

• 39:45Speaker 01

  That's what comes to mind.

• 39:46Codie Sanchez?

  So I, I said, their core value engine is probably making their customers more money. Like if they can drive revenue to their customers.

• 39:55Speaker 01

  Makes sense.

• 39:55Codie Sanchez?

  McKinsey would win. I thought so. He was like, absolutely not. I'm like, really? What is it? And he said, McKinsey is a partner factory. They know that if they can take a college kid from college over eight years and they're high performing and turn them into a partner, then that partner will, over the course of 20 years, drive so much revenue to the firm that they just keep creating partners again and again. And so everything else is ancillary, actually, to their recruiting, onboarding, training, retention. And I thought that was fascinating because it's not dissimilar to like McDonald's, which people would say it's the cheeseburger. But in a lot of ways, it's the real estate. And if they're in the right location, then those golden arches will beckon.

• 40:37Codie Sanchez?

  And so it's a really great point about, you know, how do you make magic in a business? If you're, you know, if Caruso's magic or value creation portion is this family component, knowing that and executing on it.

• 40:49Speaker 01

  That's a great point. So Jim Collins, you know, one of my favorite authors, we were asking earlier, has written many incredible books. But Good to Great is one of those. So he talks about how the greatest businesses, their product is not the thing that they sell, but it is their actual team. And it gives the example, so when Boeing started, do you know Boeing that makes the greatest aircrafts and rockets? And do you know what their original business was?

• 41:18Codie Sanchez?

  Ooh, no.

• 41:19Speaker 01

  Selling lawn furniture. And so let's say that their business was, I'm going to sell lawn furniture. And they saw that as their product. When that product failed, if the business is the product, what happens? The business goes away. But instead, if you see the product as your team, right? My, my product is the team of engineers or consultants or creatives that I've hired. And I'm always trying to make that product better. Then regardless of whatever the output is, that can continue to change. The economy can change, the consumer interest can change, whatever it is. But you have this incredible team that is going to keep up with putting out new amazing outputs

• 42:04Speaker 01

  that is always going to evolve and make you better. Then that's how you succeed in the long run.

• 42:09Codie Sanchez?

  Yeah, that's a really good point. So where do you think you failed early on in business? That if you were standing in front of young Dar, you'd say, please, dear God, don't do this.

• 42:20Speaker 01

  Ray Dalio, in his book Principles, he describes failure as you're in this video game and you're collecting gems, right? It's kind of going back to that Popeye spinach example. And every time you collect a gem, it makes you somewhat stronger. Because again, you've learned one more thing that doesn't work. And so it's natural to say, oh, I really regret that relationship. I really regret that co-founder. I should have never partnered with that person. I should have never went into that industry and I should have never rented that office or storefront or started that product. But in reality, you had to do that, as painful as it is. And I'm sorry, I know that some people might be listening to this to say, Dar, like,

• 43:01Speaker 01

  I am backed up in credit card debt because of that decision. How are you going to say, don't regret that? Well, the thing is, you can't make excuses to success. You can fail your way to success, but no excuse will take your, take you to success. And the problem with excuses is if you don't see yourself as the problem, then you will never see yourself as the solution. So whatever bad has happened to you, the faster you can take ownership of it, learn from it, the faster that you're actually going to grow.

• 43:43Speaker 01

  The best leaders in the world, when something wrong happens, they don't look out the window, they look in the mirror. Because that's where all the personal growth happens.

• 43:55Codie Sanchez?

  It's a good reminder. Yeah, I heard the other day that your excuse is somebody else's reason why. And I was like, God, you need to remember that, you know? Because half the time, it is very easy to get stuck in your own little world and say, here's all the reasons why I can't, as opposed to, these are all the reasons why I have to.

• 44:14Speaker 01

  I actually got my brother motivated to start going to the gym because he's like, Dar, I have three kids. I don't have time to go to the gym. And I'm like, they're the reason you need to go to the gym. Because you want to be there for all their important milestones later on in life. So yeah, I love that analogy.

• 44:31Codie Sanchez?

  Yeah, actually, there's, it's interesting because your channel is all about these inspirational stories. And I saw this one, I wonder if it'd make a good, maybe you could tell me if this would make a good story or not.

• 44:41Speaker 01

  Let's hear the pitch.

• 44:41Codie Sanchez?

  Okay, here's the pitch.

• 44:42Speaker 01

  Well, first, what's the packaging?

• 44:43Codie Sanchez?

  Oh shit, I don't know. Okay, okay, I'm going to work on the pitch and totally mess up your four, four Ps. But there.

• 44:51Speaker 00

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• 45:19Codie Sanchez?

  He's a really jacked dad, basically. And, you know, he, he looks good, he's dressed well. And, and then there's like words on the screen and the screen's basically, and the screen basically says like, you know, you, you care too much about what you look like. Like, why are you spending all this time working out? Something to that effect, probably a little pithier. And then it flashes to his daughter, who is in a wheelchair. And he's like, this is the exact reason why I have the muscles that I do. Because, and then he tells a beautiful story about how he carries her up the stairs every night. And when she first got in the accident, you know, he wasn't in shape, actually. He couldn't carry her up the stairs.

• 46:00Codie Sanchez?

  And so he's like, you know, until my dying day, my gym is, my gym time is one of the most important things I do because I will always carry that little girl up the stairs. And I remember watching it and be like, you know, I need to go to the gym, which is sometimes how I feel when I watch your things. So I guess my question there for you would be.

• 46:17Speaker 01

  Would I green light your story?

• 46:18Codie Sanchez?

  Yeah, exactly. How much do we sell it to Fox? But like for that, maybe the question actually is, how do you know with all these stories out there in the world?

• 46:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:28Codie Sanchez?

  That one is going to be an incredible story or not?

• 46:30Speaker 01

  So A, like I'm obsessed with the story, right? It's amazing. It's got a great pitch. It really does. A muscular dad gets judged for being fit. Turns out that like for neglecting his kids because he cares so much about his fitness. Turns out the reason he's fit is to actually care for his children. That in 10 seconds explains a story. But that's not the first step, right? That's actually the third step. The step before that is what is the packaging? Okay, well, a muscular dad, that's interesting, right? What is the title of that? It's going to be very hard to describe the title in a few words.

• 47:13Speaker 01

  Muscular dad judged for his physical appearance or strong dad judged for his muscles? That doesn't really create immediate intrigue.

• 47:27Codie Sanchez?

  Weak men are bad fathers.

• 47:28Speaker 01

  And, and it sucks because there's so many times that I'll hear an amazing story idea. But if you can't figure out a way to make it an interesting thumbnail from anyone that's interested in creating content. A lot of times, you know, you'll have to kill the idea. And somebody will say like, well, what if it's a great story? And I'll say, well, if it's not great packaging, then by default, it can't be a great story.

• 47:53Codie Sanchez?

  Great point.

• 47:54Speaker 01

  So that's going to suffer from not having the best packaging. But in terms of story structure, you have an interesting character, right? And this is for anyone that's interested in like storytelling or scripted content, which I know is not for everyone. But it could work for podcasting, it could work for all kinds of different content. And I guess just packaging for goods as well. You have a muscular, middle-aged person, which you don't see too often. And that could be somewhat appealing for a certain level of audience as well. Creates intrigue for some and it could be appealing, right? And then you've got the relatable, right? He's a dad. You've got the conflict of somebody saying, and I would imagine someone like who's not fit, kind of giving him a hard time.

• 48:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, I would be in the gym too, all the time if I didn't care about my family, right? That's immediate intrigue right there. And then you've got the emotional backstory, right? You've got the part where it's actually like, well, the reason I have to train is because I have to carry my daughter up the stairs, you know, every single night and I want to be there. Or because I have to, I want to make sure that I'm around for a long time to help support her. So that's the part that's going to make you want to cry. And there's a clear lesson there, which is, don't judge a book by its cover. Or you really never know what someone is going through. So don't make assumptions. So it has all the necessary elements of an amazing story. The packaging is where it's going to suffer. And then I would say also, you know, you really have to know who your audience is.

• 49:22Speaker 01

  So this would pertain more towards a middle-aged audience. So for us, YouTube, our YouTube audience skews a lot younger. So it probably wouldn't be as relatable for a 10-year-old boy. And then for Facebook, that audience skews older. So I would say this would be a great video for Facebook. And so we have different, you know, types of content for different audiences. So you also want to think about where this could live. But if you want to test your first story, scripted story, and I'm happy to do this in collaboration with you. Cause like now that we've told our audience, it might be interesting to see it come to life. I would love to do the story with you.

• 49:59Codie Sanchez?

  How fun. What a masterclass. But oh God, well now I just, I identify as a frog lately. Like I last night, I was thinking about, I just have my little belly. I put my hands on it, I just lay around. But masterclass in taking an idea right there, real time and breaking it down segment-wise. You can see that you've done your 10,000 hours really intensely. One of the things I was curious about here is you are basically greenlighting hundreds and, well, thousands, I guess, of stories a year. How many, what is the ratio? How many ideas do you guys typically have to picking one story?

• 50:37Speaker 01

  That's, this is actually a great question. We're right in the thick of this right now, where we've actually developed a green lighting percentage ratio for every step in the process. And so before, if I had an amazing story, just like what you said right now, I would just go and develop it right away, right? I would say, oh, this is moving forward. And then I'd wait to see what the actual results are. And then if it didn't meet my expectations, I would be disappointed or come up for some reason that didn't work. Now it's a little bit more of a methodology where we have a certain percentage of ideas that start in packaging, right?

• 51:16Speaker 01

  So let's say that we have 10 ideas in packaging, where that is just a title is what we begin with. If it passes the title stage, then it goes into the actual thumbnail design. So you can do this very cost-effectively, you could do this through AI. So we'll start with the title, then we just imagine, if that title gets approved, then we imagine what it's going to look like visually. If the title isn't approved, then it dies. So let's say out of 10 ideas. Nine of them pass the title stage. Then we'll actually visualize it and we'll look at the thumb and say, ah, you know, this isn't interesting enough to warrant someone clicking on it. If it isn't, then it's scrapped.

• 52:00Speaker 01

  If it is interesting enough, then it goes past the illustration phase into the actual design phase. You want me to break this down sort of more?

• 52:08Codie Sanchez?

  So good.

• 52:08Speaker 01

  Okay. So, once it gets past the illustration, right now, we are adding a layer where now we will survey our audience. So every single week, we have a new Google form where our audience can go on and they can actually greenlight the next ideas that we're going to produce. And so every step of this process, we'll ask them, which of these titles do you find interesting? Which of these illustrations do you find interesting? The next step is, we will actually take a real design. We'll think of casting and then we'll create a real thumbnail and see what that looks like. Sometimes things work in illustration, but they don't work in practicality. And so, once we actually see, alright, well, here's what an official final thumbnail would be,

• 52:53Speaker 01

  then it moves forward to the actual pitch stage. So from there, now we're thinking about, hey, how do we explain this in 30 seconds? It has to be a page or less and it has to have all the most important parts of the story. We've got a muscular dad, we've got somebody, um, so he's the protagonist, who's the antagonist. It's somebody who's judgmental. Uh, their backstory is maybe they haven't gotten into the best of shape. They use their children as an excuse. They're kind of unhappy with how their life is. Now, what is the interesting environment? Maybe someone is leaving a gym while the other person is leaving a restaurant. They happen to cross over, right? Um, and I don't know, maybe this guy, the overweight guy drops something heavy, is struggling to pick something up,

• 53:38Speaker 01

  uh, up, and then the muscular guy comes in and says, oh, I can carry that for you. And now the not fit guy feels a little bit embarrassed because there has to be some sort of inciting incident. Why is this guy upset? It just can't happen for no reason. The simplest thing is you're gonna have them bump into each other, right? Um, so you have an inciting incident. Now, where is the conflict coming from? Now, we're hearing this overweight guy shaming the muscular guy for being a bad parent because he's neglecting his kids because he's in the gym. What is the irony in that story? The irony is, he's actually fit because he really cares about his children because he's taking care of his daughter that's in a wheelchair. And then what is the resolution?

• 54:21Speaker 01

  The resolution is, now the overweight person sees that he shouldn't be judgmental. They should, you know, think twice before they assume. Uh, so that's the moral lesson that can be shareable. So we know what the pitch is. All of that has to be contained in that one pager. So this idea would pass the pitch phase. But let's just say, you know, you've got, out of 10 titles, nine move forward to illustration, eight move forward to actually pitcher, and I would say maybe five move forward to the actual pitch. Once the pitch is greenlit, and that could be by the audience, that could be by the showrunner, that could be based on your own gut instinct, uh, now you go into the actual scripting. And the scripting is when you develop, you know, a full, however long the script is gonna be.

• 55:05Speaker 01

  And by the way, every creator does this, regardless if you're a scripted creator, if you are creating, you know, spectacle-based IRL videos. Even podcasters generally have an outline as to where this interview is gonna go. So you, that's what I consider the scripting phase. Out of that, you know, maybe out of the five, I would say, three to four move forward. Um, and then out of those remaining, usually one will get scrapped in post-production.

• 55:34Codie Sanchez?

  Wow, after you've done everything?

• 55:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, even after we've shot everything and then we take a look at it, or we decide it's meant for a different platform, or we have different channels, like some for our highest bar content and then some for lower. But, you know, our content is produced much less expensively than, um, how traditional is. So we have the ability to do that because we never want to alienate the audience experience by delivering something that we don't fully believe in. So I would say, out of those 10 ideas, ultimately, when you break it all down, you have about one that finally makes it to the YouTube page.

• 56:08Codie Sanchez?

  I think it's nice to see, like, what I'm taking away from this is, like, one, it does take a lot of quantity in many ways to get to the thing that you want in life. Like, you have so many reps that by now you are able to manufacture millions, but sometimes I think it's nice to see that and go, oh, it's not just that Dar's a genius, although he is. It's that, you know, Dar has muscle memory of this for over eight years, running this playbook again and again, until he gets to speak a language and seem almost fluent in it. Because, you know, you've done it so long. And so, you know, I, you, I think I got numbers for you and I don't know if these are right, so tell me, but that, on average, it might take you 21 days to do, from script,

• 56:53Codie Sanchez?

  all the way to even filming something or pre-production for one video or post-production. Script to screen, 21 days. Which is actually, in many ways, it's crazy compared to Hollywood. They might take years.

• 57:06Speaker 01

  Right.

• 57:07Codie Sanchez?

  But then compared to somebody who's just starting, it's like, okay, that's a lot of work too.

• 57:11Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 57:12Codie Sanchez?

  And so you can see a sort of the progression of where you've been. I guess maybe a question there is like, did you ever have one that you put a ton of money, a ton of time into? You put it out, total flop.

• 57:23Speaker 01

  Happens all the time. And there's ones that like, we put the least effort into, thought it would flop and ends up doing the best, right? But that's why it's such an important numbers game, right? Consistency matters more than anything. Like, imagine, it took me 100 videos to go viral. And you know what keeps me up at night sometimes? What if I quit on number 99? You never know how close you are to success unless you keep going. You could be one phone call, one door, one piece of viral content away from your whole life being completely different. So no matter what, the most important thing you can do is not give up on yourself. And so, yeah, I would say, you know, as time goes on, all that changes is that you become more methodical

• 58:07Speaker 01

  and then you become a little bit better at having instincts as to what's gonna work or not, right? My 99 videos were a flop, but once I figured out that 100 successful one, my batting average was no longer one in 100, right? It might've been like, one in five. And then after that, it was one in four, one in three. You just get better and better, right? So even you as an entrepreneur, you have multiple businesses. I bet before having multiple businesses, you failed a lot, I'm guessing. I don't even know if this is your story or not. Is that true?

• 58:37Codie Sanchez?

  Oh, of course.

• 58:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, you had lots of ideas that never really worked. But now, you're a lot smarter, you're a lot more experienced, you have a better team around you, you have systems in place, you get better opportunities vetted to you because you've built a name for yourself, right? So what is your chance, what is your hit rate now? It's a lot, it's a lot higher. And guess what? Banks are also one to loan you. And so even if you fail, they can give you a lifeline for you to keep going, to give you more time to figure it out. So it's consistency that ultimately enables that success. So you can't quit on those first 99 videos or even, you know, however long it takes. But the key is, to make it so fast and inexpensive that it allows you the runway to succeed.

• 59:22Speaker 01

  So when I started, I had $600 in my bank account. Even if I went and I took every credit card that was available to me, every friends and family loan that was available to me and said, I really wanna make a film, and I looked it up online and to make a film, it costs about a million bucks, which in reality costs far more than that, right? I put all my money together that I possibly could through all my friends and family, buried myself deep in debt, put it in one video. That one video would've failed. If I took half the money and made two, both of them would've failed. The only reason it worked was because my wife was the creative, my brother-in-law was the actor, I was filming everything on iPhones, my studio apartment was our set.

• 1:00:04Speaker 01

  So you have to do things as scrappy as you possibly can, which gave me the runway to fail 99 times until I finally got to that 100th time. We used to have it where the two actors that we'd have in our videos would show up and we'd all kind of sit around and on a paper, on a piece of paper, I would write, on a, on a napkin, I would write, alright, well, wouldn't it be interesting if this happened? Or, here's what happened to me last night while I was leaving the parking lot and someone judged me because of the broken down car that I had. Maybe there's an interesting storyline there because, right? Or, hey, I helped someone with jumper cables and then I had positive karma later. What if we did a video on like, how karma can travel and some sort of positive change?

• 1:00:48Speaker 01

  We'd come up with the concept right there, we'd shoot it, and within like, two hours, it would go live. So 21 days is now, we've gotten to a point where, as, in the beginning, everyone is, again, a family environment, right? Your first, the first five, 10 people you have, they're passionate, they're answering your calls at midnight, they're burning the midnight oil with you, everyone is doing everything. But as you start to scale, then that's not sustainable. You really have to create work-life balance, you have to provide certain types of benefits. At Darman Studios now, we're releasing like, an equity program where our actors, some of our longtime actors and employees actually have equity in the company.

• 1:01:30Speaker 01

  We have better 401K program rolling out than most traditional studios even do. So now we're really able to invest back in the team to provide them a more stable environment to really grow and build a career on, kind of going back to McKinsey is like, how do you get people to that partner level status? Our product is our team, we invest in that team. Um, and so, yeah, what works now isn't what worked in the beginning. And so, you have to be able to be scrappy, to evolve fast, to put in those reps. And then once you finally get there, then you can build more sustainable systems.

• 1:02:05Codie Sanchez?

  It's so good. What advice do you have for somebody today who wants to be successful and win?

• 1:02:10Speaker 01

  So if you want to be the first millionaire in your family, you have to do these three things. Number one is start saving money consistently. And it doesn't have to be a lot. You don't have to listen to these online gurus who say you have to start with $10,000 or $25,000 or $100,000. I'm talking about $100 out of your paycheck. 50 bucks, 20 bucks, whatever it is, just save up consistently and you'll be shocked as to how that money starts to compound over time. The second thing is, instead of asking, whenever you receive a little bit of money, what can I buy? Ask yourself, what can I invest in? And the third thing I would say is the most important.

• 1:02:52Speaker 01

  And that's to cut out three time wasters in your life. And we all know what those are because your girlfriend has probably told you, your spouse or your mother or that little internal voice inside of your head. Replace those with learning two new skills.

• 1:03:08Speaker 01

  And you'll be shocked six months from now as to how those new skills you've developed have turned into new income streams. So now that you have those three steps, if you follow them, you'll be amazed as to where your life can be a year from now.

• 1:03:22Codie Sanchez?

  You're doing 65 million in revenue now. You have, you know, 200 employees, $150,000 or 150,000 square foot studio, but that's not where you started. How did you get started?

• 1:03:34Speaker 01

  I don't think people realize how much better their life could be if they just start doing the things that they're already thinking about doing. I know it's scary. I know it's terrifying. But do you know what the only thing more scary is than doing that thing? Is the thought of looking back at your life 10 years from now, wondering what your life could have been if you just decided to take action. We're all so burdened by all the things that we heard growing up, these limited beliefs that were placed on us. What if you fail? You're thinking too big. What will people think? But none of that actually matters. Just start taking action now and you'll be shocked

• 1:04:17Speaker 01

  as to how far your life can come if you just get started today.

• 1:04:22Codie Sanchez?

  The Nike campaign, just do it. I still like it to this day. What do you think is the best piece of advice you've been given when it comes to making money?

• 1:04:29Speaker 01

  Stop trying to look rich before you actually are rich. We spend so much of our time trying to impress people that are not even paying attention. So we spend all of our money on that nice watch or that pair of shoes or that handbag or that designer outfit, which actually takes us further away from our goals. Instead, real wealth is built quietly. And if you focus on taking all the necessary steps versus showing it, you'll actually get to a true place of building wealth. And the ironic part is when you actually have real success, you'll not want to show it because you just become a bigger target in everyone's eyes anyway. So I would say build wealth quietly and put in the hard

• 1:05:13Speaker 01

  work in silence.

• 1:05:15Codie Sanchez?

  I like it. Neither of us have fancy watches on today. No, no, I don't have one.

• 1:05:19Speaker 01

  I got my Oura ring. It's gold.

• 1:05:22Codie Sanchez?

  What do you think has been the biggest sacrifice you've ever had to make in your business?

• 1:05:27Speaker 01

  The biggest sacrifice I've ever had to make in my business was the toll it took on my relationship when I was just starting out. I just thought that because I was trying to improve the life of my wife and my kids, that that made every decision okay. So I skipped out on the date nights. I skipped out on the dinners. I skipped out on the school plays. And then I came to realize that what is success if I can't even spend time with my own family? And so even though I may not take 100% of the opportunities that I get today, even if I can go for 80% of them or 70%, but still have a life and show up for my wife and kids, to me, that's worthwhile. And I'll tell you a quick story

• 1:06:11Speaker 01

  as to what helped me realize that. There was a day I was working in my office and my five-year-old daughter came in and said, Daddy, play with me. And I said, Daddy's busy working right now. And so my daughter left, she went into the kitchen. I could just tell from the look on her face that she was really disappointed. So that guilt was eating at me. Eventually I get up, I go to the kitchen and I say, sweetheart, you see this big house that we live in? And she says, Yeah. I said, Well, that's why Daddy has to work so hard. Okay. She nodded her head. I could tell she wasn't really happy with that answer. So I go back to my office, I start working again. And a couple of minutes later, my daughter comes in, knocks on the door and she goes, Daddy? I said, Yeah. She

• 1:06:53Speaker 01

  said, I don't want to have a big house anymore. It's like the thing that I valued, that I thought that I was delivering on as a dad to help make everyone else's lives better or dreams come true, was actually not even the thing that they really wanted. They really just wanted me to be there. That mattered more than anything. So I would say trying to find that balance between presence and presence.

• 1:07:22Codie Sanchez?

  You're gonna make me cry on this one. So Yeah, actually, that's very true. I could cry at anything. It's not really you. So let's say somebody here is young and starting out in their business. What do you wish you had known as a 20-year-old business owner that you now know? Like, what did you think was true back then that now you realize that is not true at all?

• 1:07:43Speaker 01

  People's opinions don't matter. We get so hung up on what if I put out this video? What is that person gonna think of me? What if I try and this doesn't work out and I fail? How is my family gonna judge that? People are gonna judge regardless. And the people that are judging are the ones that were too afraid to go after their own dreams in the first place. I promise you that if you just get started, the people that are questioning why you're doing something are the same ones that are gonna ask you how you did it. And remember, because the people that were with you during your struggle, they're the ones that deserve to be with you during your success.

• 1:08:23Codie Sanchez?

  Do you think that most people quit too early in business?

• 1:08:28Speaker 01

  I think there's two ways to look at that. The obvious answer is yes, but it really depends on your purpose alignment. If you know that this is the one thing that you were meant to do, it keeps you up at nights because God has put these big dreams in your head and you know that your life will never feel complete. If you are not this thing, then I would say try as long as you possibly can. Like if your dream is to be a pro athlete and you're 45 years old and you've not made it, then I would say move on, right? But if you still have the ability to achieve that dream and that's the thing that really fills your soul, then no matter what it takes, keep going after that thing. But on the converse,

• 1:09:13Speaker 01

  even if you are successful at something, even if you are making a lot of money, but it no longer aligns with your purpose, then I would say at some point, you are gonna start to feel really empty and create a void that no amount of money can ever fill. So it might be time to try something else.

• 1:09:32Codie Sanchez?

  Last question. Have you ever had a dark night of the soul in business where you thought this isn't gonna work out? I'm not gonna cut it and I'm not gonna make it. If so happens.

• 1:09:42Speaker 01

  Always listen to your guts. God has put in some sort of ability for us to know whether something is for us or not for us. And every time we turn off that compass, that's saying like, I feel it in my skin. I get goosebumps when I talk about it. Something's not right about this. But you know what? Maybe I'm being irrational and reasonable. I'm just gonna move forward. Those always end up being terrible decisions. So whether it's some opportunity, whether it's a person, whatever it is, if something doesn't feel right instinctively inside of your gut, listen to that. And you know what? Even if it seems like it was a bad decision at first, like, oh my gosh, look at that person is succeeding.

• 1:10:25Speaker 01

  A day will come where you'll realize my instinct was right. I'm glad I didn't listen to that.

• 1:10:33Codie Sanchez?

  So true. We've had that. Darman, this was amazing.

• 1:10:36Speaker 01

  Thanks, Cody.

• 1:10:37Codie Sanchez?

  Okay, so new podcast is called?

• 1:10:40Speaker 01

  What Happens Next?

• 1:10:41Codie Sanchez?

  What Happens Next. Darman on all the YouTube's, socials, Instagram. If they had to start with one place with you, where would you tell somebody to go and follow you today or go and watch?

• 1:10:53Speaker 01

  Codie Sanchez's podcast. I would say, you know, to learn more about me is definitely my podcast. But if you're interested in inspirational stories that truly will help move your life forward in a positive way, there are scripted content on YouTube or Samsung, Facebook, or on all the different platforms. It's a great place to get some inspiration and kind of get you out of a rut.

• 1:11:17Codie Sanchez?

  I love it. Well, I found this podcast so helpful. I'm literally, you know, you know too, probably from doing these podcasts, there are some that I go back and listen to a lot. And there are some that are like, okay, that was amazing. It wasn't for me. It was for this person that was listening.

• 1:11:29Speaker 01

  Who are the ones that you felt that you're not gonna go back to?

• 1:11:32Codie Sanchez?

  Well, I can't tell that one. I can't because then I'd be a jerk. But this one, I'm gonna go back to and I'm gonna have the team listen to too. I think the parts on failure, the parts on how to build a business tactically, it's kind of rare that you can listen to something where you can walk away with, here is a 15-step process. Here is a four-step process. And simultaneously, I feel fired up. You know, David Goggins is just like, go fucking run. But you're like, how? He's like, shut up, run, you know? And this is a unique mix of both. And so thank you for sharing it with us today.

• 1:12:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, thanks. Oh, such an honor. I really appreciate it. Just me being the creator and thinking about retention. You might want to cut some of that out, as sweet as it is. And I'll just share a story that if you want a place earlier in the podcast, feel free. But when I actually met Cody, I was a fan of your content first and we were at the Rosewood Hotel. And I think I approached you as probably like some crazy fan coming up to you at like nine o'clock in the morning or whenever it was. And I was like, hey, we have mutual friends and I'm gonna launch a podcast and this and that. So it's just so cool to see things come full circle, probably a year later or so. And what an honor to be on your podcast.

• 1:12:37Codie Sanchez?

  Well, thanks. I can't wait to come see your studio, get on the podcast. Yeah. And if you have questions for Dart, hit me in the YouTube comments and I will actually bring them direct to you next time.

• 1:12:45Speaker 01

  And the muscular dad story. If you want to see that happen.

• 1:12:49Codie Sanchez?

  I do. I don't even know how to script something like that. Okay.

• 1:12:53Speaker 01

  That's why I'm here.

• 1:12:53Codie Sanchez?

  Let's do it. I know. I got to see you do it in 30 seconds. That was insanity.

• 1:13:03Speaker 03

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