We Made A BIG Decision… | Ep 874

In this milestone episode of The Game, Alex and Leila announce a major evolution at Acquisition.com: the addition of their first-ever partner, Sharran Srivatsaa. They unpack the full backstory, from years of friendship and billion-dollar business wins to the values and trust that made this decision possible. Sharran's depth of experience in real estate, private equity, and operations aligns with the long-term vision of Acquisition.com 3.0, the new era of the company. Welcome to The Game w/Alex Hormozi, hosted by entrepreneur, founder, investor, author, public speaker, and content creator Alex Hormozi. On this podcast, you’ll hear how to get more customers, make more profit per customer, how to keep them longer, and the many failures and lessons Alex has learned and will learn on his path from $100M to $1B in net worth. Wanna scale your business? Click here. Follow Alex Hormozi’s Socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Acquisition Mentioned in this episode: Get access to the free $100M Scaling Roadmap at www.acquisition.com/roadmap

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

• 0:00Speaker 00

  From my favorite three words that someone can ever tell me is I got it because I know that it's super, super powerful. And if you're in an organization right now and you feel like you want that recognition, say, hey, partner, manager, boss, whatever, I got it. And then deliver on the I got it. That is the fastest way to kind of building that trust with your, with your team.

• 0:23Alex Hormozi?

  The fastest way to become the person that you want is to surround yourself with people who give you no choice but to become them. And so I think Leila and I are very proud to announce that we're bringing in for the first time ever in our career, a partner into our business at acquisition.com, which is the man, the myth, the legend, the Michael Jordan of the, the real estate industry, Sharon Cervata.

• 0:46Speaker 00

  I'm so excited to be here. This is so fun.

• 0:48Speaker 02

  I'm so excited. I can't believe it's finally here.

• 0:50Speaker 00

  It's been over a year.

• 0:52Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah.

• 0:52Speaker 02

  Over a year that we've been talking about it now. You remember we were doing the bikeboard session in Alex's office and we were like talking about the whole plan, we planned the whole thing out. And it's like the countdown began, Alex had a little timer on his phone.

• 1:02Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah, I did. And every, like for days and weeks, I would just be like 78 days left, 54 days left until we could finally announce this. I think that it would be helpful for everyone to know kind of like the thought process behind the decision and kind of our relationship and how it's evolved to even deciding to do this because, you know, getting into a partnership, you know, you've heard our content before. It's, I mean, it's like getting married. It's a huge, it's a huge decision.

• 1:27Speaker 02

  I think we were all equally terrified.

• 1:29Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah.

• 1:29Speaker 02

  Not willing to fuck anything up.

• 1:31Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah. And we've been, so what a lot of people might not know is that we've been friends for six or seven years now and like very good friends. So to give you some context and we'll walk through the, some of the timelines because I think it'll be relevant. But like when we were selling the company, I was talking to Sharon every morning, like, hey, what do you think about this? And what do you think of this till term? And even before that, you know, I had, I got introduced to him from a mutual friend of ours and. We had a Zoom call at like, I don't know, like four or five o'clock at night. And I don't really take calls in the afternoon. And I was like, this is so weird. And I was like, I don't know, but this guy seems awesome from what this guy had said. Cause he'd already sold a company for 3.4 billion dollars. I was like, I want to talk to somebody who's doing this.

• 2:11Speaker 02

  It's for sure a scam.

• 2:12Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah, like, like no one has sold a company.

• 2:15Speaker 02

  Talking to that did that.

• 2:16Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah. And so anyways, we hopped on and then we ended up talking for like three and a half hours. Um, which never happens. And so I think that's pretty much how it kicked off. And we very quickly became very good friends.

• 2:28Speaker 02

  Well, I remember what happened was like Alex went on the Zoom call, right? And then I made dinner, all this stuff. He comes back at like 8:30 and then I was like, how was the call? And then he's like, you need to meet this guy. Like you'd really like him. And I was like, most of the time when you introduce me, somebody like, listen, something smells wrong though. Right? And then I remember like, I was so hesitant, but I was like, okay, he would not like, be like, you need to meet him if he didn't think so. He's like, no, I think that you would get along really well with him. And I was like, okay. He's only said that about like two or three people ever.

• 2:56Alex Hormozi?

  I've been right every time.

• 2:58Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 2:59Speaker 00

  Do you remember the first call though? All we did was Alex was on the call.

• 3:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 3:03Speaker 00

  And we just drew processes out on a white, on a, on an iPad.

• 3:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, I do remember. Cause I remember I'm being like blown away. I was like, how you go off the stuff? And then I was like, I pay you money. I wonder what to do. And you, we're just friends. And I, I understand, but this is where I just need you to help me. And you were like, no. And I was like, yes. I was like, please help.

• 3:22Alex Hormozi?

  And so I would say Sharon was the original kind of first trusted confidant for our money. So like, we had, you know, a good amount of money prior to the sale. And then obviously after the sale, there was even more. And so the game of making money versus the game of making your money make money are two completely different games. There is crossover where one makes you better at the other and the other makes you better at the first. But there's still a ton, or for me, there was a huge amount of ignorance that of, I mean, even around tax law of like, oh wait, hold on these, I, I'm getting this distribution, but I'm getting taxed on this too. I was like, but I paid tax on the money first.

• 4:00Alex Hormozi?

  And then like, wait, you can have other things that can appreciate. And then there's blends for cash flow and, and all of this stuff. And then there's like, oh, there's, there's buckets that you can put your investments into so that you can optimize towards different outcomes. And all of this stuff was stuff that we didn't know. And we ended up creating our money rules list. So I think three, four years ago, you guys might have seen a video of mine where it's like, these are the money rules, these are the money algorithms. A lot of those stem from, from Sharon.

• 4:23Speaker 02

  Yeah. And you know what's funny too is I think when, when we first met, I had no idea because you were like, no, I'm an operator. But it was like, at that time, you were not doing anything for it. And when we met you and I, and so it's funny because the first time I met you, everything was all investing. And I saw you as an investor and that was all I asked you about. And then once you stepped into real and you made that decision. And then I was like, oh my gosh, he's also not. And that was when I was like, oh my gosh, you're an operator too. Like, it's so cool because like you're, you're really great at marketing and brand. You're really great at investing and you're really great at operating. And it's like, every time I've seen one area, it's just like the depths of knowledge in each area too. It's like, it's not like you're shallow and all. It's like you're

• 5:04Speaker 02

  deep knowledge of each of those areas. I think that's when we really started talking a lot more because it was like, okay, we're talking about all this shit because we're doing the same shit. And that was really fun for me.

• 5:14Speaker 00

  I remember when, um, when the time between after the sale, after I sold, we had sold Telus and I was just doing investing private equity stuff. I would just talk to both of you saying, man, I don't know what my next thing is. And the crazy part is, I think a lot of people don't know this, but you were the first people that I told, that I talked to about the real opportunity, right? Um, and I said, hey, I have this. This is super interesting. Small public company, 200 million in revenue. And you're like, you get to go work. Go do that.

• 5:45Speaker 02

  It's so funny to like, sit back and think about it all because I think, um, as you, I was like thinking through before we sat out here. I was like, how did this conversation even start around us all working together? Because I, we, I had obviously talked about Alex for years before. We'd have talked about you because I was, and it was more of like, uh, I was like, oh guys, there's some way we could bring Sharon on the board or like bring him in those like, like, how do we involve him somewhat in app? And it was just like something I didn't know how to do. And it's like, more of a, I remember telling you, I would ask Sharon about this, but I can't ask him about it because it's him. And then, uh, I'm trying to think about, do you guys remember how we started having a conversation?

• 6:20Speaker 00

  I know exactly what happened. Uh, so we were at dinner and then I said, Man, I think I've hit all the big goals. We went from 200 million valuation to a billion dollar valuation. And I said, I'm done. I think I'm just gonna retire. And Alex just laughed. He's like, you would be so bored being retired again. Yeah, you should just come work with us. And we could do it for a long time. And I was like, ah, you don't want that. And that was the

• 6:45Alex Hormozi?

  I was like, no, I do want that. You should totally do that. And so I'll give you a little bit of backstory. We'll quit in Tarantino this. We'll put the pieces together. But Shran came here as an immigrant as the only child. His parents sold their belongings to get him a one-way ticket so that he could be here. And then immediately, you met a mentor who took interest in you with your very thick Indian accent, which you can't hear anymore because he worked on getting rid of it. And then, what, did you get accepted into a program? What was the, like, what was the gap there that that got you into like the, that, that software company?

• 7:15Speaker 00

  The, so how it all happened was, for my senior, senior paper in college, I, I wrote this, I wrote the senior paper in computer science. And I pitched it at a programming contest at Berkeley. And one of the judges said to me, after I pitched it, saying, hey, kid, you're not gonna win. I was like, thanks a lot. But that was a good idea. I just funded a couple of the guys. I think what you are sharing would be perfect for them. And that was my first foray into, you know, having a startup. And so I actually lived in my, in my aunt's basement. I had no money. And we were building a startup down Sand Hill Road, raising cash. And this was during the boom. So we, we raised 20 plus each million dollars and then sold that business overall. So it was all by

• 7:59Speaker 00

  chance when I was, of my senior paper pitching at a programming contest.

• 8:03Alex Hormozi?

  And so he, so you got the exit money from that deal and learned a bunch of stuff about deal making in that process, which we'll get to another time. And then you took off for like six years, five years to play professional tennis. And so plays professional, he's like, oh, great. I'm done. I don't need money anymore. I'm gonna play tennis for the next five years.

• 8:21Speaker 02

  Can you imagine Alex explaining this story to me after he, you had told, I was like,

• 8:25Alex Hormozi?

  He was like, yeah, this guy's a tennis player, and he was an Indian, and he's a billionaire. It's, it's awesome.

• 8:31Alex Hormozi?

  And so, so after that, though, you're like, you know, I need to, I need to get back to work. So then you went to get your MBA?

• 8:38Speaker 00

  Yep.

• 8:38Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah, so went to Vanderbilt. So he's a fellow, fellow Commodore. For those of you don't know, I also went to Vanderbilt.

• 8:43Speaker 02

  Community college.

• 8:43Alex Hormozi?

  Yep, community college, Wayston. That's what they, that's what the kids call it. Anyways, so goes to, goes to Vanderbilt for the MBA. And then goes from Vanderbilt into Goldman Sachs on the credit side, right? And then calling all these business owners to, you know, talk about financial products and investing, things like that. Did you, is that how you found TELUS?

• 9:01Speaker 00

  Yeah, so my, one of my clients was also an investor, had invested in this, in this real estate company. He said, hey, I invested in this real estate company. Can you come and take a look at it? And that's how the TELUS process started.

• 9:16Alex Hormozi?

  And so TELUS was how many years?

• 9:19Speaker 00

  Five.

• 9:20Alex Hormozi?

  So in five years, Sharon went in, bought a huge chunk of the company and then took it. What was the total, the revenue volume you were saying you were doing in terms of real estate?

• 9:30Speaker 00

  Gross volume was 300 million?

• 9:32Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah, so he went from 300 million in gross volume to three.

• 9:36Speaker 00

  3.4 billion?

• 9:37Alex Hormozi?

  3.4 billion in five years. And then they sold that company and then that got integrated into Douglas.

• 9:44Speaker 00

  Douglas Ellerman.

• 9:45Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah. And so after that sale, he then was like, okay, I'm going to do another five or six year stint of, of the Sharon. What do I do with my life? Investment.

• 9:58Alex Hormozi?

  I have, I have so much money. What do I do?

• 10:01Speaker 02

  Dude, I remember the first time when we hung out with you during that stint too, like you were like, you guys want to go to breakfast at like nine?

• 10:06Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah.

• 10:07Speaker 02

  We were, I remember when we were so stressed, we're like, breakfast?

• 10:09Alex Hormozi?

  Geez, it's like in the middle of my day.

• 10:12Speaker 02

  So I mean, ongoing joke that you don't know, that you're like, Sharon, the only person you do breakfast with.

• 10:17Alex Hormozi?

  Only, literally, I would, I, I say no to every single.

• 10:20Speaker 00

  No idea.

• 10:20Alex Hormozi?

  Oh, there you go. It's like, you eat from like nine to like 11, 15. And it's like, well, there's my entire morning.

• 10:29Speaker 00

  Sorry. We also drank like 14 cups of decaf, so.

• 10:33Alex Hormozi?

  Till it actually starts hitting you like calf when you drink that much. Really, so you did that and that's, I mean, I say that jokingly, but Swirlo Capital got started and then that was really the family office component of it where you did private equity and venture side investments and then a bunch of real estate stuff as well, obviously, because that's the background that you come from. And so you had a huge mix of doing that and then that's, that kind of got us to the, to the real situation where real was doing, you know, 200 million or has a, had a $200 million market cap. And it was at 36 months? Yeah, so less than three years went to 1.2 billion. So six X in less than three years when Sharon came in.

• 11:11Alex Hormozi?

  And so that is, that is the, the Michael Jordan of the real estate industry, not only doing a billion dollar company once, but twice. So he's a hundred percent on his real estate companies getting to a billion. And so we're just honestly, we're, I would just say like, I'm beyond thrilled to have Sharon in here because it's, it was such, it was so natural because all of the major business decisions and strategic direction stuff that I would end up calling Sharon about anyways. Like, I feel like you, I was shadow, I was getting you as a shadow de facto partner. And so the, the integration has been almost like, we just get to hang out more than we did before.

• 11:50Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's really interesting because I also think during that time where you started and you were doing all the investments yourself, we kind of took your structure and neared it for us. And that's when we learned about private equity, when we learned about investing, we then, you know, a lot of people don't know, we did, I want to say a seven, we found seven real estate partners. And the only one that ever ended up working out was for me.

• 12:13Alex Hormozi?

  Well, I'll say the ones that worked out well. Yeah.

• 12:15Speaker 02

  But it worked out well. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Sorry, anybody else. But beltedi impressive returns and deals were a review. Then when you went into real, we went into acquisition on content. It was almost like not the same time, but like around, you know, you have very similar timeframe. And then that's when I think we started talking more and more about we shifted from investing to business. And then as acquisition.com started taking off and then you had like, I don't know what the next step is, then it was like. It just felt like it made so much sense. And I think we were all so worried, like, is it like, how's it going to be with it? And it's funny because I remember the first, your first day, like when we sat down in a meeting together, it was like, I was so nervous. I don't know why. It wasn't even my meeting. I was just shadowing. And then it was like after forty five minutes.

• 13:00Speaker 02

  And then we're like, by the end of the day, it felt like this has always been how it's been. Does that make sense? Yeah. And like now, it's like, I can't imagine the fact that we didn't work together before for all those years. Crazy.

• 13:09Speaker 00

  Well, we kind of did. I was just not on the official Slack channels, but.

• 13:13Speaker 02

  That's fair.

• 13:14Alex Hormozi?

  None of the org chart.

• 13:15Speaker 02

  Told me about this. I'm like, I know.

• 13:16Speaker 00

  But I, well, I think the, my favorite kind of part of the story is I got to see GymLaunch and Sale. I got to see the early idea of acquisition.com. I got to see acquisition.com version one, the building and the growth of headquarters, acquisition.com version two, and then all the stuff we're planning for the future. And so it feels like I've had a chance to see and be a part of it in, from the outside looking in, but the inside looking in is even cooler, which is, which is the best part.

• 13:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's, it's just, it's super fun. I think for everybody watching too, you know, as, as we're talking about this, I think a good lesson to take away is like, I think one thing that was really apparent to me early on at least is like, why did Alex say like, oh, you'd like this guy? Right? He said that because most of the people that he would, you know, we, we talked to, and I'm sure you have the same thing. It's like, they just want money. It's like they're in business. I think it's like, there's people who are in business to make money and then people who are love business and love making cool shit and then make money by consequence. And when I met you, it was clear that you were the type of person that you like building, you like being excellent and building great business and money comes to consequence of that. Right? Money comes to consequence of the fact that you actually really love people

• 14:34Speaker 02

  and that you're a really great person and that you have values that you, you're family and like. There's just so few people who have that where I think for me especially like it's so important to me that anybody that we work with doesn't just have this one area like they know how to make money, but they also can build a great business. They're great to their team. They're great to their clients. They have a great reputation. They have a great family life. They take care of themselves personally. And it's like, when I met you, it was so clear that you have all those. You weren't just like one area and sacrificing all the rest because you know, I could get the difference between like building a great business and making money. We all know that. And so I think that's why also just like very early on and throughout the process of us being friends. I think the reason it's so easy to be friends is we have shared values.

• 15:13Speaker 00

  Well, I'll tell you this one thing, and I learned this from both of you, which is you can't just be good at one thing. And to win in life, I'm sorry, you have to win at everything. And sometimes you have seasons of life where one takes precedence, like Alex will say, hey, I have the season of no, or you say, hey, I'm working on my help. That's great. But you have to win at everything. There is no other choice. And I bet people are thinking, well, how did this, you know, how did they negotiate, how to do the financials of the deal? And I want to tell people about this, right? The the depth of the relationship allowed for the deal terms to be really easy. And for everyone watching, Alex and Leila said, hey, just write us an email with what you're thinking. So I wrote an email and then they hit reply all,

• 15:58Speaker 00

  added counsel and say, please draft this. That's all it was. That was the whole negotiation, which would have been months and years for most people arguing over terms, et cetera. We had none of that. I've been through a lot of these in my life and I will tell you, it was the most gracious, the kindest and it nothing reaffirmed wanting to do this personally for me when all that y'all did was hit reply all and say, just paper this.

• 16:21Speaker 02

  This is literally the same. It was, and it reminded me of like, even just like in any great partnership, right? It's like, you're just, everything's been done ahead of time. So then it makes the hard stuff easy because you already worked on the hard stuff.

• 16:33Speaker 00

  Yeah. And that's, I think, a good lesson for everybody, which is if you're getting to the point where stuff's breaking down on a final deal term means something else was majorly wrong before. And so if you can get all of that in alignment, the the deal points are very simple.

• 16:49Alex Hormozi?

  I wanna, I wanna hit on something because I think it's important. So I said it very casually at the beginning, but Leila and I have never had a partner that we've basically brought into our, kind of like a holding company. I spend, I've spent the last, you know, five, five years from a constant perspective and the last 13 plus from a reputation perspective, building a reputation. And so bringing someone in at that level was a serious, you know, decision. And if you're thinking like, okay, well, then why, why would, why would they do something like that? Like, couldn't, couldn't you just try and find somebody you could just hire or something like that? There come certain levels of skill and experience that are un-hireable.

• 17:33Alex Hormozi?

  You know what I mean? Like, there's the deal that OpenAI did with John Ivey, where we're like, he's, he's now just basically a co-founder status of OpenAI because he brings such a depth of experience and a network and a skill set and, and, and, and that to replicate that, it would be both impractical and likely, I don't want to say impossible, but the, the effort to replicate it would detract from the whole overall. It's like you would have to have like two companies to replicate what, what Sharon can do. And so the vision for where we're trying to go, if anything, is that this is just expanded or brought the future closer of what we have always wanted to do with acquisition.com.

• 18:15Alex Hormozi?

  And tried to pay down ignorance debt as fast as possible with somebody who has, I mean, I mean, more experience than anyone on, on the deal side, on the real estate side, the private equity side, like he has so much there. But then obviously from a scale perspective in the trenches, building $2 billion companies all within five year periods. I mean, I'm, I'm very upfront about the, the things that I, I will always reinvest in our ability to do more. And this was a serious call. And I mean, you think about it for me, it's like, you're going to associate someone really heavily with your brand. It's a, it's a huge bet, you know, there's risk, but Sharon felt very much worth the risk because I think what we're going to do together is going to be really big.

• 18:56Speaker 02

  You know, it's funny, as you're saying that, you know, one thing I realized through the whole process is not one time did I have a doubt.

• 19:01Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah.

• 19:02Speaker 02

  Like not one deck. Like I like never, I never felt bad about it. I never had any like hesitation. I just worried that I was gonna fuck it up somehow. And I still to this day, I think we both have that. Like I'm hinged on that. Like what am I gonna do to fuck it up?

• 19:16Alex Hormozi?

  I have a.

• 19:16Speaker 02

  But.

• 19:17Speaker 00

  He isn't, it's, it's just us. It's just us.

• 19:20Alex Hormozi?

  I sleep fine.

• 19:22Speaker 02

  There's more. I know. I just take it all for both of us. Every deal we've done, every that like I always am the one doubting and hesitating and I like literally never. Like it always felt good. Like it felt really good for me the whole time. I think part of it too for like people that are listening is like, that's the logic side of it. I think there's another side, which is like, none of us have to do this.

• 19:42Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah.

• 19:43Speaker 02

  And, and because of that, I look at it as like, what's the biggest risk to any of us non-cheating our dreams? Ducks, acquisition on com, like all of it, is that we stop. And why would we stop? Not because we can't do it, but because we don't want to do it.

• 19:57Alex Hormozi?

  Cause we don't like it.

• 19:58Speaker 02

  Cause we don't like it. And so like I think about it and I, I told Alex, I was like, I'm getting to the point where it's like, I just wanna do stuff I love with people I love. And so it's like, you bring in people and you become partners with people that you feel like, I will have a higher quality of life within my business and enjoy myself more if I get to work with these people. I think that's really important. And so I, I think for anybody watching too, like that's a, that's a huge piece of it. Cause people come to me all the time. They're like, I'm gonna hire this person or I'm gonna bring in this partner. And I'm like, do you like having dinner with them? And it's like, no, I don't like having dinner with them. And I'm like, well, what the fuck? Why are you bringing them in and giving them a happier business? You know what I mean? And so I think like, that's a, that's a huge point that people need to, to think about and consider when it comes to that stuff.

• 20:42Speaker 02

  I would say that the second piece too is that at some point in the business, like a lot of people might be watching and thinking like, maybe I need to find a partner now. But I think you have to consider the size that you're at and. Because at some point, you're not looking to hire people anymore. Multiple people at similar levels are looking to partner because at some point, it's like one plus one equals 11. That's the way I think about it. Except it'd be like one plus one plus one equals, I don't know, 30.

• 21:04Alex Hormozi?

  111.

• 21:05Speaker 00

  Well, can you talk about that, though? You made a great video about it, but the early discussions for us revolved around this metaphor of the barrel. And I think you you broke it down really well. I'd love for you to maybe share share the idea of the the ammo, the resources around it.

• 21:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's at some point, I think we get into this pattern when when we're bringing people into the business, bringing resources in. It's almost like they're bullets. Like, you need to give them, give the resources to somebody who's capable of building something from nothing. And at some point, you have to bring in a barrel. And when you think of a barrel, you think of somebody like you, who can create something of nothing, who can be as effective as you at the things that you're doing. And at that point, it's like, if I want to bring in somebody who has the same skill set as me, then that's a different type of thing. That's not, you're not going to hire that into your business, right? And if you did, maybe you hire somebody in 10 years there at that level, but not, you know, and and sometimes never. And so at that point, you have to say like, I need a barrel, which is somebody I can give ammunition to. And they can just go shoot it and they can hit the target.

• 22:04Speaker 02

  And so I think like, you know, Alex and I are each a barrel and Sharon's a bear. So now we have, you have two new barrels and we have one new barrel, right?

• 22:13Speaker 00

  Well, Alex talked about it when he first shared it with me. He goes, hey, most founders are single-barreled. And they've got to get to a point, and maybe you can articulate this better, which is like, all right, now I get to a point. And now I've got to go raise money or create something to artificially create a second opportunity for myself to to get the barrel bigger. And what a lot of people don't realize is, the first time I met both of you, the first time I talked to Alex, I go, man, he can just make something out of nothing, like he can make things up. Like, it is amazing Alex's ability to make things up and just make things up that can drive brand, create businesses, etc. And I was like, that's, who's going to make it happen?

• 22:57Speaker 00

  And so and then when I chatted with him, I was like, OK, well, you got to make things up and make things happen. And I think there is a, that's why it's worked really well for both of you, right? And so.

• 23:09Speaker 00

  Alex can make anything up and Leila can make anything happen. And that's a really powerful combination. And so my question for you, Alex, is if someone is thinking about that in their business, is that the diagnostic or would you think about a different diagnostic?

• 23:23Alex Hormozi?

  Everything comes down to return on time, right? Like, I think if we boil everything down for the entrepreneurs, like you only have so much time and you have to get returns on your time. And so we try and get other people who have high leverage time, which is like, not only can I get somebody who can do something, but they're also bringing in 10 years that I don't have to learn to get that skill to then do this other thing. And so with the rate limiter, which is the whole concept of barrels, it's like you can only ship things so quickly and there's only so many opportunities that you can pursue. And I'm a big advocate of focus, aggressive advocate of focus, but you really never over-expand, you're just under talent. And I think that under talent is just this not enough barrels, right? You have 20 great ideas, you've got one life and there's one you. Now, if you had 20 barrels, you could do all 20.

• 24:08Alex Hormozi?

  You've got Elon, he's got six big, crazy opportunities. His highest leverage is his ability to attract barrels, probably more than anything else. But I want to circle back to what you said with me and Leila. So I got to somewhere in the neighborhood between $2 and $3 million a year. I can't remember the exact financials, but between $2, $3 million a year when Leila and I met, that was about where I had kind of like a cap as an entrepreneur. And that was for, I chased too many rabbits, I was too spread thin, and I had six different businesses, I had all these different things going on. And then when Leila came into my life, she got me to focus on one opportunity and then she was able to basically make all these things happen and also at the same time push back and be like, great idea, next year. And that, from an order of magnitude perspective, that went from, I mean,

• 24:52Alex Hormozi?

  you think about where we were there, $2 or $3 million a year as a solo entrepreneur, to adding one other barrel then took us to nine figures plus, right? And it's like, okay, and that's why. Sharon, it's like, okay, well, there's two. And this is why Leila was saying that, you know, one plus one doesn't equal two or three. It's it can equal, you know, 11. It can be a huge increase in throughput. And I think that having, you know, a third barrel makes it. I mean, we're excited about, you know, we've been, we've been talking for a year. It's for everybody who's, you know, curious. It's not like, hey, Sharon's coming in because we're just gonna like, keep doing what we're doing. Very big plans that we've been honestly laying since we started talking a year ago that have been in the works that you guys will find out about. I think that's fundamentally what we solve for is like, the highest leverage thing is just like not having to live Sharon's life in order to do that.

• 25:37Alex Hormozi?

  We can just bring Sharon in and then get the aggregate benefit of all my life and my experience, your life and your experiences, and then yours together. And that's where the, the, the, the skills stack and compound. So there's this framework that I like sharing a lot, which is like, if you think about, or I believe that the potential of a business is based on the aggregate skillset of the people contained within it. And if you were the person who has done every job in the business, then it means that literally only one brain has, is the max capacity of the business. And so if you were to imagine this as like a little triangle, it's like all of a sudden, if you just add a second brain, how much higher the peak gets just from adding two kind of rate limiters or capacitors in the business. And when you add a third, the peak goes way higher in terms of the capacity for the business.

• 26:22Alex Hormozi?

  And so that's where this gets really exciting. And there's a third kind of alpha for everyone, which is what are the opportunities that get unlocked? That none of us could pursue on our own, but that we could only do an aggregator together. And I think that's where, that's where we get these more sophisticated and yet simpler. It's more, more complex to execute, simpler in, in concept outcomes that everyone can agree like, man, if we could just do this one thing, it could change everything. It's like, yeah. And that's where I'm like, yeah, we could change everything. And you guys are like, it will take more steps.

• 26:55Speaker 00

  But I, I think it's really powerful though, for, for the person listening and watching to kind of decode a little bit of what Alex and Leila just shared. Is that we've experienced this and I, I really, one of my favorite things about being an acquisition.com is this, where we could have a chat about something and then Leila will say, I got it. And then that's it. You don't have to worry because Leila got it, right? Or we'll be talking about something and say, I got it. The conversation is over. And the more people that you can, that can say, I got it, is insanely powerful for an organization. You say, "I got it," very often, and I really appreciate that.

• 27:34Alex Hormozi?

  I always never got it.

• 27:37Speaker 00

  We sometimes have to text you under the table, "This is your time to say, 'I got it,' right now." No, I actually think you made a video about this. You said, "How do you get scale?" You get scale when you ensure that the leverage that is transferred gets transferred without a change in the performance in some way, right? Which is insane. And so, probably my favorite three words that someone can ever tell me is "I got it," because I know that, and if they actually got it, it's super, super powerful. And when you have someone like that in your organization, I would support them, get out of their way, reduce friction, get them support, make sure whatever they want is taken care of. Not that you need a partner per se, but anybody that has that level of competence and that has that level of care, I would highly take care of them.

• 28:21Speaker 00

  And if you're in an organization right now and you feel like you want that recognition, say, "Hey, partner, manager, boss, whatever, I got it," and then deliver on the "I got it." That is the fastest way to kind of building that trust with your team.

• 28:36Alex Hormozi?

  Hey, guys. First off, I want to say thank you. There's one person who's been sharing this more than anyone, and that is you. The only reason this podcast continues to grow is because you guys are sharing it. And my only ask is that if this has provided value to you or you think it would provide value to somebody else, more importantly, if you could DM it to them, if you could Slack it to them, if you could text them a screenshot or a link to this podcast, it is the only way it grows. And that's what fills the hole inside of my heart for the approval of others so that I can go to sleep at night. And that's why I really do this. Anyways, enjoy the rest of the pod.

• 29:09Speaker 02

  No, it's really good. You say, "I got it" all the time. And it's just like, if someone says it to me, I'm just like, I will ask no more questions like...

• 29:15Speaker 00

  Because I also think that the other thing it does for the person saying, "I got it," which what a lot of people don't realize is when you say, "I got it," there's an insane belief system and a responsibility that you put on yourself. Because the reason I say, "I got it," is I can't let Leila down. And so, I will work super hard because I put those three words... In front of Leila and the next time I say it and if I did not get it, then she's gonna be like, what the heck, you know? So there is a, there has to be a hundred percent say do ratio on I got it. You can't, you cannot screw it anytime. And if you do, you're like, I'm so sorry. This is what happened. Let me go fix it. Right? So the, the number of I got it's that can happen in an organization will move the business so much faster.

• 29:58Speaker 02

  It's really good analogy. Now I'm thinking about it. I'm like, who says I got it most? I can think of the top two people that say it to me the most. And I'm like, oh, I always appreciate it so much. Like, oh, yeah.

• 30:07Alex Hormozi?

  Well, I'll throw this in, like, I think bringing a partner on, I think, you know, this has been awesome, um, you know, for us, but trying to explain like right way to feel, wrong way to feel, I think just from a pattern recognition perspective might be helpful. One, we've been working for, you know, not working, but like, we've been talking about this. So we've laid a lot of, you know, groundwork for this so that we can hit the ground running. But Sharon has given me and especially Leila, attention back. And so it's like, and I don't like using soft language, but I'll use it here and then I'll explain it. But like, it makes, like Sharon is making everything feel lighter. And so I see that as, okay, I only have so much time and so much bandwidth, which is even less than the time that I have in terms of like mental acuity.

• 30:49Alex Hormozi?

  And all of a sudden having two thirds of the things that I was formerly working on now just gone and being done at the same level or arguably higher because Sharon is more experienced with these things. So we're paying down ignorance as we're kind of learning the edge cases of what is the, what is the, uh, you know, uh, nine figure to 10 figure marketing playbook look like? What is the nine figure, 10 figure sales playbook look like? What is the nine figure to 10 figure product playbook look like? We're trying to pay down this ignorance debt as fast as we can across all these functions. But it's like, well, Sharon already did this on the public level, you know, in a public company. And before that in, in tell us at a multi-billion dollar level. It's like, well, some of these legal infrastructure pieces, it's like, okay, well, we, we can and we'll learn it.

• 31:33Alex Hormozi?

  Or we can just not have to pay the scar that I know or the interest that is going to come due um, later, because we just pay that debt down now. I think that that habit of trying. Being willing to sacrifice some today to not get destroyed tomorrow has served us really well, but from a, from a feeling perspective, which I don't really tap into very much. It just thinks feel lighter. And I think that if, if somebody comes into your organization, obviously works at any level. But if someone comes into the organization and it feels heavier, that person is not helping you. They're not putting attention back on your plate so that you can then eat up the problems that you uniquely qualified to solve at the higher level than you're currently solving.

• 32:12Speaker 02

  No, I think that's really valid. I also think even, even in that case, like when you're bringing someone to make it feel lighter, whatever that may be, I think like for me, it's definitely very mental. It's also from a work standpoint, but like the mental, like knowing that even just like talking things through with you. It's just like, I just value that so much and I'm so grateful for it, just to talk through things that I didn't have anybody in the organization to talk about before, you know what I mean? It's like, of course, but we don't even work on the same things in the company.

• 32:39Alex Hormozi?

  No, we don't like.

• 32:39Speaker 02

  Which has just been like a sigh of relief of like me being like, this is shit, right? And you're like, that's shit. We're like, this is amazing, right? And you're like, that's amazing. I'm like, okay, like it's nice, validation. And then also like be able to run things by you and learn things that I didn't know. You know, when we told the team that you were coming on, like the, the way that I brought it up to everyone is like, guess who hasn't taken a company to a billion dollars before? Me. And I was like, so I would like to bring on somebody who has like, and I think a, a big learning for me was that, and of course I didn't talk to you about it because you were very busy at the time. But like, I was so nervous to tell everybody, like so nervous. So like, I've talked to one of my coaches, I talked to like two of my coaches about, I'm like, how do I do this in a way that positions it really well? And they were like, well, what's the truth about this?

• 33:24Speaker 02

  And I was like, all these, everything that we just said here, right? And they're like, well, just tell the truth. And it's so funny because I told the whole team and that was exactly the frame I used, which was just like, I haven't done this before. Sharon has, we've been friends for this long. We've been talking to him behind the scenes for this long, like these all things. And not one person had an adverse response and it still has not. Like it has gone insanely well. So what I will say is that if, if you are bringing in somebody to help, you don't want to like skimp out on how you bring them in, how you talk about it with your team. Even like onboarding, like it was fast and crazy, but like I built out everything and then you were like, for me.

• 34:06Speaker 02

  You're like, I will do some of that, but it, you know, it's like, you just never know.

• 34:10Alex Hormozi?

  We should.

• 34:11Speaker 02

  It's like, you don't know.

• 34:11Alex Hormozi?

  We should talk about how Sharon onboarded because I think that would be super helpful for people who are bringing in high-level executives, directors, partners. Do you want to hit on that?

• 34:22Speaker 02

  I mean, we can. It wasn't even as planned because I ended up.

• 34:25Alex Hormozi?

  No, but I love what you did. I mean, so, you know, the first thing that Sharon did, which a lot of, so this is, I think this is kudos to Sharon because he has zero ego, which is why he is as successful as he is. But a lot of, you know, partners, execs, even directors, depending, like leaders, I'll just say, might come into a company and just be like, all right, what's my 30, 60, 90? And there's nothing wrong with that. That's fine. But Sharon just was like, okay, I'm going to meet every single person who works at acquisition.com from like the bottom of the org chart all the way up. And he was like, this gets me so much rapid context and I'll have rapport and, and, and. And he basically onboarded himself within 10 days and talked to, you know, 100 plus people in that period of time and was like, he came back, he was like, I understand what's going on.

• 35:08Alex Hormozi?

  Which is better than like you trying to write a 16-page document that trying from, because the thing is, is it's always going to be one person's perspective. Whereas if you get 100 different perspectives, you actually get such a, such a three-dimensional view of the company rather than 2D kind of paper version. I'll also say that from a speed of growth perspective, if we think about the speed of a business can be derived from the speed of their ability to make decisions, right? Well, it's like, then what, what speeds up decision-making ability? So one part is data. Well, actually, data is going to be the biggest one. But when you don't have, in the absence of data, you have patterns, right? You have basically past data that you can extrapolate into the future. And so to your point, Leila, it's like, we might say, hey, based on reasoning,

• 35:52Alex Hormozi?

  you know, some logic and what we know about the world, we believe this is a good, a good, a good direction or a good decision. And having someone who has that pattern that's already recognized, be like, yeah, already did that. Like, that's the right call or yes, and add this piece because this will come up later. It, it has compressed what would be maybe multiple hour, two-hour-long discussions to then being finally like, All right, let's just do it. But that whole process might take two, two weeks or four weeks to make that call, which then can now be done in 30 minutes. But then tomorrow, we have another 30 minute decision and the day after we have another 30 minute decision. But each one of those would have been two to four weeks, two to four weeks, two to four weeks. And like, that's where you can see why a company can grow at 10 times the rate, 100 times the rate of others.

• 36:35Alex Hormozi?

  Because minutes versus months is a massive difference when you look at time scales for growth. And I think that's one of the other massive unlocks that, that I mean, I'm excited that you've already, already given us. But, you know, even more in the future.

• 36:48Speaker 02

  You mean just how we make decisions?

• 36:50Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah.

• 36:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think part of that too is like, we're so, we're usually like this. And I feel like you have the unique, like you've done a lot of things like by having both the sets of skills. So like you can flex on either side. And so like you bring a really like rounding the middle ground.

• 37:07Speaker 00

  Well, thank you, but the, I think the interesting part about the onboarding, which people need to know is the thoughtful, like Leila wrote me a, like a 16 to 20 page onboarding plan, which was amazing because, because that allowed me to say, all right, let me read through that. And the interesting part about that was not the plan itself, was seeing Leila's thought process on how the world works. And I thought, and I think that most people will just say, okay, cool. Hey, let's do a press release and bring this person on board. And hey, for the first few months, just meet people. I'm like, no, you were 90 days of like ramping up. That's crazy. Like you have the, you need to make, you need to make impact today.

• 37:49Speaker 00

  And so Alex hit the nail on the head where if they're, if the organization is somewhat larger, especially if there's a hybrid component to it, you can't wait for rapport. You need rapport and patterns very quickly. And so if you, if you, if you're talking to people and five of them say, this is what they love about the company, that reinforces what that is. And if three of them say, this is the same issue, that reinforces what that is. And you learn it very quickly and you learn it from natural patterns. And that also allows for rapport. So if, if you're new or in a company, I would, I would suggest focusing on rapport and patterns. That would be very, very helpful. And the second is to be super impactful.

• 38:32Speaker 00

  You have to find the most granular thing that happens in the business. So for us, it was me going through every single line item in our P and L. Right? And so I know you know everything because where the money goes is where the business invests. And once you know that, you know where everything is is at. So if you're in a in a marketing organization, you should know every single metric, every single channel. And that allows you to kind of figure out that is the pattern in a lot of ways. So you people think about learning top down, you want to learn bottom up. Because that allows you to know what the culture of decision making happens. That's what's manifested in the bottom of numbers. And if you do bottom up, you can get perspective very quickly. If you do top down, it takes a lot of time.

• 39:11Speaker 02

  I think that's what I was most impressed with is I totally saw the the bottom approach there. It's just like already being able to recall so many of the details. I was like, wow, like, just so fast.

• 39:23Speaker 02

  I don't even have anything insightful to say. It was just like, really, it was really impressive.

• 39:26Alex Hormozi?

  Well, I think the pattern for me is that, you know, if we bring leaders in in general, I mean, I think we've tended to. We talk about this publicly anyways, but it was just further reinforcing of the framework that like. A players don't usually need a long time to immediately start providing value. And when we hear someone who might say like, I'm going to need a quarter just to like get my bearings is like. Probably not the guy or the gal, right? Like every single player that I could name off the top of my head in this business. Like immediately, I mean, within the first five day, you know, first work week was like. I got it. I could already understand this chunk. I'm going to start eating this and I'm going to understand these, but they hit the ground running. And every time that I've probably been like, you know what, we'll give them much. It's like, it's never really worked out long term, or it's just been an also ran.

• 40:11Alex Hormozi?

  It's been like a, they're all right, like they somewhat solved the problem and they're not a screaming hot pain right now. I'll do with it later. But every A player hits the ground running and, you know, this is obviously no exception.

• 40:22Speaker 00

  I I would love both your perspectives on this and I, because hopefully this is helpful for folks watching as they're bringing people on. Or you're coming onto an organization is you want to deliver artifacts as soon as possible. And it's not just, oh, I had impact. You want to deliver something real, tangible, artifacts, something as soon as possible. And when you start producing people around here, like, wait a minute, he showed up, he tried, he showed up, he wrote a memo. He showed up, he made a video, he showed up, he set up a process, he showed up, he talked to a vendor, right? And so it's the email is not the artifact. The artifact is the artifact. And the more artifacts that you can ship early on, the more confidence you get and the more feedback you get. And you you start to realize if you're coming in new to an organization, the more artifacts you can ship, the better.

• 41:04Alex Hormozi?

  So artifacts to me like organizational wins.

• 41:07Speaker 00

  Correct. Yeah.

• 41:09Speaker 00

  We read this memo, here's a video, here's how we're thinking about this. Like something, I always think about it as, what do you have to show for it? Right? Yeah, which is a great Doge question, but you have to ask yourself, what do you have to show for it? And if you have nothing to show for it, and you, it's okay, you made a decision, but early on, you have to have to have something to show for that decision. Otherwise, you don't get cultural buy-in on that.

• 41:31Speaker 02

  One piece that people discount a lot, which is like, I explain this to people, I'm like, listen, I can know what you're doing, but if the team doesn't see wins from you, they're not going to like assimilate you into the organization, right? They're not going to know, why should I listen to this person? Because you're like, oh, well, no, ask Leila, I'm doing all this for eight weeks behind the scenes. They're like, okay, whatever.

• 41:49Alex Hormozi?

  And don't be behind the scenes. Yeah, don't be behind the scenes.

• 41:52Speaker 02

  The two biggest pieces of advice I give to everyone that asks me, because we have so many new people, they're like, what can I do? And I'm like, one, don't tell people what to do when you're new. Like, don't go around telling people that something they do is wrong. Like, that doesn't make you smart, doesn't make you cool, doesn't, that's not why you're here. Like, just.

• 42:08Speaker 00

  Just watch.

• 42:09Speaker 02

  Just watch. I was like, the second thing is, offer to help everybody. I'm like, just offer, just like, hey, is there anything I can do to help you? Is there anything I can do to support you? Don't like, if you do those two things, it's like, and one thing I've noticed with you is you're like, how can I support? How can I help, is there anything I can do for you? Like constantly asking those things. And it's like, even if someone doesn't need something, it's like, they feel like, oh, they, they ask that they can do something for me and they're brand new. You know what I mean?

• 42:32Alex Hormozi?

  And you always gain rapport from kind of the servant frame, right? It's like, it's not telling them what to do, it's asking them what you can do, just a small pivot. And by doing that though, then it's like, now I've got one reward cycle with this person. And one, especially if you come in from the position of above, right? If they know you have the authority, you flipping in being like, hey, how can I help you? Is a, like, I think that's the authority hijack, right? The thing that you could do that ultimately will gain you real influence, rather than title-based authority in the business.

• 43:05Speaker 00

  The one thing I will offer is the, the thing that made me feel the most welcome and secure was Leila's document. Because it showed me that she cared enough to spend all that time. Preparing for me, and I don't think most, I'm just gonna say most onboarding managers do that. Where imagine the anxiety of a new person coming on board anywhere in the organization. They want to show up, they want to be successful, they want to do a good job, you know. But it is, the first two to four weeks are actually the manager's responsibility, not the person's responsibility. And us putting in a little bit of effort upfront, showing them that you have saying, hey, this is, this is a plan.

• 43:49Speaker 00

  Here's, here's the onboarding plan, shows that you care so much about the person coming on board. As opposed to, oh yeah, we'll just introduce you around and watch your, no, you don't want to do that. And so my, my, I publicly want to thank you, I know how much effort went into that. But that allowed me to see your thinking and also feel your care. Which we have a bunch of new leaders coming on board that are going to work with us directly. And that you set the bar for me to think about them coming on that way. And almost to guarantee their success. And so I want to take, I want to, my effort needs to guarantee their success. Because at the end of the day, we just want guaranteed success.

• 44:34Speaker 00

  And so I want to, I want to do the effort and you showed me how to do that, that's super cool.

• 44:38Speaker 02

  Oh, I appreciate that. It's funny you say that because that is, when I, I remember when I walked into a new job and they had a whole document packet and like basket for me. And the way I felt was like, I never had a job do that. And they had like two days where they spent so much time with me and it was all structured. And it, I wanted to give more to them because of what I got there. And that was when it clicked for me of like, okay, when I build an organization, like the first impression of just like how much effort they're willing to put in. I didn't need half of it, right? And I didn't end up using half it, but like that they were willing to. It made such a difference in just like feeling welcome because you're, you know, you're nervous and stuff. And so I'm glad it was helpful.

• 45:19Speaker 02

  I know the doc, it was definitely overblown and I did it out of complete anxiety of not wanting to all this fail, but I, it was awesome. Yeah, I was like, if this fails, it's my fault for sure.

• 45:28Speaker 00

  But that is the responsibility that, that the leader should take, right? That is, that is the responsibility because you spend all this time hiring, going through the process, making the person feel special, come on board. And then you're like, welcome.

• 45:41Speaker 02

  You know, I think what a lot of people don't talk about, I, I prepared so much for. Issues with bringing, like telling people that you were coming in of like people being like, well, Leila, I want to work with you on this, or I'm gonna like this, or like, who's this person? Like, what's going on? Like, how are we gonna make decisions? Like, I was completely prepared for all of that. Because that's what so many people told me, like, happens. And I was like, even though we have such a great culture and organization, like, I just need to prepare for it. And I think a lot of people, that's, that's actually where I spent even probably just as much time, which was having the conversations with people one-on-one, talking to people, what does it mean? What does it not mean? What's changing? What's not changing? For individuals and then for the company. And I think that alone is where a lot of people fail, is that they don't do the work when they're bringing in

• 46:24Speaker 02

  a new leader or a new partner to position them well, to step into the organization, be welcome. Because a lot of times, they do a couple of things, which is like, one, they, they say it's gonna be better with this person. I don't say any expectations, because I'm like, it's gonna be different.

• 46:37Alex Hormozi?

  Good job. Thank you for me.

• 46:38Speaker 02

  It's gonna be different. Well, I saw the, the worst was like, three years ago, when a leader would like, replace themselves, they're like, it's gonna be so much better with this person. I was like, you can't, I knew for us, you can't say that, because it's gonna at first feel so different. They're not gonna, they're gonna think, well, you said it was gonna be better. It's day two. Why is it not better? It's like, well, they're new. What do you expect? It's like, well, you said. And so, that's the first one, was like, just don't set any of those expectations. Just say, it's gonna be different. It's gonna be a change. Here's what the change is gonna look like. And I think the, the second piece to it is explaining how it, like, the highly impacted individuals, how is, what's going to happen and what's not going to happen? Like, what changes and what doesn't change? And I think that those are also really important to explain to people, because a lot of people are bringing someone like you, and they're like, am I getting fired? Is this still happening? Like, what's changed?

• 47:23Speaker 02

  Like, there's all sorts of things that can go through their brain. So, I always just tried to come up with, like, what are the things that, what are the obstacles I anticipate ahead of time? That I can just overcome before they even bring them to me? And I think that in itself, paired with what you just said, like, if you do those two things, like, you address either the communication plan for how you're gonna communicate to the organization, and then there's a plan for when you bring the person in. I think that is how you set someone up for success. So, when they walk in, people are excited for them to be there, not scared, or not annoyed, or frustrated, or worried.

• 47:57Alex Hormozi?

  I'm just excited for. Real quick, guys, I have a special, special gift for you for being loyal listeners of the podcast. Leila and I spent probably an entire quarter putting together our scaling roadmap. It's breaking scaling into 10 stages and across all eight functions of the business. So you've got marketing, you've got sales, you've got product, you've got customer success, you've got IT, you've got recruiting, HR, you've got finance. And we show the problems that emerge at every level of scale and how to graduate to the next level. It's all free and you can get it personalized to you. So it's about 30-ish pages for each of the stages. Once you answer the questions, it will tell you exactly where you're at and what you need to do to grow.

• 48:39Alex Hormozi?

  It's about 14 hours of stuff, but it's narrowed down so that you only have to watch the part that's relevant to you, which will probably be about 90 minutes. And so if that's at all interesting, you can go to acquisition.com/roadmap. R-O-A-D map, roadmap.

• 48:54Alex Hormozi?

  ACQ 3.0.

• 48:56Speaker 02

  ACQ, that was your idea.

• 48:58Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah.

• 48:58Speaker 02

  It is the natural progression. I think that's, that's really, I think that's a lot of stuff that, you know, people are gonna start seeing us moving towards. And when we allude to the big moves we made, that it comes with acquisition.com 3.0.

• 49:10Alex Hormozi?

  I mean, I see, I see it like as a progression of, like, I would say, you know, 1.0 was us helping ourselves directly. I'd say 2.0 was us helping ourselves directly and helping everyone else indirectly. So it's like, if you document all these things, we show what we're doing, that's gonna help a lot of business owners indirectly. We're not the one actually like setting up, you know, like taking calls for them. We're like, but hey, here's how we do it. And here's how we do our marketing, here's how we do our sales, here's how we do these things in the business that can help you grow and hopefully, you know, hit your goals. And I would say, you know, acquisition 3.0 is how can we help ourselves directly and help you directly? And so I see that as kind of the vectors, which is kind of the natural progression.

• 49:49Alex Hormozi?

  But in order to do that, you know, from the first time we met until now, the, the size of the quote indirect audience went from, you know, a few thousand to now, you know, tens of millions that have, you know, directly been in our work versus the people even in our interested demographic. And so in order to do it and do it right and maintain our reputation, which is, I mean, what we've worked such a, you know, such a long time to do, we wanna make sure, you know, I'll try not to be crude, but that it's fucking awesome and it's fucking done right. And that if we can do that, then I think that we can, you know, get close to the kind of... Impact that I think all three of us want to have because you said this earlier, but like it's hard for people to comprehend.

• 50:33Alex Hormozi?

  It's like, Shran really doesn't need to do anything and we really don't need to work at all. We can just like live off the dividends from the buildings and the businesses that we own and like just work out what we like. Like when I see the, the, the best entrepreneurs of all time, it's like they're, they're able to kind of like flip their selfish interest inside out so that it just kind of pulls the world. And I think that that's, I think it's something that all of us have wanted to do. And it just takes more than one or two people to do it and do it right.

• 51:03Speaker 02

  I just think like, at the end of the day, you know, when I think about what we're building here and like how it started and such, I think it's because, you know, at the end of gym launch, for example, like, you know, we got partners and then we were out, right? We never brought partners into the business to, to keep growing the business in a way that didn't feel completely exhausting. Because at some point, it's not, this isn't about the work that you do in the business. It's about the decisions, the judgment, the leadership, the experience. And that's, you know, it's not like we're like, oh, Shran's gonna come and do so much work. Like, it's like, I know you are because it's who you are, but it's like the judgment you bring, the decision-making, the expertise, like your thinking, your brain, right?

• 51:45Speaker 02

  And I think at some point, especially like when we sold Gymlock, like I was definitely at a point where like it had just run off the two of us. And I do think that I was at a point where I was like, I was okay for a minute, like in that brief moment of like thinking smaller because I was like, oh my, I was so tired. Like I was like, I was just like, I'm tired. Like I've been up since 4 a.m. I was going to bed at 8 p.m. and I'm a frigging grandma and like, it would be nice to just have something a little more, a little less demanding of me, right? And it's funny because I look back and I'm like, it was just a skill deficiency, which is like, I didn't have the skill of doing a couple of things. It was like building a team that allowed for me not to feel that way every day and building a team where I actually, the, like being tired at the end of the day was worth it because I had so much fun working with them as well as then, okay, maybe you shouldn't be the

• 52:28Speaker 02

  one making decisions all day. Like if I'm making 35 decisions a day, is that really a good thing to be doing at that point? And I knew it was.

• 52:34Speaker 00

  Well, I think that goes to Alex's point of being, having the, the under talented, right? And the crazy part is, how many times have we all experienced this where we, this doesn't need to be a part of it, but you, you hired one person and that person did so good, you're like, man.

• 52:53Speaker 00

  Everything is so much better because Michael's here. Like that happened, right? And when that happens, imagine that over and over and over and over again. And that's when you get to do so many powerful things.

• 53:05Alex Hormozi?

  It's permanent I got it's, which then you have an organization of I got it's, I got it's, I got it's, I got it's. And then all of a sudden you create the space to then say, well, I still got some stuff. Like I can still go get stuff, but then all those I got it's lets you go get. And I think that's what allows you to build the future because so many entrepreneurs like have this. It's their dream is really just a dream and never meets reality because they never have the opportunity to pursue it. Because they're still stuck, under talented in the business because they're constantly feeling like they have to play whack a mole. Because they don't fully complete the cycle, like they get a three quarter solution. But you still kind of like leave parts of yourself behind because you know that someone hasn't fully got it.

• 53:43Speaker 02

  I think that's the one thing I feel like, like the one thing, I think it's probably my, what I feel most proud of this team is just like, we just have such great individuals, you know? It's like everyone's so strong. And I think I used to be able to count on one hand, how many strong people I had in an organization. And now it's like, I would have to count on one hand, how many weren't, and I wouldn't have any on my hand right now. You know what I mean? Which is like, I remember dreaming of that. And so I think at that point, then you're just like, we talk about the barrels. You know, I think to a degree, it's like, when you have the skills to build something amazing and excellent, you just realize at some point, you just, you just need to hook with other barrels so that you guys can help.

• 54:24Speaker 02

  You know, it's what I talk about a lot, which is like, you want a vision so big for something that you build that everyone's vision can sit inside of it. I think right now we see the vision for acquisition.com 3.0 specifically. And we all see how our visions for ourselves, our dreams fit inside of that vision. And that's, that's what the magic happens.

• 54:40Alex Hormozi?

  And I think it's, and I'll say this with jumping on the, the piggybacking on the, on the talent piece, which is that, I think that whether you like it or not, like, I mean, I talk to business owners that every day they're like, I want to help a million people lose weight. And I'm like, well, you have one brick and mortar store that has a hundred customers. Like, the gap between their, I think, it's not even, it's not even a realistic dream. It's something that they say, that other people say that's amazing. And so that's why they keep saying it, more so than they actually want to do it. Because if they actually wanted to do it, they would behave differently. And so they have like their thing they say, and then what they actually believe is possible. And I think that when you bring, when you get these other barrels in and you get more high quality talent, your scope, your realm of believability expands.

• 55:24Alex Hormozi?

  And so it's great to say, hey, we want to do this thing. But like, you know, on some level, like, what is reasonable? Or what is feasible with our existing capacity? And so we still, on some level, still extrapolate forward or project forward based on what we already have. And so when you bring those other people in, all of a sudden, like, your ability to see further, you're like, oh, I would never have considered that, but now that we have John, or we have so and so, like, oh, they can, they, we could actually connect these dots in a way that I never would have originally imagined. Because I would have thought, I can't do that. And I don't know anyone else who can. But then when you meet that person, you're like, oh, my God, all these other huge, chunky things now enter the realm of possibility. And that creates all these new connections that then expands the realistic vision, rather than the someday that'll never happen vision.

• 56:08Speaker 02

  Totally fair.

• 56:09Speaker 00

  The one quote that Alex actually probably would say it better than me is, this really hit me hard. And I was, I'm born a very driven person. And in my twenties, I really believed that it was about the destination. In my thirties, I realized that it was about the journey. And then, finally, in my older forties, I have finally realized that it's about the company. And it is the people that you're with, the people that you build with, the people that you grow with, the people that you can see more and farther with. It's doing it with great people is what makes you have the ability to outwork everyone else.

• 56:51Speaker 00

  Because if you think about the destination all the time, you're like, man, I got, that's what the grind is. I feel like I'm grinding and I feel tired and resentful. That's what happens because you don't have the company. Or then you go through this period of growth and everything is painful. And you're like, at some point, you're like, I don't need to do this anymore. Right? And then, but when you have great company, you're like, well, wait a minute. If I don't know how to do this, I can ask for help. Can someone else do it? I got it. And then you realize that the The growing and the joyfulness becomes so much more multiply. The reason, someone asked me this the other day, I said, the reason why I finally believe that it's about the company is because of this one thing. It allows me to work harder. Because there is no working smarter. It's like you realize you have the company so you can work harder.

• 57:35Speaker 00

  And that's what's super, super powerful.

• 57:37Speaker 02

  I feel that so hard.

• 57:38Alex Hormozi?

  Well, the vision also expands because the timeline you think on it also expands. Because if you're miserable, then you want the misery to end on some level. And so you're like, well, I can only really think this far out because I don't want to do this for longer than this amount of period of time. So then it creates this rush and this pressure to get it all done as fast as possible, which is very like pushing energy. Like you're like, I have to just keep driving even though I don't want to. On the flip side, if you're like, I'm enjoying the company on this process. It's like, well, in 20 years, we can build whatever we want. And so then it just, it creates a lot more fun and you can dream bigger if you have enough I got it. And with those I got it, you enjoy those people. Then it's like, well, what do we want to do? Like, let's, like, let's fuck shit up. Like, let's have, let's have fun.

• 58:24Speaker 02

  I think that's why I've like had zero feeling of rush with that because it's not calm. It's just like, it's like, if there's one thing, it's like, do what you love with people you love. And it's like, find people that like you would want to be around, even if they didn't work in your company.

• 58:37Alex Hormozi?

  It's a big one.

• 58:38Speaker 02

  And like that has just been such a huge frame shift. You know what I mean? I do want to ask you something though, of course. I bet you people are wondering, especially like people who follow you. Has your content been a change?

• 58:48Speaker 00

  So far, the content has always been a very niche category king type content. And the crazy part is we've had a chance to build, you know, a 1.5 million TAM audience and build a billion dollar business from it. And Alex, you talk about this, right? You go niche, you can actually create a lot of revenue from it. But I remember being at brunch with both of you and with my son Neil. And the idea of Making content about what you're working on. That is the thing that I'm truly excited about. I read this quote, which was like, to write the book, you have to first live the book. If you have to write the book, you have to live the book. And, and what I'm really excited about is starting to just look at my calendar and just talk about

• 59:31Speaker 00

  what we are talking about, like what you and I are planning on launching is talking about what we are doing day to day. And I think that is the thing that people are missing. They don't see that. They see the, a lot of the how to stuff, which is cool. But they don't see the, what did you do to help your business grow? So I'm looking forward to living the book and writing the book simultaneously.

• 59:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm excited too. And I think also just like for everyone that follows you, like, you know, it has been like niche niche content, but like, if you just take the word real estate out of any piece of your content, like so many people come to our events and they're like, oh, I follow Sean. Like, are you real estate? They're like, well, no, but you've got good shit. And I'm like, you're smart because that's what happened with Alex. It's like we.

• 1:00:13Alex Hormozi?

  The early days of Jim launch, I had, I had a lawyer stop me and he's like, hey, I listen to your podcast. I was like, the Jim secrets podcast. And they were like, yeah, it all applies. And I was like, well, yeah, but I say Jim and membership rather than contract and services. And they're like, yeah, you just swap the words like duh. And I was like, huh, well, that's great. But, but I mean, Sean, I'll just, one of the things that also made Sean unique for this situation is that he also had, he understood content. He understood personal brand, which is how do you take like, when you talk about unicorns, it's like, okay, you find somebody who's, you know, the Michael Jordan at real estate, which is a massive, you know, market, but then also has the ops side of running the businesses

• 1:00:57Alex Hormozi?

  that capitalized on this opportunity, which is pure private equity, you know, like how do we, you know, increase enterprise value within the business and the ops itself of the people, the hiring, the recruiting, the marketing, sales, all of those components. But then there's also the like, oh yeah. And one of those companies was also a public company. And so then there's the public securities, public market, which also he happened to have this experience at Goldman Sachs for years before that. So he has kind of like the bottom up approach of like what it's like on the floor of the. Of kind of like the businesses that deal with the markets and then also being the target of of those those products and services that are sold. So it's like this 360 view from a business perspective. But then in terms of, okay, that's all amazing, but maybe if Sharon were 80, he wouldn't be able to come into this,

• 1:01:39Alex Hormozi?

  you know, our current context and understand the the dynamic nature of how businesses continually, you know, changing and evolving, especially with where attention is going and how how to just how acquisition works in general right now. And so, you know, real was built largely, or at least in recent, you know, on the back of a lot of Sharon's speak engagements and his personal brand that brought in a lot of people to the company, right? And so being able to marry all of these ideas and then appropriately value each of them so that we could mix those things into the most valuable thing for an entire audience or, you know, consumer base is just, it's like, how do you recreate that? It's like, oh, I just need another person who had, you know, who's an immigrant,

• 1:02:20Alex Hormozi?

  who isn't afraid to work, came here, you know, was dumpster diving in the beginning. And then also was able to go to one of the, you know, best schools in the US and then go to the the best bank or what is considered the best, you know, investment bank in the world. And then also do the the private growth two times to a billion dollar level and do it publicly. It's just like, and also have the the personal brand and also be someone that we like really get along with and share the values. It's like, yeah, let's just wait for the next Sharon before we before we try and work somebody into to do what we want to do. And so it's like, you don't find another Sharon. And if you do get the opportunity to find another Sharon,

• 1:03:01Alex Hormozi?

  call me and don't don't bring them in. But no, we're we're just, we're we're super pumped.

• 1:03:07Speaker 02

  Excited.

• 1:03:08Alex Hormozi?

  Yeah, to have you.

• 1:03:09Speaker 02

  Like, just genuinely, I think, you know, not going too much in my own, but like, it's just been so fun. Even though it's, I know it's hard and there's a lot of shit, it's still been fun. I remember it was like your fourth day.

• 1:03:23Speaker 02

  One of the members of our facilities teams messaged me and he was like, I just want to say you seem lighter. Like, you just seem like you're smiling more and you just seem brighter. Like, is this because Sharon's here now? And I was like, oh, my gosh, I think it is. I was like, I'm just excited.

• 1:03:37Speaker 00

  It's awesome. That's awesome. That makes me happy.

• 1:03:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm excited to build acquisition.com 3.0.

• 1:03:42Alex Hormozi?

  3.0.

• 1:03:49Alex Hormozi?

  Real quick, guys, I have a special, special gift for you for being loyal listeners of the podcast. Leila and I spent probably an entire quarter putting together our scaling roadmap. It's breaking scaling into 10 stages and across all eight functions of the business. So you've got marketing, you've got sales, you've got product, you've got customer success, you've got IT, you've got recruiting, HR, you've got finance. And we show the problems that emerge at every level of scale and how to graduate to the next level. It's all free, and you can get it personalized to you. So it's about 30-ish pages for each of the stages. Once you answer the questions, it will tell you exactly where you're at and what you need to do to grow. It's about 14 hours of stuff, but it's narrowed down so that you only have

• 1:04:32Alex Hormozi?

  to watch the part that's relevant to you, which will probably be about 90 minutes. And so if that's at all interesting, you can go to acquisition.com/roadmap. R-O-A-D map.