01:04:08 · John Coogan, Alex Hormozi, Jordi Hays
[01:04:08] S0: Come back. [01:04:08] S3: Yeah. It'll be great. But, like, I would say that what acquisition.com is when we started was a cash flow based family office that Leila and I ran. And that was honestly the chillest my life has ever been. I was also bored to tears. Mhmm. But, like, a good life and probably might have been better for the season I'm about to get into. [01:04:27] S0: Sure. [01:04:28] S3: But it became apparent after we did something like 24 deals in twenty four months, and these were not like VC style deals. They were like real, you know, purchases, that, you know, portfolio theory rules and of the 24, like, you know, three ish were, like, the really good companies. And then on top of that, there was, like, our brand blew up in this time period. And so we had to basically have this recalculation of, okay. Well, these are all the resources we have at our disposal. We have cash, but, like, this brand is getting really big, even almost greater than the cash that we have access to just our own money. [01:05:00] S0: Yeah. [01:05:00] S3: And so then it was like, okay. Well, we started the advisory practice in January '24, and I think we did 36,000,000 in EBITDA year one Mhmm. Just on that one unit. And so I was like, [01:05:10] S1: okay. [01:05:11] S0: Founder, no. [01:05:13] S3: And so and then, obviously, you know, the book launch Yeah. Last year, we did, you know, a 105, and we still have the advisory factors which grew the next year. And so I've we've basically we stopped doing deals that we were just investors in. [01:05:29] S0: Mhmm.
01:05:29 · John Coogan, Alex Hormozi, Tyler, Jordi Hays
[01:05:29] S0: Mhmm. [01:05:30] S3: And now it's brand plus capital plus work. And I'd rather have fewer eggs that we're gonna get huge outsized returns on. Like, [01:05:36] S2: Yeah. [01:05:37] S3: Was junior of '24 as well. Yep. But Skool has you know, we have 30,000,000 users now. Yeah. And, you know, we have billion plus GMV. Like, it's it's a very big platform. And so, like, I'd you know, Zuckerberg didn't have Airbnbs as a side hustle. You know [01:05:53] S0: what I mean? Yeah. [01:05:53] S3: And so it's just like if you have a if you have a stallion, like, run it. And so I think that's where we're at, where it's like we're being really, really specific. I'm I'm willing to put more capital at risk now because I'm gonna put my brand behind it [01:06:04] S1: Yep. [01:06:05] S3: And make sure the product's exceptional. And that's I mean, the bar is the product has to be fucking insane. [01:06:09] S0: Yeah. [01:06:09] S3: And then we bring distribution and cash. And, like, that's when it's like the the holy trinity. [01:06:14] S0: Yeah. [01:06:15] S1: Jeremy our friend Jeremy has this idea that that everyone is, like, pre or post fall. Where are you?
01:06:15 · Jordi Hays, John Coogan
[01:06:15] S1: Jeremy our friend Jeremy has this idea that that everyone is, like, pre or post fall. Where are you? [01:06:22] S0: You familiar with this concept? No. So yeah. He he says you can instantly tell if someone has had their downfall, had their darkest moment. You know, they've been through the wringer. They got chewed up and spit out by Silicon Valley or private equity or whatever industry they were in, and you can tell that this person is now they've they've been humbled. And so they're ready to build back appropriately, not get over their skis, and then you can also see the founders. It becomes a massive advantage. And then you also see the founders that are sort of pre fall and they're doing a lot of things that you're [01:06:55] S1: like Yeah. This is like this You better get lucky. 24 year old who's like on a crazy tear Yep. Has raised Money showed up for free. [01:07:02] S0: They're spending it. [01:07:03] S1: And then suddenly, like, you know, the business stops growing, like execs are leaving [01:07:08] S0: Yep. [01:07:08] S1: Things like that. But I'm wondering if you there was, like, this, like, crucible moment for you before this latest run that you've been on.
01:07:08 · Jordi Hays, Alex Hormozi, John Coogan
[01:07:08] S1: Things like that. But I'm wondering if you there was, like, this, like, crucible moment for you before this latest run that you've been on. [01:07:15] S3: Oh, so two answers. One is I'll reject the premise. But Well just because I don't like, to say it's super binary. Right? Like, people are either before or after the hard thing in their life. It's like, think people have lots of hardship that happens at different seasons in their life. Yeah. Like, I've lost everything two times. Like Two falls. Twice. But, like, that then it's like, okay. Am I now post fall? It's like, well, I mean, I I hope that nothing bad ever happens to me again, but I'm pretty sure bad shit's gonna happen to me again. [01:07:42] S0: Yeah. [01:07:43] S3: Yeah. And so I just commit to not stopping. Mhmm. Yeah. Controlling the controllable. That's basically all I can do. [01:07:48] S0: Do you have a good answer to pithy advice for young people? We got asked this on a podcast recently, and it was like the closing question. It was like, you got one minute. And I was like, I could you could talk for hours. Like, where do you even start? How do you think about packaging information like that? And I actually want your your your advice for young people if you have one thing. [01:08:10] S1: It's so hard to [01:08:11] S0: It's so hard. [01:08:12] S1: Like, work hard. It's, like, good general advice. But then I I've I've been in points in my life, and I know people that are, are like working hard on like the dumbest thing. Yeah. [01:08:20] S0: Yeah. Yeah.
01:08:20 · John Coogan, Jordi Hays, Alex Hormozi
[01:08:20] S0: Yeah. Yeah. [01:08:20] S1: And like that that's being the worst thing that they can do. Yeah. [01:08:24] S3: Well, I think so what you accomplish is a direct output of the volume of activity that you do multiplied by the leverage of the activity itself. And so you have to pick the right boat. You have to pick the right opportunity based on your goals. Some people only wanna make a million dollars. Some people wanna make tens. Some people wanna make hundreds. Some people make a trillion. Like, everyone has different so it's like the the leverage that what's interesting about that is that you just get to pick, and it's gonna be hard no matter what. I think Naval said this thing where it's like, it's really hard to build a restaurant that's really successful. It's also really hard to build a, you know, billion dollar unicorn. They're both can be eighty hour weeks. And so, you know and Stuart Schwarzman from black Blackstone said, like, you might as well play big because level 10 talent is only attracted to level 10 opportunities. It's harder to attract good people for bad opportunity because then you gotta do it all yourself Mhmm. Which is why I have so much respect for some of the guys like Piggy and Andrew Churn who are mister and missus Panda, Panda Express. [01:09:16] S1: Yeah. [01:09:16] S3: Dude, deck of billionaires [01:09:18] S0: Yeah. [01:09:18] S3: Selling selling chicken. [01:09:20] S0: Passage you royalty. [01:09:21] S3: Dude, like Not kidding. But, like like, so much respect for that level of grit. Forty five years selling Orange Chicken.
01:09:21 · Alex Hormozi, John Coogan, John McElhone
[01:09:21] S3: Dude, like Not kidding. But, like like, so much respect for that level of grit. Forty five years selling Orange Chicken. [01:09:27] S0: Yep. [01:09:27] S3: Right? All that to say, you will pick based on the level of awareness that you have at that time. Where it gets more difficult is that you learn more shit as you go, and you realize that there are higher leverage opportunities. Mhmm. The difficulty is that if you're four years into one thing, year five of an existing thing that you have four years of reps on versus year one of even a slightly better opportunity, you have to compare year one versus year five of the other one, not year one versus year one because time you can't get back. Yeah. And so that's where the compounding of getting better at something at some point does have outsized returns even if an inferior vehicle. [01:10:01] S0: Yeah. Talk about that idea of you're an a plus operator, but you're going after a c plus opportunity. How do you assess your opportunity? Because I feel like I run into people who are working on a plus opportunities, and everyone will say that's the dumbest idea ever. You're gonna put couches. It's gonna be called Airbnb. That makes no sense. Right? And then it's a boom, and it's huge. And then simultaneously, you can be working on a terrible idea. But if you went and got, you know, a puff piece in Business Insider and Forbes, it's like your parents are like, oh, it's amazing. Good job. [01:10:33] S5: The way I the way [01:10:34] S0: Even if you're grinding and it's not going anywhere.