1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,720
to the preparing side or the navigating side?

2
00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:07,560
Probably the preparing side because 50% of deals

3
00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:09,920
fall apart in due diligence and just so many people

4
00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:10,760
are just not prepared.

5
00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,360
So let's focus on that.

6
00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:14,440
That makes a lot of sense.

7
00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:15,080
OK.

8
00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,400
And then we're talking about small businesses

9
00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,840
that are maybe looking on the horizon

10
00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:22,720
to prepare for this five to 10 years out

11
00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,160
or that are kind of like here and now in the mix of it.

12
00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,840
You know, all of our data says it's here and now.

13
00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,120
And so it's anywhere from I'm ready to do this today

14
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,400
to within the next 12 months.

15
00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:34,240
OK.

16
00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:35,160
That makes a lot of sense.

17
00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:35,960
Perfect.

18
00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:36,460
All right.

19
00:00:36,460 --> 00:00:39,800
What are the top three greatest secrets in this case

20
00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,400
for preparing for exit?

21
00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:48,320
One, businesses that have not done any preparation

22
00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,440
are unlikely to actually complete a transaction.

23
00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,560
Two, a myth about the whole industry at large

24
00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:56,760
is that every business is looking for a buyer.

25
00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,920
Close to 50% are actually know who that buyer will be.

26
00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,520
So it's going to be an employee, a family member, or a business

27
00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:05,040
partner.

28
00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:06,600
And three.

29
00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:07,160
All right.

30
00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:09,720
Welcome in to Vision Pros Live.

31
00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:11,800
With Jackson Calame, I'm your show host.

32
00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,480
We'll be doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs

33
00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:16,440
and guest leaders who are building

34
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:17,880
fantastic visions out there.

35
00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:28,640
Hey, there, and welcome in to Vision Pros Live.

36
00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:30,840
I'm your show host, Jackson Calame, founder and CEO,

37
00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:32,320
first class business.

38
00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:34,680
I'm excited to have Eric Grafstrom here today.

39
00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,660
He has a depth of knowledge and background

40
00:01:37,660 --> 00:01:39,680
with startups, with small businesses.

41
00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,200
In fact, he's built the software called Exit Guide

42
00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,060
that looks quite impressive.

43
00:01:44,060 --> 00:01:47,360
And I'm not in the process of exiting my business right now.

44
00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,200
I'm in the process of building and scaling it.

45
00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,640
But the baby boomers out there, a lot of you guys are exiting.

46
00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,920
Also, a lot of people that have built something substantial,

47
00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,080
and maybe you're thinking, what can I get in return for this?

48
00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:01,800
I do recommend checking out Exit Guide as a potential tool.

49
00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,380
You'll get to hear from the founder himself in just a minute.

50
00:02:04,380 --> 00:02:06,240
Before we bring Eric on stage, though,

51
00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:08,640
we're going to talk about these sponsors, some of these tools

52
00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:10,280
that have helped us, some of the tools that

53
00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:12,240
could have helped me when I was getting started.

54
00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:16,080
So a whole click is what we use for our LinkedIn automation.

55
00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:18,680
And that gets us in front of brand new people

56
00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,300
every single day.

57
00:02:20,300 --> 00:02:21,920
Yesterday, I went into my messages.

58
00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:25,760
I had 47 messages that were marked for me to respond to.

59
00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,400
And I usually only go in like once every once,

60
00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:30,680
sorry, twice every week.

61
00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,680
I go in and check and see what messages need my attention

62
00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:34,800
versus a virtual assistant.

63
00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:35,960
There's 47 messages.

64
00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:36,960
Super helpful.

65
00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,820
People who want to be on our show, in our case.

66
00:02:39,820 --> 00:02:42,800
People who want to engage with us about our growth principles

67
00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:43,620
as well.

68
00:02:43,620 --> 00:02:44,720
I went back in today.

69
00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,320
I responded to all those yesterday, took me about an hour.

70
00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:49,800
And then I went back in this morning and looked,

71
00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:51,840
and we already had 22 messages.

72
00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,640
It's really helpful to have a system that

73
00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:56,480
drives those types of opportunities to us

74
00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:00,880
so we can find the people who are ready to reciprocate with us

75
00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:02,320
and providing good to the world.

76
00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:03,360
That's what we look for.

77
00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:05,600
Then there's the simple, fast websites.

78
00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,280
Shane Michael, young guy, got a startup.

79
00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:09,920
He's already starting to rank pretty high

80
00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:11,400
on Google for this thing.

81
00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:12,640
And I was just impressed that he's

82
00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:15,560
trying to build websites at $179 a month

83
00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:17,040
as a starting entry point.

84
00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:18,600
When I was starting my business, if I

85
00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,240
could have had a website provider help me at that rate,

86
00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,360
I probably would have just paid him and said, hey, man,

87
00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:26,240
give me whatever I need to submit

88
00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,600
and allow them to build the first iteration of my website.

89
00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,480
If you're new to business, your website's going to be created.

90
00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,240
You're then going to talk to your market.

91
00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:35,600
You're going to realize you need to change.

92
00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,240
You're going to pivot a lot and make a lot of adjustments.

93
00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:40,960
So rather than spending a ton of time up front on your website,

94
00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,520
stay focused on productively representing your brand,

95
00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,840
talking to people, trying to get the website done

96
00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:47,160
as a placeholder.

97
00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:49,360
One secret for all of you pros out there,

98
00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,080
when we're interviewing people, sometimes even our visionaries

99
00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,400
say, oh, our website, I really need to update that.

100
00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:57,700
Everybody does.

101
00:03:57,700 --> 00:03:59,720
Your website's a representation of your past.

102
00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:00,480
It always will.

103
00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:02,920
But you can't have a website that represents your future.

104
00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,200
It can only represent what your potential future might

105
00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:05,880
look like.

106
00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,680
So rather than harp on your website or feel bad,

107
00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,720
just know that it's getting the job done of putting a,

108
00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,240
if you're getting the job done putting a professional brand

109
00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:17,840
out there and what you've accomplished,

110
00:04:17,840 --> 00:04:21,120
that can be your springboard to attract people to talk to you.

111
00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,400
If you're looking for a website that converts,

112
00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:27,320
you're going to need to spend a whole lot more than $179.

113
00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:28,720
So be ready for that too.

114
00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:30,000
Then there's the Water Project.

115
00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,920
The Water Project is one thing that we always

116
00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:34,480
talk about on this show.

117
00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,160
It's what we really want to drive awareness around,

118
00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:39,760
what we give back to as well.

119
00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:41,880
There's millions of people who don't have access

120
00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:43,960
to clean drinking water, like you and I do.

121
00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:45,360
What I love about the Water Project

122
00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,280
is they show you which project you're able to,

123
00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:50,640
you can contribute to, you can pick and choose.

124
00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:52,840
And you get to see how that affects the community.

125
00:04:52,840 --> 00:04:55,680
And you get to see the results of the borehole well

126
00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:57,080
or the sand dam that they create.

127
00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:58,760
I think the transparency is amazing.

128
00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:00,720
If you're thinking in your head and your heart,

129
00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:02,000
you're like, Jackson, there's this thing

130
00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,240
that I really want you to talk about or contribute to,

131
00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:04,960
do us a favor.

132
00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:07,280
Drop the link in the comments, because there's

133
00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:08,400
lots of ways to help.

134
00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:10,920
There's 8 billion people for us to help in this world.

135
00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,520
And if we're fortunate enough to listen to a podcast right now,

136
00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:15,960
the least we can do is create some awareness

137
00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,040
for those people who drastically need more help than we do.

138
00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:23,480
So with that said, let me pull up exit guide real quick.

139
00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,200
All right, let me do that.

140
00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,560
Here we go.

141
00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:32,040
I want to dive into Eric's depth here.

142
00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,560
And again, if you're not looking at the screen,

143
00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:36,020
I'm not going to read these to you.

144
00:05:36,020 --> 00:05:38,360
We can always come back to the YouTube channel.

145
00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:43,360
Some of the striking comments in Eric's testimonials

146
00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,520
from founders about him being the guy to go to,

147
00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:48,960
him being the person that they called last minute,

148
00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:51,320
and they got the information that they needed,

149
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,040
like super on point, got centered right

150
00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,360
before going into their negotiations

151
00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,600
or into moving their brand forward.

152
00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:00,080
It's quite impressive.

153
00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:02,960
He's got a background of helping more than 20 venture-backed

154
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:04,840
companies in Silicon Valley.

155
00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:07,080
For those of you, again, newer to the startup space

156
00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,320
or not involved in startup world,

157
00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:13,160
while San Francisco has its pros and cons,

158
00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,080
one of the championship titles it's known for

159
00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,520
is the fact that it knows how to scale and grow businesses.

160
00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:21,960
So having the background of helping

161
00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,720
these 20 different venture-backed companies

162
00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,560
in Silicon Valley and then being known as the guy

163
00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:29,360
to come in and solve the problem,

164
00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:31,920
and having the clarity to know if you're building your team,

165
00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:35,240
your fundraising, operating or planning, operating plans

166
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,400
and budgets, if you're deciding if you should pivot

167
00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:39,440
or you need validation on a concept,

168
00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,200
I just, I'm very impressed with what he's put out here

169
00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:43,740
in terms of his clarity.

170
00:06:43,740 --> 00:06:47,920
I'm also very grateful for his no BS approach to business.

171
00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:50,080
I got to experience that firsthand in my pre-show

172
00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:52,080
with Eric, I honor him for that

173
00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,000
because I know he's respecting both my time

174
00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:55,660
and his in the process.

175
00:06:55,660 --> 00:06:57,320
And as you can see on my screen,

176
00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,000
there's a whole lot of clarity built into exit guide

177
00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,160
and the free valuation assessment.

178
00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:03,740
I think it's absolutely worth diving into.

179
00:07:03,740 --> 00:07:06,120
So Eric, thank you so much for joining us

180
00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:07,280
in Vision Pro Live today.

181
00:07:07,280 --> 00:07:08,480
Great to be here, Jackson.

182
00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:10,960
Look forward to our conversation.

183
00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:13,920
Yes, well, man, one thing I'd like to do is

184
00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,260
there's just so much noise online

185
00:07:16,260 --> 00:07:17,720
with profiles these days, right?

186
00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:19,120
There's a lot of accolades.

187
00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,120
Anybody can build a profile that makes them look

188
00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,080
like the Wizard of Oz, right?

189
00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,400
So I'd like to know from your firsthand background,

190
00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:29,480
your words, like kind of who should be listening

191
00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,840
and what is it about your background

192
00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,040
that helps them key in on understanding

193
00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,440
why you're the guy to come and talk to about exiting?

194
00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:41,440
Well, this was born out of actually decades of experience.

195
00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:45,320
I had good fortune of starting at a company called

196
00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,200
AudioNet in Dallas, Texas, and that became broadcast.com.

197
00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,360
So I was sitting in a room on a card table

198
00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,600
banging out cold calls to people.

199
00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:56,320
Back then, I don't wanna date myself,

200
00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,040
but people did not have sound cards and speakers.

201
00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:04,000
And I was asking them to try to broadcast corporate events,

202
00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,560
what have you, over the internet.

203
00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,000
Through that journey, it just kind of led me to

204
00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:14,200
what it took to actually go from an idea

205
00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:15,440
to put in a business in place,

206
00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:17,560
scaling it and driving revenue.

207
00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,360
And I had some wins.

208
00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:22,040
I mean, broadcast.com clearly worked out,

209
00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,860
but between then and now, I mean, it's been hard.

210
00:08:24,860 --> 00:08:29,860
And so I think one of the things that you look for is

211
00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:32,900
somebody who has the experience

212
00:08:32,900 --> 00:08:34,400
of getting punched in the mouth.

213
00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,400
Someone who's had the experience of failure,

214
00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,480
because in taking nothing away from people

215
00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,580
who've come from accomplished backgrounds,

216
00:08:45,580 --> 00:08:48,960
but if you've gone to a very pedigree school

217
00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,040
and you've gone to work at, say, a Google or a Facebook,

218
00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,400
again, it takes certain skills and insights

219
00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,120
and knowledge and talent to do that.

220
00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:00,960
But when I interview people or when people talk to me,

221
00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,520
I do wanna know where they failed

222
00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:04,640
or what they've learned from that

223
00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:05,880
and how that built them up

224
00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:09,080
and what are the things that they know they need to avoid

225
00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:12,040
and how that made them a more resilient entrepreneur.

226
00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:13,000
I love that.

227
00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,220
I'm a little bit infamous for saying

228
00:09:15,220 --> 00:09:17,920
that the best sales rep for Disney

229
00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:19,600
is the fastest paper pusher.

230
00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:23,880
And granted, they have skills, they're trained well,

231
00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:27,680
but their cell is secured.

232
00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:29,200
I'm going to Disneyland,

233
00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,960
I'm gonna get there whether you get in my way or not.

234
00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:33,920
And so there is a different mentality.

235
00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,700
There's a different style, like you said,

236
00:09:36,700 --> 00:09:39,060
when you've been punched in the mouth, I love that.

237
00:09:39,060 --> 00:09:43,520
Yeah, let's talk first about the success vision.

238
00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:45,560
What's the vision look like for those that you serve?

239
00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:48,000
What's their destination arrival?

240
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:49,160
I don't wanna say practical,

241
00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:50,640
because it could be huge and amazing too,

242
00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:52,560
but what can they anticipate?

243
00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:54,680
Well, with Exit Guide,

244
00:09:54,680 --> 00:09:56,240
I came from this background in Silicon Valley

245
00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:57,600
which has its own weirdness

246
00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,120
when it comes to the valuation of a company

247
00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,000
and should they exit

248
00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,160
and people pay for companies that have no revenue.

249
00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:08,560
So I had experience with this

250
00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:12,080
and a bunch were, to be very clear, were dumpster fires

251
00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,120
and it was not easy trying to help navigate the path.

252
00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,480
What I realized though is that bubble

253
00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:25,680
is does not align with the rest of the business world.

254
00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:28,240
And when it comes to small business,

255
00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,800
I'm gonna give a couple of data points here.

256
00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,440
Small business is about 40% of the GDP in the United States.

257
00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:35,280
Okay.

258
00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:38,360
85% of small businesses are owned by Gen X and baby boomers.

259
00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:40,360
Youngest is about 44.

260
00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:43,080
Most of them are over the age of 60.

261
00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:48,080
Now big majority, probably 90% or more

262
00:10:48,100 --> 00:10:49,740
are worth less than $5 million.

263
00:10:52,140 --> 00:10:54,620
So what's gonna happen over the next 10 to 15 years is-

264
00:10:54,620 --> 00:10:56,140
You said 90%?

265
00:10:56,140 --> 00:10:58,080
Over 90%.

266
00:10:58,080 --> 00:10:59,800
So they're really small,

267
00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:01,820
meaning they might have a couple of hundred thousand

268
00:11:01,820 --> 00:11:03,820
or maybe a million dollars in revenue.

269
00:11:05,060 --> 00:11:07,380
And so a couple of things are gonna happen.

270
00:11:07,380 --> 00:11:10,020
One, 100% of them will have to exit at some point

271
00:11:10,020 --> 00:11:11,580
for obvious reasons.

272
00:11:11,580 --> 00:11:14,420
People are gonna retire or pass away or whatever it may be.

273
00:11:16,660 --> 00:11:20,620
Now, because the baby boomer generation is so large,

274
00:11:20,620 --> 00:11:22,540
there'll be tons and tons of businesses

275
00:11:22,540 --> 00:11:23,980
worth more than $5 million.

276
00:11:23,980 --> 00:11:25,940
Say between 5 million and 20 million,

277
00:11:25,940 --> 00:11:27,780
and they will gobble up all the resources

278
00:11:27,780 --> 00:11:30,780
for business brokers, M&A advisors, attorneys,

279
00:11:30,780 --> 00:11:33,260
and CPAs and so on and so forth.

280
00:11:34,900 --> 00:11:37,420
What will happen though is to those that are worth,

281
00:11:37,420 --> 00:11:41,380
say anywhere from 250,000 to about 2.5 million,

282
00:11:41,380 --> 00:11:45,460
is they don't have access to these resources.

283
00:11:45,460 --> 00:11:48,180
One, they just generally speaking, they can't afford them.

284
00:11:48,180 --> 00:11:51,500
But two, even if they did wanna overpay for those resources

285
00:11:51,500 --> 00:11:53,700
relative to the value of their business,

286
00:11:53,700 --> 00:11:55,480
why would you help somebody

287
00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,780
who has a $600,000 value business

288
00:11:58,780 --> 00:11:59,620
when you could help somebody

289
00:11:59,620 --> 00:12:01,740
who has a $15 million business?

290
00:12:01,740 --> 00:12:02,580
Correct.

291
00:12:02,580 --> 00:12:05,620
So our vision really is to blend technology

292
00:12:05,620 --> 00:12:08,940
and expert resources to kind of create

293
00:12:08,940 --> 00:12:13,940
a very simplified M&A process that starts with,

294
00:12:14,260 --> 00:12:16,540
I don't even know what I'm doing to,

295
00:12:16,540 --> 00:12:18,800
okay, now I know what my business may be worth.

296
00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:20,780
I know the steps I need to take.

297
00:12:20,780 --> 00:12:22,980
And I know how to navigate the steps

298
00:12:22,980 --> 00:12:24,600
to actually close a transaction.

299
00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:27,100
So I think democratize gets overused.

300
00:12:27,100 --> 00:12:29,220
I'm gonna use it here because it's just easy.

301
00:12:29,220 --> 00:12:33,600
But we wanna democratize an M&A process for Main Street.

302
00:12:34,900 --> 00:12:36,180
That's noble.

303
00:12:36,180 --> 00:12:37,020
It is.

304
00:12:37,020 --> 00:12:39,660
I actually, having worked on a lot of things,

305
00:12:39,660 --> 00:12:42,900
I mean, I had the good fortune of living

306
00:12:42,900 --> 00:12:44,700
in Menlo Park, California for 17 years,

307
00:12:44,700 --> 00:12:47,500
which is home of Facebook, Sand Hill Road,

308
00:12:47,500 --> 00:12:49,180
it's right where Stanford is.

309
00:12:49,180 --> 00:12:50,500
And you're in this crazy bubble.

310
00:12:50,500 --> 00:12:52,980
And if I didn't have access to somebody

311
00:12:52,980 --> 00:12:56,060
through outside counsel at a company I was working not with

312
00:12:56,060 --> 00:13:01,060
or maybe somebody on the team,

313
00:13:01,060 --> 00:13:03,580
I mean, it was somebody that was a neighbor

314
00:13:03,580 --> 00:13:07,460
or a parent of one of my kids friends, whatever it may be.

315
00:13:07,460 --> 00:13:11,460
I could say, hey Jackson, let's go meet for a cup of coffee.

316
00:13:11,460 --> 00:13:14,460
I wanna get your opinion on X, Y, and Z.

317
00:13:14,460 --> 00:13:17,460
And for a $6 cup of coffee,

318
00:13:17,460 --> 00:13:20,740
I'm getting world-class advice, right?

319
00:13:20,740 --> 00:13:22,260
And that's just not normal.

320
00:13:22,260 --> 00:13:25,060
And so what I wanted to do is I wanted to say,

321
00:13:25,060 --> 00:13:27,840
look, for whatever reason that bothers me,

322
00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:29,780
because you have people that have businesses,

323
00:13:29,780 --> 00:13:33,340
whether it's the local floral shop or a coffee stand

324
00:13:33,340 --> 00:13:36,380
or a plumbing business or whatever it may be.

325
00:13:36,380 --> 00:13:38,580
And they haven't really broken through that big value,

326
00:13:38,580 --> 00:13:41,640
but of a multimillion dollar a year business.

327
00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,340
But the real businesses, these people have mortgages,

328
00:13:44,340 --> 00:13:46,420
they have kids, they put food on the table,

329
00:13:46,420 --> 00:13:48,260
they've been a part of their community

330
00:13:48,260 --> 00:13:51,900
and done so for as few as three to five years,

331
00:13:51,900 --> 00:13:53,980
in many cases, 15 to 20.

332
00:13:53,980 --> 00:13:58,980
And I think it's unjust crazy that we are not as a society

333
00:14:00,700 --> 00:14:02,820
trying to help them with fundamentally

334
00:14:02,820 --> 00:14:04,940
the most important business decisions

335
00:14:04,940 --> 00:14:07,100
they'll make in their entire life.

336
00:14:07,100 --> 00:14:08,200
It's huge.

337
00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:09,700
I love that.

338
00:14:09,700 --> 00:14:12,540
I'm not from the Menlo bubble.

339
00:14:12,540 --> 00:14:15,660
And I've never really, I've stepped foot in it once.

340
00:14:15,660 --> 00:14:16,500
Oh no.

341
00:14:16,500 --> 00:14:17,320
Oh no.

342
00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:19,660
I hope you're okay.

343
00:14:19,660 --> 00:14:20,500
Right?

344
00:14:20,500 --> 00:14:21,320
Yeah.

345
00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:23,460
And most people I don't think, no, I'm LDS.

346
00:14:23,460 --> 00:14:26,540
And so I'm familiar with the Mormon bubble in Utah.

347
00:14:27,660 --> 00:14:29,900
And I went to school in Provo for a little bit.

348
00:14:29,900 --> 00:14:32,460
They call it Happy Valley for a reason.

349
00:14:32,460 --> 00:14:34,820
And there's this very different culture,

350
00:14:34,820 --> 00:14:38,760
you know, of connectedness, activity level,

351
00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:40,460
again, that mentorship that exists

352
00:14:40,460 --> 00:14:43,440
from a spiritual standpoint or a pathway standpoint,

353
00:14:45,060 --> 00:14:47,340
to each their own on the process.

354
00:14:47,340 --> 00:14:48,980
I don't like it.

355
00:14:48,980 --> 00:14:51,620
Like for me, it wasn't, it's not for me.

356
00:14:51,620 --> 00:14:53,300
I love Texas.

357
00:14:53,300 --> 00:14:54,740
I love third world countries.

358
00:14:54,740 --> 00:14:58,460
I really do enjoy living in those types of environments

359
00:14:58,460 --> 00:15:01,380
where then there's just, there are different pros and cons.

360
00:15:01,380 --> 00:15:04,940
But for me, the same as saying, same thing is true.

361
00:15:04,940 --> 00:15:08,220
Honestly, I felt a little bit worthless

362
00:15:08,220 --> 00:15:10,340
in the Mormon bubble, right?

363
00:15:10,340 --> 00:15:13,100
I didn't feel like I could help people as well

364
00:15:13,100 --> 00:15:14,620
while I lived in an environment

365
00:15:14,620 --> 00:15:16,580
where everybody was pretty much better than me

366
00:15:16,580 --> 00:15:18,780
in everything I did.

367
00:15:18,780 --> 00:15:20,180
And it felt that way.

368
00:15:20,180 --> 00:15:22,620
So it's no surprise too,

369
00:15:22,620 --> 00:15:26,020
that it also has the highest rate of depression.

370
00:15:26,020 --> 00:15:29,180
I don't think those are ironically connected.

371
00:15:29,180 --> 00:15:31,660
Well, there's a saying of don't compare your inside

372
00:15:31,660 --> 00:15:32,820
to someone else's outside.

373
00:15:32,820 --> 00:15:36,220
So I appreciate what you're saying and where it comes from.

374
00:15:36,220 --> 00:15:37,700
And I think a lot of us, including myself,

375
00:15:37,700 --> 00:15:39,060
have experienced that.

376
00:15:39,060 --> 00:15:41,300
And you don't know what's going on inside someone's heart.

377
00:15:41,300 --> 00:15:42,940
You don't know what's going on inside

378
00:15:42,940 --> 00:15:45,260
of someone's day-to-day life.

379
00:15:45,260 --> 00:15:46,780
Things may look great in the outside

380
00:15:46,780 --> 00:15:49,220
and be very tumultuous inside.

381
00:15:49,220 --> 00:15:52,220
But I know where you're coming from and I appreciate it.

382
00:15:52,220 --> 00:15:53,060
Absolutely.

383
00:15:53,060 --> 00:15:55,000
And then you take this skillset though,

384
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:56,380
and you apply it to the rest of the world.

385
00:15:56,380 --> 00:15:57,780
And now you're creating,

386
00:15:57,780 --> 00:16:01,220
you're expanding the environment of success by doing that too.

387
00:16:01,220 --> 00:16:02,900
I think it's awesome.

388
00:16:02,900 --> 00:16:05,020
So what's your vision for you?

389
00:16:06,660 --> 00:16:10,660
You know, I've been a startup guy my entire career.

390
00:16:10,660 --> 00:16:13,980
I'd probably make a terrible employee, you know,

391
00:16:13,980 --> 00:16:16,580
but through the dozens of startups,

392
00:16:16,580 --> 00:16:19,060
we moved from Dallas to London and London to California.

393
00:16:19,060 --> 00:16:22,940
And we moved to Austin about three years ago

394
00:16:22,940 --> 00:16:27,140
after raising our kids in Silicon Valley,

395
00:16:27,140 --> 00:16:28,980
may or may not have been the best environment for them,

396
00:16:28,980 --> 00:16:31,980
but they're young, healthy adults.

397
00:16:31,980 --> 00:16:33,180
I could be more proud of it.

398
00:16:33,180 --> 00:16:34,900
My daughter, Taylor, who's in London,

399
00:16:34,900 --> 00:16:36,780
my son, Wilson, who's in Denver.

400
00:16:39,020 --> 00:16:41,460
You know, I wanna do this.

401
00:16:41,460 --> 00:16:44,980
Like, you know, at this stage in my life and my career,

402
00:16:44,980 --> 00:16:49,040
I should be peak salary.

403
00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,940
I mean, you know, my kids are relatively, you know,

404
00:16:52,940 --> 00:16:54,980
launch, you know, newly launched.

405
00:16:54,980 --> 00:16:57,580
I should be killing it, you know,

406
00:16:57,580 --> 00:17:02,580
as an executive at some technology company, you know,

407
00:17:02,740 --> 00:17:05,460
but there's a couple of things, a vision for me.

408
00:17:06,740 --> 00:17:08,740
One, I wanna help other people.

409
00:17:08,740 --> 00:17:09,900
And I feel like I've been blessed

410
00:17:09,900 --> 00:17:11,580
with some resources along the way,

411
00:17:11,580 --> 00:17:16,580
as well as a weird journey through startup land

412
00:17:16,580 --> 00:17:19,220
that took me to different countries and different places

413
00:17:19,220 --> 00:17:20,740
that has taught me a lot.

414
00:17:20,740 --> 00:17:21,740
I have a journalism degree.

415
00:17:21,740 --> 00:17:22,860
So by all accounts,

416
00:17:22,860 --> 00:17:25,860
I shouldn't have done any of the job I've had over the past,

417
00:17:25,860 --> 00:17:27,060
you know, 20 years.

418
00:17:27,980 --> 00:17:29,780
But I feel very passionate about this.

419
00:17:29,780 --> 00:17:33,260
I just, this is a thing, is a friend of mine asked me,

420
00:17:33,260 --> 00:17:34,900
I need to see this in the world,

421
00:17:36,340 --> 00:17:38,540
which is kind of this,

422
00:17:38,540 --> 00:17:43,540
how do I make this process accessible to people

423
00:17:43,660 --> 00:17:46,500
who otherwise would not have access to it?

424
00:17:46,500 --> 00:17:49,940
And like, even if I made, let's just hypothetically say,

425
00:17:49,940 --> 00:17:52,020
let's just say hypothetically made $100 million

426
00:17:52,020 --> 00:17:55,580
from exit guide, I think I couldn't,

427
00:17:55,580 --> 00:17:56,940
I gotta play golf,

428
00:17:56,940 --> 00:18:01,940
but like I couldn't just sit around and, you know,

429
00:18:02,420 --> 00:18:03,820
you know, do hobbies.

430
00:18:03,820 --> 00:18:05,140
I would go do this again.

431
00:18:05,140 --> 00:18:08,420
I would either do it as another founder

432
00:18:08,420 --> 00:18:11,700
or help in a group of founders or whatever it may be.

433
00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:13,220
But this is what I do.

434
00:18:13,220 --> 00:18:15,420
I believe this is what I was designed to do.

435
00:18:16,380 --> 00:18:20,060
And so my, the vision for me is continue

436
00:18:20,060 --> 00:18:22,660
to be a great husband, a great dad.

437
00:18:22,660 --> 00:18:26,740
Hopefully I'm both of those contributing member,

438
00:18:26,740 --> 00:18:29,660
you know, to my community and to my society

439
00:18:29,660 --> 00:18:32,980
and then use the God given talents that I have for,

440
00:18:32,980 --> 00:18:34,660
you know, crazy startups and technology

441
00:18:34,660 --> 00:18:36,940
to help other people and solve problems

442
00:18:36,940 --> 00:18:39,780
and hopefully not create new ones along the way.

443
00:18:40,860 --> 00:18:41,740
That's amazing.

444
00:18:41,740 --> 00:18:42,580
I love that.

445
00:18:42,580 --> 00:18:45,340
And it's, you know, it's a,

446
00:18:45,340 --> 00:18:48,460
obviously it's not a vision to judge by any means

447
00:18:48,460 --> 00:18:50,780
or say like, hey, here I am to quantify this

448
00:18:50,780 --> 00:18:54,620
or say that was the right thing or anything like that,

449
00:18:54,620 --> 00:18:59,100
but it does resonate with me as a rising visionary.

450
00:18:59,100 --> 00:19:02,460
So in terms of some of the things that you said,

451
00:19:02,460 --> 00:19:06,700
I wanna go back to this reality of SMB

452
00:19:06,700 --> 00:19:08,260
versus Silicon Valley, right?

453
00:19:08,260 --> 00:19:09,500
The world is different.

454
00:19:09,500 --> 00:19:11,500
The options are different.

455
00:19:11,500 --> 00:19:13,180
The mentalities are different.

456
00:19:13,180 --> 00:19:15,220
Well, one reality that also exists would say

457
00:19:15,220 --> 00:19:18,420
is the sports world of business is also different, right?

458
00:19:18,420 --> 00:19:20,700
That's another segment.

459
00:19:20,700 --> 00:19:24,460
There's virtues that are practiced in all three

460
00:19:24,460 --> 00:19:28,820
and there's vices and challenges that exist in all three.

461
00:19:28,820 --> 00:19:33,820
So having the spectrum, you know, the paradigm

462
00:19:33,820 --> 00:19:35,220
from somebody like you that has been

463
00:19:35,220 --> 00:19:38,420
in at least two of those worlds is one that,

464
00:19:38,420 --> 00:19:39,980
again, those who are listening,

465
00:19:39,980 --> 00:19:41,220
if you're preparing for that

466
00:19:41,220 --> 00:19:43,580
and navigating your small business exit,

467
00:19:43,580 --> 00:19:45,740
you want somebody by your side

468
00:19:45,740 --> 00:19:49,980
with that type of depth and knowledge from both perspectives.

469
00:19:51,180 --> 00:19:52,540
Another strange question for you.

470
00:19:52,540 --> 00:19:55,540
I'm a big fan of the book, Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

471
00:19:55,540 --> 00:19:56,980
I don't know if you've read it.

472
00:19:56,980 --> 00:19:57,980
I have not.

473
00:19:57,980 --> 00:19:58,820
Okay.

474
00:19:58,820 --> 00:20:02,740
I probably experienced all five in 67 too, but go ahead.

475
00:20:02,740 --> 00:20:04,300
99% of companies do.

476
00:20:04,300 --> 00:20:05,500
Yeah.

477
00:20:05,500 --> 00:20:09,340
Well, what I wanna compare to though is in that story,

478
00:20:09,340 --> 00:20:11,820
the CEO comes in, the new CEO has been hired.

479
00:20:11,820 --> 00:20:14,500
She is very different than the demographic

480
00:20:14,500 --> 00:20:16,180
of the existing employees.

481
00:20:16,180 --> 00:20:20,580
And she spends her first two weeks listening,

482
00:20:20,580 --> 00:20:22,500
not saying a word, going into these.

483
00:20:22,500 --> 00:20:23,340
Okay.

484
00:20:23,340 --> 00:20:24,180
So what I exist.

485
00:20:24,180 --> 00:20:25,660
So she's been those first two weeks listening,

486
00:20:25,660 --> 00:20:27,420
not moving anything,

487
00:20:27,420 --> 00:20:30,140
making sure she understands the culture really well.

488
00:20:30,140 --> 00:20:32,700
And then she gets to work after that point.

489
00:20:32,700 --> 00:20:35,740
So I was gonna ask, is that how you go about things

490
00:20:35,740 --> 00:20:37,780
or some of your testimonials are like,

491
00:20:37,780 --> 00:20:40,260
like he came in and he made an instant microwave difference.

492
00:20:40,260 --> 00:20:43,300
And so I was like, I gotta ask Eric about this.

493
00:20:43,300 --> 00:20:44,740
No, I think I look at,

494
00:20:44,740 --> 00:20:47,820
I always think it's funny when people professes

495
00:20:47,820 --> 00:20:49,460
that you just need to follow a methodology.

496
00:20:49,460 --> 00:20:51,420
You just need to do this.

497
00:20:51,420 --> 00:20:53,580
You know, and in, you know, a side note

498
00:20:53,580 --> 00:20:55,180
when it comes to exit guide,

499
00:20:55,180 --> 00:20:56,940
one of the things that was core to my thesis

500
00:20:56,940 --> 00:20:58,180
when I started this is,

501
00:20:59,820 --> 00:21:02,060
well, exiting your business means different things

502
00:21:02,060 --> 00:21:03,860
to different people.

503
00:21:03,860 --> 00:21:06,740
I mean, everybody's like, so you help them find a buyer.

504
00:21:06,740 --> 00:21:08,940
I'm like, no, in fact, we don't do that at all.

505
00:21:08,940 --> 00:21:13,700
Most people start with, I don't even know what to do.

506
00:21:13,700 --> 00:21:15,220
Some wanna sell to an employee.

507
00:21:15,220 --> 00:21:17,860
Some don't know if they can sell their business

508
00:21:17,860 --> 00:21:18,860
and need help with that.

509
00:21:18,860 --> 00:21:20,820
Some will have to sell the assets in close.

510
00:21:20,820 --> 00:21:23,780
Others will successfully find a buyer in their community.

511
00:21:23,780 --> 00:21:26,100
What I've learned, you know,

512
00:21:26,100 --> 00:21:30,060
through all my years of experiences,

513
00:21:31,380 --> 00:21:34,100
you know, when you're moving into an organization,

514
00:21:34,100 --> 00:21:36,460
a core tenant of leadership for myself is,

515
00:21:36,460 --> 00:21:39,780
you know, find and recruit wildly talented people

516
00:21:39,780 --> 00:21:40,980
that are smarter than you.

517
00:21:42,060 --> 00:21:45,780
Focus on building a level of trust with them.

518
00:21:46,660 --> 00:21:50,700
And then your job at that point is to get out of the way

519
00:21:50,700 --> 00:21:53,860
and allow them to operate at peak performance.

520
00:21:55,020 --> 00:21:56,860
I've been in many organizations where I've come in.

521
00:21:56,860 --> 00:21:59,140
I've been the cleanup guy in a couple of startups.

522
00:21:59,140 --> 00:22:01,780
You know, some that literally had burned through 50

523
00:22:01,780 --> 00:22:03,820
to 60 to a hundred million dollars

524
00:22:03,820 --> 00:22:06,620
and had, you know, a hundred thousand dollars left

525
00:22:06,620 --> 00:22:09,340
from the bank and CEO was tossed out and I came in.

526
00:22:10,780 --> 00:22:14,420
And through that, you don't come in with all the answers.

527
00:22:14,420 --> 00:22:15,980
What you do is you need to identify

528
00:22:15,980 --> 00:22:17,780
who on that team is still committed.

529
00:22:19,500 --> 00:22:20,340
Can you trust them?

530
00:22:20,340 --> 00:22:21,500
Will they trust you?

531
00:22:22,380 --> 00:22:25,660
And then how do you enable them to operate

532
00:22:25,660 --> 00:22:28,820
so that they can actually thrive and do their job?

533
00:22:28,820 --> 00:22:30,660
And I've said in a number of occasions,

534
00:22:30,660 --> 00:22:35,140
if you think I have all the answers or you're relying on me

535
00:22:35,140 --> 00:22:37,660
to come up with the plan without you

536
00:22:37,660 --> 00:22:40,420
and tell you what to go do, we're screwed.

537
00:22:42,020 --> 00:22:44,780
And anybody who believes they come in

538
00:22:44,780 --> 00:22:47,140
and have all the answers or whatever it may be,

539
00:22:48,340 --> 00:22:50,660
super big red flag, like it's waving,

540
00:22:50,660 --> 00:22:52,020
the lights are flashing,

541
00:22:52,860 --> 00:22:56,620
get off that ship as fast as you possibly can.

542
00:22:56,620 --> 00:22:57,660
But somebody who comes in and says,

543
00:22:57,660 --> 00:23:01,660
look, I just need the right three, 30, 300,

544
00:23:01,660 --> 00:23:04,420
whatever the number is in your organization,

545
00:23:04,420 --> 00:23:06,420
who are committed that I can trust

546
00:23:06,420 --> 00:23:10,700
and want to operate at a high level.

547
00:23:10,700 --> 00:23:14,860
And my job can be, there are days where some of my job was,

548
00:23:14,860 --> 00:23:16,260
I will go get lunch.

549
00:23:16,260 --> 00:23:17,100
And people are like, why are you gonna,

550
00:23:17,100 --> 00:23:18,580
like you're the CEO, why would you go get lunch?

551
00:23:18,580 --> 00:23:20,780
I'm like, I can't code.

552
00:23:20,780 --> 00:23:23,140
I mean, like this is a technical problem

553
00:23:23,140 --> 00:23:25,620
that you need to fix.

554
00:23:25,620 --> 00:23:29,500
And if you being fed is part of you

555
00:23:29,500 --> 00:23:32,900
continuing to collaborate as a team,

556
00:23:32,900 --> 00:23:35,980
going and getting sandwiches is the most important thing

557
00:23:35,980 --> 00:23:37,740
that I can possibly do.

558
00:23:37,740 --> 00:23:39,380
And so I've done that before.

559
00:23:39,380 --> 00:23:43,740
And so, yeah, without extrapolating too much

560
00:23:43,740 --> 00:23:45,260
from your very, very brief description

561
00:23:45,260 --> 00:23:46,660
of the book and the scenario,

562
00:23:48,020 --> 00:23:50,820
she sounds like a brilliant CEO and a great leader

563
00:23:50,820 --> 00:23:55,820
in moving into that environment, probably was successful.

564
00:23:59,260 --> 00:24:03,180
Yeah, it's well documented, well said.

565
00:24:03,180 --> 00:24:08,180
We just added a new addition to our dysfunction for the team.

566
00:24:09,660 --> 00:24:11,500
Oh yeah, you got your awesome spot.

567
00:24:11,500 --> 00:24:12,780
Yeah, I saw that, I know.

568
00:24:15,420 --> 00:24:16,500
That was great, man.

569
00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:18,820
That's something that's been on my mind.

570
00:24:18,820 --> 00:24:21,260
So let me go back to our next question.

571
00:24:21,260 --> 00:24:23,620
Our next question is a bit darker.

572
00:24:23,620 --> 00:24:25,420
It could be a whole lot darker.

573
00:24:25,420 --> 00:24:28,620
What's the worst leadership experience

574
00:24:28,620 --> 00:24:31,380
you've ever had been a part of, seen?

575
00:24:32,620 --> 00:24:34,060
Let's go far down this road.

576
00:24:34,060 --> 00:24:36,980
Yeah, I mean, and because we live in a public world,

577
00:24:36,980 --> 00:24:38,420
so I'm not gonna get too specific

578
00:24:38,420 --> 00:24:40,580
because people could go in and be like,

579
00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:42,100
oh, he was talking about that company

580
00:24:42,100 --> 00:24:43,340
on his LinkedIn profile.

581
00:24:43,340 --> 00:24:48,340
I have been part of teams where we were micromanaged.

582
00:24:52,420 --> 00:24:57,420
And what that does is it drives

583
00:24:59,340 --> 00:25:03,220
the really talented, independent,

584
00:25:03,220 --> 00:25:06,220
fiercely committed people, it drives them away.

585
00:25:06,220 --> 00:25:09,540
And the sycophants and those who wanna get ahead

586
00:25:09,540 --> 00:25:14,540
based on managing up, it drives them closer.

587
00:25:14,860 --> 00:25:18,060
And it's happened probably twice in my career

588
00:25:18,060 --> 00:25:22,060
where I've been a part of something that you can tell,

589
00:25:22,060 --> 00:25:25,780
been in rooms with very smart people

590
00:25:25,780 --> 00:25:29,500
where you're thinking, why?

591
00:25:30,660 --> 00:25:33,500
I mean, you don't have to be rude, but you can disagree.

592
00:25:33,500 --> 00:25:38,500
And if an executive team or a management team is together,

593
00:25:38,500 --> 00:25:40,900
and there isn't some discourse of,

594
00:25:40,900 --> 00:25:41,980
I'm not sure I agree with that,

595
00:25:41,980 --> 00:25:43,620
where did you get that data?

596
00:25:43,620 --> 00:25:44,780
Is that something you think?

597
00:25:44,780 --> 00:25:49,060
Or do you have experience with reports on that?

598
00:25:49,060 --> 00:25:54,060
Whatever, maybe, but leaders who have micromanaged,

599
00:25:55,100 --> 00:25:58,420
I got fired once and left in another company

600
00:25:58,420 --> 00:25:59,500
where that was the case.

601
00:25:59,500 --> 00:26:04,500
And it's just terrible because it demotivates people,

602
00:26:04,500 --> 00:26:07,100
it robs them of their money.

603
00:26:07,100 --> 00:26:12,100
It robs them of their joy of wanting to come to work

604
00:26:12,900 --> 00:26:15,460
every day, even when it's hard and it's difficult.

605
00:26:16,700 --> 00:26:18,940
The reason we call it work is because it's worth, right?

606
00:26:18,940 --> 00:26:19,780
All right, yeah.

607
00:26:19,780 --> 00:26:24,780
So that whole, and I think Scott Galloway and others,

608
00:26:24,940 --> 00:26:27,780
there's like, the whole thing that is a total misnomer

609
00:26:27,780 --> 00:26:30,660
is follow your passion, you never work a day in your life.

610
00:26:30,660 --> 00:26:34,460
That is the biggest pile of hooey ever, ever, ever.

611
00:26:34,460 --> 00:26:36,020
It's the dumbest thing.

612
00:26:36,020 --> 00:26:37,220
Thank you, Eric.

613
00:26:37,220 --> 00:26:39,860
You know, so when people say that I'm like,

614
00:26:39,860 --> 00:26:43,740
you know, look, nobody in their right mind does what I do.

615
00:26:43,740 --> 00:26:45,460
I haven't been paid in three years.

616
00:26:45,460 --> 00:26:47,060
Like I should have sold my house in California,

617
00:26:47,060 --> 00:26:50,140
moved to Austin and taken a job is something.

618
00:26:51,380 --> 00:26:54,420
Like a fool, like I went and did this

619
00:26:54,420 --> 00:26:55,980
because I wanna go do it.

620
00:26:55,980 --> 00:26:59,460
And so, you know, when you're asking people

621
00:26:59,460 --> 00:27:01,700
to do something that takes them away from their families

622
00:27:01,700 --> 00:27:04,340
and other things that bring them joy,

623
00:27:04,340 --> 00:27:08,380
you know, you need to make sure that you're giving them

624
00:27:08,380 --> 00:27:11,100
something that leverages who they are and what they can do.

625
00:27:11,100 --> 00:27:12,220
I do love what I do.

626
00:27:12,220 --> 00:27:16,060
I do love, you know, working on launching companies

627
00:27:16,060 --> 00:27:18,940
and getting them off the ground and helping them scale.

628
00:27:18,940 --> 00:27:19,820
Is it a passion?

629
00:27:19,820 --> 00:27:23,860
Well, I mean, I guess it is.

630
00:27:23,860 --> 00:27:26,140
Food's a passion, I love to cook.

631
00:27:26,140 --> 00:27:29,180
I actually, you know, at one point thought about

632
00:27:29,180 --> 00:27:30,180
doing that professionally.

633
00:27:30,180 --> 00:27:32,580
And then what I discovered is like,

634
00:27:32,580 --> 00:27:35,380
I'm not a late night person and chefs have to work

635
00:27:35,380 --> 00:27:37,380
really late at night and they're on their feet all day.

636
00:27:37,380 --> 00:27:40,100
And I went to cooking school for like a week.

637
00:27:40,100 --> 00:27:42,460
It was just a try before you buy sort of thing

638
00:27:42,460 --> 00:27:43,300
going in bar for everyone.

639
00:27:43,300 --> 00:27:45,700
I was like, oh my gosh, this is a passion.

640
00:27:45,700 --> 00:27:48,260
And if I pursue this as a career,

641
00:27:48,260 --> 00:27:50,780
it would kill my passion for cooking.

642
00:27:50,780 --> 00:27:55,780
So, you know, long-winded way of saying like,

643
00:27:56,220 --> 00:27:59,140
you know, don't micromanage people, you know,

644
00:27:59,140 --> 00:28:03,860
being in an environment where your talents are respected,

645
00:28:03,860 --> 00:28:06,140
who you are as a person is respected.

646
00:28:06,140 --> 00:28:09,020
And is somebody really kind of helping you kind of thrive

647
00:28:09,020 --> 00:28:10,700
and get the most out of you,

648
00:28:10,700 --> 00:28:12,100
or are they trying to kind of manage you

649
00:28:12,100 --> 00:28:14,700
and tell you what to do because they think they're right?

650
00:28:14,700 --> 00:28:16,940
Right, very good.

651
00:28:16,940 --> 00:28:20,220
Let's talk about the best leadership experience ever.

652
00:28:20,220 --> 00:28:22,100
It's the opposite, it's what I just described.

653
00:28:22,100 --> 00:28:24,300
And I've really tried to emulate it.

654
00:28:24,300 --> 00:28:26,940
It's coming in, you know, one of the best questions

655
00:28:26,940 --> 00:28:31,020
I think a leader can ask of employees is saying,

656
00:28:31,020 --> 00:28:33,700
I don't know, what do you think we should do?

657
00:28:33,700 --> 00:28:36,820
And especially when times are tough, right?

658
00:28:36,820 --> 00:28:39,260
Especially when you're in a very tense situation.

659
00:28:39,260 --> 00:28:43,660
Because it happened to me and I emulated it later when,

660
00:28:43,660 --> 00:28:45,300
you know, you're about to run out of money,

661
00:28:45,300 --> 00:28:47,420
a product launch did not go, you know,

662
00:28:47,420 --> 00:28:48,460
the way you expected it to,

663
00:28:48,460 --> 00:28:50,540
marketing campaigns aren't working.

664
00:28:50,540 --> 00:28:52,900
And there's something empowering about, you know,

665
00:28:52,900 --> 00:28:55,180
being asked or asking people,

666
00:28:55,180 --> 00:28:56,940
what do you think we should do?

667
00:28:56,940 --> 00:28:57,820
And especially if, you know,

668
00:28:57,820 --> 00:28:59,020
it doesn't have to be the vice president.

669
00:28:59,020 --> 00:29:01,260
Sometimes you just go to, you know,

670
00:29:02,860 --> 00:29:04,820
the person with the hands on the keyboard

671
00:29:04,820 --> 00:29:07,260
of who's really managing your Facebook campaigns

672
00:29:07,260 --> 00:29:09,420
or is handling customer support.

673
00:29:09,420 --> 00:29:12,300
And being like, let's go ask, you know, let's go ask her.

674
00:29:12,300 --> 00:29:13,340
What does she think?

675
00:29:13,340 --> 00:29:14,180
And you're like, why would you ask me?

676
00:29:14,180 --> 00:29:15,060
I'm like, because you're the one

677
00:29:15,060 --> 00:29:16,220
talking to the customers every day.

678
00:29:16,220 --> 00:29:17,540
I'm dealing with these knuckleheads

679
00:29:17,540 --> 00:29:19,380
and investors and other people.

680
00:29:19,380 --> 00:29:21,820
Like you've talked to a hundred more customers than I have.

681
00:29:21,820 --> 00:29:23,420
What do you think we should go do?

682
00:29:23,420 --> 00:29:25,140
Well, I don't know, this might not be the right idea.

683
00:29:25,140 --> 00:29:27,260
I'm like, well, clearly if we had the right idea,

684
00:29:27,260 --> 00:29:28,700
we wouldn't be here.

685
00:29:28,700 --> 00:29:33,500
So, you know, great leaders, you know, foster dialogue

686
00:29:33,500 --> 00:29:37,460
in being in environments where, you know, it was,

687
00:29:37,460 --> 00:29:39,100
I wanna know what you're thinking.

688
00:29:39,100 --> 00:29:41,100
I wanna know what your opinion is.

689
00:29:41,100 --> 00:29:46,020
And I wanna create a space where you feel empowered

690
00:29:46,020 --> 00:29:47,700
and encouraged to come forward

691
00:29:47,700 --> 00:29:50,540
with what you think is the right thing to go do.

692
00:29:50,540 --> 00:29:53,540
And that's something that I had the good fortune

693
00:29:53,540 --> 00:29:55,380
of having some great managers.

694
00:29:55,380 --> 00:29:57,660
The number one piece of advice I give to people

695
00:29:57,660 --> 00:29:59,380
when they come out for the first five years

696
00:29:59,380 --> 00:30:01,260
out of college or high school

697
00:30:01,260 --> 00:30:02,980
and they're working for something,

698
00:30:02,980 --> 00:30:03,900
don't worry about the title.

699
00:30:03,900 --> 00:30:05,380
Don't worry about the organization.

700
00:30:05,380 --> 00:30:07,220
Don't worry about all the other nonsense.

701
00:30:07,220 --> 00:30:09,860
Find a great mentor and manager that you can work for.

702
00:30:09,860 --> 00:30:12,100
The person you're reporting to is much more important

703
00:30:12,100 --> 00:30:14,420
than whatever name is on that paycheck

704
00:30:14,420 --> 00:30:16,580
or whatever the profile of that company is.

705
00:30:16,580 --> 00:30:20,380
It could be Bob's Sporting and Fishing Store for all I care.

706
00:30:20,380 --> 00:30:22,140
But if you've got a great manager who's teaching you

707
00:30:22,140 --> 00:30:23,780
how to work and learning to craft,

708
00:30:24,940 --> 00:30:27,060
that is 100 times more important than saying

709
00:30:27,060 --> 00:30:31,220
I'm the associate assistant to the vice president

710
00:30:31,220 --> 00:30:36,220
of the regional manager at Fancy Pants Technology Company.

711
00:30:36,500 --> 00:30:37,940
I like that.

712
00:30:37,940 --> 00:30:41,020
I wanna create a new page for our demos

713
00:30:41,020 --> 00:30:42,980
and call it Fancy Pants Technology Company.

714
00:30:42,980 --> 00:30:45,980
I'm gonna buy the domain soon as we hang up.

715
00:30:45,980 --> 00:30:46,820
That's good.

716
00:30:46,820 --> 00:30:48,100
The race is on.

717
00:30:48,100 --> 00:30:49,500
I'll beat you to it.

718
00:30:49,500 --> 00:30:50,820
That's awesome.

719
00:30:50,820 --> 00:30:54,060
All right, Eric, if this was the last opportunity

720
00:30:54,060 --> 00:30:56,820
to share with us a powerful lesson,

721
00:30:56,820 --> 00:30:58,420
well, powerful lesson kind of their visionary

722
00:30:58,420 --> 00:31:00,060
has learned from your experience.

723
00:31:02,540 --> 00:31:07,540
You know, I have a life verse that I've accepted

724
00:31:08,500 --> 00:31:09,900
that is a Yiddish proverb.

725
00:31:10,980 --> 00:31:14,620
And listen to the intent behind the message

726
00:31:14,620 --> 00:31:16,460
and not necessarily the source of the message

727
00:31:16,460 --> 00:31:19,140
depending on where you are with faith and whatnot.

728
00:31:19,140 --> 00:31:22,300
I'm a Christian, but this is a Yiddish proverb.

729
00:31:22,300 --> 00:31:24,940
If you wanna make God laugh, just tell him your plans.

730
00:31:25,980 --> 00:31:30,100
And so it doesn't mean don't plan, but by that, I mean,

731
00:31:30,100 --> 00:31:34,300
like we are all sitting on this blue dot

732
00:31:34,300 --> 00:31:37,820
in this massive orbit and, you know,

733
00:31:37,820 --> 00:31:39,780
we're trying to move things ahead.

734
00:31:39,780 --> 00:31:42,620
And one of the ways I look at important decisions is

735
00:31:42,620 --> 00:31:44,380
how will I feel about this decision

736
00:31:44,380 --> 00:31:46,500
when I'm say 70 or 80 years old,

737
00:31:46,500 --> 00:31:48,980
provided I'm blessed to live that long.

738
00:31:48,980 --> 00:31:51,300
And so when you're thinking about all these things

739
00:31:51,300 --> 00:31:52,940
in front of you and it's easy to stress,

740
00:31:52,940 --> 00:31:54,500
I do it all the time, like I wake up stressful.

741
00:31:54,500 --> 00:31:58,460
Like I'm a total ADHD anxiety driven entrepreneur.

742
00:31:58,460 --> 00:32:00,500
And, you know, I feel like at some point

743
00:32:00,500 --> 00:32:02,220
I'm gonna be living under a bridge.

744
00:32:02,220 --> 00:32:04,340
Just like I deal with that too.

745
00:32:05,500 --> 00:32:08,900
But what I try to do is I try to say, hey, look,

746
00:32:08,900 --> 00:32:11,780
if I can put my head in the pillow at night,

747
00:32:11,780 --> 00:32:15,180
feel like I did anything and everything I did today

748
00:32:15,180 --> 00:32:17,540
to be both who I wanna be and to kind of accomplish

749
00:32:17,540 --> 00:32:19,260
my goals and move the ball forward,

750
00:32:20,260 --> 00:32:22,100
then that's all I can control.

751
00:32:22,100 --> 00:32:23,820
The rest I simply cannot.

752
00:32:23,820 --> 00:32:25,020
I cannot control wars.

753
00:32:25,020 --> 00:32:26,300
I cannot control the economy.

754
00:32:26,300 --> 00:32:28,660
I cannot control those other things.

755
00:32:28,660 --> 00:32:30,620
So I'm not gonna let those things get me down

756
00:32:30,620 --> 00:32:35,020
and limit my ability to move ahead

757
00:32:35,020 --> 00:32:36,980
and just wallowing despair and doom scrolling.

758
00:32:36,980 --> 00:32:39,860
But at the same time, I'm going to move ahead

759
00:32:39,860 --> 00:32:41,820
and I'm not gonna worry about the competition.

760
00:32:41,820 --> 00:32:44,140
I'm not gonna worry about whether, you know,

761
00:32:44,140 --> 00:32:45,220
venture funding is down.

762
00:32:45,220 --> 00:32:47,420
I'm not gonna worry about the state of technology

763
00:32:47,420 --> 00:32:48,780
or Bitcoin or whatever.

764
00:32:48,780 --> 00:32:49,700
Can't control those things.

765
00:32:49,700 --> 00:32:52,060
What I can do is I can try to recruit people

766
00:32:52,060 --> 00:32:55,340
to help them work with me who are super talented,

767
00:32:55,340 --> 00:32:58,020
build trust with them, get out of their way

768
00:32:58,020 --> 00:33:00,940
and work my tail off on doing what I think

769
00:33:00,940 --> 00:33:03,300
is the right thing for my business each and every day.

770
00:33:03,300 --> 00:33:04,780
And that's as much as I can do.

771
00:33:04,780 --> 00:33:07,020
The rest, if you think you can control

772
00:33:08,060 --> 00:33:10,380
with all these other things and you can read the tea leaves

773
00:33:10,380 --> 00:33:13,140
about where the market is going, awesome.

774
00:33:13,140 --> 00:33:14,460
Start a blog, get on Twitter.

775
00:33:14,460 --> 00:33:17,140
That's what those things apparently are for.

776
00:33:17,140 --> 00:33:19,900
And, you know, the rest of us will kind of sit

777
00:33:19,900 --> 00:33:22,060
in sidelines and smile and nod.

778
00:33:22,060 --> 00:33:22,940
I like that.

779
00:33:22,940 --> 00:33:24,500
You'll laugh with God.

780
00:33:24,500 --> 00:33:25,340
I get that.

781
00:33:25,340 --> 00:33:29,060
So there's something I really like about that proverb

782
00:33:29,060 --> 00:33:31,260
that's kind of a hidden message within it.

783
00:33:31,260 --> 00:33:32,660
And so those of you listening,

784
00:33:32,660 --> 00:33:35,980
if you wanna make God laugh, tell him your plans.

785
00:33:35,980 --> 00:33:38,980
I think one of the big factors of that proverb

786
00:33:38,980 --> 00:33:43,300
is that you're telling the universal entity,

787
00:33:43,300 --> 00:33:45,380
you're telling him how it's gonna go.

788
00:33:45,380 --> 00:33:46,940
There's no humility.

789
00:33:46,940 --> 00:33:47,780
There's not a whatsoever.

790
00:33:47,780 --> 00:33:49,620
It's one thing to converse, right?

791
00:33:49,620 --> 00:33:53,100
It's one thing to plan and have an idea,

792
00:33:53,100 --> 00:33:54,780
but I'm a big fan of the same,

793
00:33:54,780 --> 00:33:56,380
well, I'm not a big fan of the same,

794
00:33:56,380 --> 00:33:58,340
strong opinions loosely held.

795
00:33:58,340 --> 00:34:02,900
I prefer strong opinions delicately held, like a baby, right?

796
00:34:02,900 --> 00:34:04,420
You don't wanna squeeze it to death,

797
00:34:04,420 --> 00:34:06,820
but you are never going to drop it.

798
00:34:06,820 --> 00:34:09,020
The same is true with our opinions,

799
00:34:09,020 --> 00:34:11,780
if we can have them and know that we have a conviction

800
00:34:11,780 --> 00:34:16,660
around them, but also be receptive to life lessons,

801
00:34:16,660 --> 00:34:19,100
I find more peace when I do.

802
00:34:19,100 --> 00:34:19,940
Absolutely.

803
00:34:19,940 --> 00:34:22,740
And things will go wrong.

804
00:34:22,740 --> 00:34:25,260
I mean, accept that.

805
00:34:25,260 --> 00:34:28,260
I mean, what I tell people about raising money especially

806
00:34:28,260 --> 00:34:29,900
is what do you look for an investor?

807
00:34:29,900 --> 00:34:32,580
So the most important question in my opinion,

808
00:34:32,580 --> 00:34:34,740
in my experience that you can ask any potential investor

809
00:34:34,740 --> 00:34:36,980
is tell me about a situation

810
00:34:36,980 --> 00:34:38,420
where one of your portfolio companies,

811
00:34:38,420 --> 00:34:40,140
just something went really wrong.

812
00:34:41,380 --> 00:34:44,460
And how did you help them get out of that?

813
00:34:44,460 --> 00:34:46,420
Because they'll all tell you the same thing.

814
00:34:46,420 --> 00:34:49,540
We have a great network, we're very founder friendly,

815
00:34:49,540 --> 00:34:50,900
on and on and on.

816
00:34:50,900 --> 00:34:52,420
And not to be dismissive of it.

817
00:34:52,420 --> 00:34:55,300
I'm sure some of that is true and people work hard.

818
00:34:55,300 --> 00:35:00,300
But startups like life will have their own challenges.

819
00:35:00,980 --> 00:35:03,460
Unexpected things will come up,

820
00:35:03,460 --> 00:35:05,980
you will make mistakes and whatever it may be.

821
00:35:05,980 --> 00:35:08,180
And when that happens,

822
00:35:08,180 --> 00:35:11,580
who is gonna stand beside you and say,

823
00:35:11,580 --> 00:35:14,580
wow, that is a pretty big mess up.

824
00:35:14,580 --> 00:35:17,820
Like, wow, that sucks.

825
00:35:17,820 --> 00:35:20,260
And then say, all right,

826
00:35:21,940 --> 00:35:26,940
take a minute, take an hour, recalibrate, regroup,

827
00:35:26,940 --> 00:35:27,820
and then let's figure out

828
00:35:27,820 --> 00:35:29,780
and let's get a game plan to get out of it.

829
00:35:29,780 --> 00:35:31,100
That's what you need.

830
00:35:31,100 --> 00:35:32,100
That's what you need in life.

831
00:35:32,100 --> 00:35:33,340
That's what you need in startups.

832
00:35:33,340 --> 00:35:34,180
That's what you need

833
00:35:34,180 --> 00:35:35,780
whether you're gonna start a small business.

834
00:35:35,780 --> 00:35:38,580
The people who are gonna say, what are you gonna do?

835
00:35:38,580 --> 00:35:40,780
Or why did this happen?

836
00:35:40,780 --> 00:35:43,020
I mean, those are relevant, important questions

837
00:35:43,020 --> 00:35:44,980
because you don't wanna make the same mistake twice.

838
00:35:44,980 --> 00:35:48,580
But I don't need somebody asking me,

839
00:35:48,580 --> 00:35:52,580
what are you gonna go do when the crap hits the fan?

840
00:35:52,580 --> 00:35:55,300
Like, I'm well aware, like I'm covered in it.

841
00:35:55,300 --> 00:35:56,860
Like I know what happened.

842
00:35:56,860 --> 00:35:59,460
I'm covered in poo.

843
00:35:59,460 --> 00:36:01,540
So asking me like what I'm gonna go do,

844
00:36:01,540 --> 00:36:04,500
well, clearly I'm going to go clean myself up

845
00:36:04,500 --> 00:36:07,300
and I'm gonna get back in it.

846
00:36:07,300 --> 00:36:09,980
I don't need you asking me that.

847
00:36:09,980 --> 00:36:12,700
I don't need you asking me in badgering me

848
00:36:12,700 --> 00:36:13,820
about other things.

849
00:36:13,820 --> 00:36:18,820
If you wanna help, then jump in and please help.

850
00:36:20,420 --> 00:36:22,780
If you're gonna sit here and bicker and question

851
00:36:22,780 --> 00:36:27,780
and second guess, then stop taking up oxygen in my space,

852
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,580
go somewhere else and do it there

853
00:36:31,580 --> 00:36:34,300
because my team and I have real work to go do

854
00:36:34,300 --> 00:36:35,140
and we're gonna get back in the room.

855
00:36:35,140 --> 00:36:36,060
You're setting a healthy boundary

856
00:36:36,060 --> 00:36:40,660
and you're making sure that the cancerous nature

857
00:36:40,660 --> 00:36:44,300
of doubting does not infect the surroundings.

858
00:36:44,300 --> 00:36:46,580
I'm a big fan of that too.

859
00:36:46,580 --> 00:36:49,660
And one of the entities that face that more than anybody

860
00:36:49,660 --> 00:36:52,460
in this past year is the Texas Rangers.

861
00:36:52,460 --> 00:36:54,100
So Texas Rangers, right?

862
00:36:54,100 --> 00:36:59,100
You can imagine, they've never won the championship.

863
00:36:59,220 --> 00:37:02,020
And so naturally, as they get closer and closer,

864
00:37:02,020 --> 00:37:04,220
you're gonna have the, I don't know,

865
00:37:04,220 --> 00:37:06,020
sometimes it's the holy fools of the world,

866
00:37:06,020 --> 00:37:08,580
or the people, the naysayers and the doubters say like,

867
00:37:08,580 --> 00:37:10,340
well, I don't know, you've never done this before.

868
00:37:10,340 --> 00:37:11,180
Yeah, I don't know.

869
00:37:11,180 --> 00:37:12,620
Like we know, I like that you say that.

870
00:37:12,620 --> 00:37:14,620
I'm already covered in that response.

871
00:37:14,620 --> 00:37:16,300
There's no new addition.

872
00:37:16,300 --> 00:37:20,340
And so there's a politically correct or a PR need

873
00:37:20,340 --> 00:37:23,980
to kind of handle that with grace, to an extent,

874
00:37:23,980 --> 00:37:27,220
but there's also a need to just shut the ears

875
00:37:27,220 --> 00:37:31,020
and focus on the virtues of what we need to do to win.

876
00:37:31,020 --> 00:37:33,620
So I'm really glad you hit that.

877
00:37:33,620 --> 00:37:35,420
Let's use the rest of our time, Eric,

878
00:37:35,420 --> 00:37:38,140
if you don't mind, to talk about preparing

879
00:37:38,140 --> 00:37:39,700
for the small business exits.

880
00:37:39,700 --> 00:37:42,260
What are the things that, so obviously exit guides,

881
00:37:42,260 --> 00:37:43,100
a big part of that.

882
00:37:43,100 --> 00:37:45,140
And if you want me to, I'll share the screen

883
00:37:45,140 --> 00:37:50,060
and kind of guide you through that tool and resource,

884
00:37:50,060 --> 00:37:52,940
but feel free to talk about anything that we need to know.

885
00:37:52,940 --> 00:37:56,460
Yeah, so really, the people we're targeting

886
00:37:56,460 --> 00:37:58,340
are small mainstream business owners.

887
00:37:58,340 --> 00:38:00,060
And so, different than Silicon Valley,

888
00:38:00,060 --> 00:38:04,180
which I was, still enjoy working in that environment,

889
00:38:04,180 --> 00:38:06,220
but what I say is the people we help

890
00:38:06,220 --> 00:38:09,340
are kind of real businesses with real revenue

891
00:38:09,340 --> 00:38:13,220
that deliver real value and you interact with every day.

892
00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:18,700
And most have never exited a business before.

893
00:38:18,700 --> 00:38:21,400
They may have successfully started one and run it

894
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:23,300
or taken it over and run it.

895
00:38:23,300 --> 00:38:24,860
They've never exited it before.

896
00:38:24,860 --> 00:38:26,220
So what we want people to start is,

897
00:38:26,220 --> 00:38:27,460
let's just help you learn.

898
00:38:28,460 --> 00:38:30,900
What could your business be worth?

899
00:38:30,900 --> 00:38:32,580
Like we have a free assessment.

900
00:38:32,580 --> 00:38:35,420
It takes seven to 10 minutes to complete.

901
00:38:35,420 --> 00:38:36,260
It's gonna give you a range

902
00:38:36,260 --> 00:38:38,100
for what your business is worth.

903
00:38:38,100 --> 00:38:40,100
And then we're gonna drop you into an experience

904
00:38:40,100 --> 00:38:42,500
where you can at least understand what are the steps.

905
00:38:42,500 --> 00:38:44,620
So the steps for selling the assets

906
00:38:44,620 --> 00:38:46,340
and closing the business are actually different

907
00:38:46,340 --> 00:38:48,980
than the steps for preparing your business

908
00:38:48,980 --> 00:38:50,860
to find a buyer in your local community,

909
00:38:50,860 --> 00:38:52,860
which is even different than trying to assign the business

910
00:38:52,860 --> 00:38:53,700
to a family member.

911
00:38:53,700 --> 00:38:57,140
So we wanna create a simplified journey

912
00:38:57,140 --> 00:38:59,260
that allows you to prepare.

913
00:38:59,260 --> 00:39:02,300
And this is the step I think a lot of people,

914
00:39:02,300 --> 00:39:04,300
to date have missed that we're trying to correct,

915
00:39:04,300 --> 00:39:06,780
which is, come onto our website,

916
00:39:06,780 --> 00:39:08,620
we'll list your business and someone will go buy it.

917
00:39:08,620 --> 00:39:10,020
Well, not really.

918
00:39:10,020 --> 00:39:11,940
If you plan to sell your house,

919
00:39:11,940 --> 00:39:13,220
you don't just wake up one morning

920
00:39:13,220 --> 00:39:15,580
and stick a sign in the yard and list it on Zillow.

921
00:39:15,580 --> 00:39:17,140
You kind of go around the house and you're like,

922
00:39:17,140 --> 00:39:18,820
okay, what needs to be repaired?

923
00:39:18,820 --> 00:39:20,900
Should I get an inspection to find out

924
00:39:20,900 --> 00:39:22,780
what are the things that need attention

925
00:39:22,780 --> 00:39:24,740
that are gonna get flagged in the inspection?

926
00:39:24,740 --> 00:39:28,860
So the initial assessment gives you kind of an idea of,

927
00:39:28,860 --> 00:39:33,220
okay, your business is worth between X and Y

928
00:39:33,220 --> 00:39:36,500
and based on the information you've given us,

929
00:39:36,500 --> 00:39:39,540
your intended plan is to do this type of exit,

930
00:39:39,540 --> 00:39:40,980
sell to a family member,

931
00:39:40,980 --> 00:39:43,380
and you wanna do that in the next 90 days.

932
00:39:43,380 --> 00:39:45,420
So now we get somebody kind of ready

933
00:39:45,420 --> 00:39:47,180
to go through the preparation process.

934
00:39:47,180 --> 00:39:52,180
Well, that gets down to a whole host of things,

935
00:39:52,700 --> 00:39:54,420
documents, formation documents.

936
00:39:54,420 --> 00:39:55,260
Is this an LLC?

937
00:39:55,260 --> 00:39:56,380
Is it an S-corp?

938
00:39:56,380 --> 00:39:57,540
Is it a partnership?

939
00:39:57,540 --> 00:39:59,340
Is it a sole proprietorship?

940
00:39:59,340 --> 00:40:01,540
What do your financials look like?

941
00:40:01,540 --> 00:40:03,820
How owner dependent is this business?

942
00:40:03,820 --> 00:40:06,140
Are there systems and procedures in place

943
00:40:06,140 --> 00:40:08,420
that would allow a new owner to step in?

944
00:40:08,420 --> 00:40:11,660
And all the data suggests that about,

945
00:40:11,660 --> 00:40:16,020
over 50% of deals fall apart during due diligence.

946
00:40:16,020 --> 00:40:18,820
And a big portion of that is because people jump the gun.

947
00:40:18,820 --> 00:40:22,020
They're just like, I want $500,000 for my business.

948
00:40:22,020 --> 00:40:24,260
Someone told me it should be worth around that

949
00:40:24,260 --> 00:40:26,380
and I'm gonna start listing it on BizBuySell

950
00:40:26,380 --> 00:40:29,020
and a bunch of other websites and see what I get.

951
00:40:29,020 --> 00:40:30,780
Probably the worst thing you can do.

952
00:40:32,620 --> 00:40:34,900
And there's a variety of reasons for that.

953
00:40:34,900 --> 00:40:37,940
One is, well, if you're listing the hyperlocal business

954
00:40:37,940 --> 00:40:40,180
on a website that attracts millions of eyeballs

955
00:40:40,180 --> 00:40:42,380
from around North America and around the world,

956
00:40:42,380 --> 00:40:45,260
somebody who lives in Tallahassee, Florida,

957
00:40:45,260 --> 00:40:47,500
looking at your business in Spokane, Washington,

958
00:40:47,500 --> 00:40:51,580
quite frankly, is just burning dollars.

959
00:40:53,020 --> 00:40:55,340
So one, you need to think about who in your local community

960
00:40:55,340 --> 00:40:57,820
might be a buyer for your hyperlocal business.

961
00:40:57,820 --> 00:41:00,660
Two is, if they say, yes, I'm interested

962
00:41:00,660 --> 00:41:04,300
and you have bad information or not enough information

963
00:41:04,300 --> 00:41:06,420
or, right, so if you have a leaky roof

964
00:41:06,420 --> 00:41:08,180
and your foundation is in need of repair

965
00:41:08,180 --> 00:41:10,700
and you haven't disclosed that or done that process yet,

966
00:41:10,700 --> 00:41:13,220
well, this isn't going to go well.

967
00:41:13,220 --> 00:41:15,300
You may have actually just pushed

968
00:41:15,300 --> 00:41:17,900
your greatest opportunity away

969
00:41:17,900 --> 00:41:20,260
and the deal's gonna fall apart because you're not ready.

970
00:41:20,260 --> 00:41:21,900
So when we talk about preparation,

971
00:41:21,900 --> 00:41:24,620
we really wanna help people just get their ducks in a row.

972
00:41:24,620 --> 00:41:27,660
And virtually, I'm gonna say the same thing.

973
00:41:27,660 --> 00:41:28,540
I don't know what that looks like.

974
00:41:28,540 --> 00:41:31,940
I'm like, that's exactly why we exist, right?

975
00:41:31,940 --> 00:41:33,860
We want you to be able to do this from your smartphone

976
00:41:33,860 --> 00:41:37,180
or your laptop and we'll show you what it is

977
00:41:37,180 --> 00:41:40,220
and we're not gonna use a whole bunch of gobbledygook language.

978
00:41:40,220 --> 00:41:41,940
We're gonna say, you're gonna need

979
00:41:41,940 --> 00:41:43,140
these types of financial statements.

980
00:41:43,140 --> 00:41:44,220
You're gonna need these types of reports.

981
00:41:44,220 --> 00:41:46,340
You can upload this here if you have questions.

982
00:41:46,340 --> 00:41:50,060
And then what we've done is we've recruited experts

983
00:41:50,060 --> 00:41:52,780
who normally would work with much bigger entities,

984
00:41:52,780 --> 00:41:55,180
but they all love to help small business owners

985
00:41:55,180 --> 00:41:57,700
and so they will do coaching sessions

986
00:41:57,700 --> 00:41:59,140
in their one hour session.

987
00:41:59,140 --> 00:42:01,660
So if you wanna talk to somebody who's a valuation expert,

988
00:42:01,660 --> 00:42:03,100
you can book an hour of his time.

989
00:42:03,100 --> 00:42:05,340
If you wanna talk to somebody about deal structure

990
00:42:05,340 --> 00:42:06,500
and talk to an attorney,

991
00:42:06,500 --> 00:42:08,660
you can book an hour of someone's time.

992
00:42:08,660 --> 00:42:10,620
And that goes on and on and on.

993
00:42:10,620 --> 00:42:12,620
And so our goal is to say, hey, look,

994
00:42:12,620 --> 00:42:14,940
you don't have a $20 million company

995
00:42:14,940 --> 00:42:17,180
that can put six people on this deal

996
00:42:17,180 --> 00:42:18,860
and they're gonna go prepare the reports

997
00:42:18,860 --> 00:42:20,980
and create the data and do all the other.

998
00:42:20,980 --> 00:42:22,540
We're gonna show you how to go do this.

999
00:42:22,540 --> 00:42:25,260
It doesn't need to be overly complex.

1000
00:42:25,260 --> 00:42:27,500
There generally is not as many moving parts

1001
00:42:27,500 --> 00:42:30,260
for these types of businesses that are with others.

1002
00:42:30,260 --> 00:42:34,460
And what we'll do is we'll have somebody

1003
00:42:34,460 --> 00:42:36,780
so that before they send out, for example,

1004
00:42:36,780 --> 00:42:38,340
they could take one of our sell sheets

1005
00:42:38,340 --> 00:42:39,620
which they can purchase.

1006
00:42:39,620 --> 00:42:41,540
And it's kind of a slick way of packaging up your business

1007
00:42:41,540 --> 00:42:43,580
presented to potential buyers.

1008
00:42:43,580 --> 00:42:45,500
But what we want them to do is before they send that thing

1009
00:42:45,500 --> 00:42:48,460
out is that they're sending it out knowing

1010
00:42:48,460 --> 00:42:49,980
that if two people come back and say, yes,

1011
00:42:49,980 --> 00:42:52,500
I'm interested in taking a deeper look,

1012
00:42:52,500 --> 00:42:57,500
it doesn't send them into a panic and it shouldn't.

1013
00:42:58,700 --> 00:43:00,580
But that's what happens today.

1014
00:43:00,580 --> 00:43:04,580
So people ask me like, what do people do today?

1015
00:43:04,580 --> 00:43:09,580
And the honest answer is they're left dangling in the wind.

1016
00:43:09,940 --> 00:43:12,580
They don't really have tools.

1017
00:43:12,580 --> 00:43:14,260
People say, we'll try to sell your business here

1018
00:43:14,260 --> 00:43:16,060
but no one's gonna buy that business.

1019
00:43:16,060 --> 00:43:20,820
It's not ready to engage a buyer.

1020
00:43:20,820 --> 00:43:25,820
And so the part of learning is let's give you a range

1021
00:43:26,700 --> 00:43:27,860
and it's generally pretty wide range

1022
00:43:27,860 --> 00:43:29,580
of what your business could be worth.

1023
00:43:29,580 --> 00:43:32,580
Let's give you access to videos and content for free

1024
00:43:32,580 --> 00:43:34,300
that you can at least say, okay,

1025
00:43:34,300 --> 00:43:37,860
what does it meant by an asset purchase agreement?

1026
00:43:37,860 --> 00:43:40,860
Well, what does due diligence look like?

1027
00:43:40,860 --> 00:43:41,700
How do I do it?

1028
00:43:41,700 --> 00:43:45,500
And then when you're ready, then we put some tools in place

1029
00:43:45,500 --> 00:43:50,500
so that you can actually go and start to put those pieces

1030
00:43:52,580 --> 00:43:55,460
in place and then when you're ready to transact,

1031
00:43:55,460 --> 00:43:56,940
then we put a deal team on it,

1032
00:43:56,940 --> 00:44:00,140
which are a small percentage,

1033
00:44:00,140 --> 00:44:03,460
generally about a third of what a broker might charge

1034
00:44:03,460 --> 00:44:06,100
to put a small deal team in place

1035
00:44:06,100 --> 00:44:09,420
to help walk you through using this dashboard.

1036
00:44:09,420 --> 00:44:12,020
What you need to do so you can go from,

1037
00:44:12,020 --> 00:44:13,940
okay, Jackson and I have agreed

1038
00:44:13,940 --> 00:44:16,900
that he wants to buy my coffee shop for $450,000.

1039
00:44:16,900 --> 00:44:18,460
Now what?

1040
00:44:18,460 --> 00:44:19,660
Well, now we can kind of say, okay,

1041
00:44:19,660 --> 00:44:21,500
has he reviewed all the financials?

1042
00:44:21,500 --> 00:44:22,540
Has he taken these steps?

1043
00:44:22,540 --> 00:44:24,700
Have you provided him this information?

1044
00:44:24,700 --> 00:44:26,100
And then when you're ready to transact,

1045
00:44:26,100 --> 00:44:27,820
how do we put the right agreement in place?

1046
00:44:27,820 --> 00:44:30,460
Am I helping you finance this through a loan

1047
00:44:30,460 --> 00:44:33,300
from the seller?

1048
00:44:33,300 --> 00:44:35,420
And so you're getting support from real people

1049
00:44:35,420 --> 00:44:37,940
along the way who aren't necessarily doing the work for you,

1050
00:44:37,940 --> 00:44:39,860
but what they're doing is they're giving you those guardrails

1051
00:44:39,860 --> 00:44:43,540
to make sure, okay, you've given your buyer

1052
00:44:43,540 --> 00:44:45,580
the right financial information,

1053
00:44:45,580 --> 00:44:47,500
you've put the right deal terms in place

1054
00:44:47,500 --> 00:44:48,860
and the right type of agreement.

1055
00:44:48,860 --> 00:44:49,940
Is this an asset purchase?

1056
00:44:49,940 --> 00:44:52,180
Is it a business purchase, a share purchase?

1057
00:44:52,180 --> 00:44:54,860
And now you guys have moved through this

1058
00:44:54,860 --> 00:44:56,500
and now you're ready to actually consummate the deal

1059
00:44:56,500 --> 00:44:57,500
and close the transaction.

1060
00:44:57,500 --> 00:45:01,500
So we're there in many ways in the background

1061
00:45:01,500 --> 00:45:03,660
is supporting CAS, combining these experts

1062
00:45:03,660 --> 00:45:04,900
with the technology platform

1063
00:45:04,900 --> 00:45:07,300
so you can kind of move through these steps

1064
00:45:07,300 --> 00:45:10,380
in many ways like you would with a TurboTax, right?

1065
00:45:10,380 --> 00:45:11,660
You can get everything ready

1066
00:45:11,660 --> 00:45:13,180
to prepare the taxes on your own,

1067
00:45:13,180 --> 00:45:15,060
but if you get stuck and you need help from the CPA,

1068
00:45:15,060 --> 00:45:16,340
you can get it done.

1069
00:45:16,340 --> 00:45:19,340
And hopefully it's not a panic on April 14th

1070
00:45:19,340 --> 00:45:21,980
that you're filing it, but if you do, we'll do our best.

1071
00:45:21,980 --> 00:45:23,260
Right.

1072
00:45:23,260 --> 00:45:26,900
Eric, I can't say enough how much I love your vision.

1073
00:45:26,900 --> 00:45:27,740
Thank you.

1074
00:45:27,740 --> 00:45:28,580
I really can't.

1075
00:45:28,580 --> 00:45:31,020
And there's some elements of the brand

1076
00:45:31,020 --> 00:45:33,860
that just really stand out to me.

1077
00:45:33,860 --> 00:45:36,380
One, your authenticity as a leader

1078
00:45:36,380 --> 00:45:41,060
to dive into all of the jarring things

1079
00:45:41,060 --> 00:45:43,300
that not everybody agrees with.

1080
00:45:43,300 --> 00:45:47,060
Two, the UX and UI of Exit Guide,

1081
00:45:47,060 --> 00:45:50,020
the amount of dedication you put in

1082
00:45:50,020 --> 00:45:52,420
to make sure that you want to do more.

1083
00:45:52,420 --> 00:45:54,740
Yeah, that's a shout out to.

1084
00:45:54,740 --> 00:45:59,580
If you wanna see, if there was a competition

1085
00:45:59,580 --> 00:46:02,140
for the world's worst UX person,

1086
00:46:02,140 --> 00:46:06,900
like gold medal, I'd be the Michael Phelps.

1087
00:46:06,900 --> 00:46:10,460
So Jason Ricci and Andrew Lee are my co-founders

1088
00:46:10,460 --> 00:46:13,300
and they are there.

1089
00:46:13,300 --> 00:46:14,140
You already said it.

1090
00:46:14,140 --> 00:46:14,980
You already said it.

1091
00:46:14,980 --> 00:46:17,580
Find the people who are better at you,

1092
00:46:17,580 --> 00:46:19,540
at doing the things and let them go to work.

1093
00:46:19,540 --> 00:46:20,380
I'm micromanaging.

1094
00:46:20,380 --> 00:46:21,220
Absolutely.

1095
00:46:21,220 --> 00:46:23,820
What I'm seeing with that, and here's why this matters.

1096
00:46:23,820 --> 00:46:24,700
Okay.

1097
00:46:24,700 --> 00:46:29,220
Credit Karma, should, again, UX, UI,

1098
00:46:29,220 --> 00:46:31,700
I would have never trusted them with my credit scores

1099
00:46:31,700 --> 00:46:32,820
as a consumer.

1100
00:46:32,820 --> 00:46:34,060
I would have never trusted them

1101
00:46:34,060 --> 00:46:35,780
with the credit card recommendations

1102
00:46:35,780 --> 00:46:37,340
and the loan recommendations and all that,

1103
00:46:37,340 --> 00:46:39,540
but they do two bit things very, very well.

1104
00:46:39,540 --> 00:46:41,100
And I see you on the same track.

1105
00:46:41,100 --> 00:46:44,340
One, they're extremely transparent.

1106
00:46:44,340 --> 00:46:45,940
They try to be.

1107
00:46:45,940 --> 00:46:48,300
I'm starting to see them cut a little corners on that now,

1108
00:46:48,300 --> 00:46:51,180
as years have gone by and they're trying to scale

1109
00:46:51,180 --> 00:46:54,900
and all that, but they've dedicated themselves

1110
00:46:54,900 --> 00:46:57,500
to educating the market to an extreme fashion.

1111
00:46:57,500 --> 00:46:58,860
So I see you doing that.

1112
00:46:58,860 --> 00:47:02,300
And then I see the dedication to helping this feel friendly

1113
00:47:02,300 --> 00:47:05,020
and the experience that's there,

1114
00:47:05,020 --> 00:47:07,820
the type form going into to calculate it at the end

1115
00:47:07,820 --> 00:47:09,340
and I'll get the email about it

1116
00:47:09,340 --> 00:47:13,780
and y'all are moving in very much the direction

1117
00:47:13,780 --> 00:47:17,140
in a market that desperately needs to understand this better.

1118
00:47:17,140 --> 00:47:19,540
And I know one of the challenges that you'll face

1119
00:47:19,540 --> 00:47:21,140
and visionaries who are listening in

1120
00:47:21,140 --> 00:47:24,140
that might be at that stage where you're trying to sell,

1121
00:47:24,140 --> 00:47:27,260
my greatest advice to you is if you're going into that

1122
00:47:27,260 --> 00:47:29,100
and you're not willing to reveal your cards,

1123
00:47:29,100 --> 00:47:31,540
you're going to get a very wrong answer.

1124
00:47:31,540 --> 00:47:32,380
Yeah.

1125
00:47:32,380 --> 00:47:34,180
Don't manipulate the system.

1126
00:47:34,180 --> 00:47:36,500
Oh, dude, I'm gonna inflate these numbers

1127
00:47:36,500 --> 00:47:38,260
because I feel bad for whether,

1128
00:47:38,260 --> 00:47:40,980
you're not gonna get a real answer.

1129
00:47:40,980 --> 00:47:44,100
So that's something that, that's again,

1130
00:47:44,100 --> 00:47:46,500
why this transparency aspect matters to me,

1131
00:47:46,500 --> 00:47:47,900
why the vision matters.

1132
00:47:47,900 --> 00:47:52,300
I've been in other systems that profess

1133
00:47:52,300 --> 00:47:54,420
having all of the knowledge,

1134
00:47:54,420 --> 00:47:58,500
but when you try to dig for understanding it as a beginner,

1135
00:47:58,500 --> 00:47:59,580
there's nothing there.

1136
00:47:59,580 --> 00:48:03,340
And it's like, well, you didn't bridge my knowledge gap.

1137
00:48:03,340 --> 00:48:05,420
So I can't confide in you.

1138
00:48:05,420 --> 00:48:08,540
And the system is just so 1990s

1139
00:48:08,540 --> 00:48:10,820
that it's also hard to be motivated

1140
00:48:10,820 --> 00:48:14,580
to go through and explore the depths of what's there.

1141
00:48:14,580 --> 00:48:18,060
So again, I just speaking as a startup founder

1142
00:48:18,060 --> 00:48:20,940
who's been through the grind of creating system after system

1143
00:48:20,940 --> 00:48:23,300
after system after system and knowing like,

1144
00:48:23,300 --> 00:48:24,660
I love what you're building.

1145
00:48:24,660 --> 00:48:25,500
Well, thank you.

1146
00:48:25,500 --> 00:48:26,340
I wish you the best for that.

1147
00:48:26,340 --> 00:48:27,180
Yeah.

1148
00:48:27,180 --> 00:48:28,000
Vision pros.

1149
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:31,780
If you have a question for Eric,

1150
00:48:31,780 --> 00:48:34,460
or a comment regarding these processes,

1151
00:48:34,460 --> 00:48:36,820
by all means throw it in the show notes.

1152
00:48:36,820 --> 00:48:39,220
Sorry, throw it in the social media channel of your choice.

1153
00:48:39,220 --> 00:48:41,620
We'll forward those to Eric on the landing page.

1154
00:48:41,620 --> 00:48:43,460
We'll have a link as well to exit guides.

1155
00:48:43,460 --> 00:48:44,300
You can check that out.

1156
00:48:44,300 --> 00:48:46,940
Of course, if people want to reach out to you directly,

1157
00:48:46,940 --> 00:48:48,500
Eric, what's the best way to reach you?

1158
00:48:48,500 --> 00:48:50,460
Eric at exit guide.com.

1159
00:48:50,460 --> 00:48:51,860
And it's Eric with a C.

1160
00:48:51,860 --> 00:48:52,700
Cool.

1161
00:48:52,700 --> 00:48:54,660
You got the email address, my friends.

1162
00:48:54,660 --> 00:48:57,060
Put your chat GPTs on that.

1163
00:49:01,060 --> 00:49:01,900
This has been a lot of fun.

1164
00:49:01,900 --> 00:49:02,740
Thank you.

1165
00:49:02,740 --> 00:49:03,560
Thank you, Jackson.

1166
00:49:03,560 --> 00:49:04,400
Really enjoyed it.

1167
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:06,620
I love what you're doing for entrepreneurs

1168
00:49:06,620 --> 00:49:09,380
and for your community and being authentic as well.

1169
00:49:09,380 --> 00:49:10,200
Absolutely.

1170
00:49:10,200 --> 00:49:11,420
We look forward to having you back in the near future.

1171
00:49:11,420 --> 00:49:13,140
It'd be awesome to dive into more details.

1172
00:49:13,140 --> 00:49:13,980
Be happy to.

1173
00:49:13,980 --> 00:49:14,800
Thanks again.

1174
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:15,640
Take care, everybody.

1175
00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:16,460
Bye-bye.

1176
00:49:16,460 --> 00:49:17,300
Thank you for being here today.

1177
00:49:17,300 --> 00:49:19,100
I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.

1178
00:49:19,100 --> 00:49:21,740
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions

1179
00:49:21,740 --> 00:49:24,060
as these episodes continue to move forward.

1180
00:49:24,060 --> 00:49:25,740
This is gonna get more and more fun.

1181
00:49:25,740 --> 00:49:27,540
We'll have more and more engagement as well.

1182
00:49:27,540 --> 00:49:29,660
We'll invite people to participate in the show.

1183
00:49:29,660 --> 00:49:32,020
And thank you for giving us your time and attention.

1184
00:49:32,020 --> 00:49:34,620
Have an excellent day.