Beyond A Million

Wes Watson is an entrepreneur, author and business coach who founded Watson Fit and created a sales funnel leading to 8-figures in monthly revenue.

During his 10 years in a California prison, Wes began building an Instagram presence while behind bars. Once he gained freedom, Wes leveraged his online presence in the fitness community into low, mid, and high-ticket sales, becoming a millionaire within 18 months of being released.

Today, Wes joins me to share his success story, including a look into the prison-hardened mindset that he applies to his business to earn 5 and 6-figure paydays.

You'll also hear about the five books that changed Wes's life, the importance of tapping into the correct mental frequency states, and how taking too long to take action can cost you money in the long run.

Key Takeaways with Wes Watson

• How Wes went from a decade in prison to making $60,000 in sales a day.
• The expectation-to-work ratio that creates the highest quality of life.
• What should entrepreneurs avoid doing during their growth phase?
• The 5 books that changed Wes's life — and the exercise he used to hone his copywriting skills.
• How the frequency of your emotional state can manifest success or failure.
• The 2 key tenets of what a great leader should be.
• Is it possible for entrepreneurs to succeed if they don't have skin in the game?
• The link between stress management and reaching your ceiling of potential.
• How focusing on the right timeline can help your business produce the best results — and got Wes to 8-figure months.
• Should entrepreneurs prioritize speed or perfection in their day-to-day operations?
• The necessity of preparation and constant vigilance to seize the opportunities life puts in your path.
• Building strength for life's challenges through resistance to your weaknesses.
• Transforming your perception from seeking growth to removing the negatives.

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Ryan Niddel is an entrepreneur and the CEO of MIT45, a $70M/year Kratom company on pace to exceed $100M in sales in 2023.

In addition to his first exit at age 29 for $12M, Ryan has been involved with the acquisition or exit of nearly a dozen companies whose collective revenues exceed $237M. He has successfully tripled the revenue of more than 5 companies in under 2 1/2 years, adding an extra $950M in valuation to these businesses.

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Ron Lynch is an infomercial and direct response marketing expert who has helped 70 brands and 300+ products launch, with a track record of generating over $4 billion in sales for his clients.

He's helped brands like GoPro, Johnson & Johnson, OxiClean, Samsung, George Foreman Grill, and hundreds of other household names and products.

In this episode, Ron shares the story of taking GoPro from a 3-person startup to a worldwide phenomenon and multi-billion dollar brand. Through his agency's leadership, the company scaled from $600k to $600M in sales before its eventual IPO.

You'll hear about the risky strategy Ron's team used to get GoPro into major retailers like BestBuy and Target, the inner workings of the infomercial industry and how it's used to sell products, and how to serve multiple customer avatars with a single product so you can broaden your audience and scale your business.

Key Takeaways with Ron Lynch

• The story of scaling GoPro into a multi-billion dollar brand.
• The risky play that Ron's agency implemented to get GoPro into big box stores like BestBuy and Target.
• The Super Bowl media buying strategy that landed GoPro $3M worth of advertising slots for the price of $360k
• The science and structure behind traditional infomercials—and how they are designed to get people to buy.
• How to broaden the audience you serve by solving different problems for different customers—and how to leverage that strategy to double your revenue, again and again, with a single product.
• A unique celebrity growth tactic for building brand awareness. This strategy led to Ron visiting Bono's Ireland home in person to deliver a product.
• Why the gatekeeper is the most valuable relationship you can have.
• How the infomercial industry has changed over the years.
• Accelerated AI adoption and Ron's prediction for the future.

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We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there!

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Grant Cardone is a sales expert, author, producer, and CEO of Cardone Capital, overseeing a $4B+ real estate portfolio he built from scratch.

At 16 years old, Grant stumbled down a path of drug issues, eventually entering a treatment center at age 25. After completing his treatment, Grant channeled his addictive personality into business and sales, making his first $1M at 31.

Today, Grant discusses his life story and career paths with me while sharing his high-volume approach to selling online, his philosophy around investing money, and how he creates a high-performing sales culture in his companies.

You'll also hear the number one skill Grant suggests that young entrepreneurs should develop, how AI will mesh with sales careers, and the 80/20 principle he used to build a 16M person online following.

Key Takeaways with Grant Cardone

• How Grant's turned his addictive personality into a $4 billion real estate portfolio.
• The danger of complacency after hitting a 7-figure net worth for the first time.
• Taking a brute-force, volume-heavy approach to Internet sales and marketing.
• The one thing Grant needs to build a business.
• Why it's dangerous to take advice from millionaires.
• How will AI impact the careers of sales professionals?
• How do you cultivate a high-performing sales culture in your company?
• What to look for when evaluating potential partners.
• How Grant looks at control vs. delegation when overseeing 650+ employees.
• What can entrepreneurs learn from the recent banking collapses?
• How Grant built an audience of 16 million people with free content and the 80/20 principle.
• Why Grant doesn't invest in the stock or bond market — and what he does instead.
• What is one of the most essential skills for a 20-year-old today?

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Todd Herman is a coach and mentor to pro athletes, business leaders, and public figures on the topics of performance, strategy, mindset, and execution. His training programs have been delivered to over 2,000,000 people and through his 90 Day Year company, his system for entrepreneurial performance has been implemented by more than 250,000 small businesses since 2014.

Todd is also the author of the Wall Street bestseller, The Alter Ego Effect, a playbook for overcoming self-doubt, negativity, and insecurity that hold many people back from becoming the best version of themselves.

Today, Todd joins me to talk about how entrepreneurs can build their own alter egos in order to achieve peak performance and take their business to a whole new level of success.

You'll also hear Todd discuss the business insights he's shared with companies like Goldman Sachs, Shell Energy and T-Mobile, including the five stages of business framework, the three milestones to nail before scaling, and using the 90-day science to help avoid procrastination.

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Key Takeaways with Todd Herman

• The 90-day science behind procrastination and avoided behavior — and how to clear those hurdles.
• What's the difference between peak performers and above-average performers?
• How can creating alter egos allow entrepreneurs to realize more of their potential?
• The O.P.P. method framework Todd uses to guide peak performance for both athletes and entrepreneurs.
• Breaking down the five stages of business framework.
• How constraints can spark creativity instead of strangling it.
• The three milestones to nail before scaling a business.
• The primary role of being an entrepreneur that building an alter ego can help with.
• Balancing overload and recovery to create business flow states for entrepreneurs.
• The big mistake businesses make with goal-setting.
• How niching down can actually create a larger audience for your services.
• The elite mindset of discipline that athletes and entrepreneurs share.
• How Todd got his start in performance coaching for athletes and entrepreneurs.

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We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there!

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Lindsay Shearer is a traffic generation specialist who has helped more than 390 brands scale to 7, 8 and 9 figures in sales per month. While Lindsay uses many digital marketing platforms, her expertise in driving traffic through Pinterest has helped her generate over $50M/year in profitable client ad spend.

In addition to building two 8-figure marketing agencies, Lindsay invests in long-term, short-term, multi-family and farmland real estate, while also launching and operating her own real estate fund.

Today, Lindsay sits down with me to share strategies for driving traffic on Pinterest, how to find profitable niches as a marketing agency, and tips for targeting "blue ocean space" to avoid oversaturation in the agency world.

You'll also hear Lindsay break down her real estate investing strategy, including why she sees farmland as a favorable asset class, and how she structures the holdings and partnership layout of her real estate fund.

Key Takeaways with Lindsay Shearer

• Building 8-figure marketing agencies through a personal brand vs. a company brand.
• The roadmap to driving eCommerce business on Pinterest.
• Finding an unsaturated "blue ocean space" to get a competitive edge as a marketing agency.
• Targeting a 10% multiplier gross income figure with real estate investments.
• The hardest part of Lindsay's entrepreneurial journey, and what she'd do differently if she could start again.
• 3 YouTube tips to drive traffic.
• The multi-pronged benefits of owning farmland as an asset class.
• The unexpected challenges that come with operating short-term rentals.
• Why Lindsay is structuring her fund to hold 80% real estate and 20% commodities.
• The benefits of opening yourself up to a partnership when it's time to scale.
• The growth mechanism Lindsay is currently doubling down on.
• Using ChatGPT as an idea-generator for writing copy.
• The criteria Lindsay looks at when hiring.

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We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there!

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Ramind Ettehad is the co-founder of Oomnitza, a SaaS platform that helps businesses manage and automate their IT workflows.

As an upstart company in 2013, Oomnitza landed its first accounts with lower-middle market companies before scaling to larger enterprise accounts. Today, Oomnitza has around 120 employees and $30M in subscription revenue.

In today's episode, Ramin joins me to talk about how he meticulously builds and develops his sales teams to keep employees fresh, motivated and efficient through the full sales cycle.

You'll also hear Ramin talk about his hyper-specific parameters for interviewing new sales employees, how co-innovation helped ramp Oomnitza in its early stages, and why the "challenger sale" can be especially effective in the technology field.

Key Takeaways with Ramin Ettehad

• How Oomnitza used the concept of co-innovation to land its first handful of customers on its way to $30M in annual subscription revenue.
• How do you know when a product is ready to be launched?
• Building a lead score to help sales teams prioritize their outreach.
• The step-by-step sales framework Oomnitza uses to close new accounts.
• One of the best tools in sales leadership.
• Why growth companies should consider paying up to 35% of total deal value to sales leadership.
• How a rising interest environment has led to companies shifting their focus from growth to efficiency.
• Who to target if you're trying to start a mid-market or enterprise SaaS company.
• The area where enterprise SaaS AEs often fall out of practice — and how to solve for it.
• Why does it make sense to use the "challenger sale" framework in the technology space?
• Metric-based outreach strategies to keep a full pipeline.
• The "easy way" to get marketing-qualified leads.
• The importance of macro-optimizing your health and business before micro-optimizing.

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We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there!

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JW Ross is the founder of Botanic Tonics, a non-alcoholic beverage brand that has grown into an 8-figure business since launching 3 years ago.

Before getting into consumer packaged goods, JW had built and sold 4 oil and gas companies, the biggest of which employed 500+ people and brought in $150M/year in revenue. He also started a fintech software business, which he later sold to Oracle.

Leaning on lessons from starting, scaling, and exiting companies, JW launched Botanic Tonics' flagship product, Feel Free, as a productivity enhancer and a healthy alternative to alcohol after experiencing his own struggles with substance abuse.

In today's episode, you'll hear JW talk about transferable lessons from exits in multiple industries, unique distribution challenges and solutions in the consumer packaged goods space, and how borrowing the Red Bull playbook for university partnerships has led to an uptick in direct-to-consumer sales.

Key Takeaways with JW Ross

• Starting and scaling 4 oil and gas companies—one of which grew to $150M/year in revenue.
• Starting a Fintech software company and being bought out by Oracle for an offer he couldn't refuse.
• How JW used vertical integration to hit $2.5M in his first full calendar year and $30M+ in his second year after launching Feel Free.
• What JW believes is the most productive type of online marketing.
• How the 150,000+ convenience store ecosystem operates as one of the largest channels for distribution in the U.S.
• How has the ROI of influencer marketing changed over the years?
• The unique margin, shipping, and store space considerations that led JW to create Feel Free in 2-oz bottles.
• The difference in margin between direct-to-consumer vs. retail distribution.
• Using struggles from substance abuse issues as a catalyst for turning things around.
• Leveraging centers of influence to create a halo effect with networking marketing.
• How 5-Hour Energy built a $1B/year business by mastering the impulse section of stores.
• The difficulties in keeping a high level of customer service when using third-party distributors.

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We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there!

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Victor Peña is the founder of OmniPrint, a multimillion-dollar digital printing company that aims to provide high-quality prints while educating customers on how they can maximize their profits.

Victor came to the U.S. from Mexico at age 7, working in construction before building OmniPrint from scratch into a multi 8-figure business.

Today, Victor talks to me about how educating customers instead of just selling products has translated to success for his own bottom line.

You'll also learn about the upside potential of building a modern business in an unsexy niche, Victor's layered approach to closing business at trade shows, and the investing strategy he uses to reduce taxes and build wealth.

Key Takeaways with Victor Peña

• How Victor went from working construction to building a digital printing business on pace to hit $20M annually.
• How Victor leveraged his "Blue Ocean Strategy" to outmaneuver competitors with big marketing budgets.
• Victor's 360 hybrid model for closing deals at trade shows.
• A strategy for shifting business cash flow into real estate investing to help mitigate the effect of taxes.
• The "business-in-a-box" program that Victor created to convert leads who weren't able to afford his entry level products.
• The value in educating your customers to become better at business — and the positive effect it can have on your revenue.
• Innovation and longevity advantages in business niches that aren't flashy.
• Why perfection doesn't need to be a focus when creating marketing content.
• How solopreneurs leverage Victor's products to make $10-$15 margins selling T-shirts.
• How can you repurpose the same marketing content for different platforms?
• How COVID-induced disruptions to the supply chain have affected dropshipping.

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We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there!

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Scott Ryan is a Managing Partner for Terra Rossa Investments—a family office and active investor that invests in fixed income, debt products, real estate, and later-stage tech.

Today, Scott shares his journey from working in tech sales to founding and exiting three companies (including an 8-figure exit) to running a fund in an asset class that's "too late-stage for venture capitalism and too small for private equity."

Scott shares a complete breakdown of running and raising capital for his fund and the investor opportunity for accessing the half-trillion-dollar asset class.

You'll also hear Scott share a unique strategy for avoiding long-term capital gains tax, the biggest challenges in selling his companies, and various ways investors can access his market area with lower investment minimums.

Key Takeaways with Scott Ryan

• The half-a-trillion dollar opportunity between VC and PE.
• The model Scott used to land an 8-figure exit.
• Types of partners you can leverage when making an exit deal.
• The key differences in how Scott's fund operates compared with PE firms.
• Scott shares the toughest thing about selling his first company.
• The challenge Scott sees for CEOs who want to continue to accelerate—and how he solved it.
• A complete breakdown of the financial details for Scott's Fund, including initial funding, investing, calls and distributions.
• Scott breaks down the various ways small businesses can raise money.
• One metric that can attract big real estate investors with $20-50B AUM.
• How Scott uses Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) to make investing in his fund more accessible.
• Understanding tax nuances with Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) to avoid paying federal capital gains on an exit.

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We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there!

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