How'd it Happen?

On this episode of The How'd It Happen Podcast, Mike Malatesta shares his personal experience of selling two businesses and the lessons he learned. He emphasizes the need for not only an exit strategy,  but also an entry strategy. This is important to think about before selling your business. Mike also talks about the resources available for exiting a business and the changes that come with selling a business, including relationships, importance, purpose, and goals.

Mike discusses the importance of operating your business as if it were for sale and the benefits it brings. He also delves into the best way to exit a business and the planning that needs to be done for your entry into a new world post-sale.

To Connect with Mike:

• Website
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• Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

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Ever wondered what it takes to build a multi-billion-dollar company from scratch? Settle in as Mike chats with Jonathan Cronstedt, better known as JCron. JCron is the force behind Kajabi, a company that has revolutionized the knowledge commerce industry. JCron unpacks his entrepreneurial journey, from the inception of the company, the trials and tribulations, the strategies that led to its success, to his life post-exit. He shares valuable insights on the significance of self-belief, the power of focus, and putting in the work before expecting results. He also shares his counter-intuitive belief on why people should come last in business.

While JCron was the President at Kajabi, the company grew 2153%, achieving a $2B valuation within five years. After his 20-plus years in executive leadership, operations, and strategy, JCron developed the Bullseye Formula - his proven method for scaling to exit. Using the Bullseye Formula, JCron invests in and advises a diverse portfolio of companies through The Cronstedt Company, where he is Chairman and CEO. JCron is dedicated to supporting and equipping the next generation of entrepreneurs. He believes entrepreneurship is the single greatest transformational force in our world, and it may just be the thing that saves it.

This conversation goes beyond entrepreneurship; it delves into the importance of meaning and purpose in life. JCron shares on how transformational books shaped his life, how the power of thoughts can create our realities, and the critical role of owning your audience in today's digital world.

Connect with Jonathan Cronstedt:

Website: significanlc.com

Twitter: @thejcron

To Connect with Mike:

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• Coaching
• Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

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In this episode of the How’d It Happen Podcast, Mike Malatesta shares the inspiring story of Joe Polish, a recovering addict turned marketing genius. Mike discusses four key takeaways from Joe's book, “What's In It for Them,” that can benefit leaders and entrepreneurs alike.

Despite a challenging start as a carpet cleaner with no money or experience, Joe's commitment to learning and connecting with others led him to become a successful entrepreneur and super-connector. Mike’s takeaways from this book will help listeners build valuable relationships and achieve success.

Mike delves into Joe’s unique approach to relationships and how he emphasizes the importance of helping others without expecting anything in return. Joe categorizes relationships as either ELF: easy, lucrative, and fun, or HALF: hard, annoying, lame, and frustrating.

Join Mike as he explores Joe' Polish’s journey of resilience and determination and his insight on how to build meaningful relationships beyond just networking.

Episode resources:

Book: What’s In It For Them by Joe Polish

To Connect with Mike:

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Join Mike for a profound conversation with his special guest, Paul Hutchinson, a true liberator of humanity. Known for leading over 70 undercover rescue missions, Paul shares his journey from aspiring brain surgeon to becoming the founder of the Child Liberation Foundation and Liberate Humanity. You will get a firsthand account of his daring infiltrations into trafficking networks, his work with retired US service personnel, and federal police in combating child trafficking.

Paul Hutchinson is an executive director of new 2023 movie The Sound of Freedom. The film highlights one of the largest child rescue missions in history with over 120 victims being liberated. Paul’s role in the rescue is played by the producer of the film. That rescue mission in Colombia set the course of Paul’s lifetime focus on helping to heal humanity.

Diving into the brutal realities of child trafficking, this episode takes you through the dark world of undercover missions and the horrifying realities of organ harvesting. Paul sheds light on the danger, hostility, and heartbreak that he and his team had to confront during their operations. Paul examines the crucial role of breaking the chain of abuse before it takes root and the potential impact it can have in curbing child trafficking.

Wrapping up the discussion, Paul focuses on healing and rehabilitation for survivors of child trafficking. He deliberates on the complex moral implications surrounding the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against children and the often disappointing response from the justice system. Learn more about the Child Liberation Foundation and the liberating wings project, aimed at providing healing modalities for trauma victims. Tune in to understand how you can play your part in this revolution against child trafficking.

Episode resources:

Check out the trailer for the movie The Sound of Freedom

Connect with Paul Hutchinson:

TikTok: @liberating.humanity

Facebook: Paul Hutchinson

Instagram: @liberating.humanity

LinkedIn: Paul Hutchinson

To Connect with Mike:

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• Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

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In this episode of the How’d It Happen Podcast, Mike shares nine reasons why Jay Leno has more meaning than money. From his humility to his hard work, Jay’s qualities are explored in depth. A lot of wealthy people and celebrities have the opposite where they have more money than meaning, and end up feeling very unfulfilled in their lives.

Join Mike as he delves into the topic and reflects on the importance of having more meaning in our lives.

To Connect with Mike:

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• Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

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We all probably think that we know the difference between right and wrong and wouldn’t get caught up in something we aren’t supposed to be doing, but according to Kelly Richmond Pope, it can be a slippery slope. Some people get into legal trouble by starting small or by not speaking up when someone sneakily gets them involved. On this episode of the How’d It Happen Podcast, Mike and Kelly discuss the three categories of fraud perpetrators: intentional, accidental, and righteous.

Kelly wants to turn fraud upside down and allow people to see themselves in these unethical decisions. She wants to stop the language of "it's them, not me" and be more inclusive in understanding that it can be us. She explains that anyone can be talked into anything under the right circumstances and that we have a great ability to compartmentalize levels when it comes to what we will and won't do.

Dr. Kelly Richmond Pope is a nationally recognized expert in risk, forensic accounting, and white-collar crime research, and an award-winning educator, researcher, author, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her area of expertise lies in understanding and identifying financial fraud risk within financial statements, assessing corporate culture and compliance systems designed to confront internal control challenges. Pope's research on executive misconduct culminated in directing and producing the award-winning documentary, All the Queen's Horses which explores the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. Pope’s TED Talk entitled "How Whistle-blowers Shape History” has been viewed over 1.6 million times.

In this episode, Mike and Kelly explore the trillion-dollar fraud industry. They discuss the power of persuasion and the importance of embracing internal whistleblowing. Learn how to recognize and prevent fraud and protect yourself from being a victim of fraud or getting involved in the wrong situation.

Key highlights:

• Fraud perpetrators: intentional, accidental, and righteous
• The problem with our culture encouraging people to mind their own business
• Different types of whistleblowers and their importance
• How to protect yourself from fraud and getting involved in unethical or illegal situations

Episode resources:

• Fool Me Once: A Fraud Experience
• Kelly’s book: Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories, and Secrets from the Trillion-Dollar Fraud Industry

Connect with Kelly Richmond Pope:

• Website: kellyrichmondpope.com
• Instagram: @kellyrpope
• LinkedIn: Kelly Richmond Pope, CPA

To Connect with Mike:

• Website
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• YouTube
• Coaching
• Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

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Who doesn’t love receiving a gift from another person? It doesn’t have to be an actual physical gift in order to be special. In fact, the best gifts humans can give cannot be bought. In this solo episode, Mike talks about the best gifts that humans can give to one another. 

He was inspired to do this by an American journalist and novelist named Oren Arnold. Mr. Arnold wrote a piece on the best gives to give, so Mike puts his own spin on it and shares why he agrees that these are the best gifts we can give to one another. There are certain intangible gifts that are incredibly special to those around us, and we can even give very powerful gifts to ourselves. Tune in for more!

To Connect with Mike:

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• Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

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As a high performer that may be running a business or calling the shots for a company, you have a lot of decisions to make. It is easy to get overwhelmed and experience decision fatigue, or struggle with indecisiveness, not knowing what is truly the best option. This episode is for you if you want to learn how to make quicker and better decisions in any area of your life. Hasard Lee is a former fighter pilot who has spent years making high stake split-second decisions and he wants to teach you how. 

Hasard Lee has spent his career flying both the F-16 and F-35. In 2016, he was selected as the ‘Top Instructor Pilot of the Year’ for the Air Force’s largest F-16 Combat Wing. In 2017, he returned from Afghanistan where his squadron dropped the most ordnance since the war’s opening days. He has flown 82 combat missions and has 4 Air Medals. Hasard has the distinction of being the only fighter pilot to ever employ two different types of jets in combat on the same day. He is also a content creator with one of the largest defense channels on YouTube. Hasard’s first book, “The Art of Clear Thinking” was recently released, and it focuses on how to use fighter pilot decision-making in everyday life.

Hasard speaks on air combat, human performance, decision-making, mental toughness, and how to debrief. From reading his book, Mike had many takeaways, and couldn’t wait to get Hasard on the How’d It Happen Podcast. In this episode, Hasard shares his dream of becoming a fighter pilot since he was a kid and the rigorous training he went through to make that dream a reality. 

Key highlights:

• Hasard’s first experience with a jet when he was 5
• The physical and mental challenges of flying the airforce’s fastest and most expensive jets
• Decision-making
• Mental toughness
• Debriefs
• The book-writing process
• The “Dream” sheet

Connect with Hasard Lee:

• Website: hasardlee.com | hasardx.com
• Instagram: @hasardlee
• Podcast: The Professionals Playbook 
• YouTube: Hasard Lee
• Get Hasard’s book: The Art of Clear Thinking

To Connect with Mike:

• Website
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• Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

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Do you want to know what it takes to create something truly magical from absolutely nothing? Building a remarkable business from the ground up requires focusing on being better than what is already out there. But here is the key: you can’t just be slightly better than your competition. You need to go all in on being 10 times better than what is currently already being done. This is the mindset that Kevin Gibbon operates from and it has served him very well.

Sometimes the misplaced step offers the most profound and lasting insight. Innately entrepreneurial, Airhouse CEO and Co-Founder Kevin Gibbon got his start in tech developing software for major aerospace players like Boeing and Raytheon. After a few years, he set out to carve his own path, building Shyp, attracting $62.1M in funding, and landing on Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies list. Unfortunately, Shyp was a bright star that ultimately burned out, but Kevin walked away from the experience equipped with reams of priceless insight. At Airhouse, he’s applying that insight to revolutionize the way DTC e-commerce brands scale logistics.

In this episode of the How’d It Happen Podcast, Kevin is sharing how he stayed so optimistic and confident while his first business Shyp, was about to close down. He took the priceless lessons that he learned from building a running Shyp, to go on and build the very successful company, Airhouse, and has been introduced as the next Jeff Bezos. What Kevin learned is that many entrepreneurs focus on the wrong things, such as building a great service or product, but where we need to focus is on our ideal customer. What do they need? How can we make their lives easier? Focus there, truly understand that problem, figure out how to solve it, and your chances of success will be much higher. 

Key highlights:

• How Kevin got started in Tech
• Kevin’s thoughts on whether AI will replace creators
• How to use AI to your advantage as a creator
• The Uberfication of everything 
• The magic of building something from nothing 

Connect with Kevin Gibbon:

Website: airhouse.io

LinkedIn: Kevin Gibbon

Twitter: @kevingibbon

Instagram: @kevingibbon

Podcast: Second Time Founders

To Connect with Mike:

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We all have cool things about ourselves, but how often do you take the time to list out the cool things about yourself? Chances are, it’s probably not very often, but after listening to a podcast with Dean Graziosi, Mike felt inspired to reflect on the cool things about himself. In Dean’s podcast episode, he talked about an exercise that he called “10 Cool Things About Me” and he listed them. It is really easy to forget what's cool about you because you might be focused on everything that's wrong with you, or wrong in your life or business. Mike encourages you to go in the opposite direction and take the time to sit down and list 10 (or more) cool things about yourself. We all have them!

In this solo episode, Mike reflects on the 10 cool things about himself and what he is proud of. This is a fun and insightful exercise because it allows us to see the positives in ourselves when things may not be feeling very positive around us. We all have unique traits, talents, and things that are important to us, and that is what makes all of us special, and very cool. You might be thinking that it feels braggy or self-centered to focus on what is great about you, but we all deserve to celebrate ourselves and appreciate the cool things about us. So what are 10 cool things about you? Write them down, and send us a message on Instagram @malatesta.mike and we’d love to hear about the greatness in you.

To Connect with Mike:

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• Get Mike’s book: Owner Shift

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