The Asset Class

Jesse delivers the operational gem that most consultants charging $365 to $525 an hour won't break down this clearly. Most business owners group all their revenue onto one line on the P&L. For an HVAC contractor, that means residential service calls, residential new builds, commercial service, and commercial new builds all lumped together. The fallacy? You can't assess the profitability of any single stream. You can't raise your rate where it's bleeding, negotiate vendor leverage where you're spending big, or measure whether your marketing is even working. Separating those streams is a cheat code for growth.

Then Jesse walks through the accounts receivable trap in QuickBooks. When your field service platform (Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan) integrates with QuickBooks, an invoice, a recorded payment, and a bank deposit all have to reconcile. When they don't, one $100 job can show as $200 in phantom revenue and an overdue invoice that was already paid. Multiply that across a year and your receivables report is fiction. On the payables side, grouping all materials onto one line hides that you spent $350,000 with one vendor—leverage you could use for better terms if you could only see it.

Earl breaks down the doubled SBA 7A loan (now $10 million) and the 504 loan expansion. The silver tsunami is here: 33 million small businesses, 10 to 14 million changing hands over eight years, more 60-year-olds than 16-year-olds for the first time in modern history. 97% of businesses for sale never sell—meaning sellers are open to creative finance. You don't need your money and you don't need to run it. You need to own it.

The tax code is an incentive list—real estate breaks exist because the government doesn't want to house everyone. Earl also stresses the legal, ethical, moral line: grifts like the January 6th slush fund photoshopping and the $1.8 billion payouts aren't strategy—they're proof you don't believe in yourself.

Weather enters the risk equation. The super El Niño—water temps 7 degrees above normal—threatens the worst wildfires and floods on record. Ray Dalio's declining-empire forces stacking at once: financial, political, technological, environmental.

Jesse unpacks corporate sponsorship plays—banks sitting on billions earmarked for community engagement, handing out $300 per new account at events—turning networks into capital behind the curtain.

The game is to be sold, not told. And we're selling it every week.

Each one, teach one. Stay dangerous.

theassetclass.us/classmates

Ten to fourteen million businesses will change hands over the next decade. Baby boomers are retiring, divorcing, dissolving partnerships, or just done. Their kids don't want it. Private equity won't touch anything under $12 million because it costs them too much money to make that little money. That gap is your opportunity.

The number one objection Earl hears: I don't have the money to buy a business. Who said it takes your money? Second objection: I've never run one. Who said you have to run it? You need to own it. SBA just doubled the 7A loan limit—10% down on a $10 million business, and that 10% doesn't have to come from your pocket. Credit stacking, investor capital, seller notes. Earl walks through a full seller-financing conversation: understand why they're selling, solve their actual problem, structure monthly payments over 15 years, save them the immediate tax hit, and keep them invested in your success.

Earl breaks down the SECURE Act changes almost nobody understands—including financial advisors. Employers can now direct 401k contributions toward student loan debt. Roth portions inside traditional 401ks let you pay tax on the seed instead of the harvest. Domestic violence survivors can pull $10,000 or 50% tax-free with no police report required. Catch-up provisions for high earners over $135,000 must go into a Roth. And RMDs? That's Uncle Sam taking his piece with a 50% penalty. Your 401k is incarcerated funds. Money jail.

Jesse takes Congress apart. Financial negligence starts there—they control the purse. No balanced budget in decades, a $2 trillion deficit, and the same body that could subpoena answers instead scores political points. Both parties are two wings on the same bird. Raising taxes on Americans doesn't fix a spending problem.

Empathy is being chastised as weakness by people in power. Leadership is grounded in servitude. Jesse breaks down farm, fish, and hunt as a three-part lead generation framework—the farm nurtures and converts long after the bait and the hunt come home empty.

Gas over $5. China is cleaning up while we lose the petrodollar. Working harder and having more month left at the end of the check is what triggers revolution—not unemployment.

No luxuries for three years. Stay ready so you don't have to get ready.

Each one, teach one. Stay dangerous.

theassetclass.us/classmates

Jesse breaks down what it means to walk a client's production floor and see opportunity everywhere. The people inside every business already hold the answers to what's broken—but owners get so busy chasing their own tail they shut down the feedback loop. Reinvigorating that commitment is the work. And the future of Bullseye Consulting isn't the flip strategy. It's a portfolio of businesses where value gets engineered in by installing the right management, skill sets, and performance measurements while keeping the heart and soul intact.

Earl and Jesse tackle life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as business principles. When healthcare, prisons, and education run for-profit, those core principles get infringed. Private prisons push policy to stay full. The gutting of the Voting Rights Act sets up Hunger Games district lines that split and dilute Black and brown representation. A new form of enslavement builds a permanent underclass locked out of the American experience.

Earl teaches futures contracts through a corn and cereal analogy—how producers and buyers lock in prices to mitigate catastrophic loss, and why oil trades on futures, not stocks. The lesson isn't to become a futures trader. It's to understand how markets move so you make informed decisions. Almost all wealth in America is built through ownership of a business. Own the assets or become a prisoner of the underclass.

Roth conversions are the move. We're in the lowest tax rates of modern history. Pay tax on the seed, not the harvest—you never know how big the harvest gets. Tax erasers combine a tax strategy with the conversion so you convert at 10% or less. Bonds have been negative roughly 60-plus months; if your hedge against variability is variable, you have no hedge. Municipal bonds stay tax-free. US gold coinage like the double eagle sells without capital gains—that's tax code, not a loophole.

National debt grows $5 million per minute. The incoming Fed pick floated lowering rates, liquidating the balance sheet, and erasing the debt—dangerous levers to yank in a volatile economy. Deflation is the risk nobody discusses. And the SEC push from quarterly to semi-annual to annual reporting? More concealment, more Enron-style book-cooking while the market rips on sentiment.

Jerome Powell stood in the flames—balancing inflation and the job market against political pressure. Facts over feelings. Any president, any party.

The most powerful office is citizen. Wake yourself up and move accordingly.

Each one, teach one. Stay dangerous.

theassetclass.us/classmates

Episode 34: "Entrepreneurial Slavery vs. Liberation: The Four-Legged Stool & the Coming Depression"

Jesse draws the line between entrepreneurial slavery and true liberation. Owning a business that enslaves the owner runs contrary to why we build in the first place. The roadmap out starts with mastering your craft—becoming the subject matter expert who contributes to the ecosystem instead of just taking from it. That's how his easiest six-figure deal ever happened. You are your greatest asset. Invest accordingly.

The four-legged stool framework: leg one is lead generation—the intentional system that attracts, nurtures, and converts customers. Leg two is operations—delivering consistently without quality defects or bottlenecks. Leg three is accounting and finance—managerial accounting that translates business activity into report cards (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow). Leg four is management and compliance—staying right with local, state, and federal regulations. Two weak legs and you're on the floor. Most owners are lucky to have one strong leg.

Earl breaks down the LLC to S-Corp graduation. The S-Corp saves you from double self-employment tax once you hit that $100K draw threshold, but not everyone qualifies. A $50K side business doesn't justify the accounting, bookkeeping, and quarterly costs. Distributions aren't hit with self-employment tax or the 21% corporate rate. After the Enron and Martha Stewart era, the CPA and the tax strategist can no longer legally be the same person. Earl also details a FICA plan (MERP plus health supplement) that created 70% cash flow on major medical for a 140-employee company while giving workers a tax-free raise.

National debt now exceeds GDP for the first time in 80 years, growing $1.5 trillion every 180 days—$5 million per minute. Gas near $5. Food climbing because 33% of world fertilizer flows through the Strait. Operation Epic Fury runs under a humanitarian guise while Congress refuses to reclaim the power of the purse. Sixty-plus days into an undeclared war, the administration claims the clock reset.

Spirit Airlines folds. Oracle cuts 30,000 by email. Meta layoffs. Bailouts reward bad actors while employees get nothing and executives buy back stock. The SEC pushing semi-annual reporting is a depression signal—hiding the blood.

The most powerful office is citizen. Hold your representatives accountable, especially in your own party.

Each one, teach one. Stay dangerous.

theassetclass.us/classmates

Warren Buffett said accounting is the language of business. Jesse breaks down why managerial accounting isn't optional...it's essential for business survival. Cost of goods sold. Margins. Ratios. If you're measuring success by your bank account instead of your financial statements, you're flying blind. You see money in the account but forget about vendor payments, rent, taxes, payroll. That's not profit. That's a mirage. Businesses pay $17,000 to $25,000 to fix what they broke by refusing to learn this language.

Earl delivers the bankability framework: tax records equal funding. Tax records equal credit. Lenders want clean returns—three lines showing revenue, tax credits, tax code. Not four cost segregations and a master class just to underwrite your loan. Play broke on your taxes, stay broke in real life. Strategic partnerships and joint ventures multiply revenue while building the financial statements that make banks compete for your business.

Retirement Barbie (Kristien) joins to break down tax-free wealth vehicles. The national debt went from $21.5 trillion to $39 trillion in seven years. The government is fiscally irresponsible with gold toilets and 200 pounds of crab legs. Tax rates will double to service the debt—it's happened before at 94% top marginal rates. Annuities are personal pensions you own. Index Universal Life grows cash value in market gains without market losses. These aren't luxuries. They're necessities when the biggest bill in retirement becomes taxes.

Median Black wealth sits under $50,000. What are you doing with $50,000 in this economy? Three months of bills. Earl challenges: would you kill for your kids or live correctly for them? Put the crab legs down—that's a life insurance premium. Start with $4-5 million in coverage. Build real estate smart. Pass the baton. Harriet Tubman didn't have to go back, but she did. Every generation sacrifices something. Ours is the wealth gap.

Iran's blockade is bleeding the petrodollar. Ships now pay $2 million in yen instead of US dollars. We lost the reserve currency advantage. We're funding Iraq ($1 billion/week in pallets), Iran (through Iraqi shell corps while "sanctioning" them), and our own military ($1 billion/day in munitions). We unfroze $22 billion to Iran in eight weeks—Obama unfroze $1 billion and got called a lunatic. If the Strait of Hormuz stays closed 30 more days: 70% gas increase, 120-320% food increase (33% of world fertilizer flows through there), global depression guaranteed.

There's no economic reason to be there. We're hustling backwards. The IRGC fired on ships Thursday after we said the strait was open but kept our blockade. This is unsustainable.

Learn the language. Build tax-free. Pass the baton.

Each One, Teach One. Stay Dangerous.

theassetclass.us/classmates

Earl delivers captive insurance—the super rich guy secret that's been hidden for 50 years. Move $1.2 million tax-free from your company into your own insurance entity. The money is liquid. You can invest it. You only pay taxes on 30% of the gains. If your captive makes $120,000 on that $1.2 million, you're only taxed on $36,000. This isn't theory. This is how wealthy people stay wealthy.

Jesse breaks down the 5-step performance framework: clear expectations, training and resources, measurable standards, actionable feedback, consistent consequences. Your communication strategy with employees directly impacts your bottom line, your payroll efficiency, your Google ratings. When you don't engineer profit into your pricing model, you end up with $2.1 million in revenue and $2.3 million in expenses.

Labor burden calculation: 20% rule of thumb on top of base salary. Labor utilization target: 85% across most industries. If you're paying someone for 8 hours and only 4 are revenue-generating, you're running a nonprofit.

Sam Altman gets hit with two assassination attempts in 48 hours—Molotov cocktails, then a drive-by shooting. Bad blood with Elon, OpenAI, cryptocurrency projects. When the SEC shows up next, we'll know it was coordinated.

The president truths: "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again." Genocide declared casually on Easter Sunday while posting pictures as Jesus Christ. NATO allies denying airspace. Spain blocking access. Bases in the Middle East uninhabitable. Service members moved into hotels that become military targets.

The wealth gap just kicked the door down. Pac's hotel metaphor is happening in real time. Grant Cardone's rule: under $30 million net worth, you can't finance your own lawsuit. Jay-Z covered legal fees for 8+ artists including Meek Mill and Lil Wayne who made hundreds of millions but couldn't cover their own cases. Paper wealthy versus liquid is the difference between survival and hostile takeover.

USDA halted Black farmer lawsuit payments. No DEI. The same KKK members who blocked voting got deputized to run farm loans after Reconstruction—denying and delaying until bankruptcy for 30 years.

You've got two years to get rich the normal way. After that, nobody knows what the world looks like.

Each One, Teach One. Stay Dangerous.

theassetclass.us/classmates

Easter Sunday. The president truths: "Tuesday will be power plant day and bridge day all wrapped up in one in Iran. Open the fucking strait you crazy bastards or you'll be living in hell. Praise be to Allah." That's a proactive declaration of war crimes since targeting civilian infrastructure is explicitly prohibited. Iran's response? A list of corporations that can expect missile visits, including the Magnificent Seven driving the S&P 500.

30,000 Oracle workers receive termination emails. Don't report to work. Job security just died in real time. Government jobs, historically the most secure positions, got slaughtered last year. We lost 92,000 jobs last month alone. The wealth gap just had a disrespectful hole blown through it. If you're waiting on a paycheck, you're already losing.

Revenue is Vanity. Profit is Sanity. Cash is King. Jesse breaks down why a $2.1 million revenue year that spent $2.3 million creates a $200,000 liability, not financial security. Amazon's model? Zero inventory costs, immediate payment, third-party liability. That's enterprise thinking.

Chinese hackers are in our infrastructure, as the FBI has confirmed it to Congress. We set the precedent that utility attacks are acceptable. Now we're vulnerable to the same retaliation we authorized.

The only security left is what you build in yourself. Read five books on one topic and you're an expert above 97% of the population. Your value isn't your job title. It's your ability to solve problems the ecosystem needs solved.

Network strategically. Ask questions, don't present. Sell yourself first, product second. Build referral partnerships that multiply value.

0:01:08 Tax Strategy Importance

0:01:43 Asset Protection & Trusts

0:02:13 Levels to Wealth Building

0:04:15 Balance Sheet Ratios

0:05:01 Simon Sinek Framework

0:08:43 Behavioral Change Resistance

0:10:30 Start With Why

0:13:04 Revenue is for Vanity

0:14:10 Amazon Business Model

0:18:52 Oracle’s 30K Employee Layoffs

0:20:00 Job Security Questioned

0:26:30 War Crime Declaration

0:29:07 Ripple Effect Awareness

0:32:30 Proxy War Dynamics

0:34:30 Pandora's Box Opened

0:36:30 Civic Responsibility

0:37:30 Holding Parties Accountable

0:40:48 Small Business Ecosystem

0:47:00 Networking & Strategic Partnerships

0:56:10 Cringe Segment Introduced

0:58:00 Payment Delayed Novelty

0:59:00 Air Force PJs Salute

1:00:24 Military Appreciation Statement

Become your own enterprise or get drowned.

Each One, Teach One. Stay Dangerous.

theassetclass.us/classmates

The economics of this war are insane. America is spending a billion dollars per day while literally funding all sides. We're sending pallets of US dollars to Iraq, which flows through shell companies across the 300-mile border directly into Iran, the country we're sanctioning and bombing. Iran and Russia are making more international revenue than they've made in years. We created their economic boom while destroying our own.

Here's what nobody's connecting: supply chains are collapsing. Ships already at sea will deliver their cargo, but production has significantly slowed or stopped in key areas. Oil refineries slowed pumping because the Strait can't move product. Once current inventory lands, there's no flow behind it. Businesses haven't felt the energy cost impact yet, but it's coming.

The AI bet is dead. This administration went all-in on artificial intelligence with massive foreign investment flowing into tech stocks. But helium is required to manufacture AI chips, and it flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Energy powers AI data centers, and oil is projected to hit crisis pricing. Gulf nations that were supposed to dump billions into AI markets? They're rebuilding bombed infrastructure for the next five years instead. The economic foundation for the AI boom just evaporated.

Meanwhile, your 401k is trapped. The government wants to open qualified retirement plans to alternative assets—sounds great until average people panic-sell at the bottom and buy at the top. Global depression is unavoidable. Earl's recommendation: stop funding incarcerated money. We're at the lowest tax rates in modern American history. Required Minimum Distributions will force you to take 50% tax penalties if you don't withdraw enough. Uncle Sam gets his cut when rates are higher.

Convert to Roth tax-free now. Free those jailed funds while you can still control the tax liability. Cash is a position. Municipal bonds offer tax-free returns. The collapse is coming—liquidity wins.

02:17 Community Feedback Growing

04:27 Balanced Perspective Question

05:59 Enterprise Value Focus

06:53 Supply Chain Interruption

08:47 Business Energy Costs

09:46 Office Space Secured

12:13 Contracted Coaching Venture

16:03 Rental Properties Discussion

17:06 Working Through Challenges

19:08 Race to Zero Strategy

19:28 IDing Opportunities Without Paychecks

21:15 ERC Credits Example

22:53 Iran Economics Segue

27:33 Iran & Russia’s Revenue Increase

28:58 Ground Troops Insanity

30:18 UN Slavery Vote

33:20 Military Destabilization Discussion

36:15 Recruitment Age Raised

37:06 Christian Nationalist Perspective

37:39 National Security Danger

38:26 General Officer Removals

42:03 Global Depression Question

43:53 GDP & Mortality Correlation

45:06 401k Changes Coming

45:31 Helium Chip Manufacturing

48:43 Iranian Retaliation Warning

49:34 Prince Sultan Airbase Bombed

51:12 Depression Preparation

52:33 Crypto FUD Explanation

54:32 Contrarian Thinking Required

55:06 Repurpose Retirement Contributions

56:42 Dollar Cost Averaging

57:22 Municipal Bonds Option

59:08 RMD Forced Distributions

1:00:26 Incarcerated Funds

Each One, Teach One. Stay Dangerous.

theassetclass.us/classmates

While America burns through a billion dollars per day on warfare, Iran is winning the economic game. The petrodollar is being bypassed as ships are passing through the Strait of Hormuz paying the equivalent of $2M US in Yuan. The US has lifted sanctions on both Iran and Russia to combat skyrocketing oil prices in the world economy, and they're making more money than they have in years. The US is literally funding our own adversaries while hemorrhaging taxpayer wealth.

Israel attacks Iran's liquid natural gas. Iran retaliates by hitting Qatar and Saudi Arabia's natural gas infrastructure. Oil refineries across the Middle East are being struck with missiles and drones. The president threatens to obliterate Iran's power grid in 48 hours. Iran's response? They mock him publicly, fire missiles at Diego Garcia to demonstrate their range can reach Europe, and laugh at claims of diplomatic negotiations that never happened.

Here's what nobody's talking about: 33% of the world's fertilizers flow through the Strait of Hormuz. The International Energy Agency is already recommending energy rationing. United Airlines CEO just announced flight cuts with oil projected at $175 per barrel. The Pentagon requested $200 billion, which indicates they're planning for long-term escalation, not de-escalation.

Business Owners, this is a cautionary tale: if energy constraints force another lockdown, are your remote operations ready? The government won't have money to bail you out this time. Private credit is collapsing—BlackRock and Blue Owl are blocking withdrawals. CFPB was dismantled, so consumer protections are gone.

The wealth transfer is happening NOW. Iran's playing three-dimensional chess while we hustle backwards—cutting three tires after getting one flat. Bond markets are moving in lockstep with presidential announcements. Those positioned to move are preparing for Birdman hand rubs.

00:25 Wealth Management Strategies

01:29 Drama & Gossip Avoidance

04:30 Solution Oriented Thinking

06:02 Israel Attacks Iran’s LNG

06:09 Iran Retaliates on Qatar & Saudi

07:22 Ripple Effects Deduction

09:30 Petro Dollar Politics

12:30 Losing Reserve Status

13:18 Wholesale Gold Silver

14:27 Desalinization & Power Grids Warning

15:45 Diego Garcia’s Attempted Strike

18:53 NATO’s Consultation Failure

24:16 Billion Dollar Days

25:39 Russia & Iran Profit from US Sanctions Relief

26:16 Hustling Backwards Analogy

27:40 War Declaration Politics

31:30 Tax Bracket Reality

32:30 Tax Strategy Business

33:20 Fertilizer Constraint Announced

34:21 International Energy Agency

35:20 Pentagon Requests $200B

36:20 Consequences of Boots on the Ground

38:00 USAID Cuts Impact Food Security

39:54 Will We See Another Lockdown?

41:30 Hyperinflated Power Rates

44:05 CFPB Dismantled Watchdog

45:00 Private Credit Crisis

46:07 Lockdown Preparation Reference

49:04 Foresight Planning Ahead

50:17 Flight Cuts Announcement

51:17 Invest Fest & Hov This Summer

56:15 US’s Intel Stake Ownership

58:30 Democratic Socialism Definition

59:07 Generational Wealth Opportunities

1:00:00 Bond Market Correlation

When you stay ready, you ain't got to get ready.

Each One, Teach One. Stay Dangerous.

theassetclass.us/classmates

The world is unraveling in real time, and most people are sleepwalking into economic collapse. We lost 92K jobs last month—a 130K-job swing from projections—and that's just the beginning. Stagflation is here: inflation climbing while job markets crater. Energy prices are being squeezed by the Strait of Hormuz constraint impacting 20% of global supply, with oil potentially hitting $150+ per barrel.

Iran's war response is reshaping the Middle East. Dubai—once the beacon of safety for global investment—is now taking incoming. The seven-star hotel got hit. UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, all under attack. The assassinated Ayatollah, who was 86 and dying naturally was replaced by his son after his entire family—mother, father, wife, daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, sister were killed. The US has created a martyr with personal grievance leading a nation. Diplomatic betrayal became our pattern: negotiate in June, bomb during negotiations. Repeat in January. Tomahawk missiles on elementary schools. Black rain from oil infrastructure attacks. Desalinization systems destroyed. War crimes that make our own utility grids free game for retaliation.

But this isn't doom and gloom. This is your Birdman hand rubs moment. When markets correct 30%, those positioned win. The answer? Invest in yourself with ruthless intention. Read five books on one topic, you're an expert above 97% of the population. Adopt the Intrapreneurship mindset: learn the game while punching the clock, then slide out with all the knowledge you need. Your skillset can't be taken away. Our companies could fold tomorrow, but the skills that built live forever.

Identity crisis keeps people broke. Until you decide—kill off all other options—you'll keep starting over. You're both Michelangelo and David, carving away to become who you're meant to be. With AI's two-to-three-year timeline, those without skills to solve real problems will watch the world become their problem.

Plan for war. Stay ready. Position for the correction. Become your greatest asset.

Each One, Teach One. Stay Dangerous.

theassetclass.us/classmates

01:17 Growth Brand Evolution

04:03 Win Learn Dichotomy

05:03 Obstacle Mountain Metaphor

06:21 Entrepreneur Loneliness Reality

09:15 Abundant Mindset Example

10:37 Iran Conflict Continuation

12:36 Safety Beacon Upended

13:45 Kuwait Qatar Deployments

15:08 Kuwait Party City

16:00 Americanized Propaganda View

17:48 IRGC Formation History

18:06 Ariel Feedback Shoutout

18:30 Opportunity Crisis Framework

19:44 Strait Hormuz Impact

20:10 Market Correction Warning

21:30 Tax Advantaged Accounts

22:45 Forced Inflation Reality

23:14 Ayatollah Replacement Reality

23:55 Austin Shooter Incident

26:15 Suge Knight Diplomacy

27:00 Russia Sanctions Lifted

28:32 Ramadan & Lent Disrespect

29:01 January Negotiations Betrayal

29:39 Ceasefire Attack Pattern

30:15 Iranian Elementary School Bombing

31:00 Despicable War Crime

32:11 Desalinization Systems Attacked

32:40 Slippery Slope Warning

33:14 US Utility Grid Vulnerability

34:20 Pain Tolerance Comparison

40:12 Identity Crisis Shift

43:30 Self Reflection Introspection

46:31 Personal Skill Development

48:08 Intentional Learning Defined

52:45 You’re Your Greatest Asset

53:00 Stagflation Explanation Definition

55:16 Labor Participation Rate

57:00 Strategic Oil Reserves Released

57:45 Kager Island Attack

1:00:47 Intrapreneurship Mindset Adoption

1:04:30 Warrior Ethos Framework

1:05:32 Woe Is Me