I’m 38. Here are 17 lessons from 17 years in business I wish I knew at 21:

Never Lose Money There's a reason this is Warren Buffett's #1 rule. It doesn’t matter if you make $10 or $10M. If you lose money faster than you can make it, you're screwed. Everything else in business is secondary to not going broke.

99% Of People Don't Move Fast Enough Believe it or not, you have an actual cost to inaction. Every time you say "one day," you cost yourself future dollars. I waited a year to take my Goldman Sachs job. That delay cost me 6-figures.

Go Big If you're distracted by small things, you'll never get the big things done. 55% of productivity is lost to your phone. We check it 36 times per hour while working. Put the phone down. Pick up the money.

Give 10x Before You Ask For 1x This is the rule of reciprocity. When you give value first, money always follows. I probably gave away probably millions worth of free advice before anyone paid me. Rich people give. Poor people hoard.

Do The Dirty Work Everyone wants to be an influencer or start the next sexy AI company. But the cold truth truth is the sexier the business, the less money you make. 87% of actors in Hollywood don't qualify for health insurance. Remember that the next time you’re tempted to follow your passion.

Sell Things To Rich People They pay more and negotiate less. Rich people have bigger problems and bigger budgets. There’s no number that’s too high as long as you make their lives easier.

Solve Bigger Problems Bigger problems = bigger paychecks Don't tackle $5 problems when you can solve $50K ones . Both require effort but one pays your mortgage and the other pays for coffee.

Build Once, Sell Continuously You can’t grind forever. Create flywheels where one business feeds another - like a mini Amazon. This is how you make more money without working harder.

Humans Are Contagious Your friend group predicts how much money you'll make. Studies show having 10% more friends worth over $100K increases in your net worth by 10%. Success is contagious. So is failure.

Others' Beliefs Become Your Reality This is called the Pygmalion effect. If people around you say you'll never grow, you probably never will. Surround yourself with people who believe in your potential.

It's Never Too Late I didn't get married until 33. Didn't start content until 35. Didn't start a podcast until 37. At 30, I thought I'd peaked. At 38, I know I'm just getting started.

Sell More And Never Apologize If you’re a CEO, your job is to be the chief salesperson. Leave the firefighting to your team. Your #1 priority should be to bring revenue in, not spend all day on Zoom having quick calls.

Fear Should Never Stop You The world is run by C students and failed employees who are probably less smart than you. Instead of getting paralyzed… Create a risk budget. Know what you can afford to lose. Then put everything else on the line.

People Are Your Most Expensive Investment If you want to scale to 8-figures, you can't do it alone. Hire humans who are hyperconnected with big networks. I follow the "One mil per employee" rule - every person on my team should generate $1M.

Be Likable As A Leader You make so much more money when people like you. - Have an open door policy - Be kind, not nice - Listen to your employees more than you speak to them Nail all three and your team will gladly follow you into a warzone.

Avoid The Middle Class Wealth Trap Compound interest isn't enough to make you wealthy in this economy. You need: Resources + Labor + Knowledge + Ideas = Money If you’re not increasing at least one of these daily.

Be An Obsessive Psychopath In a world that only talks about work-life balance, be obsessed. It’ll put you light years ahead of your peers. I’m not saying you have to be crazy to own a business, but it helps.

Probably one of the best decisions I've ever made was become an owner. It's not easy but working a 9-5 isn't either. Ready to stop building someone else's empire and start your own? Join me for 3 days where I'll show you exactly how to make it happen: