2 Types of Business Risk and the One I Choose EVERY TIME

How I got here…

21: Graduated Vanderbilt in 3 years Magna Cum Laude, and took a fancy consulting job.
23 yrs old: Left my fancy consulting job to start a business (a gym).
24 yrs old: Opened 5 gym locations.
26 yrs old: Closed down 6th gym. Lost everything.
26 yrs old: Got back to launching gyms (launched 33). Then, lost everything for a 2nd time.
26 yrs old: In desperation, started licensing model as a hail mary. It worked.
27 yrs old: "Gym Launch" does $3M profit the next 6 months. Then $17M profit next 12 months.
28 yrs old: Started Prestige Labs. $20M the first year.
29 yrs old: Launched ALAN, a software company for agencies to work leads for customers. Scaled to $1.7mmo within 6 months.
31 yrs old: Sold 75% of UseAlan to a strategic buyer in an all stock deal.
31 yrs old: Sold 66% of Gym Launch & Prestige Labs at $46.2M valuation in all-cash deal to American Pacific Group. (you can google it)
32 yrs old: Started making free content showing how we grow companies to make real business education accessible to everyone (and) to attract business owners to invest or scale their businesses.

Today: Our portfolio now does $200M/yr between 10 companies. The largest doing $100M/yr the smallest doing $5M per year. Our ownership varies between 20% and 100% ownership of the companies. Many of them we invested in early and helped grow (which is how we make our money - not youtube videos).

To all the gladiators in the arena, we’re all in the middle of writing our own stories. The worse the monsters, the more epic the story.

You either get an epic outcome or an epic story. Both mean you win.

Keep crushing. May your desires be greater than your obstacles.

Never quit,

Alex

*FULL DISCLOSURE*
I make content to make money - just - on a longer time horizon than most. I want to build trust with business owners so we can find the best ones and help them scale. And if they’re awesome, write them a check and go all the way as partners.

[letelba]

This is the kind of thing that we don't see people talking about. It's incredible the level of clarity that Alex brings.

[malik_speaks]

100%! I’ve started 4 business so far on my journey. All failed except one. This particular service has been in demand for 1000s of years. All I had to do was put my name in the hat and tighten up my own focus now this business generate 5 figures a month. Depends on what you want to do but being money focused instead of passion focused was a huge evolution for me in business. Thanks for sharing the amazing content!

[thehoteldeveloper]

My dad was self made and always said you make your own luck. But he also said to plan for the worst and hope for the best. Mitigating as much risk as you can is crucial. Great video!

[greenthumb]

Please make a video on your Framework Creation Processes.

This is one of your Superpowers in my opinion.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[KenanHeppe]

I’m an actor, which is hard because it’s a combination of extreme execution risk AND idea risk. After about five years in LA, my “type” wasn’t really going anywhere in Hollywood. Was it me? Well, I moved to China and became famous in Chinese TV shows, films, and media. I had to take another big risk and completely pivot my market. Back in LA now, but it has been a wild ride.

[TruckingandLife]

Never cease to amaze me with your "Well thought out content" Thanks Alex

[jamescoholan]

Can you make a video on why you didn't lean into media and code as forms of business leverage earlier in your journey?

[ChaplinPerformance]

Alex, you deserve us and then some. Really appreciate all that you do. You are really a shining light in the online business education community. I’m new to the game and I’ve used a lot of this information to navigate my first year in business. Thank you 🙏🏼

[alpineai]

And this is why starting off as an advertiser with *proven* high ticket offers eliminates so much risk. Because you can be a mediocre ad buyer / media buyer and still create an outsized differential between your EPCs and CPCs. But if you are paying $2, $3, $5, $10 a click and selling a $50 product you have to be a genius, with skill and luck (you will need all three)

[MarketingHarry]

The idea risk is crucial and is more important than the execution risk that comes afterwards! Helpful tips, Alex 🙌

[leoncastillosm]

The underlying idea is that execution skills are the most important skills to cultivate in business. In a sufficiently-long timeframe, they virtually guarantee a successful outcome. Great video!

[GrowWithWill]

Man, your videos are always full of top-quality & helpful content! Kudos to you!

[berkshireee]

Very interesting. I agree 100% and have been basically doing the same thing as you (not 100mill yet though! Haha!) but in niche product businesses. Go for the boring products or services that people need 100%, execute well, and pump that cashflow.

[keithdmello]

Love this kind of thinking. Eliminate idea risk, stack the chips in my favour, assume everything will go wrong and can I still succeed. Wish adjusted basis thinking is important.

[bmejia]

Dang Alex this is A+++ content. For free! These 15 minutes are worth Millions of dollars to understand risk factors in building my business. Thanks so much Alex for keeping it real with your viewers. Cheers!

[edyee]

That was a great video. Your reasoning makes more sense, since why swing big if I can do the same thing with three singles and get to enjoy life along the way.?

[hemat]

Thanks for the video it was so helpful and also thanks for being accurate and informative on the thumbnail. It was frightening when I clicked on one of your videos having no idea what it is gonna be about.

[krishka]

I love the format of clipping the silences. Very informative and straight to the point. This content helps grow my business intelligence so much faster. 💝💝

[giannistsirakis]

I just love you man, you are the best.

[WideAwakeHuman]

Love this articulation... I'm the same way. Ended up owning part of a business with zero money on my end so the risk was extremely low but the return is infinite. Rare situation but it's the best of both worlds.