WEBVTT - Only 1% Understand This: The Wealth Formula for True Freedom 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:04.120 Most people that are wealthy didn't get wealthy diversified. They 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:07.240 got there with one single focus, and they diversified as 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:11.319 a risk mitigation to not completely lose everything in three 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.800 or four years. You can build a million dollar business 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:14.760 offt ten dollars task. 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:15.560 You can do it. 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:18.800 If you want to build anything meaningful, it requires other people, 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:20.000 which means you're going to have to get. 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:20.640 Some time over here. 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:22.560 Today we're going to dive into the mindset and the 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:25.599 strategies to create true financial freedom, and we have a 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:27.960 powerhouse in the building to break it all down. My 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:31.520 guest is Dan Martel. Now he's just not any entrepreneur. 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:36.240 He's a multimillionaire investor, a coach of over one thousand founders. 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.320 Dan's investments have contributed to growth of over fifty startups 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:42.960 through his own Martel Ventures fund, supportfolio of companies generating 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:45.840 over one hundred million dollars in revenue, and his journey 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:49.159 from troubled beginnings to founding and exiting multiple tech companies 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:51.760 is nothing short of incredible. So today we're going to 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.400 break down his blueprint so you can steal it so 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:56.440 you can apply it to your own life. So if 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.560 you're serious about financial independence and ready to make your 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:00.640 money work for you. 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:01.960 Then you're in the right place. 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.280 I think of three different forms of capital. So you 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:07.120 have like financial capital, but then you have like mental capital, 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:10.440 like skills, and then like relationship capital. And so most 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:12.840 people are chasing the financial capital, not realizing it's a 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:15.560 byproduct of the skills and the relationships that I had. 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:18.920 That's such a good insight. If people think success is money, 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:21.880 I can prove that it's not because nobody would trade 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:24.360 their life right now for Warren Buffett. You wouldn't do it. 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:26.399 Why wouldn't you do it? Well? Because that best you 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:30.120 might give them five, seven, ten years. If someone would 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:32.720 give you a billion dollars and you would lose your 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:34.880 eyesight in your hearing, would you take that? You wouldn't 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:36.760 do it. Yeah, So right off the bat, that's just 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:39.360 proof that it's not about the money. What it's about 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:43.920 is a all right, Dan Martel, Hey Mark, thanks for 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:45.000 joining and Honor. 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:45.680 It's fun. 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:47.720 Like I was saying, Man, so many mutual friends and 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:50.760 some overlap on what we're talking about. So I'm super 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:52.680 excited to talk to you today, so appreciate your time. 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:56.080 Let's just jump right in and talk about your book, 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:58.200 and I think there's a lot of overlaps between you know, 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:00.320 what your book is about, what you talk about sort 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:03.600 of my world, which is more traditional investing. But ultimately 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:05.240 why right, we're trying to get to the same goal, 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:09.440 which is time. Time freedom. All economics is based on time. 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:10.520 That's the most scarce thing. 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:13.880 So when I think of your book, and maybe it's 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:15.240 just my mindset, but I think of it from like 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:18.560 an investing standpoint, Right, if I'm going to buy back 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:22.320 my time, then I'm investing into my time, which means 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.519 I get more back return, I get a higher return. 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:28.600 And I think about like a poor mentality versus a 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:31.840 wealthy mentality, So poor think always about spending time. 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:34.639 I'm spending my time doing this, and I'm spending my. 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:37.359 Money versus like a wealthy mentality. Is like I'm investing 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:39.120 to get more time back or investing to get more 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:41.320 money back. I'm curious, do you think about it from 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:43.840 that way in this book? Yeah? The way I like 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:49.120 to think about it is broke people spend time to 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:52.840 save money, and enrich people spend money to save time. 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:56.400 And you see it all the time. I mean, it's 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:58.280 actually quite interesting if you even break it up from 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:03.800 like broke people's spend money on distractions. I'd say middle 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:06.280 class people spend money on improving their credit score, and 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:08.120 then rich people spend money on things they're going to 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:11.920 make the money. Right, And if you're going to buy 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.359 back your time, then it means that that time you've 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:18.200 gotten back, hopefully you reinvest it in things that are 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:20.600 going to generate a better future for you, right. And 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:22.400 that's why I like a lot of people have heard 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:25.399 time because investing like going to the gym. You don't 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:27.960 like go to the gym once and wake up buff right, 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.200 Like you got to like be consistent, show up. I know, 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.320 and I think that's the same thing when you start 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:36.120 buying back your time. A lot of people they don't 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:38.720 see the results immediately and they don't have the faith 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:43.240 that over time that's actually a better trade. But you know, 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:46.800 and I'm a byproduct of twenty seven years of just 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:49.320 doing this, so I'm not that impressive. I've literally been 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.680 doing it that long. I just think of it as 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:56.880 every time I've hired somebody to buy back time to 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:00.040 then go not do anything productive with it, while it 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:02.520 usually slides backwards. I didn't get the trade I was 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:06.720 supposed to get. And anytime I've been deliberate about saying, Okay, 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:08.240 well this is what I want my life to look like, 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:10.760 and these are the things I need to achieve I have, 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:13.560 there's no way I can outwork to get there. 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:14.040 Right. 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.400 It's like, yeah, I like to tell people, like, you 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:20.000 can't build a million dollar business soft ten dollars tasks. 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:22.800 There's not enough hours in the week period full stop, 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:24.800 Like there's you just you can't do it. If you 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:28.200 want to build anything meaningful, it requires other people, which 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:30.039 means you're gonna have to get some time leverage. But 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:35.440 even like personal stuff, uh, food ordering tools or like, 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:38.240 you can out task things is what I like to 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.600 call it today in a world where that was impossible 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:43.880 back in the day. Literally apps on your phone where 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:46.279 you can just like pay people fractional costs to get 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:48.680 the time back to then go work on yourself, say 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.479 have better mental health, go make better investments for your time. 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:54.200 But that's that's always been how it works. It's just 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:58.040 nobody's ever really I think unpacked it from the lens 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:00.760 I have because of my software background. Yeah, you said 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:02.800 something really important in there, and I think it really 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:04.839 breaks down the distinction that we were making about the 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:07.120 investor or the wealthy mindset versus the poor mindset. And 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:09.720 you said, if I hire someone to buy back my time, 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:13.080 but I don't go reinvest that time, then it backsides 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:14.400 on me, I think, is what you say every time. 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.920 And so that's the difference of the mindset of the investor. 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:20.920 So I'm in if I'm investing, I'm buying back my time, 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:23.839 but then I have to go reinvest that time, and 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:26.040 it has to be something that gets a return. So here, 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:29.279 like I know, I know rich people that mess it up. 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:32.599 So this isn't even a broker poor person. So what 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.480 does a rich person messing it up look like? Well, 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.159 they're busy in their business. They let's say they're a 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:42.159 logo designer and they go hire another logo designer. Okay, well, 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.520 you if you're charging fifty bucks an hour and you're 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:46.520 gonna pay somebody else forty bucks an hour you bought 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:48.279 an hour back of your time, you're not making a 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:51.480 big return on that investment. So like you wouldn't buy 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.000 a million dollar real estate property to make you know, 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:59.200 two percent right, because the risk to reward ratio isn't 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:02.080 there a lot of people do that with their time. 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:06.520 My rule is four times ROI minimum. So if I'm 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:10.200 spending you know, twenty five dollars an hour to buy 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:13.400 back my time, I get to go find investments or 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.600 activities that are going to generate one hundred because then 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:19.720 I've got leverage, I've got margin because the truth is, 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:21.200 you're not going to be that efficient the first time 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:23.000 you do it, and if it does slide back, at 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:24.880 least you're still ahead. Yeah. So a lot of people 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:27.159 think they can just invest and buy back their time, 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:28.720 but then they don't reinvest the time, so they're not 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:30.760 actually making more money, no return, It's just an expense. 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:33.200 At that point, it literally sucks your profit out of 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:36.760 your life. I'm curious how you think about it. You know. 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:39.880 For me, I don't like doing like handyman products around 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:41.240 the house. I don't want to work on my own 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:43.480 dirt filth takea I have my mechanic pick it up 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:45.159 and do the service for me, you know, And I 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:47.839 think like, I mean, it's Saturday, I want to go 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:50.839 surfing with my kids. I could work on my dirt bike. 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:52.760 I'd rather not. So how do you think about valuing 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:56.480 that free time? So I just look at time as time, 0:06:56.960 --> 0:07:00.600 and I break it into professional and personal, and then 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.159 I ask myself, it's kind of like think of like Tetris, right, 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:05.400 So we play Tetris, the blocks drop from the top. 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:08.520 Life you could say, a day, a week or whatever 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:12.640 is essentially a Tetris you know, playing field, and our 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:16.360 ability to take those blocks personal, professional and put them 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:18.800 in a structure that gets them so that if the 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.080 you know, that area is whatever size you get, it 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:24.680 is full with the most you know, optimal use of 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:27.280 your time. And the thing is is I'm also okay 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:29.679 sitting down on the couch with my wife and scrolling 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:31.680 on TikTok for an hour and a half, Like that's 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:35.960 also part of the the you know, the board game. 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:39.960 And I think people just don't think about their time 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.200 through that lens. So either they're working too much and 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:44.920 trying to be too efficient and then personal stuff falls 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:48.160 to the wayside, or they try to do balance, which 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.640 is not key. Nobody's done anything incredible, has had balance, 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.600 and they just don't consider like some people just buy 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:56.480 back their time in the professional world and not in 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:58.200 their personal So I look at it as just time. 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:02.120 So like free time, I just asked myself, what are 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:03.880 the what are the rhythms of life that I know 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:06.640 if I follow I'm going to feel good about my day, 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:09.080 my week, my month, my quarter, my year. So we 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:11.080 were talking about mountain bike in I have two mountain 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:13.120 bike trips every year. I've been doing them for four 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:16.520 or five years, and those are rhythms. I have snowboard trips. 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.400 I have vacations with my family. I have all these things. 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:21.360 I'll tell you what I don't want to be doing 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:25.800 is cleaning my garage, right, you know, doing doing mechanic 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:29.280 work on my toys, or even managing a portfolio of 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:31.800 assets like in my personal life. So I have a 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:34.240 house manager that deals with that. I have somebody that 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:37.600 is the CEO of our personal life. And people go, 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:39.760 what is what is a house manager? What does Betty do? 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:47.440 Managing passports, managing credit cards, managing vehicles, gas maintenance, washing 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:52.600 all real estate, all vehicles we have, we have toys, uh, 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:57.680 family staff, coordination, travel, et cetera. Everything personal is managed 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:00.920 by them. Why cause I all want to spend time 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:03.760 with my kids like one on one, dedicated doing stuff 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:05.800 they want to do. They don't want to wash, they 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:08.440 don't want to watch me wash my car, they want 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:10.520 me to go mountain biking with them, or they want 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:12.480 you know, I have my son here. Like every trip 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.320 I do, it goes. I alternate between my two boys, 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:17.040 so I get some solo time, they get to come 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:21.240 hang out. I don't want them to feel like they're 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:23.160 doing stuff that they don't. You know that I'm not 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.160 even interested in doing so. To me, personal time is 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:28.880 still part of the same bucket of time, and I 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.280 treat that hour as the same value. And if I 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:33.600 can spend some money to buy it back so I'm 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:38.360 not distracted, I'm not I'm not wasting that time, then 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:40.400 I one hundred percent will do it. Yeah. 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:41.400 Yeah, I love that. 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:44.439 And to your point earlier, with an age of technology 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:47.120 and apps and stuff, it's never been easier to automate 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:50.520 those tasks. I think about it. Sort of My productivity 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:52.800 guru is David Alley with the book Getting Things Done 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:53.520 is one of my. 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:54.200 Favorites c TV. 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:56.559 Yeah. I was twenty three and went to a seminar 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.080 in New York City. Yeah yeah, I've probably read it 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:01.720 like a dozen times. It's site so much my memory now. 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:04.040 So yeah, so because that's sort of what my my 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:05.920 framework is built off of but he said, he said 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:09.000 something that you know, you have to capture every idea 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:13.320 because you can't afford to have the same idea or 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:13.920 thought twice. 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.000 And so like I like to also think about. 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:19.800 Like for lunch every day, I can't afford to think 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:21.280 about what I want to have for lunch every day. 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:24.320 So just I have prepackers meals every day. Right, I 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:25.840 can't think about when I need to get my haircut. 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:27.280 So it's just like every time at the same month, 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.640 someone comes and does it, right, And so like freeing 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:32.719 up that mental space, it's also a buy back, right, 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:35.000 buying back that mental space, you can think about higher 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:38.120 value things, especially as we move into the creative world, 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:40.839 we really need to have that mental space a lot more. 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:44.439 I want to jump into a bunch of topics, but 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:46.520 let's just stick on this sort of investing thing for 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.600 a while. So, I mean, you're obviously a very accomplished entrepreneur, 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:54.520 but you're also an accomplished investor. So you have your Martels, 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:58.120 Martel Ventures, fifty plus startups, some notable ones Intercom you 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:01.800 to me, hoot Sweet, so some good companies there. When 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.120 you think about investing in these other companies, like what 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:05.560 kind of framework do you have? 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:07.439 Do you have like a deal. 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:09.640 Box like Warren Buffett talks about. I mean, do you 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:13.240 try to invest across a diverse set of industries. I'll 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.679 tell you how you lose your money as an investor. 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:21.120 And it's first off, thinking that you can spot the outliers. 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.720 So that's like the first thing is when I started 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:28.120 angel investing, specifically buying equity in other companies. I was 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:31.959 twenty six twenty seven when I started, and I thought, 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:36.680 meet the entrepreneur, great idea, I can spot a winner. 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:38.679 And then I would you know, I'd be like, how 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:40.839 much you need He's like quarter million, okay, how much 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:43.160 you need one hundred thousand okay? And I just I 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:47.600 my first dozen deals was Dan thinking that he has 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:51.640 the Midas touch, and I would put different amount of 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:57.760 capital in different companies because every situation was different. I 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.120 probably deployed almost two and a half million dollars in 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:05.280 three or four years when I started, and probably lost 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:09.480 seventy percent of it. The reason why is I didn't 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:14.080 understand portfolio theory. And I moved to San Francisco and 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:16.600 I'm twenty eight at the time, and I just sold 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:18.520 my company, so I had a bit of extra dry 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:22.160 powder and luckily I met a guy named Naval Raba 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.840 kon So Naval. Today everybody knows him for angel lists, 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:28.560 but back in the day, angelist was actually an email list. 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:31.000 It was like he was based on Craigslist. I was 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:32.920 where he got the inspiration and I was one of 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.520 the Canadian angel investors on there. That's how I got 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:38.839 in the Hootsuite deal and many others. And I remember 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:41.640 talking to Evolve because today you know early in Uber 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:45.480 Early and like you know, he's incredibly wealthy, incredibly smart. 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.520 A lot of people now I see him as a philosopher. 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:50.320 I have full of his theater. Yeah, he's just that guy. 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:52.760 But I asked him about this. I said, what's your 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:55.440 philosophy on investing? And this is what he said to me. 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:57.559 He says, there's a lot of different things. One, you 0:12:57.559 --> 0:12:59.679 should have a thesis of some sort, like what is 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.079 the parameter of deals? You say, even a first meeting 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.000 or no to And then he said, two, you always 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:07.959 have to be investing over at least a four year 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:10.280 period because if not, then you're trying to time markets. 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.800 And then you want to be essentially dollar cost averaging 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:17.280 into private equity aka angel VC kind of as an 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:20.320 investment portfolio. And he said, the other thing is you 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:23.320 got to write the same check on everyone because if not, 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:24.520 then you're trying to pick winners. 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:25.000 And you can. 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:27.600 And he said, look, I've invested at that point, he 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:29.880 probably invested in seventy five companies. 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:30.800 He goes, I. 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:33.840 Can't tell you which ones work, I can tell you 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:36.520 the essence of the founder, And yes, I invest in 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:38.839 things where I'm inspired by the person's vision. I feel 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:40.720 like they have grit, I feel like they have product 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:44.120 market fit like, yes, all those things. But man, over 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.719 a five, seven, ten year period, which is how long 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.920 it takes to actually have an exit for most tech startups, 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.720 there's so much that could happen. So I would say 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.080 that's where I ended up on my angel investing is 0:13:56.880 --> 0:14:00.680 I've decided an allocation. I find great portunities. The truth 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.680 is also just portfolio and opportunity. Like I used to 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:07.920 only invest in Eastern Canada because that's where I grew up. Well, unfortunately, 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:10.360 the best tech entrepreneurs are probably not going to be there. 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:12.439 You know, if you're going to invest in media, I 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:15.000 think LA's probably going to a higher pool of talent 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:19.800 than you know, Madison, Wisconsin, So choosing even the geography 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:22.520 you invest in. And then also do you have access 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:25.840 to proprietary pipeline? And that to me was you know 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:29.520 how I started doing better angel investments. Also, I started 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:33.160 Big Band where I buy software company, same thing, proprietary pipeline. 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:36.800 Now Martel Ventures where we co create same thing. I 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:39.080 have access to founders that nobody else does because of 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:42.840 my personal brand, and it's just the deal box. Yes, 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:46.000 every one of those asset classes and not really asset class, 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:50.400 but let's say revenue rhythms or like types of deals 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:52.920 I do. I have a criteria that because I also 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:55.160 have team members that helped me put these together, and 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:57.480 we review it through those lens. So we have essentially 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:00.360 a scorecard for each every bucket of come means if 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:03.240 I'm an angel investing versus buying, versus co creating, we 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.240 have a criteria that we've identified and we great everybody, 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.320 and we don't do anything. We don't move it forward 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:12.120 past kind of investment committee until they're like eighty you know, 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:16.200 eight out of ten qualified, and that's I'm a systems guy, 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:18.200 So to me, that just makes a lot of sense, 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:20.080 and I give all credit to Naval to teach me 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:21.560 that because part of that I lost most of my 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:23.080 money as an angel investor. 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:25.600 Yeah, it seems like the same familiar story. 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:27.480 Like most people who have a big exit all of 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:29.760 a sudden want to become this angel VC in size. 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:32.840 But hey, I'm successful. I guess I'm a king maker. 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:35.160 I can go like put money in and most likely. 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:37.440 It ends up pretty bad. That seems to be the story. 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:38.400 I'm curious. 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:44.240 You're overall investing theory and where the angel venture sits 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:49.360 inside of that. So you're obviously very successful, had multiple exits, 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:52.080 so you have money saved and then that's invested. I'm 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.120 curious how you think about that? Like in buckets, so like, hey, 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:57.680 a big chunk in just like SMP index because it's safe, 0:15:57.720 --> 0:15:59.240 and then I have a bunch of cash flow real estate, 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:00.520 but then I have a little bit over here of 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.600 adventure or how do you think about that? I again, 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:06.320 I'm not getting I don't give people financial advice, so 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:08.280 I'm going to caveat with that. What works for me 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.840 is what works for me. I also don't care if 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:14.720 I had nothing, so I'm kind of a weird cat 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:18.200 where I'm incredibly blessed at the same time, none of 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:23.240 that I require. For Dan, Well, you're a mountain biker, 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.240 entrepreneur and a snowboarder. See, your risk tolerance is very Oh, 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.920 my risk tolerance is high, and I don't care about money. 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.920 So I'm kind of a weird cat because I don't. 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:36.080 I don't like, I know a guy that was so 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:39.240 poor all you had was money, And I think people 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:42.920 that measure themselves on personal net worth are completely flawed. 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:46.720 Now is that is that a tool to know if 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:49.320 you're creating more value? One hundred percent? Do I care 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:50.760 if I have money or not? I flew a out 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:52.920 of my plane, if I lost a plane tomorrow, I'm 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:54.640 not gonna I'm literally not gonna cry. I'm not even 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:56.240 feel boud. I'm gonna feel grateful that I had it 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:57.800 for the time I had, and I'm gonna get back 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:01.800 to doing what I did today. So my philosophy is 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:05.240 not if you use the lens of optimizing it for 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:10.520 risk adjusted best returns diversification. Zero part of what I'm 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.280 gonna say makes sense to anybody. First off, one of 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:15.200 my early mentors gave me some great advice said, making 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:17.760 money is easy, keeping. 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:18.040 It as hard. 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:21.640 So they've learned that. One yes, first time I had 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:23.840 a big payday when I sold my first company, half 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:26.840 of it went into low cost index fund Vanguard Bolt 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:31.920 like literally nothing exciting SMP five hundred. There's a portfolio 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:35.080 now that we manage, and I kind of do that 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.359 with every new trash of capital I get in half 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.000 goes to stuff that's low risk, and then the other 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:42.000 half I build. 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:42.760 I'm a builder. 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:46.320 I build, but I build machines that build machine. I 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:50.440 don't some people just put their money like the Angel stuff, right, 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:52.560 They're like, hey, what's your idea? Oh you're my friend, Bob, 0:17:52.600 --> 0:17:54.560 Bob's my cousin. I'm going to invest in Bob's idea. 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:58.320 Hey when you got Mark? Okay, cool, complete CpG real 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:05.159 estate agency. Like there's no thesis. I only do B 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:09.280 to B SaaS okay, business a business, software as a service, period, 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:11.520 full stop. It's all I've ever done. It's what I know. 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:17.199 I have a disproportionate amount of information networking. When you 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.359 think of the four levels of luck and devolve, Ravikon's 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.600 concept on that and like Warren Buffett, like people talk 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:28.600 about diversification As you know, most people that are wealthy 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:32.119 didn't get wealthy diversified. They got there with one single 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:36.040 focus and they diversified as a risk mitigation to not 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:40.200 completely lose everything in three or four years. That's that bucket. 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:44.239 The fifty percent which is in the market, and what 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:48.880 I'm world class at is scaling software. So I own 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:53.040 the largest software CEO coaching organization called SAS Academy. I 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:57.520 have my angel investing stuff where I invest in incredibly 0:18:57.720 --> 0:19:01.159 talented and growing as a VCA portfolio. I have my 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:03.640 big Band Software. We have one hundred million dollars hold code. 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:06.240 We buy a company every month software B to B SaaS. 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:08.520