1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,320 Speaker 1: Welcome back, everyone will Luca and see a black Tech 2 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: Green money. So excited to be with you because today's 3 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: one of those episodes where I'm not talking to anyone. 4 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: There's no guest today, we're just talking to me and 5 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: you directly. 6 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 2: One on one, not only mine. 7 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:16,440 Speaker 1: Oh, because it's something I've been thinking a lot about lately, 8 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: and I want to kind of communicate it to you, 9 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: and you know, it's something I'm superper passionate about. 10 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:24,800 Speaker 2: And I think that once we get through. 11 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 3: This episode, hopefully it will. 12 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: Have changed a lot of the ways you're thinking about 13 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: the business that you're developing, particularly if you have a 14 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: small business. And what that sentiment is if you are building, 15 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: if you are only building a service, you're probably thinking 16 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: too small. I would encourage you to be thinking about 17 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: building a platform. And now before you roll your eyes 18 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 1: and think I'm about to tell you to raise a 19 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: whole bunch of events in capital and move to Silicon Valley, relax, 20 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:55,639 Speaker 1: I'm not about to do that. That's not what I'm 21 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: talking about. I'm talking about ownership of the middle now, 22 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: ownership at the intersection, like ownership of the place where supply. 23 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 2: And demand meet. 24 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: And that's what changes my thinking that changes the trajectory 25 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 1: of my life. And because I want to challenge you 26 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: on this today, this is what we're going to talk about. 27 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:20,040 Speaker 1: And so service thinking versus platform thinking, unlet's define this simply. 28 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:26,199 Speaker 1: Service thinking says I do this work. Platform thinking says 29 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:31,479 Speaker 1: I create the environment where this work happens right, And 30 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: service thinking says I shoot photos. Platform thinking says I 31 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: build the system where photographers get booked. Service thinking says 32 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: I do bookkeeping. Platform thinking says I build a place 33 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: where small businesses find bookkeepers. And service thinking is labor centered. 34 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: Platform thinking is leverage centered, and leverage is where wealth lives. 35 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: When your income depends on your hours, you can you 36 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: can raise your rates, you can work harder, you can 37 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 1: get better even, but you're still trading time for money. 38 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: Platform thinking separates your income from your hours. And that's 39 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: the real shift that we want to happen. It's it's 40 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: a dangerous trap of being talented. You know, I'm somebody 41 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: who you know I can do a lot of things well, 42 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: and that's a trap. In some ways, it's a blessing 43 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: to be able to be talented, and it's a blessing 44 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: to be able to be able to do a lot 45 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: of things. But that is it can be a trap 46 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:39,639 Speaker 1: if you think about it improperly. And let me tell 47 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 1: you something uncomfortable. If you're talented, you are at higher 48 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: risk of staying small because when you're good, people praise 49 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: your skill, they validate your craft, they reward your output, 50 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 1: and you build your identity even around being excellent at 51 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,800 Speaker 1: some task. But what happens when your excellence becomes your 52 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: ceiling when every dollar requires you personally to perform? And 53 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 1: I had that, you know issue with Creatio, my marketing 54 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: technology company. So we do everything from video production, website development, 55 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: mobile app development, communication strategy, webin mobile app design, you know, 56 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: the whole thing. For years, I was the center of everything. 57 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: I could walk into a room, close the deal, build 58 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: the strategy, produce the content. But every opportunity required me. 59 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: You know, I was the bottleneck and founders don't like 60 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: admitting that always, and you know, we think we're the engine, 61 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: sometimes with a choke point, to be honest, And that's 62 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: when I started thinking differently. Instead of just building a 63 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: service company, I needed to build an infrastructure. So Creatio 64 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: evolved into something that powers not just external clients, but 65 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: my own ventures too. I wrote about this on LinkedIn 66 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago. If you follow me there, 67 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: you know, external revenue subsidizes my internal innovations. 68 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 2: So that's platform layered thinking. 69 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: And I didn't fully realize I was even doing it 70 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: at first, but if you zoom out, it's architecture. And 71 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: so let's take another example. And so I'm gonna give 72 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: you some of my examples today. So today we're gonna 73 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: talk about it a few of my businesses. I'm gonna 74 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: give you a little bit of a peaking inside things 75 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,840 Speaker 1: that I'm building. Even to Creatio is a company I've 76 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: been owning and operating for a long time. So that 77 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: one is, you know, a very you know, institutional in 78 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: my life. And so but there's a couple of startups 79 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: I have also things that I'm building that I will 80 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,359 Speaker 1: introduce to you today. Again, I've talked about these a 81 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: little bit on my LinkedIn. If you go to Will 82 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: Lucas dot co o, you can see my blog there. 83 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,280 Speaker 1: I blog on my own domain. We can talk about 84 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: that later, because why I don't blog on like substack 85 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,599 Speaker 1: or whatever. But I blog on my own website. And 86 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: so you if you follow me me there. If you're 87 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 1: on my newsletter or on my LinkedIn, you've probably heard 88 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:08,839 Speaker 1: about these companies already. So icon Icon is something that 89 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,679 Speaker 1: I've been building for from being a photographer to owning demand. 90 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 3: So I could have just. 91 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 1: Stayed a photographer and videographer, which I'm talented at doing, 92 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: so thankfully I have that talent. But because I enjoy 93 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: I enjoy shooting, I enjoy producing, I really love editing 94 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,040 Speaker 1: in but I enjoy creating. But there's a ceiling to that. 95 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 1: How many events can I physically shoot in the weekend? 96 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: How two, three? How many cities can be done at once? 97 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:38,719 Speaker 2: One? 98 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: So I had to ask a different question instead of 99 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 1: how do I get more photography clients or videography clients, 100 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,239 Speaker 1: I asked how do I create consistent demand for photographers? 101 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 1: So that's icon And so I'm gonna give you a 102 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: different way. How I actually got the idea was, you know, 103 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,159 Speaker 1: I'm a father, I'm I have a family, beautiful family, kids, 104 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 1: and the want and I was scrolling through my photo 105 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: album on my phone some time ago and I'm like, 106 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: I've got a million photos of my kids, a million 107 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: photos of my wife and my kids, and I'm in 108 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: like two of all these photos because I'm the one 109 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: typically taking the picture. And so I'm like, what if 110 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: there was a way for me, like an uber, I 111 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: can just push a button and hell a photographer to 112 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,800 Speaker 1: show up and they just follow us around for twenty minutes, 113 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: to follow us around for half an hour, and they 114 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: just taking photos, candid photos, post photos, whatever. At the 115 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: push of a button and before they even leave, I 116 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: get my photos. They're right there. And so that's what 117 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: icon is. Icon is on demand photography is an on 118 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,840 Speaker 1: demand photography platform, and the beata is actually opening up soon. 119 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,039 Speaker 1: So if you go to icon app dot co, icon 120 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: ico n app app dot co, you can sign up 121 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: for the beta and so we are we're launching, you know, 122 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: in a matter of weeks. 123 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,040 Speaker 3: So I would encourage you to go do that. If 124 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:04,480 Speaker 3: you're a photographer or if you. 125 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: Want to be a customer of the platform, go check 126 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: out iconapp dot co. But that's what people miss and 127 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: so the power was not in the camera or me 128 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: taking the photos. The power was in me controlling the demand. 129 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: Demand is more powerful than the talent. They're more talented 130 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: photographers and videographers. 131 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 3: Everywhere you go. 132 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: There's talented people all over the place, but not all 133 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: of them have an access point to consistent demand. So 134 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: if I can aggregate the demand, I've created gravity, I 135 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:41,840 Speaker 1: can bring opportunities. People want to partner with you when 136 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 1: you bring opportunities. People want to join your network. 137 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 2: When you bring. 138 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: Opportunities, people respect your your curation when you bring opportunities. 139 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: If you align people under a brand and you create opportunities, 140 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: people want to be aligned with you. That's not ego. 141 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: It's leverage and is even a deeper shift. When you 142 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: build a platform, you are no longer the hero. You 143 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: don't have to be. You are the stage, my friend. 144 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: You get other people to shame, other people to perform, 145 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: other people to win, and when you sit at the 146 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: center of designing the system, you lift people up. And 147 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: that requires also a death to ego. An ego death 148 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: leads to equity. Though, if you can kill your ego, 149 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: you can get to the money. 150 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 3: Toe House. 151 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 1: You know, you guys know, especially if you listen to 152 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 1: this podcast, if you've been subscriber for a while. I 153 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: have a private social club, and so toe House is 154 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: a twenty five thousand. 155 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 3: Square foot social club. 156 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: There's parts of it that are open to the public, 157 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: but most of it's open to our members only. 158 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 2: And so there are some. 159 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: People who think about Toehouse as a restaurant because we 160 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: have a restaurant. There's some people who think toe House 161 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: is a jazz lounge because we have a jazz and 162 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: blues lounge. To some people, we are coworking space because 163 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: we have that also. But it's none of those things. 164 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 1: Toe House is a container. It's a container for infrastructure 165 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: and ambition. It's you know, inside toe House. Yes, we 166 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:16,320 Speaker 1: have these things. Entrepreneurs meet with investors, Artists perform here, 167 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:20,960 Speaker 1: Corporate leaders host meetings. You know, creators collaborate. You know, 168 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: communities form here. There's so many beautiful communities here. But 169 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: you know, I don't cook every dish, I don't perform 170 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: every show, I don't run every meeting. I built the 171 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: container for those things to happen. And when you build 172 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: a container, the ideas become a lot easier because I'm 173 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 1: not starting from scratch. 174 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:39,959 Speaker 2: Every time. 175 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 1: I can launch supper clubs, I can launch grant programs, 176 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: I can launch AI workshops, I can launch office hours, 177 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 1: which we're actually doing right now. I can launch listening events, 178 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: new dining concepts because the infrastructure already exists to do this, 179 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: and the trust already exists, the audience already exists. They 180 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: are members of the club. Most people build isolated businesses, 181 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: but a platform allows you to build an ecosystem, and 182 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: ecosystems compound the e it feeds on itself and it 183 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,680 Speaker 1: gets bigger. And the last one I probably talk about 184 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: at least from my ventures is day CFO. So I 185 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: had this idea a couple of years ago because my 186 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: credio that business was big enough to need external or 187 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: even internal financial help like expertise in a hinting house CFO. 188 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: But we weren't making enough money to hire that person. 189 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: So we were big enough to need it, but not 190 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: big enough to hire it in the house. And I 191 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: found many of these fractional services to be like very 192 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: high friction, and so like you're meeting with somebody to 193 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: you know, vet you you know, for one of their people, 194 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:00,320 Speaker 1: and then they'll connect you like manually. Like all this 195 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 1: stuff was like very high friction to me, and I'm 196 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:04,320 Speaker 1: just like, how come I just can't go to a 197 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 1: website and just like connect with a person in a 198 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: match is made kind of like like better help but 199 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: for financial talent, and so and then I kind of 200 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: zoomed out and I was like, there's probably these needs 201 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,719 Speaker 1: in every vertical so like cmos or coos or c 202 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:27,760 Speaker 1: HROs or CIOs, like, there's probably a need for fractional 203 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: talent in each of these domains. So I bought all 204 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 1: those domains. I bought day CFO, I bought day cio 205 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 1: dot com, I bought day coo dot com and all 206 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 1: of these domains, and we're starting with day CFO. So 207 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: they CFO is, you know, a way to connect small 208 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,719 Speaker 1: business owners to financial clarity, so to financial experts, so 209 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: whether their accountants or bookkeepers or you know, even higher 210 00:11:54,679 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 1: level of financial talent. But you can't necessarily afford, you know, 211 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: a full time executive, so you struggled as a small 212 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: business owner. I was that person, you know, doing a 213 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 1: lot of guessing, avoiding numbers in so many ways. But 214 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 1: I could say, you know what, let me just find 215 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:15,840 Speaker 1: a consultant, you know, one on one consultant. But I 216 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 1: was like, the problem is bigger than me, because I know, 217 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: if I'm dealing with this, a whole bunch of other 218 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: people are dealing with this, which is why you see 219 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 1: the proliferation of fractional you know, websites and fractional services. 220 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: So I'm like, I'm gonna build a marketplace, a software 221 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: first marketplace to take all the friction out. And that's 222 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: day CFO. So if you go to DAYCFO dot com, 223 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: you'll see that platform that we're building, and we're onboarding 224 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: right now financial talent before we go to the consumer. 225 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: The demand side, So the supply side is the side 226 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 1: that we're building right now. So if you are an accountant, 227 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:55,200 Speaker 1: a bookkeeper, you know, a wealth manager, you can go 228 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: today cfo dot com right now and sign up. And 229 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:01,839 Speaker 1: then when we open the gate for the customers, people 230 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 1: will find you and you just pick opportunities that you 231 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: want to engage with. You get to pick your finances, 232 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: how much you want to charge per hour, You get 233 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: to pick the clients you want to work with, all 234 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: on demand, all in your own you know, scope of engagement. 235 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 1: So you get to say, these are the companies I 236 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:22,839 Speaker 1: want to work with. I don't want to necessarily go 237 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: to a day job anymore. I want to do what 238 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: I want to do and do it on my terms. 239 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,959 Speaker 1: That's theay CFO. So if we connect financial professionals with 240 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,959 Speaker 1: small businesses, so instead of saying I'll do your books. 241 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 1: I said, I'll build the bridge between financial talent and 242 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 1: business owners. This was a need I had, and I 243 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:45,079 Speaker 1: could have just solved that need for myself. But I'm like, 244 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:46,920 Speaker 1: I can build the platform and have other people solve 245 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:53,119 Speaker 1: the problems for themselves too. So I'm interested in platform 246 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,240 Speaker 1: thinking and I want you to be interested in platform thinking. 247 00:13:56,360 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: Why because the freelancer economy, there's a moment that matters. 248 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 1: And this is a moment, my friend, this is a moment. 249 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: I want you to zoom out for a second. Except 250 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: for a second, it's like freelancers are exploding. Twenty twenty six, 251 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:16,680 Speaker 1: we're here right now. Freelancers were projected to represent between 252 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 1: last year and this year about thirty five percent to 253 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 1: nearly half of the global workforce. Thirty five percent, so 254 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:30,600 Speaker 1: one in every three people roughly would be a freelancer 255 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: today between yes last year and this year. So you've 256 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: got more independent workers, more specialization, even more fragmentation also, 257 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: which can be a downside, and more confusion. So when 258 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: markets fragment, platforms win because someone has to organize the chaos. 259 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: This is an opportunity. The opportunity isn't always to be 260 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 1: the best worker. Sometimes the opportunity is just to be 261 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: the best organizer, especially in our communities when we're overrepresented 262 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: in labor, underrepresented infrastructure. We do the work, but we 263 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: don't always own the tools or the pipes, or the 264 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 1: wrenches or the platforms. Right now, there is an opportunity 265 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 1: for us to do that. We don't always own the 266 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:23,920 Speaker 1: booking systems, we don't always own the marketplaces. But if 267 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: nearly half of the workforce is freelance, the opportunity isn't 268 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: just the freelance. The opportunity is to organize the freelancers. 269 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: That's where the scale lives. So an example most people 270 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: miss is I'm gonna give you scenario, and so I 271 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: have a friend and I'm gonna give you a different 272 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: version of his business because I don't want to talk 273 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 1: about him individually. But what the story is about him 274 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 1: is representative. 275 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:54,520 Speaker 3: Of the story of a lot of people. 276 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 1: So I'm gonna tell you his story, but I'm gonna 277 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 1: you know shade who he is. So I have a 278 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: friend who who has a small renovation business. Home is 279 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:06,920 Speaker 1: let's say he does home renovations. This business is close, 280 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: but it's not this. But so I'm just not going 281 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: to tell you, my friends, but he's say, he owns 282 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: a small home renovation business. They do kitchens, they do bathrooms. 283 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: They're good, but customers constantly ask him like, hey, you know, 284 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: can you do my roof? You know, can you do 285 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: some electrical work? Can you do some plumbing work? And 286 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: how much does it cost to get this work done? 287 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: And so far he's been like, many, you know, we 288 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: don't do that. We do counters, you know, we do floors, 289 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: et cetera like that, but we don't do roofing, we 290 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: don't do electrical, we'll do no plumbing. And so he's 291 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 1: been giving this business away. But people are coming to 292 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: him saying can you do these things? And he's been saying, 293 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 1: as a trusted source, here's what you should call, because 294 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: we would trust him. They know the work that he does, 295 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: and they're like, can you help me get this done. 296 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: He's like, here's the company you should call. He's been 297 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: giving that advice away for free because he saw himself 298 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:06,160 Speaker 1: as a kitchen remodeler, as a bathroom modeler. But what 299 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 1: he really is is a trusted resource. He's the first 300 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:15,960 Speaker 1: person they call. He's the filter, he's the platform. My friends, 301 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 1: he's the platform. So what he could say is, instead 302 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 1: of I do kitchens, he can say I manage home transformations. 303 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: Instead of I give advice, it's I. 304 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 2: Curate and coordinate. 305 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:30,879 Speaker 3: Trust the trades. 306 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,120 Speaker 1: Now he can vet contractors because he knows who does 307 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:37,199 Speaker 1: good work and who doesn't. He's not gonna send you 308 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:41,120 Speaker 1: to somebody who he doesn't know they're legit. He can say, 309 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: I vet contractors, I oversee the project for you. I'm 310 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 1: gonna add a little bit of margin. I'm gonna own 311 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:51,119 Speaker 1: the client relationship. And now I get to expand my authority. 312 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:54,920 Speaker 1: Because large firms don't swing every hammer arge. Large firms 313 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: are not doing all this work. They're orchestrating the work, 314 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: orchestrating the leverage because guess what those large companies in 315 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 1: your sector, in your industry, especially in industries like renovation 316 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: and construction, that's what they do. They're calling out subs, 317 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,040 Speaker 1: those big companies that do construction. They're calling small plumbing 318 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:21,199 Speaker 1: companies and saying, we're gonna sub you out the plumbing work. 319 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,600 Speaker 1: They're orchestrating the work. Why are we not doing that? 320 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: So we just say I don't do that. We just 321 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 1: say I don't do plumbing, I just do countertops, when 322 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:37,119 Speaker 1: you could do plumbing by having the plumbing relationship. And 323 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: so the customer is saying, hey, you person, insert your 324 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: name here, listener, insert your name here. So, Hey, so 325 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: and so I need my plumbing work done. And instead 326 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: of you just saying, ma'am, I just do kitchens, I 327 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 1: just do countertops. But here here's the person you should call. 328 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 1: Instead of that, you could say, all right, we can 329 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: handle that. I'm gonna have my plumber be here tomorrow. 330 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,439 Speaker 1: We'll take care of that. And so that plumber is 331 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: gonna give you an estimate on what this is gonna cost, 332 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: and you're gonna add your percentage on top of that. 333 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 3: And guess what. 334 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: Now you own the relationship with the customer, and the plumber. 335 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:19,120 Speaker 3: Is there to do his work, he go home. That's 336 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:19,879 Speaker 3: the relationship. 337 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,119 Speaker 1: That's the kind of scale that's gonna need it to 338 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: be happening in our community as we go forward in 339 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,800 Speaker 1: this new economy. So there's five types of platforms you 340 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: can build. And I'm gonna slow this down. I'm not 341 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: gonna talk too fast because i want to make this 342 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 1: super practical, and I want you to take notes. If 343 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: you're listening I want to make sure to make sure 344 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: you get this because you don't have to build a 345 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:44,640 Speaker 1: billion dollar tech company. There are many, many different kinds 346 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:46,720 Speaker 1: of platforms where you can get to the bag and 347 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: get to real money millions of dollars, millions of dollars. 348 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: By building platforms, you can build a marketplace, Number one. 349 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 1: You can build a marketplace. You can connect supply and 350 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:02,200 Speaker 1: demand like I'm doing with day CFO and I can't 351 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: even You can create a community where exchange happens naturally, 352 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,480 Speaker 1: like that's you know, like toe house is a community. 353 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:15,080 Speaker 1: You can build a media platform. You know, attention is leveraged. 354 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 1: So if you've got a great idea for you know 355 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: psychology and your y, you know your local geography, you 356 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: can have other people contribute to your platform. That's all 357 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: substack is, it's all WordPress used to be, it's all 358 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: Blogger used to be. It's a media platform. Other people 359 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:38,400 Speaker 1: contribute their insight infrastructure, and before you can build infrastructure, 360 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: the engine behind other brands. So like the people who 361 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,439 Speaker 1: got really rich during the gold Rush was not the 362 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,440 Speaker 1: people who went and found gold. They were the people 363 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,200 Speaker 1: selling picks and shovels. They said, you know what, y'all 364 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:56,920 Speaker 1: want to go chase gold? You individual, you, Tom, you, Bill, you, Sarah. 365 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:01,320 Speaker 1: You wanna go chase gold? Fine, you individually? You might 366 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:03,920 Speaker 1: strike it, you might not. But guess what I sold 367 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:08,359 Speaker 1: something all you. I got rich by selling to everybody 368 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 1: going to go search for gold. So you now this 369 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 1: become the infrastructure. You're the engine behind the people going 370 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,960 Speaker 1: to go search for the gold. You could build a 371 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:24,119 Speaker 1: knowledge platform, formalizing your expertise and doing with other people, 372 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: collaborating with other people in your domain who don't know 373 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,440 Speaker 1: how to build their own platforms themselves. They're not listening 374 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: to this episode right now. 375 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 2: They should be. 376 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,439 Speaker 1: You might already be sitting in the middle. You just 377 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,439 Speaker 1: haven't formalized it. So what I want you to do 378 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,199 Speaker 1: is like shift your identity, because usually that's the problem. 379 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,160 Speaker 1: We don't see ourselves a certain way. We see ourselves 380 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 1: as a photographer, We see ourselves as a coach, a designer, 381 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,680 Speaker 1: We see ourselves as a contractor. When we could say 382 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 1: I am a hub, I am a hub, and I 383 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:59,880 Speaker 1: don't compete the same way that you compete. I'm coordinating. 384 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: So if I want applause, I can be the photographer. 385 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: If I want equity. I can build a photography platform 386 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: to architects own the buildings. Performers get applause, though I 387 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: want to own a building. So how do we start? 388 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,159 Speaker 1: So now I got you convinced that you can do this, 389 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:21,439 Speaker 1: and I believe you can do this. Otherwise we wouldn't 390 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,640 Speaker 1: be having this conversation. I'm doing it, I meaning special 391 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 1: about it, other than the fact that I decided to 392 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:29,720 Speaker 1: do it. So how do you do it? 393 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 2: So? 394 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: Number one, I would map your ecosystem. Write down everybody 395 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:36,720 Speaker 1: you know who's connected. 396 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 3: To your work. 397 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:39,679 Speaker 1: Maybe they do exactly what you do, Maybe they do 398 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,879 Speaker 1: things that are similar or parallel or connected to what 399 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,679 Speaker 1: you do. So again, going back to my friends. Example, 400 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: let's say you do countertops and you do remodeling, but 401 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 1: you don't do plumbing. Well, write down every plumber who 402 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: you trust, Write down every electrician that you trust, Write 403 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: down every rooffer that you trust. All these things right 404 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:04,359 Speaker 1: down your catalog of your directory of people that you 405 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:08,959 Speaker 1: would call if you have these particular issues. So identify 406 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,280 Speaker 1: repeated frictions. What confuses people about your industry. Maybe they 407 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: don't know how to quote these things. Maybe they don't 408 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,040 Speaker 1: know what it should cost to get new lights rerand 409 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:23,439 Speaker 1: or new wiring rerant for their bathroom exhaust. What are 410 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:28,440 Speaker 1: the repeated friction points that you find customers have. Formalize 411 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 1: that trust if people rely on your recommendations, build a 412 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: structure around it. Get your website up, start talking about 413 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: yourself that way. Get your business cards. Instead of saying, 414 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,160 Speaker 1: you know, Wills kitchen remodelers, make sure the business cars 415 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: say Wills Home you know remodeling services, and all those things. 416 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:53,680 Speaker 1: Make it bigger. Build the structure around it. So I'm 417 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,679 Speaker 1: not just limiting myself to counter times. I'm doing the 418 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: whole you know, kit kaboodle. I'm doing the whole thing, 419 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,080 Speaker 1: and stay at the center of the exchange. And I'm 420 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,520 Speaker 1: not letting introductions bypass me. I'm not giving my I'm 421 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:10,080 Speaker 1: not giving your number to the plumber, and I'm not 422 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:11,359 Speaker 1: giving you the plumber's number. 423 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:11,920 Speaker 2: I am. 424 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:16,399 Speaker 1: I'm the connect you got to go through me. And 425 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:19,080 Speaker 1: so you should never even know that the plumber doesn't 426 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 1: work for Will's you know, home renovations. You just know 427 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 1: what plumber showed up and did the work, but the 428 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: check came to me. I paid the plumber. That's how 429 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,199 Speaker 1: you should be thinking about this, I'm the center of 430 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: the exchange here, brand and network. Give it an identity, 431 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:42,119 Speaker 1: talk about yourself as that platform, and most importantly, start small. 432 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: You don't have to go out and jump out the 433 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,360 Speaker 1: window on this. You can you can begin manually. But 434 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: the first thing you should do, you gotta do is 435 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:51,679 Speaker 1: change your mind, change the way you think about this. 436 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: You can start analogue. You don't need a million dollars 437 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:59,159 Speaker 1: to do this. You need positioning to ten years from 438 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 1: now take you forward. If you only sell services, you 439 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 1: may be busy, you may be comfortable, you may be 440 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:10,600 Speaker 1: doing it. But if you build platforms ten years, in 441 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: ten years, you will own networks. You will own data, 442 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: you will own recurring revenue, you will own partnerships and 443 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:25,919 Speaker 1: influence and influence compounds, and that architecture will outlive your effort. 444 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:27,960 Speaker 1: So when you are you know, hey, I'm not the 445 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 1: one taking the phone calls no more. Your architecture is 446 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 1: still working. And so if people call you, if people 447 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,640 Speaker 1: are calling you for advice, if they're calling you because 448 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: they don't know how to do something that is easy 449 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:44,480 Speaker 1: for you to do, and you already have the network created, 450 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,240 Speaker 1: you already know the people you already know a good 451 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:51,119 Speaker 1: idea of what it takes to do something that people 452 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,440 Speaker 1: trust your opinion. They're asking you who they should hire. 453 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,120 Speaker 1: They're sitting in your space, watching your content, and they're 454 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:03,720 Speaker 1: seeking your insight. You're already you already have that leverage. 455 00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: You're already in the middle. You're already in the middle. 456 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:08,680 Speaker 3: Of these transactions. 457 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:12,120 Speaker 1: The question is is will you build around it where 458 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: you actually put together the business practices and principles in 459 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 1: place to make sure that you can take advantage of 460 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:20,879 Speaker 1: this opportunity that's right in front of you, or you're 461 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: gonna keep giving away all the leverage you tell me, 462 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 1: because you don't need permission to do this, you just 463 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: need vision. This is black teching money. We don't just 464 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: build businesses, we build leverage. We build things that can 465 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: scale and platform thinking. That platform way of thinking about 466 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:44,200 Speaker 1: ownership is at a different level. 467 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 3: And so these are the. 468 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,200 Speaker 1: Things I want you to think about as you're building 469 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,160 Speaker 1: your small business. I want you to figure out how 470 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 1: you take yourself out of the operating side of doing things, 471 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:56,359 Speaker 1: and how do you make sure that you're building a 472 00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,119 Speaker 1: platform so other people can operate on the platform that 473 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,560 Speaker 1: you built, on the stage that you have designed because 474 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:07,000 Speaker 1: I would rather have a piece of a million different 475 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 1: businesses than have one business doing a million. I would 476 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: rather have a piece of all of these businesses because 477 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,159 Speaker 1: that one business doing a million is going to require 478 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 1: more effort out of me, and that the platform I 479 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:22,879 Speaker 1: built where all these other businesses and I got a 480 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 1: piece of all of them. I'm at home, I'm wherever 481 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: I'm at, and that stuff is working for me because 482 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:31,879 Speaker 1: you got other people working their thing. I want to 483 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:33,639 Speaker 1: be on that side of the game. I want to 484 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,480 Speaker 1: be in the middle. I want to be to connect. 485 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: The connect don't have to stand on the corner to 486 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:42,240 Speaker 1: be a little bit crashed. Yeah, the connect don't have 487 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 1: to stand on the corner. I want you to think 488 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:50,119 Speaker 1: about how to reconsider the business that you're in. And 489 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:52,520 Speaker 1: so I gave you three examples from my own story. 490 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,960 Speaker 3: I gave you Creatio, which. 491 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 1: I've been doing for a long time. Creatio has been 492 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,399 Speaker 1: a business that has been remarkable for me because I 493 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:10,040 Speaker 1: get to not only sell things services to clients, but 494 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 1: they those clients subsidize the work that Creatio does for 495 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 1: my own personal brand. Creatio does marketing services for toll 496 00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:23,000 Speaker 1: House subsidized by client work Creatio does work for Icon 497 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,879 Speaker 1: subsidized by client work. Creatio does work for all the 498 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:30,640 Speaker 1: other ideas that I may come up with, subsidized by 499 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: external client work, because I own the platform. So while 500 00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 1: I may have my team go off and do something 501 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:42,560 Speaker 1: for Creatio, Icon day, CFO, whatever, that is, that revenue 502 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 1: that I'm getting from client work is paying for my 503 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,360 Speaker 1: team to be, you know, taking time to do something 504 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: for my own stuff. 505 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:51,880 Speaker 3: And so that's workable for you. 506 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: Also, this is not something that's just will lucas you know, 507 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:01,080 Speaker 1: key recipe. I'm giving you the game right now. So 508 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 1: I want you to think differently about your opportunity in 509 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,000 Speaker 1: the marketplace. And I want you to think differently about 510 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,600 Speaker 1: your small business because your small business doesn't have to 511 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: stay small. And let me say this one more thing 512 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: before I wrap up. So platform thinking is not just 513 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: about being bigger than everybody else. It's about thinking wider. 514 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: It's about asking yourself a different question. Even it's not 515 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,479 Speaker 1: not how do I get more clients, but how do 516 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:32,520 Speaker 1: I become the place clients and talent meet? Not how 517 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: do I make more money this month? But how do 518 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: I design something that makes money even when I'm not 519 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: in the room. And that's maturity. That's business maturity, and 520 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: that's business evolution. And for a lot of us, especially 521 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: in black communities, we're taught to master a craft, be excellent, 522 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,280 Speaker 1: be reliable, be the best worker. And that's honorable, and 523 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 1: you should, you know, you should be excellent, you should 524 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:02,760 Speaker 1: be reliable, and you should work well. But ownership requires 525 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:08,720 Speaker 1: another level and another layer. Ownership says how do I 526 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 1: m own? How do I own the stage? Not just 527 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:16,320 Speaker 1: perform on it? Because most of us perform on stages. 528 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: We don't even build them, and for sure we don't 529 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 1: own 'em. But ownership in this respect says, how do 530 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: I own it? Because it's truth, the future is not 531 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,480 Speaker 1: going to reward the most talented individuals. There will always 532 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:33,360 Speaker 1: be more talented people out there. So the job is 533 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,000 Speaker 1: not to be more talented than the next. The job 534 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 1: is to be the platform the talented people using leverage 535 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:43,120 Speaker 1: to build that thing. It's going to reward. The future 536 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,240 Speaker 1: is going to reward the person who organizes that talent. 537 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:51,480 Speaker 1: Uber already does this, Airbnb already does this, door Dash 538 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,960 Speaker 1: already does this, insta cart, already does this, Uber eats. 539 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: You know all they pick one, They all do this. 540 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 1: The future is not just going to reward the hardest 541 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 1: workers organize that talent. It rewards the person who builds 542 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: the system that those workers plug into. So when you 543 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 1: lead this episode, I don't want you quinya yat on tomorrow. 544 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 2: I want you. 545 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:17,880 Speaker 1: I don't want you shutting I don't want you shutting 546 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:21,800 Speaker 1: down your office tomorrow. I want you to start observing differently, 547 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: Start noticing where do people already come to me? What 548 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,360 Speaker 1: do they come to me about? Where do I already 549 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: sit in the middle? What am I giving a way 550 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: that could be structured? What am I doing manually that 551 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 1: could be systemized? Because platform thinking doesn't start with software, 552 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:41,280 Speaker 1: It starts with awareness, and once you see it, you 553 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:45,760 Speaker 1: cannot unsee it. You'll start walking in rooms thinking different 554 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 1: You'll start evaluating opportunities differently. You start asking, am I 555 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 1: building something that depends on me? Or am I s 556 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:57,680 Speaker 1: building something that works because of me? And those are 557 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:01,520 Speaker 1: two very different lives to live. And we need more 558 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 1: builders of systems. We need more architects, more connectors, more orchestrators, 559 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 1: not just more participants. So I want you to think bigger. 560 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 1: I want you to think wider. 561 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:12,200 Speaker 2: I want you to. 562 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: Think in ecosystems, and when you do, build it, build 563 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 1: it with integrity, build it with excellence, Build it so 564 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:23,840 Speaker 1: that others can win inside it, because that's the most 565 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:28,160 Speaker 1: powerful platform. They don't just enrich the founders, they enrich 566 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,479 Speaker 1: the people who plug in. They expand opportunity for everyone 567 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,960 Speaker 1: plugged in. That's real ownership, and that's the level I 568 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:39,680 Speaker 1: want you thinking on. I appreciate you for ride with 569 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:41,600 Speaker 1: me on this episode. I told you I would do 570 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: more solo episodes this year, so you know I'm making up. 571 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 1: I'm making my word matter in that respect. So if 572 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:52,720 Speaker 1: you got something out of this, share it with somebody, 573 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:55,800 Speaker 1: and yeah, I'll see you next week on Black Tach 574 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:57,800 Speaker 1: your money