Welcome to The Business Academy.

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🔑 Listen to this interview with Val Katayev...

I sat down with Val Katayev, Founder & President of Poise Ventures, where we discussed how he built a million-dollar company as a teen, his experience going from $0 to $100M+, and so much more. You can listen on Spotify and my new YouTube channel.

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When I was 24, one of my mentors said something that changed my life

It takes just as much time to build a small business, as a big business. You may as well build a big business.

At the time I was running a small education business. It was my first business, and I was pretty happy that it was doing a couple million in revenue.

I was working on this business 100 hours a week. It was tough. And I didn't see it ever growing to tens of millions of dollars.

So I listened to my mentor. I stopped. I hired a CEO, and I moved on.

Your working years are limited. In your 20s, 30s, and 40s you have unlimited energy to build. Use those years wisely.

Now I run a business that is much much bigger. But the same lesson applies.

Because there are levels to this game.

I just listened to an interview with Barry Sternlicht, the famous founder of Starwood Capital.

Barry worked at JMB Realty until age 30(1990). Then he was laid off, and the following year started Starwood Capital Group. Here's what happened next:

• in 1991 - he raised $20M from William Ziff to buy a portfolio of apartment buildings from the government
• in 1994 - he bought Westin Hotels for $561 Million in partnership with Goldman Sachs
• in 1995 - he bought an almost-bankrupt REIT and took over as CEO
• in 1997 - he bought Sheraton Hotel & Resorts for $13 Billion

In 6 short years, Barry goes from being an employee to owning the greatest hotel portfolio in the world worth tens of billions. At the time he knew nothing about running a group of hotels, or a REIT...and suddenly at age 37 he's the CEO of a company with thousands of employees.

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Take a few moments to think. If Barry Sternlicht was running your business what would he do this year? We can call it WWBSD (What would Barry Sternlicht do).

Can you be a bit more ambitious with your activities? If so, what steps do you need to get there?

If you live in the US today, you live in the greatest country in the world to take risks and shoot for the moon. What's holding you back from being your most ambitious self?

Are you focused on the highest-leverage activities in your business?

Last week, one of my closest friends, went on a trip to Hawaii. He runs a successful media agency. He didn't open a single email for two weeks and took no work calls.

The time off made him realize where he was failing in his business. And where he should focus.

Here's what he learned:

As a leader, you're going to get dragged into many tasks. Your employees demand your attention. Your customers need things. Every minute you spend on the small things is a distraction from the high-leverage activities you could be pursuing to move your business forward.

After his vacation, he picked 3 activities that will grow his business. He is committing to saying "no" to everything else that draws his attention.

What tasks or activities are you getting dragged into that are low leverage?

Can you drop them and spend most of your time on the high-leverage activities?

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🔑 One good read

The gun maker & the inventor of the QWERTY keyboard (a short history, Read Here) - Most people know the Remington name as a riffle maker today and a supplier of the North's American Civil War armies. But did you know in 1868 the Remington firearms maker became the first manufacturer of typewriters in the world? It turns out that if you know how to mill the microparts of a riffle, you are well suited to build a typing machine too. They also invented the QWERTY keyboard you use today...

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Sieva

ps: if you haven't had a chance, check out my interview with Brian Beers about how he bought over 30 Midas Franchise locations. You can listen on Spotify and my new YouTube channel.

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Disclaimer: nothing here is investment advice. Please do your own research. The information above is just for information and learning.

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