Codie A. Sanchez

Investing millions in Main St businesses & teaching you how to own the rest | HoldCo, VC fund, Founder

On a mission to create financially free and free-thinking humans.

I founded a media company called Contrarian Thinking that teaches people to think critically and cashflow unconventionally with boring businesses.

Our newsletter has over 1M+ weekly readers, here → contrarianthinking.biz/li

Our community has taught 9,000+ members biz buying, biz growing, and doing deals. 

We value experience over degrees.
Betting on yourself over building someone else's dream.
Main Street over Wall Street.

My mission is less suits, more boots. Meaning: we the people holding the power… and the purse strings.

🔗Join 1M+ others who get our free newsletter: contrarianthinking.biz/li
🔗YouTube: @CodieSanchezCT
🔗Instagram: @codiesanchez
🔗Twitter: @Codie_Sanchez
🔗Weekly business-buying newsletter Main Street Minute: contrarianthinking.biz/minute-li

Founder

We help free minds and build bank accounts.

5 uncomfortable truths about success:

1. You can't be a real leader and a people pleaser.

2. One day they'll go from judging you to bragging how they know you.

3. You win in life by being ok with people: not liking you, disagreeing with you, and wishing you'd fail.

4. It’s supposed to be hard, and you’re supposed to do it anyway.

5. The underrated part about being rich... you get to do what you want, say what you want, and people unfollowing or not agreeing matters ZERO.

Hope this one puts a little air in your tires today 😉

Btw - feel free to follow me Codie A. Sanchez if you haven’t yet

Investing millions in Main St businesses & teaching you how to own the rest | HoldCo, VC, Founder | NYT best-selling author

Formula is do, fail, learn, fail, do again.

Codie Sanchez

3 more harsh truths about success:

- You only have to be right ONCE. One big right move can erase a lifetime of wrong ones.
- You can't be upset at the results you’re not getting from the actions you’re not taking.
- The successful don't wait for someone to come save them. You want a better life, go build it.

If you needed to hear this today, feel free to share for next person who needs it ♻️

Don’t be afraid of outgrowing EVERYONE.

Your friends. Yes.

Your family. Likely.

If you are great... Even the people you hire today you will outgrow.

Don’t apologize a f*cking second for outgrowing people who can not keep up with you.

You need to make the hard call to move on, and move on FASTER than you think.

I was on the phone with a friend the other day runs another portfolio and famous on the internet and we both had to fire a csuite executive. We talked on Friday, I asked on Tuesday when she was doing it, she said she already did it that morning.

“Once I know I have to, I rip the bandaid off.”

Tough truth I’ve never regretted ONCE parting ways with someone who isn’t going as fast as I am.

THIS is the hard and brutal truth of greatness.

A reminder that it’s ok to rise a lil earlier and grind a lil harder…

A few lessons on reputation learned over the years:

- Long-term games and long-term people compound. Resist shiny objects.
- Everything you do, everything you say, is part of a permanent record you can't see.
- I used to think it was a win to never answer my phone, always be focused on work. Now I realize those who show up for others are the only ones who win in the long term.
- Never trade your reputation for money. Money you can make more, reputation you can't.
- Your positioning is your most important asset. Product can be copied... But brand and reputation cannot.
- “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” True reminder.

On the flipside, we can't let this paralyze us...

Nothing you do will matter to anyone here in 2 years.

Even less in 20.

And your name will be forgotten in 100.

There's freedom in a bit of nihilism.

cs-venturesllc

cresco-capital-partners-llc

unconventional-acquisitions

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(99+) Post | Feed | LinkedIn

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Talks about #growth, #finance, #investing, #venturecapital, and #contrarianthinking

You can flatter & pander.

Or you can become ACTUALLY likable:

• Do what you say you’re going to do
• Show your results, not your intentions
• Your job isn’t done until THE job is done
• Communicate - less words, more meaning
• Bring solutions, not complaints
• Do the dirty work
• Don’t be boring

The truth:

People like competence.

So does money.

(Feel free to share if this resonates♻️)

The faster you move, the more money you make.

6 money-making truths you need to hear:

1. Unapologetically chase your first $500K. Life is just easier up until you make about $500k, then it gradually evens out. 

2. Get a job that pays you more if you do more, mimic everything the top performer does, until you can't possibly earn or learn more, then apply for a higher-paying job.

3. The fastest way to make your first million... Go be a crazy CEO's #2.

4. Saving won't make you rich.

5. Biggest mistake I made making money was waiting too late to start taking risk.

6. The key to getting rich rapidly? Live like you're poor. Increase your income. Use your income to buy cash-flowing assets.

↓↓↓↓

FYI - I'm having a biz-buying masterclass tomorrow if you want to stop by...

We're going to talk about how to buy the right business for you, why now is the time to buy, how to derisk your deal, and more.

Grab a spot here if you want to come and learn:    https://lnkd.in/e24qgbuh

How to win in 2026:

1. Don’t be woke. 
2. Work. Hard.
3. No victim mentality allowed.
4. Have strong opinions, loosely held.
5. Take strategic bets with your $.
6. Protect your time.
7. Be curious and a good human.

Doesn't matter who you are. Who you share a bed with. Or the color of your skin.

Anybody can win. (Btw this was from 2023).

How to win in your 20s:

1. Choose your hard. If you don't choose your hard, hard will choose you.

2. Ask more questions. As Socrates said: “Smart people learn from everything and everyone. Average people learn from their experiences. Stupid people already have all the answers.”

3. Do whatever it takes

4. Chase purpose. A friend once told me: “I wish you not one penny over $299 million. Reality gets lost somewhere after that.”

5. Not every moment has to be productive. Silence is not your enemy.

6. Be bored more often

7. Get in shape, stay in shape (applies to both finances and fitness)

8. If someone you just met is talking shit about their ex, friend, partner, or boss, they will do the same to you next. Character matters.

9. Behind every successful person is a story that gave them no choice.

10. Put your relationships first. My number one regret in life is not prioritizing my marriage above just about everything.

11. You become the person you want when no one else is watching. It's the quiet, private reps that will never be cheered that actually lead to greatness.

12. Never take advice from someone who hasn't achieved what they're advising about. If you don't want their life, don't listen to their advice.

13. Inconvenience yourself. This generation went way too hard setting boundaries. Show up for those you love, even when it's not convenient.

14. The greatest muscle you can build is urgency.

15. If it's not a hell yes, it's a no.

16. You will be richer when you understand leverage. But you'll also be aware of when people are trying to take advantage of you. Learn it so you can spot it.

17. Learn to be disliked or you will find yourself stuck in a prison of other people's beliefs.

18. You don't have time to hate someone when you're busy building. The less you build, the more you criticize.

19. Your input eventually becomes your output.

20. 99% of people don't move fast enough. Every time you say "one day," you cost yourself future dollars.

21. Complexity makes you seem smart. Simplicity makes you money.

22. The longer something has been successful, the more likely it is to continue being successful.

23. Say you will do a thing, then actually do the thing.

24. The fastest way to build a memorable brand is to pick a fight.

25. Never let your worry be bigger than your faith. God doesn't give you a seed without provision for it to grow.

26. Nobody cares about your life.

27. Someone not as good as you is making more money because they're not afraid to start.

28. You will wish you started earlier and worked harder when you are young.

29. Waking up at 5:45 a.m. solves 99.9% of daily issues.

30. Work smarter, not harder is a beautiful lie. You will not know how to work smart until you've worked very hard for an irrationally long time

31. The size of the problems you solve equal the size of your bank account.

32. The smartest people I know obsess over their reputation. Do not play short-term games with your name.

Money = options. Poverty = trapped.

It's not the money we want. It's the freedom.

↓ ↓ ↓

You’re either the hammer or the nail.

Hammers make things happen. They drive the point home. They aren’t afraid to swing hard, take calculated risks, and make an impact. They don’t wait for things to happen; they make things happen.

Nails? They get pounded. They hold things in place, but only because *someone else* decided that’s where they should be.

Nails wait for instructions. They stay put, keep their heads down, and hope they don’t get bent out of shape. Nails might hold things together, but hammers built the house.

No one remembers the nails — they remember who hammered them in.

It can be easy to look at the work of a hammer and think, “Must be nice.” But don’t be mistaken, the toll on a hammer is rough.

What you don’t see are the years of blunt force trauma on the hammer’s head, face, neck, cheek, throat, eye, and claw (all real parts of a hammer). Years of being thrown around. Years of missing the mark and smashing a finger.

Are you starting to get it now?

Hammers are owners.

Nails? The owned.

(PS: This is an excerpt straight from my newsletter. Get it every Thursday here → https://lnkd.in/euh-mDd8)

Work smarter not harder is a beautiful lie.

Hard lesson for me and you...

The people doing better than you aren’t smarter than you. They aren’t better than you. They aren’t luckier than you.

They’re just working so much harder than you, you can't even imagine.

The only thing separating you from them is:

Grit + Time + Consistency

MBA graduates aren't chasing jobs at Goldman or Google anymore.

They want ownership.

Here’s why some MBA graduates are choosing acquisitions over startups: 

In the 70s, 80s, 90s, MBA grads bought fancy suits and gloated about their big corner offices.

Now, they’re being taught to acquire companies.

We’re living in a GOLDEN ERA for business buying...

Baby Boomers hit ‘peak 65’ last year and it was the largest surge of in our beautiful nation's history. 

An average of 4.1 million Americans will retire EVERY year until 2027. 

And many own businesses they don’t know what to do with…

It’s up to us to continue their legacy and keep their businesses alive. 

Use my 3-6-12 framework to go a-z in buying your first biz... 

The TL;DR is this: 

• 3 months minimum to learn dealmaking
• 6 months to source and secure your deal
• 12 months post-purchase to master the business

Now, let’s break each step down: 

Your first 3 months should be pure learning.

There’s no such thing as a perfect business. Only a perfect business for YOU.

Figure out exactly what that business looks like before you start searching for it.

Terms, financials, tactics, structuring.

Acquisitions is a language. You need to get fluent.

The next 6 months are about finding YOUR deal:

• You'll look at 50+ businesses
• Submit 10-25 offers
• Perform due diligence on 3-5
• Close on 1

The numbers game isn't sexy. But it works.

Once you buy, give yourself 12 full months to master the business.

Why?

• Month 1-3: Learning systems
• Month 4-6: Stabilizing operations
• Month 7-9: Building team trust
• Month 10-12: Growing strategically

Rush this timeline and you'll destroy what you just bought.

I can’t stress this last point enough — you need to be patient. 

As the wonderful Warren Buffett once said: 

"You can't produce a baby in 1 month by getting nine women pregnant."

You CAN have the business you want. But it comes on its own timeline, not yours.

And that’s it!

Remember, before buying ANYTHING, ask yourself:

1. What kind of business would I actually ENJOY running?

2. What skills do I bring that would ADD VALUE?

3. Can I handle the pressure of other people's livelihoods depending on me?

Then, execute on the 3-6-12 framework.

↓↓↓↓

If you've read this far... I've got something for you. 

I'm sure there are a bunch of questions running through your mind like: 

• How do I buy a business?
• Which is the right one to buy?
• Would I be capable of running it?
• How do I know if this would be the right path for me?

Give me 90 minutes and I'll answer you.

I'm hosting a live Masterclass next week on all of this. Completely free.

Get details & save your spot here → https://lnkd.in/e24qgbuh

This reminds me of a study I learned about.

It found what's called The Spillover Effect:

Kellogg Insight did a study across 58,000 hours in 11 companies.

There were two main findings.

1) Positive Spillover

If you sit within 25ft of a HIGH performer, your performance increases by 15%.

You are no smarter, you work no harder... and you're 15% better.

These highest performers are not impacted by the low performance of their neighbors.

My takeaway = the strong lift up the weak.

But there was a second finding too, a much more concerning one...

2) Negative Spillover

If you sit near a LOW performer… Things get bad fast.

How they define “low performer” in the study is important:

These are “toxic workers.”

A “toxic” person = someone who ends up being fired for their behavior/performance.

On average:

- A toxic worker costs a company $12,800
- 2% of all workers are toxic
- They infect FAST.

And actually – the poison of a toxic worker spans way beyond 25ft:

Researchers said, “You can see their negative imprint and negative effect across an entire floor.”

So remember:

Success is contagious.

But so is toxicity.

↓ ↓ ↓

The same is true for the media you consume. Doomscroll hate on social media, you become a hateful person.

But if you'd rather surround yourself with stories of business owners & freedom finders, read this instead → https://lnkd.in/euh-mDd8

Business scaling isn't rocket science.

But it is a science.

After working with 100s of companies, I can tell you the difference between the ones that plateau and the ones that explode comes down to these 3 levers:

Every scalable business needs:

- The right people (who)
- The right systems (how)
- The right focus (what)

Miss any one, and you'll hit a ceiling.Let's break down each piece (and I'll share what most get wrong):

1. Let's start with PEOPLE

Most owners hire too fast, fire too slow, and expect a miracle in between.

A bad executive hire will cost you $200-300K+ and waste 6-12mos of momentum.

But get it right? You start to own your business instead of being owned by it.

To make sure we only hire A-players, every hire goes through this matrix:

• Known Candidate: Team vouches for them
• Proven Experience: Done exact job before
• Proven Industry: Worked in your sector
• Proven Problem Set: Solved your problem
• Proven Scale: Built at your size

2. Next up: SYSTEMS

5 systems all successful companies have:

• Executive Vision (where you're going)
• KPIs/Goals (what success looks like)
• Performance Dashboards (tracking what matters)
• Communication (keeping us aligned)
• Strong Culture (making it all work together)

Most businesses build these 5 system chains separately.

But we noticed that connecting them through a framework makes scaling more predictable...

This reduces the inevitable bottlenecks that re-appear as you grow:

• Executive planning feeds into →
• Sales metrics which optimize →
• Operations processes which enable →
• Team communication which improves →
• Financial performance

This doesn’t eliminate all growing pains.. but it brings a method to the madness of building.

3. The final lever: FOCUS.

Most owners try to solve 27 problems at once.

The best solve ONE problem exceptionally well – and they pick the RIGHT problem.

Something I constantly hear is: "My prospects can't afford my product."But it's rarely a pricing problem. It's almost always a persona problem…

When prospects "can't afford" your product, run these 3 tests:

• Competitive analysis: How does your pricing compare?
• Marketing analysis: Is your value prop clear?
• Avatar analysis: Are you targeting the right people?

99% of the time, your problem is an avatar mismatch.

You're trying to sell snow to Eskimos, instead of hot chocolate to skiers.

The most valuable exercise for any owner is building a detailed customer avatar.

Define who NEEDS your solution, not who you wish would buy it.

I've just scratched the surface of these frameworks today...and implementing them properly is where most owners struggle.

↓↓↓

If you’d like to learn how to apply these frameworks in your business to find hidden cash...check out our workshop next week. 

It's the only thing on the agenda: https://lnkd.in/gZaAQkpT

What they dream of: Starting the next Apple

What I dream of: Owning a painting biz...

Trillions of dollars are about to fall into the hands of those who are paying attention.

Let's talk numbers:

• 33.3 million small businesses in the US.
• That's 99.9% of all businesses.

What does this mean?

A sea of opportunity. 

Over 80% of these businesses have no employees. Just solo owners, doing their thing.

But of the other 20% (aka 6.6 million)... Many are ready to sell.

Problem is, most people are still daydreaming about sexy startups and AI breakthroughs.

They’re not daydreaming about plumbing companies. Laundromats. Self-storage units.

Because they’re not sexy.

In fact, they kind of smell like hard work. They smell like Main Street.

But the thing about these businesses is:

They quietly cashflow.

So.. why don’t you just start one?

A few reasons why starting sucks:
• Cashflow takes time
• You start with 0 employees (aka, you do all the work)
• You start with 0 customers (aka, even more work)
• You have to find a profitable biz model.

But there’s another option…

BUYING a business (done right) means:
• Instant cash flow.
• Existing customers.
• Proven business model.

You're not reinventing the wheel. You're taking something that works and making it work better.

It's a path to financial freedom that most people overlook.

The opportunity of a lifetime is hiding in plain sight.

So here's my challenge to you:

Stop dreaming about the next big startup.
Start looking at the businesses in your backyard.

Then go big and DO the damn thing.

↓↓↓↓

Disclaimer: I know I've made this sound easier than it is. 

Buying & running a biz is NOT easy. 

One of the reasons why I'm hosting a (free) Masterclass next week on biz buying. I'll break down the 10-step process I've used to buy dozens of cashflowing businesses.

My goal? You leave with the confidence & roadmap to buy your first biz. 

More info here → https://lnkd.in/e24qgbuh

If you’re in your 20s, I’m gonna tell you the truth that nobody told me.

I’m in my 30s now, and I wish someone would’ve told me that your 20s actually suck.

Everybody TELLS you this is the best time in your life, but when you’re in it, it feels the opposite of that.

You are hotter than you’ll ever be, and you have more energy, BUT:

- You’re kind of broke.
- You can’t figure out what you want to “do” with your life
- You feel lost, you work nonstop, you have a miserable job
- You’re single, dating, with crazy emotions
- You go out drinking more than you should

But here’s the thing:

Everybody’s been there. It’s totally normal. And honestly, at the end of the day, your 30s are AWESOME.

Coming into your mid 30s is a blast:

- You have money finally
- You kinda have an idea of what you wanna do with your life
- You’re not so emotionally volatile
- People are slightly more mature, you don’t have to date idiot 20-year-olds

Just know, it gets better.

If it sucks right now, guess what? It’s supposed to.

Over the past two decades I’ve led 3 multi-million dollar companies. Including Quest Nutrition which sold for a billion dollars. 

In 2010, I hit rock bottom. 

I was the Chief Marketing Officer at a tech company just named the 42nd fastest-growing in North America.

We were making money and winning awards, but I hadn’t taken a day off — except for Christmas — in six and a half years. I was miserable.

So, I walked away from my high-paying job. Gave back my equity.

I went to my partners and quit. But it turned out that they were miserable too. 

We started Quest Nutrition fueled by a desire to solve meaningful problems. Not just make money. We asked ourselves a different question:

“What would we do and love every day, even if we were failing?”

That question changed everything. 

In just a few years, Quest grew from zero to a billion-dollar valuation. Inc. Magazine named us the 2nd fastest growing company in North America.

With the sale of Quest, I could have retired to my own private island. But I’d be bored by that in a week. 

So, I started Impact Theory, a media company using storytelling to empower people to realize their full potential.

As CEO, my mission is to help people across the globe adopt the mindset they need to achieve all their goals.

My results:

→ $1B sale of Quest Nutrition
→ 4M+ YouTube subscribers
→ 500M+ content views
→ 17,932+ Impact Theory University students
→ 100K+ email subscribers

Want to learn how I did all of this? Check out my website: tombilyeu.com

Tom Bilyeu

I pay $20/month for AI. It generates $500K in revenue.

The secret to 2,000x returns? These 5 rules.

Rule 1: Think autistic PhD student, not magic genie

AI is smart but you need to be literal, detailed, and iterative.

Don't ask: "Help me with marketing"

Do ask: "Write 3 LinkedIn posts for entrepreneurs struggling with productivity. Each post needs a scroll-stopping first line, a brief story, and a soft CTA to download my time management guide."

Rule 2: Break everything into modules

AI works better when you give it one focused job at a time.

Instead of asking for a complete landing page, ask for:

The headline first
Then the subhead
Then the bullet points
Finally the CTA

Each piece builds on the last with full context.

Rule 3: Stack your prompts like building blocks

Never one-shot complex requests.

Start broad, then narrow:

"List problems faced by busy entrepreneurs"
"Focus on the top 3 productivity issues" 
"Create a lead magnet for the biggest problem"
"Write the landing page copy for that magnet"

Rule 4: Push back and iterate

AI's first output will be mediocre.

Always.

Use phrases like:

"This is too generic. Be more specific."
"This sounds like AI wrote it. Make it more human."
"This is boring. Add more emotion."

The magic happens in rounds 3-5, not round 1.

Rule 5: Document everything valuable

AI forgets everything between conversations.

Keep a master doc of:
- Prompts that work
- Outputs you approve
- Instructions for tone and style
- Examples of what you want

Feed this back to AI every time for consistent results.

Most people treat AI like a Google search.

One question, one answer, then wonder why it sucks.

These 5 rules turn AI from a toy into a business-building machine.

What used to take my team 10 people and 3 weeks now takes 1 person half a day.

That's what happens when you stop one-shotting and start treating AI like the professional tool it actually is.

Look, I get it.

You want to build something but you're already working 60-hour weeks.
You don't have time to learn coding.
You can't afford a team.

You're stuck.

Until you learn how to accelerate your progress with AI.

In my next free masterclass, I'll walk you through the exact framework that lets you launch a business on nights and weekends with the help of AI.

You can build your path to freedom without the startup capital, without the team, and without the years of trial and error.

Register here: https://buff.ly/5U8LUuO

CEO at Impact Theory | Co-Founded & Sold Quest Nutrition For $1B | Helping 7-figure founders scale to 8-figures & beyond

If you have 60 minutes tonight, you can validate your business idea by tomorrow.

Here's the playbook:

Most founders waste months building products nobody wants.

I used to do this too.

Built entire companies around assumptions. Lost millions on "great ideas" that failed in the market.

Then I learned to kill bad ideas in 60 minutes instead of 6 months.

Here's my exact validation script with the benchmarks that matter:

Step 1: Problem Hunt (15 minutes) 

Search Reddit, Facebook groups, and forums for people saying:
- "Why is there no..."
- "I wish someone would make..."
- "This sucks because..."

Look for these pain indicators:
- "I've tried 5 different solutions and they all..."
- "Paying $X but it doesn't even..."
- "Been looking for months and can't find..."

Copy 10 specific complaints. If you can't find 10 in 15 minutes, move to a different problem.

Step 2: Size Check (10 minutes) 

Google Trends + Keyword Planner search volumes:
- Under 1,000 monthly = Dead idea
- 1,000-10,000 = Niche market (can work)
- 10,000-100,000 = Solid opportunity
- 100,000+ = Major market

Example: "Restaurant food waste tracking" = 8,500 monthly searches. Solid opportunity.

Step 3: Competition Map (15 minutes) 

Find your top 5 competitors. Check their pricing pages. Read their 1-star reviews.

Ask: Are they getting rich or just surviving?
- Pricing under $50/month + bad reviews = struggling market
- Pricing $100+ with good reviews = profitable space

Look for review patterns like "too complicated" or "missing X feature."

Step 4: Quick Test (15 minutes) 

Create a simple landing page with this headline formula: "Finally, [solution] for [specific audience who complained most]"

Add email signup with: "Get early access when we launch"

No product needed yet.

Step 5: Traffic Test (5 minutes) 

Run $20 in Facebook ads to that page targeting your complainers.

Let it run for 48-72 hours. Facebook needs time to learn who converts.

Conversion benchmarks:
- Under 1% = Kill it immediately
- 2-5% = Test further
- 5%+ = Build immediately

This process will save you from wasting time and money on products no one wants.

60 minutes of validation beats 6 months of failure.
But validation is just step one.

You still need to build the strategy, write the copy, create the product, and market it.

Most founders try to do all of this alone. Or hire a team they can't afford yet.

That's where AI changes everything.

I'm hosting a free masterclass where I show you how to build your business using 5 AI Specialists. Register here: https://buff.ly/Cocb1kU

Before I sold Quest for $1,000,000,000, I wasted millions trusting the wrong thing: 

My own ideas.

Here's the AI validation framework I wish I had when building Quest Nutrition:

Most entrepreneurs fail in the same boring way:

1. Have an idea
2. Fall in love with it
3. Build it for months
4. Launch
5. Discover nobody wants it
6. Repeat

This is ""build and pray"" physics. It's suicide.

But there's a better way. One that uses AI to kill bad ideas in 72 hours, not 12 months.

My 5-step AI validation framework that has saved millions in wasted effort:

1. Problem Verification

Your idea isn't special. Period.

The only thing that matters is: are people actively suffering from the problem you claim to solve?

Feed Perplexity and ChatGPT with Reddit threads, forum posts, and review sites.

Let AI extract patterns of pain. No real pain = dead idea.

2. Market Size Analysis

Even if the pain is real, is it widespread enough?

Let AI analyze Google Trends, search volumes, and TAM data.

Create detailed spreadsheets of potential users.

Too small = dead idea.

Goals make demands. If the goal is to build a substantial business, the market has to be big enough.

3. Competitor Assessment

Feed AI your top 5 competitors' websites, pricing pages, and customer reviews.

Have it identify gaps and oversaturation.

Create a map of what's missing. No clear advantage = dead idea.

Build from physics, not analogy. That's the only way to find a real competitive edge.

4. Zero-Cost MVP Design

Most founders build full products before validation. That's the most expensive way to learn.

With AI, create ""fake door"" tests instead:

• Landing page that looks real
• AI-generated mockups
• $50 of ads to see if people try to buy

No buyers = dead idea.

The market doesn't care how hard you worked. It only cares if you solved a real problem.

5. Early Adopter Interviews

For ideas that survive steps 1-4, use AI to:

• Draft perfect outreach messages
• Generate interview questions that reveal buying intent
• Analyze interview transcripts for patterns

No enthusiasm = dead idea.

This is Physics of Progress in action. 

Test hypotheses. Follow the data. Kill your darlings fast.

The hard truth about entrepreneurship is that 90% of ideas SHOULD die. 

Your job isn't to build - it's to kill bad ideas quickly.

Most entrepreneurs think failure is the worst thing that can happen.

It's not.

The worst thing is wasting years on something nobody wants.

Let AI be your reality check. 

It's ruthlessly honest in a way your friends, your team, and even you can't be.

Ideas are worthless. Validation is everything.

PS: I'm hosting a free masterclass on Wednesday, November 19th at 1 p.m. PT. where I'll show you the exact framework to go from "human help desk" for your team, to actually running a business. 

This isn't theory. I'll walk you through it live, and answer your questions.

Register here: https://buff.ly/DK8aHMt

The Old Way:

4 years studying an outdated curriculum.
$200,000 in debt.
Graduate and hope someone hires you.
Compete with thousands of other graduates who have the exact same degree.

The New Way:

6 months learning AI skills.
$0 debt.
Build real projects that solve real problems.
Get hired based on proof, not papers.

Your parents needed college to get ahead.

You have an unfair advantage they didn't… AI + YouTube can teach you anything in 6 months for practically free.

I've hired thousands of people.
Never once asked for their GPA.

I ask: "Show me what you've built."

Because companies don't hire credentials anymore.
They hire people who can prove they deliver results.

Here's a 6-month plan…

Month 1-2: Pick ONE skill

Not 10 skills poorly.
One skill deeply.

Options that actually pay:
- AI copywriting (emails, ads, sales pages)
- No-code automation (Zapier, Make, workflow building)
- AI video editing (YouTube, TikTok, course content)
- Data analysis with AI (turning data into decisions)

Learn it on YouTube.
Practice it with AI.
Master it through repetition.

Month 3-4: Build real projects for real clients

Not fake school assignments.
Real work that solves real problems.

Examples:
- Copywriter: Write 5 email sequences for local restaurants
- Automation: Build lead capture systems for service businesses
- Video editor: Create a month of content for a fitness coach
- Data analyst: Audit sales data for an e-commerce store

Charge little or nothing at first.
You're building proof, not income.

Yet.

Month 5-6: Document everything publicly

Your LinkedIn becomes your living portfolio.

Post:
- Before/after metrics from your projects
- Step-by-step breakdowns of your process
- Client testimonials and case studies
- What you learned from each project

This is how you get noticed.
This is how you get hired.

Consume → Build → Publish → Get Feedback → Iterate

Winners live in the feedback loop.

College is a structure.

If you can build your own structure and outperform it, you don't need it.

Most 19-year-olds can't build their own structure.

They need a system.
They need to know what's actually worth building.
They need to validate demand before wasting 6 months.

That's exactly what I teach in my free AI masterclass.

Not just how to learn skills.
How to build an actual business.

I'll show you how to use AI to:
- Find problems people will actually pay you to solve
- Validate your idea in 72 hours instead of 6 months
- Build a 5-"person" AI team that works 24/7 to launch your business

Whether you're 19 with no degree.
Or 48 and stuck in a job you hate.

The path is the same. 

Come to my free masterclass and I'll walk you through the exact system: https://buff.ly/SijCFUa

Most founders know their time is valuable, but treat it like it's worth $50/hour.


Answering the same questions.
Approving routine decisions.
Explaining processes they've explained 100 times.

That's not leadership. That's expensive labor.

Here's my system for protecting my time:

STEP 1: THE HOURLY RATE AUDIT

Calculate what your time is actually worth.
Annual Revenue Goal / 2,000hrs (50 weeks × 40 hours)

That's your target hourly rate.

Now audit last week. Every task.
Ask: "What's this task worth per hour?"

If it's less than your rate, you shouldn't be doing it.

STEP 2: THE ELIMINATION TEST

For every task worth less than your rate, ask:

1. Could AI do this?
If yes, document how and let AI handle it.

2. Could a trained employee do this?
If yes, create the SOP and delegate it.

3. Could this be eliminated?
If yes, stop doing it.

STEP 3: BUILD YOUR AI PROTECTION SYSTEM

1. Repetitive Questions

If your team asks the same 20 questions every week, record your answers once.

"How do we price this?"
"What's our stance on refunds?"
"How should we respond to this customer?"

Feed those answers to AI.

Now your team gets instant responses.
You get your time back.

2. Document Your Decisions.

Every time you make a strategic call, record a voice memo explanation.

Turn it into a searchable decision log with AI.
Your team references the log, instead of asking you.

3. Filter Your Calendar

Before any meeting gets on your calendar, ask:
"Does this require my unique judgment, or can someone else handle this?"

You could even build an AI system that asks this question automatically.
If it's not high-leverage work, it doesn't make it to you.

4. Draft Everything First

Every email.
Every document.
Every presentation.

You spend 5 minutes editing, instead of 45 minutes writing.

5. Track Where Your Time Goes

Review your calendar.

Have AI categorize every hour:
- High-leverage work (strategy, relationships, unprecedented decisions)
- Medium-leverage work (can be delegated soon)
- Low-leverage work (shouldn't be doing this)

Spending more than 20% of your time on low-leverage work? Something's broken.

STEP 4: THE WEEKLY RESET

Review the past week.

Have AI show you:
- Hours spent on high vs. low-leverage work
- Questions your team asked that should be documented
- Decisions you made that could become frameworks
- Tasks you did that someone else should own

Then fix one thing.

Over 52 weeks, that compounds.

A lot of founders think protecting their time means saying no to everything.
But that’s wrong.

It means building systems so you only say yes to what's irreplaceable.

Protecting your time starts with capturing your thinking. I'm teaching how to build AI systems that document your decision-making so your team never waits on you - in my live class. 

Register for free here: https://buff.ly/jaWbwme

$1M founders hire to relieve pressure.
$5M founders hire to increase output.

When I was growing Quest, I made the same rookie mistake as everyone else:
I hired people who could “help” me.

That’s how you stay stuck.

Because help isn’t scale.
Output is scale.

And if you’re the only one who can drive outcomes, you don’t have a team — you have dependents.

Your team shouldn’t work as hard as you.
But they must be able to produce without you holding their hand.

The moment I stopped hiring for relief and started hiring for ownership, everything changed.

Output per person went up.
Execution got cleaner.
We moved faster.

And that’s how you go from making bars in a tiny kitchen…
to $82.6M in three years…
to a $1B valuation.

Here’s the real divider between $1M and $5M founders:

$1M founders escape pain.
$5M founders build systems that make pain irrelevant.

If you want the next level, stop collecting bodies.
Upgrade the standard.

Build a team that produces so well…
you finally have the space to think.

If this hit you, I break down the exact habits that got me from $0 to a $1B exit inside my free weekly newsletter, Billion Dollar Habits.

Founders read it because it makes them dangerous.

Sign up and make the jump: https://buff.ly/IaE4Plv

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The Battle

Codie A. Sanchez

Tom Bilyeu

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taplio

The Battle

Codie A. Sanchez

Tom Bilyeu

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Codie A. Sanchez's LinkedIn Performance

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