#1 for Career Coaching on LinkedIn. I help senior-level ICs & people leaders grow their salaries and land fulfilling $200K-$500K jobs —​> 300+ placed at top companies.

Ranked The Top Career Coach Worldwide On LinkedIn | Helping Senior ICs & People Leaders Land $200K-$500K Dream Jobs

Ready to grow your salary and land a role you actually love?

I've helped over 300 professionals break through salary ceilings and land life-changing positions at Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, and other top companies.

Here's what makes my approach different:

Most job seekers waste months applying to hundreds of jobs with no results. My clients land multiple offers in 6-12 weeks using "The Simple Success Method" - my distilled 5-step system that focuses only on what gets you hired. After 300+ successful placements, I've learned that executive-level results come from doing the RIGHT 5 things perfectly, not overwhelming yourself with complicated processes.

My track record speaks for itself:
✓ 300+ clients placed at dream companies  
✓ Average salary increase: 40-80%  
✓ 300M+ content views helping job seekers  
✓ Featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider  
✓ Built my own 7-figure business using these exact strategies
✓ Ranked the top job search coach on LinkedIn (#1 in the U.S. and Worldwide by Favikon)  

What you get in Career Leap:
→ The Simple Success Method™ (my battle-tested 5-step system)  
→ 1:1 coaching sessions with me personally  
→ Exclusive access to proprietary AI job search tool  
→ Group coaching with other high-performers  
→ Private community of ambitious professionals  
→ Complete confidentiality throughout your search  

This isn't for everyone. I only work with senior-level individual contributors and people leaders who are serious about making a major career move and ready to invest in themselves.

My guarantee: If you don't land a $200K-$500K role within 90 days, we'll keep working with you until you do. That's how confident I am in this system.

More about me: Currently living in Chicago. I worked at LinkedIn for 4 years helping Fortune 500 companies hire top talent, then founded my own 7-figure recruiting start-up. Now I use that complete 360° perspective - platform insider knowledge + hiring expertise + entrepreneurial success - to help people land jobs they actually love.

Ready to transform your career?
  
Send me a DM with "CAREER LEAP" or book a free job search strategy call: https://lwspuk8wil4.typeform.com/to/LeHkspKC

P.S. - Spots are limited. I only take on a select group of professionals each month to ensure everyone gets the attention they deserve.

Reno Perry

My biggest hiring mistake taught me everything.

I passed on someone because they didn't fit the mold.

She had passion. 
She had drive.

But no industry experience.

So I hired the "safe" choice instead.

9 months later, they were gone. 
I was just a stepping stone. 

The person I rejected?

She's now embedded and thriving at another company. 
With no plans to move on. 

That's when it clicked:

People never forget the leader who took a chance on them.

And leaders who don't take chances?

They miss out on incredible talent.

What I’ve learned:

↳ Drive beats degrees
↳ Potential beats pedigree
↳ Character beats credentials

But most of all: 

Attitude beats everything. 

The intern we promoted over more senior candidates.
The career changer who became our top performer.
The self-taught developer who built our best systems.

They all had one thing in common:

Someone believed in them before they proved it.

Now that's how I lead.

I look for hunger, not just qualifications.
I bet on people, not just resumes.
I build futures, not just teams.

Because when you give someone their shot?

They don't just remember. They deliver.

Who's someone who gave you a shot? 

Tag them in the comments below.

"Cool office perks" are dying.

And the companies you actually want to work for
already know that.

I talk to hiring leaders every week
who are building teams at the $200K–$500K level.

Here's what the best companies are spending on instead of ping pong tables:

True flexibility.
Could be hybrid, async, or remote work.

AI upskilling across every level.
Not just engineering. Everyone.

Mental health and wellness support
that goes beyond a meditation app.

Family care benefits that actually cover
the messy reality of having a family.

Career development budgets
people can use without jumping through hoops.

Equity compensation at all levels.
Not just C-suite. 

Transparent pay scales.
No guessing. No negotiating against yourself.

Leadership coaching programs
because promoting someone without support
is just setting them up to fail.

Notice the pattern?

None of these are perks.
They're investments in the kind of people
these companies can't afford to lose.

And the data backs it up.
Companies doing this see dramatically higher retention,
employee satisfaction, and productivity.

So if you're job searching right now,
especially at the senior level,
stop asking "what are the perks?"

Start asking "where is this company actually investing?"

That answer tells you everything
about whether they'll invest in you too.

What's the most meaningful investment
a company has made in you?

---

The companies making these investments
are also raising the bar on who they hire.

If you're targeting a leadership or senior IC role
in the $200K–$500K range,
I run a small accelerator built for exactly that.

DM me the word "READY"
or check the link in my Featured section.

I've interviewed 2,000+ people.

The best candidate usually isn't the most experienced.
It's the one who's most prepared to show their value.

Not with memorized lines.
With real answers that build confidence and spark trust.

You're almost guaranteed to hear these 5 questions.
Here's the mindset behind answering each one well:

"Tell me about yourself"
Lead with one clear result that connects to the role.
End with why their future excites you, not just yours.

"What's your greatest weakness?"
Pick something real but not role-critical.
Show the system you've built to improve.

"Why are you leaving?"
Stay positive and forward-focused.
Frame the move as a step toward greater impact.

"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"
Align your ambition with their growth path.
Show how this role is the bridge.

"Why should we hire you?"
Point to results that solve their exact pain.
Make it obvious you'll add value from day one.

But here's what most candidates miss…
being ready when it's YOUR turn to ask questions.

That's your chance to show you're thoughtful,
strategic, and serious about the role.

I put together a cheat sheet with
10 high-impact questions that set you apart.

Save it. Screenshot it. Send it to a friend
who's got an interview coming up.

If you're preparing for interviews at the
$200K–$500K level and want strategic support,
I'm opening a few seats in my Job Search Accelerator.

Book a strategy call here to see if it's a fit: https://lnkd.in/gCKpEsYg

I've helped 100s of candidates land 6-figure roles.

The best offers don’t always go to the best candidates.

They go to the most prepared ones.

Save this for your prep.
Share it with someone who needs a win.

12 tough interview questions with A+ answers
(from someone who’s seen what works):

1. “Tell me about yourself.”
↳ Share your value, impact, and what you’re building next.

2. “Walk me through your resume.”
↳ Show how each step made you stronger and more strategic.

3. “Why are you leaving your current role?”
↳ Don’t trash the past—focus on what’s ahead.

4. “I see a gap in your resume. Why did you take time off?”
↳ Be real. Keep it brief. Then move forward.

5. “How do you lead without authority?”
↳ Show how you align people and drive results anyway.

6. “Have you ever disagreed with your boss?”
↳ Prove your maturity: challenge with logic, solve with impact.

7. “What’s a decision you regret?”
↳ Pick one. Own it. Share what changed because of it.

8. “What’s something you’d do differently if you could?”
↳ Point to one thing that would’ve made a big difference.

9. “If I called your boss, what would they say about you?”
↳ Share real feedback that shows clarity, trust, and leadership.

10. “What’s your biggest weakness?”
↳ Be honest. Keep it small. Explain how you manage it now.

11. “What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken?”
↳ Walk through the bold move and the payoff.

12. “Tell me about a project that failed and what you did.”
↳ Own the mess. Show how you fixed it and rebuilt trust.

Great answers don’t just sound good.
They show you’re already thinking at the next level.

So if this helped you rethink how you prep...

Save it.
Remember it. 
Use it. 

Because your next big opportunity could come down
to just 1 question.

But you’d better be ready for all 12.

—

📌 P.S. Ready to land a stronger role in 2026?

I'm hosting a free masterclass where I'll walk you through exactly how senior-level candidates engineer the offers they want.

Grab your spot here: https://lnkd.in/g8fyNm7g

Your LinkedIn profile is costing you opportunities.

(And you don't even know it.)

I've reviewed 1000+ profiles.

Most make the same 7 mistakes.

The good news?

They're all fixable today.

Here's what separates profiles that get ignored
from profiles that get interviews:

1. Your Photo

Blurry selfie → Professional headshot
Dark lighting → Natural light
Busy background → Clean, simple backdrop

2. Your Headline

"Marketing Manager" → "Helping B2B SaaS Companies 
Triple Pipeline Through Data-Driven Campaigns"
Job title only → Keywords + impact + value

Try these headline formulas ↓
[Title] | [Keyword 1] | [Keyword 2] | [Keyword 3] | [Value Statement]
[Title] | [Industry/Expertise] | [Value Statement or Achievement]

3. Your About Section

Resume copy → Your actual story
Third person → First person, conversational
List of duties → Problems you solve

4. Your Skills

23 random skills → Up to 100 strategic ones
Old terminology → Current industry keywords
Set and forget → Update every quarter

5. Your Recommendations

2 generic ones → 3+ specific ones
Old colleagues → Recent success stories
Vague praise → Measurable outcomes

6. Your Custom URL

in/12345abc → in/yourname
Hidden profile → Easy to share and find

7. Your Activity

Ghost mode → Weekly engagement
Broadcasting → Conversations
Silent scrolling → Strategic commenting

The reality?

Recruiters spend 6 seconds on your profile.

Make them count.

I've helped 100s land 6-figure roles.

Every single one started here.

Your competition isn't just sleeping.
Their profiles are working 24/7.
Yours should be too.

Pick one section.
Fix it today.
Then move to the next.

Small changes. Big results.

—

📌 P.S. If you’re serious about making a move and want help positioning yourself for $200K–$500K roles, I work with a small number of clients inside my Job Search Accelerator. You can fill out the short form in my Featured section and, if it’s a fit, book a strategy call.

I stopped asking "What's the culture like?" in interviews.

Not because culture doesn't matter. It determines everything…your growth, confidence, stress, and well-being.

I stopped asking it because it never reveals the truth.

Ask any hiring manager and you'll hear the same three lines:

"Collaborative." "Innovative." And dare they say "Like family."

Vague. Rehearsed. Meaningless.

If you want real insight, you need questions that force specifics, not slogans. Questions that uncover actual behavior, not branding.

The 12 on this cheat sheet do exactly that.

Pay attention to how leaders respond, not just what they say. 

Do they lean forward or get guarded? Do they name real people and real examples or speak in theory? Do they admit where they're still improving or pretend everything is great?

Those moments tell you everything.

Because you're not just interviewing for a job. 

You're interviewing for the next 2,000 hours of your life.

Ask the questions most people are too afraid to ask. 

You deserve real answers.

📌 Want help landing a better role and a healthier team environment? Visit the featured section on my profile to learn more and book a free strategy call.

The most successful people I've met share 1 skill:

They’re powerful communicators.

I've watched so many talented professionals get overlooked.

(Especially in job interviews these days)

All because they couldn't package their value into stories that stick.

The right frameworks can help you do that.

Here are 5 story frameworks every professional or job seeker needs to know:

1. PCAR Method
↳ Forces you to set the scene before jumping to what you did
↳ Makes interviewers feel the weight of your impact

2. The Minto Pyramid Principle 
↳ Saves time by leading with conclusions
↳ Perfect when you must make your point quickly

3. AIDA Framework 
↳ Builds momentum from the first word to the final ask
↳ Keeps readers engaged through your entire message

4. StoryBrand Framework 
↳ Shifts focus from what you did to what they need
↳ Makes your value instantly relevant to your audience

5. The Hero's Journey
↳ Turns career gaps into growth stories
↳ Shows resilience instead of just listing jobs

Each framework helps you:

✅ Build real connections
✅ Make your message stick
✅ Say more with fewer words
✅ Stand out from everyone else

Your experiences already matter.
These frameworks just help others see it too.

Which of these frameworks are you using right now?

If storytelling in interviews is the piece that's costing you offers (which it probably is tbh), that's exactly what we fix inside Career Leap.

My clients don't just learn frameworks. We practice real reps with them until their stories land every time.

Link in my Featured section if you want to see how it works.

Many candidates overthink this question.

They try to answer it by:

❌ Proving everything all at once
❌ Sharing their needs instead of the company
❌ Giving answers that are too generic/general

But what often works better?

Stories that show your impact.

(I would do this for most interview questions btw)

Research suggests stories are remembered up to 22x more than facts.

And the best ones follow a clear structure:

Problem → Constraint → Action → Result

Here’s what that looks like: 

1. Problem
What challenge were you solving?

2. Constraint
What made it harder—tight deadline, limited budget, unclear direction?

3. Action
What steps did you take? What skills did you use? What was your role?

4. Result
What changed because of you? Use data when you can or clear outcomes.

Some questions I always come back to:

☑ Does this story solve a problem they care about?
☑ Can it be shared concisely in no more than a few minutes?
☑ Does it highlight your decisions, not just your tasks?
☑ Will they remember both the result and how you work?
☑ Does it feel like your story, not a script?

When those answers feel solid, your story will feel solid too.

At the end of the day, you don’t need a perfect answer.
You need a structured one that connects.

Ever shared a story in an interview that really landed?
Would love to hear how you approached it.

📌P.S. If you want support using stories like this to land a better, higher-paying role, I’m opening a few spots this month in my job search accelerator. We have people leaving this month due to landing jobs! Fill out the short form in my Featured section and if it’s a fit, we can talk.

How_to_Answer_Why_Should_We_Hire_You

I’ve had jobs that look great on paper but still felt like I was in the wrong role. 

The smartest career move you can make this year?

Aligning your ambition with your energy.

If you're crushing goals but feeling completely off-track, you're not broken.

You're just misaligned.

I see this all the time with people “doing well”

Great title. Good money. Totally drained.

They think they need to blow up their career and start over.

But that's not it.

You don't need a career overhaul. You need realignment.

There's a Japanese concept called Ikigai - it means "reason for being."

It's basically the intersection of what you're great at, what energizes you, what pays well, and what fits your life.

I've adapted it into a career framework I use with clients to find that sweet spot.

It's four overlapping questions:

→ What are you trusted to deliver? (Your zone of mastery)
→ What would you do even if it didn't pay? (What drives you)
→ What's actually in demand? (Market reality)
→ What fits your life right now? (Not just your ambition)

The magic happens at the intersection.

That's where you get focus, clarity, and motivation without burning out.

I broke down the full framework in the graphic below 👇

Look at it. See where you're strong. Notice where you're missing.

That gap? That's what's making you feel off.

—

P.S. This kind of clarity work is what we do with clients inside my Job Search Accelerator. I help professionals align their skills, ambition, and energy so their next role actually compounds their career. 

If you want to explore working together, you can apply and book a strategy call here: https://lnkd.in/gCKpEsYg

The best companies don't have to beg people to stay.

I talk to hiring leaders every week.

The ones with great retention aren't doing anything complicated.

Their people feel challenged. Trusted. Recognized. Like their career is actually moving somewhere.

These are exactly the things you should be testing for in your interviews.

Most candidates never ask the right questions to find out if a company actually operates this way.

Or just says it does.

The difference between a role that energizes you and one that burns you out in 18 months usually comes down to how well you interviewed them.

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 advisory and investment company called Contrarian Thinking that helps owners buy and scale businesses.Our newsletter has over 1M+ weekly readers, here → contrarianthinking.biz/liOur 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.

The best advice that no one follows:

- Wake up at 5:45am.
- Marriage done well is a huge superpower.
- Trust God.
- Be careful what you read, it becomes the way you think.
- No going out on a school night.
- If you have to drink to hang out with someone, you probably shouldn't be buds.

Feel free to share if you agree ♻️

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

I have no energy for hate. Love you, wish you well, or hope you heal. That's it.

You will make 10x more money if you present ideas like this to your clients or leaders.

Underrated superpower:

Just dumb enough to believe in yourself, just smart enough to execute.

You don’t have anxiety because you think you CAN’T do it.

You have anxiety because deep down you know you CAN be doing bigger things.

People overestimate business plans and “genius.” They underestimate irrational inability to quit.

Dumber people than you have done it.

Let's get after it 💥

Follow for more & repost if you need this to be your new mantra.

You don’t get lucky.

You make your luck.

There are 3 ways to increase your odds of luck:

1. Do, repeatedly. Try, then iterate.
2. Be consistent. Resist the urge to give up.
3. Gain knowledge. Invest in yourself.

Knowledge without action is worthless. So is acting without knowing what you’re doing.

Say you want to buy a business.

You could get the best advice in the world from the smartest people in acquisitions… But if you don’t act, you’ll never buy one.

OR

Your could have all the drive in the world, the right mindset… But ruin yourself financially because you didn’t learn the right tactics.

Harsh truth:

Running a company is simply a game of prioritizing problems.

Here’s how to become the Chief Problem Solver in your business:

Want to know Elon Musk's "secret" to running Tesla, SpaceX, and 3+ other billion-dollar companies?

According to Marc Andreessen, it's simple:

"He shows up every week, identifies the biggest problem, fixes it, and does that 52 weeks in a row."

Most companies hide from problems:

• They reframe them as "challenges"
• They create layers of abstraction
• They delegate them into oblivion

But problems aren't biohazards—they're your biggest opportunities.

Bigger the problem? Bigger the potential.

There’s a reason SpaceX is able to send a 400-foot skyscraper into the sky knowing it might explode.

Because they want to know exactly what breaks, when, and why.

Every failure incapacitates dozens of future problems.

This approach works because running a company is simply prioritizing problems.

Your earnings directly reflect what you solve...

Big problems pay better.

Another great example of this is Brad Jacobs.

He built 7 billion-dollar companies in logistics, waste, and warehousing - industries most people find boring until they see his bank account.

Here’s how he evaluates risk vs reward on different deal sizes:

• Small, low-risk deals: exist but limited reward
• Small, high-risk deals: limited reward with high risk (avoid)
• Big, low-risk deals: unicorns (don't exist)
• Big, high-risk deals with solvable problems: "the bingo quadrant"

One of my favorite lines from his book is:

"If you want to win, you have to rearrange your brain to lean into those big, hairy problems and figure out how to cut off the hair and de-risk."

This is exactly what your job is as a CEO.

It’s simple: hire the smartest people in the world... and solve the problems they can't figure out.

That's it. That's the whole job.

Not avoiding problems, but identifying and selecting the right ones to solve.

Becoming a Chief Problem Solver requires you to create your own weekly problem-solving loop:

1. Identify your single biggest constraint
2. Focus all resources on solving it
3. Measure the result
4. Repeat next week

1 problem. 1 solution. 52 weeks in a row.

The best entrepreneurs don't just "think differently" about problems. They actively build muscles for problem identification and execution.

Then they do it again and again.
Fair warning though, this isn't glamorous work. It means:

• Living inside friction
• Facing uncomfortable truths
• Fixing things no one else wants to touch

But it's where all the leverage is.

If your business is stuck, your unlock is often solving ONE big problem.

Maybe you know exactly what it is, but don't know how to solve it. Or maybe you're not sure what the problem is yet...

P.S. If you want to see how we think about solving these problems for our own businesses, you might want to check this out: https://lnkd.in/enaBvipE

13 other unreasonably simple habits to change your life:

1. Waking up at 5:45am solves 99.9% of daily issues.

2. Grab your to-do list. Do the thing you want to do least, first.

3. Stop all 60 min meetings, make them 45 minutes. Tighter meetings, more time.

4. No social media, email, or text when you wake up. Write something, read something, or create something before you get sucked in.

5. Do the $1,000/hr Test. Group work in 3 buckets based on return: $10, $100, $1,000. Offload one low ROI task per day.

6. Change one meeting a week to a walking call. Watch how excited the other meeting member becomes.

7. Add a How vs Won't check-in. When you say, "that WON'T work." Instead ask, "How could that work?"

8. Be the dumbest one in your friend group, then move on when you’re not. As they say, if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.

9. Take a picture of your net worth. What gets measured gets managed. Check finances daily.

10. Always the stairs, never the elevator. Pick the hard option. See how much stronger you are than you think.

11. Never write to-dos in stone. You're 10x more productive if you reprioritize daily.

12. Meditate. 10 minutes a day. For a twofer - do it in the sauna. Sometimes hacking culture gets it right.

13. Get intimidated. Everything you want is on the other side of fear. Do something every day that scares you a little bit.

Life is the small things repeated daily.

Change one daily habit, and beautiful things start to happen...

So pick one.

↓↓↓

Also...build the habit of getting ownership, not income. 

Come to MSM Live to learn how: https://lnkd.in/gf6hPHdF

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contrarianthinking

unconventional-acquisitions

cresco-capital-partners-llc

strike-fire-productions

contrarian-thinking-capital

A reminder to myself and you this Saturday...

It’s really just you against the mirror. You vs you. No one else can win at a game of one. I know it’s hard not to get distracted, race horses wear blinders for a reason. Your lane you’re game. LFG.

Underrated quality of awful leaders:

They try to please everyone & lead by committee.

The hardest parts about leadership:

• Telling truths people don’t want to hear
• Watching decisions people will regret
• But you can’t force mentorship
• No one cares about your business as much as you do
• Micromanaging means YOU hired wrong

Doesn't mean you have to be a jerk.

But often trying to please everyone is the worst thing you can do for your people.

What do you think?

Wall Street has one rule:

Never start what you can buy.

Here’s everything you need to know about buying a biz in 2025: 

While 90% of startups fail, 80% of acquisitions survive the first year.

88% of people worth $30M+ have done at lease one acquisition.

That means the best way to get rich isn’t to start a business like they love to tell us.

The best way to wealth with the highest degree of certainty is through acquisitions.

Right now, the average small business owner in the US is 67 years old. When you’ve run a business for 10+ years, you're bound to be exhausted.

These owners are motivated to sell by what I call the 7 D's:

• Departure
• Divorce
• Disease
• Disagreement
• Distress
• Death
• Dullness

They’re desperate to exit the game but don't know how. 

Most people think they need millions in capital to buy a businesses.

But they don't realize 60% of all business sales involve seller financing.

Instead of going to a bank for a loan, the seller becomes your bank.

You put some money down, and they get paid over time from the business profits.

There are 3 reasons why a seller would agree to this:

1. Cash

Let’s say the bank offered the seller $750,000 for their biz but you offered the seller $1.15 million paid over time.

They’ll make an extra $400,000 by being the bank.

2. Taxes

Lump sum payments hit the seller with massive tax bills.

Installment payments spread over 10 years means lower tax brackets and potentially hundreds of thousands saved.

3. Speed

Bank loans take 3-9 months to close. Seller financing can close in 2-3 weeks.

Now which businesses to target? 

Ones under $10 million in revenue with at least 15% profit margins.

Blue-collar service businesses fit this bill - HVAC, landscaping, cleaning services.

They're cash-flowing, recession-resistant, and boring enough that private equity ignores them. 

BUT, before searching anywhere, create what I call a deal box. Define exactly:

• How much cash flow you need annually
• Maximum purchase price
• Geographic preferences
• Industry focus
• Must-haves and can't-stands

If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you’ll never find it.

Next up, how to find businesses to buy? 

1. Venmo Challenge

Pull your payment history and filter out friends and big companies. What's left are small businesses you already pay - cleaning services, handymen, landscapers.

2. Personal P&L Review.

Open your credit card statements and look at small businesses you spend with. These are owners you can reach out to.

3. The 9-5 Strategy:

One of our community members bought her coworker's $1.5M business with full seller financing after he decided to retire to go skiing with his wife.

↓ ↓ ↓

As a thank you for sticking around to the end, I want you give my "Deal Clarity Workbook."

It helps you figure out what business is right for you.

Grab it here: https://lnkd.in/enPdVi_D

What I wish I was told before I had success.

The “Hate Us ‘Cuz They Ain’t Us” Curve:

When you first start out, they tell you...

You’re lame.
You’re crazy.
That’ll never work.
Oh, she’s a one-hit wonder.
She probably has a rich dad.
Or slept her way there.

THEN, we hit the top of the curve. Your success is obvious. And things start to change... They say…

Oh yeah, I know her.
Hey, long time no talk!
Love to meet up and pick your brain.
How did you do that?

And the grand finale...
They ask you for a job.

If success is your goal, expect people to talk a lot of crap for a long time. Let them. Because one day, you’ll just get to point at the scoreboard.

↓↓↓

FYI 

If you're ready to step out of your comfort zone this year and buy a business, come to my live event this week. 

I'll teach you how (over 3 days): https://lnkd.in/eEye_qd6

Is talking about vanity superficial? Maybe.

Is it effective? Absolutely.

Being well-dressed and well-groomed is a massive edge in any negotiation. It’s hard to push back on someone who looks like they’ve already won. Own your 2026 look.

The richest people in the world don't just build companies...they buy them.

Here’s how you can too (without their millions): 

Three reasons why buying beats building a business from scratch:

- 45% of new businesses fail within 5 years
- Most entrepreneurs make only $67k/year
- First 3-4 years are unprofitable

Compare that to when you buy...

You inherit customers, systems, and profits from day one.

"But Codie, I genuinely can’t afford one."

That’s what I thought too when I started. 

There are 3 ways to buy any business (without needing millions):

1. Experience
2. Sweat equity
3. Money

You only need ONE of these three to pull off a deal.

1. Experience

This is perfect for people who know the industry inside and out.

Maybe you've been a plumber for 20 years and want to buy a plumbing company.

Sellers value genuine knowledge over $$ because they know you won't destroy what they built.

2. Sweat Equity

If you’re thinking about working in the business and growing it, this is for you.

Many retiring owners care more about their legacy than maximizing the sale price.

They want someone who'll take care of their employees and customers, not just squeeze the biz for cash.

3. Money

This doesn't have to mean YOUR money.

I've bought plenty of businesses with 0-15% down using other people's money. You can:

- Use SBA loans (government-backed with low rates)
- Get investors to fund the deal
- Or structure seller financing

Seller financing often works as a win-win too. 

Banks tend to lowball business valuations and charge high interest rates.

But when sellers finance you directly, they get a premium price AND earn interest on the loan.

They make MORE money by cutting out the bank.

Just make sure you show what’s in it for them:

- Higher purchase price (ex. 15%+ premium)
- Tax advantages (spread over time vs lump sum)
- Faster close (30 days vs 120 days)

A win-win.

So what businesses should you target?

A few strategies I use: 

1. SOWS method:

- Stale: Revenue hasn't grown in 3+ years
- Old: Been around 5+ years
- Weak: Competitors are terrible
- Simple: You can explain it to an 8-year-old

2. The Venmo Method

Look at your personal P&L:

- Who do you pay every month?
- Who are your competitors?
- What vendors do you use?

These are the businesses you should buy.

Instead of paying to get your problem solved, why don’t you get paid to solve it for other people? 

Right now, boomers own $5-10 trillion worth of businesses.

And when these owners retire…

It’s either we buy these businesses, or BlackRock does.

I’d rather see more of us own our local than have PE swallow everything up.

If you want to learn how to buy a biz, you should come to my masterclass today. 

It's completely free & solely focused on teaching you how to buy a biz for a little as $0. 

Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/e86jsivr

How to be unrecognizable in 90 days:

1. Be obsessed

Every outsized outcome I’ve seen came from people who genuinely enjoy the pressure. Not motivated people. Obsessed people. It’s almost impossible to compete with someone who treats the thing you dread as fun.

2. Clean out your closet

Get rid of anything that doesn’t fit the person you’re becoming. Cluttered space creates cluttered thinking, and cluttered thinkers don’t make money. Changing how you show up physically is one of the fastest ways to change how you behave.

3. Clarify your ONE thing

Not five ideas. One. Put a number on it and give yourself 90 days to get there. You have to prove to yourself that you keep your word.

4. Tell a better story about yourself

Not a vision board. Write down the words. If your life were a book, what’s supposed to happen next? What goes wrong and how do you react to it? When challenges show up, it’s much easier to keep going if you already decided they were part of the plot.

5. Start a not-to-do list

Becoming elite means cutting distractions aggressively and doing fewer things better.

6. Eliminate distractions

Most distraction is optional so make it harder to waste time and easier to focus. Small changes here create outsized results.

7. Outwork people

If you wake up earlier, protect the first part of your day, and eliminate distractions, you will get ahead faster than you think. Because most people just aren’t willing to work hard.

8. Move in silence

When you’re actually changing your life, you don’t need an audience. Do cool shit. Then talk after the result.

Do this for 90 days and your life will look different.

Because you WILL be different.

I asked my mom & dad for advice recently from raising me and my brother...

This is what they told me, maybe you’ll find it useful too:

1. Your kids are not your friends. They’re yours to safeguard and support, but set rules. Biggest problem with most kids in our generation, their parents wanted to be liked not respected.

2. Psy ops are underrated. My mom had this line for whenever I got into trouble. She’d say, “When I ask you a question like this, I already know the answer. I am giving you a chance to come clean...” At which point I’d sing like a canary because I’m a scaredy cat. I found out today she rarely knew the answers. Brilliant and maniacal.

3. Always on the same page. My mom and dad rarely fought in front of my brother and I. They would never go back on the word of the other. United front to deal with us mini terrorists.

4. Make time. My dad had this silly line that is actually not silly: “You can make money, you can make a cake, but you can’t make time.” So they made allllll the time for us.

5. Four chairs. We have these four chairs in our living room, no tv. Growing up, we’d sit and debate and talk for hours. Politics. Opinions. Our days. Only thing not allowed was an opinion you couldn’t defend unemotionally. We still do this today.

6. Mi Sangre mi siempre. They’d always say, blood comes first. They meant it. I hired my brother, my dad, my mom, my cousin at times. We stick together and we may fight like hell but never in front of others.

7. Once you decide, you don’t quit. We could play any sport or instrument BUT if we committed we had to play the full year all out. No 3 lessons and quit. Taught us to choose thoughtfully and keep going even when it hurt.

8. Always call. They still pick up the phone nearly every time it’s family. My dad in a meeting will pause to answer my mom. My husband taught me this too, and I try to do the same. If they’re your first priority this is an easy way to prove it.

9. You’re not a princess, you’re a president. My dad always used to say that line. He told me this week that I lived up to it. Gutted me. He taught us we didn’t need to be saved, instead we could save ourselves and help others.

10. Hug often and seriously. If you’ve ever hugged my parents, they mean it when they do it. Such a simple, free gesture. My mom always gives you a hug and says vaya con dios… go with God. How can you not do big things with parents that hold you like that?

Just some Lessons from the Road from parents I happen to think are some of the best in the world.

Moms and dads everywhere, I’m in awe of you.

Hardest job I’ve ever seen.

*This is one of my favorite pics of me and my dad. Doesn’t get old.

Harsh truth on scaling businesses: 

Your goal as CEO is to build a team that runs your entire company better than you.

5 other lessons I’ve learned the hard way from 15+ years of being an owner:

1. Operating Systems Win

The difference between McDonald's and your local burger joint isn't the food.

It's that any 16-year-old can run McDonald's because of their systems.

If your business needs you to be the hero every day, you own a job, not a business.

No systems = Everything breaks when you aren’t there

The most effective systems I’ve seen all had the same four features.

I call it the PEIC framework:

1. Proven (battle tested)
2. Explicit Processes
3. Implementation
4. Continuous Improvement

Apply them across your core functions and your business will pretty much run on autopilot:

2. Your Revenue Is A Reflection Of Your Vision Distributed

Every time you say your employees don’t care about your business, you're admitting you failed at distributing your vision.

When your team can't see where you're going, they can't help you get there.

Your business needs two guiding metrics. 

At Contrarian Thinking, we call them “Oars.”

One needs to be quantitative and one qualitative. These act as our north stars to drive prioritization and resource allocation. 

Our left oar? Revenue. Our right? Followers. 

Everything flows downstream from those two numbers. 

3. Successful People Make Quick Decisions

Not only that but they move fast, in the right direction.

It always sounds simple but it comes down to knowing exactly what you want and having systems to execute on it.

That’s where planning in layers comes in:

Annual → Quarterly → Monthly → Weekly

Once you're clear on direction, decisions become obvious.

All that’s left is to track:

- What team
- What goal
- Who
- Percentage Done
- Status

 Keep an eye on all five and you’ll always have a pulse on what’s going on in your biz.

4. Successful People Hang Out With Other Successful People

Your success as an owner is determined by who you surround yourself with.

If you're the smartest person in your business, you're doing something wrong.

Your goal should be to build a team that runs your company better than you do.

5. Find 1-1 Mentors To Hold Your Hands

I used to turn my nose at masterminds.

But then I realized my only other option was to figure sh*t out with years of expensive mistakes.

That’s why I have coaches for everything now.

Most wealthy people got rich by paying for shortcuts whenever they saw one.

There’s no shame in stealing someone else’s 10,000 hours.

Time is the only thing you can't buy more of.

Get in rooms with people who've already solved what you're facing.

↓↓↓

I'm running a masterclass this week on how to grow any business faster. 

Sign up here to reserve your seat: https://lnkd.in/eJcGFHnN

Only 6% of Americans own a business.

And of that, less than 1% ever hit $1,000,000 in revenue.

After investing in businesses for 15 years, here are three reasons why 99% of businesses never scale past 7-figures: 

1. Organizational Challenges

There are a ton of sub-catagories here but today we’re going to unpack “Executive Vision.”

Most owners think their problems stem from poor strategy, when it’s typically poor execution.

You can have the best plan in the world, but if your team can’t understand it... you're not going anywhere. 

You need to have a clear vision that every person in your business believes in and wants to fight for.

The best CEOs think in years, then translate this vision in plain english to their team.

Make it stupid simple: everybody needs to know where the biz is going, what their contribution is, and why they are important.

When done right, it creates a flywheel:

• Executive vision gets translated into specific quarterly goals
• Goals become daily/weekly metrics on dashboards
• Dashboards drive structured team communication
• Communication reinforces the culture you're building 
(…which makes scaling almost inevitable).

When you nail this sequence, your team starts executing your vision without you having to micromanage every decision. 

2. Finances & Future Casting

The worst thing you can do is manage your business like a personal checking account.

Sadly, that’s what 99% of owners do.

They look at what's in the bank today and make decisions based on that number.

There’s a reason why that never ends well… 

Because revenue is vanity and cash flow is sanity. That’s not just to make a cute rhyme.

If your business lost all revenue tomorrow, how long would you survive?

You need to know this number.

That’s why we tell all our owners to have a rolling 90-day view of expected cash inflows & outflows.

With this data, you know:

• When to hire
• When to invest
• When to hold back on a big purchase

Scaling a business is hard enough, keep a little sanity in your life by keeping a pulse on collections, obligations, and cash reserves. 

3. Avatar Defintion

When owners say people can’t afford their product…

99% of the time, it's not a pricing problem. It's an avatar problem.

Most businesses chase anyone with a pulse and a credit card.

As a result, they end up selling snow to Eskimos instead of hot chocolate to skiers. 

Compare that with owners who get obsessed with ONE specific customer type.

And I’m not just talking about demographics…I mean knowing their pain points, what podcast they listen to, where they go on vacation…

I have yet to find a business that can’t scale to $10M focusing on one person.

↓ ↓ ↓

Come to my masterclass to learn how to scale your business farther than you may think you can push it.

More info here: https://lnkd.in/eJcGFHnN

Everyone should be obsessed with chasing their first $500k.

Capitalism has pulled more people out of poverty than any system ever created.

Stop pretending it’s evil.

↓↓↓

And one of the most important skills to learn to hit your first $500k? 

Sales. 

Read this to learn why now is the perfect time to get great at sales: https://lnkd.in/eqESyABe

The #1 killer of businesses is bad cashflow.

15 other harsh business truths for you:

1. The greatest muscle you can build is urgency. Bureaucracy is business poison.

2. Decrease the time between having an idea and getting it done. Everything changes.

3. Never sacrifice reputation in the name of business. You can always start another company. You can never create a new reputation.

4. Long-term games and long-term people compound. Resist shiny objects.

5. Hire smart people, pay them well, set them up for success... Then leave them the hell alone.

6. “There’s nothing worse than being sick, fat, tired and trying to run your business.” - Dana White

7. The highest ROI investment founders & owners can make is in themselves. Health shapes mindset. Mindset shapes action.

8. You're better off learning negotiation than financial modeling. Business is less spreadsheets than words.

9. The best business of all time has only you, a computer, and the send button.

10. Every additional employee increases complexity. Hiring is a last resort.

11. The best advice comes from those just a couple steps ahead of you. These people still vividly remember the problems you're facing today.

12. Sell painkillers, not vitamins. There's more money in needs than wants.

13. No discounts. Compete on value, not price. Any biz with $$$ can enter your market and bleed you out. Differentiate beyond commodity.

14. A happy customer is the most powerful marketing. Prioritize reviews. Humans are social animals.

15. If no one thinks you’re crazy, you’re too late. If everyone thinks your idea is good? Even worse. Outsized returns lie in non-conformism.

↓ ↓ ↓

Come to my masterclass tomorrow to learn how to grow your revenue & profit. 

It's 90 minutes + fully remote. 

Details here: https://lnkd.in/eJcGFHnN

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The Battle

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