#376: The Dropout Multi-Millionaire: Brian Will Shares Lessons on How to Succeed in Business With No Money, No Education and No Clue

Brian Will's decision-making framework revolves around personal experiences, lessons from failures, and an emphasis on preserving lifestyle over chasing momentary gains. He underlines the significance of not risking assets when investing, relying instead on stable income for significant ventures.

Drawing from past setbacks, he adopts a protective approach, ensuring his investments don't jeopardize his overall lifestyle. Influenced by insights from Terry Pendleton about athletes' financial misjudgments, Brian adopts a conservative stance, valuing secure investments like T-bills. Introducing the "McDonald's safety net" principle, he highlights that security lies in maintaining one's lifestyle, even if everything else falls apart.

THREE BIG IDEAS FROM THE INTERVIEW:

1. The Importance of Self-awareness and Personal Motivation in Business: Understanding and continually reevaluating one's motivations is vital in both business and personal life.
2. Challenges, Risks, and Adaptability in Entrepreneurship: His principle of not risking assets while being willing to invest income and the "McDonald's safety net" concept stress the need for financial prudence and the importance of maintaining a security baseline.
3. Understand Your Role in Business: It's crucial for business owners to understand their strengths, delegate where needed, and structure their business in a way that promotes growth without being consumed by day-to-day operations.

PODCAST INTERVIEW QUOTES:

13:50 - “We start businesses and entrepreneurs and we build them because we think we're going to create a lifestyle.” - Brian Will

14:00 - “The problem is entrepreneurs start doing this and they sacrifice the very thing that they were building the business for in the first place.” - Brian Will

23:24 - “Human beings can think either emotionally or intellectually, but they can never think both of those at the same time.” - Brian Will

42:38 - “Venture capital is a game and it is not a game of making profit. It is a game of flipping companies and dumping them, dumping them off on the next highest bidder.” - Brian Will

56:56 - “I had no financial assets to back me up when my business took a hit.” - Brian Will

INTENTIONAL GROWTH™ RESOURCES:

• Intentional Growth™ Podcast Archives: Archive of 356+ episodes and counting. Get access to the entire library HERE. We'll be adding a searchable tagging feature later on this year.
• IG Financial Scorecard: Get your Intentional Growth™ Score that grades you on how well you are viewing - and running your business like a financial asset. Get your results and 5 case study videos HERE.
• Intentional Growth™ Academy: 71 Videos, 9.5 hours of content, 20+ exercises. $995 for subscribers [normally $1,495] HERE
• Q4 Nov. 2024 Intentional Growth™ Boot Camp: Two-day workshop with 25 other owners on November 8th and 9th in Minnesota at Bethel University. Learn more HERE.
• Minnesota CEO Exchange: Content + Panel, Networking, and Happy Hour with 100 Entrepreneurs. Mark your calendar, it's September 20th. Topic and location TBD. We'll keep you posted and let you know mid July.
• Q3 2023 Economic and M&A Update: with ITR Economics, ButcherJoseph, and the National Center for the Middle Market HERE