I just graduated from college in engineering (Dec). In the last 2 years, I have been too focused on recruiting for IB (had many interviews with BB/EB) and unfortunately came out short. As a result, I m graduating jobless and had to retreat back home to save on rent/expense. Currently, I m studying my ass off for software engineering interviews, and will be recruiting for FAANG/ top startup in February-April.
The twist is that I have a very wealthy relative (he’s an entrepreneur) who is very invested in me. He’s willing to provide a 300K-700K loan (5 year term with no interest) to help me start a business. Right now, I have no idea what to even do with the money as I m worried I will lose it.
Between now and until I start full time (likely around July), what should I be focusing on to MAXIMIZE the extra time/money that I have?
This seems like a crazy situation, why would anyone just give you $500,000 when you have literally no idea.
1) try to work with him on something, since he is already successful. Ie. Go in on something with him
2) meantime just try and get a full time position
Taking money with nothing to do with it… that’s just a waste of time and money for both of you
Perhaps I didn’t clarify myself.
I will only obtain the loan once I have convinced him I have a viable business plan.
Its difficult to work with him because he’s on the other side of the world. Plus, his business is really different from what would work here in NA.
I was thinking it would be best if I try to start something (using my savings) while I have time before starting full time (assuming I got the position). And then use the funding to amplify the business. Else is other ways I can take advantage of knowing the fact that I can secure 500K of funding?
He is basically saying he’ll give you money if you create something good. This seems like a complete waste of time as you don’t need his money yet. If you ramp something up and get to a point where you need money, be happy knowing it is there if you need it.
Trying to take advantage of a relative is even more sad to be honest if that’s where you’re going with this
This is hilarious.
I work at a FNG. $500k of _debt_ to someone without a business is hilarious. Ideally, this guy is trying to see how much he can fuck your financial situation.
You don’t need more than like $10k to make real software.
On building internet-based income: thoughts on starting from scratch vs buying an existing asset? In terms of risk (time vs money) and learning.
scratch is always best. If you buy something existing you probably haven o clue what is going right vs. wrong so can’t add anything to it. Usually results in lost money
You have suggested to quit a day job when the online side business(es) is/are netting 2.5x-3x their salary or day job income. For how long do you think the side business should net this amount before quitting the day job and focusing completely on the business?
Same answer, you will simply quit. If you don’t quit it means you didnt make it.
Every single success story we have gotten: 100% of them have not asked “hey man should i quit”. This is because you know based on the results if it is time to quit. If you’re asking it’s not even close to time yet. We just gave a rough multiple when most people do quit
What would be the possible ways to monetize passion for foreign languages or knowledge of them? (Would like to build a side income from a hobby)
Was thinking about launching some kind of language learning product but It would go against my morality because I honestly believe that all you need to learn a foreign language is dedication and immersion into it since all the tools/material are free.
Probably not a good business unless you find a way to start some sort of school. Also lots of competition Rosetta Stone etc (or whatever is the most popular these days)
We wouldn’t bother with that since AI is already able to make that job obsolete soon
You’ve suggested in the past that you’re not a fan of the strategy of building an audience before selling a product.
Since the competition has lowered the ROI of traffic purchase
Do you consider today the strategy of content building appropriate (long term) to build a brand and stand out (provided of course that you have a real edge)?
Thanks.
No, still have the same view. You can do it but it’s not going to make you a ton of money, we’ve explained this far too many times. Content generation is just a job as you’re creating stuff over and over to try and make money. It earns nothing when you stop creating so it’s effectively a job
Me:
Male, age 37, from Germany, Bachelor & Master degree in Life Sciences, worked 6 years as a scientist in Life Sciences, now unemployed since summer 2018, still huge amounts of student loans (5 digits), read Efficiency twice
Question:
There is nothing I am really good at and I have NO fucking business IDEAS. Best and only idea so far was to create a brand for dietary supplements, however this market seems EXTREMELY saturated. How do I get rich by age 50?
Then go and learn to sell other people’s products: become an affiliate. You should have started 17 years ago. Time to start is NOW.
Any tips how to break out of a routine of doing everything yourself to letting others do everything for you? As in, from a solopreneur to a “proper” entrepreneur Felix Dennis style. Slowly start hiring more people? Hire a project manager first? Money is not a problem, the question is how to do it smoothly and position yourself for much faster growth through delegation.
Ha this is an easy answer: hire people either smarter or more talented than you at the tasks. That is really it.
Who you hire is up to you, but your goal is to get rid of as many tasks as possible and give it to someone better than you.
Why did you guys remove the section about drugs from the website?
Just Curious!
Same answer it attracted too many losers and weirdos
1.) When building an ecom brand with the long term goal of exiting for a high EBITDA multiple to get that pot of gold, what are the main things to be working towards other than just profitability ($X,XXX/day) to maximize exit value? How do you lay that groundwork/foundation initially?
Thanks for all the great content this year!
1) you want a returning customer base, if you’re tied 100% to ads you’re going to get a much lower valuation
2) need an ability to expand product lines otherwise your multiple is also limited since there is no “growth opportunity”
no real way to lay the “ground work” you just go into a space where there are more doors to open. Starting a diet pill company for example is harder since there are not many other ancillary items to making people lose weight. the good news is that it’s a big industry
Appreciate the help guys. I’ll definitely be focusing on continuity and delivering enough value to justify it. I’m starting with 2 SKUs (1 core and 1 upsell) and am going to focus 100% on learning to sell the shit out of those, but will consider expanding in the future (or offering that opportunity to a buyer).
Cheers!
Hey guys, will go straight to the point.
Read Efficiency and loved it. I work in e-commerce today and have good understanding of technology (but not a developer) and digital marketing.
I will now make an affiliate side-business and have not done affiliate before.
Need your help to set my expectations.
Assuming that I do legit affiliate only, and I spend 10-15 hours per week, when should I expect to “break even” profit-wise, and what monthly profit should I expect in, say, 1 year?
This is another common one…. there is no answer. If you force us to make one, we’d say people who succeed are able to generate $100,000 a year within 3 years. If someone fails for longer than 3-5 years we’ll bet against them and say they just don’t have any talent. People don’t like that and prefer “anyone can make it” but that’s what we’ve seen
We all know an MBA is a depreciating asset nowadays, but what is your take on Master’s of Science in Finance and similar for IB?
Obviously not ideal given the costs, but I’m in a tough spot so I’m looking into them. Basically, I have FT IB experience and an internship but had to leave that job couple months back. I have a poor undergrad background (non-target, sub-2.5 GPA, networked and hustled my way into the internship and crushed it performance wise from there onward) so now I’m hustling to get back in somewhere else, but I’m looking at it as a plan B. MBA seems unlikely given the GPA. I’m looking at the CFA also. Thanks!
That is worth even less than an MBA. Just get the CFA or get an MBA only if it is free/near free
New to betting.. What website(s) would you suggest using for sports bets?..
thoughts for aB vs Paqiao?
We don’t know where you’re located, all you should do is look online and sign up for the 10 or so companies. Then find the one with the best lines to get started.
We don’t be watching that one too busy
Tell me what you think of this plan (will keep this as short as possible).
Graduate April 2020 with non-target finance undergrad degree. Get CFA Level 1 results on Wednesday and if I pass, will write CFA Level 2 this June (unless I get an IB internship in the summer). Will learn as much web development and copywriting as possible during final year of school
From the ages of 23-24, if not in IB, will work best possible finance job (Corp Fin or AM) while working ~20 hrs a week as a bartender/server (living at home to to save $$$ in major city). If not in IB by the time I turn 25, will jump immediately into tech sales. Will have side hustle up and running by 26 at the latest
If I’m in IB after grad at age 23, will do what you guys did, stay and get enough free time to work on side biz (for sure online sales) at the same time.
Life never goes as planned however I would appreciate your feedback on this outline.
Sure that’s fine, at the end of the day unless you start a biz none of those small steps matter. You’re spending more time planning out things that don’t matter, as we highlighted as an issue for people who typically don’t make it. Since you’re young you can easily fix this, stop worrying about jobs and worry about getting ownership
Sounds like you’re doing everything right given the bad decision. Lower cost to nothing if possible spend on nothing and clear out the decks ASAP. Not sure what else to say here as you have to land a good position in the next 2 years which will then make you catch up as your earnings would go up 4-5x
New manager is trying to feed my ego in front of whole office, saying things like “you’re the smartest person in this office”. How do I prevent people from feeling jealous about it?
Nothing, just be polite and say thank you. Everyone in your office would hate you if you were well liked by him or disliked by him anyway. Your co-workers are NOT your friends, they will stab you in the back for $5.
Thank you!
Ideas for generating leads for insurance sales, If you needed to get leads to live what would you do?( Conventional SEO like 1500 word posts+video, Ads, door to door…)
Dad and son shop, do we stay sole proprietors or incorporate(S)?
Have not worked in this space so we cannot comment,, would be bad info. We don’t even know where to start on that one honestly.
Thanks for honesty,
How about:
What material items do you own or recommend that increase efficiency/productivity?
Ergonomic chair/mouse/ipad/desk..etc.
I have $1200 gift card to amazon, need ideas
Any ideas welcome
Just sell it for cash, unless you’re rich you want to have money for new ideas
What is important to consider when buying websites on flippa, Fe international, etc?
Needing to get a good due diligence process down before pulling the trigger.
The only real item is to make sure you can fix it. This means the numbers are always off / inflated. Either the business is going to be in decline or it is going to be reliant on one traffic source/income.
Knowing this, take a look and if you’re sure you can fix it then you buy it. The rest is essentially meaningless. Just assume the business has flatlined and could decline, that’s what you’re getting and better be able to fix it before you decide to buy
Planning to start a biz by commercializing into a beverage a relaxing herbal product that can be hepatoxic when mixed w alcohol or ssris or if the product isn’t of sufficient quality.
Bad idea to do start a biz like this that can impose health risk? It satisfies other criteria in Efficiency for strong product options and there is zero competition since the supply chain isn’t commercialized yet. Would include disclaimer on packaging and consult w a lawyer.
No this sounds like something legitimate if well researched. People sell caffiene pills with Guarana in them and other terrible health items so this doesn’t sound bad at all.
If there is demand for it and if it will sell… that’s your own research and view
Your source of information has been invaluable to my life vision. My sincere thanks for that.
However, as a European with an intense background in mathematics, our circles of interest/skill do not always match.
Would you know of insider-underground sources of info analogous to your own that are more catered to numeric and/or European types.
Regards,
PJ
Can’t really help here as we may just have different interests/hobbies and life styles. If you’re looking for specific sub-sets of people forums and conferences are usually the best way to go. Everyone has a different set of interests so asking us (when we’re not in that set) isn’t going to help you much since we’re not involved.
More of a social question but with the uptick in social dialogue on feminism, men vs women, the Gillette ad, etc. it seems as if making friends, dating, socializing, etc. has become a high wire act as a young man (in urban areas like NYC). A lot of crazy normal/average folks out there who actually follow mainstream media and bring this up in conversation or get angry if anyone disagrees.
Are successful men who have followed the steps you outline, are wealthy (per your definitions) and decent social skills, on average as exceptions always exist, above the fray? I wonder if they face these sorts of issues as well or are more insulated from it due to their status and value. Is it a case of nod and agree, do the opposite?
hahaha! No issues at all. That’s an issue for regular people. The rich person issue is people angling for your money. Commercials definitely don’t impact dating for rich people, in fact we don’t even know what the gillette ad means?
haha! Good stuff! Gives me hope for the future. Escape normal asap!
Just ask questions on what they think if controversial things come up and you’re asked. If it comes up in work convos, etc, just say “haven’t seen it, what’s up with it?”
Literally no one gives a shit about your political hot takes. They wanna talk about THEIR hot takes. So just ask questions and let them talk, 99% of people will NOT care if you never share your opinion.
Deflect (don’t know anything about *controversial thing*) and ask what they think, and try to avoid/change the subject.
haha! Agreed and great points. People love to hear themselves talk… turns comedic after a while.
I avoid such items when talking to people and half the time I really don’t have a clue what they are talking about. People just love bringing this sort of stuff up, which does nothing but make the entire experience more heated. The workplace is definitely the most awkward for such scenarios.
Deflect, nod and agree, keep your opinion to yourself all are sound bits of advice.
My dad has a very lucrative accounting firm and real estate development/investing firm, together they make over $1M net a year.
I’m the only person in the family who will be assuming control of these companies when my dad decides to step away from it all (sooner rather than later).
Problems: I have to do both otherwise he’ll just sell the companies and not have me involved. I HATE accounting and I’m struggling passing the CPA exam and studying for it leaves me with no time to work on real estate, which I love.
I saw this as an opportunity to significantly increase my income/net worth and take over successful businesses with lots of cash flow and ultimately pivot to RE full time but I didn’t know I’d be so miserable in accounting.
I’m 29 with a few rentals of my own but net worth is still under $1M and cash flow is too low.
Is this just me needing to suck it up and pass this damn test or am I wasting my time with all this and I should just walk away and do my own thing?
(Yes I have a crazy family and yes I genuinely would appreciate and honest answer from you guys. Thank you for all the great wisdom over the years!)
That’s an easy one suck it up and do it. If you’re smart you will just hire someone for the accounting side and not say anything. If you hate it that much, pay someone $200,000 a year to be the lead there and now you’re making $800,000 doing something you like… then you’ll plow all your energy into RE.
Do you know of a software solution to organize multiple affiliate programs? We have a big site and we are a part of tons of different affiliate programs, it’s a lot to keep track of.. What would you recommend in our case?
Not sure, guessing you run a network? That’s a big scale issue, only worked as an affiliate which is using items like Voluum etc…
We don’t know as we haven’t run an affiliate network, would jump over to an affiliate forum or find someone who runs a network to ask
What is your opinion about Gary Vee’s statement about going high risk after graduation? He said, that young ppl should make a gap year after graduation, live in Bali (or something else), try different stuff. What do you think about that?
I got B.Sc. Degree in Health Economics last month, now I have started my own agency. I am thinking about how I can get “high risk”, well I could travel, and I will, but what Idk what to do next, besides working on my business and continue to studying at my Master Degree.
This is just not how the world works anymore. We get furious when old guys give advice that is no longer applicable to the next generation like “get an MBA by throwing down $200,000”.
Every single day you do nothing is like falling 20 days behind. It is that big of a deal. High risk would be trying to start multiple businesses asap, that we would agree with.
As an important item, we don’t know who gary vee is. We really don’t participate in much internet culture anymore
If you work in investment banking, do you recommend disclosing your side-business as an OBA? Not sure if its a good idea for the staffer and the firm to know that you have a side business generating income but also don’t know if it’s worth the risk of not disclosing. Please advise and thanks for the great content.
No, you want to stay in the right politically. Put it under your parents name, same answer as in efficiency.
(1) Which tool would you recommend for keyword search? Trying to rank site organically but haven’t been successful.
(2) Any good guidelines for boosting traffic to site?
Thank you
Google keyword is perfectly fine to start
Traffic is essentially meaningless, if you want to make a lot of money you have to succeed with ads (unless you become famous). So traffic is solved by a good sales page + right demographic. Everything else is essentially nit picking. If you can buy traffic that converts you will be making a lot very quickly
Hi Wallstreet Boys,
Keep the good work coming!!
Your thoughts on the carnivore diet?
Any pro tips to stay lean while trying to gain muscle?
Our diet is in efficiency… not sure what else to say. We don’t do carnivore diets, high veggies, high fruit, high meat/fish. Limited carbs.
Any diet that essentially favors one nutrient group over all others is generally not a good idea. Carnivore/paleo people forget that we evolved eating a wide variety of food, not just meat, regardless of the fact that cavemen were meat eaters for a period of time.
Staying lean and gaining muscle is hard. You’re going to want to eat a lot of fruits/veggies, lean/clean meat such as turkey, chicken, seafood and stick with only whole-grain carbs. Also get lots of good fat from seafood, nuts and seeds, and avocado. Learn how to hunt and that will allow you to get some healthy red meat in your diet (every man should know how to hunt, period).
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I think you briefly touched on this as far as foreign language goes, but anyone that has knowledge or insight cares to chime in.
Will it be a waste of effort and time to learn a foreign language in the future?
As it is I already have a global data plan and had Microsoft translate app that can translate written text from a picture taken on the phone…works about 70% of the time but good enough to figure things out. We are talking for travel, business, and leisure.
As there are exceptions to every rule. In what situations would a marriage in the US make sense (e.g. what if the girl is a trust fund baby whose net worth will most likely remain higher than you over the course of a lifetime)?
Leaving characteristics such as “love” and “fit” out for a second, just speaking from a financial perspective.
If you want to have kids and you can protect your personal assets. Then there is no downside as both of you don’t lose money if you split.
Have a basic entertainment product designed and domain name, as you described in Efficiency.
Do I need to make a fake landing page first to confirm market demand?
If demand exists, how do you find suppliers and manufacturers?
Depends on how much money you have and how convinced you are. If you’re sure it will work no need, if its high start up cost you probably should test with some traffic to see if it’s worth pursuing.
Same answer as book, go to conferences.
One business idea I want to explore is the self-development/life coaching route. I remember you mention in Efficiency that it’s mostly BS, but profitable if done right(ex. Tony Robbins.) I want to tailor it to Hispanic market due to my relative success and the way I avoided cultural traps. Obviously, I would start small trying to land speeches through connections in Mexico, and then scale it as I learn more and get more credibility.
I keep thinking of guys like Tai Lopez and his videos with all of his cars to get attention. He leveraged being flashy and his large following to get clients, which works especially well in the Latino market. Would this be an exception to your rule to avoid fame?
That’s your call. You’ll be famous if you do it, but if you think it’ll work and is worth it to you then go for it. This isn’t really a question since it’s your own choice/opinion.
From one “techsaleslatino” to another….. WUDDUP.
Thought I would add some encouragement just because Its a great idea and you’d probably be able to help a lot of folks out. A lot of dumb cultural programming keeps “the community” poor… There are some guys out there that have some good content mixed in with the motivational stuff… Grant Cardone is an example of this. if that “moves the neede” regarding your concerns for being famous (which are valid) then yay!
I can see it now… “From the Barrio to the penthouse” or “From beans to bentleys.” Not your tio Jorge’s advice.
This was just a waste of time. Cutting to it. Nothing has changed and this post is just one huge excuse. If you’re upset by this send us your transaction ID we’ll refund you the money.
In 2018 we got yet another person who made of $500,000 net income following the advice from the book. Believing things change that much in a year is just ridiculous, we follow the space daily.
Not sure what else to say, but you just lost 5-10 minutes typing up a long winded excuse that isnt true.
No, not upset by your response at all. Please feel free to delete my posts and thanks for the tough love.
Any thoughts on the US investor visa/residency?
I’m 25, third world country national, studied in the US and now on a work visa in enterprise technical sales (presales engineer) making $150k/year.
Many countries, including the US, allow you to buy an investor residency (e.g. EB5 green card requiring $500K) that leads to citizenship shortly after. Long story short, you get that money back a few years after, with no interest. I’m saving up aggressively in case that becomes my best option for residency in a first world country/economy.
I do not plan in staying in one country forever, I would like to keep moving and trying out different cultures. The US being one of the rare countries that taxes its citizens wherever they go is a concern for me, long-term.
Is that concern founded in reality and if you could choose, would you find other citizenships more desirable in making your future life easier?
this is way beyond the scope here, no reason to leave the USA in our view so not an issue we had to deal with. wish we could help but zero experience
Similar phase in life. Easiest would be to get a Canadian citizenship and come back here on a TN visa. If you can start a company in US, you’ll get the business visa which gives a lot more freedom.
1) Any sites that you guys frequent weekly? (Any interest)
2) Any chance on completing the 3rd book in 2019 that was talked about last year? (Lifestyle book)
Thanks to your hobby, your twitter and blog has been influential to a lot of people. Thanks!
1) not really honestly, our twitter handle is a good view of who we read online
2) considering this would be for fun but it has been a crazy busy start to the year
24 yo, based in around LA, Sucked it up living at home with parents for 2 around 2 years, net worth approximately 100k, most of it invested, income about 4K/month after taxes. Feels good to have built up that initial nest egg, however wondering your thoughts on moving out vs. staying at home from a more Fear of missing out standpoint at this time. Not yet at that point of a successful biz.
Based on my income above, what would you advise as a cutoff for how much to spend on paid traffic / biz assuming I’m gonna fail – couple hundred a month? I’m currently DCAing into funds and I think I’d lose out on gains from compounding if I were to go all in on biz costs.
There is no answer here, if you’re a risk off type of person (sounds like it since you’re still living at home to save money), you should learn to sell someone else’s product before bothering with paid ads to a brand new item. too much at once
These questions are funny because for anyone who has done it there is never a “how much should i start with” answer. Why? well if you lose $1,000 are you going to quit? $100K? who knows. Some people don’t figure it out till they lose tens of thousands then suddenly hit it big making millions. So it’s kind of a crazy question to begin with
As a final note it’s not a “bad” question, it just isn’t a question that makes any sense once you start and figure out how it works. So in short, just start
I was thinking more of paid traffic to affiliate marketing sales pages, unless the ROI is too low with that approach.
Besides yoga, cardio and meditation, do you guys still lift heavy weights or weight training?
No change from book
Online sales and marketing seem to require either a niche product that people thinks make them feel special and unique or something that is all-around desirable by everyone (groupthink). In 2019, how does one differentiate themselves product wise online whether it’s dropshipping or not? Or is it just be an affiliate and push diet pills?
This was covered in the book, there are only really three items to differentiate: people, product, process.
So choose one where you’re exceptional and use that as your way to be different. Marketing (people) is probably the most common. Process is hard as most conglomerates have it down well and product is the best as it is the stickiest.
Young company and plenty of room to grow. Sales multiplying exponentially.
Chance to increase equity and of course benefit from exit if applicable.
You guys wisely push second income stream for diversity but also ownership.
Since I have both the career and ownership covered in one entity, would you suggest it’s a better use of time/energy to skyrocket this current business and maximize my bottom line, or begin to start an online biz on the side?
Already current business consumes 60+ hours per week.
Thank you for your time.
Same old answer, your own biz on side. There is never going to be an exception to this, if you never get ownership you never get rich. Really is that simple
Thank you for your response.
To clarify, the net profit earnings are based in equity ownership, so I AM an owner.
Assume you’re saying that it’s essential to start a side biz where I have majority ownership.
Then we can’t really help you as we don’t know how much the current minority position will inflect over time.
Generally, starting with majority ownership leads to the most money, your case could be different. This is where “luck” in life comes into play. Make a decision and stick with it!
Just started building landing pages for esports/gaming related products. I’m connected with several influencers in the space, and have a good deal of knowledge about the market.
I’m concerned though that you and others have said targeting men as your market is far less lucrative than women – as esports and gaming is massive sector that is still growing, is it worth pursing this avenue, or switch to diet/beauty and focus there?
You don’t have to sell to women, if you can sell a ton of content to gamers that’s also perfectly fine. Don’t see an issue here. No path is the “right path” we just highlight the amount that people spend on meaningless stuff that costs less than a few dollars to actually make
* 25 years old
• Working at a call center, 13 dollars an hour. Cannot work at “work”, since we are constantly watched.
• No college degree
• 2x median yearly wage in net worth
Last time I asked what to do, you said that I should go for sales.
I can’t find any B2B sales gigs, and I don’t have any experience from sales. Should I go for B2C for a while, gaining some experience?
Yes in this case you go into any sales position that is also a white collar desk job if possible. Your goal is to get into a office position so you’re no longer being watched and able to scale something online at the same time.
If you don’t know what to “start” which is the classic problem everyone has, then sell someone else’s prodcut
Q1: I’m 2 years away from graduating university. Due to bad decisions and GPA, I have almost no shot at banking, so I’m aiming for enterprise sales. (your advice given in previous Q&A)
What actionable steps can I take to improve my sales skills while still in university? (besides reading your recommended sales books)
Q2: Likelihood of you writing the lifestyle book? If it’s coming out, approximate publishing date?
Thank you for your time!
1) just go to our post on enterprise sales, as stated many times we never did it so we wouldn’t know. the post and Q&A below that post is more than enough
2) Considering it, if we do we’ll let everyone know
Anything wrong with running a test for a new product by driving traffic via direct email?
Found a niche with a big problem and a solution that I think I’m uniquely positioned to sell with a recurring revenue model.
Created a solid sales page (paid for professional design, copy, and video), and now need to test before I produce the product, however am unable to test the affiliate way or paid traffic (market is ~5000 SMB owners in a specific industry).
Unfortunately can’t cold call them during business hours in my current position. Plan would be to send to 100-200 and use CTR from the sales page to the order page and any email responses to gauge if I could sell it or not.
No that is a perfectly fine strategy
Hi – took your advice, got Tech-sales job at a start-up.
BDR, pay is shit and they treat the sales team like shit (practically unheard of… except here).
Question is: Start a new BDR (4 months in) at other Tech firm or bite the apple and try to get to AE ASAP but at least stay 1,5y in total at current firm?
And if I should change job ASAP – would you transition from BDR to Account Manager at a Native Discovery Platform?
Currently building side biz, but changing job might get priority.
In the long run it won’t matter, if you can make more quickly then stay. If you think you’re stuck then leave ASAP. It’s all about promotions and responsibility. Only you know how your reviews are going.
Thanks. Will def. know how to move forward by end of month.
Would love to get more input/experience from someone in TechSales.
Some startups abuse their BDRs by stringing them along with the promise of an AE promotion that never comes or comes after 2 yrs.
Might be worth it if the product/company is great, but otherwise find a better company where you can get promoted quickly. Check linkedin for current and former people in the positions you apply for and make sure you don’t see many people at 1.5+ yrs without a promotion/
What would you recommend for someone who has good political standing and has received a few promotions over 5 years at the same company but wants to live in a different city? Is it worth it to start over politically just to get to the desired city or would you wait until a side business makes enough money to serve as primary income before switching cities? For example, a sales professional living in DC wanting to make the move to NYC.
When you have a second form of income that can cover living expenses.
I’m studying copywriting and I’m having a hard time finding the right ‘guru’ to listen to.
I believe I’ve found someone who seem to be ‘off’ the radar, with no glossed over website with videos, but just raw content that’s intended to help me, rather than selling his own stuff.
In general, are these the real successful people to look for?
It’s a waste of time. Read the books recommended and start working. That’s the only way to learn. Stop looking for a teacher, those didn’t work in highschool and college, they 100000% don’t work in real life.
Thanks for all the advice guys. Curious to hear what was your favorite area to live in post analyst stint in New York. Living in midtown has been pretty rough (and expensive).
Lower east side if you’re not making much, Soho if you make good money
Recently entered a position in a name brand tech company (Amazon, FB, Google, Microsoft). Realized I got tricked by recruiter (naive, didn’t do my own DD) into a position “equal” to a standard software dev position (it’s not).
Comp is ok for entry level ($150K-200K), mainly concerned about potential career progression however. Internal transfer process is hefty, and getting promotions/positions at other companies may be more difficult. Don’t know if it’s worth the name or not. Leave ASAP or stick around for the name brand on resume? (Either way, will reduce worktime as much as possible to focus on second income source)
First of all it doesn’t really make a difference, since career income won’t matter over the long haul.
To address the question, the most important aspect is increase in income. If you think you can’t move up quickly there then go ahead and leave. If the career money progression is the same, stay.
150K-200K? Is that really what entry level software engineer jobs are paying in SV these days? I’m in IB and I’m shocked by these numbers especially given the fact that you mentioned this is “ok” and not even an ideal role.
I’m at FANG.
150k is low end and typically for Seattle or another cheaper area.
170k is the minimum you should clear in a high cost area (NYC, SF). This assumes minimum cash bonus.
Top tier tech offer is 250k, 60k+ in signing, free lunch/dinner etc. Think HRT, Five Rings.
These are all out of undergrad. Tech is great.
I work at one of Facebook Google.
If you’re a SETI or a SRE equivalent then gtfo to SWE as fast as possible. If you can’t internal transfer recruit hard to get a real SWE job because while SRE’s make money it’s not a good position at all long term and earnings are capped.
Just for fun. If you knew the exact date you would die, how would you live differently? E.g. If the date was 2 years away vs 20 years away, how would your priorities change?
Ha you just try to calculate a way to spend every single cent you have so that you die with a net worth of $0. Especially if single
on flippa,
how to you go
about picking and idetifiying a good nusiness to buy, some of the seller claim to have z amount of profit, but when i do research on their sote or apps, the results do not match what they claim.
thank you
This is case by case. As usual the numbers are typically inflated so subtract out 20%. If you don’t know with certainty that you can fix something about it, then don’t buy it.
That’s the general way to think about it
in that case. how would you go about identifying the issue with the business without purchasing it at first?
Once you have the site you go through all of it manually and their ad pages, social media etc. This will tell you if they are doing anything wrong
Any opinion on Vanguard Lifestrategy Funds?
Don’t know what it is
Low fee passive index fund that automatically rebalances stocks/bonds to your chosen allocation.
Sure, just dollar cost average into index funds. Don’t see why this one is special, looks like the same stuff
I have a son and pay child support off the court to his mother. What’s the best way to protect your assets if she takes you to court so that they cant find out your networth? THANK YOU
Have no idea, never been married or divorced… Reach out to people who have been through this process we don’t have a clue
My job as an AE is at a payments startup. Vested equity over 4 years.
Any thoughts on risk of disruption by bitcoin before I can exit?
I just graduated from college in engineering (Dec). In the last 2 years, I have been too focused on recruiting for IB (had many interviews with BB/EB) and unfortunately came out short. As a result, I m graduating jobless and had to retreat back home to save on rent/expense. Currently, I m studying my ass off for software engineering interviews, and will be recruiting for FAANG/ top startup in February-April.
The twist is that I have a very wealthy relative (he’s an entrepreneur) who is very invested in me. He’s willing to provide a 300K-700K loan (5 year term with no interest) to help me start a business. Right now, I have no idea what to even do with the money as I m worried I will lose it.
Between now and until I start full time (likely around July), what should I be focusing on to MAXIMIZE the extra time/money that I have?
This seems like a crazy situation, why would anyone just give you $500,000 when you have literally no idea.
1) try to work with him on something, since he is already successful. Ie. Go in on something with him
2) meantime just try and get a full time position
Taking money with nothing to do with it… that’s just a waste of time and money for both of you
Perhaps I didn’t clarify myself.
I will only obtain the loan once I have convinced him I have a viable business plan.
Its difficult to work with him because he’s on the other side of the world. Plus, his business is really different from what would work here in NA.
I was thinking it would be best if I try to start something (using my savings) while I have time before starting full time (assuming I got the position). And then use the funding to amplify the business. Else is other ways I can take advantage of knowing the fact that I can secure 500K of funding?
He is basically saying he’ll give you money if you create something good. This seems like a complete waste of time as you don’t need his money yet. If you ramp something up and get to a point where you need money, be happy knowing it is there if you need it.
Trying to take advantage of a relative is even more sad to be honest if that’s where you’re going with this
This is hilarious.
I work at a FNG. $500k of _debt_ to someone without a business is hilarious. Ideally, this guy is trying to see how much he can fuck your financial situation.
You don’t need more than like $10k to make real software.
On building internet-based income: thoughts on starting from scratch vs buying an existing asset? In terms of risk (time vs money) and learning.
scratch is always best. If you buy something existing you probably haven o clue what is going right vs. wrong so can’t add anything to it. Usually results in lost money
You have suggested to quit a day job when the online side business(es) is/are netting 2.5x-3x their salary or day job income. For how long do you think the side business should net this amount before quitting the day job and focusing completely on the business?
Same answer, you will simply quit. If you don’t quit it means you didnt make it.
Every single success story we have gotten: 100% of them have not asked “hey man should i quit”. This is because you know based on the results if it is time to quit. If you’re asking it’s not even close to time yet. We just gave a rough multiple when most people do quit
What would be the possible ways to monetize passion for foreign languages or knowledge of them? (Would like to build a side income from a hobby)
Was thinking about launching some kind of language learning product but It would go against my morality because I honestly believe that all you need to learn a foreign language is dedication and immersion into it since all the tools/material are free.
Probably not a good business unless you find a way to start some sort of school. Also lots of competition Rosetta Stone etc (or whatever is the most popular these days)
We wouldn’t bother with that since AI is already able to make that job obsolete soon
You’ve suggested in the past that you’re not a fan of the strategy of building an audience before selling a product.
Since the competition has lowered the ROI of traffic purchase
Do you consider today the strategy of content building appropriate (long term) to build a brand and stand out (provided of course that you have a real edge)?
Thanks.
No, still have the same view. You can do it but it’s not going to make you a ton of money, we’ve explained this far too many times. Content generation is just a job as you’re creating stuff over and over to try and make money. It earns nothing when you stop creating so it’s effectively a job
Me:
Male, age 37, from Germany, Bachelor & Master degree in Life Sciences, worked 6 years as a scientist in Life Sciences, now unemployed since summer 2018, still huge amounts of student loans (5 digits), read Efficiency twice
Question:
There is nothing I am really good at and I have NO fucking business IDEAS. Best and only idea so far was to create a brand for dietary supplements, however this market seems EXTREMELY saturated. How do I get rich by age 50?
Then go and learn to sell other people’s products: become an affiliate. You should have started 17 years ago. Time to start is NOW.
Any tips how to break out of a routine of doing everything yourself to letting others do everything for you? As in, from a solopreneur to a “proper” entrepreneur Felix Dennis style. Slowly start hiring more people? Hire a project manager first? Money is not a problem, the question is how to do it smoothly and position yourself for much faster growth through delegation.
Ha this is an easy answer: hire people either smarter or more talented than you at the tasks. That is really it.
Who you hire is up to you, but your goal is to get rid of as many tasks as possible and give it to someone better than you.
Why did you guys remove the section about drugs from the website?
Just Curious!
Same answer it attracted too many losers and weirdos
1.) When building an ecom brand with the long term goal of exiting for a high EBITDA multiple to get that pot of gold, what are the main things to be working towards other than just profitability ($X,XXX/day) to maximize exit value? How do you lay that groundwork/foundation initially?
Thanks for all the great content this year!
1) you want a returning customer base, if you’re tied 100% to ads you’re going to get a much lower valuation
2) need an ability to expand product lines otherwise your multiple is also limited since there is no “growth opportunity”
no real way to lay the “ground work” you just go into a space where there are more doors to open. Starting a diet pill company for example is harder since there are not many other ancillary items to making people lose weight. the good news is that it’s a big industry
Appreciate the help guys. I’ll definitely be focusing on continuity and delivering enough value to justify it. I’m starting with 2 SKUs (1 core and 1 upsell) and am going to focus 100% on learning to sell the shit out of those, but will consider expanding in the future (or offering that opportunity to a buyer).
Cheers!
Hey guys, will go straight to the point.
Read Efficiency and loved it. I work in e-commerce today and have good understanding of technology (but not a developer) and digital marketing.
I will now make an affiliate side-business and have not done affiliate before.
Need your help to set my expectations.
Assuming that I do legit affiliate only, and I spend 10-15 hours per week, when should I expect to “break even” profit-wise, and what monthly profit should I expect in, say, 1 year?
This is another common one…. there is no answer. If you force us to make one, we’d say people who succeed are able to generate $100,000 a year within 3 years. If someone fails for longer than 3-5 years we’ll bet against them and say they just don’t have any talent. People don’t like that and prefer “anyone can make it” but that’s what we’ve seen
We all know an MBA is a depreciating asset nowadays, but what is your take on Master’s of Science in Finance and similar for IB?
Obviously not ideal given the costs, but I’m in a tough spot so I’m looking into them. Basically, I have FT IB experience and an internship but had to leave that job couple months back. I have a poor undergrad background (non-target, sub-2.5 GPA, networked and hustled my way into the internship and crushed it performance wise from there onward) so now I’m hustling to get back in somewhere else, but I’m looking at it as a plan B. MBA seems unlikely given the GPA. I’m looking at the CFA also. Thanks!
That is worth even less than an MBA. Just get the CFA or get an MBA only if it is free/near free
New to betting.. What website(s) would you suggest using for sports bets?..
thoughts for aB vs Paqiao?
We don’t know where you’re located, all you should do is look online and sign up for the 10 or so companies. Then find the one with the best lines to get started.
We don’t be watching that one too busy
Tell me what you think of this plan (will keep this as short as possible).
Graduate April 2020 with non-target finance undergrad degree. Get CFA Level 1 results on Wednesday and if I pass, will write CFA Level 2 this June (unless I get an IB internship in the summer). Will learn as much web development and copywriting as possible during final year of school
From the ages of 23-24, if not in IB, will work best possible finance job (Corp Fin or AM) while working ~20 hrs a week as a bartender/server (living at home to to save $$$ in major city). If not in IB by the time I turn 25, will jump immediately into tech sales. Will have side hustle up and running by 26 at the latest
If I’m in IB after grad at age 23, will do what you guys did, stay and get enough free time to work on side biz (for sure online sales) at the same time.
Life never goes as planned however I would appreciate your feedback on this outline.
Sure that’s fine, at the end of the day unless you start a biz none of those small steps matter. You’re spending more time planning out things that don’t matter, as we highlighted as an issue for people who typically don’t make it. Since you’re young you can easily fix this, stop worrying about jobs and worry about getting ownership
http://wallstreetplayboys.com/think-like-youre-in-the-1-focus-energy-on-important-questions/
How do I catch up at this point?
Sounds like you’re doing everything right given the bad decision. Lower cost to nothing if possible spend on nothing and clear out the decks ASAP. Not sure what else to say here as you have to land a good position in the next 2 years which will then make you catch up as your earnings would go up 4-5x
New manager is trying to feed my ego in front of whole office, saying things like “you’re the smartest person in this office”. How do I prevent people from feeling jealous about it?
Nothing, just be polite and say thank you. Everyone in your office would hate you if you were well liked by him or disliked by him anyway. Your co-workers are NOT your friends, they will stab you in the back for $5.
Thank you!
Ideas for generating leads for insurance sales, If you needed to get leads to live what would you do?( Conventional SEO like 1500 word posts+video, Ads, door to door…)
Dad and son shop, do we stay sole proprietors or incorporate(S)?
Have not worked in this space so we cannot comment,, would be bad info. We don’t even know where to start on that one honestly.
Thanks for honesty,
How about:
What material items do you own or recommend that increase efficiency/productivity?
Ergonomic chair/mouse/ipad/desk..etc.
I have $1200 gift card to amazon, need ideas
Any ideas welcome
Just sell it for cash, unless you’re rich you want to have money for new ideas
What is important to consider when buying websites on flippa, Fe international, etc?
Needing to get a good due diligence process down before pulling the trigger.
The only real item is to make sure you can fix it. This means the numbers are always off / inflated. Either the business is going to be in decline or it is going to be reliant on one traffic source/income.
Knowing this, take a look and if you’re sure you can fix it then you buy it. The rest is essentially meaningless. Just assume the business has flatlined and could decline, that’s what you’re getting and better be able to fix it before you decide to buy
Planning to start a biz by commercializing into a beverage a relaxing herbal product that can be hepatoxic when mixed w alcohol or ssris or if the product isn’t of sufficient quality.
Bad idea to do start a biz like this that can impose health risk? It satisfies other criteria in Efficiency for strong product options and there is zero competition since the supply chain isn’t commercialized yet. Would include disclaimer on packaging and consult w a lawyer.
No this sounds like something legitimate if well researched. People sell caffiene pills with Guarana in them and other terrible health items so this doesn’t sound bad at all.
If there is demand for it and if it will sell… that’s your own research and view
Your source of information has been invaluable to my life vision. My sincere thanks for that.
However, as a European with an intense background in mathematics, our circles of interest/skill do not always match.
Would you know of insider-underground sources of info analogous to your own that are more catered to numeric and/or European types.
Regards,
PJ
Can’t really help here as we may just have different interests/hobbies and life styles. If you’re looking for specific sub-sets of people forums and conferences are usually the best way to go. Everyone has a different set of interests so asking us (when we’re not in that set) isn’t going to help you much since we’re not involved.
More of a social question but with the uptick in social dialogue on feminism, men vs women, the Gillette ad, etc. it seems as if making friends, dating, socializing, etc. has become a high wire act as a young man (in urban areas like NYC). A lot of crazy normal/average folks out there who actually follow mainstream media and bring this up in conversation or get angry if anyone disagrees.
Are successful men who have followed the steps you outline, are wealthy (per your definitions) and decent social skills, on average as exceptions always exist, above the fray? I wonder if they face these sorts of issues as well or are more insulated from it due to their status and value. Is it a case of nod and agree, do the opposite?
hahaha! No issues at all. That’s an issue for regular people. The rich person issue is people angling for your money. Commercials definitely don’t impact dating for rich people, in fact we don’t even know what the gillette ad means?
haha! Good stuff! Gives me hope for the future. Escape normal asap!
Just ask questions on what they think if controversial things come up and you’re asked. If it comes up in work convos, etc, just say “haven’t seen it, what’s up with it?”
Literally no one gives a shit about your political hot takes. They wanna talk about THEIR hot takes. So just ask questions and let them talk, 99% of people will NOT care if you never share your opinion.
Deflect (don’t know anything about *controversial thing*) and ask what they think, and try to avoid/change the subject.
haha! Agreed and great points. People love to hear themselves talk… turns comedic after a while.
I avoid such items when talking to people and half the time I really don’t have a clue what they are talking about. People just love bringing this sort of stuff up, which does nothing but make the entire experience more heated. The workplace is definitely the most awkward for such scenarios.
Deflect, nod and agree, keep your opinion to yourself all are sound bits of advice.
My dad has a very lucrative accounting firm and real estate development/investing firm, together they make over $1M net a year.
I’m the only person in the family who will be assuming control of these companies when my dad decides to step away from it all (sooner rather than later).
Problems: I have to do both otherwise he’ll just sell the companies and not have me involved. I HATE accounting and I’m struggling passing the CPA exam and studying for it leaves me with no time to work on real estate, which I love.
I saw this as an opportunity to significantly increase my income/net worth and take over successful businesses with lots of cash flow and ultimately pivot to RE full time but I didn’t know I’d be so miserable in accounting.
I’m 29 with a few rentals of my own but net worth is still under $1M and cash flow is too low.
Is this just me needing to suck it up and pass this damn test or am I wasting my time with all this and I should just walk away and do my own thing?
(Yes I have a crazy family and yes I genuinely would appreciate and honest answer from you guys. Thank you for all the great wisdom over the years!)
That’s an easy one suck it up and do it. If you’re smart you will just hire someone for the accounting side and not say anything. If you hate it that much, pay someone $200,000 a year to be the lead there and now you’re making $800,000 doing something you like… then you’ll plow all your energy into RE.
Do you know of a software solution to organize multiple affiliate programs? We have a big site and we are a part of tons of different affiliate programs, it’s a lot to keep track of.. What would you recommend in our case?
Not sure, guessing you run a network? That’s a big scale issue, only worked as an affiliate which is using items like Voluum etc…
We don’t know as we haven’t run an affiliate network, would jump over to an affiliate forum or find someone who runs a network to ask
What is your opinion about Gary Vee’s statement about going high risk after graduation? He said, that young ppl should make a gap year after graduation, live in Bali (or something else), try different stuff. What do you think about that?
I got B.Sc. Degree in Health Economics last month, now I have started my own agency. I am thinking about how I can get “high risk”, well I could travel, and I will, but what Idk what to do next, besides working on my business and continue to studying at my Master Degree.
This is just not how the world works anymore. We get furious when old guys give advice that is no longer applicable to the next generation like “get an MBA by throwing down $200,000”.
Every single day you do nothing is like falling 20 days behind. It is that big of a deal. High risk would be trying to start multiple businesses asap, that we would agree with.
As an important item, we don’t know who gary vee is. We really don’t participate in much internet culture anymore
If you work in investment banking, do you recommend disclosing your side-business as an OBA? Not sure if its a good idea for the staffer and the firm to know that you have a side business generating income but also don’t know if it’s worth the risk of not disclosing. Please advise and thanks for the great content.
No, you want to stay in the right politically. Put it under your parents name, same answer as in efficiency.
(1) Which tool would you recommend for keyword search? Trying to rank site organically but haven’t been successful.
(2) Any good guidelines for boosting traffic to site?
Thank you
Google keyword is perfectly fine to start
Traffic is essentially meaningless, if you want to make a lot of money you have to succeed with ads (unless you become famous). So traffic is solved by a good sales page + right demographic. Everything else is essentially nit picking. If you can buy traffic that converts you will be making a lot very quickly
Hi Wallstreet Boys,
Keep the good work coming!!
Your thoughts on the carnivore diet?
Any pro tips to stay lean while trying to gain muscle?
Our diet is in efficiency… not sure what else to say. We don’t do carnivore diets, high veggies, high fruit, high meat/fish. Limited carbs.
Any diet that essentially favors one nutrient group over all others is generally not a good idea. Carnivore/paleo people forget that we evolved eating a wide variety of food, not just meat, regardless of the fact that cavemen were meat eaters for a period of time.
Staying lean and gaining muscle is hard. You’re going to want to eat a lot of fruits/veggies, lean/clean meat such as turkey, chicken, seafood and stick with only whole-grain carbs. Also get lots of good fat from seafood, nuts and seeds, and avocado. Learn how to hunt and that will allow you to get some healthy red meat in your diet (every man should know how to hunt, period).
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I think you briefly touched on this as far as foreign language goes, but anyone that has knowledge or insight cares to chime in.
Will it be a waste of effort and time to learn a foreign language in the future?
As it is I already have a global data plan and had Microsoft translate app that can translate written text from a picture taken on the phone…works about 70% of the time but good enough to figure things out. We are talking for travel, business, and leisure.
As there are exceptions to every rule. In what situations would a marriage in the US make sense (e.g. what if the girl is a trust fund baby whose net worth will most likely remain higher than you over the course of a lifetime)?
Leaving characteristics such as “love” and “fit” out for a second, just speaking from a financial perspective.
If you want to have kids and you can protect your personal assets. Then there is no downside as both of you don’t lose money if you split.
Have a basic entertainment product designed and domain name, as you described in Efficiency.
Do I need to make a fake landing page first to confirm market demand?
If demand exists, how do you find suppliers and manufacturers?
Depends on how much money you have and how convinced you are. If you’re sure it will work no need, if its high start up cost you probably should test with some traffic to see if it’s worth pursuing.
Same answer as book, go to conferences.
One business idea I want to explore is the self-development/life coaching route. I remember you mention in Efficiency that it’s mostly BS, but profitable if done right(ex. Tony Robbins.) I want to tailor it to Hispanic market due to my relative success and the way I avoided cultural traps. Obviously, I would start small trying to land speeches through connections in Mexico, and then scale it as I learn more and get more credibility.
I keep thinking of guys like Tai Lopez and his videos with all of his cars to get attention. He leveraged being flashy and his large following to get clients, which works especially well in the Latino market. Would this be an exception to your rule to avoid fame?
That’s your call. You’ll be famous if you do it, but if you think it’ll work and is worth it to you then go for it. This isn’t really a question since it’s your own choice/opinion.
From one “techsaleslatino” to another….. WUDDUP.
Thought I would add some encouragement just because Its a great idea and you’d probably be able to help a lot of folks out. A lot of dumb cultural programming keeps “the community” poor… There are some guys out there that have some good content mixed in with the motivational stuff… Grant Cardone is an example of this. if that “moves the neede” regarding your concerns for being famous (which are valid) then yay!
I can see it now… “From the Barrio to the penthouse” or “From beans to bentleys.” Not your tio Jorge’s advice.
This was just a waste of time. Cutting to it. Nothing has changed and this post is just one huge excuse. If you’re upset by this send us your transaction ID we’ll refund you the money.
In 2018 we got yet another person who made of $500,000 net income following the advice from the book. Believing things change that much in a year is just ridiculous, we follow the space daily.
Not sure what else to say, but you just lost 5-10 minutes typing up a long winded excuse that isnt true.
No, not upset by your response at all. Please feel free to delete my posts and thanks for the tough love.
Any thoughts on the US investor visa/residency?
I’m 25, third world country national, studied in the US and now on a work visa in enterprise technical sales (presales engineer) making $150k/year.
Many countries, including the US, allow you to buy an investor residency (e.g. EB5 green card requiring $500K) that leads to citizenship shortly after. Long story short, you get that money back a few years after, with no interest. I’m saving up aggressively in case that becomes my best option for residency in a first world country/economy.
I do not plan in staying in one country forever, I would like to keep moving and trying out different cultures. The US being one of the rare countries that taxes its citizens wherever they go is a concern for me, long-term.
Is that concern founded in reality and if you could choose, would you find other citizenships more desirable in making your future life easier?
this is way beyond the scope here, no reason to leave the USA in our view so not an issue we had to deal with. wish we could help but zero experience
Similar phase in life. Easiest would be to get a Canadian citizenship and come back here on a TN visa. If you can start a company in US, you’ll get the business visa which gives a lot more freedom.
1) Any sites that you guys frequent weekly? (Any interest)
2) Any chance on completing the 3rd book in 2019 that was talked about last year? (Lifestyle book)
Thanks to your hobby, your twitter and blog has been influential to a lot of people. Thanks!
1) not really honestly, our twitter handle is a good view of who we read online
2) considering this would be for fun but it has been a crazy busy start to the year
24 yo, based in around LA, Sucked it up living at home with parents for 2 around 2 years, net worth approximately 100k, most of it invested, income about 4K/month after taxes. Feels good to have built up that initial nest egg, however wondering your thoughts on moving out vs. staying at home from a more Fear of missing out standpoint at this time. Not yet at that point of a successful biz.
Based on my income above, what would you advise as a cutoff for how much to spend on paid traffic / biz assuming I’m gonna fail – couple hundred a month? I’m currently DCAing into funds and I think I’d lose out on gains from compounding if I were to go all in on biz costs.
There is no answer here, if you’re a risk off type of person (sounds like it since you’re still living at home to save money), you should learn to sell someone else’s product before bothering with paid ads to a brand new item. too much at once
These questions are funny because for anyone who has done it there is never a “how much should i start with” answer. Why? well if you lose $1,000 are you going to quit? $100K? who knows. Some people don’t figure it out till they lose tens of thousands then suddenly hit it big making millions. So it’s kind of a crazy question to begin with
As a final note it’s not a “bad” question, it just isn’t a question that makes any sense once you start and figure out how it works. So in short, just start
I was thinking more of paid traffic to affiliate marketing sales pages, unless the ROI is too low with that approach.
Besides yoga, cardio and meditation, do you guys still lift heavy weights or weight training?
No change from book
Online sales and marketing seem to require either a niche product that people thinks make them feel special and unique or something that is all-around desirable by everyone (groupthink). In 2019, how does one differentiate themselves product wise online whether it’s dropshipping or not? Or is it just be an affiliate and push diet pills?
This was covered in the book, there are only really three items to differentiate: people, product, process.
So choose one where you’re exceptional and use that as your way to be different. Marketing (people) is probably the most common. Process is hard as most conglomerates have it down well and product is the best as it is the stickiest.
Young company and plenty of room to grow. Sales multiplying exponentially.
Chance to increase equity and of course benefit from exit if applicable.
You guys wisely push second income stream for diversity but also ownership.
Since I have both the career and ownership covered in one entity, would you suggest it’s a better use of time/energy to skyrocket this current business and maximize my bottom line, or begin to start an online biz on the side?
Already current business consumes 60+ hours per week.
Thank you for your time.
Same old answer, your own biz on side. There is never going to be an exception to this, if you never get ownership you never get rich. Really is that simple
Thank you for your response.
To clarify, the net profit earnings are based in equity ownership, so I AM an owner.
Assume you’re saying that it’s essential to start a side biz where I have majority ownership.
Then we can’t really help you as we don’t know how much the current minority position will inflect over time.
Generally, starting with majority ownership leads to the most money, your case could be different. This is where “luck” in life comes into play. Make a decision and stick with it!
Just started building landing pages for esports/gaming related products. I’m connected with several influencers in the space, and have a good deal of knowledge about the market.
I’m concerned though that you and others have said targeting men as your market is far less lucrative than women – as esports and gaming is massive sector that is still growing, is it worth pursing this avenue, or switch to diet/beauty and focus there?
You don’t have to sell to women, if you can sell a ton of content to gamers that’s also perfectly fine. Don’t see an issue here. No path is the “right path” we just highlight the amount that people spend on meaningless stuff that costs less than a few dollars to actually make
* 25 years old
• Working at a call center, 13 dollars an hour. Cannot work at “work”, since we are constantly watched.
• No college degree
• 2x median yearly wage in net worth
Last time I asked what to do, you said that I should go for sales.
I can’t find any B2B sales gigs, and I don’t have any experience from sales. Should I go for B2C for a while, gaining some experience?
Yes in this case you go into any sales position that is also a white collar desk job if possible. Your goal is to get into a office position so you’re no longer being watched and able to scale something online at the same time.
If you don’t know what to “start” which is the classic problem everyone has, then sell someone else’s prodcut
Q1: I’m 2 years away from graduating university. Due to bad decisions and GPA, I have almost no shot at banking, so I’m aiming for enterprise sales. (your advice given in previous Q&A)
What actionable steps can I take to improve my sales skills while still in university? (besides reading your recommended sales books)
Q2: Likelihood of you writing the lifestyle book? If it’s coming out, approximate publishing date?
Thank you for your time!
1) just go to our post on enterprise sales, as stated many times we never did it so we wouldn’t know. the post and Q&A below that post is more than enough
2) Considering it, if we do we’ll let everyone know
Anything wrong with running a test for a new product by driving traffic via direct email?
Found a niche with a big problem and a solution that I think I’m uniquely positioned to sell with a recurring revenue model.
Created a solid sales page (paid for professional design, copy, and video), and now need to test before I produce the product, however am unable to test the affiliate way or paid traffic (market is ~5000 SMB owners in a specific industry).
Unfortunately can’t cold call them during business hours in my current position. Plan would be to send to 100-200 and use CTR from the sales page to the order page and any email responses to gauge if I could sell it or not.
No that is a perfectly fine strategy
Hi – took your advice, got Tech-sales job at a start-up.
BDR, pay is shit and they treat the sales team like shit (practically unheard of… except here).
Question is: Start a new BDR (4 months in) at other Tech firm or bite the apple and try to get to AE ASAP but at least stay 1,5y in total at current firm?
And if I should change job ASAP – would you transition from BDR to Account Manager at a Native Discovery Platform?
Currently building side biz, but changing job might get priority.
In the long run it won’t matter, if you can make more quickly then stay. If you think you’re stuck then leave ASAP. It’s all about promotions and responsibility. Only you know how your reviews are going.
Thanks. Will def. know how to move forward by end of month.
Would love to get more input/experience from someone in TechSales.
Some startups abuse their BDRs by stringing them along with the promise of an AE promotion that never comes or comes after 2 yrs.
Might be worth it if the product/company is great, but otherwise find a better company where you can get promoted quickly. Check linkedin for current and former people in the positions you apply for and make sure you don’t see many people at 1.5+ yrs without a promotion/
What would you recommend for someone who has good political standing and has received a few promotions over 5 years at the same company but wants to live in a different city? Is it worth it to start over politically just to get to the desired city or would you wait until a side business makes enough money to serve as primary income before switching cities? For example, a sales professional living in DC wanting to make the move to NYC.
When you have a second form of income that can cover living expenses.
I’m studying copywriting and I’m having a hard time finding the right ‘guru’ to listen to.
I believe I’ve found someone who seem to be ‘off’ the radar, with no glossed over website with videos, but just raw content that’s intended to help me, rather than selling his own stuff.
In general, are these the real successful people to look for?
It’s a waste of time. Read the books recommended and start working. That’s the only way to learn. Stop looking for a teacher, those didn’t work in highschool and college, they 100000% don’t work in real life.
Thanks for all the advice guys. Curious to hear what was your favorite area to live in post analyst stint in New York. Living in midtown has been pretty rough (and expensive).
Lower east side if you’re not making much, Soho if you make good money
Recently entered a position in a name brand tech company (Amazon, FB, Google, Microsoft). Realized I got tricked by recruiter (naive, didn’t do my own DD) into a position “equal” to a standard software dev position (it’s not).
Comp is ok for entry level ($150K-200K), mainly concerned about potential career progression however. Internal transfer process is hefty, and getting promotions/positions at other companies may be more difficult. Don’t know if it’s worth the name or not. Leave ASAP or stick around for the name brand on resume? (Either way, will reduce worktime as much as possible to focus on second income source)
First of all it doesn’t really make a difference, since career income won’t matter over the long haul.
To address the question, the most important aspect is increase in income. If you think you can’t move up quickly there then go ahead and leave. If the career money progression is the same, stay.
150K-200K? Is that really what entry level software engineer jobs are paying in SV these days? I’m in IB and I’m shocked by these numbers especially given the fact that you mentioned this is “ok” and not even an ideal role.
I’m at FANG.
150k is low end and typically for Seattle or another cheaper area.
170k is the minimum you should clear in a high cost area (NYC, SF). This assumes minimum cash bonus.
Top tier tech offer is 250k, 60k+ in signing, free lunch/dinner etc. Think HRT, Five Rings.
These are all out of undergrad. Tech is great.
I work at one of Facebook Google.
If you’re a SETI or a SRE equivalent then gtfo to SWE as fast as possible. If you can’t internal transfer recruit hard to get a real SWE job because while SRE’s make money it’s not a good position at all long term and earnings are capped.
Just for fun. If you knew the exact date you would die, how would you live differently? E.g. If the date was 2 years away vs 20 years away, how would your priorities change?
Ha you just try to calculate a way to spend every single cent you have so that you die with a net worth of $0. Especially if single
on flippa,
how to you go
about picking and idetifiying a good nusiness to buy, some of the seller claim to have z amount of profit, but when i do research on their sote or apps, the results do not match what they claim.
thank you
This is case by case. As usual the numbers are typically inflated so subtract out 20%. If you don’t know with certainty that you can fix something about it, then don’t buy it.
That’s the general way to think about it
in that case. how would you go about identifying the issue with the business without purchasing it at first?
Once you have the site you go through all of it manually and their ad pages, social media etc. This will tell you if they are doing anything wrong
Any opinion on Vanguard Lifestrategy Funds?
Don’t know what it is
Low fee passive index fund that automatically rebalances stocks/bonds to your chosen allocation.
Info here: https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/lifestrategy/
Sure, just dollar cost average into index funds. Don’t see why this one is special, looks like the same stuff
I have a son and pay child support off the court to his mother. What’s the best way to protect your assets if she takes you to court so that they cant find out your networth? THANK YOU
Have no idea, never been married or divorced… Reach out to people who have been through this process we don’t have a clue
My job as an AE is at a payments startup. Vested equity over 4 years.
Any thoughts on risk of disruption by bitcoin before I can exit?
100% fine
Thanks, boys.