The Importance of Hiring & First Impressions w/ Our New President | Operator Pod Ep 1

Summary

Podcast Summary: Build with Leila Hormozi Episode: The Importance of Hiring & First Impressions w/ Our New President | Operator Pod Ep 1
Release Date: July 21, 2025
Host: Leila Hormozi
Guest: Sharon (New President)

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Introduction

In the inaugural episode of the Operator Pod, Leila Hormozi welcomes Sharon, the newly appointed President of Acquisition.com. Together, they delve into their experiences during the first 60 days of working together, emphasizing the significance of hiring practices and creating impactful first impressions. Their candid conversation offers valuable insights into fostering a strong company culture, effective onboarding, and the strategic importance of hiring the right talent.

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First 60 Days: Expectations vs. Reality

Sharon’s Initial Impressions
Sharon shares her observations from her initial days at Acquisition.com, highlighting the high level of competence balanced with humility among team members.

• “I expected everybody to be jammed, everyone working hard, everyone to have packed calendars. And it is 100% true.” [00:18]
• “Finding a combination of extremely bright, competent, smart people, but also having a really tight kind of humility component to that, that is very rare, but it's super hard to find.” [01:14]

Leila’s Perspective on Leadership and Culture
Leila discusses her approach to shaping company culture by hiring and, when necessary, parting ways with leaders who don't embody their values.

• “You shape the culture by who you hire and fire.” [01:36]
• “Would I want 10 more of them in the organization?” referencing the book Multipliers. [02:40]

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Building a Culture of Sincere Candor

Operationalizing Honest Feedback
Sharon reflects on an interview with a candidate who admired the team's honest communication but lacked the environment to model it.

• “You get an environmental boost. You just need to have the skill to have sincere candor, but it's not that the environment can, is like 50%.” [03:18]

Leila’s Approach to Interviews and Onboarding
Leila emphasizes that the interview process is a mutual evaluation, serving as the beginning of onboarding.

• “If you don't want you behaving like this. Here’s what I don't believe in.” [04:24]
• “The interview process is almost like the beginning of onboarding.” [06:29]

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The Power of Writing Memos

Implementing a Memo Culture
Both Leila and Sharon discuss the importance of writing memos to clarify ideas, enhance understanding, and streamline meetings.

• “Nothing great ever happened without it being written down.” [16:54]
• “If you can just get in the habit of writing a memo, it works.” [19:44]

Benefits of Memos in Organizational IQ
Sharon explains how memos elevate the organization by ensuring deep understanding and efficient information dissemination.

• “The person writing it has so much depth and granularity and the person reading it gets an instant like MBA upgrade in that topic.” [23:15]

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Overcoming Hiring Challenges

Dealing with Hiring Fears
Leila addresses common fears related to hiring, such as the possibility of hiring the wrong person, and encourages embracing the learning process through initial missteps.

• “You will [hire the wrong person]. And until you've hired the wrong person, you won't get the right one.” [54:14]

Strategic Hiring for Growth
Sharon advises leaders to focus on the opportunity cost of their time and to bring in senior roles that can exponentially increase the company's capacity.

• “If you have double the capacity, which in reality, it's like I have 10x the capacity.” [54:45]
• “What can we both do that's worth more than what we both do right now?” [55:03]

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Fostering an Inclusive and Respectful Culture

Breaking Down Hierarchical Barriers
Leila and Sharon discuss the importance of treating all team members with respect, regardless of their titles or roles, to prevent silos and promote collaboration.

• “Treat them like everyone else.” [38:35]
• “Holding everybody to the same standard. Culture is not like it's not based on hierarchy.” [38:49]

Encouraging Cross-Functional Collaboration
Leila emphasizes that team members should not be confined to their roles but encouraged to collaborate across functions for better outcomes.

• “I don’t see you as head of tech, head of CS. I see you as a head in the organization.” [34:42]
• “Partnering with different people to do different things.” [35:03]

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Embracing Unreasonable Goals for Greater Achievements

Setting Ambitious Targets
Sharon advocates for setting challenging, seemingly unreasonable goals to push the team beyond their comfort zones and achieve significant results.

• “If you just take an unreasonable frame on things, you can accomplish way more.” [44:32]
• “What do you have to show for it? … If there's not a lot to show for it, you just reprioritize it your next day to show for it.” [48:27]

Leveraging Momentum and Inspiration
Leila shares her experience with writing a book, illustrating the importance of acting swiftly on inspiration to maintain momentum.

• “Start writing today. … This is like the thinking process, what you gain from that as well as what you gain from when the candidate reads it.” [51:12]

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Most Rewarding and Challenging Experiences

Sharon’s Rewarding Experience
Sharon recounts her proactive approach in connecting with every team member, seeking their advice, which fostered immediate trust and provided valuable guidance.

• “What is one piece of advice you have for me? And you'll see a pattern around that. And that's a really valuable pattern.” [41:27]

Sharon’s Challenges
She highlights the difficulty of maintaining high expectations and avoiding the trap of setting overly reasonable time frames that hinder potential.

• “We were working on this big project in finance. I go, well, why should it take six months? Can we do it in 60 days?” [43:31]
• “If you keep asking yourself that question, what do you have to show for it? … it's very easy to collapse a reasonable to unreasonable.” [48:27]

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Conclusion

Leila Hormozi and Sharon's conversation in this first episode of the Operator Pod underscores the critical role of strategic hiring, a strong cultural foundation, and proactive leadership in building an unshakeable business. Their insights into creating an environment of sincere candor, the effectiveness of a memo culture, and the pursuit of ambitious goals provide a roadmap for leaders aiming to scale their companies successfully. By fostering respect, collaboration, and continuous improvement, Acquisition.com exemplifies how thoughtful practices can drive exponential growth and sustain a robust organizational framework.

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Notable Quotes:

• “Finding a combination of extremely bright, competent, smart people, but also having a really tight kind of humility component to that, that is very rare, but it's super hard to find.” — Sharon [01:14]
• “Nothing great ever happened without it being written down.” — Sharon [16:54]
• “Would I want 10 more of them in the organization?” — Leila [02:40]
• “You shape the culture by who you hire and fire.” — Leila [01:36]
• “If you keep asking yourself that question, what do you have to show for it? … it's very easy to collapse a reasonable to unreasonable.” — Sharon [48:27]

Transcript

[A]

What was different than what you expected in the first 60 days being here? What's up, guys? Today I have Sharon here. So we're going to be talking about what we're dealing with and just honestly our unfiltered thoughts on what we work on together every day. What was different than what you expected in the first 60 days being here?

[B]

I expected everybody to be jammed, everyone be working hard, everyone to have packed calendars. And it is 100% true. Everyone's jam, everyone's working hard, everyone has back calendars. And the crazy part is it took me like three days and then I think my calendar has been. Your discount is packed. Yeah. So which I think is great because it shows how much opportunity that we have. Overall. I'm really surprised by the competence to humility ratio. So let me explain. Right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So when I was at Goldman Sachs, it was extremely competent people.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Super smart, super sharp. And the only way you win when you're with an individual contributor environment, when it's super, super smart, super sharp people, that it's okay to have an ego, it's okay to be an ass. It's okay. Well, they're like, well, of course he's super smart, so he deserves it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But finding a combination of extremely bright, competent, smart people, but also having a really tight kind of humility component to that, that is very rare, but it's super hard to find. And I did not expect that. I just assumed that this was going to be. I was like, this is going to be like Goldman. It's going to be super competitive. And I did not expect the, like, the humility side of all the smart people.

[A]

That's so cool. Actually, I didn't know that. That's really interesting. I think it's also like, like when we've had leaders who I've brought in that have had all the competitive, all the hard driving, all the performance, but they have no humility and they step on others to stand out. I've cut them and I've made it. Like, I don't like being like, oh, this person's gone for this reason. But in those instances, I'm like, I don't want you behaving like this. Here's what I don't believe in. I don't believe in people like that. And so I think also, like, it's funny because it's like you shape the culture by who you hire and fire. And it's like, I can think of four people that were prominent leaders over the last, you know, three and a half years. Four years. And those four, I think were like, they were very telling in terms of one, who I let go of and then two, who I put in their place. Like, you know, Neil, for example. Like there was somebody that was in the spot he is in now and that person had a huge ego, very competitive. It's like, imagine Neil, but like evil Neil. Like, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, you can, right? And then I put Neil in place and people are like, this is so starkly different. And I was like, that person didn't represent our culture. It's not like they weren't smart, it's not like they were all these things, but it was just like, I know what we will become if I multiply them through the organization. Have you ever read the book Multipliers? Actually I thought it was really interesting. I mean, you don't need to read it because all it means is that if you hire somebody, they multiply an organization. Yeah. And I was like, oh, that makes a ton of sense though. And so I always just ask myself that question, which is like, would I want 10 more of them in the organization?

[B]

You know? So I did an interview this morning for a candidate coming on board and I asked her, hey, what would be a gap for you that you've met everyone on the team? What do you think would be a gap for you that you can, that you can work on?

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

And she said, well, you know, I, I see all of you have this sincere candor, but you operationalize it. You talk so honestly, you're open to the feedback. She goes, I've never had a chance to model that growing up in. And so I've also always kind of shied away from conflict and just, I'm the positive person. So I explained something to her which is very interesting, right? I said, you get an environmental boost. So a lot of people just think that you just need to have the skill to have sincere candor. You just need to have the skill to give you feedback. Well, it's not that the environment can, is like 50%. So if you come into an environment that automatically appreciates that, supports that, talks about that you are 50%, there are the way. And then a little bit of skill gets you to 70%, dude, 100%. But can you imagine that's not the case in everything? So like if I wanted 6 pack abs and I just go to the gym, I go go to gold's gym in LA. It's a great environment. I'm still zero. The environment didn't give me a 50% boost. Right. And I have to work my way all the way up. But it's amazing. People don't realize how much of an environment premium that you get.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The. Because it instantly makes you so much more valuable to the company and to yourself. And imagine her confidence, she's coming in and she gets this, she can work on skill and she's. She goes 0 to 70 as opposed to 0 to 10. Yeah.

[A]

You know, it's interesting. It's like now you're saying this, I'm thinking about the environment. I made a podcast like two days ago. I was talking about how your environment, the people around you plus your environment are thermometers. And so it's like if you're, if you want to burn at 80 degrees, but your environment's 50, it's like not only is it harder, not only are they not where you want to be, but it's bringing you down because you're trying to go up and it's bringing you down the whole time. And so it's really interesting because like there, it's funny. So like some of the people on our team who are maybe like newer to hiring because a lot big companies, you know, you don't do your own hiring. They, they'll be like, I'm not sure is this person 100% on sincere candor or competitive greatness or. And I have to explain, like, well, when you came in, you were not 100% on these things. So the question is like if they're at an 8 out of 10 on sincere candor, what's it going to take to get them to be a 10 out of 10? By the way, nobody's a 10 out of 10 every day. Right. Like, we are all human, but what's it going to take to get them there? And I think that's also something that I feel like with the hiring process. It's like Nobody comes in 100%, but it's like, are they 80? And then can you help them get close the gap of the 20? It's really interesting point. So we hired here.

[B]

I think we are.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, I was curious on that.

[B]

She did a great job in the process, but that was good. Like that was some good vulnerability.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But a lot of people also don't realize that they think hiring is a one way process. Like, it is a, there is a, it's a mutual interview process. And for us as a company, we have to interview as well as sell. And if you don't interview and sell simultaneously, I mean, how you sell is Just how you serve, but, like, you have to sell. Because I can't just be like, tell me this, tell me that. Like, that's not how it is because you have to. You're also building them up to understand the environment that, that they're walking into. And so the. The interview process is almost like the beginning of onboarding it.

[A]

You know, it's funny, as you're saying this, I'm like, yes. One thing I always think in my head is them, when they get on the phone with me, they're like, this is the top. Like, this is the best this company's got. So if I don't bring my A game on the interview, I'm like, they're going to be like, oh, they're not what they say they are. Of course, like, when you do it or when I do it, we validate or don't validate, essentially. So I say, actually, I would love to give that frame to them.

[B]

Now.

[A]

I'm like, someone's got to write that down to give that frame to the team. Because it's like you're validating and showcasing. It's like, this is what above you looks like. And if you don't like what above you looks like, then it's like, why would I want to work here?

[B]

And it's way easier to think about the interview process being the beginning of the onboarding process, because if you just think that, you'll just deal with the interview process completely differently.

[A]

Yeah, right.

[B]

And then the onboarding process just becomes a continuation of your interview process. And so there's congruence related to that. Otherwise it's just too disjointed processes and you don't want that. And then that dramatically reduces churn because you're consistent in everything that you message along the way. And it makes us who we are.

[A]

Yeah. It's interesting because I think something that you did when we were hiring our general counsel that I tell people a lot and talk about is like, when we hire somebody, it's like, what are the problems that they're going to solve? It's like, let's talk to them about the problems. And I think it's funny because when I spoke with who's now our general counsel, it's like it wasn't so much an interview as it was discussing the problems in the company and how she was going to come in and solve them and how she would approach it.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And so it's like, right, that stuff we already talked about, that's the job. Like, you're Just keeping the conversation going.

[B]

Well, I will tell you this. I am amazed. If there's one thing that I'm amazed by, I'm amazed by how I think you asked me this the other day. You asked me, hey, what do you think you have not quite figured out yet?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I'll tell you, I've not figured out how we can get amazing people in our pipeline. It is insane. People don't realize this. We had 1,000 applications for a general counsel role. 1,000 applications. That is insane. Right?

[A]

People don't know either.

[B]

Right. And then. And we made an insane hire through their process, but we had 1,000 applications. And that could be overwhelming for a lot of people, but we hit exactly a perfect culture fit, a perfect competence fit in that process. And so I'm just amazed. I don't understand how we get the operationalizing our core values in our pipeline. It's awesome. And I think that a lot of it goes to, you know, you and Alex being ultra vulnerable on. On a lot of. On everything.

[A]

I think that weeds people out. But, like, when we do outreach, for example, like, there's people who. I mean, I look at it like, it's like, you know, they'll answer the door because of the brand. They might not have heard of it before, but when they look it up, they're like, oh, this person reached out to me. And they're like, that's substantial enough that I'm going to respond to their recruiter.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And then I think the content does a good job filtering. So what I. What I do notice a lot on the final interviews. I do. Or even just if it's, you know, a bigger role, like technical, is they'll reference the content, and they're like. I was like, this is appealing. And then I watch the content, and now I'm like, oh, I really want to work with these people. And I think that it's that extra discretionary effort, because it's not just that they want to work at the company, but they want to work for the leaders at the company.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Which now we have three people at the Doppler company. It's like, now there's like, three people they can look to, and they can relate to any one of us.

[B]

Sure. Yeah. I think that a lot of people don't realize is it's the separation. I think we do one thing very well, which is the separation of a culture interview and a technical interview. And a lot of companies blend that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They'll say, oh, who knows this person or this role the best will flood those people. And then if you don't realize this, it's very draining on the candidate.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because you don't need 17 people doing 17 technical interviews. Like the person either got it or not, like, you know, pretty quickly. And if you've screened for the experience, they, you're just validating that they have the experience, evaluating that they can do the specifics. Right. But having folks that are not related to that role do the cultural interview is super powerful. And.

[A]

Because they have no skin lane.

[B]

Correct. Right. And so I think separating out the technical and the cultural is a clean, clear way of doing it. But the one advice that I would give operators right now, hiring people, is you don't want it. Even if it's a technical role, you don't want it to be a ultra technical process because it is super tiring on the candidate as well.

[A]

You know, it's interesting because as you're saying, and I'm thinking, like, what. Where is it that most people go wrong with this? And even where I've seen, like at times when we go wrong with ones in the company and it's because we do so much of we do in internal intakes. Right. And with the intake, it's not only the, the experience we're looking for, it's something I tell the team a lot is like, we're not looking for the experience so much as what skills are dictated by that experience. So it's like, okay, we think our hypothesis is that if we get people, say, for executive assistant that have worked as concierge at the Wynn Resort and Casino, that they're going to be, they're going to have the skills to also be an executive assistant. Right. But then, and then that's what we use to then say, okay, here's the avatar that I'm looking for.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And I think we've done the same with like consulting or like small business owners or. And so I wonder if I think that's a missing piece is a lot of people go straight into like, okay, let's just flood ourselves and let's just do a ton of technical, a ton of culture. But they don't think, what's this person look like, what experience that they had.

[B]

How do they talk, how do they act?

[A]

Like, there's been so many roles in the company where I'm like, I know what kind of like swagger this person needs to come in with. Totally. And it's like when you have that crystal clear vision, then you can give that to the recruiter, which I think we Do a good job of. And then they're like, I see the type of person that you're looking for that would do really well in this role. And then they can be so much more targeted in who they actually serve. Up to you, you know what I mean?

[B]

I would wager that then one of the biggest problems of kind of role based hiring is most leaders think a, a CFO is a CFO is a cfo, a general counsel is a general counsel is a general counsel. So they often will tell if they're using a recruiting firm or, or they're doing it in house. They'll just say, hey, go to indeed and Google a bunch of CFO resumes, copy paste that and like put our, put our spin on it and get it out. Like we should talk about the, like the g. The general counsel process. I sat and I team change memo, right? I sat and I wrote every single bullet point. I think that that was the reason we were able to screen for the right candidate, right?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And I think a lot of times that the teams protect the manager because they're like, oh, the manager wants this, they just want to solve this thing. We don't want them to write the description and they'll just say, well, we'll just show them a draft and they're just going to say yes. And you outsource a lot of the pain to the interview process as opposed to front loading all of it into the filtering design process. And I actually believe that you'll get significantly better candidates in the front loading of the design process. A lot of people don't know this, do you? You actually know this. During the process we met another individual who we were, who was not the right fit for the role. And then I said, leila, this person has a lot of magic. I don't know where she would fit. I don't know what we're thinking about. Can you just meet with her? So now this, this, this person becomes like a. You're able to identify talent and you can say, well, I want to hold on to this person. So if you're a manager thinking about a role, thinking about hiring, take the 20 minutes to write crystal clear what you're thinking about because then AI can polish it all for you.

[A]

Well, it's like, it's interesting because it's not only that you're going to attract the candidate you need, but now you know every single thing they're doing and it's really like the crystallization of like now I know exactly what they're doing when they're coming in. Yeah, it's funny you say that with the GCA thing because. So one example is like, in the portfolio for every operator that we brought in, I wrote the job description for the operator and every time we did a search, they were like, I can't believe that these amazing operators we found. So I got on with the last one. You know what I said? I said, what was it? Because I was like, I'm validating my theory here. I was like, what was it that, like, prompts you to apply? And she was like, the job description was just exactly what I want. You're talking to. Yeah, you're talking. You know who you're talking to. And it's like, why does Alex write all the copy for his book launch? Because he knows it better. Like, there's just something visceral about when you know the role, when you write it. You don't use ChatGPT. You know, you clean it up after. Like, you don't use it. It's like the thinking process, what you gain from that as well as what you gain from when the candidate reads it. And they're like, this is speaking. I mean, it's copy. It is copy. It is an ad.

[B]

Well, I will tell you how we. A lot of people don't realize how to start to come up with that. I have a very simple framework on how to do that, right? I just write pain first. I just write all the. You're hiring the for the role, right? And you're hiring because you're like, man, there's a gap that we see. And the gap can either be creating future capacity or solving current pain. That is generally why you hire somebody, right? You're under resourced, as you would always call it. Well, what is the pain? This is painful. This is painful. This is painful. Sorry, I just list all the pain and then I take all the pain and then I just write what each of this. This person will do this. And that's the easiest part because you don't have to sit and be like, well, where do I start? There's no blank screen. You just write all the pain out.

[A]

All the shit that you need to solve, right?

[B]

And you either write the pain out or all the growth capacity, and then you turn all of that into language. And if you can tie it into something tactical, great, Then you have a framework, then you can have Chat GPT clean it up for you. But chatgpt can't come up with the data, doesn't know the pain that you have.

[A]

It doesn't. It's so funny you say that, because I have a flashback to when I was first hiring for the first executive assistant, which is Yasmeet. The ad that got her was I wrote a Facebook post and I was like, busy business owner, tired of working 17 hour days with no clear. Inbox was like the header. And then I was like, I work with my husband. We started a business. It's grown faster than anything I could ever have hoped for. But I don't have time to wash my hair, let alone order food, let alone clear my inbox. I need somebody to come and organize my life, like. And she was the one. And then, what do you know? Eight years later, here we are. She still works for me, but it was just complete. This is why my life sucks. Can you come help make my life better? It was such an easy one for me because I'm like, yeah, help me with my personal life. I can't even have time to brush my teeth.

[B]

Well, there's a. There's a great kind of saying that I picked up along the way, which is nothing great ever happens without it being written down.

[A]

Write a fucking memo.

[B]

Right? Nothing great ever happened without it being written down. And so, I mean, you're talking Declaration of Independence, you're talking the Magna carta, you're talking $100 million offers, $100 million leads, money, models. Nothing great ever happened without it being written down. And the coolest part is you don't have to write everything. You just have to, like, start the process. And if more leaders took on the responsibility of crystallizing their thoughts, and I think they'll just get more clarity because you get better. Yeah. The problem is not the problem. The problem is how you think about the problem. And the thinking allows you. The writing allows you to think better.

[A]

Can you actually talk to write a fucking memo? Because I'm curious how it was coming in. I don't know what the culture was like in any of your. Yeah, Past companies, but like coming into the memo culture and then you very quickly started hashtag, write a fucking memo. Which I love. What are your thoughts on that?

[B]

So what I've noticed is that. Let's see, this is familiar to people, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What's familiar? What will happen most of the times is either two leaders or manager. Two managers or three coworkers will end up having a separate group chat, bitching. They'll just see, this doesn't work. That doesn't work. Sean messed up. Sean messed up. Sharon messed up. Sharon messed up, man. He did it again. He did it Again. And like they'll just, they'll just whine, oh, I can't believe you don't have vision. I can't believe you don't have culture. They'll just talk.

[A]

That actually happens.

[B]

Of course. Well, happens sometimes. It happens to you and me too. Like we're like, why? Why is this not working? Like we talk about.

[A]

Oh, that's true. But not about people.

[B]

No, no. Right. So people, problem, whatever, I think, but. But I think the interesting part about this is when you could separate the people from the issue. Right. So if we want to go do something, how do you separate the person from the issue? And the way you do that is you have an artifact. You write some kind. Put your thoughts on paper so that multiple people can respond to it. And that was a really. We've done that. We did that. No culture that I've been at did it actively at real. We did a really good job of. Instead of the memo, we use dashboards. So it was a dashboard for everything.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So it was like, hey, what are we going to track? And that was the conversation around it. But the memo has been. The memo culture has been really good. So let's break down what a memo is. It's a one to two page breakdown of what is the big idea? Why are we thinking about this problem? How are we thinking about solving it, what are the risks around it and what's a recommendation? And all your thoughts kind of broken down and then that way everybody can look at it. Right. And the interesting part is whenever people start discussing on Slack or discussing about something, the answer is, hey, there's just too much ambiguity here. Can someone just write a memo?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so we have wafm, which is write a freaking memo free.

[A]

Say fuck it.

[B]

No.

[A]

And it's funny because even with myself, like, the reason why I'm such a die hard now over the memo is because as soon as I committed to it and I was like, it was probably, I think it was about nine or 10 months ago that I was like, guys, we are no longer running these meetings unless you've submitted a memo. And like every meeting, like, write a memo, otherwise we're not discussing. The thing is because my friend Trevor, he sent me a bunch of studies on how people actually cannot think on a meeting. And so we got on a call and I was like. It was like a whole weekend where like, I was like, how do I make meetings the most effective possible? And he was like, the ideal is that you write something out ahead of time. Everybody reads it. Everybody writes down their thoughts. And then when you come to the meeting, you essentially can, like, source for anything that hasn't been told, whatever. But then. And then, you know, now have enough to go make a decision on it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I was like, oh, well, then what? This is so much easier.

[B]

There is a. There's two. I've seen two memo cultures. One is how we do it, which is you write the memo, everyone reads it prior to coming in, and then you make the decision. The. Then there's the Amazon model, where you write the memo, the memo is delivered to you in the meeting. You spend the first 15 minutes of the meeting reading the memo together. So it's fresh in everyone's mind.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then you use that. Either way, there's only one commonality between both of those processes, is you write a freaking memo. And if you can just get in the habit of writing a memo, it works. I was talking to Alex about this, and I said, there is. There's three things I like to do every day is to work out, write, and work. So, like, to me, the writing a memo is not work. Like I had to write. So if you don't write every day, you'll just not get good at writing. The more you write, the better you write a memo.

[A]

It's so interesting because I think now if somebody comes to a meeting, like, I got on a meeting that I'm not normally on. It was one of the AP meetings, and somebody brought something up and didn't have a memo. And it's like, you can tell. Everyone's like, I can't believe you're bringing this up without a memo. And, well, let's talk about that. Yeah.

[B]

Because, um, we had that happen recently when Alex and I had an idea.

[A]

That's true. How did that go for us?

[B]

Alex and I had an idea and I said, hey, Alex, since our meeting is tomorrow, can you just drop a video for everybody? And Alex is very persuasive. So he dropped this video in the meeting. We got ripped. Shouts. And then the next day, I had to do an apology video saying, hey, I'm so sorry that we broke process. Clearly, it was not well thought out. And I will go back and write a memo on this. And so it was a. Like, both of us tried to skip the line and, yeah. Got caught for it.

[A]

It's okay. I mean, like, it happens to all of us. I think it's just. It's cool when you start to see that people. You know, because in the beginning, nobody wants to do it right. And then it's like nine months later, they're like, you're not doing it.

[B]

The greatest upgrade that operators can get is managers, team members are going to come to you and say, hey Leila, can I, you got a minute? Sure. After you send me the memo. I got a minute. Yeah, yeah. So if you have an idea, it's so much more thoughtful for the person receiving it that you, that you care about it. Right. I think Alex, I shared this quote with Alex is like how you prepare shows just how much you care.

[A]

Oh yeah, I remember that one.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And.

[B]

But that's. You should tweet that. Alex. Alex, you tweet that. But the key part there is the preparation is just writing the memo.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Organize your thoughts better. And I also think the one thing that I have learned is the person who is writing the memo gets this deep understanding of what they're presenting. Also the person reading it gets an instant, they're up to like 70%. So the person reading it has a 70% nuance understanding. But if you're just doing a call and discussing a topic, everyone has like 13 different questions and you're missing so much context.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I actually think the memos level up the organization so much faster because the person writing it gets so much better and has depth of knowledge. You always talk about like the specificity. If they can't talk specifics. Like you can't write a generic memo. So if you're writing a specific memo, the person writing it has so much depth and granularity and the person reading it gets an instant kind of like MBA upgrade in that topic, which is pretty powerful. Even if they're involved in that or not unrelated to that or not. So I actually think from an organizational IQ perspective, you level up the organization so fast, like doing this point that one little exercise.

[A]

No, I think it's a really good point and funny because now I, even when it comes to like when people request a one on one with me, they're like, I just want a me to talk about. And I'm like, well, you need to write. It's not like you need to write me a memo about yourself, but you need to prepare a short memo of what we're going to discuss about you. And it's interesting to see like that when it's about a, A, a thing, people are more than happy. When I'm like, I want you to think about yourself the same way as you would and like, what's the problem? What are the hypothesis? Like it's. But those are the best memos too, when you do it with like people development. Because then people like I thought of myself, like I think of a business especially for our advisor team, for example, like when I've asked them to do that, they're like, oh, that's interesting. I'm like, what's your constraint? You know?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so I find it actually isn't even just helpful with like the, you know, problem solution topics, but like with personal development too with people on the team. Because one, I think it takes the emotion out of it. Because sometimes. But it's like sometimes we spend the first half of a meeting just like it's getting past that emotional barrier. I'm nervous to tell me about something or they don't. They're afraid to ask about this piece of themselves. And then the second piece is then they usually have de. Escalated themselves because now they've written it down. And so it's like now their relationship with their own personal problem is so much healthier because they've written it down.

[B]

Totally. Totally. I bet folks watching are thinking, hey, can you give me an example of a memo? Can you give me a framework for memo? Like, can you give me a memo on how to write a memoir? There's a lot of ways to do this, but let me share a super simple framework with folks. It's the why. What how now why? Like why is this important? Hey, sales are down, which means we're going to lose money this month. This is why I'm writing the memo. There's a big why. Cool. So now the person reading is like, okay, I know why I'm reading. Just giving context. What is the problem? The problem is that our sales closing numbers have gone from this to. To this. That is at 30,000ft.

[A]

Cool.

[B]

Well, that is the what? Well, how? Well, the how is like we were doing it this way. It was not working. So the proposal is to do it this way. And here's all the risk run. That is the how, all the mechanics, the now or the next portion is hey, based on all of this information, here's the proposal that we have. We are suggesting that we do these three things. What do you think? Right? So now if anybody, if you, you probably come up with your own kind of framework. But it is very easy to go with like a hey, why? Kind of what is it? How are the pieces? What am I going to do next? That gives the person reading it a very clear kind of roadmap of they can follow from macro to micro and then like zoom back out if they want to and ask Questions if they want to. So if you're. As you're watching, if you are thinking about what framework do I have goals, why, what, how now we should.

[A]

It'd be so cool if one day, like, five years from now, we share, like, our unreleased five years of memos from the executive team. Like, wouldn't that be sick?

[B]

Well, think about this, right? Like, when RGC came on board, all she. All she's thinking is. All she's like, hey, I'm just gonna read all the memos. And that gets you caught up on all the key topics.

[A]

Yeah, it's so much easier. I feel like that was such a key learn. Honestly. Just came from the Jeff Bezos interview or his book or whatever. And when I got, like, I heard it a million times, but I think at that point, I was like, no, we're at the point where now this makes more sense than not. Like, there's. We're not a small team anymore. I know when you get to that point in the company, it's really interesting. I'm really curious, coming into acquisition.com, was there anything worse than you expected or.

[B]

And he's like, let me take that back.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, no, no. I'm giving you free reign. Or was there anything different, like, in how I operate and how Alex operates than what you expected? I'm sure people are wondering because everyone watches us, right? And, like, I think we both. Alex and I have committed to, like, we want to be transparent. But I'm just curious if you see anything.

[B]

I do. So I see two. I'll talk about you and Alex. Been very different, but I knew this coming in.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You have the ability. You are very adaptable. Meaning you can talk about the future and you can talk about the present, and you can go back and forth.

[A]

So.

[B]

So I'd be like, hey, so in three years, this team is not good enough. And you can instantly live in the future, and you can talk about that. And then you have this uncanny ability to say, okay, if that is the case, let me reason back to where we are today. Okay. That means we need three other hires, even though they're not busy right now. That is building capacity for the future. Like, your ability to go to kind of accordion future to present is a super gift of yours.

[A]

I had no idea. It used to be so hard for me.

[B]

It's. Maybe you've trained. It's awesome. I enjoy it because I like that as well. And so it's super easy to talk to you. I'm like, hey, so I never have to like, is Layla in a good space or is she going to be tired? I always know you can accordion whenever you. You need to.

[A]

It's interesting. Don't you think of it, like, a little bit? Like, I have to go into the future frequent enough to know that I'm still, like, the compass is pointing in the right direction. You know what I mean?

[B]

Correct.

[A]

It's very healthy.

[B]

What most people struggle with is when you have calendars like you and I do, it's very hard to live in the future. It's fair. Right. So to, like, have the accordion is a skill. And so, like, I love talking to you about it because I know that I can catch you at any time and I can anchor you in the future for a minute. I can pull you to the present for a minute. And that's a really easy thing to do with you. With Alex, I always just stay in the future.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I just stay in the future all the time. And he's like, so whatever it is, whatever topic, I just always go to the future with him because it's just easier. And because he's always in the future.

[A]

Totally.

[B]

And until he needs to, he's not in the present. And for him, in the present is learning, writing, thinking.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And creating. But the more you can stay in the future with him, the bigger and better future you could create for him. The more inspired he gets, the bigger he thinks. The more he thinks is possible, the less he starts comparing, the more. The less he starts thinking, oh, I can't. Like, he. I just started. I just started living the future with Alex.

[A]

It's really smart observation.

[B]

So it's just easier. Like, it's easier for. And so when he says something, I'm like, oh, that's a today thing. I'll just take it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then you and I can just solve how we implement it. But, uh, he can. He. For him, he doesn't like the accordion back and forth.

[A]

No, he doesn't. He said that too. He's like, I don't want to live in today.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I like both.

[B]

Yeah. I. I think what a lot of the thing that I love for us is that I love knowing everything about everything.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I can take in a lot of knowledge. And I may not be touching what. What's happening in. In the building renovation. I mean, might be touching what's happening in the changing of pricing, but I love knowing everything about everything because I know that the it will. There's a daisy chain that will happen. There's some neuropathway that will Connect. And you have an insane capacity for a lot of information. Like, you can sit and take more and more and more and more and more, and nothing overwhelms you. And that's super fun because I can just be like, hey, Layla, I got 14 updates. Now I can just fire stuff at you. You're like, okay, that's cool. Nothing to do there. Okay, that's cool. Okay, good. We're good. And you can take a lot. Most people can't take a lot. And you can get. You can take a lot. And that's, like, super fun because I just never hold back. I'm like, hey, we should just talk about this. And you and I can have long agendas and not be tired.

[A]

I know. I mean, to be honest with you, that's what I enjoy about, like, you have the capacity. So it's like I, like, expected it with you coming in, but then, like, getting to actually, like, work with you on it. I'm just like, oh, nothing is like, there's never. I'm like, I have seven more things. And it's like. So I remember we got on the phone, like, after my surgery, and you're like, I have 16 items. And I was like, amazing. Like, it's like, let's just go fire through. But it's like, that's fun. And I think is. That's cool. That's good to know.

[B]

The one thing that I've experienced in the past, and I think a lot of cultures, operating cultures, are just different. Right. And so I don't think it's a One operating culture is different from a. I don't think there's a good or bad.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But I think it's very important for leaders and managers to realize what their operating culture is. It's very easy for organizations, as they get bigger, to silo. And I personally hate silos.

[A]

No.

[B]

And like, for example, I'll tell you, I like to do hard things. Otherwise, I'm just. I don't feel challenged. And I'm like, well, I'm pushing paper. I don't want to do this.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I also don't like anybody telling me what project I cannot be involved in. If I want to go work on this events thing, I want to go on work on this event thing. If I want to work on this tax thing, I want to go work on this taxi. If I want, I want to work on whatever I want to work on, which I think is good for the organization.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And not like. And you're cool with that? I'm just like, hey, I'm just going to take it. And you're like, sure. I'm like, I want to do that. And so I think allowing folks to choose a lot of what they work on now, is that feasible for everybody? No, But I think most organizations can say, hey, if. If you get. If you get your stuff done and you want to partner with other people in the organization, do other things, go for it. Like, we totally support that. I've seen silos and like, hey, this is finance. Don't touch it. This is legal. Don't touch it. I'm like, that's not. I. Now I'm not interested anymore because that's an interesting thing for me.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so I like the diversity of the things that I'm working on. Everything's new. Everything is new every day. And so if I had to work on the same thing every day, I would be very bored.

[A]

Oh, I can't imagine that. I remember one of my first mentors was like, do you like to do the same thing every day, or do you like to work on different things every day? And I was like, in my personal life, I prefer things to be a little more steady, but in work, I like it to be different every day.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's almost like you kind of. I like the juxtaposition, because the moment that we sold Dumont, for example, all of a sudden I was like, I don't want to do the same thing every day. And I was like, I want to go to dinner and go travel and go do all. Because I just like any variety, but I have it in work. So I want my. My personal life to be more steady. It's interesting because when you're saying that I'm thinking about something I tell people when they come in as a leader in the organization, which is like, I don't see you as head of tech, head of CS head. I see you as a head in the organization. And whatever your skills are, I'm going to ask you to help with the other skills that may be deficits with somebody else. So, like, even, for example, when it comes to the recruiting function, the amount of times that they collaborate with sales.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because I'm like, guess what recruiting is Sales or with marketing. Because I'm like, hey, all this employer branding, all of this, this, like, bring in our copywriters, bring in the people that know how to sell. Bring in some of the sales guys. I want to see what they think of this video. Like, and they come out with such good products because of that collaboration. And it's like, traditionally, they're like, well, that's. That's talent. Like, I shouldn't be in that. And I was like, fuck that. You're really good at it.

[B]

Well, you started doing. This is more recently combining finding talent with your content. Like, you started making content on how you find. And that was like, that. Those posts started to perform really well. Because I think it does two things. It tells you about how you live your life, and we run the business, and it also says where that person's going to fit in. I think it's insanely, insanely powerful. I talked to one of our [e-mail] yesterday, and I was sharing with him that he was like, well, I feel like I don't want to step on anyone's toes. If I want to do XYZ project, I think it's really simple. Let's just use better language. You work on your stuff, and then you go to folks that own something else and say, hey, I'd love to partner with you. It's your role. You get all the credit. I have the knowledge base. I just want to partner with you. And then if someone asks, hey, Sean, why are you doing that? Hey, I'm just partnering with Layla on this. It's her thing now. Everybody welcomes a partnership.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I think we just put your language out to saying, hey, I'm partnering with different people to do different things. I think it gives you insane collaboration around it, but I think the organization should allow for that, naturally.

[A]

Yeah. Well, I think that's what we have to fight as it gets bigger. 100%, it's like. It's just. You know, I think the hard part about having a company that has a unique culture is that you're constantly fighting the fact that people come from places that don't. And so it's just like, what? Yeah, I mean, that's the hardest battle is like, they come in and then it's like, I joke. I'm like, are you going to bring your California to my Texas? Because, like, you know how people always joke about that. When I was in Texas, people used to be like, oh, well, they brought the California. And I was like, like, I didn't understand what that meant. Then I was like, oh, that's what happens in companies, which is like, you hire these people who are like, I'm so sick of California. And then you're like, great, come to Texas. And they're like, by the way, I'm going to do everything like I did in California. And you're like, what the you know, and it's the same. That happens like, I hate corporate. They're so siloed, and there's so much corporate jargon. And then they're like, per my last e. And I'm like, oh, hell, what's going on?

[B]

Well, that also goes to like. The one kind of advice is a bad word. The one kind of call out I want to make for folks is how you work with someone in the C suite, is how you work with a director, is how you work with an analyst. We have to start to break these title boundaries.

[A]

Don't treat them like they're stupid.

[B]

And I know a lot of folks watching are going to be like, hey, listen, you know, I have a small team and I have three virtual assistants. Well, here's a piece of advice. Stop calling them a va. Just if you think of them, if you're like, oh, my VA will take care of that, you're instantly demeaning that person because you're like, hey, they're in the Philippines and they're a virtual assistant there. No, give them a title. They are an operations manager. Great. Hey, our operations manager will take care of that. Just if you do small things where just, you know, allow every person in the organization to realize that they have a key role to contribute, it's way easier to have everybody be a part of the same culture. Like the smallest of things. Even contractors, like, you want to. Why would you not have a contractor on your selection? We do that on purpose.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So having contractors is okay if you can, but they have to work within our culture in a lot of ways.

[A]

It's a really good point because I think, I think a lot of that ties in with, like, how you parent Neil Laura, for example, which is like, you don't treat them like stupid kids. I think it's like when you hire people, even if they're entry level, you don't treat them like stupid entry level people. Like, you're not. You treat them like. Treat them like what you would like them to be. Which is like, okay, I want you to be an executive or a director or a very autonomous individual contributor. I'm going to talk to you that way.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's like, see if they can raise and fill the gap. Yeah, yeah, really good point.

[B]

Yeah. I just think making sure everyone has titles and not, you know, the. Not titles, but just a respectful, functional contribution and then just hold everybody to the same standard.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Why is my standard different than your standard? Different than anyone else's standard? It's the same standard culture Is not like, it's not based on hierarchy.

[A]

No, no. It's interesting. I remember at gym launch, we had contractors. They ran the CS for Alan, and they were in Nigeria. And I remember everyone's like, oh, well, because they're Nigerian contractors. Like, we don't need to, like, celebrate anything or for birthdays, do anything, or, you know. And I was like, that sounds terrible. What are you talking about? Please treat them like everyone else. They were like, compliance. I'm like, I can send them gifts. There's nothing wrong with that. They're like, oh, it's going to cost $300. I was like, then that's more important. Send it. And I remember we had one, and he ended up. I remember we sent him the swag bag. It was like 350 to get there. It got there. This was during COVID There were fights on the street. People were shooting in his neighborhood, and he got his entire family because they were like, there's all this chaos of what? They all ended up working for us. We had this whole family working for us. And they were literally outperformed every person in the United States, of course. And, like. Like, could not have been a better teammate. And I was just like, guys, just because it's a contractor and he's an idiot, like, we do not treat him differently. Like, treat him like you would treat anybody else. And then it was like. He literally said. He was like, I've never been treated this well at a company.

[B]

That's awesome.

[A]

He's like, okay. And it's just like, the tiniest thing. Like, yes, send him the sweatshirt.

[B]

You know what I mean?

[A]

You're like, what? It's just crazy.

[B]

It's awesome.

[A]

I'm curious for you, coming in, what has been the most rewarding and what do you think has been the most challenging? I would say it doesn't need to be tactical, but it could be mental.

[B]

I'll say the most. The most rewarding thing. I'll tie it to, like, a little piece of advice for everyone.

[A]

Yeah, the.

[B]

The most. So start with, like, a story on what happened. So the. In my first, what, few weeks, I decided the only way I could connect with everybody was to connect with everybody. And so I kind of essentially put a calendar link and said, hey, I want to speak with every single person in the organization. I think I got to most of them, almost all of them.

[A]

It was nuts.

[B]

And met and spoke with everyone, even for a little bit. And I realized in that conversation, while I was preparing for that. What question can I ask here? That would be helpful. And I didn't know what question to ask. It was not quite there. I said, well, what does everybody in the organization know more than me? Well, they know what it's like to be here. So I asked the question every single person, which was, what advice do you have for me?

[A]

Oh, that's cool.

[B]

Right? What is one piece of advice you have for me? And I have every single person's advice that they gave me. A couple of them said, I don't have anything for you right now. I'll send it to you. But every single person gave me a piece of advice. And if you are a leader walking into a new organization, I really think the most crucial thing that you can do. I've never done this before, so it's not like Sean Random playbook. It was no playbook. I tried to figure out, what does everyone know that I don't? I think it will really help you as a new person coming in, new leader coming in, new employee coming in to be like, hey, what is the one piece of advice you have for me? And you'll see a pattern around that. And that's a really valuable pattern. Right. So that's kind of number one. But the rewarding thing for me was it gave me guidance on how to be. Right. Otherwise you're trying to figure out how to be. And I thought that just asking that one question and all the answers, I just felt like I got a ton of great advice. So the organization kind of welcomed me by giving me that advice. And just because of doing all of those, I know every single person, I knew him so fast. And what's closer than. What's closer than someone giving you advice? Nobody. Right. They almost have to get to the point of the only people they give advice to you is they instantly care about you.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I did this unknowingly, but that was ultra, ultra rewarding for me.

[A]

It's really cool.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I feel like we should tell everyone to do that. That's a really great question to ask.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I guess it's so obvious. You say it, but it wouldn't be obvious that somebody coming in like you is going to ask people that. But I think for other people in the organization, like, it's just. It's the frame shift that it does, which is like immediate disarm, immediate humility. Immediate. Like, I can learn from you. And I think for anybody coming in, especially somebody who's coming in as a leader or as a new partner, like, that's just. Yeah, it disarms. Like, I'M not here to, like, tell, like, you tell me. That's good.

[B]

Yeah. As far as something that's challenging or I would flip this script on the challenging part. It is very easy in today's world to say, to expect reasonable things. And I'm really glad that since I have no context, I just didn't accept any reasonable things. So we were working on this big project in finance. I go, well, why should it take six months? Can we do it in 60 days? The team was like, what are you talking about? I was like, I think we can do this in 60 days. Like, can we do something unreasonable? Because it'll make our next 60 days significantly easier and it's easy for us to fall into these reasonable traps. Oh, oh. Let's set quarterly goals. Therefore, I can do this in 90 days. I had a conversation today with one of our team members and I said, man, I've not even started on that goal, but I have 86 days left. No, you don't. That's a really bad, like, I said that, like, this is a really bad way to look at it. Why am I waiting 86 days to do this? It's a four hour project. Right. And I think that we somehow put reasonable time frames, reasonableness, reasonability on our lives where if we just take an unreasonable frame on things, you can accomplish way more.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you'd be shocked at the things that you can build in a much shorter amount of time in a much higher quality, have a much higher standard. Just give yourself permission to be a little bit unreasonable.

[A]

It's interesting. Did Alex tell you that I said that about you?

[B]

No. No.

[A]

Oh, seriously? So last weekend he was like, he's like, tell me something that you've learned, like, by watching Tron work. And I was like, I realize that I have unreasonable expectations of people's character and their leadership, but not as much of their work. And so I. I'm so siloed and I look at like how they're showing up their team that sometimes I realize I'm like, oh, I'm lacking over here. And so I started picking that up. I noticed that you were doing that. And I was like, I didn't ever realize. Like, I over index sometimes on like the person and their leadership and that. And then it's like, wait, the fuck is this taking so long for? It's almost like a distraction. And so I was like, I wrote down for myself, like, focus on the do and the who. Like, I need to focus on both elements for the departments I oversee because I Think that I can, like, set the. Which seems like backwards to me. I'm like, I don't know why I do that. But I was like, I totally saw that. You doing that and resetting that in meetings. And I was like, I could do so much better there. So I picked that up quick.

[B]

Well, thank you. But a lot of the reason. The reason I do that is because I know you got the other side. I'm like, layla's got that. So I'm just gonna push really hard on this.

[A]

Okay, we can keep. I was like, I'm bad. I've only got one side of this.

[B]

No, it's perfect. Well, to me, it was also. I recognize you. Can you do that very well, naturally. So I was like, I'm just gonna push really hard on the other side.

[A]

That's cool. Well, I would be fine keeping it split because it's not natural to me, because my favorite. How long does that take? I have no idea. But you should do it faster, right? Because.

[B]

Or you can just. The. Everyone on the team's gonna watch this, but you can just say, sean's gonna balk. If you tell him three weeks. I'm just gonna tell you all that. I'll be ready. Why? Why does stuff take three weeks? Stuff does not take three weeks. That's our job. Like, we do a poor job of prioritization. Like, you know, it's fair.

[A]

It's something that I've. I've tried to get through to people in organization, which is like, if you need to clear two days of your week off, these meetings that you attend every week that probably aren't moving things forward as well to get your priorities done faster, then why are you not doing that? But it's like, everyone's waiting for permission, and I'm like. I'm saying we have permission. Like, I promise you I won't be mad. So, like, who's gonna be mad?

[B]

Well, I will tell you this. If you want to figure out how to make. How to do unreasonable things, you hang out with Alex for a day.

[A]

That's fair.

[B]

He does not care. He's like, I'm sorry. What do you have going on? Let's do it right now for him. And I'm like, I got to go. I got other stuff to do. He's like, let's do it right now. So he's so unreasonable about. If it's important, why don't we do this? Do this right. Right now. But I will. Well, to operationalize this for everyone who's watching, you may say, well, what does that mean? What's unreasonable for Sean is not unreasonable for Layla. Can you do six months worth of stuff in 60 days? Is that unreasonable? Is that not? Well, are you just a tyrant? No, I'm not just a tyrant. Like, the thing that you want to think about is this. What do you have to show for it? If you keep asking yourself that question at the end of the day, what do you have to show for it? Like, you, I work all day and I'll message you. I'm like, I feel so behind. I'm useless. I'm not contributor at all. Because I felt like, as of yesterday, I had nothing to show for it. I just did a. I had a big meeting day or it was just an operational day. And yes, you have to move this forward, but I had nothing to show for it except my full calendar.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And if you ask. If we ask ourselves the question, what do you have to show for it? I actually think you'll reprioritize things to have something to show for it.

[A]

Because it's like, where is the result?

[B]

Yeah, showing, like, what did you do? Did you get more sales? Did you send out more emails? Like, what do you have to show for it? Yeah, and we get stuck in the doing, but not in the. I got it done. And it's a very easy question to ask at the end of the day before you go to bed, if you just close your eyes and say, what do I have to show for it? And if there's not a lot to show for it, you just reprioritize it your next day to show for it. And that's the fastest way to collapse a reasonable to unreasonable. Because now you're like, well, it was reasonable that now I have something to show for it.

[A]

Yeah, no, I think that's really good. I'm thinking about. I don't remember if the analogy. It's like gas expands to the size of the room or whatever. It's like, in general, I think, how can people do that in a tasteful way? It's like, well, just understand. I think someone's like, you say like, someone's no hinged or. Yes, hinged. Are they like, take too long or not take long enough hinge? Like, are they a shortcut taker or are they someone who takes way too long because they're anxious? Like, and you have to know who you're talking to, which is like. I think there's a lot of people who. It's like they're overly anxious of delivering something perfect. So they're gonna 3x how long it's gonna take. It's like, all right, well, then it's good to drive in on those people because you're like, dude, it's not gonna take that long. Like, me, let's get it done versus be perfect. Whereas, like, the shortcut person, it's like, why don't you give yourself another week? Otherwise, you know, they're gonna trip over themselves and make a mistake.

[B]

I. You know, our friend Taki Moore always. He. He said this phrase, which I love. He goes, you want a super fast, shitty first draft?

[A]

That's why you always say first draft, huh?

[B]

Yeah, just first draft, super fast. Like, how fast can you turn around a shitty first draft? And now we've already. We've already taken away judgment from the draft. Hey, we know it's a shitty first draft. It's not just a first draft. It's a shitty first draft. Like, get your thoughts out as soon as possible. I'll give you the craziest analogy, the one. I was a decent student, and I got good grades, but I was never stressed in. In any. In college or in business school. I was never stressed because freshman year, first semester, like, the three weeks in, I. I went to this seminar. It was how to be a good student. And literally all I remember from college was this guy. The speaker said, as soon as you are assigned a project started that day, that's it. That's it. So I tell my son Neil, the same thing. I go. He's like, dad, I have, you know, 20 problems, but I have two weeks to do it. I'm like, no, that's great. Was it assigned today? Just started today, right?

[A]

Yeah. It's funny you say that because, like, I'm thinking about how you and I work, and it's like, we'll talk about something. And then we're like, it's not like, oh, I'm gonna start that. And, like, through. It's like, all right, so, like, now, tomorrow is tonight, tomorrow morning. Like, we'll start working on it. Like, yeah, it's just, like, immediate. Interesting you say the shitty first drafting. Because also, when I was recovering and I was like, what am I gonna do? I told you guys, I was like, I'm gonna start writing a book. Well, I did and I did. I have a draft, and I know that's where I explained a project.

[B]

That was the project you were working on.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I haven't even talked to. I barely told Alex, but Trevor, who's the editor, and he's been working on it with Me. He was like, I just need you to get out, like, the most shit first draft. He said, all first drafts look the same. They look like shit. And when he said that, he was like, start writing today. I was like, fuck. And that's when I started writing. And then it was just like, so an interesting process I think we could apply to anything is that I would write one chapter. He was like, great, now the next one. And I was like, aren't you gonna edit? Nope. He's like, you always have to take the path of least resistance with something new. So the process of doing this writing has been really interesting because I've gotten through now to the last chapter. And I'm like, okay, well, what? And he's like, we will go back to number one and there will be a shit ton of work. But, like, we had to get through this first. And I was like, oh, it's such a good analogy for anything. It's like, you just have to get out there, because guess what? Now I'm fucking committed too. Of course not that I not finish it now, because, like, I did finish it, basically.

[B]

Well, it's already. It's very approachable, right? And so I tell my son, Neil, he have 20 problems. He's like. I'm like, just do two. He's like, dad, I just want to. I just want to chill and watch some iPad. I'm like, great, do two problems. And he goes, dad, I started two. I was in the zone. I did, like, 12.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And just do two. And so my thing for most people is if you're assigned something just started that day. If you do that, you're fresh. Everything's fresh. Just start it and you'll. You'll get the momentum. I really believe that inspiration and momentum are perishable when you're getting hit. When you're struck with inspiration, you should do something then. When you're struck with momentum, you should do something then. Because if you let it go, it's just super. Just the half life of it is, you know, it turns around and you lose it very fast.

[A]

That's super true, man. There's some. That's why, like, with Alex, like, people, like, they're like, well, he's more creative, right? And I'm like, we create conditions correct to allow for creativity. I can be creative if I don't have 17 meetings on my calendar, right? So it's like, when do I do writing? It's like on the weekends, after I've done my work. Or, like, I'll block the first few Hours. And it's like I'm writing or doing something like, you know, doing the quarterly decks and things like that. The vision. It's like, I'm not going to start and do 17 meetings, then go into that. It's like, what are the conditions that would exist for me to be creative? Yeah, it's interesting.

[B]

So let me ask you this. What was. There are. This may kind of cap us very well. There's folks thinking about two. Two big questions that people always think about. One is, hey, I'm just. I really feel pain. I want to grow. I know I've got to get people. I'm bringing somebody on. I have this trepidation that this person's going to come on and take a piece of stuff off my plate. And there's this fear, what if they don't do well? Or heck, what if they do really well? Are they going to replace what I do or what have you? So there's that thought. And the second is, hey, do I. Do I ever bring on someone that can. That can partner with me, that can be in a much more senior role? You've seen this work. How do you respond to that? How do you alleviate or what guidance do you have for that person? Thinking. Thinking about either making a important hire or making a very, like, crucial partnership thing.

[A]

Yeah, I think with the first one, when people come to me and they're like, I'm just really afraid I'm going to hire the wrong person. I'm like, you will. And until you've hired the wrong person, you won't get the right one. And so I think it's in trying to avoid the fear, you also avoid having the success that it will get you if you get to the other side.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so it's like I had to hire three bad acts to get a good one because I was new, didn't know what I was looking for, et cetera, like acquisition.com. you know, it's neither of our first company, like, we've already got the reps in that we, like have. The shitty first draft is done.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But when you're on your shitty first draft, it's like I always tell people it's like the floppy first pancake or thus, it's got all the butter, it barely flips over. It's like, that's your first hire for somebody and you're going to realize. But if you don't get through that, you don't get to the right person is the right fit. Right. So it's like you can't avoid hiring the wrong person if you've never hired before, you just can't. And so you just gotta get over that because it's. It will absolutely happen. We are how experienced. We have so much experience hiring people and we get it wrong all the time. Yeah, it's like hiring is also not like a. Oh, because you're good at it. It doesn't ever. You don't ever get it wrong. It doesn't work that way. Yeah, it's like you just. You get better at possibly predicting, but there's a lot of people that can also. You predict wrong. You just don't know. And I think with the second one, the question was bring somebody in at more of a senior level to alleviate more. Yeah, I think that it's. You have to be at a point where you understand the opportunity cost of your time and how much more you could grow the company doing something else. I think people stall their companies out when they hire somebody and bring somebody in as like a senior leader or partner, and then they just chill. But if they just cruise and it's actually interesting because, like, you know, one assumption people made with you coming in was like, oh, Layla's gonna be, you know, just chilling now. She's, what are you gonna be, a homemaker? And I was like, no, we're trying to do. Do more. If you wanna grow a bigger company, you need more capacity. I was like, so we're, we all, all three of us have a ton of capacity. And so if you're bringing someone in, they take things off of you. They have their own capacity. And now you have capacity. You need to know that you can do something more valuable with your capacity than you were before. And that's what I think for somebody who's hiring somebody. Think about like, that if it's bringing in a partner, it's thinking, if I have double the capacity, which in reality, it's like I have 10x the capacity. Because you also have the support, the mind, share, all those things. What can we both do that's worth more than what we both do right now? And, you know, something I was saying is, like, we could both build our own separate companies that get to multiple billions. I think we know that, but we can do it faster with less friction and more fun together.

[B]

100%, yeah.