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Hey, this is Sharan Srivatsa. Welcome back to the Business School podcast. And this past week, I made an announcement that I was joining my best friend, Alex and Layla Hormozi as their partner@acquisite.com to build and grow the next kind of next frontier of building businesses and private equity investing the world has never seen. But I got a lot of questions as to, hey, Sharon, how did you think about this? Why did you make this decision? What was the framework behind it? So in this episode, I'm going to break down for you step by step, exactly my thought process in all of this. Not to justify this for you, but to give you a thinking framework so that you can use this in the other big decisions that you may possibly make. So I break this down all step by step, starting right now.

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One thing is for certain, just because it's tried and true doesn't mean it's working right now. So the big question is this. Where can you learn what is working right now? The strategies, the tactics, the psychology, and.

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The exact how to.

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How to grow your business, how to blow up your personal brand and supercharge your personal growth. That is the question, and this podcast will give you the answer. My name is Sharan Srivatha, and welcome to Business School.

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So this is a really special episode because while it sounds like it's about me, it's actually about you. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to break down for you something that I announced last week, which is that I had joined acquisition.com as a partner with Alex and Layla Hormozi and to build the kind of the next level of investment advisory and private equity that the world has ever seen. And essentially, after building kind of $2 billion companies, I wanted to figure out how I was going to be ready for the next billion. Now, here's the kicker for you. While this feels like, hey, why did Charon do something? I actually think me breaking this down for you will help you understand how you can make decisions. And I'm going to walk you my thought process. I'm going to walk you through exactly how I thought about it. Therefore, as you make important, bigger decisions in your life, you'll be able to draw the parallels of it overall. So what I'm going to do is, in a meta way, take you through my reasoning. That way you can maybe think about the bigger decisions, the crossroads that you have, and do something like this in the future. So let me kind of break it all down for you as to why I joined acquisition.com with Alex and Layla Hermosi and the entire process overall. So let me give you the backstory. So I've had a chance to build $2 billion companies, and mostly that I've learned this one big thing, that real growth comes from doing the work, doing the work, showing up and kind of staying in the fight, not quitting. And the big part about this is this happens long after the original feeling fades. And to me, I think a lot about. I say this up front because I want you to know who you are, as to how you make decisions. And this is what I did. I'm a fan of effort. Effort changes you. It teaches you what matters most isn't what you build, but kind of how you build it. It's about who you become in this process. So to me, I was like, how can I find a way to continue to earn the right to do meaningful work, earn the right to do meaningful work with the people that I admire? And I almost thought of this as a way about recommitting. So when you're making a decision about life, about work, about something that you're doing, don't just think about whether it's a better opportunity for you. Like, I've heard this really quote terrible phrasing that says, oh, I'm not going to do that because it doesn't serve me. Like, that's a very egotistical way of looking at life. I don't look at life that way because I don't. I don't resonate with the, oh, that doesn't serve me. I think about it as differently, which is, what can I recommit to? Like, what am I recommitting to? Can I recommit to the work? Can I recommit to the people? Can I recommit to the process? Can I recommit to a future that's not earned? Because when you say what it is that can serve me, what it does, it essentially says, you know, this is good for me and that's not good for me, so screw you. Right? And I. And I don't think the world is black and white that way. So the big reason is that I wanted to find out that meaningful work doesn't just show up for default because you have to choose it again. And mainly this. It's not for the spotlight, but for the chance to do and keep doing the work that you are proud of alongside people who believe in the same code, if you will. So this is what I did. So when I was considering joining Alex and Layla, I did what I Always do when life asks for a big decision. I wrote down my thoughts not for this announcement, but for my own personal clarity because of this quote. How you prepare shows just how much you care. Right? So what I thought, like I shared in the beginning, was I thought it would be helpful for me to share my raw thinking with you. I thought it would be helpful for me not just to merely walk you through my thought process and give you my 10 bullet points, but because you probably don't care, but maybe, just maybe, hopefully, if I give you my thinking, it helps you organize your thoughts on something that you're working on right now. So here are 10 kind of foundational reasons that I wrote down on why I chose to build this new partnership. And so let me actually break this down for you. All right, so number one, the big idea was around the company you keep. So in my 20s, I thought it was about the destination. So I worked really hard. In my 30s, I understood that it was about the journey and the growth. But. But in my 40s now, I've realized that it is about the company. The company as in the people, the people that you build with, the people that you grow with, the people that push you, the people that you celebrate with, the people that wins on your own. The. The. That is the real, like, compounding force that happened. So this is what I've realized, which is who you do life with as you go along may be the most important decision that you ever make. So, number one, I wrote down the company that you keep. Here's number two. I wanted to be. I wanted to be around people who believe in effort the way most people believe in luck. I'll say it again. I wanted to be around people who believe in effort the way most people believe in luck. Because I've just realized that I'm not a very talented human being. I have below average intelligence. I have below average talent. And the only way I've seen to make it is because I've realized that I can work hard, I can do more, I can. And I can outwork myself. And the more I outwork myself, the more I put myself and give myself learning and growth and opportunities. I wanted that kind of people who don't need a scoreboard to show up early and stay late. I wanted that because the outcome depends on them doing the work. I wanted the people who remind me that commitment is a daily decision, that. That. That they are not waiting to be inspired. And they. Those are the people that I want to be around. Those are the people that I want to Learn from. And I wrote that down because, by the way, I'm not talking about workaholism here. I'm talking about this deep, ridiculous, unhealthy obsession of discipline, of a relentless refusal to quit. People who live in the gym or in the spreadsheet or in the slides or in the CRM or in the deck or on the field. People who take pride in outworking everyone because even when no one is watching. Because there is really no hack for greatness and there is only work. And because these people have made an unshakable vow to themselves to keep showing up no matter what, no matter how hard it gets. I'll tell you why. These people do not quit because they have trained themselves not to. I'll say it again. These people do not quit because they've trained themselves not to. There's nothing more amazing than hanging around these people because they live by an elite code of personal commitment. And this reminds me of an Aquaman quote. Because not giving up is the most heroic thing you can do. Sometimes it's all about Aquaman. Not giving up is the most heroic thing that you can do. So that was my reason, number two, which is I wanted to be around people who believe in effort the way most people believe in luck. All right, here's the big idea of number three that I wrote down, which was, I want to play an infinite game. So most people play a game that makes perfect sense. Kind of like when you're in it, you aim for the next accomplishment, the next raise, the next title, the next milestone, the next thing. Right. I used to play that game, too. And it quite. It worked for a while. And then I realized that I was just checking these boxes, and the only thing that I thought would happen was there's a linear progression. I felt like, man, only if I did this can I get that? Only if I did that, can I get that. And I just. I didn't. I didn't accept that anymore. So then I realized, what if the goal isn't to win fast? Think about that. What if the goal isn't to win fast? What if the goal is just to keep playing the game that is the infinite game? And what if it's about building something that outlives you? Maybe it's the effort. Maybe it's something that you build that is so special? So now I wanted to play the infinite game. I didn't want to be like, hey, how do I report quarterly earnings again? And I wanted to build with the people that I respect and create things that I'm proud of and keep score. When no one's keeping score, that's what's important. And so, by the way, just for you and me, this change didn't happen all at once. It came from a bunch of experience. It figured out what I liked, what I didn't like, the mistakes. The. From what I'm watching, that actually brought me fulfillment and what gave me stress. But I'm not trying to tell you that for me, this work ethic is really important because I find a lot of deep pride and personal pride and personal joy in working hard. I still work hard every day, but now it's for something a little different, something a little bigger. So I wrote down this formula, and this formula is, meaningful success equals doing hard things for a long period of time. That's it. Meaningful success is doing hard things times a long period of time. So what does that mean? So I just rate my projects right now is, can I work really hard? And I can I work really hard for a long time. For some people, this is really hard because they're like, man, I don't want to do that. And I get it, and that's okay. But for me, I just wanted to work on hard things for a long period of time, not work on 300 things, work on three hard things for a long period of time. Because I know that can get meaningful success that way, right? So that was my idea number three. Here's some idea number four. I think you'll appreciate this. This is probably goes to some personal values that you can kind of think about as well. So I've realized that values are not just words. They are the way we work. Meaning beliefs are what you think are true. Values are what you think are important. So one of the things that drew me to acquisition.com and Alex and Layla wasn't just the vision. It was the alignment in how we show up to work every day. So I'll give you an example. I. When I was the president of Real, we had a very simple motto. It was work hard and be kind. Honestly, if there was any four words that connected with me to a bigger, deeper, more grounded person that I am, it was all that. Because I was like, I need. That was all me. And I could totally operationalize and live out that core value. That was what drew me to the company, that kept me grounded through the hard decisions, through the hard growth, through the 220 days of travel. To me, that was that simple motto was like, hey, am I working hard and being kind? It allowed me to live that that value Right. So as I was doing my research, and I was like, okay, well, what are the core values here of acquisition.com? and so I found these six words, these six words that are a great foundation, these six words that I can fully stand behind. And here are the six words. Competitive greatness, sincere candor, unimpeachable character. I can say it again. Competitive greatness, meaning work hard. Sincere candor, which means be honest, tell the truth. An unimpeachable character, which means don't be an ass and be the highest version of the person you can be. Right. These are really not slogans. And I, When I look at these. When I look at core values, I ask myself, can I live out these core values? If I can live out the core value, just like, we'll work hard and be kind. If I can live out the core value of competitive greatness, If I can live out the core value of sincere candor, if I can live out the core value of unimpeachable character, I know that they're not just values. They're not just words. They're a way that I can live out those. I can operationalize those. And that's really important. Important side note here. If you're thinking about a big opportunity and you don't have a core value that you're operationalizing for yourself, it becomes very hard because you don't know why you're making the decision that you're making, and you don't know how to, like, live into a greater self of who you are. Competitive greatness, sincere candor, unimpeachable character. All right, here's number five. This is a really personal one to me. I'm a good partner. And let me tell you why I'm wired for partnership. I, I, I'm not like a soul. I'm not like a soul lone ranger. Like, I don't want to be the. I don't want to be like Kanye, the king of the Earth. I don't want. I am not a transactional person. Like, I know there are several influencers out there who tell you that they're transactional, meaning they just want to get a deal done. I'm not wired like that to me. I don't ever want to let the people that I care about and who love me down. I just cannot do that. So. But I learned something over the last many years that you can tell the strength of a partnership by one question, which is, are your partners obsessed with your goals or just their own? Right. So I'll give you an example. One of my goals along the way, just one of them along the way is to buy the Anaheim Ducks. I've talked about it before. If you've not heard that, there's a. You know, I record a podcast on it. Go and listen to that. I break down the business reason and the why I want to buy the Anaheim Ducks. And for those who don't know who the Anaheim Ducks are, shame on you. They are the coolest, the coolest sports franchise or the only sports franchise named after a Disney character, which is the International Hockey League, based out of Anaheim, California. And I actually believe that Alex and Layla want that for me, even probably more than I do. The conversations that we have are like, Layla will say something like, well, we can do that, but that will delay Sharon getting the Ducks. Nobody, like, not even my wife thinks like that because she's not wired like that. Right. She knows that I'm on. But when you can have partners that are obsessed with your goals more than their own, that's insane. And you want to. It doesn't matter who they are. You want to keep them as close as possible. So surround yourself with people who fight for you in rooms that you're not in. All right, here is a big idea. Number six. I really am learning to believe that the right people pull new growth out of you. So a lot of you probably know my friendship with Alex and Layla over the years, and I've just realized that I'm better because of being with people like them. I love being with around people who make me grow, who make me better. And a lot of that comes from my respect and admiration for people that I'm around. Alex makes me sharper. Layla's leadership makes me stronger. They. Their style, their standards challenge mine in ways that are uncomfortable for me but necessary for me. They make me more thoughtful, more focused, more honest. Not just as a father, but a friend and a human. So my job is that, hey, man, is it cool that I'm learning? And I'm making getting better every single day? Because the right people can pull new growth out of you. Which is when I realized this quote. The better you get, the better you realize you can become. Say it again. The better you get, the better you realize you can become. So if at any point you feel like, man, I have so much Delta to. To capture, there's so much move that I can. I can make in getting better. The better you get, the better you realize you can become. All right, here's big idea number seven. And doing this right now reminds me of Goldman Sachs but actually better. For those of you who don't know, Goldman Sachs is probably, you know, considered the, the top financial institution in the world. The white shoe investment bank ever. It is probably the hardest company to get a, you know, a role or job in. I, I did 39 one on one interviews to get hired at Goldman. I, I, I went through, you know, the Goldman spent a million dollars just on me to train me. That is crazy if you think about it. Before I even talk to a client. This the and the greatest part about Goldman is like the, the I saw the highest density of A players I'd ever seen. But until now, as I was going through the process and meeting the acquisition.com team, I honestly was blown away because the Talent density@acquisite.com Rivals what I experienced at Goldman Sachs. And in many ways I would say is better surpasses it. And I never thought I could ever say that. And here's my learning around this. And this is where you can benefit too. It is proof that when the right culture shows up, the right people show up. And when they do, they raise the bar for everyone around them. So it is our job to figure out where is the right culture that deeply aligns with us. Can we create it in our own teams, in our own companies? Like do not settle for anything other than insane excellence because when you do, the the A players are drawn to that. The A players want that competitive greatness. The A players want the sincere candor. The A players want the unimpeachable character. And as I think back in the companies that I've invested in or even, you know, organizations that I've been part of in some way, the big reason people are mediocre is, is everyone around them is also mediocre. One great A player can't do it all. So when people say, oh yeah, you know, there's only 10 people in this 100% organization actually do work, that's a terrible thing to say. You know what that reflects on? That reflects on the leadership. That reflects the leadership can't create the culture to set the bar so high that all the A players want to be there and automatically weeds the B players out. The reason people are mediocre is everyone around them is also mediocre. Look around your organization, look around the people that you're part of. The reason people are mediocre is everyone around them is also mediocre. It's a super easy way to fix the environment that you're in. All right, here's big idea number eight and I want to talk a little bit about the new assets, which I think will really help you. And this. I really believe that the world has changed and the future belongs to the companies that know how to wield these three big things, which are distribution, as in getting attention, creativity, as in originality of ideas, and capital, both human capital and financial capital. Right. Individually, capital is powerful. Individually, you know, creativity is powerful. Individually, attention and distribution are powerful. But together, honestly, there's nothing that can. It's just unstoppable. And very few companies have all three. And even if you know how to operate them and use them and wield them, like Thanos and the Infinite Infinity Stones. Sorry for the Marvel reference there. If you are not familiar with it, I really was. I wanted. I didn't want to have to convince people of my approach and mindset on this. I didn't want this to be like, oh, yeah, Shran, we will do that. I wanted. I will tell you in many, in many different organizations where I've been a part of, like, when I talk about brand or when I talk about creativity, or when I talk about work ethic, it is just not welcomed. It's like, hey, we just need to let technology take care. Take. Take care of this. Or we just need to let distribution take care of this. But no one, I wanted alignment in my thinking of distribution, creativity and capital. And I wanted. I wanted to go somewhere where that was the default setting and that was the operating system. It's pretty cool to kind of feel that. Where you start to realize that you and I can build a brand. And that brand is compound interest engine for trust. Right? That's cool. Where people trust you because of who you are. And they will do so much work with you. They will do whatever you endorse. They will. They will be the thousand true fans who pay you and your family for generations to come just because they believe in you. And that's really important. So that's big idea number eight, which is how to wield the new assets. Because the brand, your brand, is a compound interest engine for trust. All right, Big idea number nine. You've probably heard me say this. I talk about operationalizing generosity. So I will tell you this. About a decade ago, I coined this phrase called operationalizing generosity for every opportunity that came my way. And it helped me think about the world as like, how do I live out operationalizing generosity? So generosity for me is not a virtue. It's like a building a system. It's a. It's a conscious and a very intentional way of giving your Best ideas away. To teach everything that you know, to give your best, coolest things away, to not hold anything back and. And to help others succeed without expecting anything in return. There is no jab, jab, jab, right hook. There's only jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, jab. Because the more goodwill you can put out in the marketplace, that's where things happen. Because that is kindness in action. And this is one of the things I love about Alex and Layla. Like, long before we partnered it up, they got that they could charge millions for what they give to the world, but they don't. And that's really, really powerful. That's the kind operating system that you should want to be a part of. That's the kind of operating system. The more you did that, the amount of goodwill that you deploy in a marketplace will skyrocket because it's built on contribution. And here's the interesting part. You want a place where giving generously is not a strategy. It's just part of the culture. I'll say it again. You want a place where giving generously is not just a strategy, but it's part of the culture. And that comes from competitive greatness based a players. There's a great quote that I've been thinking about a lot when it comes to this. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. Right? We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. And this requires us to build a business model of being generous. I say it again. Generosity is not about being philanthropic. Generosity is about being smart and strategic and culture oriented, where you can create a business model and a culture where being generous is the foundation for everything. That is when you win. Because we make a life by we make a living by giving by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. All right, here's my last big idea. And I've had a chance to build, you know, and help build $2 billion companies. I will tell you that there is. The big part of that is we is greater than me. It's very easy for people who listen to this, who have been a part of the journey to say, well, Sharon takes all the credit. No, I am not. We is greater than me. I played my role in it, just like everyone played their role in it. So we is greater than me when it comes to building a billion dollar business. Nobody built a billion dollar business on their own. But every night I ask myself a Simple question, which is, what do you have to show for today? Because the way we become great is by stacking evidence in our favor that we are who we say we are and we did something that was meaningful today. So I asked myself, what do I have to show for today? And so after investing in like a hundred plus deals and having five exits, I've learned that the real answer. Is it about the money? Isn't about the headlines, isn't about the notoriety, isn't about the brand, isn't about the fame, isn't about the exit multiples, Isn't about getting that wire at the end of the day and me buying the jet, the yacht and whatever. It is not about all of that. It is about who you become in the process. And I just realized that for me, the next chapter isn't about building another billion dollar company. It is very important. Because it's a scoreboard. Yes. But it's about doing it with people I trust, people I love, people who challenge me, people who support me, and hopefully people that bring out the best in me. And I just realized that, hey, that's why it would be awesome to build, quote the next billion with my best friends who are Ox and Layla. And that's why I made this decision. So let me give you this final thought. Please think about this quote a lot. I'm going to give this to you. It's probably worth paying attention and memorizing this because it's probably is a story of your life and it's a story of mine. People only see the decisions you make. They rarely understand the choices you had. All right. People only see the decisions you make. They rarely understand the choices you had. I honestly will tell you that I'm very grateful. I had a lot of choices. Right? But people only see the decisions you make. They rarely understand the choices you had. And I wrote this and I'm sharing this with you. Not to clarify for you or sell you or give you any transparent background into my life by, like mesmerizing you. No, this has got nothing to do with that. I'm sharing this with you. Not to justify anything or my decision. I'm very secure. And I'm sharing this with you to show you my personal thought process behind it so that you can see how much time and effort and thinking and writing and clarity this took. This took a while to do because it's not like who used. I will spend more time doing this than I will spend with my children and my family. Like, this is like me being married all over again. Only for more time. And so this is really important and we make these decisions without a lot of care and consent because how you prepare shows and it shows really how much you care. So I share this. Again, not to justify my move to you. I share this to show you my personal thought process because maybe, just maybe, it'll help you organize your own thinking before your next big decision or something that you're working on right now. Right? So before I leave you, I'll leave you with this. The big learning for me in all of this is to stay close to the right people. Because that alone may change everything for you. Thank you for allowing me to share this. I wanted to share this with you because ever since the announcement last week, I got a lot of questions as to Sean, why did you do this? What are you going to be doing? How does this exactly work? I'll probably break down a few other things, but if you want to see the full write up I did about this, it's actually on my substack so you can go to Shaun srivastaubstack.com just google me on substack. It's the next billion. I break down all of this so you can see it. Maybe you can use the same framework, copy paste it, put into ChatGPT and say, hey, what is the framework that Charon used for this? That way you can deconstruct that framework and use it for your own decision making. Because it's all I wrote this whole thing up for you. I wrote it again not to justify the move for me. I wrote it to just share my vulnerability, my thinking, my thought process with you. Yes, I polished it up just so I can share with you and it was not just a goobledy gobbledygook, but I wanted you to see the entire thought process. So I hope this was helpful to you. Hey, by the way, if this was interesting and was helpful doing two things. One, send it to somebody that you think this will help. Number two, if you like this, can you screenshot this and tag me? That way I can make more like this for you. Again, this was the I'm super excited to become partners with Alex and Layla to build and grow acquisition.com super fun for us to share more of all the good stuff that are coming along the way. If you like this screenshot and tag me and I can make more like this for you. I'll catch you on the next one.