How to Pitch Anything to Anyone in 3 Minutes (Hollywood Secrets) with Brant Pinvidic

Summary

Podcast Summary: "How to Pitch Anything to Anyone in 3 Minutes (Hollywood Secrets)"

Escaping the Drift with John Gafford
Guest: Brant Pinvidic
Date: January 6, 2026

---

Episode Overview

This episode features Brant Pinvidic—renowned television producer, bestselling author of The 3-Minute Rule, and experienced entrepreneur—as he shares Hollywood pitching secrets, lessons from a year-long global family adventure, and fresh perspectives on money, success, and purpose. The conversation covers Brant’s unconventional career path, the art of pitching, redefining wealth, and advice for living a life rich in experience rather than just finance.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Ultimate Family Adventure: 52 Countries in 52 Weeks

• Brant and his family traveled to 52 countries in 52 weeks (03:00), immersing themselves in local cultures, activities, and challenges.
  • Mission-based travel: It wasn’t just a vacation, but an everyday mission to have fun and learn together as a family.
  • Impact on family dynamics: The close quarters fostered deeper relationships and personal growth, especially as the children matured.
  • Cultural revelations: Traveling debunked stereotypes and helped his kids see the commonalities among people worldwide.
  • Memorable quote:

    “Everything that you think you believe about the way other countries and the world works comes from a box—your phone, or the computer, or the TV—and somebody is filtering that information to you.”
    —Brant Pinvidic (07:19)

• Surprise destinations: Kigali, Rwanda, was unexpectedly modern and clean (08:47).
• Must-do experiences:

  “You have to go see the gorillas in Rwanda. It’s magical.”
  —Brant Pinvidic (09:29)

• Oslo, Norway, in summer: Described as euphoric, surprisingly joyous, and an adult version of 'spring break'—but more civilized (10:35).

2. Building a Life on Adventure & the Power of the Mission

• Origins: Brant’s Canadian upbringing gave him hunger for adventure. Canada wasn’t built for entrepreneurial risk; moving to LA sparked his success (12:31).
  • “I fell in love with being successful—not so much the TV industry. The TV industry just gave me my first taste of actual verifiable success, and I was addicted to that.” (14:13)
• First Hollywood break: Brant’s self-funded TV pitch ultimately sold to NBC. He cautions against copying his method, calling it a ‘minefield’ rather than a treasure map (13:23).

3. The Hollywood Pitch & “The 3-Minute Rule”

• Pitching as a superpower:

  “I think the pitch is your superpower.” —John Gafford (19:55) “The simplicity, for sure. In the three minute rule, everything about your business, product or service must be conveyed clearly, concisely, and accurately in three minutes or less.”
  —Brant Pinvidic (20:10)

• Science behind it: People decide in three steps: conceptualize (what is it), contextualize (does it relate to me), then actualize (what will I do about it?) (20:52).
• Anecdote: Surrounded by Mark Burnett and Simon Cowell at a CBS pitch, Brant felt he had to keep it brief—leading to unexpectedly strong results (22:56).
  • “I was out of that room in less than nine minutes... My agent was like, ‘Oh my God, that pitch was amazing.’” (23:32)
• The power of brevity: Keeping a pitch clear and short outperforms lengthy ‘killer’ presentations.

4. Redefining Success, Wealth, and Life’s True Value

• From chasing money to valuing time and experiences (37:38–41:44):
  • Brant shares a story of visiting a friend’s $20M house—recognizing that, no matter the level of wealth, most people quickly acclimate and stop appreciating what they have.
    • “If Greg can’t be the way I was at his $20 million house... how will I ever do that?” (40:01)
  • He consciously pivoted to focus on maximizing experiences and time, not just net worth.
• The three P’s: Prosperity, Passion, Purpose (47:34):
  “You have to get the three P's in your life organized. It’s prosperity, passion, and purpose.”
• Imposter syndrome and the peer group of excellence:
  “Excellence is the peer group you want to be in. People who are excellent at something.” (45:08)
• Giving beyond money: Brant gets immense satisfaction from sharing adventure and knowledge with others (33:14).

5. Making Career & Purposeful Life Transitions

• Moving on from TV:
  Brant details how he fell out of love with TV, hitting a natural plateau. Industry changes eliminated the possibility of “earth-shattering hits.”
• Mentorship from Tony Robbins:
  Tony helped Brant move away from scarcity thinking and embrace the leap into authorship and consulting (53:46).
• On knowledge philanthropy:
  His current purpose is giving back through “knowledge philanthropy”—offering free wisdom and expertise to help entrepreneurs thrive (49:46).
  • “Entrepreneurs and business owners are the most important factor in our entire society—and they don’t get anything... I just want to forward that more.”

6. The Game of Money — New Project Insights (67:22–74:12)

• Game of Money Seminar:
  Brant and Oren Klaff (author of Pitch Anything) are teaching about the realities of the financial capital markets, investment structures, and dealmaking.
  • They collaboratively help companies and investors understand and play the “game of money”—from both sides.
    • “People are shocked at how those two entities [companies and investors] are desperate for each other... There’s so much money out there, desperate to deploy capital.” (68:58)
• Sourcing and structuring deals:
  The landscape favors insiders with the right structure and upstream deal flow, not amateurs or those looking to “get in” via public deals.
  • “There’s no job for part time amateur bomb squad technician... and that is not a strategy.” (70:32)
• New investment fund:
  Launching a fund allowing access to upstream private deals and a community to learn and participate (71:37–73:48).

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-------------|----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:00 | John Gafford | “You did something with your children that I think should be the envy of every family on Earth.” | | 09:29 | Brant Pinvidic | “You have to go see the gorillas in Rwanda... It’s magical.” | | 14:13 | Brant Pinvidic | “I fell in love with being successful—not so much the TV industry... I was addicted to that.” | | 20:10 | Brant Pinvidic | “Everything must be conveyed clearly, concisely, and accurately in three minutes or less.” | | 40:01 | Brant Pinvidic | “If Greg can’t be the way I was at his $20 million house... how will I ever do that?” | | 47:34 | Brant Pinvidic | “You have to get the three P's in your life organized: prosperity, passion, and purpose.” | | 49:46 | Brant Pinvidic | “My purpose right now is knowledge philanthropy.” | | 70:32 | Brant Pinvidic | “There’s no job for part time amateur bomb squad technician... and that is not a strategy.” | | 74:12 | Brant Pinvidic | “When you become the banker instead of the player—that’s the game of money.” | | 75:46 | John Gafford | “You’re the bank. That’s the game of money. That’s not the game of chance. That’s the game of money.” |

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Time | |-----------------------------------------------|-------------| | Family World Tour & Its Impact | 02:39–11:13 | | Origins, Canadian Roots & Hollywood Journey | 11:13–15:05 | | TV Hits, Pitching as a Superpower | 15:08–24:08 | | Crafting the Effective Pitch: 3-Minute Rule | 20:05–23:57 | | Redefining Wealth, Time, and Experience | 37:38–41:44 | | Peer Groups, Excellence & Mentorship | 45:08–47:17 | | Prosperity, Passion, Purpose Framework | 47:34–49:44 | | Knowledge Philanthropy & Giving Back | 49:46–51:14 | | Transitioning Out of Hollywood, Tony Robbins | 53:23–58:41 | | The Book Promotion Double-Edged Sword | 62:28–64:55 | | Launching the "Game of Money" Project | 67:22–74:12 |

---

Tone & Insights

• Candid, uplifting, and conversational with moments of humor and humility.
• Brant is open about insecurities, setbacks, and learning moments, making the narrative relatable.
• Focuses on actionable wisdom: concise pitches, savoring experiences, striving for impact beyond dollars.

---

Final Takeaways

• Success isn’t about money alone. Brant’s deliberate shift from chasing deals to choosing family time and knowledge-sharing exemplifies redefining wealth.
• The art of pitching is about clarity, brevity, and empathy—no matter who you’re pitching to.
• Peer groups of excellence aren’t just about wealth, but about being exceptional in whatever you do.
• Purpose matters: True fulfillment comes from using your experience and means to elevate others.

“Chase legacy. Don’t just chase a check.” — John Gafford (76:01)

---

Find Brant Pinvidic:

• brantpinvidic.com
• @brantpinvidic on social

For more insights and episodes, visit escapingthedrift.com.

Transcript

[Brant Pinvidic]

Foreign.

[John Gafford]

Escaping the Drift, the show designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be. I'm John Gafford and I have a knack for getting extraordinary achievers to drop their secrets to help you on a path to greatness. So stop drifting along, escape the Drift, and it's time to start right now. Back again, back again for another episode of like it says in the opening man, the podcast that gets you from where you are to where you want to go. And today I got a dude in the studio friend of mine that literally has been everywhere. We will get to that in a second. So if your goal is to go everywhere, we're going to talk in depth about that. But he's done so much cool stuff. You ever have that friend that, like, he's just like Mr. Cool with all of his jobs. You're like, dude, how much cool stuff can one human do in one life? And this guy's trying to do it all. He has been a television producer for a great part of his career producing shows that, you know, shows that you watch a lot shows that you've seen. He is the best selling author of which I'm terribly jealous of, a book called the three Minute Rule. He has a new book coming out and they do. This is an unbelievable human. And I can't wait for you to meet him because you're gonna like him as much as I do. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the program. This is Brand Prithnetic.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Oh, my God. I got to take you with me.

[John Gafford]

For you.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Oh, my God.

[John Gafford]

I am the Flavor Flavor podcast introduction.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I'm looking at my daughter saying, you know he's talking about me. Yeah, like, that's your dad, you know.

[John Gafford]

You know, it's funny if she's his daughter is in the podcast studio with us. And if it's any she's anything my daughter, I love to torture her with everything in my being. And I don't know if you're torturable as she is. The other night at my book signing when we did my opening, every time I signed a book, I made sure to let her know that somebody had asked for my signature in a book and you were going to watch me side I thought she was going to murder me.

[Brant Pinvidic]

The best was we were. We were in Tennessee at Dollywood and we're in line for the train with my two kids and she was there and somebody screams, brad. And then we're like, oh, who's that? And it was somebody who had just been following me on Instagram, was A fan and had seen from my story that we were going to Dollywood and came to Dollywood to meet us. And it was the greatest moment. I'm looking at my kids like, yeah, that's right.

[John Gafford]

That's me. Yeah, suck it up. Well, we're gonna. Dude, we're gonna talk about so much on the podcast today. We're gonna talk about the new book, which is all about money. We're gonna talk about the old book, we're gonna talk about the TV stuff. But the first thing I want to talk about is probably the thing that gave me more FOMO than anything I've. I've literally ever seen in my entire life, which is you did something with your children that I think should be the envy of every family on Earth.

[Brant Pinvidic]

On Earth.

[John Gafford]

Literally. Tell the people what you guys did last year.

[Brant Pinvidic]

We left on a one year tour of the world and we did 52 countries in 52 weeks. It.

[John Gafford]

And it was unbelievable. You could. I followed you all around the world. World on Instagram, watching everything. When he says we went, like, it's not like we went and got an Airbnb and sat in the Airbnb and watch tv. I mean it was. They did it.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah, we, it was a mission, right? Like, the mission was to go to the 52 countries to experience the culture, to go do fun stuff to compare and contrast. And it became part of our lives. Living with each other, with my kids and stuff, to be like, what is the goal today? Oh, we're going to do. What's the most fun thing you can do when you're in Paraguay? What's the most thing fun you can do? We're in Saudi Arabia. What are we doing? Right? Like, how do you. And so that became part of our lives, not just a vacation. And it changed the dynamic of all our relationships and what we did because it became your everyday mission. And that was what made it possible. Listen, traveling 52 countries in 52 weeks, I would not recommend for someone just because it's a lot of work. One, it costs a fortune. Yeah, it's a lot of work. It's a ton of planning. I literally have my credit card framed. It is mangled and fried from like, it's not that it was just so much money, it's just that it was so constant. Like every single week you're chasing or around restaurants and like. But the mission side of that, of, of having a mission to do as a family and going with it and having it, that it was fun. Like the mission was to go have fun Everywhere.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Was life changing? Like, that was so incredible when you.

[John Gafford]

Talk to the kids at first when you were pitching this to them. Yeah. Because I know that part of it was you're allowed to take literally what you can carry on your back in one. One. One suitcase. That was it.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah. You know, we had done the. Like, just at the end of COVID We had done the. The United States in a big, huge RV. We'd done all 48 states, and we loved it. We traveled every three days. It was wild. It was the same thing. We got a taste of doing that adventure mission. And so I realized that as my daughter was finished with high school and my son had come through, he was doing graduating high school. We had this one little moment, and I said, hey, you know what? Like, we could do one more adventure together before everybody goes their separate ways. Like, you know, was already at the hot. Like, you know, we had a relatively large house with a ton of property, and, like, kids at a certain age stopped using all that stuff.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

So, like, I would be going out back and be like, oh, I have a horseshoe pit. No one's played horseshoes in six months. I'd go play by myself because I hated the fact that it wasn't getting used. So I knew it was a time that we could probably do something this. So we had a whiteboard in my office in the house, and my daughter and I were going through all the ideas. Oh, I got to get a big boat. And we're going to go on the great loop and we're going to. And all these ideas listed to go. And let's go backwards around a different rv. Like. And my son finally came to have the family meeting to decide what maybe our adventure could be. And he was like, I'm not doing any of that. No, I got girlfriends. I got college coming up. I got a summer with all my. It's going to be amazing. I don't want to go do some stupid thing like go down to Europe, like.

[John Gafford]

No.

[Brant Pinvidic]

But if you want to go around the world and do 52 countries in 52 weeks, like, I can't say no to that. Yeah. And that was the decision where, like, I guess we got to do this. The.

[John Gafford]

The multi level of why it was so cool because, number one, to be able to be in such close quarters with your kids for that long, you know, when. If you're listening to this and your kids are little. Yeah. You're used to having them stuck to your hip.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

But they hit a point in somewhere between. When you go from debt from dad to brah somewhere. When that happens, they just kind of stay in their rooms and talk on their phones and that's what you get. And, and to be that close with them for that long was unbelievable. But number two, probably you gave them the greatest gift you can ever give. One of my favorite things that's ever been muttered in this particular studio was my friend Chris Connell once said, I've never met a well traveled racist. And I thought that was such a great comment, not just about racism, but just really learning how the rest of the world operates and, you know, giving you a great appreciation for what we have in, in this particular country.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Did you see a change in your kids? I know she's sitting right here, she could probably chime in, but did you see a change in your chill in your children over that time?

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah, like definitively, yeah. And particularly with my son who, you know, when we were around, when we rent around the country, he was much younger. Right. And so when we went this time, you could see them come out of their shells and they meet people, they tell stories, people ask them questions and they learn about how people in all of these countries are so overwhelmingly similar. Like, it was stunning. And how everything that you think you believe about the way other countries and the world works comes from a box, either your phone or the computer or the tv, and somebody is filtering that information to you. And then when you go and you find yourself in Saudi Arabia on Christmas day and you're like, there are no other white people anywhere near us on Christmas. Saudi Arabia, not a big Christmas destination for Christians. Right. And so you do that and you realize like, this is not what we expected. Little things like that where you're like, we used to, we use the term the Middle east. And that'd be like someone saying the Americas to describe Argentina and Canada. Yeah, it's like, well, it's called the Americas. You're the Americas. And so you could see the kids, their eyes like just taking all this in and understanding and the freedom that they felt to go and experience it. So much of the world does not have petty crime or crime in general as part of their day to day existence, which we found shocking. Like so much of our trip for so long was like, there's not a thought of, there's no crime in South Korea, there's no crime in Japan, like these places in, in Norway, in Denmark, and like a lot the African places we went to. You're just like, you're in Kigali, Rwanda. It's the most Beautiful, clean, organized. Amazing place. And you're like, I had no idea.

[John Gafford]

Is that the places. Would you say that's the place that surprised you the most?

[Brant Pinvidic]

For sure. Without. Without question. Kigali, Rwanda is like. It's like, you know, we call this Singapore of Africa kind of thing. Like, they have come from literally the depths of despair in the most. One of the worst genocides you've ever seen and heard of rubble in the streets of their city. 25 years later. It is beautiful and modern and perfectly clean and still very African. Like, women with things on their heads walking along with barefoot. You're just like. But it's beautiful. It's. The culture is just like, wow. Like, it's shocking.

[John Gafford]

What was the. What was the one thing that you guys did that you would just say, would. If you literally can go anywhere in the world and do this one thing, this is the thing.

[Brant Pinvidic]

You have to go see the gorillas in Rwanda.

[John Gafford]

That's the thing.

[Brant Pinvidic]

We're going again in January. Like, it's. It's magical. It's a magical experience. That's what I would say.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. That's one of the. That's one of the things I love about you is. Is you're always calling me, trying to drag me on these trips.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I wanted you. Come on.

[John Gafford]

But I would have. But like we talked about, I will be you staging to land on the ice in Antarctica.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah. Africa had most of those, like, epic things that are hard to describe, you know, and so. But I would say there's a couple other ones that people wouldn't necessarily, like, know right away. I would say Norway. Oslo. Norway in the summer is like euphoria. It is like the classic spring break Daytona beach euphoric feeling. But with adults, right? Like, with normal adults. Because in Norway, you have to remember, like, it's dark all the time in the summer, it's cold. And they're very wealthy country. And so when summertime hits, it's just like, everybody's out in the sunshine. They're so happy. They have built the most beautiful waterfront I've ever seen in my life. And so many people are just out there on the dock.

[John Gafford]

You were just randomly swim. You would go swimming. Yes, I remember this. Yes. At the end of, like, a pier.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Just out at the end of the pier. It was. It was. It was magic. Like, I'm talking magic. That was one of those things you're like, whoa, I got to go. Like, that is one thing everybody should experience.

[John Gafford]

All right, well, let's back up, dude.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Because let's Talk about what? You know, your early life. Let's talk a little bit about that. You're Canadian, yes? Yeah, yeah, that's right. Still, so. Which is why you can stay in the cold water. I'm Floridian. No way I'm getting that water in Oslo, Norway. Not a chance. What do you think about your upbringing gave you this hunger for adventure and, and it.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Listen, I. I think at the end of the day it's a combination of a few things. One is my dad did not wake up every day trying to make me happy. Okay. Like, I know how you are with your kids. You know, my daughter knows how I am with her. Like it is my only goal in life every day is how can I make my kids lives better today. Right. And there's a lot of great things about that. There's a lot of downside about that. Right. So I had to create my own hunger to go achieve, to go develop, to go build things for myself. I was very, very focused on trying to find success in Canada. Canada is not built for entrepreneurs. It is not built for the mentality of go make something, go try something different. That is not the way the culture is. And the culture is palatable there. And I beat my head against the wall for 27 years in Canada unsuccessfully and sort of mildly mocked for my goofy ideas. Right. I come to Los Angeles on kind of a whim as a last ditch effort. I live in my parents basement with my 2 year old son at the time, out of money. My dad's like, get a job, like that kind of stuff. Yeah, I hit Hollywood. I have an idea, I have a project, I meet people, they're like, oh my God, you. How did you do that on your own? And you know, and it's like they saw potential. They love potential here. They value potential. They're like, come join us, do stuff with us. We like this kind of thing. And it was like, what was the idea?

[John Gafford]

What was the first one?

[Brant Pinvidic]

It was called Life of the Party. It was sort of like a party animal fun thing where you traveled around like and it, you know, NBC bought it and they loved how much work I had done at a time when.

[John Gafford]

So wait, you sold your first idea?

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah, yeah. I went and made it myself in Canada, my own money and raised money for friends, like and all this stuff, which is a stupid idea.

[John Gafford]

You had a finished product?

[Brant Pinvidic]

I had an almost finished product. This is what, this is what the life changing moment is at. I couldn't afford to edit the show that I had created because I didn't know anything about television. It was a stupid idea. Shouldn't have done that. But I couldn't afford to edit it. I just thought that when I explained it to people, they would give me money so I could edit and put on the air. Canadian television's like, no, we don't do that, idiot. Like, I buy friends for $70,000 an episode. Why would I pay hundreds of thousand dollars for your stupid idea?

[John Gafford]

Right?

[Brant Pinvidic]

I didn't know that before. You should figure these things out before.

[John Gafford]

Right. Anyways, so that's a lesson, kids. Make sure there's a market for your product before you build it.

[Brant Pinvidic]

My story, I say this all the time. My story is not a treasure map. Like, you cannot follow the map here.

[John Gafford]

It's a highlight minefield.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah. So. But there's something about finding your place and finding your people in Los Angeles and the United States I always wanted to be part of. And when I got here, it was like, oh, my God, this is where I'm meant to be. And I remember it specifically. I'm driving down the 405. It is Christmas time. I had been in the country for seven months. Got this fancy cool job and stuff. And. And I'm driving my convertible Sebring that I had bought when I got there. And I'm. I got a BlackBerry from the.

[John Gafford]

Oh, yeah. Well, now we know what year this.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Exactly. And yes, 22 years ago.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And I'm sending hey, because, you know, Hollywood shuts down early for Christmas. Everybody goes away. And I'm sending messages to people saying, hey, man, have a great Christmas break. I'll see you when you get back. Really cool meeting you. That kind of stuff. And I realized, oh, my God, like, I have more friends and interested people that care about me that I care about in seven months in the. In the United States than in almost 30 years in Canada. And I fell in love with being successful. Not so much the TV industry. Like, people thought that I, like, I was so great at the TV industry. The TV industry just gave me my first taste of actual verifiable success. And I was addicted to that. And that's why I dedicated my life at the. At the time to being exceptional at producing and developing tv, at pitching ideas. And so we'll give them the litany.

[John Gafford]

Of the shows that you've done. Give them the laundry list of stuff that they probably watch.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Rescue is probably the big one. I get the most now. It used to be the biggest loser. Now it's probably bar. Rescue is like, that's the one people talk to about the most, you know, or Extreme makeover was a big one. My cat from hell. People talk about, you know.

[John Gafford]

Did you speak? Well, let's talk about Biggest Loser for a minute. We get to bar rescue. Did you. I'm Biggest Loser. Did you watch the. The. The documentary that they just had Netflix. Were you in that documentary?

[Brant Pinvidic]

No, no, I. I didn't have very much to do with the Biggest Loser. I. I ran the company that was a tenant of the company. It was already sold. Like, okay. It's like, it's one of those beautiful situations where it's like, I was involved enough where I can put line up in credit.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, but you're not handing people.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Oh, my God, no. And if you talk to the guys who actually run Biggest Loser, they'd be like, brad told you. He's gonna be like, that guy did nothing.

[John Gafford]

Right. Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

That's the fun of Hollywood. Like, every success has many, many fathers. And like, I. I've been introduced so many times in this world where it's just like, you know, I'm like, oh, the creator of Amazing Race. I'm like, I. I used to be like, I don't. Sorry. Thinks I'm making an emergency call. I don't do, like, you know, I. I don't know. I didn't create that. I wasn't the executive producer. I was only this person. Like, yeah. And now I'm like, oh, whatever. Yes. I was the host of American Island.

[John Gafford]

That was me.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Like, nobody cares. But Biggest Loser was a big hit. Everybody loves that show. I talk about that all the time. It's great. But Bar Rest.

[John Gafford]

That was your baby.

[Brant Pinvidic]

My. That was like one of my jams, you know, Like, John Taffer and I, like, it was like our. One of the best meetings in the. When we're pitching that, you know, and, like, it was cool because.

[John Gafford]

Did you have the idea for the show and then found him or.

[Brant Pinvidic]

No? No. First of all, the idea for the show, not what you would call super original, you know, like Gordon Ramsay kind of already doing that on the air.

[John Gafford]

Sure.

[Brant Pinvidic]

But I saw John Taffer and I was like, oh, like, is this our. You know, is this Gordon Ramsay for bars and nightclubs?

[John Gafford]

Like, maybe the guy.

[Brant Pinvidic]

But I didn't know. Like, I would tell people, and now that I'm so far away from it, I don't care anymore. But I will tell people. Like, I like John, but I didn't know if he was going to be a TV star. Like, I see this every day. Like, I could not say that's A star. I just said like, that's pretty good. He looks like. And it's an industry I haven't seen yet. Maybe I could pitch it. So when we talked to Spike, it was Spike TV at the time. It was a little bit of a flyer and they fell in love with him. So then I'm like, well, I told you he was amazing. You know, like, I liked him, I just didn't know. But total credit for the process of it.

[John Gafford]

It's. It's so funny when the entertainment choices were few and far between. I know I'm not even going back to three channel days with the click or whatever it was when you had to get up and push the buttons on the little box on top of your tv. But I think that there was even. You look at the science that went into trying to figure out how to pick a winner. Yeah. And now you look at the Internet with all of the, you know, YouTube and Instagram and stuff. And dude, every time, every day I probably look at something and shake my head and I go, how is this person, the person that's blowing up? Yeah. And then I see other people that I'm like, how is this person not blowing up?

[Brant Pinvidic]

It's so. And here's the thing. Bar Rescue is a perfect example. I went to set on Bar Rescue a few times. I had nothing to do with the day to day production. That's not my job. My job is to create and sell and pitch and oversee and develop. And like, that's what I do. And so you're talking about an ecosystem of hundreds of people that go through this process. And every single thing has to work because I have sold shows that didn't work, that were far better conceptual ideas, original and no one had ever done before, and so fun and interesting, that never went anywhere. Right. And a show like Bar Rescue, which is again, it was a remake of a sort of Kitchen Nightmares, just instead of a restaurant, it's a bar nightclub. So the origination of the idea is not overly impressive. It just happened. John just sparked and just was like, we love that guy. So it's like, is that I didn't discover John. I didn't make the show day to day. So it's like, so what did I have to do for the success? I went in the room, I pitched it, I orchestrated, I shepherded it. Like, how valuable is that in the marketplace? I don't know. But without that, that show's not in the air. Yeah, but without the guy, without DJ Neuri and without all those guys that are In JD Roth and Todd Nelson, without all these guys and John himself on the day to day, does any of that happen? The truth is all of it needs to happen. And you have thousands and thousands of TV shows going out there and they all have thousands of thousands of working parts. And if a few of them don't fire at the exact right time, it turns to nothing. And that's life, that's business. Why are you what you are? Why am I? What I am today is like a few things work out really well, but you've got all the other momentum going at the same time and you can capitalize on those moments.

[John Gafford]

See, just sitting here talking to you, I would have, I'm going to change my opinion on something. I would have thought the creative would have been your superpower, but I think that, I think the pitch is your superpower.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah, the pitch is my superpower.

[John Gafford]

What makes it, what makes a good pitch?

[Brant Pinvidic]

I think, well, the good pitch and anything.

[John Gafford]

What makes a good pitch?

[Brant Pinvidic]

The simplicity, for sure. Like in the three minute rule, everything about your business, product or service must be conveyed clearly, concisely and accurately in three minutes or less. And there's science behind that. Like that. Why? The human brain structures decision making. And you can't get somebody to stop thinking yes or no in their mind for longer than three minutes if you do it really well. And so the structure is built on brevity, simplicity, and understanding that as human beings, we make decisions in three very distinct pieces. Right. First we conceptualize, then we contextualize, then we actualize. Conceptualize. I have to understand what it is I am looking at or talking about.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And anybody at home, how many times does somebody come pitching you something or wanting you to do something, you're like, whoa, can you just explain what this is and what, like, how this works? Like, you have to understand the concept. Then what you do, then you contextualize meaning. Like, okay, how does this relate to me? What do they want from me? How am I, what am I going to be involved? What will this mean for me? And then we decide, okay, here's how I want to do it. This is what I want to wear today. Yes, we should go to war. Like, whatever those huge decisions or small decisions, it's the same process, three steps. And so I was very good at structuring that. And the, the irony was it came sort of out of fear and a little bit of experience. You know, like I was raising money to do this TV show thing and I've been in people's living rooms trying to raise money to get $5,000 or I wouldn't eat right. You let somebody know that that's how desperate you are for them to invest, you will not be catching a single penny.

[John Gafford]

No.

[Brant Pinvidic]

So you develop an ability to be. Explain things without being, you know, overpowering. But the big one was I was at CBS pitching a show, and I was waiting. And out of the pitch room where the, you know, they're making the pitch, out walks Mark Burnett. No, sorry. I'll tell it this way. Out walks Mark Burnett. Reverse, but doesn't matter. And we're saying, hi, we're talking gingerbread. And over my shoulder, he's looking as we're talking, and I looked around to see who's there, and it's Simon Cowell, and he's pitching after me. So I have to follow Mark Burnett, and Simon Cowell is after me now. The truth is, it was reverse. Simon came out of there anyways. And I was so, like, overwhelmed with dread because even today, I am still as far away as being on the peer level as Mark Burnett and Simon Cowell as I was back then. So I'm just a junior producer. I'm in the middle of them. And I remember Simon just asking me questions about the pitch and how are you? And I'm just like, I can barely hold a conversation because I'm thinking, like, I got to go into this room after that. This sucks. And they invite me, and I go in, and normally the meetings are like 45 minutes, and it's a whole thing, and you're just going into. And I'm like, what is Les Moonves going to want to talk to me about? You know what I mean? It's him and Maynard's in there, and I'm just like, oh, God, I got.

[John Gafford]

My hair done next to him once.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Right? You know, and it's what's like. I'm like, you're not going to hear all the crap that I have to say. Like, this is insane. I got all this planned. He just. He doesn't want to hear this from me. And so my agent. Oh, Brand. Oh, good to see you again. And he's like. I was just like, the idea is this. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to bring these things. Here's why I think it's good for cbs. Here's where I think the budget starts. Here's what we can think. That's it. Bye. Bye. And I was out of that room in less than nine minutes from the time I walked in to the time I walked out and was nine minutes. And my agent was like, oh my God, that pitch was amazing. And I was like, what? I thought he'd be like, don't ever come back here.

[John Gafford]

Killer. No filler, buddy.

[Brant Pinvidic]

He's like, hey, you got to do that again. So I did the same thing at NBC and the same thing at abc. We got three offers on the show, like. And I was just like, wow. And he's like, you got to do that. And I was like, what? He's like, just. So I just started doing that. I'd walk in and be like, here's the idea, here's why it. Here's exactly how we're going to execute it. Here's why I think it's good for you and it's a good idea. Here's the way we can produce it. Gotta go.

[John Gafford]

See, I think it's so funny that you in this with all of his great accolades, you're like, I'm not in the same breath as these dudes, right? I was, I saw something this morning and I write a newsletter that comes out every Wednesday, the Wednesday week.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I read it.

[John Gafford]

If you haven't subscribed, subscribe. So I write down my little, I write down my little anecdotes of what I think. And I saw something this morning, it'll probably be coming out next couple weeks where this I person it. I don't even, I don't even think I follow him. I just saw this video and she was talking about meeting a person that I have talked to 50 times, right? This is a person that I know very well as an entrepreneur. And to me he's just this guy. I'm not even gonna say who it is, cuz it's not important. But this person was like, I went to a Mastermind meeting and this person was speaking and I just decided we were gonna be friends. So I started DMing him, what can I do to help you? And I started doing this to try to help her stuff. Blah blah, blah blah. At the end of it then I had an event and they, this person came to me and said, oh, do you need a speaker? I'll come. And I had the one and only. And then said this person's name. And I got to thinking to myself, man, I. I didn't get it because I'm like, this is a person that I just know and I just know them as this person. It's fine and we're friends and it's cool, but I don't think of them like that. But to this person, they were the one and only. And I got, got me to be thinking in those moments when I have imposter syndrome or I feel like I don't necessarily belong to. I'm probably somebody's one and only.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yes.

[John Gafford]

Oh, everybody is somebody's one and only.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I, I haven't. Everybody has this important. And this happened to me one time when I was in. Early in my career, I was down with a music producer named David Foster, who is of course my greatest. Of course, he's like a mentor of mine. He helped me come to the United States. We were at dinner and Farrah Fawcett walked in at the dinner and he waved her over and they said hi. And she had known and she knew who he was now and like said hi. And he said, you know, when I first moved here, I met you at this thing and you had been like a movie star to me and I was so impressed and you were so kind to me and I never forgot that. And I can't believe that now it's been 29 years or 31 years and I finally get to see you at this random restaurant. And she was like, oh my God, I didn't. No idea we'd ever met before and all this other stuff. And she left. And he was saying to me, he's like, isn't that crazy that someone that a non issue in their life could be so impactful for me? Right? And I remember when I had first moved down and, and the agents that I had got for this stupid show and they had chopped it around and there was a moment where we were pitching it to various networks on my third or fourth day in the United States and the President of NBC had called the agent and I was in the parking lot at ABC and he had called and said, like, I don't know who that kid is or where he came from, but whatever he did to that show, I need him to do on my shows for us at NBC. So I want to make him an offer. Will he come and work for us to do this stuff? And Lance Klein, my agent, goes, he goes, it's, oh, it's Jeff Gassman, abc. He wants you to come work for him and do this. And I'm like, yeah, yes, yeah, yes, yes.

[John Gafford]

Oh my God, we'll consider it.

[Brant Pinvidic]

He says, sorry, Jeff, it's not going to happen. He's going to go with the show. We're getting a lot of heat on it, right? And my brain is melting. And so Gavin's like, no, no, we'll, we'll take the show, too. We'll do that as well. Right? And so I got on the phone with Jeff and he had just said all these amazing things, and he's like, I've never seen anybody put this kind of work into a TV show and ability to explain it so clearly. And I want you to come do this on and on, right? And those agents went and leveraged that. And they talk to other people. They're like, hey, you know that kid you met from Canada? NBC wants him. And everybody's like, oh, my God, who the hell are you talking about? But we want him to write like, it's just the way the world works at the time. Anyways, I got a different job. I didn't do the NBC thing. I sold the show to NBC, but I didn't do the work job. I got a different work done. And I was like, jeff Gasban changed my life. If. If that call didn't come in and they weren't be able to do that, I never would be the same.

[John Gafford]

Just that level of belief.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And just like. And four years after, almost to the day, I had got a job as the head of programming for tlc. So this big, huge job, right. That I was like, I can't believe I got this job. And I finally felt at a level where I could be like, I'm going to tell Jeff Gaspin about how important he is.

[John Gafford]

Oh, I love that.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And so I wrote him a letter, and he's still the chairman of NBC at the time. And I wrote him this letter and I just said, you will have no idea this meeting even happened. But this changed my life. I have never forgotten about this thing. I remember it, I tell the story. And I thought I should tell you the story about how important he was. Dude, he called me, he's in tears. He could not believe that he had that kind of impact. And it was hard for me to understand that because to me, he's Jeff Gaspin.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And as you grow and become more successful in life and whatever, and you still have those people, and you forget how many people down there where you were, are looking at you being like, you're my Jeff Gaspar, whoever that is, Right? And that's like, it's shocking to me to see that. And I get that quite a bit. And it's just like, oh, man, whatever.

[John Gafford]

I can do to help, you know, it affects me. And I'm on a visceral level. When I get stuff, when I get notes from people, especially notes, handwritten cards like that are just.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I Had an. I had another experience just like two days ago where a guy that I was talking to was telling me his partner Todd, he works on this stuff, and I. I'll connect you to him and you guys can do that. He connects us on a group text, you know, and his number, because I just met him, is just a number. And then on my. On my phone, it says Todd brackets, Dave Meltzer. And I was like, I must. I met this guy like, oh, I think that's the guy who used to work for Todd.

[John Gafford]

Oh, I know Todd for the Dave Meltzer. I know. I think I have in my phone the same way I know Todd that used to work with Dave Meltzer.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And so he's like, oh, my God, Brian. So we get on the phone and I'm just saying, oh, yeah, I remember you used to work there.

[John Gafford]

I love.

[Brant Pinvidic]

How are you? What's going on? I'm been five years, right?

[John Gafford]

Look, I. I almost bet I have him in my phone the same way.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And so we're talking on the phone, going through this, and he just says, hey, man, I want you to know something. Like, what you said to me changed my life. And I was like, oh, what? And he's like, if I. If you didn't have those conversations with me, if you didn't inspire me, if you didn't say these things to me, I never would have been ready to move to the next level and take on this new gig and be partners in this new thing. And I was like, oh, oh, my God. And, like, I don't want to say that I don't remember, because he might be listening, but, like, I don't remember the details of what I had told him.

[John Gafford]

No.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And he's like, but you were so giving. And I was just like, oh, yeah.

[John Gafford]

You know, you shake so many hands and you do so many events and you speak and you do these things. And I never forget when I. When I'm in those moments with people, especially at events, right. Like, I used to, when I first started doing them, I would. Just part of it was, should I be up here doing this anyway? You know, should I be the one talking? And then it was always the. This moment when I get off stage. Like, I always. I always want to shuffle out very quickly because I just. I just. Something about it.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Being upstate, you know, being on stage and then coming off, it was like, I just want to. I just want to be. I'm depleted. I want to be by myself. And then, you know, Steve Sims, my good buddy, watching him in events and how he, how he doing events with him and watching how he managed himself. And Steve was an incredible introvert. People don't know that. Like he, his. You never know it by saying switch, but. Yeah, but watching him manage himself was really amazing. And it was like, listen, you know, they're not just hiring you to come talk on the stage. Yeah. They're hiring you to give. And it was like, it's like. And with him it was always like, I'll do dinners with beforehand, whatever the night before if you want a VIP dinner on there, you know, whatever I can do. So, yeah, changing that because you just never know that that two second conversation you can have off the stage. A lot of cases is way more impactful than the 45 minutes you had on the stage.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah. And it's been interesting to see that transition for everybody, like, as they go. You know, the book did pretty well, so that's nice. And I get a lot of inflow from that. And it's like, I like hearing that and it's good because my, you know, my daughter's her, you know, she, she'll be on the phone, she'll hear people and it's just like, it's nice to have impact in the world in that way. And I found that the traveling and you know, like you followed me on Instagram. Like, I spend quite a bit of time and energy on my Instagram stories to talk to actual people because I know how much engaged they are in that process. Yeah. And I find that now I'm. I'm what I call an experienced philanthropist is that I believe that I get the most joy sharing my experiences with people. That's why I do the trips and I take people on these adventures and like, I do stuff that I've already done a bunch of times that if I was by myself, I wouldn't go do again. Like, I've done it enough. But seeing other people and sharing those experiences, I get a tremendous amount of joy. It's like taking your kids to Disneyland. Right. Like, you do that because you want to see them enjoy it. I find that with my friends, I'm in that same mode and, and social media allowed me to do that for that travel and to like show people elements that I'm going through or the things that I've found to share those experiences. I find that I get a lot of the same sort of like feelings that I get if I donate stuff to people and I donate money. I find this even better sometimes is that sharing the experiences, like, really drives me.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

We.

[John Gafford]

I was on a podcast yesterday and I was asked by the host who, who has been to this event, I throw one party a year in my house. That's it. One with a Mardi Gras party that is over the top. And he goes, can I ask a question? What's deal with the Mardi Gras party? And I'm like, you know, me and my. We just, we love New Orleans so much. We're there so much. And you know, I'm a. I'm a member of the oldest night parading Mardi Gras crew in New Orleans. My wife rides on a parade this on Saturday before show Tuesday. And we take as many people as we can to Jazz Fest and to Mardi Gras, just New Orleans as we can. And I just love that city so much, and I want people to experience as much as what they can to do that. So, yeah, I think giving back that experience of things that you love to people is such a. Such a joy.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah. And I think that that sort of drives me. And I made the decision, I made the decision early because I grew up kind of poor, you know, in the, in that sort of situation. Holy crap. And it's just like, we didn't do much. We didn't have much. Like, it was the most average middle class experience in life. And I remember so much of my life being like, God, if I could just make $2,000 a month, I would be. I'd be happy with that for the rest of my life. And it's sad that that number keeps growing, obviously. Right. Like, we all go through that. And so I remember when I finally got to America and you know, financially, things changed dramatically. And it was an interesting process. And I had made one big decision to go back to a situation that wasn't right for me. But it was for the, for the check wrote me such an in, you know, it was life changing money. And so I went back and I wasn't happy about it, but I did it. I remember, like, oh, man. And it's different when you're, when you're chasing it, when the checks over there, your brain rationalize what you're willing to do to get it.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

But after you get it and it goes into your bank and it's your money, now all of a sudden you're like, wait, what? I agreed to what? Like, the emotion. It's like I make the joke about tattoos, you know, it's like a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling. And like, that's the same thing. Doing something for money. It is Intoxicating. When you're trying to go get the money once you already have it, you're, like, left with what you have to perform, right? And so I remember thinking, like, okay, I'm not doing this again. Like, I'm not doing it again. And I was in. I was in the lobby of ntv, and one of my absolute mentors, one of the greatest producers of all time in my business, who had sold his company for hundreds of millions of dollars, was in the lobby. And I was like, oh, my God, what are you doing here? Like, what are you doing here? And he was waiting for someone to pitch this show to. And the person he was waiting for was, like, a level down from the person that I was meeting, just because that's sometimes the way it works, right? Like, who's available when you want to pitch it, whatever. And I was thinking to myself, and I said, like, what are you doing pitching them, like, what you sold? Why aren't you. And he said, he's like, I don't have anything else to do. Like, this is what I do. I. I don't know. And hurt my soul. And I thought, oh, my God, this is going to be me. Like, I will. I will do this. I'm not spending the money that I make right now. Like, I don't need this, right? And so I started to make a conscious decision to be like, I am not going to do that. And it coincided with this on the 405, and Guy Drive by with jet skis on the back of his truck, you know, And I'm like, oh, my God, when was. I love jet skiing. When was the last time I was jet skiing? Yeah, Years and years. I was like, that's it. I'm going jet skiing. And I rented eight jet skis. And I sent an email out to 35, 40 people. I'm like, oh, man, I hope people want to go jet skiing. I got, like, 30 of them. Like, yeah, I want to go. And one of the network presidents had emailed me and said, oh, I can't go this weekend. I would love to do this. Let me know when you're going again. I was like, oh, well, I got such a response. I'm going next weekend. Can you do next weekend? And he's like, yeah. And I was like, oh, yes. And I realized, like, hey, man, I can share experiences. I can do whatever I want this way. And it built this process of, like, I shifted from focus on making a career and building it to how can I be as good at doing that as I am When I'm going and doing adventures.

[John Gafford]

Well, I think that for everybody I know that's a high level, successful entrepreneur, there's a shift that happens at some point where you go from chasing the dollars. Yeah. To maximizing time.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yep.

[John Gafford]

Was there anything that happened, particularly in you that. Because obviously you've made that shift. You took a year off to go to your family.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Was there anything in particular that happened where you were like, whoa, I gotta start really paying attention?

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah. So one of my buddies is a big hedge fund guy and one of the coolest guys I know and love him. And he has a house in the Hollywood hills up on the hill, looks into Jennifer Aniston's best bait backyard. And, like, it was the first time I went to see it. And at the time, I didn't know him very well, and we were doing business. So when I first saw the house, I was like, I try to keep my emotions to myself. I don't want to be like, oh, my God, what a house. Right? So it's kind of cool. And I played it cool. We met a couple more times. I was cool, and then eventually I was like, okay, I know him well enough. And I was like, dude, Greg, you got to show me this house. What the hell? He's like, oh, yeah, come on, I'll take. I'll give you a tour. So he gave me a tour. And we walk into this bedroom that is the most spectacular view. And the thing, the waterfall and the band, and I'm just like, oh, my God, it's the greatest thing you've ever seen. And I am beaming with excitement. And I look over to Greg, and I'm just, oh, my God. And he goes. He goes, yeah. You know? And he's like, it kind of gives me, like, it's kind of cool, you know? And I was just like, oh, man, I can't believe, like, he doesn't wake up every day. Because when you're in that situation, you. You picture yourself. I could see myself sleeping better in this guy's room. Like, it's the greatest thing ever. Cut to, barely a week and a half later, these young business guys from somewhere in the interior of country had been following me and asking me questions. And they were in L. A. For the first time, and they were doing interviews for their little podcast, and they were begging me to come on. And I was like, every time I thought I might be able to meet them at this podcast studio, I was like, I got other shit. I can't do it. So they finally convinced me to Let them. They were going to come to my house and film at my house for this podcast thing. And I was like, fine, you guys can come to the house. So they come to the house and they're like, holy crap. Like, what is this? And I was like, oh, yeah, can we. Come on, I'll give you a tour. So. And I had horses at the time in the back, and so I'm showing this, and they were just like, oh, oh, my God.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Could you imagine? And I did this exact thing. Like, I just kind of waved it up. I was like, yeah, it's kind of cool. And it was a chilling realization that I had just done what Greg had done. And I realized, like, if Greg can't be the way I was at his $20 million house, because that's how I thought I would be every day if I had a $20 million house. And I can't do that and my $2 million house. And these guys don't do that. They're 200,000. Like, how will I ever do that? And that was. I made such a conscious decision to do that. And, you know, listen, it's a trade off. It's a. Definitely a trade off. There's no question.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Because, you know, a lot of my friends are in a group called Tiger 21. Very wealthy people. Great people. Amazing. You have to have 30 million liquid investible to join. I don't mind telling people. I do mind telling you what I tell people. I don't qualify.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And, like, that's because of decisions I have made is I. I've spent, like, I'm definitely farther from qualifying now after the year around the world. But I have them, many of their members who are friends of mine that are so enamored with my life.

[John Gafford]

Oh, my God.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Because they don't do that. And I'm looking at them being like, what are you talking about? You don't do this. You could hire someone. God damn. You could probably hire me. With the kind of money you have to just do stuff with you this way. Like. And so that mentality to be able to break away from that and to make the trade, like, again, it's a trade. You have to be willing to do that. And it's not always easy because we're used to chasing as much money as you can.

[John Gafford]

More.

[Brant Pinvidic]

More.

[John Gafford]

Just more.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And so, like, again, like, I can't get these guys go and have meetings. Dude. I believe. Oh, I'm sorry about my Tiger meeting tonight.

[John Gafford]

I'm like, no, I mean, I agree. You know, I love the hustle culture. I love what's happened over the last five, six years. I think Gary Vee birthed this culture that. That I love, and I love seeing people go get it and get what's theirs. But, you know, I have fallen into this in my life, too, where I don't. I don't take a moment to sit with my wins, to celebrate my successes, and to really, really be happy there, because you're always chasing the next thing. You're chasing more, chasing this, chasing that. And if you don't take that second to appreciate what you've got, what you've accomplished, then what are you doing it for anyway?

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

And I understand that there's. You know, for me, I teach people, you got to fall in love with the process or whatever you're doing. You can't fall in love with the end result, because if you fall short, if you blow past it, you got to be loving what you're doing. You don't want to trade, like you said, you don't want to sell your soul for a check. You know, you don't want to do that. But I agree. I think so many people lack the ability to have absolute clarity about what, really it is that will make them happy.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah. And I think.

[John Gafford]

And it doesn't just be dollars.

[Brant Pinvidic]

No. And I. I've had, you know, the imposter syndrome is very hard to get over. Right. Like, it's tough. Everybody goes through that. And I do that sometimes on a personal level, because there's a couple of guys that I consider very close friends that I'm like. I don't know why the guy likes me this much. Like, in the circles that he runs and the people that he knows, I just. It's like, I can't get.

[John Gafford]

I'll tell you why. Want me to tell you why?

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yes, dude, you have.

[John Gafford]

So. Okay. I'm gonna tell you why.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Okay. I need you.

[John Gafford]

I'm gonna give you a. I'm gonna. I'm gonna pump you up better than I did when we first started this thing. The innate, true, authentic. Wanting to see your friends win is a rarity in men. Yeah, it's a rarity. And you. No matter when somebody that you like and you know is doing something, you get behind it in a way. Like, dude, you didn't have to get behind what I was doing. What you did was so over and above what. What I. What I even asked you to do in my small way of trying to help me sell books. And you did it in a joyous manager where you Were genuinely interested. And even after you did that, you called me and you were like, he, hey, how's it going? How are we doing? Yeah, I want to know where the numbers are. What are we doing? And you were genuinely interested in my success for zero self serving purpose. And especially when you start playing at bigger levels, most of the people that are around you, and this is going to suck to hear, but it's unfortunately true. A large percentage of them want to see you fail. It's stunning because your failure reminds them in certain cases why it's okay they didn't try in the first place or that you're still an equal peer to them. Because people's biggest fear in your circle is you're going to outgrow them. Yeah. And dude, you just don't even care. You, you're gonna cheer for people at every level. And it, and it emanates from you in such a positive way.

[Brant Pinvidic]

It's the delusional optimism.

[John Gafford]

No, but that's, but that's why people want you around. There's zero, there's zero jealousy. If a guy has 100 million or a guy is coming up trying to figure it out. There's just for you, you just want to see people do.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And I think the Canadian India.

[John Gafford]

The Canadian India.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Well, I appreciate that and you're a good dude. And I think what I'm, I'm getting to understand a little bit is there is a peer group that we believe as men is only hierarchy by success and monetary success and material elements, right? And everybody wants to be in their peer group and they want to be in the peer group above them. And that's natural for our process. What I'm starting to get, okay, understanding is that excellence is the peer group you want to be in. People who are excellent at something. And I think about this, the richest people in the world want to be around artists or, you know, athletes, regardless of financial status, because they're amazing and they're exceptional, right? And like, Oprah's really great about this because it's like nobody's on her financial level for the most part, but she appreciates excellence in anything and anybody. And you want to surround yourself with people. And what I've noticed is that I'm not at the excellence level that my partner Greg is at. You know what I mean? Like from a financial standpoint, we net we could never run at the same levels, right? But when it comes to living life and passion and relationships and adventure and trying new things and energy and all of these things, I'm The Greg in that relationship. Right. And he's learning and he's striving. He's trying to get better. And that's hard for someone like me to be like, oh, like, I have as much to offer in this relationship. Even though the people he knows and the circles he runs with are so advanced, they're advanced in one dimension. And so it's helped me to balance a little bit of that where it's like, it's okay. And I needed that because you get to a certain point where you're like, I. I trade on the idea that I've traded my income potential to have more fun and enjoyment. But there's a piece of me that says, like, oh, good, because you probably wouldn't have made it anyway.

[John Gafford]

No, you know what I mean?

[Brant Pinvidic]

Your brain's like, this way. I don't have to try to be. To make a hundred million dollars, because I probably wouldn't have been able to do it anyway.

[John Gafford]

But how many people on their deathbed are going, if I just had one more dollar.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I know.

[John Gafford]

No, dude, you're. You're gonna go sliding in sideways with no tread left on the tires. That's gonna be.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And that's been part of it. Like, that is where I'm at. And I love it, and I'm excited, and it. It drives me. I tell people, and I teach this as well. It's like, you have to get the three P's in your life organized. It's prosperity, passion, and purpose. Right? And like, it's hard to do anything if you don't have some sort of prosperous element in your life. Financially is. It's just a factor.

[John Gafford]

If you're worried about money, there's nothing else.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Sucks. It's. And I. It sucks. That's all there is to it. And it's been so long since I've had those feelings that even. But on the trip was a. Was a slightly painful but good reminder because it was the first time I was like, man, like, how much is this costing? And when you. It was like, whoa, I don't like that feeling. Like, I do not. Like, yeah. Worrying about that, wondering about that. And it was like, I looked on.

[John Gafford]

The right side of the menu in a while.

[Brant Pinvidic]

It's like, whoa. And it was good to be like, a little bit of snap to reality, right?

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And so, you know, you. You have to focus on that. You have to be prosperous in a way that you feel like you've got that side of it. Right? And then passion. You really do need to balance, like, what do you love to do? And are you using the, your prosperity tokens, the tokens that you make in your work world, are you spending them on joy? Like, that really is what life is about? The only reason you go to work and work your ass off is to be able to build things that you can enjoy. And we make calculus, calculate decisions on how much we're willing to work really hard so that we can enjoy later. And unfortunately, a lot of people blow past the exit and they're like, wait, I got so many tokens, I got nowhere to spend them. Right? So when you're, when you find what you're passionate about, you want to be able to do that as much as you can to bring joy into your life and enjoy into the others. That's the passion. And then once you have the ability to do that and you've learned to do that, it's like, okay, what is your purpose? Like, what drives you? What's your mission? What do you. What's the legacy in all different ways that makes the most sense for you? And like, as I'm trying to fill that out in life, it's like I'm, I'm closer now than I've ever been. And it's like I want other people to understand that process as well as, like, purpose really helps.

[John Gafford]

What's your purpose right now?

[Brant Pinvidic]

My purpose right now is knowledge philosophy. I'm a knowledge philanthroper. That is my main thing in life is I'm going to, I'm, I have a 501 C3 that we're launching. And it is basically the entire thing of successful entrepreneurs giving back to the entrepreneurial community by sharing their wisdom and their knowledge and their experiences for free for people that want it. And so we do these summits where we bring companies in and you get four of the members of my group and we just try to help. Your business costs nothing for the companies. And my members pay their own way there. And it's like, you have to be at a point in your life where you are prepared and you value giving what you've learned to others for nothing in return other than the joy of seeing them prosper. And I think that what we believe in deeply is that entrepreneurs and business owners are the most important factor in our entire society. And they don't get anything. Nobody gives them anything. It's like you, if you're a business owner or an entrepreneur, you. You have to provide to get anything. Provide me your business, provide me your service, provide me your time, provide me risk capital. Provide me a loan. Like, whatever it is, you have to give something to get these things back.

[John Gafford]

Of course.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And I just want to forward that more, which is the knowledge of how to run a business and how to do things at a high level should never go away because you've retired or that you sold your business well. And that is, like, my biggest passion.

[John Gafford]

I love that you talked about that because we're in a world where it's changing rapidly. I mean, jobs, careers, things that people thought were safe are going to be automated and moving around and people are going to be forced to kind of pick a new lane. And you did that at a very high level. When we talked, you touched briefly on it earlier when you said, you know, I wanted to take the skills that I learned in television and translate them to another career. Yeah. Talk about the emotional decision and the preparation to walk away from one industry where you had done so well and dive into something else. Talk about that.

[Brant Pinvidic]

That's something we're being, you know, we're being dead honest here. It's so easy to talk about and to tell people how to do it. It's a little harder to do it yourself. Right. Like, it. It was an interesting time because I already knew I was done with television and entertainment. Like, I stopped loving the process because I had already reached a level of success that was kind of a ceiling in the business. I had done well financially. I had made shows that people had heard of. But the days of having an American Idol hit or even a Biggest Loser hit are. We're gone.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

So it's like, okay, so I. Maybe I'll do four shows this year. Maybe I'll do six.

[John Gafford]

Just killed by, like, the Internet as well.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah. It wasn't even. It was just the. The process of the evolution of the business. Right. Like the big giant, earth shattering everybody in the country watches. Hits were. That just didn't exist anymore. Right. And so it was like. So it was. It was making widgets is what the business turned into. And so I was signing deals and always looking for the bigger deal. And it was all about the dollars, which was fine. It's just that it's like I didn't love the process because my success had petered into a normal world. Right. And I was definitely feeling like I am not the best at this as I used to be. And I. I remember one of my very good friends offered me a huge deal to come to his company, and I had to call him and say, listen, honestly, David, like, you won't get what you think Like, I can't take this deal. Because he was offended I said no and signed with someone else. I was like, you won't get the best. You're not going to get the brand you think you're getting. Like, I'm like a quarterback that hurt his shoulder in preseason and didn't tell anybody, you know?

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And so it's a great analogy, you know, like that, that was my world. And so the funny part was, is it was Tony Robbins, who I became pretty friendly with when we would a show together. And, and, you know, I, I worked with him on stuff, and he got me. Tony's very good at getting you excited, right? Like, that's his vibe. I can do anything in the world. I can.

[John Gafford]

I'm gonna walk on Mar. I have it up.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I've done it too. So, so I just, and then I made the mistake of telling him that I didn't want to do TV anymore. And he's just like, oh, guess what? It's Tony time. And, you know, and so I just decided I wanted to write this book. I had been working with companies sort of by accident and having really good success. And, you know, the story I tell on stage is, is that one of the first guys I worked with had no idea what to do was an oil and gas company. I watched his pitch for the company, $2 billion company, it's micro Cap Company, and it was the worst thing I'd ever seen. And I was like, what the hell was that? It's like you're drilling for oil at $32 a barrel. Everybody's laying their rigs down at 37. And it took you 17 minutes to say that? Like, what the hell? And he's like, oh, can, can you help me rebuild this whole pitch? And I was like, I, I, I don't even know anything about this, but sure, come out to la. I'll work with you. And so he did, and, and I redo this pitch just like I would a TV show. What do I know?

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And he called me and he left this message on my, on my phone and voicemail. And you could hear him. Emotion, like, the emotion. His voice, he was cracking up and he was saying, you've changed my life.

[John Gafford]

The one and only.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I will never forget what you've done for me. I used to hate going on the road raising money. Now I love it. We've, we filled our, our first round. I'm so excited. Like, thank you so much. And I remember thinking like, oh, my God. No network president has ever said anything like this. To me before. In fact, the very first note that we ever got on Bar Rex, you. The first thing that came back from the. From the network on the first pilot, the first cut, the only words that came back in the email was, this is the worst piece of I've ever seen. Do you even know how to make television? Right? That's the world. And that's the world I come from. And so, you know, like, I'm one chromosome away from being a caveman. So when someone tells me, branch, you're pretty, Brant, you're amazing.

[John Gafford]

Brad's like, oh, you're running right to that brand.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Loves that. And you get more of that.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

So once I had had that a couple of times, I was like, this is what I want to do, but I was too scared. And then you get Tony telling you you can do anything. And so the next thing you know, you're like, I think I'm going to do this. And. And the truth is, is like, I had written the book proposal. I didn't. I didn't even tell my agent, no, William Morris is a pretty good book prop.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Lit department. And I didn't want to tell my agent because I didn't want him to be like, picking up the phone, be like, oh, my reality TV crew producing client wants to write a book. Like, I just didn't want to do that. I didn't want anybody to know, you know, I had a different. A completely different agent out of. Out of the entertainment business. I got a, you know, very large book deal offer. And I was like, oh, my God, like, I think I'm going to make the leap. And so once I started that process and I realized, like, I. I love doing this. I don't love doing this. I'm doing it for the money. And Tony, Tony said to me, he's like, oh, my God. You said you talk like a poor person is what he said to me. I was like, what? He's like, yeah, the words you use, the phrases you use, the way you. Your monthly, this month, like, that's how poor people talk. Like, I don't talk like that. My friends don't talk. We don't talk like that. He's like, and he made me get my net worth together and, and talk to him through it. Right? And he put it in a different perspective. I was like, God, you're right. Like, I guess I could just. I could take this risk. And he's like, yeah, you'll be fine.

[John Gafford]

You're doing it.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Go ahead. And the irony is I don't Tell the story very often, but I do love you is that I had had an offer to renew my deal, and they wanted me to stay another three years. And basically, I told Tony, like, you're right. I'm. I'm gonna totally tell them to pound sand and go away, right? And I was like, oh, my God, I don't know if I can do it because it's a lot of money.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, sure.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And. And it's like. So I. I went back to him and say two years. And then even that, I was like, what am I going to say to Tony Robbins? Like, you know, we're. I'm holding on to a friendship with him by the thinnest of thread. Obviously, he's Tony Robbins, and you're about.

[John Gafford]

To be an asshole about, like, oh.

[Brant Pinvidic]

What am I going to do, Tony?

[John Gafford]

What should I do? Do this. I'll do the opposite. Asshole.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And so. And so they were, you know, we were going back and forth, negotiating. So I'm engaging. And my concern is, like, they're gonna settle in the middle. As everybody knows, that's usually what happens, right? And so I'm picturing, okay, settling in the middle is gonna be this. And, like, what am I gonna say? No? Like. And I had been a little bit more aggressive than I would have normally been if it wasn't for the Tony insurance. But I was like, I kind of know how this is going. So I was like, oh. So I'm making up excuses in my head, trying to come up with lies. And then I'm thinking, like, well, could I ask the company not to announce the new deal so that maybe Tony doesn't find out? Like, I. I don't know what I'm gonna do. And then the head of the company calls me, and he says, hey, listen, I think we're too far apart, and I don't think either of us are gonna be happy. And as much as it sucks, but I think maybe we should go our separate ways.

[John Gafford]

That's the universe right there.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And I was like. And so I did feel like a weight was lifted. And then I got a little excited because I called Tony. He. Hope he doesn't listen to this.

[John Gafford]

You're like a turkey.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Told him it's bad. That's exactly right. And I said, tony, they offered me, like, 10 times.

[John Gafford]

And just so you know, Tony calls me, personal copy of this before it goes out so we can listen to every single episode individually and absorb them.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And I said, oh, man. I told them no. I. You know what? They. They doubled the offer. Tony. But you know what? You're right in the, you know, and so, and so the universe made the decision. I didn't have to find out if I was a real pussy or if I would have done it. And that was the decision. Move into the book thing. And, you know, I got a really good launch date. And, and the publisher was super happy and all that went great. But I still feel like I tricked the publisher. Right? Like they're not, they're in New York, they're publishers. They're not equipped to have someone like me come into the room and pitch an idea for a book. It's not really the way it happens.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

So I felt like I tricked them. Right? That's what I felt like. Because it's like I overpowered them in the room. They're, you know, they're not at my level in that room. Like, I do that for.

[John Gafford]

This is your superpower we just talked about.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And so it wasn't until I got the, you know, and they were Bob Iger's broker. Brandt's book was getting a date. And, and there was a back and forth and people who didn't even know me, like in the, in the, in Penguin, we're like, yeah, this is great. And I was like, oh my God. Like maybe the book's reasonably good. Right. I didn't fool everybody. And I went to a. There's an important party in our business every year around this event, my friend Steve Michael's house, the best party of the year. Everybody goes there. You know where you are in the peer group effectively, if you get invited and you go there because it's the first time we get to see each other in a non competitive, non combative atmosphere. You see all the producers and it kind of who's who. Who's in that mode, right. And everybody's trying to get in there. And so year after year, there's always younger people their first time. And you're like, who are these people? And. And so I went there to that year after I already sort of been out. I didn't sign my new deal. And I remember, I'm like, I'm done with this party. It's good. I see. And I start saying goodbye to people. Hey, I'm leaving. Oh, hey, it's good to see you again.

[John Gafford]

This is it.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Oh my God. Like, I'm saying goodbye. Like saying goodbye.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, you won't see me again.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Bye. Bye. And I remember being in at the valet line. I was the only one there because it was a little early and I Am so giddy and gleeful and the. And the valet guys, what's going on with you? And I'm like, I'm never coming to this again.

[John Gafford]

Let's play the game anymore.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I've never. And it's just like, it was such a dream. It was so joyous. And I had a joyous six months between the book release and when I knew television was over for me. And I don't have to ask somebody for something that, you know, that I don't have to pretend to be friends with people. Oh.

[John Gafford]

You know, people don't realize sometimes how unhappy they are in the game they're playing while they're playing it until the second you step out of it, you're like, what was that?

[Brant Pinvidic]

And as you know, doing that. It wasn't until I went to. To have to promote the book that I was like, oh, God, I'm back into this again.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Hey, can I have a favor? Oh, hey, is there, you know, like. And that sucks so bad. And it was like, I don't want to be responsible for people to people anymore. I don't want to ask for favors. I want genuine relationships where I don't owe them. And it was like, you know, I. In the book proposal, I had said a lot of how great I am and my great connections, and it's like, I didn't lie to them, but, you know, and I said in the book report, I was like, these are all the people you can see that I'm related to. Like, I have credits with all these people. I know these people personally. These are my sort of, like, effectively, these are people in my cell phone. And I said in the book proposal, obviously, I can't get all these people, but I have a better chance than most of the people in your universe.

[John Gafford]

There you go.

[Brant Pinvidic]

True statement.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And one of the ones they were on me about, and. And the publisher is pretty good about it, but they were like, hey, man, we need you to promote this book. Like, get out there. And one of the big ones was Whoopi Goldberg. They were like, hey, you know, you know her. You work with her. She's a friend of yours. Get out there. Get on the View. You got to do it. And they would. Did you call her? When is you. Did you find out? And the publicist call me back in there. And I'm just like, yeah. And so I had to call her, and I had to ask. And you have to understand, like, Whoopi Goldberg are not peers. Right. We work together. Very friendly. I. I adore her. We had a great relationship, but I would not say I'm going to her house for dinner.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I don't, like, text her.

[John Gafford]

I'm not gonna play board games.

[Brant Pinvidic]

What's up with this? Like, we're not like that.

[John Gafford]

You're not memeing each other.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Like, I say we're friends, she would say, I like him. I know him. She would not be like, oh, that's one of my friends. I don't think. All right. Anyways, so I call her. She gets on the phone. It's a lovely conversation. My entire existence with her, I have never asked her for a single thing. Our relationship is mutually based on work and enjoyment, and we like each other. And I have done very well in my career to make sure that those are the relationships I have. And I had to say, hey, man, you know, I got this new book coming out, and I'd really love to get on the View. Like, is there any way you can make that happen? Right. And, like, I knew what she was gonna say, and she was like.

[John Gafford]

She was gracious, I'm sure.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Of course.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

She's like, oh, man, I totally love to do that for you, but we don't do, like, lifestyle programming anymore. We only do basically political stuff. It's our whole new world. So it's like. It's not really my thing. But, like, you know. You know, I love you or whatever, right?

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And it, like, it wasn't super awkward. She gets asked all the time. If you asked her about the same thing, I'm assuming she would say, like, it's totally cool. I love him. Let him. Of course you can ask me. Right. Except for our relationship is different. It's not physically different, but it's different to me.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Because now I'm that guy. And, like, I watched you. I know what it's like. You're going to promote a book. You got to ask people, who could I send you? A bit? Like, it's so.

[John Gafford]

It's so crushing.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And that's when people ask me, like, hey, are you doing another book? It's like, if I can get out of my book deal, I will.

[John Gafford]

Yeah. How I. How I digested it was like, it's the mission of the book in. Waking people up is so important to me that I'm willing to.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yes.

[John Gafford]

Hat and hand it.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yep.

[John Gafford]

To people that, you know, I wouldn't. And, you know. And a lot of people were. A lot of people that got those boxes were incredibly supportive and did help me tremendously, you in particular. But there were people that you know, didn't do anything. And there was no reminder message. There was no, hey, what do you think? None of that. It was like, you know, I was very. I just chose to be very grateful for the people that chose to support. Yeah. And understanding for the ones that didn't. Like, just.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah, you pass.

[John Gafford]

Nobody.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I.

[John Gafford]

And I did not let it affect my view of those relationships at all, because you can't. Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And by the way, and for me, and maybe it's only me. Maybe other people don't mind, but, like, the greatest time emotionally I have is one of my buddies, C. Rocky, asked me the other day. He's like, what can I do for you? Like, this is awesome. Thanks for the help. Like, what can I do for you in your life right now?

[John Gafford]

You said, see Mikey C. Rock. All right. I know Mikey's been on that cast.

[Brant Pinvidic]

I love that guy. And so I'm like. The greatest thing is I can be like, I. I don't have anything right now. You know, even when we. When I was coming through Vegas talking, it's like, I don't really have anything to promote right now. Like, yeah, I don't need to sell any more books. I don't make any money on the books. It doesn't matter. Like, buy a book, though.

[John Gafford]

It's a good.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Buy a book.

[John Gafford]

Buy a book.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Buy a book. Send me that. I'll send you a free copy. Like, that is not my part of my world anymore.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

You know, I don't take on new clients really anymore. Like, it's like, but you do have.

[John Gafford]

A new thing that we got to talk about.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And. But that. The sort of core of that is, like, I'm giving that. Like, that is not the same process that you and I went through in a book thing. Yeah. It's like, I don't have anything that you can do right at the moment, and I love that. It's like. It's joy. It's a joyous moment where it's like, I don't have anything now. Does it cost me stuff? Probably. Is there things I could be doing bigger, better, and more profound and make more money and all these things? Probably.

[John Gafford]

You just traveled around the world with your children.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah. For 52 weeks for an entire year.

[John Gafford]

I mean, dude, I don't know anybody.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

Wealthier at life than that.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Fair enough.

[John Gafford]

Not anybody do I know. That's wealthier.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Life. It was wild.

[John Gafford]

Let's talk about the new thing a little bit real quick, because you did a seminar yesterday. I said, I sent a bunch of our People from our wealth. We have a, we have a wealth circle here at Simply Vegas where we teach, you know, because obviously with real estate especially, agents get so caught up in the commissions. But to me, the commissions are the rocket fuel to power the engine. The engine is actually getting wealthy from owning real estate. So we, we're very, very. Yeah, we teach that a lot around.

[Brant Pinvidic]

So was with my partner, Oren Clapp, who wrote the book Pitch Anything, basically the definitive, most successful book on pitching any business for raising money. That is his core competencies, the best in the world at it. And worked with Lauren many times and we've had co clients on lots of stuff because, you know, he does this sort of the financial and the deal structure when a company's going to look for money. Right. He builds and that's the hard work. Detailed. I come in when it's story and you know, presentation. Yeah. And like I know how to tell the story, but like I don't do financial at the level he does. Right. So we've had really complimentary services and we worked really well together and, and we do this thing called now it's called the Game of Money, which is basically how the financial capital markets really work when it comes to either investing money in companies or companies looking for investors. And I think people are shocked at how those two entities are desperate for each other companies. I mean, I get, you know, I have a lot of inflow on this kind of stuff. People send me stuff every day. They're all looking for investment raising money. And there are so there's so much money out there, desperate to deploy capital. And like I was telling you earlier, like, you know, I got hired to do a big consulting gig with one of the largest private equity firms and investment banks to train. We're talking hundreds of analysts on how to pitch and present their company to business owners to take money. And their biggest concern, their sort of existential crisis is we can't deploy enough capital. We have lots of assets under management, but if you don't deploy them, they. People take them away.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And so they're desperate to give money away. And so people are like, what? How is that possible? It's like, well, because there's a structure involved in that and the professionals look at companies and deals in a very structured way. It'd be like asking a casino to put a game on their casino floor that you have made up yourself. And they'd be like, okay, but like, what are the odds? How are the. How frequently are the dice gonna roll? How many people can Play at once. Like the number of things they ask. When you're like, oh, but this is such a fun game to play.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And people will gamble on it. And you're like, but a casino has like, well, how much floor space does it take? And like how many dealers do I need? And what's the cost per minute? What's the. And like the actuaries have to look at it and be like, well here's our projections and does it fit? And like you don't even know that. And that's why you're wondering like, why does no one invest in my company? It's like because we don't know the metrics. You don't know how the game of money is really played. The game money played is by insiders who have cheat codes. And they know how to structure it. Right. And that's why it's easier to raise 50 million or 500 million than it is to raise 500,000 or 5 million. Because if you have a company that's raising that kind of money, you have all of the structure.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And like I said to you and too many people listening, like, have you ever invested $25,000 or 250,000 or more in something that you thought was an incredible company?

[John Gafford]

We both left, we got a stack of those.

[Brant Pinvidic]

You love the people you think the product can't miss.

[John Gafford]

How did cauliflower foods fail? How?

[Brant Pinvidic]

Right? And it goes away. And this is what I say, great management team.

[John Gafford]

How did cauliflower foods fail?

[Brant Pinvidic]

That is not playing the investment game. That is playing the part time amateur venture capitalist. And that is not a strategy and that is not a job. There's no job for part time amateur brain surgeon. There's no job for part time amateur bomb squad technician. Right. Like those don't exist.

[John Gafford]

Well, like I said, all three of those jobs were in the same way.

[Brant Pinvidic]

That's exactly right. And I think so we kind of pull the curtain back on the structure, what it looks like and why you as an investor are not getting the royal flush five card poker hand deals coming your way. There's a reason, because there's an industry out there that sources them, that analyzes them and funds them before you even hear about.

[John Gafford]

Yeah, everything is upstream.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Everything is so far upstream. And it's like you can't expect that. And it's hard for people to understand that when you are looking at investing in a deal, it's the same thing as buying toothpaste from Walmart. You are the end consumer. Right.

[John Gafford]

But it's, but it's not just. But it's not just about education. You and Oren are actually starting a fund.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yeah.

[John Gafford]

So the fund that's going to get you upstream and.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Or that's the goal. Yeah. And Oren did the fund. He's started it. You know, he does all the heavy lifting. I swoop in for the glory, which is great. You know, he started this.

[John Gafford]

Get your producer line on him credit, that's all you need.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And he did such a good job raising this fund, you know, $40 million he put into this huge factory in Texas that they funded themselves. No private money, no institutions, all no debt, to build a 70 million dollar total investment in this factory. And it's up and running right now. It's incredible. And it's a community and I was so impressed by it. I've watched them from the very beginning. And the interesting side of it is in a fund, anybody who's ever asked you or you know, any hedge fund or any private equity fund, here's a good litmus test. Ask them for the names and contact information of all their investors and see what they say. And you're like, oh, okay. In the deal with Oren, when I went in, it was like, everybody's connected. They all know each other, they all contact each other. They're in a group, they meet every week. They, they go to Italy to see the Breton factory where you invest in it. It's like, it's part of that process. And you can come into the fund right now, today and not invest and not spend anything. There's no cost. You get to come in and play for a year and watch what's going on. Learn as much as you can and see deals, bring deals. We chop. I mean, if you've ever watched Oren Clough chop together somebody who's pitching an idea, it's ruthless. I'm kind of. He's not. And in the group, it's like, it's this private deal partners that we call it and it's just like you get to play.

[John Gafford]

Are you doing like elevator nights where you're letting people come in and pitch or is this just strictly stuff you're sourcing?

[Brant Pinvidic]

No, we do. We let people come and pitch. This is a little bit of a. We don't. You know, it's not going to turn into a WhatsApp group where everybody's just loading shit in there.

[John Gafford]

Yeah.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And at the end of the day.

[John Gafford]

I think, I think I'm a member of like three.

[Brant Pinvidic]

Yes. And listen, I'm relatively good at this process. I mean, Oren Claf, the best is a legend. Like I will tell you what's what, how the pitch should go, but he will tell you financially and deal structure and pro formas where all the holes are. Right. And so we do a lot of that, but really we're sourcing. Like we don't, right at the moment. We don't have a new deal. Yeah, like finding good great deals with three to four really high cards in your poker hand that need one more card is hard to do because that's.

[John Gafford]

One thing to go, right.

[Brant Pinvidic]

We want to provide one thing. Usually it's the story or the capital or something like that, but it's got to have everything else. And the truth is in the world today, if you think you can get 100x on your money, you're nuts.

[John Gafford]

What's the one thing you. Yeah, I mean that's a great way to look at it. Any deal. What's the one thing we bring to the table that completes.

[Brant Pinvidic]

That's right. And we are boring businesses, Functional, real businesses, not fancy. Nobody's funding and building flying cars. There are 50 countries companies trying to do that. I don't know which one's going to work. We're talking core businesses that you can, you know, double, triple revenue. You can make better decisions on process. You can get in and out in you know, 18 months, three years, four extra money. It is the classic investment banking private equity structure. This is nothing new. It's just when you do it on this side from scratch and you become the banker instead of the player. It's like that's why, that's why J.P. morgan doesn't shell. They don't sell their deals to Chase. You know what I mean? Like they don't sell deals to each other. Why is that? Because they package the deals and sell them to you. You are the profit they're getting out.

[John Gafford]

Dude, I, I'm with you. I went from flipping luxury homes where we were have exposure of you know, 15, 20 million out, like trying to then, you know, turn a profit on these houses which we, you know, you hit home runs on some of the bigger ones, but you can get behind the eight ball and take a seven figure loss on one house if you do it wrong to. Now all I do is buy notes. I'm, I'm buying 60 day coupon and from a buddy of mine, owns a big fix and flip blender in Texas, I'm buying 60 day coupon, you know, 12 interest with 1% discount and my money goes out and comes back in 60 days.

[Brant Pinvidic]

And just churns and that's like.

[John Gafford]

That's the bank.

[Brant Pinvidic]

That's the game of money.

[John Gafford]

You're the bank.

[Brant Pinvidic]

That's the game. That's not the game of chance. That's the game of money.

[John Gafford]

If they want to find you, how do they find you, man?

[Brant Pinvidic]

Brandic.com. it's pretty easy to get me there.

[John Gafford]

Okay.

[Brant Pinvidic]

You know, all my connections to the game, money, all that stuff's there. So that's a pretty easy one. At Brantman Vidic, you can follow me on social.

[John Gafford]

Well, brother, I appreciate you coming in and of course, listen, if you took nothing away from today's conversation, I want you to take this away, which is wealth can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. But I just don't understand how it could. How time with your family and time well spent giving back to others cannot be the number one thing over dollars. Chase legacy. Don't just chase a check. We'll see you next week. What's up, everybody? Thanks for joining us for another episode of Escaping the Drift. Hope you got a bunch out of it, or at least as much as I did out of it. Anyway, if you want to learn more about the show, you can always go over to escaping the drift.com. you can join our mailing list. But do me a favor, if you wouldn't mind, throw up that five star review, give us a share. Do something, man. We're here for you. Hopefully you'll be here for us. But anyway, in the meantime, we will see you at the next episode.