Let My Accident Be Your Purpose

Summary

Money And Wealth With John Hope Bryant: "Let My Accident Be Your Purpose"

Release Date: March 20, 2025
Host/Author: The Black Effect and iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of Money And Wealth With John Hope Bryant, Bryant delves deep into his personal journey as a young entrepreneur, sharing invaluable lessons on wealth-building, resilience, and strategic business acquisition. Titled "Let My Accident Be Your Purpose," the episode underscores how unforeseen circumstances can pave the way for monumental success when approached with the right mindset and strategies.

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Accidental Acquisition of a $20 Million Company at Age 21

Bryant opens the episode by recounting a pivotal moment in his early entrepreneurial career. At just 21 years old, through a series of unexpected events and sheer determination, he acquired a $20 million company—a feat he attributes to showing up consistently with the right attitude and work ethic.

• Quote:
  “One of my loved ones told me that half of life is just showing up, half of success is just showing up. This Dr. David Dalton, my father-in-law. And I think that this story will prove that that's mostly right.”
  [03:39]

Bryant emphasizes that success isn't about extraordinary actions but about consistently meeting commitments with integrity, hustle, and leadership.

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Lessons in Entrepreneurship and Overcoming Adversity

Bryant shares his experiences from childhood to his early twenties, highlighting the trials he faced, including a period of homelessness at 18. This hardship, he explains, was a crucible that forged his resilience and business acumen.

• Quote:
  “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. These are not just sayings that I use in my life. This is how I live my life.”
  [07:10]

He discusses the importance of perseverance, citing his refusal to quit as a critical factor in his eventual success. Moreover, Bryant touches on the prevalence of laziness over evil, advocating for a strong work ethic as the antidote to stagnation.

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Business Strategies and Financial Lessons

Delving into his entrepreneurial strategies, Bryant narrates his tenure at Wade Cotter & Co., where he navigated complex financial landscapes and learned crucial lessons about capitalism and ethical lending practices.

• Quote:
  “Business is not emotional. And the color was green. Like these were decent people. They just wanted to run a successful business.”
  [13:30]

He recounts his decision to pivot from questionable lending practices to more honorable business dealings, ultimately leading to the acquisition of the company. This move was characterized by strategic negotiation, integrity, and a keen understanding of business valuation.

• Quote:
  “I negotiated to buy the company using the capital that was owed to me in fees to purchase the company and wipe out any debt, any obligation I owe to them and any obligation they owed to me.”
  [29:09]

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The $10 Trillion Generational Wealth Opportunity

Bryant outlines a monumental opportunity poised to unfold over the next two decades: the transfer of approximately $180 trillion in generational wealth from the Baby Boomer generation to their heirs.

• Quote:
  “The baby boomer generation is going to be the first generation over the age of 65. More people over 65 than under the age of 18 in the next 10 to 20 years.”
  [40:22]

He highlights that within this wealth transfer, about $10 trillion comprises successful businesses lacking succession plans. This gap represents a golden opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs to acquire established businesses without the need for substantial personal capital.

• Quote:
  “Most of these businesses, they don't have an exit plan. The small business owner that owns it has made no plans for what comes next when they're tired of running that business.”
  [43:15]

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Steps to Intentionally Buy a Business with No Personal Guarantee

Bryant provides a strategic blueprint for acquiring businesses valued between $2 million to $20 million using non-recourse debt—financing that doesn't require personal guarantees.

1. Identify Potential Businesses:
   Scout local businesses that may lack succession plans or have owners looking to exit.

2. Negotiate Acquisition Price:
   Secure the business at a favorable price, often below market value, to ensure profitability post-acquisition.

   • Quote:
     “A successful negotiation is where everybody leaves this negotiation slightly annoyed. Okay, nobody got everything that they wanted.”
     [44:30]

3. Secure Non-Recourse Financing:
   Partner with private equity firms or venture capitalists willing to finance the acquisition without personal guarantees.

4. Manage and Grow the Business:
   Implement strategic initiatives to expand the business, thereby increasing its value and ensuring a substantial return on investment.

   • Quote:
     “If you can find one of these businesses, and most of these businesses, you gotta hunt for them now... Make sure you wear a suit, make sure you look proper, that they have any interest in selling their business.”
     [46:10]

Bryant emphasizes the importance of professionalism and strategic networking in securing these deals.

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Conclusion

In "Let My Accident Be Your Purpose," John Hope Bryant masterfully intertwines his personal narrative with actionable financial strategies, empowering listeners—particularly within the Black community—to seize emerging wealth-building opportunities. By leveraging non-traditional acquisition methods and capitalizing on generational wealth transfer, Bryant demystifies the path to personal and familial prosperity within a free enterprise system.

• Final Quote:
  “This is John O'Brien this is Money and Wealth. And there's more where this came from. Tell me what you'd like to hear, and I'll dish it out.”
  [46:50]

Bryant closes the episode with an open invitation for listeners to engage and seek further knowledge, reinforcing his commitment to fostering financial empowerment.

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Notable Takeaways:

• Consistency Over Extraordinary Efforts: Success is often rooted in consistent effort and integrity rather than sporadic brilliance.

• Strategic Acquisitions: Acquiring established businesses through non-recourse debt can be a viable pathway to wealth without significant personal financial risk.

• Generational Wealth Transfer: The impending transfer of $10 trillion in generational wealth presents unprecedented opportunities for entrepreneurs to build and sustain personal wealth.

• Resilience and Adaptability: Overcoming adversity and adapting to challenging circumstances are crucial traits for long-term success in entrepreneurship.

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Listen to the full episode on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts to gain deeper insights into building wealth and seizing entrepreneurial opportunities.

Transcript

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What's up, y'all? I'm A.J. andrews, pro softball player, sports analyst, and the first woman to win a Rawlings Gold Glove. On my new podcast, Dropping Diamonds, we dive headfirst into the world of softball by sharing powerful stories, insights, and conversations that inspire and empower. It's time to drop Bombs and Diamonds. Dropping diamonds with AJ Andrews is an iHeart women's sports production and partnership with Athletes Unlimited Softball League and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. Listen to dropping diamonds with AJ Andrews on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports Network.

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Peace to the planet. I go by the name of Charlamagne Tha God. And guess what? I can't wait to see y'all at the third annual Black Effect Podcast Festival. That's right. We're coming Back to Atlanta, Georgia, Saturday, April 26th at Pullman Yards. And it's hosted by none other than Decisions, Decisions, Mandy B and Weezy. Okay, we got the R and B Money podcast with Tank and J. Valentine. We got the Woman Evolved podcast with Sarah Jake Roberts. We got Good Moms, Bad Choices, Carrie Champion will be there with her Neck in Sports podcast and the Trap Nerds podcast with more to be announced. And of course, it's bigger than podcasts. We're bringing the Black Effect Marketplace with black owned businesses, plus the food truck court to keep you fed while you visit us. All right, listen, you don't want to miss this. Tap in and grab your Tickets [e-mail] podcast festival.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

Welcome to Money and Wealth with John Hope Bryant, a production of the Black Effect podcast network and iHeartRadio foreign. Hey.

[Geico Representative]

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[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

This is John Hope Bryant and this is Money and Wealth. And this is a very special episode where I break down how I bought a $20 million company when I was about 21 years old. And that was by accident, by the way. I'll explain every bit of it because I sort of stumbled into greatness just by, I mean, people I love. One of my loved ones told me that half of life is just showing up, half of success is just showing up. This Dr. David Dalton, my father in law. And I think that this story will prove that that's mostly right. You gotta show up with the right attitude, show up with work ethic, show up with hustle, show up with integrity, show up with leadership, show up with initiative. You can't just show up. You got to show up and show out. But you don't have to do anything extraordinary other than what you promised. And I will explain to you with no money how I bought a twenty million dollar company by accident. I will then explain to you how you can purchase a company 2 million to $20 million on average, how you can buy a company 2 million to $20,000,000 in range for Non recourse debt, which means not personally guaranteed and do that on purpose. And all of that's tied to a $10 trillion plus generational once in a lifetime generational opportunity coming your way. This is John O'Brien and this is Money and wealth on the Black Effect Network. So when I was 10 years old, you probably know, if you follow my story, I started my first business and I had several businesses from age 10 to age 20. Probably tried, probably tried a hundred different business concepts, most of which didn't work. But success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. I just never ever, ever, ever, ever was going to give up. And as a a good friend of mine, Tony Rester, would say, if you don't freaking quit, you can't freaking fail. He didn't use the word freaking. You can figure the rest of that out. This is a PG podcast. Tony is a great entrepreneur and businessman and he's right, if you don't quit, you can't fail. So it wasn't I was the smartest guy on the planet, although I think I'm reasonably smart. It was that I just had a greater work ethic than everybody else. And well, the devil is lazy. So as an old saying, love is work, non love is laziness and anti love is evil. Evil exists, but it's very rare. Most people are just lazy, physically lazy, financially lazy, spiritually lazy, intellectually lazy. They just don't want to do the work. They want somebody else to do the work for them. What would happen if you're willing to do the work? Well, again, that's probably half a success just showing up right tight and ready to work throughout the night. An entrepreneur works 18 hours a day to keep from getting a job. Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. These are not just sayings that I use in my life. This is how I live my life. This is literally the context for success in my world. I also take no for vitamins. So here you go. I get to 18 years of age and you again. If you follow me, you probably know that I ended up homeless for six months of my life when I was 18 years of age. Just taking too many risk. And yes, my mom and dad would have taken me in if they had known I was homeless. But they didn't put me in that situation and I didn't expect for them to bail me out of it. I also knew that if I had told my mother who worked at McDonnell Douglas Aircraft, hard working black woman, if I told my mother that I was homeless, she would have forced me to come home and live with her, and she would have got me a job at McDonnell Douglas Aircraft making X dollars an hour, like her. I think it was $15 an hour, $18 an hour, which was a really great wage back then. But I just was not interested being a W2 employee. I didn't want to be a 1099 either, a contractor. I wanted to write the check, not cash it. So I didn't want to be a W2 employee. It was all good. I just. That was just not my calling for my life, so I didn't tell my mother. So in the course of me being homeless, and that was, again, just too, you know, too much month at the end of my money and too many risks that didn't work out. And I'll do it as a separate podcast just to really unpack in detail the homeless homelessness experience, because it was quite a trip. Rainbows after storms, really, you cannot have a rainbow without a storm first. With all that drama, there was just beauty in the midst of it. The relationships I met, the experiences I had, the grit that I gained, the resilience. I mean, what are you going to do? Tell me no today I had no when I walked in the door. No's not so bad. So in the midst of all of this, I end up meeting some special people. And I remember I had this investor named Dave O'Meara. And Dave O'Meara owned Malibu Cinema. And I had run through some money that he had invested in a couple of my businesses. I think it was a mobile detailing business and a concert promoting business and a marketing, clothing, marketing, marketing business. And they all went bust. And I went with him with great integrity to say, I'll pay you back. And he said, well, you. You know, you're not doing very good at this entrepreneurship and small business thing at the moment. How about you go get a job to pay me back? Because I also had bought a car from Dave O'Mara. In addition to me being my venture investor, he was my transportation. I couldn't pay the car note either. So I was really forced to say, yes. It's one of the few jobs I've ever had, a traditional job. But I felt I had to have the integrity to say, temporarily, I have run into a wall. Failed. I'm not a failure. It was a failed experiment, and I need to reset myself and try again. So, yes, you know, I messed up. I'm going to now do as you say and go get a job so I can begin to pay you. Back. So he introduced me to a guy named Stefan Cotter Miller. Wade Cotter & Co. Was the name of the investment company. And Steve Miller can visualize him now in my mind's eye, actually. God rest his soul. And he asked Steve to give me a job. So Steve did that, gave me a job. It was in the Westwood Gateway complex in West Los Angeles at Santa Monica in Sepulveda, in this beautiful marble building that they occupied. Actually, it was on Santa Monica. Actually, Brian Group Ventures occupied the Westwood Gateway complex later. This was a block south of that in the Olympic towers at the 405 Freeway and Olympic Boulevard, for those who know Los Angeles. And WADE Cotter & Co. Was there, had, as I recall, you know, a quarter of the floor, a private banking group. I didn't know what that was. And they assigned me. I was the only, well, I was one or two black people there. They assigned me to go make equity loans in South Central LA with private money. I didn't know what that meant, but essentially it was a hard money loan to people who couldn't afford to pay it back, who had equity in their houses in inner city neighborhoods. And these were, you know, essentially little old ladies who had $100,000 home with no mortgage on it. And they wanted me to find these people because of course I'm black. It wasn't racist, by the way, it was target marketing. These were actually decent people. They just wanted a good return on their money. This is where I really began to learn the lesson of how capitalism is a gladiator sport. Business is not emotional. And the color was green. Like these were decent people. They just wanted to run a successful business. They had to have a return on the private money that had been invested in their company. They had to lend it out and get a return on that and, and have profit for them. And. And one of the few places that they discovered they could lend it out and get a proper return was in South Central la, in the way in which I just described. So after doing this a little bit, I realized these were hard money loans. I call them the perfect eyesight loans. 20 points and 20% interest. And after the loan you went blind, it was 20. I mean, in other words, 20 points is 20%, 20 points is a fee and 20% interest. So 20% plus 20% is 40%. So if you're making $100,000 loan, I mean that's $40,000 that in interest. And then you'd have, you'd ask the borrower to prepay some of the payments. So maybe they would get $50,000 out of $100,000 loan. They were happy because they got the cash and they didn't have any payments for a year or two. And. But, I mean, it was just. It was ridiculous. So I stopped doing that within a couple months once I realized how bad it was and said, look, let me turn you into a real business. There are these actors in Hollywood that I know. That's another podcast I'll do. When I was in the entertainment business, the actors I know in Hollywood have made some movies and had some success, but they don't know when the next movie's coming, and they don't know how long the cash has to last them. So they have these properties, but they need a bridge loan every now and then. A bridge loan, meaning a loan between one bridge to another over a waterway. It's not literally a bridge loan, but that's what they call it. That's where the phrase comes from, a bridge loan. So maybe now you understand when you hear these phrases. A bridge loan, where this comes from. And I was going to make a bridge loan from these wealthy investors to these wealthy actors in Hollywood and producers on assets, mostly real estate that they owned, although I did do a loan on a collector horse and a horse trailer, and I did some other. Some paintings, but mostly on real estate. And all these memories are coming back to me now.

[Ed Helms]

Prohibition. It's no secret that banning alcohol didn't stop people from living it up in the 1920s.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

When we're five years into prohibition, the government is starting to go, okay, this isn't working.

[Ed Helms]

In fact, you might even say it backfired spectacularly. I'm Ed Helms, and on season three of my podcast, Snafu, we're taking you back to the 1920s and the tale of Formula 6. Because what you probably don't know about Prohibition is that American citizens were dying in massive numbers due to poisoned liquor. And all along, an unlikely duo was trying desperately to stop the corruption behind it.

[Novartis Representative]

They were like superhero crusaders turning the page on a system that didn't work, wasn't fair, and was corrupt.

[Ed Helms]

So how did Prohibition's war on alcohol go so off the rails that the government wound up poisoning its own people? To find out, listen and subscribe to snafu on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Novartis Representative]

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I'm Diosa. I'm Mala, the host of Locatora Radio, a radiophonic novella, which is just a.

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Welcome to Pod of Rebellion, our new Star Wars Rebels Rewatch podcast. I'm Vanessa Marshall. Hi, I'm Tia Sircar.

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[John Lee Brody]

And I'm John Lee Brody.

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Cue the music.

[John Lee Brody]

Listen to Potter Rebellion on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Podcast Host]

I started to live a double life when I was a teenager. Responsible and driven and wild and out of control. My head is pounding. I'm confused. I don't know why I'm in jail. It's hard to understand what hope is when you're trapped in a cycle of addiction. Addiction took me to the darkest places. I had an AK47 pointed at my head. But one night, a new door opened and I made it into the rooms of recovery. The path would have roadblocks and detours, stalls and relapses. But when I was feeling the most lost, I found hope with communities, community. And I made my way back this season. Join me on my journey through addiction and recovery. A story told in 12 steps. Listen to Crumbs as part of the Michael Luda Podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

So I went to the owner of the company and said, look, versus making these loans to these little old ladies in south Central LA who can't pay you back, how about we make a loan to these wealthy people up north who can pay you back? They're going to pay you the same interest rate and it's a, and it's more honorable and, and they said, well, that sounds like a great business. You know, we'll, we'll write, you know, we'll give you the same deal we did and go. Go at it as well. I actually want to be your business partner. And they said, what? I said, I want to be your business partner. I said, tell you what. And I didn't have any authority from the guy who gave me this job to say this. Take the salary back. Remember, Remember, I was only there to pay back a debt. Take the salary back. Take the car allowance back. Take the mileage allowance back on the car. Take the expense account back. I don't need any of it. What I want is half interest in a new corporate entity with no assets in it. That. But, but, but I want your Rolodex, Mr. Step. Steve Miller. Back then, it was a Rolodex literally sitting on the decks. And it, it's, it was a spindle and it spin. When you rolled it over. A Rolodex, they called it, with business cards on it. I said, I want access to your Rolodex for access to capital. I'll give you access to the marketplace. I'll go hustle and get you the customers. And I basically won 50% of every deal I close. And they looked at me and, and shrugged their shoulders, seeing a good deal of having basically a free employee said, sure, and laughed. They said, you got to do this and you got to pass the California real estate test. Well, so I went to, I sort of went about what I was trying to do in the first year. I did absolutely zero in business the whole year. Zero in business. So I'm making no money and I've done zero in this new business. I proposed, and I'm not paying the guy back yet either. So he's not happy. The people in the office are laughing because I've just failed the California real estate test three times. Now, the law used to state, somebody listening to this can tell me whether this is still the case in California. But the California real estate law used to state that if you failed the California real estate test, this wasn't the broker's test. This was a basic real estate test. If you failed this test four times, you're too dumb to be an agent. You couldn't take it anymore. And I'd failed it three times. And so after no revenues and failing three times, the office, when I walked in, they would snicker and some would openly laugh. I ignored them. To this day, I ignore the noise. I walk consciously through life oblivious of most things around me, because it just doesn't matter. I failed the California real estate test three times and passed it the fourth time, walking right through the criticisms and sneers and jeers. The second year, I did 9 million in business. The third year, I did 14 million or so in business. The third year I did 20 million. I think it was 21 million in business. No one was laughing anymore. And I was paying back my debts. I think I paid back my debts to the guy who had loaned me the money initially. Now, even though I'd done these deals, doing that volume does not mean that was money in my pocket. I was brokering loans, essentially. So I was getting fees off of all of this volume that I was doing of financing a deal here for 500,000, a deal here for 800,000. I'd get fees on that, and I'd pocket the fees. Well, in the last year or so, they couldn't pay me the fees. And I couldn't figure out, at least not all of my fees. I couldn't figure out why this successful company wasn't paying me. And that's when I began to really realize that everything's not what it appears to be. Everything that's glitters, not gold. We had a nice office building, and the executives went home to their beautiful homes. They had nice cars and they were wearing suits and all that stuff. I didn't realize they were in distress. And so I found out that they couldn't pay me and that they were trying. And I found out because they brought me an employment agreement to sign because they found a European buyer to buy the company, and they wanted me to sign an agreement for employment to this new European company. And so I went to the owner, Steve Miller, and said, well, Mr. Miller, now I'm 20 something, you know, 20. I don't know what it was. 20. 21. Ish. 22. I'm not an employee, Steve. I'm a. I'm a co owner. I'm a businessman. He says, you're not a businessman, you're lucky. He sneered at me and snatched the employment agreement and turned in his desk away from me. And I realized this didn't go very well. And so I figured the only way I was going to be free was to buy my freedom, so to speak. So I was going to buy the company. So I went to the Yellow Pages. This is a Google search today. But I went literally to the Yellow Pages, opened it to law firms, and I wanted to find somebody who could represent me to buy Wade Cotter and Company. But my division was WCC Funding Corporation, and the division I had a partnership interest in, and they couldn't pay me. Well, they didn't pay me because they couldn't pay me. They didn't have any money, and that's why they're selling the company. So I opened the Yellow Pages and I found the. The ads for the biggest law firm for business. I went to business law law firms, and then business legal firms, and I found the law firms in Century City, California, where all the ballers hung out. And the law firm that had the biggest ad, which was Jeffer, Mangoes, Butler and Marmaro. I couldn't say Jeffers. I didn't want to screw up Jeffers. I didn't want to mangle Mangoes or Mamaro, but I could say Butler. So I called and asked for Jim Butler, who was a partner in the firm. And Jim Butler answered the phone and I said, this is John O'Brien. And back then I would say, john Bryant. And I want to buy this company and I want you to represent me. And he said, tell me about this company. And I said, it's Wade Cotter and Company, WCC Funding. He said, wait a minute. Is that Steve Miller? Yes, it is. And he said, wait a minute, hold on. You're buying this company? Yes, I am. And so I explained it to him, and he said, no, no, no, no, I can't represent you. You can't do this. I said, no, no, don't. This is racism. This is discrimination. You can't tell me what I can do. And he said, look, hold on a minute, wait a minute. Let me call you right back. Give me your number. And this is why you should never assume or presume anything. When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me. And so he called me back and he says, look, you can't buy this company. Yes, I'm telling you, I'm going to buy this company over to round and do it. I'm going to get to it. You're not going to tell me what I can't do. If you want to represent me, somebody will. He said, young man, calm down. You can't buy the company because the company's broke. Right. And I've done a little research, and it appears the only asset in this company, the only people making any money is your division. You, you're the only thing valuable in this company, which is why they got upset when you wouldn't sign the employment contract. How much they owe you? And I told him the amount and he said, well, they can't afford to pay you that, so you don't want to buy this company. I'm not racist. I'm trying to help you. You don't want to buy this company because if you buy the assets, you buy the liabilities. These are. This is like an active financial literacy lesson. I don't know what an asset or a liability was back then. And they got a lot of liabilities. And you don't want to be saddled with any of that. You're the only asset. So you want to basically use what they owe you as collateral, well, as payment, if you will, to buy the company, to buy your division so that you release them from your debt. You. You are part of their. If they have to file bankruptcy or something, you're going to be one of the debtors. I didn't know what a debtor was either. And it's going to be very messy for them. If you will sign some documents, I present for you, I will develop for you. Jim Butler said, I'll negotiate management buyout. I didn't know what that phrase was either. For you to acquire your own employer and become a businessman. And I said, yes, calm down, apologize for calling him a racist. And he did the deal. And we used the capital that was owed to me in fees to purchase the company and wipe out any debt, any obligation I owe to them and any obligation they owed to me. And that's how I bought my first company by accident. That then turned into Bryant Group Companies Inc. A California company. We moved into a fancy office place on the eighth floor of the Westwood Gateway complex in West Los Angeles on Little Santa Monica and Sepulveda Boulevard. Now I have capital and I've got all this stuff, but I couldn't actually sign the lease because the company that owned the building. And I can't mention the name of the company because they still own the building, but you can do your own research. The company that owned the building had never seen a me before. And when I walked in to sign the lease, they're like, nah. And I don't think it was pure racism. I think it was just a lack of familiarity with a me, a young black capitalist who was credible and like, we, we're. We're good. And I was trying to release out basically a quarter of a floor, floor to ceiling, windows, marble, you know, beautiful building. And I realized the game that was going on, so I decided instead to play the game better than them. When you're being run out of town, get in front of the crowd and make it like a parade. So I found a guy who met who was like, central casting. I found this guy who was running an Australian publicly traded company, and I can't mention his name either, because prohibition.

[Ed Helms]

It's no secret that banning alcohol didn't stop people from living it up in the 1920s.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

When we're five years into prohibition, the government is starting to go, okay, this isn't working.

[Ed Helms]

In fact, you might even say it backfired spectacularly. I'm Ed Helms, and on season three of my podcast, Snafu, we're taking you back to the 1920s and the tale of Formula 6. Because what you probably don't know about Prohibition is that American citizens were dying in massive numbers due to poisoned liquor. And all along, an unlikely duo was trying desperately to stop the corruption behind it.

[Novartis Representative]

They were like superhero crusaders turning the page on a system that didn't work, wasn't fair, and was corrupt.

[Ed Helms]

So how did Prohibition's war on alcohol go so off the rails that. That the government wound up poisoning its own people? To find out, listen and subscribe to snafu on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Geico Representative]

Welcome to Pod of Rebellion, our new Star Wars Rebels Rewatch podcast. I'm Vanessa Marshall. Hi, I'm Tia Sircar.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

I'm Taylor Gray.

[John Lee Brody]

And I'm John Lee Brody.

[Geico Representative]

But you may also know us as Harrison Dula, Spectre 2, Sabine Wren's Specter.

[Ed Helms]

5, and Ezra Bridger, Spectre 6 from Star Wars Rebels.

[John Lee Brody]

Wait, I wasn't on Star Wars Rebels. Am I in the right place?

[Geico Representative]

Absolutely. Each week we're going to rewatch and discuss an episode from the series and.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

Share some fun behind the scenes stories.

[John Lee Brody]

Sometimes we'll be visited by special guests like Steve blum, voices Zaborillio, Spectre 4, or Dante Bosco voiced Jai Kel and many others.

[Geico Representative]

Sometimes we'll even have a lively debate.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

And we'll have plenty of other fun.

[Ed Helms]

Surprises and trivia too.

[John Lee Brody]

Oh, and me, well, I'm the lucky ghost cruise stowaway who gets to help moderate and guide the discussion each week. Kind of like how Kanan guided Ezra in the ways of the Force. You see what I did there?

[Geico Representative]

Nicely done, John.

[John Lee Brody]

Thanks, Tia.

[Geico Representative]

So hang on, cuz. It's going to be a fun ride.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

Cue the music.

[John Lee Brody]

Listen to Potter above Rebellion on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Novartis Representative]

Are your ears bored?

[Geico Representative]

Yeah. Are you looking for a new podcast that will make you laugh, learn and say que?

[Novartis Representative]

Yeah. Then tune in to locatora radio season 10 today.

[Geico Representative]

Okay. I'm Diosa. I'm Mala, the host of Locatora Radio, a radiophonic novella, which is just a.

[Novartis Representative]

Very extra way of saying a podcast. We're launching this season with a miniseries, totally nostalgic. A four part series about the Latinos who shaped pop culture in the early 2000s. It's Lala checking in with all things Y2K 2000s. My favorite memory, honestly was us having our own media platforms like Mundos and MTV Tres. You could turn on the TV, you see Thalia, you see JLo, Nina, Sky, Evie, Corey Queen. All the girlies doing their things. All of the beauty reflected right back at us. It was everything.

[Geico Representative]

Tune in to locatora radio season 10.

[Novartis Representative]

Now that's what I call a podcast. Listen to locatora radio season 10 on the iHeartRadio Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

I'm Mark Seal.

[Nathan King]

And I'm Nathan King.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

This is Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli. The five families did not want us to shoot that picture.

[Nathan King]

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli is based on my co host Mark's best selling book of the same title. And on this show we call upon his years of research to help unpack the story behind the Godfather's birth. From start to finish, this is really.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

The first interview I've done in bed.

[Nathan King]

We sift through innumerable accounts.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

35 pages isn't very much.

[Nathan King]

Many of them conflicting.

[Ed Helms]

That's nonsense.

[Nathan King]

There were 60 pages and try to get to the truth of what really happened.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

And they said, we're finished. This is over. Not only is not going to work, you got to get rid of those guys. It's a disaster.

[Nathan King]

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli Features New and archival interviews with Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Evans, James Caan, Talia Scheier and many others.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

Yes, that was a real horse's head.

[Nathan King]

Listen and subscribe to Leave the gun, Take the Cannoli on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

I don't want to embarrass him, but he was six four, beautifully handsome Australian white dude who was running a publicly traded company that had gone bust. He come to America at least, or bought this mansion in Pacific Palisades. Had a Jaguar convertible and lovely wife and lifestyle. But he was going broke slowly. I don't know how I ran in this guy, but I put the word out. I needed, I needed an employee, I need a president for my company. What I needed was a front. By the way, typically if somebody is a white company, they have a black or minority front to try to get contracts. I was a black owned company, I needed a white front to get this lease. So I hired this guy, wonderful human being, made him my president, gave him a company car. He had lost his, his car. By the time we cut the deal, he had lost his transportation. So I bought him a Yugo because it's all I could afford. A Yugo is a really crappy car, by the way. And this car was so bad that he was on the freeway and this is a small little Yugo and this guy was six four, this guy was on the freeway and he called me one day and the windshield wipers and this one of the side mirrors that flown off on the freeway, that's how raggedy this car was. Anyway, I'm so busy running the business, doing my thing, I didn't notice when he actually sold the company car and pocketed the money. So many stories. But I didn't care because I was winning the battle I wanted, I want, I was winning the war. I wasn't too concerned about the battle. So I needed Chris Blackson in front for me. And when Chris walked in, he looked like central casting. So anyway, Chris went in. I would say they want to mention his name, but it's actually, it's actually embarrassing to me, not him. Great guy, great friend and I thankful to him this day. He went and signed this lease. He walked in, they, they, the company immediately signed him up. Same deal they turned down for me. Don't get mad, get even. Business is not personal. So we signed the lease and I move in and learned another lesson between business and busyness. And when your outflow exceeds your inflow, your overhead will Be your downfall. I started six divisions at the same time, had meetings going on, but I didn't have any revenue coming in. And anyway, that all sorted out and worked out just fine over time. And I don't have time to go into that on this podcast. Maybe I'll continue the story what happened with that company a little later. Ultimately, that's I got involved with philanthropic work. I was so interested in philanthropic work, I was sort of missing in action a little bit in my own business. Became a mentee of Tom Bradley and created a city government agency for the city of Los Angeles and still exists to this day. By the way, that became the precursor for the idea of Operation Hope, which was created a couple years after that after the Rodney King riots. Okay, now let me pivot to you now. So why is my accidental acquisition an opportunity for an intentional purchase of a business for 2 million to 20 million on average for you in non recourse debt? And I'm going to go one step further. This is actually easier to do than starting $100,000 restaurant with bank money. This is easier to do than starting a little club or opening a restaurant. I'm not telling you not to do that. I'm just saying starting a little business, trying to raise a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, four hundred, five hundred thousand, doing crowdfunding personal guarantees and getting a bank loan and debt and all this kind of stuff. Using this is much easier. Listen to me now. I'm about to give you a little bit. As Jay Z would say, I'm gonna give you a million dollars worth of game. But 9.99. But this is none.99, because as a subscriber to this podcast, you didn't pay for it, right? I'm giving you free game. All right, write this down. The baby boomer generation is going to be the first generation over the age of 65. More people over 65 than under the age of 18 in the next 10 to 20 years. This group of baby boomers are all trying to retire at the same time. They've collected about $180 trillion of wealth. That's about 35, 40% of all the wealth in the world here in the United States of America. They're going to take their stocks and their bonds and their real estate and liquid assets and they're going to give those as inheritance to their kids and their wives or husbands or whomever. And, and, and there's an old joke. The first generation makes it, the second generation spends it and the third generation loses it. Now that's not always true, but it's. It's a popular saying for a reason, meaning that the kids and the. And the family members don't really want the businesses. I'm going to say that again. It's $180 trillion, $60 trillion, let's say conservatively, of generational wealth. About 88 to 100 trillion of that trillion dollars of that is going to transfer in the next decade to two decades when it transfers, the liquid versions of that and things that can be made liquids, real estate, stocks, bonds, cash, and cash equivalents will transfer through inheritance to the heirs, the children, whomever that is bestowed upon in the will. But the thing that will get stuck in most cases, and 90% of businesses do not have a plan for what comes next when they stop running their business. About $10 trillion, conservatively, of these assets are successful businesses, the basis of which created the wealth that I'm not talking about. So we're talking about a business that has real estate in many cases, has a client list, has a good reputation, has a good name, is a going concern, a popular, successful going concern. There's nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong with it except the kids don't want it, the wife doesn't want it. Nobody wants it. But you should want it, because that's your ticket into the big game. And I'm going to tell you a little secret. If you can find one of these businesses, and most of these businesses, you got to hunt for them now. But most of these businesses, they don't have an exit plan. The small business owner that owns it has made no plans for what comes next when they're tired of running that business. And again, in most cases, the kids don't want it, the wife doesn't want it, the husband doesn't want it, if the wife's running the business, the husband doesn't want, etc. So they're stuck. And you can solve their problem by buying it from them. Now, you. If the business is. I'm gonna make this easy. The business is a $2 million business. And you can get that and negotiate a price. So let's say it's worth $2 million and you negotiate a price of 1.9 million, which is a reasonable negotiation by, by the way, a successful negotiation is where everybody leaves this negotiation slightly annoyed. Okay, nobody got everything that they wanted, so you agree to buy this business for 1.9 million in this phantom example of a $2 million business that's profitable. And maybe I'll deal with valuations of how you evaluate or Create a value in a business in another podcast, but that's less important. Now somebody can help you get to an evaluation of the business, but let's assume it's worth 2 million. You get it for 1.9 million, but they want you to pay it in cash, you know, because they're trying to cash out. You then take that to Wall Street. Wall street is producing three or four times more cash flow than Washington D.C. ever does in a year. Everybody's obsessed about Washington D.C. it's on the news all the time and nobody's talking about Wall street in New York City, which is like a country and you go to Wall street, you go to a private equity firm. Sometimes it's venture backing, but make this simple, a private equity firm. It is what it sounds like, private equity. And who is doing what. In a more sophisticated version of what I did way back when in, in Los Angeles, an example I gave you, with WCC funding, they've got private money that's trying to get a return right. And they're looking for deals. You've brought them a business worth 2 million. It's going to grow, continue to grow. It has a history, it has clients, it has a balance sheet and income statement, has assets. There's nothing wrong with it, it just, it has an owner that's trying to exit. You're going to get them to, to acquire that business with you and they're going to finance it with non recourse debt, which means you don't have to personally guarantee it. And they're going to give you if you're lucky, a 220 plan. I make this really simple. Let's assume they give you 10% ownership of this business and they're going to own 90% and maybe you earn into more, but you're going to get 10% of this business or maybe 20% of the business when you buy and they're going to own the rest of it and they're going to finance it, non recourse to you. So they're, if it goes bust, they take on the debt, not you. And you can say, well why don't I get more than that? Well you didn't put up anything you brought in. The opportunity is this is better than their finders fee and you get to grow this business. And as you grow this business, any value you create over the $1.9 million and you've already got, you know, just under 10% of that in the original purchase price, by the way, when you negotiated it, you negotiated a profit up front and the better you negotiate, the more profit you have walking into the deal. And every dollar that you earn after that, you get 10%, 20%, whatever you negotiate. And if you get lucky, if you get really good at this, you own 50% when you buy this company. And maybe, who knows, maybe some miracle where they just finance it and I don't see this world, but Maybe you own 80% of this business and they're just taking to take a small percentage, percentage of this plus an interest rate return. I doubt that. But in this example, they're going to, they're going to take, you're going to, you're going to own 10 or 20% of this business. And if you grow this business from $2 million business over five years to a 4 million or $6 million business, what that means you just became a millionaire maybe several times over because you might be to sell this business for multiples of its cash flow and, or profitability and, or valuation over time. And so I just gave you a short crash course here on how you can do a deal on Wall street. This is a $10 trillion opportunity coming over the next 10 or 20 years is happening right now. You should go hunting in your neighborhood, hunting in your county, your city, in your state, hunting for businesses as you drive by them, as you look in, whether it's retail businesses or all the office buildings you see, or you know, just if you see somebody who, you know, I mean, don't go hunting for senior citizens, but you go see somebody who seems to be more mature as an owner and if you confirm they're the owner and inquire if they have any interest, make sure you wear a suit, make sure you look proper that they have any interest in selling their business. You might be interested as a buyer and look like somebody who might be to acquire this business. Look serious. If they say yes, you've got a deal. And all you do now is find a bank that has a venture capital division or a private equity division or a private equity firm and you look, I deal with capital structures in a podcast I did last year. Go back and listen to that. And now you begin to access capital. And I believe you can access non recourse capital, which means no personal guarantee plus an upside, a sweetener for you. So you get a closing fee when the deal closes, you get a piece of the deal and now and a salary probably, you can probably negotiate that as CEO of this new company. And now you're, well, a baller, at least a mini baller. This is John O'Brien this is Money and Wealth. And there's more where this came from. Tell me what you'd like to hear, and I'll dish it out. Every week in the episodes of Money and Wealth. This is how you buy a $20 million company on purpose, with no personal guarantee. Honorably, honestly, where everybody wins. All right, Love and Light tell a friend.

[Nathan King]

Foreign.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

Wealth with John O'Brien is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts from the Black Effect Podcast network, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite.

[Ed Helms]

Prohibition is synonymous with speakeasies, jazz flappers, and, of course, failure. I'm Ed Helms, and on season three of my podcast, Snafu, there's a story I couldn't wait to tell you. It's about an unlikely duo in the 1920s who who tried to warn the public that prohibition was going to backfire so badly it just might leave thousands dead from poison. Listen and subscribe to snafu on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[A.J. Andrews]

What's up, y'all? I'm A.J. andrews, pro softball player, sports analyst, and the first woman to win a Rawlings Gold Glove on my new podcast, Dropping Diamonds. We dive headfirst into the world of softball by sharing powerful stories, insights, and conversations that inspire and empower. It's time to drop bombs and diamonds. Dropping diamonds with AJ Andrews is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Athletes Unlimited Softball League and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. Listen to dropping diamonds with AJ Andrews on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Novartis Representative]

Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports Network.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

Have you ever wondered, if your pet is lying to you, why is my.

[Novartis Representative]

Cat not here and I go in and she's eating my lunch?

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

Or if hypnotism is real, we will.

[Podcast Host]

Use this suggestion in order to enhance your cognitive control.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

But what's inside a black hole?

[John Lee Brody]

Black holes could be a consequence of.

[Novartis Representative]

The way that we understand the universe.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

Well, we have answers for you in the new I Heart original podcast, Science Stuff. Join me or Hitchhim as we answer questions about animals, space, our brains, and our bodies. So give yourself permission to be a science geek and listen to science stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In a world of economic uncertainty and.

[A.J. Andrews]

Workplace transformation, learn to lead by example.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

From visionary C Suite executives like Shannon.

[Novartis Representative]

Schuyler of PwC and Will Pearson of iHeartMedia. The good teacher explains the great teacher inspires.

[John Lee Brody]

Don't always leave your team to do the work.

[Ed Helms]

That's been the most important part of how to lead by example.

[Commercial Voiceover Artist]

Listen to leading by executives making an.

[Novartis Representative]

Impact on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.