#144: Grant Cardone & Gary Brecka Fallout // How to Build Better Business Partnerships // Next Level Pros

Summary

Episode #144: Grant Cardone & Gary Brecka Fallout – How to Build Better Business Partnerships

Release Date: April 4, 2025
Host: Chris Lee
Guests: Daryl & Elena

---

1. Introduction to the Grant Cardone & Gary Brecka Fallout

In this episode of Next Level Pros, host Chris Lee delves into the highly publicized fallout between entrepreneur Grant Cardone and Gary Brecka. The episode opens with Chris highlighting the contentious breakup between the two business partners, emphasizing the chaos unleashed on social media and the ensuing legal battles.

Chris [00:00]: "Grant Cardone, Gary Breca fighting like a couple schoolgirls that didn't get their date to the prom."

The conflict escalated when Gary Brecka's wife, Sage, posted a video featuring Gary with Sean "Diddy" Combs to their substantial Instagram following. In retaliation, Grant Cardone filed a staggering $100 million defamation lawsuit against Brecka and his wife, marking a dramatic end to their partnership.

Chris [00:46]: "$100 million defamation lawsuit was filed by Breca and his wife Sage against Grant Cardone."

Chris further outlines the severe allegations made against Brecka, portraying him as someone who rapidly amassed wealth through questionable means, transitioning from financial instability to a lavish lifestyle fueled by excessive loans.

Grant's Claim [01:30]: "A story of a guy who went from foreclosures and bankruptcies to having too much too fast. Fast."

---

2. Lessons on Building Successful Partnerships

Transitioning from the tumultuous example of Cardone and Brecka, Chris and his co-hosts, Daryl and Elena, pivot to discussing the essential elements that prevent such public disputes in business partnerships. They emphasize the importance of expectation management, clear communication, and trust.

Chris [03:06]: "Was Gary right? Was Grant right? Frankly, there's a good chance they're both right."

The conversation underscores that both parties in a partnership may have legitimate perspectives, making it crucial to navigate disagreements without defaulting to blame. Daryl adds that businesses often evolve, requiring partners to realign their expectations and maintain open dialogue to stay synchronized.

Daryl [03:23]: "They probably just had expectations that were never changed. And so now they're just completely misaligned 100%."

Chris reflects on his and Elena's long-term partnership, highlighting the challenges they've faced and the resilience they've built over nearly two decades. They stress that while partnerships are demanding, the rewards of a harmonious collaboration far outweigh the struggles.

Chris [04:29]: "There's nothing easy about it, but at the same time, there's nothing more rewarding than an incredible partnership."

---

3. The 6-18-3 Year Method for Partnerships

A significant portion of the discussion centers around Chris and Daryl's proprietary framework for cultivating and maintaining successful partnerships: the 6-18-3 Year Method. This methodology is designed to ensure that equity distribution and commitment levels are clearly defined from the outset.

Chris [17:31]: "We came up with this methodology, which we call the 6 18, three year method."

The method initiates with a six-month honeymoon period, during which new partners can earn up to 10% equity based on their contributions. Following this, there is a 18-month period where equity vesting continues, culminating in a three-year commitment where full equity is granted. If a partner exits before the three-year mark, a clawback clause nullifies their equity, safeguarding the business from premature departures.

Chris [19:34]: "If they back out or leave the partnership in the first three years, there is an actual full clawback of all equity."

This structured approach has proven effective in filtering out incompatible partners early and ensuring that those who stay are fully invested in the company's success. Chris shares anecdotes of how this method has successfully retained committed partners while amicably parting ways with others who were not a good fit.

Daryl [21:52]: "One of those guys... was able to exercise the, the clawback period."

---

4. Equity and Roles in Partnerships

Chris and Daryl delve into the nuanced relationship between equity ownership and operational roles within a business. They clarify that holding equity does not inherently grant a partner a managerial position or a guaranteed role in daily operations.

Daryl [23:21]: "Having equity in a company does not give you a job in the company."

This distinction is crucial to prevent conflicts and ensure that partners focus on their strengths. Chris introduces the concept of "God Mode" for equity holders, where owners primarily focus on strategic decisions and profit distributions rather than micromanaging operational tasks.

Chris [24:48]: "Your main desire and job as an equity holder is to get the profits. Everything else."

By establishing clear roles and responsibilities, partnerships can operate more smoothly, allowing each member to contribute effectively without overstepping boundaries.

---

5. Conclusion: Building Trust and Facilitating Conflict Resolution

The episode wraps up with Chris and Daryl reiterating the cornerstone elements of successful partnerships: trust, clear expectations, and the ability to address conflicts proactively. They caution against letting misunderstandings fester and advocate for timely, honest conversations to maintain alignment and partnership health.

Chris [15:09]: "Confirmation bias will kill a relationship faster than anything."

Daryl emphasizes the importance of decision-making agility within partnerships, ensuring that disagreements do not stall progress but rather are resolved through agreed-upon processes.

Daryl [16:17]: "The faster you make those decisions, the quicker you get to the right solution."

Ultimately, Chris assures listeners that by implementing these strategies, they can foster robust and enduring business relationships, avoiding the pitfalls exemplified by the Cardone-Brecka fallout.

Chris [22:49]: "You won't have to end up like Gary Breca and Grant Cardone airing your dirty laundry."

---

Key Takeaways:

• Expectation Management: Clearly define roles, responsibilities, and expectations at the outset of a partnership.
• Communication: Maintain open and honest dialogue to navigate disagreements and prevent misunderstandings.
• Equity Distribution: Use structured methods like the 6-18-3 Year Method to ensure commitment and fair equity distribution.
• Trust and Conflict Resolution: Build trust and address conflicts promptly to sustain a healthy partnership.

By adhering to these principles, entrepreneurs can build strong, resilient partnerships that drive business success without the drama and legal battles witnessed in high-profile disputes.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Chris [00:00]: "Grant Cardone, Gary Breca fighting like a couple schoolgirls that didn't get their date to the prom."
• Daryl [03:23]: "They probably just had expectations that were never changed. And so now they're just completely misaligned 100%."
• Chris [19:34]: "If they back out or leave the partnership in the first three years, there is an actual full clawback of all equity."
• Daryl [23:21]: "Having equity in a company does not give you a job in the company."
• Chris [24:48]: "Your main desire and job as an equity holder is to get the profits. Everything else."

---

For more insights and to join the Next Level Community, visit our YouTube channel or contact us directly to elevate your entrepreneurial journey.

Transcript

[Chris]

Grant Cardone, Gary Breca fighting like a couple schoolgirls that didn't get their date to the prom. If you haven't been paying attention lately, these guys have been airing all their dirty laundry on social media of how terrible their partnership have ended. We're talking lawsuits and all kinds of craziness. In this episode, we're gonna dive deep into how you make a partnership work so you don't end up like these two crazy cats. Oh, I didn't know this shiz. So, dude, check us out. $100 million defamation lawsuit was filed by Breca and his wife Sage against Grant Cardone. I guess this is crazy. So his wife Elena, she shared on to her 688,000 Instagram followers a video of Breca with Sean Diddy Combs.

[Daryl]

Bad timing. Bad timing.

[Chris]

So with Diddy, I guess he was a prior 10x health client, but this crazy. And then in response, Grant filed over $100 million claim. And so now they're like, Im mediation. This is crazy. So Grant on March 18, said, Gary, Becca exposed. This was on his Twitter account or his ex account. I was hoping to keep his private, but Gary Brecker has gone from podcast to podcast crime victim. The public will discover fraud, deceit, misappropriation of company resources, manipulation of family members, psychopathic behavior, and tens of millions in hard money loans to fund an excessive lifestyle of cars, plane travel, and houses. A story of a guy who went from foreclosures and bankruptcies to having too much too fast. Fast.

[Daryl]

Ouch.

[Chris]

So this is pretty nasty.

[Daryl]

Yeah, it is pretty nasty.

[Chris]

So we're. We're talking about two guys that, like, were in the spotlight of the media, right? 10x health. In fact, I remember when it first came out, I was like, wait, Grant Cardone is getting into health?

[Daryl]

Do you remember that?

[Chris]

Yeah. So Gary Brea, obviously well known, he's been on podcasts. Kind of like the guy when it comes to ice baths and all these different things, had partnered up with Gary or with Grant to form, to really leverage the 10x brand and be able to go and take this thing. Now, I think there's, like, a few lessons to be learned here about partnerships. One is proper expectation management up front.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

Like, I mean, I think, you know, everybody that's watching the podcast right now. I want you to do a thing. This is a principle that we teach. We call it the second principle of leadership. And what I want you to do is I want to take a finger above your head, and I want you to go in clockwise. Do it with me. Darrell, come on. We're going to be clockwise, above your head, and then what you're going to do is slowly bring it down below. Don't change the direction. Now, which direction is going counterclockwise? Counterclockwise. Do it again. Clockwise, Counterclockwise. So what changed, Darrell?

[Daryl]

Perspective.

[Chris]

So it's interesting in a situation like this, right, is that a lot of people are, like, trying to team up, like, who's right, who's wrong?

[Daryl]

Yes, Right.

[Chris]

Like, was Gary right? Was Grant right? Frankly, there's a good chance they're both right. They're both looking at the same exact situation, saying, no, it's clockwise. No, it's counterclockwise. And so it's really hard to not make a quick judgment of, like, who's the honest one.

[Elena]

Right.

[Daryl]

Like, I think what's tough, too, is. Is, like, when your business transforms or changes a lot, which theirs did, right? They went from, like, concept, great brand to, like, boom, right? You know, Gary's everywhere, Grant's talking about it. All of a sudden, the partnership has to change, too, right? And I think they probably just had expectations that were never changed. And so now they're just completely misaligned 100%.

[Chris]

And so I only bring up, like, the respect, different perspective thing was, like, when you look at a story like this, it's really quick to, like, make judgments, like, someone's bad, someone's good. But I think the most important thing that we can take from this is, like, how do we avoid partnerships that ever get to this point, Right? And. And actually, you know, me and you have been able to work on and off for the last almost 20 years, right? Like, we're. We're now going on to our 20th year of being in business together, or on and off. And we've had a couple divorces.

[Daryl]

We've worked about 17 of the. Of the 20 years.

[Chris]

And so, like, I. I go back to the tough times that we've had that we've been able to make it through. And let me just say, having a partner is hard.

[Elena]

Right?

[Chris]

Like, there's. There's nothing easy about it, but at the same time, there's nothing more rewarding than an incredible partnership. In fact, I think a fantastic partnership, a yin and yang, kind of like me and you, right. Can accomplish way more together than we ever would individually as a sum of parts. And so. Hey, guys, it's Chris. If you're finding value in what you're hearing, go ahead and like and subscribe. That way, people just, like, you can find this content for free here on YouTube. Now let's dive back in the show, you know, like going through there. I'd love to just talk about like what has made our partnership work and how we've been able to avoid situations like a Gary Breca and a Grant Cardone where it's just this public blow up.

[Daryl]

Yeah, yeah.

[Chris]

And we're just suing the crap out of each other for 100 million bucks.

[Daryl]

You know, I think we had like a lucky fortune at the very beginning of our working relationship because we worked together, we were like jiving, everything was going really well. We brainstormed really well, we were excited, we were ambitious. And then we split.

[Elena]

Yep.

[Daryl]

Right. And then that split, we didn't talk to each other for almost two years.

[Elena]

Yep.

[Daryl]

And then we came back together, formed an idea, started another business, led to another business. And so I think like us realizing how childish it was to just not have the level of communication to resolve the issue taught us like, alright, we just need to start resolving issues faster.

[Elena]

Yep.

[Chris]

You know, the thing like any partnership, any relationship, whether it's your spouse or whatnot, it's like clear lines of communication, clear expectations and understand how you're going to navigate through disagreements.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

Because you know, it's, it's, it's hard. Like there's no such thing in business as like a fair relationship.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

Like you're never going to be equal. You're like, you can, you can do everything possible to balance the scale, especially in a two person relationship. But you know, one thing I learned a lot or a long time ago about like a relationship with my spouse is like, I can never try to win the 50, 50 battle.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

Equal 100. Like I give 50, you give 50, I'm 51, you're 49. I can't make that. It's like you got to be committed to bring in 100% of the way and be okay with whatever else the partner brings to the table.

[Daryl]

You know, you bring that up. I think commitment's really important. And I, and I think the way that I'm, I sit is I'm a hundred percent committed in our relationship working together. The minute you're not, I'm 100% willing to let our partnership split.

[Chris]

Yep.

[Daryl]

Because like we have to be 100% in or, or not. And I think what happens a lot of times is people will be, will start to waver and then they feel like they, they're stuck or whatever and then it just creates like a sour situation. Right.

[Chris]

And I think just any good partnership has one, clear expectations. 2a. The ability to exit.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

Like, because you're talking about, like, the ability to walk away. A lot of times we entangle ourselves in these relationships that are impossible to exit. There's no. And. And so, you know, some of the best advice that we've ever been given in partnerships is like, have a clear exit plan day one. That doesn't mean that you're necessarily signing a prenup or, you know, looking for plan B, but it's clear understanding up front. Like, if there comes a time that I want to walk away, you want to walk away. How do we value the business and our assets to be able to do it accordingly?

[Daryl]

The value of that is it gives you the opportunity to have the honest conversation at any time.

[Elena]

Right?

[Daryl]

Right. So instead of like, oh, man, we don't. This, this could go sour. This could be really tough. It's like, no, we already know what we'll do if it gets that point.

[Elena]

Right.

[Daryl]

Let's have the conversation, just not get to that point or resolve it so we can, we can move on.

[Chris]

And it's important that you have these conversations up front before you enter into an engagement, because up front, you're going through this honeymoon stage.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

Like when we started out in business together or we've done different things with other people initially, everybody has good intentions, everybody wants the same goals, is motivated, excited to move forward, and what I call the honeymoon stage. And the honeymoon stage is always going to last up to six months whenever you engage in a new relationship. And why I say up to like, it literally could last two days, three days, three months, six months. Rarely does it last longer than six months.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

But at the end of six months, you're typically going to know exactly how that person is, their, their M.O. their modus operatus or whatever it is called, and the way that they're going to act. And so having the hard conversations before you make it through the honeymoon stage is so, so important because if you don't, it becomes increasingly difficult to. The first time that you encounter that difficult conversation. And so there's. There's a few things that I would recommend to any partnership when you're going in. One, have an exit strategy. Clearly define what your what. How you're going to address the dissolution of assets.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

Don't just say, hey, we're going to split it 50, 50. No, hey, how are you going to value it? Are you going to put a 3x multiple times your, your profitability? Are you going to add in all hard assets on top of that are you going to bring in a third party that's going to come in and do evaluation on the assets? And how are you going to split that? Are you going to have a first right to be able to buy the other person out? Can they sell it to just anybody?

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

Are you. Do you have to sign off if they sell it to somebody else? Or is there potentially a buyout clause where if they exercise that 3x that has to be paid at a, you know, half of half an X up front and the other. The other five, half of X is paid over the next five years or. Or whatnot. And so, like, just detailing that alone will save so many partnerships so that you can have those hard conversations when you get into it, it's like, okay, look, hey, we can go our separate ways. This is how we go our separate ways. But even. But on top of that would be a few other things, like. Like bylaws of the business.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

I think a lot of partnerships fall apart when people don't understand, like, what are the things you can and can't do inside of a business.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

Like me and you, we operate completely different than most business owners or partners do now because we've just been together for so long. But like, when starting out, having things put in place, like, hey, anytime there's over $1,000 purchase, we need to both sign off on it.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

And what do you do in the event that somebody does spend a thousand dollars without the other person, you know, and just again, detailing out those really hard conversations. The cool thing is, is right now, when me and you started out, we didn't have Chad gbt.

[Daryl]

Yeah, that's true.

[Chris]

Right. Like now you can go to chat GBT and be like, yo, I'm entering this new partnership. Like, what are some things that I should think about that I should put into my partnership agreement? What bylaws should we consider? What are some negative pitfalls of a relationship? What are some hard conversations or. Or things that we should agree upon before we enter this relationship? You know, stuff like that.

[Daryl]

So the truth is, we've had partnerships that have not worked.

[Elena]

Yep.

[Daryl]

Right. Who's. We've struggled from the beginning. They just weren't a good fit. And we acknowledged it and parted ways. We've had relationships that were. Or partnerships that start off really good. And then we got to a point where we parted ways. And then. And then we have people we still work with till this day. Yeah. Including each other. And I think one of the things, the mentality of a partnership should be one where you're willing to give way more than the other person.

[Elena]

Yep.

[Daryl]

It's basically like going to war, where it's like, if my guy's injured, whether that's physically, mentally, emotionally, like, I got to hold down the fort. I got to take care of everything. I got to, like, it's my responsibility with no regard. Like, it's on you. And I think that's something that served us well, where it's like, we are not trying to play equal. We're not trying to play fair. It's like, I'm gonna give you more. And then you're like, well, I'm giving you way more. And so it's like this competition of who can give more to the business or to the relationship and removing our ego of like, I deserve this or I deserve that.

[Elena]

Yep.

[Chris]

And. And I think the. A healthy relationship, a healthy team atmosphere, a healthy. Any type of group that functions well together. One, you have to have trust, and then two, you got to be able to conflict, right? Like, to be able to take opposing sides. I think most people never get there because they don't establish that good relationship of trust. But, like, having the hard conversations, like, dude, me and you over the years have had, like, so many times where it's like, we have to sit down, like, call each other on our crap, right?

[Daryl]

Like.

[Chris]

And, like, dude, this isn't working. And. But then we establish. I. I think, like, our common language is like, hey, look, we're established. We both want the same thing. Right? Like, we were both trying to achieve this goal, this mission, this vision of. Of this business, and that's what we want. And we both trust that we both want this. Yes. Okay. I'm going to share with you, I'm going to conflict with you a little bit that some things, I. We need to twist in the dials a little bit to. To, like, get on the same page. And then we share whatever feedback or things that need to be said to be able to reestablish alignment and creativity.

[Daryl]

Typically, it goes back to what you're talking about. I share my perspective, you share your perspective. We figure out if we're talking about the same thing from a different perspective or sometimes just two things completely different that we thought were the same thing.

[Chris]

And, you know, this is. This is one of our leadership pillars because, you know, in the next level community, we te teach the eight pillars for growth. The leadership pillar is having those hard conversations. This goes for partners, goes for teams, goes for leadership management or whatnot. But, like, the faster you can address these Hard things the better. Because so often we'll create, especially in partnerships, we'll create this monster. Like freaking Daryl. He just is like, not wanting to pull his weight or he's just like, he doesn't even want what's best for me or the company, whatever, right? Like. Like there's stories that we imagine. And so. And the further we put that out, the more it festers and the more we look for confirmation bias, right? Like, that's one of the worst things that will kill any partnership or any relationship is confirmation bias, right? Like, I think something about you. Like, for example, I'm just going to use like just a random one. Like, Daryl's lazy, right? And so then I'm looking for anything that confirms my bias, right?

[Daryl]

He didn't show up before me or he didn't do.

[Chris]

Right, right. Man, I showed up at 8:56 and he showed up at 9:00. Knew he was lazy, right? Like when the, when the reality is like that that's not the case. And so, but yeah, confirmation bias will kill a relationship faster than anything. And so the second that you see something festering that you're starting to build confirmation bias around, like, that is the time that you've got to address it. And I think we've just done a fantastic job over the years of being able to do that.

[Daryl]

I think the other superpower that we have as a partnership is we can make decisions quickly. And there's always times, multiple times, where like, we disagree with each other. And then we look at it and we're like, okay, who has the ultimate decision? Who's ultimately responsible for the outcome of that decision? And then it's usually, okay, I disagree with it, but you're responsible. If you really believe in this heart, if you really believe in this, then I'll let you make the decision, the ultimate decision. And then if it doesn't work out, I'm never gonna say, I told you so. I'm never going to come at you again. Because. No, because, like, I've once I give you opportunity to make the decision. I give you that power. Like, I have to 100 back you up.

[Chris]

Which, which is the power of conflicting, right? Like, like, you've got to conflict. You gotta be have your voices heard. But then whoever has the higher decision, like, making in that particular subject matter, you gotta back them. Like, to your point.

[Daryl]

But I think it's a superpower because think of how many times we're like, I disagree. I think it should be that. And then it's like, okay, who's ultimately responsible. All right, go for it. Move. And then you make decisions. And the nice thing about that is the faster you make those decisions, the quicker you get to the right solution.

[Chris]

Absolutely. Absolutely. Hey, guys, it's Chris. Hey. A lot of you leave comments asking for help. Do me a real quick favor. Shoot me a text at 509-374-7554. That's 509-374-7554. Shoot me a text. I'll answer and help you with whatever you need. Don't worry. I got you back. Go back to the show, baby.

[Daryl]

So, Chris, I know something that's been really valuable as a framework we laid out, and I know it was at a time when we were trying to figure out how to create a partnership with other people. How do you create a partnership where it could fall apart within a short period of time?

[Chris]

Yeah. So when we. When we launched Soulgen, we actually came up with this method. It was based off of just like failed partnerships in the past.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

So I had had some terrible failed partnerships. Luckily, you hadn't had nearly as bad as mine.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

Like, one of my previous partners, like, ended up running a Ponzi scheme and going to prison. Like, what the freak? Like, that's. That's crazy. I saw that and I also saw some partnership that was going on with my brother and, like, just like with other people, I'm like, dude, I want to avoid that. So we came up with this methodology, which we call the 6 18, three year method. And we applied it when we first started our business. And so it was me and you, and there was a couple other guys that were. That were going to be involved in it. And what we decided is like, look, we have 100% of the pie. I don't want to just go 25, 25, 25, 25.

[Elena]

Right.

[Chris]

Because we really need to make sure that we're even going to do. We're going to fit well together in this relationship. So what we decided was that we were going to start running this method, and then we were going to do the six month honeymoon period, and at the end of six months, we would decide where that the additional equity was going to lie. And so initially we broke up and we said, hey, each of us are going to get 10% and then there's going to be a 60% pool that we're going to be able to allocate. And look, and after six months, you've earned your 10%. And then at that point, we'll decide, like, how the rest of this is going to be earned out. And so typically, so now we've gone and we've used this with other partnerships, other people that we brought in their business. We teach this from stage, we teach it in the next level community. And is anytime you bring somebody into a partner, make sure that you're not giving anything away in those first six months. Okay? Like that, that is your first period in which that person can earn or have their equity vest.

[Elena]

Right?

[Chris]

So that first six months, we call it the honeymoon period.

[Elena]

Right?

[Chris]

And then typically the way we structure it, we go 50% at 6 months, 50% at 18 months. And then if they back out or leave the partnership in the first three years, there is an actual full clawback of all equity. And so essentially what that does is it binds people that are in the partnership for three years to participate to be able to fully earn their equity. Now they can participate in distributions and everything else as those periods vest. But if they were to leave at any time, they are surrendering their equity. And so what that does is like you're building a strong foundation for those three years. And then if at that point they decide to leave, you've probably gotten as much as you need from that at least. But most people are going to be hooked in because they built something for three years, they want to continue to participate in that distribution. And so the way we saw this play out, which was really unique, so we had these four guys, there are four of us, and within, you know, we said six months is the honeymoon period. Within three months we saw a guy that literally just stopped showing up.

[Elena]

Yeah, right.

[Chris]

He wasn't traveling, he wasn't committed, he wasn't willing to relocate to Washington state. And so within the first six months, we negotiated a way for him to completely give up his initial 10%. And even though we legally didn't have to because of our agreement, we still made a trade that made it fair. But he walked away from equity in the business at that point. Then after six months, we decided, okay, this is what it's going to look like long term. Me and you took the majority of the equity. Our third partner took a little bit less than, than what we had. And then we went and we scaled and then we went and applied this 6, 18, 3 year method to 9 other people, 10 other people that were, that were involved in the program. And the cool thing is, is like all those people, they were hooked in the same exact way. And one of those guys, one of the, actually there was 11 of them. One of the, one of the 11 it ended up not working out. We were able to exercise the, the clawback period. We still gave him some money, even though we didn't owe him any money for that clawback, and took care of him in that way. But the other 10 people, they earned their way. They, they worked the three years they participated in the exit. Like that, for me has just been one of the most powerful tools in building partnerships and like, just learning how to work with other people.

[Daryl]

Well, I think one, one key piece you're missing out is that we were part of other organizations before that that were promising equity and delivering nothing, right? And so we were like, all right, we're going to enter into our business in a way that we can deliver. So we had to come up with our framework so that we didn't put ourselves in a bad situation.

[Chris]

Absolutely.

[Daryl]

So then we could deliver.

[Chris]

And everybody knows exactly what you're talking about. You've been a part of some company that's like, oh, there's going to be stock options or whatever and then just like nothing, right? And so, like, for us, it was super important to make sure that we delivered on that, especially with our key players that existed with us from the beginning. But, but yeah, man, like when you're talking about partnerships, there's just such a yin and yang approach, right? Like, you got to be able to bring the positive energy when the other person's being negative and vice versa. But there is so much power in getting there. And I promise you won't have to end up like Gary Breca and Grant Cardone airing your dirty laundry. If one, you have proper expectations up front. Two, have an exit strategy that makes sense regardless of the situation. You're not going to be out and freaking hitting each other with hundred million dollar lawsuits based off of a picture with Diddy Combs, right? And then three, have the hard conversations as they arise. If you can dial in those three things, it's going to make for an incredible partnership that just will ultimately make sense and make it happen.

[Daryl]

I think one hard conversation you need to have as partners is a. Is having equity in a company does not give you a job in the company. Equity only gives you your portion of distributions, but it does not guarantee a job. And a lot of times people think, oh, because I have equity, I have to have a job in the company that has to pay me. When in reality that could be one of the worst things for the business.

[Chris]

And I think along those same lines, because you're an owner doesn't guarantee you the top position in the company, right? Like you can have somebody that doesn't have equity. That is, you actually answer to in. In a proper execution chart because they are better at their job. An owner is somebody that distributes the stock, right? The same way that if you own stock in Apple or stock in Google, you need to treat your equity in your business. Your main desire and job as an equity holder is to get the profits. Everything else. Being an operator in the business isn't necessarily your right, your responsibility. This is something that we actually call God Mode, right? Like God Mode is the way that you need to be functioning as an owner, designing from the top, the actual execution player, one NPC that are going out and doing it. Like, yeah, you might have a role in the, the business, but ultimately you want to be over here playing in the sandbox, participating in the distributions, giving a little bit of, you know, input or whatnot.

[Daryl]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think there's a. There's a lot of things that partnerships can do. The conversations have to be constant, especially if your business is growing. You have to constantly revisit, understand perspectives. And then sometimes our conversations are, hey, bro, what's going on? Like, I can tell you're frustrated. You know, we've had that many times where I've come to you or you've come to me, and it's like, what's. What, what's going on?

[Elena]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Chris]

Absolutely. Appreciate you guys jumping on. If you haven't taken a look at the next level community, go ahead and give us a text. I think we have the phone number down in the notes. Until next time.