MBA2611 Extended Interview: Dan Martell - The Shortcut To Business Success

Summary

Podcast Summary: The $100 MBA Show – MBA2611 Extended Interview with Dan Martell: The Shortcut To Business Success

Release Date: April 14, 2025

Introduction

In Episode MBA2611 of The $100 MBA Show, host Omar Zenhom engages in an extended interview with renowned entrepreneur and coach, Dan Martell. The conversation delves deep into Dan's journey from troubled youth to successful entrepreneur, the transformative power of mentorship, the nuances of transitioning from building businesses to coaching others, and the critical role of personal development in achieving sustained business success.

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1. Dan Martell's Early Life and Transformation

Dan Martell shares a compelling narrative of his early struggles and remarkable turnaround. At 17, Dan found himself incarcerated due to poor decision-making and involvement with drugs. A pivotal moment came when a prison guard named Brian showed belief in him, igniting a desire to change.

Notable Quote:

Dan Martell [04:26]: "Brian shared with me that he didn't understand why I was in prison. That was a pivotal moment in my life."

During his time in rehab, Dan learned programming, which became the foundation for his future ventures. By 23, after multiple failed attempts at entrepreneurship, he sought out a coach, Bob—a decision that resulted in nearly a million dollars in revenue within a year.

Notable Quote:

Dan Martell [06:15]: "With Bob, we did almost a million in revenue. The ROI was massive."

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2. The Importance of Coaches and Mentors

Dan emphasizes the unparalleled value of having a coach or mentor. Unlike books, which require personal interpretation, a coach tailors strategies to an individual's unique context, bridging the "knowing, doing gap."

Notable Quote:

Dan Martell [08:52]: "Books are beautiful because for $20, you can literally get 20 years of experience. But a coach translates that knowledge to your specific situation."

He advises seeking mentors in environments like nonprofit boards, where experienced and generous individuals are more accessible and willing to guide without the typical sales pitches found on social media platforms.

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3. Transition to Coaching and Building SaaS Academy

Initially resistant to the label "coach," Dan recounts how encouragement from friends led him to embrace coaching formally. His first coaching cohort consisted of close friends, including his wife and brother, which proved highly rewarding. This experience underscored the importance of community and shared learning.

Notable Quote:

Dan Martell [14:10]: "The group format made it really fun because it allowed me to teach, answer questions, and watch others learn."

Recognizing his passion for coaching, Dan built SaaS Academy, now the largest coaching program for SaaS founders globally. He systematically developed frameworks and playbooks to ensure scalability and maintain the program's high standards.

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4. Systems, Scaling, and Business Success

A significant portion of Dan's success is attributed to his meticulous systematization of business processes. By documenting every aspect of his business—from coding practices to deployment strategies—Dan ensured that his company was acquisition-ready, which proved invaluable when Webhook Ninja was acquired by ProProfs.

Notable Quote:

Dan Martell [23:09]: "Playbooks are what make the business valuable."

He highlights that well-documented systems not only facilitate smooth scaling but also enhance a company's attractiveness to potential buyers.

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5. Personal Development and Prioritizing Health

Transitioning from a hands-on business builder to a coach required Dan to reevaluate his identity and priorities. He realized that to inspire others, especially young entrepreneurs, he needed to embody the principles he taught. This led to a significant personal transformation focused on health and fitness.

Notable Quote:

Dan Martell [48:54]: "If you're willing to fight it because you don't keep the commitments you make to yourself, you're lying to yourself."

Dan committed to a 90-day fitness transformation, reducing his body fat from 17% to 4%. This journey not only improved his physical health but also boosted his confidence and presence, essential traits for effective coaching.

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6. Buy Back Your Time and Valuing Time

In his bestselling book, Buy Back Your Time, Dan introduces the "Buyback Principle," which underscores the importance of valuing time as the most precious asset. He argues that success in the marketplace is driven by the ability to solve significant problems, and outsourcing or delegating tasks is crucial for maximizing productivity and scaling effectively.

Notable Quote:

Dan Martell [30:27]: "Buy back your time is about being a better time trader."

He explains that by freeing up time from mundane tasks, entrepreneurs can focus on high-impact activities that drive revenue and growth.

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7. Overcoming Fear of Success

Dan addresses a common psychological barrier: the fear of success. Contrary to popular belief, he posits that many entrepreneurs fear the responsibilities and changes that come with success rather than failure. This fear can stem from limiting beliefs about wealth and its implications.

Notable Quote:

Dan Martell [44:35]: "I think there's something you believe about being successful that scares you."

He encourages listeners to confront and overcome these fears to fully realize their potential and achieve their business aspirations.

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8. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The interview concludes with a heartfelt exchange where Omar gifts Dan a pair of special Jordans, symbolizing their mentorship and friendship. Dan reiterates the importance of personal development, consistency, and authentic self-expression in both life and business.

Notable Quote:

Dan Martell [58:37]: "Creating content is the ultimate personal development program. You'll learn more about yourself than going to therapy."

Omar emphasizes the transformative impact of Dan's coaching on his own business, particularly in systematizing operations, which played a crucial role in the successful acquisition of Webhook Ninja by ProProfs.

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Key Takeaways

• Mentorship Matters: Seeking guidance from experienced coaches can exponentially accelerate business growth and personal development.

• Systematize for Scalability: Well-documented systems and processes are essential for scaling businesses and making them attractive for acquisition.

• Value Your Time: Implementing strategies to outsource and delegate allows entrepreneurs to focus on high-impact activities that drive success.

• Overcome Psychological Barriers: Addressing fears related to success and embracing personal development are critical for achieving long-term business and personal goals.

• Consistency Builds Confidence: Regular habits, whether in fitness or business practices, build the confidence and discipline necessary for sustained success.

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For those inspired by Dan Martell's insights, you can explore more about his work at danmartell.com and delve into his book, Buy Back Your Time, which offers actionable strategies to optimize your time and drive business growth.

Transcript

[Omar Zenhom]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail] Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month.

[Dan Martell]

Required intro rate first 3 months only.

[Omar Zenhom]

Then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra.

[Dan Martell]

See full [e-mail] okay, we each owe 15 bucks.

[Omar Zenhom]

Can you cover me? Payday can't come soon enough. Haven't you heard? With Goto bank, payday comes early. Plus no monthly fees with eligible direct.

[Dan Martell]

Deposits, which means more money for me.

[Omar Zenhom]

Wow, that sounds less like a bank and more like my new Go to.

[Dan Martell]

You don't need a big bank making you feel small. You need a Go to tap to open a Go to bank account today. Early direct deposit availability depends on payer type, timing, payment instructions and bank fraud prevention measure. No monthly fees with eligible direct deposit. Otherwise $5 per month.

[Omar Zenhom]

They say there's no shortcut to success, but maybe there is. If you can find someone who's already achieved what you aspire to achieve, learning from them can really fast track your journey. I'm living proof of this. I wasn't always a believer in coaching or mentorship. I didn't understand the value. When I was struggling to get to the next level with my software company, Webinar Ninja, I sought out help. And that's when I met today's guest, Dan Martel. Welcome Back to the $100 MBA Show. I'm your host, Omar Zenholm, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday to help you start, grow and scale your business. Dan was my coach for several years as I was growing my company, Webinar Ninja. I'm proof that having a great coach actually helps. The business grew to over 30,000 users. We made millions of dollars and the company was so valuable it got acquired by Proprofs. So in my book, this concept of coach actually works. And that's what we talk about in today's episode with Dan Martell. Why you should get a coach, why he gets coaches. How do you find a mentor? How do you learn from somebody so that you can grow faster? Dan shares some incredible value in today's episode, including his story, and it's nothing short of incredible. At 17, he found himself in a prison cell, on the wrong path, mixed up in drugs. That moment became a catalyst for change. He learned to program. He learned to start building businesses and building software. And he went to launch and three successful companies. Today he runs SaaS Academy, the largest coaching program for SaaS founders in the world. If he stopped there, he would be a legend. But he is beyond a legend. Dan is the Wall Street Journal best selling author of buy back your time. A must read for anyone who values their most precious asset, their time. His book has inspired countless entrepreneurs and since its release, Dan has become a prominent online figure with rapid growth on YouTube and social media. In this episode we dive into the power of mentorship, how to find the right coach, and the importance of leveraging other people's experiences to accelerate your own success. Dan has a unique perspective on growth that I am thrilled to share with you. So let's jump right into that conversation with Dan Martell. Dan, so good, so good to see you again in person. I think last time we saw each other was right before COVID 2020 Atlanta SAS Academy.

[Dan Martell]

Sure was. That was a while ago.

[Omar Zenhom]

That was a while ago and it was just like we crept in before they closed the doors. I remember that so much.

[Dan Martell]

Hundred percent.

[Omar Zenhom]

It's a crazy time.

[Dan Martell]

It was a crazy time for everybody.

[Omar Zenhom]

For those who don't know, I started to get to know you through mutual friends, but we really got to know each other when you became my coach. And I never was a coach guy. Like I never really had a lot of coaches, read a lot of books, watched a lot of videos, had some mentors along the way. I would love to learn a little bit more about like who was like the first person that gave you this kind of feeling like maybe I can do something with my life. Who kind of influenced your life that was like a mentor or somebody that kind of just turned it on for you.

[Dan Martell]

Well, I mean there's two. There'd be two answers. The first person to ever spoke belief in me as a human was a guard named Brian. That was back when I was 17.

[Omar Zenhom]

Like a security guard?

[Dan Martell]

Yeah, like a prison guard.

[Omar Zenhom]

Oh, okay.

[Dan Martell]

Yes. Yeah. So, I mean a lot of people new to my story, I just made a series of bad decision as a teenager and just ended up in a lot of trouble. So, you know, to go from that conversation where at a time when I didn't even believe I deserved to breathe the air, having Brian share with me that, you know, he didn't understand why I was in prison was like a pivotal moment in my Life. And then honestly, I, like, I got out and I only had one strategy or one plan was to stay sober. Like, I just knew my life was a lot better if I wasn't using drugs, which luckily I was successful at, which is very rare. Like most people, the recidivism rate or even the relapse rate was really high. And then I started building companies at a very young age. Software specifically. I actually learned how to write code in rehab, which is kind of bananas. But it wasn't till I was 23 that I read a book that inspired me to get a coach. And that guy name was Bob, this crazy Canadian dude. It was funny because I didn't have any money. Like, I had, I think I had like five grand in my bank account. He was 1500 bucks a month US. And I figured it was a year commitment. And my, my math was, well, if he's so good, yeah, he'll teach me how to make money, get a roi. So I had two months worth of money to pay him. So I was like, let's get to work.

[Omar Zenhom]

This is not financial advice.

[Dan Martell]

Yeah, not financial advice, but it was beautiful in the sense that I showed up to those calls going, I need to get some return. So he always laughed. I mean, I went from two failed companies, 17, 19, try to. I went consulting for a while, tried again at 23. So at 24, started my third company. And in the first year, Bob showed me how to. To build a business. And we did almost a million in revenue. 960,000 in 12 months.

[Omar Zenhom]

Wow.

[Dan Martell]

So obviously the ROI was massive, but I think there was just also perfect timing for who I was at the time. Like, I was just so hungry and dedicated and I just, I just looked at it as like if I would have kept doing the thing I was doing and expecting different results. That's the definition of insanity. So the only thing that hadn't done up to that point was hire somebody to help me.

[Omar Zenhom]

What do you think you did that helped you succeed with Bob?

[Dan Martell]

I did everything he told me to do. I did not argue with him. Trust me, as a coach today, that is unfortunately, the byproduct. Sometimes the people you help, they're like, oh, but I'm a special snowflake. I'm like, no, you're not. But it won't work for me. Yes, it will. You know, so, like, what happens because it was such a large part of my money saved that I only have one option is to follow everything he tells me. So I call it model. Then once I learned how it Worked then I could modify. So, like, the first thing he ever got me to do was to write my eulogy. I mean, today you hear it, like, begin with the end in mind, right? 7 Habits of Highly Effective people. And first thing he made me do is, like, fast forward to, you know, I'm now in the casket, and there's people getting on stage, talking about my life from different aspects, from my impact to my business, my community, to my family. And what would I like for them to say? And with that, North Star, all right, now we build a business. But that was the first thing he got me to do. And I just think that I had such agency, like, I call it, like, zero knowing, doing gap. As soon as he told me to do so. Sometimes I'd want to hang up the call 20 minutes it. Because I was like, I gotta go do that. And he's like, calm down, Dan. Just like, let's finish the concepts. And then, you know, I would just execute, like, nobody's business. And he. And he tells people, like, it's. I was one of his favorite clients because, like, I didn't. I didn't question him. I didn't argue with him. I just. If he taught me how to do something, I just went and ferociously executed. And I think that pattern and that muscle I developed is the reason why I ended up, you know, exiting that company four years later and became a multimillionaire.

[Omar Zenhom]

I'm gonna dig a little because I know people that are watching and listening are gonna be like, like, okay, great. How do I find my Bob? Like, how did you find Bob?

[Dan Martell]

Well, I read a book and went on the Internet, and I searched the title plus coach, But I don't even tell people to do that now because, again, I don't. Like you said, it's not financial advice. Like, if you got five grand in savings, you shouldn't spend all of it on a coach. Or maybe you should. I don't know. Like, I also don't want to stop people from, like, you know, whipping that football down the field and pulling a Hail Mary if they feel inclined to do so. But I just think there's mentors all around us.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

You know, so after I understood the value of mentorship or advice from other people. Because that's the difference, right? A book. A book's beautiful because for $20, you can literally get 20 years of experience.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

Like, that's in. Like, there's no better trade, period. Full stop. The challenge with a book is that I then have to interpret what I'm Reading to apply it to my life. So I'm the translator of the content to map to the context, which is tough because, you know, I mean, how many times have you reread a book and it's like you've never read it because who you are today is not who you were. So there's this loss in translation thing that can happen. Whereas with a coach, they do that translation for you. They map the content, their strategies to your context, your situation, so that it hits harder, it works better. And that's where like a mentor, even if you're not paying for them, you know, finding them, finding somebody that's been to where you want to be is a key thing. I always say that, you know, mentors are people you turn to instead of your parents when you have big life decisions. Yeah, because if I turn to my parents, I'm going to get the same life as they have. And if I aspire to live a bigger life than my parents, it's actually a flawed strategy for me to turn to them because they're going to give me the advice that they would do, which is going to get me the results they got.

[Omar Zenhom]

Right.

[Dan Martell]

Which kind of doesn't make sense. So where I look for mentors is nonprofit boards. It's my favorite place every single time, dude. They're, they show you they're generous, they've got time, they're public, you know who they are. And most people make the mistake of trying to find some person on social media that they follow. I mean, I'm not your guy. Like hitting me up to ask me to go for coffee. Not gonna work. Whereas somebody that's a local, you know, ambassador for a certain non profit that's got experience, like you, they're doing well.

[Omar Zenhom]

Like they're, they're, they're all around us.

[Dan Martell]

And we don't even know they're right there. Those people have actually become some of the most influential people in my life. Right. And they're very successful. They're just not on Facebook, publishing or on LinkedIn. So mentors are all around. It's just you have to be a good mentee and most people don't know how to do that.

[Omar Zenhom]

That's incredible, man. And the reason why I was sold on SaaS Academy, which was the largest SaaS training program or training in the world. Yeah, in the world. And the reason we told about, we were talking beforehand, our mutual friend Rob. The reason why I was kind of sold on you before we talked was that you've already accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. Which was a successful exit with my SaaS. At the time, Webinar Ninja was trying to get over the hump. We were working really hard, but our churn was out of control. We just needed somebody who's been there before. And you built and sold three businesses. We were like, okay, this guy has talked the talk. I want to learn a little bit more about. Like, why did you decide to say, okay, I'm done with building my sasses. Maybe I'll do some investment. I'm not going to go into the grind of starting a, you know, a SaaS business, and I want to start helping other people find their exit. Talk to me about those days, those months of thinking about becoming a coach.

[Dan Martell]

It's. It's a fun question because I was anti coach for two years. Like, hated the term. It's funny, because coaches literally transformed my life. But I think just like real estate agents or social media experts, there's, like, a lot of noise in the signal.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah, sales.

[Dan Martell]

Yeah, sales. I mean, I just. So I never called myself a coach. What happened was, you know, I was just finishing up Clarity, so I exited that company. And I remember having my friend Martin Latulipe, who's like the French Tony Robbins, incredible speaker. He's like one of the youngest indoctrinated speaker hall of fame. Well, yeah, he's just. And he just happened to live, like, eight miles down the street from where I live. He was at my house having lunch, and he's the one that planted the seed. He. He was watching some of my YouTube stuff I was doing at the time. And he goes, have you ever thought of coaching? And I was like, no. He's like, I think you'd be really good at it. I go, it's not for me. Like, I'm a business builder. I'm an operator. And he planted the seed. And the only thing that I knew is I just didn't see the desire to spend an hour on a phone call every two weeks with somebody the way I had engaged coaches. Because I just, you know, I just feel like I can tell you what you need to do, then you got to actually go and do the work.

[Omar Zenhom]

So it could be also disappointing. It could be quite disheartening sometimes.

[Dan Martell]

Yeah. Just like, I just think sometimes people are going to move at their own pace, and that's totally fine. So actually, my first coaching thing I ever launched was a cohort, and it was, like 12 people. They were all. Most of them were my best friends. So literally four of my best friends, my wife, my brother, and six other people that have been following me at the time. Right. That was my first program I ever launched. It was for six months. I think I charged like 10K for, you know, 12 modules to this thing. And it was so rewarding, man. It was like seeing other people. And the group format made it really fun for me because it allowed me to like, teach and then also answer questions and then watch how. Because I always thought this with my coaches. At the time I was working with this lady who brought companies public. She was incredibly, you know, well known in the Silicon Valley space and like, you know, just successful. But I always joked I was like, I never met her clients.

[Omar Zenhom]

Right.

[Dan Martell]

And honestly, for me, and I mean, I feel like we resonate the same thing. Like we learn from other people.

[Omar Zenhom]

Totally.

[Dan Martell]

So why wouldn't you, you know, host the dinner and invite me to it and let me meet your other clients? Because we're all learning the same methodology and all of a sudden we can cross reference our notes and say, like, when she said this, how did you take that? So doing the group was actually transformative for me because that showed me that sometimes there's the content of what I'm teaching, but then the community is a big part of it.

[Omar Zenhom]

Like, you actually learn. This is my experience. Sometimes you learn more through other people's experiences. And watching you coach somebody else because you're not so self conscious when you're on the hot seat. Like, am I sounding stupid? What's happening?

[Dan Martell]

You won't even ask the question. Sometimes you're like, I'm not asking that question. Oh, I'm glad he did, you know, and I think that's the thing. It's like, oftentimes it's what's caught, not taught. It's not what I said, it's what somebody inferred. And then what's cool is even doing like a breakout session and have everybody write down their top three takeaways and share them with each other.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

So even orchestrating a group coaching structure is a skill I paid somebody to learn. So, like, I'm a big fan of investing in the thing I want to get great at. And then incorporating that into my events, into my coaching, into my sessions, I think has just been like the most beautiful skill. It turns out it's also a great thing to do with your teams. So the better of a coach I've gotten, the better I've been as a leader. It sounds crazy, but I'm learning how to develop people and that is the ultimate skill. Okay, we each owe 15 bucks.

[Omar Zenhom]

Can you cover me? Payday can't come soon enough. Haven't you heard? With goto bank, payday comes early. Plus no monthly fees with eligible direct.

[Dan Martell]

Deposits, which means more money for me.

[Omar Zenhom]

Wow, that sounds less like a bank and more like my new Go to.

[Dan Martell]

You don't need a big bank making you feel small. You need a go to tap to open a go to bank account today. Early direct deposit availability depends on payer type, timing, payment instructions, and bank fraud prevention measure. No monthly fees with eligible direct deposit. Otherwise $5 per month. Got a 7am meeting on a Monday expensing breakfast because it's in policy, wasting all afternoon submitting an expense report for that breakfast.

[Omar Zenhom]

If your company used ramp, you could.

[Dan Martell]

Submit expenses with just a text.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yay.

[Dan Martell]

Free your team from expense reports today. Switch your business to Ramp Dot.

[Omar Zenhom]

How was that? Like, transition? Obviously, you had to pick up some skills, even maybe just start thinking about your own identity differently. That transition from builder, put the product on the world, market it, you know, make sure that I'm making more than I'm spending, all that kind of stuff versus okay, now I got to build this coaching program now. And now I got to figure out these students. I got to know how to get a result.

[Dan Martell]

And it was tough. Yeah, I'll tell you why it was tough. This is the first time in my life that the thing I sold was me. Like, hey, man, webinar Ninja. It's a platform. Use it. You don't like it. Oh, that's too bad. The features don't work. Omar. Hiring Omar and you not wanting to work with me no more, that hurts my feelings. That's what I got. I got like, you know, the first time you do a call with somebody's interested, and it's like, yeah, I'm evaluating a few coaches, and you're like, ouch. You know, like, they're like, I decided to go a different route. So it was hard for me, I think, because I was used to selling a product, and now here I am trying to, like, sell me but not be salesy and not, you know, it was very interesting. And just even the marketing, like, I didn't want to lead because I think oftentimes we attract what we use to impress. And I'd watched a lot of these Internet gurus, right, that like, build these audience of folks that I would never want to coach because there's a bunch of people that are like, get rich quick or entitled or whatever, whatever their thing is, because they use those things to impress those people. They create A community of it. And I was like, I would be very upset if I had to coach those people. So I just kept leading with, like, strategies and knowledge and experience and stories and just trying to put my stuff out there. And it was hard to learn. I mean, literally learning how to tell a story about the worst stuff that's ever happened to you as a lesson to help somebody see a perspective differently, that's not easy. And just. Even the coach moniker, I put it off for two years, actually. You know Kyle Rackey from proposify?

[Omar Zenhom]

I've heard of proposify.

[Dan Martell]

Yeah. Yeah. So Kyle was a client, and he's the one man. He did a whole podcast called here's why My Coach is one of the Best Investment I ever Made. And he called me his coach. And I remember the day I was like, I should probably add that to my Twitter and my social media.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

And then I became a coach. And slowly I became really proud because I was actually working with a lot of incredible entrepreneurs. But, yeah, marketing was so weird because it's like, you're the product. And it took a while. It wasn't till I started building out a team where I felt like I was finding my zone of genius in regards to the business itself that it started to get really fun. But I mean, like, marketing and doing sales, like, dude, I do your sales.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah, yeah, I remember that.

[Dan Martell]

And it's just like, I just. Or even, like, when people would cancel or not renew, like, it would break my heart.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

So eventually I told the team, stop telling me. Like, if I find out later on that they didn't renew and we're at an event and they're just like, yeah, I really enjoyed working with you. And I'm like, oh, cool. Like, I just didn't want to know. I think the world will show you where you're not free.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

And those moments of feeling really awkward, putting myself out there and creating content, and, you know, it shaped me big time.

[Omar Zenhom]

So I'm going to share something that maybe I haven't told you. So I've been doing a couple of keynotes at SAS conferences, business conferences, last few months. Microconf. I spoke at dcbkk. And then they have a Q and A after that. And people ask me, okay, what was like, the pivotal moment for webinar ninjas trajectory? How did you guys get out of the grind and start growing and start hiring and start becoming a valuable to be acquired? And the answer is very shocking for people. And I said, I hire a coach. Dan, I mentioned you, of course, Dan Martello was my coach for a very long time. He gave me some tough love. He told me the truth and he asked me, like, real questions, some of the questions. I'm getting kind of emotional about it because I remember when you would ask me questions like, do you actually want this? Do you actually want to win, or are you just trying to, like, not lose? And I was just like, yeah, I guess I'm a little afraid of losing, you know, and I just kind of want to keep it going and not aspire for something bigger. And then you, you helped me break through that and you gave me some tough love that I needed. At the moment, I'm not sure if that's right for everybody. I need that because that's something that I really appreciate. When somebody tells me the honest truth. Tells me my numbers suck. When they suck, tells me, like, I'm not a good job with, with, with recruiting or the things I was struggling with. What was the response of that style with your clients? Do some people just eat it up and some people just can't take it?

[Dan Martell]

Oh, yeah. So it's interesting is I, I just believe, like, when you build an audience, right? Coaching clients, social media, audience followers, you know, and a big audience comes with big responsibility, essentially you can be well known and have zero influence. You know, it's like Fousey tube or whatever.

[Omar Zenhom]

Like there's a good one.

[Dan Martell]

Yeah, Like a lot of people watch, but it's a train wreck, right? Whereas, like, you know, the other streamers, like a Kai or Speed, which are, you know, these multimillion follower audiences, when they, when they do something, people pay attention, right? And I think that's, that's the responsibility. I've always thought to myself, if I'm going to have the privilege of getting that attention, I want to do right by it. And I had to be honest with myself that I couldn't hold back. I had to be a truth teller. And I'm telling you, it's the hardest thing to get okay with because you understand in that moment you may not be liked or you may be misunderstood. The way I resolved it, anytime I gave people tough love, was my intentions pure. My intentions are always, I see what you're capable of. I see the story you're telling yourself that's going to hold you back from that capable outcome. And I need to ask you, if you see it, and if you tell me you don't, I'm going to sell you on why you do. And then once you understand it and you see it for yourself, it's up to you. Like, sunlight sanitizes all things. All I did as a truth teller is bring things to the sunlight.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

I'm like, literally, stop hiding. You're hiding right now. You're playing entrepreneur. This is what excellence looks like. This is what it's going to ask of you. Do you want that? Oh, and by the way, I'll go first. Omar, I've never asked you to do anything. I've never told you to do anything that I haven't done, perfected, executed and been very incredibly consistent at. I just could never do that. I've never been a hypocrite. I can't. I can't stand fat life coaches. I can't stand broke business coaches. I can't stand. I just never wanted to be that person. And does my style not work for some people? A thousand percent. But does it cause me to lose sleep? Zero. Because my intention is always to be the biggest cheerleader for you. I just want everybody to win.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

And I know sometimes they need. Some people need to be shooken up, but I do. I've kicked people out of my program and said, go find somebody else to. Yeah, like, literally, here's a full refund. Go find another community. Go get involved in because somebody else is going to crescent coddle you. And you might like that. It's not what you need. Yeah, come back when you're ready.

[Omar Zenhom]

And a lot of people ask me like, okay, what did Dan. What hacks did he give you? Like, it wasn't like one little thing. Actually, the thing that you gave us that was the most valuable was systems. Like, that was the thing. It was so boring and it was so tedious to put these sops together and to train our team and to get our team to write the SOPs. And in the moment, you're like, what is this? But it made it so much easier for us to hire, so much easier.

[Dan Martell]

For us to train, scale, exit, all of it. I mean, at the end of the day, the playbooks is what makes the business valuable.

[Omar Zenhom]

I mean, the first thing when we went through due diligence, the proprofs Propos has acquired so many companies. Qualaroo. And the first thing they said to us is, like, your systems are impeccable.

[Dan Martell]

Yes.

[Omar Zenhom]

Like, this is so easy to acquire.

[Dan Martell]

Because I'm a proud dad.

[Omar Zenhom]

There you go.

[Dan Martell]

That is cool, dude.

[Omar Zenhom]

And it was so. Everything's documented. I mean, from commenting code, from, you know, how we deployed. Everything was just like so perfectly put together. Videos, documentation, everything. And we were like, people Were crazy. Like why are you wasting all this time? Like no, this is important and it really helped big time. I have a story I haven't shared with you about SAS Academy 2012. Nicole and I leave our teaching career. Both Nicole and I are teachers for over 10 years and we start our full time entrepreneurship career. She wanted to get into film. She went to New York Film Academy and I was kind of her part time slate video audio guy. And I was, I started business consulting firm. I built websites for people and that's kind of how I got my chops in full time entrepreneurship. I was like side hustling for a long time. Our first client, Nicole's first client was a hedge fund in New York and they wanted some sort of documentary style video to show off some sort of competition they're running. And we're like awesome. This guy is going to hire US$500 for this gig. It was like five videos and three days of shooting and whatever, 500 bucks a year later they like rehire us for like 3500. Eventually Nicole and I stopped doing the film work because we're focused on the hundred dollar MBA webinar ninja. We had to say no to everything and just focus on our businesses. 2020, I'm sitting at the table at SAS Academy, you know the roundtables you put together. And across the table is Tim Harrington, the guy that hired us for 500 bucks. And I was like, what the hell is this? I was like. And I was like in that moment was like, there's gotta be something going on here where Dan is attracting like minded people somehow. You know from battlefin?

[Dan Martell]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Omar Zenhom]

Tim is incredible. And we were laughing and we're having a great time at the table and people were like what's going on? Like, oh, we know each other way back, but different worlds, different lifetime, blah, blah. But do you, do you believe in some sort of power that brings you into the worlds of other people?

[Dan Martell]

Oh, a thousand percent. Here's what's interesting about life. The irony of it is that it makes complete sense looking backwards, but it has to be lived forward. And so all I've gotten really good at is just absolutely smiling in the perfection of what it is in the moment. That like I'm in Australia in your home, dude. Yeah, like it's kind of awesome. There's like a handful of people in the whole country I'm here to Visit and you're one of them. 0Surprise. 0Surprise that you came into my life. You supported the book when it launched that it's all perfect, right? Because like, I remember when I was training for my Ironman, it was literally around 2020 because Covid happened in the whole world shut down and the race got canceled. But I kept training for. Because we decided we're going to run our own unsupported race. And as I'm training for it, I get hit by a car. Okay, Cut off smashing the side of the car. It's all on the have video this. And that was bad. And then I kept training and then I end up cutting my heel wide open, my Achilles. And that was an issue. And I remember like everybody around me saying, maybe this is a sign, you know, maybe this is a sign that you should take it easy. People would say this, like, calm down, Dan. Maybe you're running too hot. Maybe you should chill out a little bit. And I got so mad, I was like, maybe this is actually exactly what I need to prepare me for what I'm about to go through. Maybe what I've been asking for. This is what gets me ready to receive. Maybe everything that's ever happened to me my whole life is going to prepare me for the moment where I can actually be ready for the challenge. It's going to be facing me and that it's not that I should stop or slow down. So when I think of like all the perfect, beautiful introductions, conversations, you know, even you were mentioning Rob earlier. I still remember when I was talking to him and Liam. And just like all these people have come into my life, I just believe all of it is just like perfect. But I think it's a response to your energy. I think that had I been different, I would attracted different people into my life. You know, when you go to those events that you talk to people, you can just trust the fact they're in this room. They're good people you don't meet. Like I said, you attract what you used to impress. I was always leading with my ideas. I wasn't leading with fancy cars and make a lot of money in six months. And you know, young hustler millionaire. I was like, hey, this is how you beat churn. This is how you build a go to market. Here's how revenue recognition works. Like just nerdy business concept. But the people that showed up were just like, I called them kind warriors. They were like kind people. They were willing to do the work. That's why I was never surprised when I would meet people and they'd be like, man, I met this guy and it's just like me and I'm like, yeah, that's kind of how it works. That's how community works, right? It's curated.

[Omar Zenhom]

Totally, totally. A few years ago, you wrote a book, one of my favorite books. Because I think people, I don't know if you have you trademarked, buy back your time.

[Dan Martell]

I don't have a trademark now.

[Omar Zenhom]

Okay. Because people talk about this phrase all the time and I'm like, well, I.

[Dan Martell]

Think people have been saying that word before I ever wrote a book about it.

[Omar Zenhom]

Okay. But I feel like you've made it.

[Dan Martell]

Oh, I brought it into the lexicon for sure.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah, totally. Yeah. So you wrote this book and it's a topic that is beyond like this idea of like, okay, outsource and you know, buy yourself some ready made meals. It's not life hacks. I think what people don't understand, and it takes a very long time for people to get this, especially people in a job, is your time is the most valuable asset. Like, you cannot make more time. Okay. The breath I just took is numbered and it could be my last. And it's definitely, you know, not going to increase over time.

[Dan Martell]

Limited.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. You obviously have the lens of business, you have the lens of life when it comes to like, hey, how do you take control of their most valuable asset? Again, how do you figure out a way for you to let money allow you to live a life that you want? But also how do you utilize your time in ways that light you up? While you launched this book, you actually did what you practiced what you preached and you started to transition out of being the guy that was doing everything in SAS Academy. I got really lucky. I told you this. I got really lucky. I got in. When you were doing the sales calls, you were doing the one on one calls and the checkups, you were doing the monthly calls with the group masterclasses, you were doing events on state teaching, probably 60 to 70%. You know, you get Patrick Campbell up there, but what, you know, but a couple speakers.

[Dan Martell]

Take some time with that on stage for two days.

[Omar Zenhom]

So were you feeling forced to be like, I got to do what I'm writing about or did the transition happened before you wrote the book?

[Dan Martell]

No, I mean, I've, I've been doing the buyback principle my whole life. I mean, I wrote a book about how I was able to scale companies, how I was able to live an integrated life, how I was able to, you know, really become the person. I mean, the premise is very simple. The world rewards those that create value. They don't reward those who work hard because the guy that built a cement wall works harder than I do. And unfortunately, the compensation I'm going to receive for what I do in a day is going to be a lot, a lot, a lot more than that person that built that wall. So if you.

[Omar Zenhom]

I just want to. I want to stop there for a second because some people might hear that and feel like, well, that's not fair. That's not. Whatever. And we're playing in a game called the marketplace.

[Dan Martell]

Yeah.

[Omar Zenhom]

And the marketplace right now values certain things, and you're either valuable in those things or you're not. Right. And there's obviously a spectrum, and you're. You're somewhere in between. Some people are becoming less and less valuable as days go by because of AI and all of the technologies happening every year. But that doesn't mean you're not valuable in society.

[Dan Martell]

Yeah. And that's a different value. Like, you can be. I can value your soul, but I'm not going to give you everything in my bank account. So, like, this is not a debate about, like, your humanity. This is about the size of problems you solve for other people, because that's what labor is. It's like you pay somebody to solve a problem for you, and somebody can clean your windows. That's one size problem versus fix your car when it's not running. So whether you like it or not, you get paid based on that. And at a certain point, you need to trade better, some capital to get some time back to go invest to be better. And that's what buy back your time at the core is about. It's, you know, until you get to a place where you have more income coming than time to, like, have to go be better and become the person, then that's the whole trade. And those are the time trades. And that's all I've gotten really good at. So even with SaaS Academy, you know, I remember when I mapped it out, I was like, I love to coach. Here's my thing. And I, in my book, I call it the production quadrant. Right. The drip matrix. So in the top right quadrant is production, which is. I like to create new frameworks and coach. Right. I don't like to repeat myself. And that comes from software. Anybody's written code. It's called dry. Do not repeat yourself. Yeah. So what I did is for a while, and the reason why it's like, I had to do the sales call to build frameworks to then hire a salesperson, and I did. Then I had to build a marketing program till I could afford to Hire somebody. And I did. And that's in my book. I called the replacement ladder. So if you look at the timeline of SaaS Academy, I was just executing the framework and then you came in right after like probably a month before. I handed off the sales calls and then I kept the coaching, but then I got rid of the onboarding. But you were already in by then. Right. And then I had to create the catalog of frameworks for growth, the videos.

[Omar Zenhom]

And all that stuff.

[Dan Martell]

And I knew there was about 350 because I, I broke down SaaS business into six components and then each one of them had like these three accelerators and like I knew what I had to build but it took time because I wasn't going to just like sit there and create them right away. I used the events and the monthly training sessions to create them with the vision I always knew to write a book because then the book would become the certification for the coaches that would then teach the methodology which just came out three months ago, called Software as a science.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

So like I knew where I was going to end up. It just, it just like everything, it takes time and it's been fun because like I honestly don't think I can think of another coach that started as a face of their company, still owns it and it continues to grow and they're no longer involved. Yeah, and I'm essentially the president on the board. Johnny's a CEO and the team runs it and it's incredible. We have incredible coaches, we monitor it and yeah, it's the largest event we've ever done and it's just, and it's beautiful. And the NPS scores are off the chart. So that's I'm proud of. But honestly like that's how I built my Martell Ventures. Like, you know, I've never stopped investing. And then I started buying software companies with Kevin at Big Ben Software. So he's my partner in the acquisition side and then Martell Ventures. We incubate software companies now. So I've always just done software. The coaching has just been my outlet for teaching. And then with the media stuff I'm doing now, that's just my version of amplifying that. Yeah, and that's, that's been the latest like new skill acquisition because I mean that's if you want to become more value, you got to go add skills that become valuable. Yeah, Communicating, persuading, leading yourself, dealing with your mindset, improving your belief systems. Those are all incredibly valuable skills because people like I mentor these 14 year old kids for free. It's my, my King's Club program. And like, I remember the first day I just taught them the simple concept of positive expectation versus negative expectation. Right? I was like, you got two people. Mr. Happy Face, Mr. Grumpy Face. Who do you want to help? Yep, Happy face. How about we just start with that simple premise of trying to be a happy person? And they were like, oh, I get it. Exactly. So right now you might be neutral because you're an introvert and you don't smile. I would encourage you to smile at every person you see for the next week. Build that happy face character, right? And then guess what? That's valuable because being a happy person on a team is actually valuable. Something I look for. And then you can add the skills to make yourself, like, actually create and be more productive. But I just think that is the essence of buying back your time is being a better time trader. Right? And now a credit building journey told.

[Omar Zenhom]

Through the majesty of music. Here's what your credit sounds like before using the GoToBank secured Visa credit card. But with the GoToBank secured Visa credit.

[Dan Martell]

Card, you can use your card for everyday purchases.

[Omar Zenhom]

And when you make on time payments.

[Dan Martell]

Your credit will start sounding like this. It's easy with no credit check, no annual fee, and credit limits starting as low as $100. Building your credit is easier with a.

[Omar Zenhom]

Go to in your corner. Open a goto bank account today. Fees, terms and conditions apply.

[Dan Martell]

See [e-mail] and we're back, folks. It looks like Jim from sales just got in from his client lunch and he's got receipts. His next meeting is in two minutes. The team is asking, can he get through his expenses in that time?

[Omar Zenhom]

He's going for it. Is that his phone?

[Dan Martell]

He's snapping a pick. He's texting Ramp. Jim is fast, but this is unheard of. That's it.

[Omar Zenhom]

He's done it.

[Dan Martell]

It's unbelievable. On ramp expenses are faster than ever. Just submit them with a text. Switch your business to ramp.com.

[Omar Zenhom]

I used your book when we sold Webinar Ninja. I went all in on Harambie and I wanted my life to be different because total transparency. I was working 16 hours a day with Webinar Ninja. I didn't prioritize my health. I didn't prioritize my relationships. I didn't prioritize what I love. I love to snowboard. I love travel. I was just putting that one day, one day, one day. And I saw this like, window of opportunity. It was like okay, now I can kind of shape this business the way I want. I went to your book and I thought, what are the things I want to do and only do? Right. And really it's just the content I want to teach because that's what I've been doing all my life. And we've built a team of whole around that. And that was really like such a small concept, but so powerful. We're just like, what do you like to do? Just do that and get everyone else to do everything. Like, I don't have to do all the other stuff.

[Dan Martell]

No.

[Omar Zenhom]

You know, especially when you have some capital, it's easy to kind of be like, okay, now I can do this and, and hire the best, by the way, like, it's so great to hire the best, to work with the best to. And it's just a great cheat code. Cheat code. But then you realize I actually am not good at this. Like, I thought, oh, I can't let somebody else do it. No, they're better.

[Dan Martell]

Most people don't realize that to be great at something is to actually communicate how it works. Like, you know, Tom Clancy.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

Okay. So he just came out with a best selling book called like, you know, Defense Protocol or something. Last month, bestseller, Easy, Hunt of Red October, Patriot Games, a lot of the video games, Rainbow Six, all that stuff.

[Omar Zenhom]

The Amazon, Amazon show, that's really popular.

[Dan Martell]

Yeah, yeah. Jack Ryan. Okay. He died in 2013. So most people don't even realize that you can be an artist and create a process for creating your art. And after your time here on Earth, it continues to pay massive dividends.

[Omar Zenhom]

Wow.

[Dan Martell]

So explain me that people that think you're a magic snowflake, that nobody else can do the thing you can do, it can be done. And I use those examples. Or the Warhol, the Factory. So Andy Warhol, he created art, but he had a whole team of people that supported him because he knew that his favorite part of it was the ideation or Steve Jobs with Johnny Ives, where he would just be like, look, I want you guys to tell me what the state of the art of the hardware looks like and let me try to figure out how that's going to be applied where this like, human interaction meets innovation and technology. And that was the fun part for him to go into the design studio to like play around with these pieces of hardware and interface design. But he wasn't sitting there at a routing machine. Right, right. He got to collaborate. And I just think, like, when you give yourself permission to really go all in on the thing I mean, Mr. Beast is probably the modern day example of this. And you see it he talks about all the time. He's like, I just have a bunch of clones and they follow me around and they help me do stuff until they get good enough to do it without me having to be involved. And then they take it off my plate. And he literally says, this is how I built, you know, Beast films. It's like I just kept throwing stuff over my shoulder until the person could catch it and do it. And it worked. And then all of a sudden, now he has the largest YouTube channel and the biggest, you know, he just did Beast Games. It's like.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

I mean, I just think that it, that's how it's always been. It's just, I guess nobody ever talked about it. And a lot of people, unfortunately they did it, but they didn't know they were doing it.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

And I just codify things. I'm a principals teacher. I like.

[Omar Zenhom]

Right.

[Dan Martell]

I don't even want to talk about like the steps per se. I want to talk about the principle behind the steps so that you can apply it to the different areas. Life.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

And it makes it more fun. And the coolest part about that, Omar, is you'll do this for the rest of your life because you enjoy it and anytime.

[Omar Zenhom]

That's the coolest part.

[Dan Martell]

Dude, my Martel media is me doing what I love to do in a way that I'll never have to not do it because I enjoy doing it. And if I, if there's any aspect of it that I don't enjoy doing it, I don't mind giving it up to somebody else because even if I could do it better, my dispassionate version of it will never beat an upand cominging, passionate version of it from somebody else. You know what I'm saying?

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

Like, I might be able to edit better today, but my lack of desire to do it and it feels like a grind. Somebody else. Dude, your energy that you used to create the thing is felt by the viewer.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

The energy, the book, the reason why the book did so well. Dude, I poured my heart into it. Every word, every comma, every sentence. It rewrote it three times. It's like I knew I was writing it for. I knew that I wanted it to hit the right way. And that energy I put into it, I think was felt by the reader. And I just consider that always the ultimate form of expression in art is just if you don't love doing it anymore, you're better off finding somebody Else that is like super, like still nerdy about it. Right. Like they're just like still in that off phase.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

And mentor them and give them those pieces and then just, you know, collaborate. I think. I think co creating with other people is like my favorite thing about business.

[Omar Zenhom]

The co creating is great, but also this concept of like, who's the best in the game. Like, the people that I admire most did this. Like I'm an, you know, unashamed big, big Michael Jackson fan. And Thriller is the best selling album of all time because the producer is Quincy Jones. The guy has the Midas touch. Everything he does is amazing. You know, Rest in Peace just passed away. You know, you look at all the great athletes, they have great coaches, they have people that are helping them and they've done it because for. And for some reason we want to have this badge of honor of like, I did it myself, you know, and I was talking about this assassin at microconf that I'm not a big fan of this narrative that's happening on X where everybody's just feeling so proud of themselves of, you know, I'm doing, you know, 500K ARR. And I'm a solopreneur and I've built this software by myself and I do the coding at night and I do the marketing by day. It's like, there's nothing to be proud of, bro. You're doing this on hard mode. Like, why are you doing this? You know? And I'm sure you've seen it as a coach, but do you think it's. I personally think it's fear. I think it's. You're. You're scared to kind of get people involved in your world. What do you think the reason why people just want to kind of like, I'm going to plow through the valley by myself.

[Dan Martell]

Well, I know personally I used to think that. So back when I started my first company, my first successful company, I hired my coach, Bob, and we did pretty well. A couple years in, we got to a new plateau and I hired a different guy. Stu. And Stu I met through my dad. My dad worked at Siemens, Westinghouse. So like big fortune, whatever, 500. And Stu is like a consultant that they brought in that lived in another city. But then I kind of reached out to him because I was in a tough spot. I remember I was talking to stuff and I was running into a negotiation issue around IP ownership with a massive company we're doing some software stuff for.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

And he goes, why don't you call your Dad. I go, why would I call my dad? And he goes, dan, your dad's one of the best business minds I've ever interacted with in my whole career. What are you talking about? And I was like, my dad. He's like, yeah. I go, nah, we're not calling my dad. Let's. Let's figure this out, you and I. He's like, why? I say, well, I want to do it on my own, dude. You want to know where my tough love comes from? People like Stu in my life, he said, that is the dumbest thing you've ever said to me. And I'll tell you why. He goes, you have access to somebody that cares a lot about you, that would actually put the time aside to meet with you to teach you what I know. He has the answer. I've seen him do this. The thing you need help with right now, he literally knows how. And your ego is in the way of getting that help. So do you care more about doing this on your own or winning and doing it for your team? Which one is gonna win right now? And I said, I'll go call my dad. And I remember two things.

[Omar Zenhom]

That's a friend for life.

[Dan Martell]

My dad never been more excited to receive a call from me. And two gave me the answer in 30 seconds that I needed to hear. I didn't even understand how these clauses work.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

And that's when I realized, like. Like, I'm going to take advantage of everything I've been given. That's why it's funny. Like, I have a lot of friends that are really close to me, and they never ask me for advice.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

It's not because they. They're like, oh, Dan's a coach. He gets paid. I'm not going to take advantage of it. Like, I want to. If you're my friend, I want to help you. I don't. You don't need to be in my program or anything. And I think it's just their fear of success. So I know why people don't do it, because they literally are scared of how successful. Most people think it's fear of failure. I actually think it's fear of success.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

I think there's something you believe about being successful that you. That scares you. Right? Some. Some. Some negative belief. And that is showing up in your life today in the form of sabotage, telling yourself, I gotta do it all myself. You're silly. Because if you had that time back, you could go be way more productive doing the thing that made you more money to accelerate your path to that future vision. But you have a belief about what that means. And it could be. The belief is that if I have other people that help and they take the credit, then nobody's gonna believe that I'm as good as I. Which comes from a place of insecurity. Let's talk about that.

[Omar Zenhom]

I was shaking my head there because you told me that on a call. You told me, you're afraid of success. You had this concept of, you won't grow into pain.

[Dan Martell]

Nope.

[Omar Zenhom]

And I didn't get it for a while, but once I got it, you know, my parents didn't come from money. My parents are immigrants from Egypt. Came to the US had to really learn the language. My mom was a elevator operator until she got her degree. She worked hard. My dad worked hard. My dad was in sales. Great, great parents. They were never ahead with money. We never had a lot of money. Growing up, I was lucky enough to be in a home that I didn't really feel poor, but we were poor. And I think deep down, I realized when you told me that after a long walk with Nicole, that I think I'm afraid I'm gonna screw up being rich. Because I've never had money to deal with it, you know, always kind of just kind of went month to month or whatever, okay, we're doing all right now. But never, never had to worry about how to invest or how to, you.

[Dan Martell]

Know, yeah, what if I get a big windfall? Everybody knows, and I lose it? Yeah, those are all real fears. I literally think that whatever your goal is, you either have limiting beliefs or negative beliefs. The limiting beliefs are about your abilities. The negative beliefs are about the people that have achieved. So if you think about just the concept of being rich and you have a negative belief of rich people being selfish, how hard are you going to fight to go be rich if you think rich people are selfish? What if you think that rich people don't pay taxes? What do you think that rich people are. Are compensating for something? Or what if you think that, you know, whatever, like, you just. Or that I'm going to lose it or that I won't know how to manage my money or whatever it is. But what. Again, I'd like to make a list of that stuff and bring it to the surface so I can evaluate it and be honest. See, a lot of people, it's fear of failure, fear of judgment, or fear of success. And most people are so capable and they know their light is so powerful if they allowed themselves to shine it, that it scares Them to even think about what that could look like. Even with social media. People listen to this podcast and they're like, man, I'd love to have a podcast.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

But then they're worried, well, what if I was massively successful and now all of a sudden I'm getting fake accounts made up of me?

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

Asking people to invest in, dude. I mean, non stop, like these, these are the things, but some people have these, these fears. What if I accidentally say something that was a private conversation, but now it's on my pod and it's public and then the person hears it and they get mad at me? Again, all real concerns.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

But at the end of the day, your fear of success is the thing you have to go work on. So I say the world will show you where you're not free. Your insecurity about being successful is the work to go do.

[Omar Zenhom]

I think what helped me a lot was I had a chat with my sister Mona. She's. We're close growing up. She's my older sister. I have two older sisters and. But we were closer in age. She said to me, you're already successful. What are you talking about? Like, you know, I talked to my friends about you. They're like, brother's like a big podcaster, blah, blah, like, like that ship has passed. Like, you know, like, what are you afraid of? And I was just like, oh, I never thought about that. Like, I've already done better than my parents already. Kind of from a financial point of view, from a, from a business point of view, like impact. Yeah. And. And that kind of helped me along with your advice. I haven't seen you in four and a half years. And when you walk through my door, I was like, dude, this guy looks great.

[Dan Martell]

Thanks, man.

[Omar Zenhom]

This guy looks great. I want to talk about, you know, your transformation in terms of prioritizing your health, prioritizing your fitness, prioritizing. What was kind of that moment where you're just like, I gotta, I gotta take this seriously. And why? Because you weren't unhealthy when I saw you?

[Dan Martell]

No.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

No, I mean, I was, I was doing CrossFit back then. I was running. I just wasn't disciplined. I lied to myself, man. I lied to myself about, like, you know, at the time, you know, I would have been 40 and like, I had young family. And yeah, like, I wasn't fat, but I was, I was chubby. I was like, you know what I mean? I was carrying some extra weight. And what happened was just this like, realization that I don't look the way I feel. I hope people understand this is like. And I don't look the way I should for the amount of effort. Workout every day. I call sweat every day. You know, I was doing Ironmans, I was doing races to try to keep the weight down. I'd eat like crap, right? But if you're doing triathlons, like, you're literally burning extra 2,000 calories a day, so you can like kind of be a little loosey goosey with your meal. And I remember just getting to a point where for me, everything in life is like, who do I need to become to achieve the next level? It's, it's not how do I do it? It's who do I need to be? Because I believe we don't create success. We attract success by becoming an attractive person that pulls that. Like, and I knew I needed the energy, I needed the physicality, I needed, I needed the presence. Like, if I really want a shot at communicating to young people to like, they, they can't look at me and go like, oh, that's just a dad, right? Like, it needs, there needs to be kind of a thing. And I'm hanging out with a bunch of guys on the media team that are all like bodybuilders and stuff. So I went all in, man. I made a 90 day commitment to have visible abs. I didn't know how to do it. It was a whole thing we documented on my YouTube channel. And I went from, you know, 17 body fat, which is not crazy, down to 4%, like full cut, like full progressive overload, macro based nutrition. And it's a year later and I'm the same, like, same effort. I work out every day. Bicep veins is a McLaren of the body. I say so like, you know, just, it just become culture. It's just. Yeah, I'm unapologetic about it because I went for so long lying to myself.

[Omar Zenhom]

So sell it to the listeners. Like, what benefits outside of looking good?

[Dan Martell]

Oh, health is wealth. Like, if you. I call it quiet confidence. Like a lot of guys that I help, like with their macros or their progressive overload, their training style once they, they get lean and ripped. And I'm talking like, like not good for your age. I'm talking like undeniably different than the rest of the population. You just don't have to say anything. You see it in somebody's face, you see it in their presence. And it's just like, that comes with a ton of other things, right? Your confidence goes up. Most people don't have the money they want, not because they're not skillful. It's because they don't feel they deserve it. You don't get what you think you deserve. You get what you think you're worth. And if you're not willing to fight it because you don't keep the commitments you make to yourself, you're lying to yourself.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

And I know when I say that, I trigger people. Good. Dude. If my truth shows people where they've been living a lie, that's what I'm here for. And I used to live that lie. I used to use races as a way to keep my fitness in check. Or, like, you know, I don't need to use fitness food as a way to comfort myself anymore. Right. Like, I'm doing a whole day of media. I got meal prep in the car. Food is fuel. I want to use it because, like, I didn't know that. Micronutrients is how you feel. Macronutrition is how you look. Calories is how much you weigh. Well, once I learned that, I was like, okay, well, how I look is macros. What do I need to change my macros? Well, I mean, the whole thing, right? And like, carb loading and cutting your fats and all this stuff, it's just most people don't even track their food.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

And then they have all these beliefs again. What's the belief? Well, life would be boring. My life isn't anything but boring. It doesn't mean I don't have the opportunity to go have a fun meal. I just don't do it every day. The energy is off the charts. The influence, man. You know, like most kids, I mean, the truth is, is the biggest abuse to a child is an unlived dream of a parent.

[Omar Zenhom]

Wow.

[Dan Martell]

That's facts. And that one's really going to get people going. But it has to be said, man, like, the amount of parents that I see come and drop their kids off at Kings Club, and they drop them in and they say, you know, it's 100 kids max out, sells out every time. And I mentor these kids. Parents aren't allowed in the room, and they wait outside and I watch them essentially, like, please go listen to this person.

[Omar Zenhom]

Right?

[Dan Martell]

Because I can't. I didn't do the thing. I know he's going to teach you, and I would love that for you. So please go listen to this person. I want to freaking grab all the parents and put them in a headlock and say, hey, it's time for you guys to step up. It's not too late. Zero too late. Yeah, dude, I know. Like, what's fun about being here is 20 years ago, I was here 20 years ago as a broke backpacker traveling around Australia.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

Today I fly around on my jet and, like, have a beautiful life 20 years from now, man. What's that gonna look like 20 years from that? Like, I just think that people, even if you're six years old, you can transform your life in six months. Thousand days at most.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

A thousand days. You know, this hundred million or a hundred dollar mba and. And a thousand days of consistency. Totally, dude. It took me 90 days to transform my body.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

I documented the whole thing. It's all on YouTube. I share it all. It's all free.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah. One of my favorite tips from Scott Adams, one of his books, is just show up to the gym every day. That's all you got to do. Just walk through the doors. Because once you're through the doors, I'll do a few reps. Okay. I want to get on the treadmill, like, whatever. But what I found in terms of exercising every day is that it's such a huge confidence builder because you learn that you're not breaking promises to yourself.

[Dan Martell]

Dude. That is how confidence is built. Keeping the commitments you make to yourself in private.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

Period. Full stop. Yesterday was one of those gym days.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

I went in the gym. I literally looked at Sam, who's traveling with me, and I said, no part of me wants to be here. Today we do the work.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

Today is the day I actually earn the confidence because there's no part of me that wants to be there. The days I want to be there. That's easy. Okay. I land after a 16 hour flight, and I know to reset my body. Going to the gym is an incredible habit. And I just had to get through the front door. 23 minutes later, I'm laughing at how good I feel. Literally, I'm like, prioritize the pump, man. Pump cures all. Like, just getting that exercise in changed my whole energy. And that's why happy face, grumpy face. Like, these are very simple concepts. And it teaches you so much so it costs nothing really to work out. You can do air squats and push ups and sit ups. You don't have to go to gym, but if you go to gym, you should. And that skill set of learning to dial in your nutrition, you know, going to the gym deferred gratification. Like, it doesn't matter where you're at in your life, getting your fitness and your health in Check is a beautiful foundation for success, period, Full stop. And it's something you can control. You can't control the weather, you can't control the news. You can't control politics, can't control anything. You can control what you put in your mouth and what you do with your body. And it can start right now. And a diet can be started halfway through a bag of chips.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah. I remember vividly when things were challenging at Webinar Ninja, and I was going through some tough times, and I had to make some tough decisions. The gym was like my retreat because it gave me a chance to, one, be in my own head, listen to my books, you know, do that kind of stuff. But also it gave me a chance to feel like I can control something, like I have full control over this. And in business, sometimes there's a lot of things out of your control, you know, and sometimes you don't make the right decisions, and you feel like, oh, why did that happen? All that kind of stuff. But the gym is kind of a constant. You can always go back to. And it's kind of almost like a. I don't want to offend anybody, but it's a bit of like a temple where you get to have some form of meditation where you're just like. And everybody. Do you like. Like you said, find your thing, what. Maybe whatever it is, maybe it's.

[Dan Martell]

You know, there was a quote at the gym yesterday on the wall, and I. I shared it on Instagram, and it said, there's. There's no amount of hurt the iron can't cure. And I was just like, yes, that is great. Like, no amount of hurt or no amount of hurt the iron can't heal. Right. And it is. That. Is. That. Is that mental place for people to go. Because I think about it, like, in the moment where you want to stop doing that rep and you do one more.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

You just. You just taught yourself something beautiful.

[Omar Zenhom]

Huge.

[Dan Martell]

Yeah. And again, it's just. It's so subtle, yet so impactful. And then you walk around with this quiet confidence.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

You don't have to say anything. You're proud of yourself. You woke up and you went to the gym in the morning or at noon to reset your energy for the afternoon when, you know most people didn't. You don't have to say anything. You walk into that meeting, notebook out, ready to go.

[Omar Zenhom]

I'm winning already.

[Dan Martell]

Yeah, you won the day, man. It's just like, that's been the unlock for me, is bringing that level of quiet confidence into every aspect of my life, especially as a content creator. I think creating content is the ultimate personal development program. Dude, you want to find where your demons hide, Go grab your phone and start talking to it and post it on your Facebook.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

You want to see what the world will talk about when you start sharing your ideas and you want to read those comments, you will learn more about yourself creating content than going to therapy.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah. What hurts, what doesn't.

[Dan Martell]

All that. Dude, you'll find things that you didn't even know about the way you look or sound, that. That other people will clearly communicate. And you're just like, wow, that one was tough. But I think in that place of intention of trying to help other people.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

Like you will find yourself.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

Like, I've become more Dan the more I've created content because the only way to do it and for it to resonate is just allow yourself to be you through the camera. There can't. You can't wear a mask.

[Omar Zenhom]

Especially when you're doing consistently. There's no way, zero chance. Yeah.

[Dan Martell]

Because then, then, then you're always like, you're stressed out. And it's just like, oh, I didn't. I didn't have the energy. It's like, no, just be you. Right. Everybody is really great at being themselves. It's the thing you can be the best at and, you know, bring everything to you. And I think it's just a great personal development program where you just do the work.

[Omar Zenhom]

I want to share with you something before we wrap up. I'm a huge basketball nerd. I love basketball. I've been. It's the through line of my whole life. Play basketball. My life.

[Dan Martell]

It's good. You're so tall. I'd be sad for yeah. Basketball industry if you didn't play.

[Omar Zenhom]

It doesn't play. I'm like, oh, we could use you. I believe it's very controversial. I don't know why it's controversial, but I believe Michael Jordan's the best player of all time. I think he's the goat. It's not even debatable if you know, you know, if you've seen him play, the dude just took over. You know, you couldn't do anything about it. But Jordan didn't become Jordan until 91, when he won your first championship. 91. He won his first championship. And it was a couple years after Phil Jackson joined the Bull. And Phil Jackson is known as one of the best coaches, if not the best coach of all time. 11 rings. Coach Kobe, you know, crazy guy's unbelievable. Zen master and the reason why Jordan didn't win a championship without Phil Jackson as coach was because he wanted to do it all himself. He was dropping 55 a game. He was dropping 60s in the playoff. Still losing, can't get to the finals. And then Phil Jackson taught him to trust his teammates. You got to trust your teammates. You got to be able to delegate. You got to be able to pass the ball. You got to be able to get them involved early. Don't just forget about them. And that's what got him over the hump. He, in 91, he won his first championship. 20, 92, 93, the first three peat. And for me, those are the best years of Jordan because he was just fresh out of learning from his coach, learning how to make it happen. And another thing you may not know about me, I'm a huge, A little bit of a sneaker head. I love sneakers. So as a, as a new tradition, I wanted to get you something. And as one of my coaches that has helped me throughout my time and my Phil Jackson. And I call myself Jordan here, but my Phil Jackson, I got you a little something. So these are some very special Jordans.

[Dan Martell]

How did you. Did you know about this?

[Omar Zenhom]

These are some special, special Jordans.

[Dan Martell]

Dude, I don't have a pair of Jordans.

[Omar Zenhom]

Gotta open these up. These are special.

[Dan Martell]

This is gonna be my first pair.

[Omar Zenhom]

So first of all, like, did you.

[Dan Martell]

Do you know my size?

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah, Renee told me.

[Dan Martell]

Come on, come on.

[Omar Zenhom]

So, dude, so these Jordans are. There's, there's a part of the 91, 92, 93 championship. The sneaker he wore in those championships.

[Dan Martell]

That's really kind of you, man.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yeah, and I love them because.

[Dan Martell]

Oh, man, they.

[Omar Zenhom]

They did. That's what started all for him, dude.

[Dan Martell]

I heard it was funny this morning. I was watching a tick tock and some guy was asking, he was talking, he was talking to Jordan and he asked the question. He said, you know, who would, who would have won the, you know, the Bulls of back in the day or the Lakers of today? And he goes, that'd be a tough one. I mean, probably the lake, you know, probably us. But only, only by a couple points. He's like, really? He goes, yeah. I mean, most of us are retired.

[Omar Zenhom]

I believe.

[Dan Martell]

I know. And I was just like that confidence. Yeah. I was like, dude, that's why you look at his mental capacity in movies. There is a documentary. That's what. Dude, this is an honor. Thank you so much.

[Omar Zenhom]

Thank you. And thanks, man, for just the friendship and the mentorship throughout the years. I. I do think that we live in a world that's very small and I feel like we've been lucky enough to get to know each other over the years, but I do feel like there were some forces that helped us get to know each other and I'm really grateful for those that that force.

[Dan Martell]

So am I, brother.

[Omar Zenhom]

Thanks.

[Dan Martell]

Appreciate it. That's cool. Thanks Omar.

[Omar Zenhom]

I hope you love this conversation with Dan Martell as much as I did. He's not only a successful entrepreneur in my book, but he's also one of the most down to earth, curious, giving people. I know he's not only a friend or a mentor, but he's an inspiration. His story is proof that anyone can turn things around in their life and achieve great things if you have the right mindset and the guidance along the way. If you enjoyed this episode and you want to learn more from Dan Martell, head on over to his website danmartel with 2L's com and you can grab his book Buy Back youk Time. It's one of the best investments you can make in your growth because it shows you how through his buyback principle, which is the principle in his book how to scale yourself and spend your time on what matters most to your business and your life. You can also check out everything else he offers on YouTube and his podcast [e-mail] thank you so much for watching or listening to this episode of the $100 MBA show. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't just keep it to yourself. Share it with a friend, with a family member. Send a text message, a WhatsApp app, a messenger, put it on social media, send them an email, tell them over dinner, whatever you want to do. The point here is, is that share this episode so others can grow just like you just grew in this episode. I'll see you in the next one. Take care.

[Dan Martell]

That'll be 5287. Oh no. Do I have enough in my bank account to cover that? Oh please, have enough. Okay, here we go. Does this panic at the register sound familiar? We've all been there. Thankfully Gotobank's got you covered. That's right. You can get up to $200 in overdraft protection when you use your debit card from Goto Bank. Because when you need backup the most, your go to's got you tap to open an account today. Opt in required for overdraft protection fees. Terms and conditions apply.