Podcast Summary: "Stop the Slow Decline: Todd Hagopian on Turnarounds, Productivity Multipliers, and Winning with Focus"

Podcast: The Amazing Authorities Podcast
Host: Mitch Carson
Guest: Todd Hagopian
Date: December 22, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode features Todd Hagopian—turnaround executive, productivity expert, and author. The conversation centers on fighting stagnation in business, multiplying team productivity, using AI and the “80/20 squared” principle, and ultimately rethinking how leaders (and individuals) can maximize their results through focus and prioritization. Todd shares actionable frameworks and memorable philosophies that apply as much to business as to life and relationships.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Declaring War on Stagnation

• Todd’s Mission: Todd positions himself against “stagnation” in companies—helping organizations avoid slow decline before they hit a crisis.
  • “The tagline for the website and everything is declare war on stagnation.” (01:31, Todd Hagopian)
• Market Breakdown:
  • 10% of companies = growth mode, want growth consultants
  • 10% = crisis mode, want crisis consultants
  • 80% = stuck in stagnation, slow decline, often ignored by specialized consultants
  • “If you catch it in this slow burn and you turn it, you can hockey stick this thing.” (02:48, Todd Hagopian)
• Intervention Impact: Catching companies before a full-blown crisis results in easier, more profitable turnarounds.

2. AI’s Role: Productivity, Not Just Replacement

• AI as Productivity Multiplier:
  • The biggest impact of AI is making those who learn and use it more productive, not just replacing jobs.
  • “The people who can use AI to become more productive…are going to be the ones that catapult forward.” (03:56, Todd Hagopian)
• Organizational Leverage: AI allows “multipliers” to drive productivity for entire divisions or organizations.

3. The 80/20 Squared Principle (4% Rule)

• Evolution from 80/20:
  • Todd discusses going beyond Pareto’s Principle (20% of input delivers 80% of results) by focusing not just on the top 20%, but the top 20% of the top 20% (the “4%”).
  • “You take the top 20% and then you do it again and you do the 8020 up the top 20%.” (05:26, Todd Hagopian)
• Execution: Segmenting customers/products into quadrants/quartiles, with tailored strategies for each. Devote effort to the highest value combinations (“A customers” buying “A products”).
• Results: This intensified focus can yield transformative business growth and makes the difference between incremental progress and “hockey stick” breakthroughs.

4. The “Make More Money Every Minute” Framework

• Mantra for Teams:
  • “Make as much money as you can every minute of the day. That’s what we always say. Every day we say it.” (08:36, Todd Hagopian)
• Universal Applicability: Initially a profit-driven mantra, but can be applied to personal missions (helping others, kindness, fitness, relationships).
• Prioritization in Action:
  • The “raise your hand” rule: if employees are asked to work on tasks outside the top strategic priorities, they must challenge and justify these requests.
  • Calendar review is central—if it’s not on the calendar, it’s not a priority.

5. Translating Profit Focus to Other Areas

• Extension to Life:
  • The framework is relevant beyond revenue—it can drive writing, service, relationships, and more.
  • “You want to change as many lives as you can every minute of the day, then look at your calendar, because your calendar doesn’t lie.” (10:44, Todd Hagopian)
• Key Lesson: Monitor and adjust how time is spent—productivity derives from alignment between time usage and ultimate goals.

6. Engineering & Organizational Prioritization

• Engineering as Revenue Driver:
  • Prioritizing engineering projects is critical; only focus on those that generate revenue now or in the near future.
  • “Your engineers will drive your revenue... Engineering prioritization is a bear. It sucks for three months… but once you get it down, all you do is make money.” (12:45, Todd Hagopian)
• Backlog Management:
  • Only work on top 10 priorities; lower-priority requests (“number 65”) don’t get attention or resources.

7. Personal Productivity Tactics

• Email Management:
  • Todd is highly selective, scanning emails and only addressing those tied to his defined top priorities, leaving “20,000 unread emails” as a badge of focus. (15:07, Todd Hagopian)
  • “I will only read them if I believe they’re in my 80/20 squared.”
• The Corellin Method:
  • Productivity = Activity x Efficiency x Focus.
  • Shifting majority of effort towards “the 4%” multiplies results by as much as 600%.
  • “If I take you and instead of eight hours a week on the top 4%, you’re spending 48 hours a week on the top 4%, you’re going to be 600% more productive.” (16:23, Todd Hagopian)
• Autonomy:
  • Outsource, automate, or eliminate everything except tasks only you can do.

8. Talent and Team Strategy

• Payroll Philosophy:
  • Payroll is the organization’s biggest expense—and greatest asset.
  • “We don’t try to lower that line item... What we try and do is—the no backfill rule.” (18:39, Todd Hagopian)
• No Backfill Rule:
  • When someone leaves, don’t simply replace them; reorganize teams, install “multipliers” who increase the output of others, and only add headcount where leverage is maximized.
• Change Management:
  • In turnarounds, loss of staff is often due to discomfort with change rather than performance.
  • “Change in general just freaks people out, right? … It usually happens in the first three to six months and then after that it all evens out.” (19:47, Todd Hagopian)

9. Handling Letting People Go

• Personal Responsibility:
  • Todd insists on handling all layoffs or terminations personally, owning the decision and process.
  • “I handle every one of those... I make sure I’m in every one of those meetings... It was my call, I chose the people.” (21:10, Todd Hagopian)
• Empathy:
  • Having experienced layoffs himself, he maintains empathy and professionalism for affected employees.

10. Personal & Professional Application

• Frameworks Beyond Business:
  • The core idea—focus, prioritization, making every minute count—translates directly to life, relationships, health, and service.
  • Mitch: “Are you doing everything you can to love your partner the most every day in order to maintain this relationship at a high level? It can happen.” (25:26, Mitch Carson)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Declare war on stagnation.” — Todd Hagopian (01:31)
• “When you catch it before crisis, you can do things a lot differently and, and you can do things a lot smarter.” — Todd Hagopian (02:48)
• “The people who can use AI to become more productive and better at their jobs are going to be the ones that catapult forward.” — Todd Hagopian (03:56)
• “You take the top 20% and then you do it again and you do the 8020 up the top 20%.” — Todd Hagopian (05:26)
• “The mantra is: make as much money as you can every minute of the day.” — Todd Hagopian (08:36)
• “Your calendar doesn’t lie.” — Todd Hagopian (10:44)
• “If it’s something anybody can do, outsource it, systematize it, automate it, AI it. But if it’s something only you can do, that’s what I want you spending all your time on.” — Todd Hagopian (16:16)
• “We never backfill. It takes an act of God to get me to backfill something straight.” — Todd Hagopian (18:39)
• “I handle every one of those… I own it. I tell everybody it was my call.” — Todd Hagopian (21:10)
• “It all goes back to your calendar and it all goes back to your decision making… When you can control those two things, you will double your income, you will double your business, you will turn around a loser.” — Todd Hagopian (24:54)

Important Timestamps

• 01:31 – “Declare war on stagnation.”
• 03:56 – On AI as a productivity multiplier.
• 05:26 – Explaining the 80/20 squared rule.
• 08:36 – “Make as much money as you can every minute of the day.”
• 10:44 – Framework’s application to helping others and serving personal missions.
• 12:45 – Effect of engineering prioritization on company performance.
• 15:07 – Todd’s approach to email—“20,000 unread emails.”
• 16:23 – Productivity = Activity x Efficiency x Focus.
• 18:39 – “No backfill rule” and hiring multipliers.
• 21:10 – Handling layoffs personally.
• 24:54 – Broad application of focus and decision-making framework to all areas of life.

Final Takeaways

• Fight stagnation early—don’t wait for crisis.
• Apply relentless focus—on top customers, products, and missions.
• Multiply productivity through AI, systematization, and prioritization.
• Align time and energy to what matters most—both professionally and personally.
• Frameworks for business are frameworks for life—make every minute count.

For more insights or to connect with Todd: toddhagopian.com, LinkedIn, or Twitter. His book, The Unfair Advantage: Weaponizing the Hypomanic Toolbox, is available for preorder.