Leading with Logic, Killing Egos, and Building Businesses that Last | Los Silva | EP 65

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Entrepreneur DNA
Episode: Leading with Logic, Killing Egos, and Building Businesses that Last | Lo Silva | EP 65
Release Date: March 31, 2025
Host: Justin Colby, Bleav
Guest: Lo Silva

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Introduction

In Episode 65 of The Entrepreneur DNA, host Justin Colby sits down with longtime friend and successful entrepreneur Lo Silva to delve into the intricacies of building sustainable businesses, the role of logic over ego, and personal growth within the entrepreneurial journey. The conversation offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs seeking to scale their ventures while maintaining personal well-being.

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Current Focus and Business Ventures

Lo Silva opens the discussion by outlining his current business endeavors as he moves into 2025. He emphasizes his focus on acquiring and building media companies, newsletters, and podcast assets through his platform, privateequitygroup.com. Additionally, he mentions 5:28, a company dedicated to buying, selling, and rolling up businesses in the home service sector.

Lo Silva [02:38]: "I plan on making privateequitygroup.com the largest accredited investor newsletter in America."

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Target Audience and Business Services

Justin probes into the specific audience that privateequitygroup.com caters to, seeking clarity on who can benefit most from Lo's services.

Lo Silva [03:10]: "If you want to sell your company for nine figures or high eights, not seven, that is the. We can help you on those services."

Lo articulates that his services are tailored for serious investors and business owners looking to maximize their valuations, avoiding those merely interested in surface-level internet marketing tactics.

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Evolution of Internet Marketing and Business Models

The conversation shifts to the evolution of internet marketing over the past two decades. Lo Silva shares his perspective on how business models have transformed, highlighting the shift from high-ticket funnels to community-driven, trust-based models.

Lo Silva [05:06]: "Courses and coaching are kind of like the wave. Young, young one young thundercat. Internet was the wave. No, it's been like this for 20 years."

He underscores the importance of adapting to cyclical market changes and moving beyond ego-driven strategies to systematic, data-informed decision-making.

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The Role of Ego in Business Decisions

A significant portion of the discussion centers around the detrimental impact of ego on entrepreneurial decisions. Both Justin and Lo Silva reflect on personal experiences where ego hindered business growth and personal relationships.

Justin [17:16]: "I've realized most of my mistakes tend to lean into just me making ego-driven decisions."

Lo Silva [18:06]: "They just want the press easy button to go, let me get it right now."

The guests advocate for leading with logic and humility, emphasizing that ego often leads to errors and failed relationships within business contexts.

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Work-Life Balance and Personal Fulfillment

Lo Silva opens up about the challenges of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. He discusses the sacrifices entrepreneurs often make, such as long working hours and the pressure to provide, which can strain personal relationships.

Lo Silva [30:18]: "Everything else is my second and third. But like, it's still business because you have to provide for all of this if you're an entrepreneur."

He stresses the importance of being a supportive partner and parent, positioning family members as the ultimate business partners who require as much attention and care as any professional relationship.

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Dealing with Personal and Professional Challenges

The conversation becomes deeply personal as Lo Silva shares his struggles with business failures and personal loss, including the impact of his parents' tragic passing.

Lo Silva [35:00]: "I lost over a million bucks and I didn't have anything. The journey hurt. I didn't win."

He emphasizes resilience and the necessity of confronting personal demons to achieve true success and fulfillment.

Lo Silva [42:33]: "If you're thinking like, man, you don't get it. Everyone gets it, man. What you don't get is, like, you're doing nothing about it."

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Importance of Meaningful Connections and Self-Acknowledgment

Both Justin and Lo Silva highlight the significance of authentic relationships and self-awareness in sustaining long-term business success and personal happiness.

Lo Silva [33:00]: "Filling my cup is being heard and being seen."

They advocate for intentional friendships and support systems that go beyond superficial connections, enabling entrepreneurs to decompress and stay grounded.

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Pillars of Success and Personal Growth

The discussion culminates with an exploration of the foundational pillars of success. Justin outlines his Five Pillars of Success, starting with the importance of dreaming and clearly defining one’s goals.

Justin [36:08]: "Know what you want, who you need to be to get the thing you want."

Lo Silva echoes this sentiment, emphasizing continuous learning and adaptability as critical components of personal and professional growth.

Lo Silva [35:00]: "You got to know what you want."

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Conclusion

The episode wraps up with Justin and Lo Silva reinforcing the core message: effective leadership and lasting business success stem from logical decision-making, humility, and the ability to foster genuine connections. They encourage entrepreneurs to prioritize personal development and self-awareness alongside their business objectives.

Justin [42:22]: "You are doing nothing about it. That's our reality."

Lo Silva [42:33]: "It won't be easy, but it'll be worth it."

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Notable Quotes

• Lo Silva [03:10]: "If you want to sell your company for nine figures or high eights, not seven, that is the. We can help you on those services."

• Lo Silva [05:06]: "Courses and coaching are kind of like the wave. Young, young one young thundercat. Internet was the wave. No, it's been like this for 20 years."

• Justin [17:16]: "I've realized most of my mistakes tend to lean into just me making ego-driven decisions."

• Lo Silva [18:06]: "They just want the press easy button to go, let me get it right now."

• Lo Silva [30:18]: "Everything else is my second and third. But like, it's still business because you have to provide for all of this if you're an entrepreneur."

• Justin [36:08]: "Know what you want, who you need to be to get the thing you want."

• Lo Silva [42:33]: "It won't be easy, but it'll be worth it."

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Key Takeaways

1. Adaptability is Crucial: Entrepreneurs must evolve their business models in response to changing market dynamics rather than clinging to ego-driven strategies.

2. Ego Hinders Growth: Leading with logic and humility fosters better decision-making and healthier business relationships.

3. Work-Life Balance Matters: Sustainable success requires prioritizing personal relationships and self-care alongside business ambitions.

4. Continuous Learning: Embracing lifelong learning and self-awareness enhances both personal fulfillment and business acumen.

5. Authentic Connections: Building genuine, intentional relationships provides a support system essential for navigating entrepreneurial challenges.

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This episode of The Entrepreneur DNA serves as a profound exploration of the interplay between logic, ego, and personal growth in the realm of entrepreneurship. Lo Silva’s candid reflections paired with Justin Colby’s insightful questions offer listeners actionable strategies to build resilient businesses while nurturing their personal lives.

Transcript

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[Lo Silva]

But like five years ago I was like, man, like I need to focus on YouTube and LinkedIn. And now that we're doing a lot of that stuff, you know, we were able to sell some companies, we built some big newsletters and we understand the models. Like algorithms are mathematical like equations and so are models. They're systematic like behaviors. And if you start looking at things like that, instead of like you being so smart or you being so talented, you can kind of break things down into like, you know, every data piece makes decisions and every time your ego gets involved in it, you make an error.

[Justin]

What up the entrepreneur DNA Family. This one is a good one. I know that I say it all the time, but this one is one of my closest friends. This man has been on the Internet and social medias for the last 20 years building and buying businesses. Building more business, buying more businesses. Focusing now on private equity group.com. my good friend Lo Silva is here. What's up, dog?

[Lo Silva]

What's up, bro?

[Justin]

Dude, I'm a little.

[Lo Silva]

I'm a little sweaty because it's Miami, so it's hard to park and so you gotta walk.

[Justin]

It is Miami, but I love Miami. It's a great place to be. You know, you drove because that close. Just for me?

[Lo Silva]

Yeah, just for you. Yeah.

[Justin]

Well, so as one of my closest friends, this should be fun. So we're going to talk a lot about what you've done in the last 20 years. And you've had an online presence for 20 years and you've built coaching programs and you've had agencies and you bought businesses. Let's start with what is your agenda now moving into 2025?

[Lo Silva]

I am focused on buying media companies. That means newsletters, podcast assets, or building assets. And that's a media group that we're building out. Then private equity group.com, which I plan on making the largest accredited investor newsletter in America. Uh, and then 5:28, which is the company where we buy and sell and do rollups in the home service space.

[Justin]

Right now, who would be interested in private equitygroup.com? let's talk about that. Cause I know it's your baby right now and you're crushing it and you're already making major waves. So who's interested in that?

[Lo Silva]

If, if you want to sell your company for nine figures or high eights, not seven, that is the. We can help you on those services. If you want to understand and get consulting on how to do rollups or how to do alternative structures that are not 220 funds and things like that, like search funds and, you know, independent sponsor opportunities, we can help you there. And if you're an actual accredited investor that wants to invest in companies or understand how to, how to do that, that's, that's really who we focus on. If you're an Internet marketer and you got a Ferrari and you, you just want to kind of like, you do stuff and you have a couple bitcoin, like, don't bother you and like logging in.

[Justin]

So what, what is going on there? I know you and I have talked a lot about kind of the Internet marketer space and the flexing and the dripping, the Lambos and then the, you.

[Lo Silva]

Know, and it's just a different season, bro. I mean, you and I have both probably been here like 15 to 20 years now, right? And it's funny because, like, I talk to people and they're like, man, like, it's crazy. Like courses and coaching. It's kind of like the wave. I'm like, young, young one young thundercat. Internet was the wave. No, it's been like this for 20 years. And I'm sure before we got in it, it was like this. Just you, you know, things are cyclical and things like that. Like right now we're in ascension funnels, not high ticket funnels. We're in a, an attention economy. So we got a, we made a lot of money in attention economy when we got attention and we had that high ticket offer. And now it kind of has to build trust so it's these communities, it's this and, and dude, in like 2016, I was like teaching C4, which is content, community, conversations, conversions, right? And that's the arrow that really works. Now if you have a high ticket funnel, you're not making as much money as the guy that has YouTube structured to a school and then structured down to like ascension in like offers and funnels and then taking more time on email, getting you to an event or getting you somewhere else and then, you know, maximizing that lifetime value. It's different. But that is the same as 2016 pocket.

[Justin]

I mean, you and I talk a lot. I mean a lot. Like, you were probably one of the people every morning, most besides my wife. I'd probably talk to you more than my wife.

[Lo Silva]

I probably talk to you more than.

[Justin]

I'm just being serious. So I say that just to say, like, we talk about that. Like, you know, in 2024, I had a boulder pushing up a mountain with my high ticket. You know, like, brother, you got all the components of what I believe. And you were saying, I believe this is where we're going to be going. And I'm going to agree with you. 100 is the community. Lower ticket, more communal value. That is the space right now, dude.

[Lo Silva]

A hundred percent, man. Like, it's, it sucks. And for, for seasoned people, you know that it sucks because you're going through everything you used to have to do to make like a quicker bag. Now it's more work, about the same or less money, right? And more employees, more team, more, more.

[Justin]

More, more effort for sure. I mean, I put in. So. Not that I ever didn't put in effort at the high ticket, but brother, we run five calls a week for.

[Lo Silva]

Two, three hours and, and some people are doing services on top of the calls, right? It's, it's, it's a, it's because. And I, I got out of this industry. Now 26 months it's been since I really haven't. I'm not making courses, content, all that kind of stuff. I jump. It sucked like blatantly like for the past 24 or 5 months it now it's like great, you know, and it's because I always wondered, like, we're really good at this. Like I've, I've made, you know, eight figures in every industry. But affiliate marketing, like courses like 2017, e commerce, 2018 in freaking, like coaching. 2017. Like, we've, we've done the game, right? Services, 2018, right? Like, we've, we've done the models Right. And so that means we're good and we're competing against, like, people that should say they're in Harvard, but they're just gangster media buyers, gangster stacked marketers. Right? And then you go talk to like a guy that goes to Harvard. That guy just knows math. Yeah. They don't know the real plays. And so, you know, private equity starts to buy a lot of things and they start to move in different ways. You know, you know, this in real estate, they're, they're picking up everything. What are they going to pick up next? They're picking up home services for vertical integration. And I started thinking, man, if we've done this with influencers and E Commerce, and there's gotta be a place where like, no one else is like that, like savage, right? Because everyone here is selling you a dream with their lambos and they're this and they're that. And it's even easier now with chat and things like that. And so you have this opportunity of like, you just say what they don't even understand, these young people now, what FTC is, right? They'll say, well, for sure. But, you know, I was like, man, there's gotta be a place where, like, I'm smarter. I know I'm smart. I'm not an idiot. I'm gonna try it. And I had a friend that had a pool company, and I was like, I'm gonna shoot my shot. We've been trying to work together for years. I've known this since he was 14. And he's like, you know, I got a pool company making a couple mil. I was like, all right, and give me half. And in 18 months we took it to 12, right? And now we bought it. By this time it'll be 100%. I don't know, you might have to switch that, but whatever. But, and, and then I was like, all right, let me try another one. And now we're, you know, that turned into a home service company where we were acquiring businesses that now we're rolling up. We're also helping people because we can't roll up every single person. So we're, we're. And we've realized as well, like, hey, there's a lot of problems in due diligence and a lot of lies and a lot of issues. And like, a lot of people don't even know what EBITDA is. Most people don't even have an accountant. And so now we're, we, we do sell kind of like a system which is hands on. There's no course there's content, stuff like we just want to get in there because we need to optimize for the revenue, we need to optimize for the numbers because that makes it easier for us and it gives us a little bit of extra on the valuation as well. And then I said, man, we should do it in other, other spaces that are different. So we did it in newsletters and I sold two newsletters to a publicly traded company. Now we're working in the newsletter game because we understand media and with ChatGPT and stuff like that, all you're going to have, realistically, all the people that are making money on courses and content and all that two, three years from now, if you don't actually know how to talk to AI, you're cooked. And if you didn't build assets, then you have no moat. So you're, you're, you're a baller right now. You won't even work at McDonald's later on.

[Justin]

The thing that's interesting to me though, and I want this to kind of, and I'm going to change the subject a little bit, the iterations of what you've been able to do. We've been friends for a long time. I mean, 2000, when did the first, the first official boardroom?

[Lo Silva]

12 years ago.

[Justin]

12 years ago. Yeah, I remember you showed up in Banana Republic, everything.

[Lo Silva]

Yeah, that was my first ever event. Now I was, I, I co founded that with, with Big Big Baldy.

[Justin]

So the iterations that I've been able to see, and I think this is something I've been talking a lot into, is the ability to adapt, to iterate, to move as markets move. And you're a good shining example of that. I mean literally from agencies to pool companies.

[Lo Silva]

Well, dude, the, the big thing is, you know, people, I never defined myself because I never was the best at anything. I was a really good copywriter, I was really good media buyer. But then like we were. There was the Nick Kuzmiches and Jason Horncogs and I was like, man, like, I ain't playing with that game. And I remember driving by my house one day and being like, I'm really good at stuff, but like, I'm not the best. Where should I be the best? And everyone kept like saying like, man, like you just have a really good understanding of how to like put it all together and you can connect with people. And I, I kind of got offended at the connecting with people far part because a lot of connectors online, they're just guys trying to make a buck by like, literally being like, hey, I know him, I know him. Give me a dollar. Yeah, right? And so I looked at it differently and I was like, what if I just understood how to understand it all and knew that I will always understand more so I can see the bigger picture. And I think, like, I had a. My, one of my mentors friends, he's a billionaire, he lives in Orlando. He made me take an IQ test because I was like, man, I'm having a hard time, but not digressing kind of a little, but he made me take an IQ test to understand, like, why I have a hard time sometimes leading certain people. And he's like, well, you think in like the end, like, the orders of consequences pass through my head. And I'm very analytical and most people think in like first, you know, first principles. And I realized then, like, okay, that makes a lot of sense. So I learned how to lead people and like, I have very good social dynamics, plus I understand how to like, see the end in sight. And so I focused on that. And when you do that, that's when you can, you can understand dynamics and you can understand, like, everything is cyclical, right? If you, if you look at any business people look at Internet marketing, like, it's Internet marketing. Internet marketing is the same on a cyclical level. In 2017 or 18, I was interviewed with Onyk, my boy Singal, and he was. I said, like, quote, this 20, 20 something, we're going to work. It's going to be webinars and this and this, and then it's going to go back to ascensions because of times, right? Like, you can look at, like, if you study and read like Buffett and like the guy from Walmart, and you can start seeing, like, things get cyclical. And like, what happens with Internet marketers is they get so. And I did this. I lost a lot of money thinking I was somebody, right? And thinking that, like, yo, I got this. I can do anything, anytime, any place. You can't. That was like straight up. You cannot. But you learn by losing. You don't learn by winning, right? Come on. And I understood. I was like, hey, you know, the, the problem is I'm not looking ahead. I think I can do anything at any time, but I don't even know what time I'm in, right? And so if you start looking at the timelines and what's going to happen, okay, once the saturation of high ticket happens, what's going to happen? Too much money is being spent. They can't afford it. Economy was looking Bad. It was after Covid. Boom. Money's got to come down.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Lo Silva]

So what can I do as a person that sells? Regain trust. Because too money, too many failures, too many people jump from you to you, to you, to you, to you. Okay, so what do we do? 12 stuff. Join a community. Let me give you value. And to send you slowly. Does it suck for us? Yeah. But is it the only way? Most likely. Right. But no one wanted to do that until it became like the, the big thing. Dude, I've, I've looked at, I've wanted to. And this is just laziness because it's very difficult to really focus on it and it's very expensive. And I had more of a media buying team before, but I've wanted to be like a focused YouTube guy for probably like six, seven years and I just never have because we had media buying groups and all that. But like five years ago, I was like, man, like, I need to focus on YouTube and LinkedIn. And now that we're doing a lot of that stuff, you know, we were able to sell some companies, we built some big newsletters. And we understand the models, like algorithms are mathematical like equations. And so are models. They're systematic, like behaviors. And if you start looking at things like that, instead of like you being so smart or you being so talented, you can kind of break things down into like, you know, every data piece makes decisions, and every time your ego gets involved in it, you make an error.

[Justin]

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[Justin]

Head to the toe with Mando. There's so much to unpack there. So I'm gonna stick to the ego.

[Lo Silva]

Bars really like on some real that.

[Justin]

Was some fire bro. So I want to stick to the ego. I've realized and you and I talk about this a lot. I've realized most of my mistakes tend to lean into just me making ego driven decisions. And my wife recently and yes I do talk to her, she said, Justin, if you were just more patient, you actually wouldn't be making these decisions because you would have walked through the entire scenario at a patient pace versus oh I can. I know how to. So I'm going to Ready, fire, aim.

[Lo Silva]

If you are patient about your goals. But the problem is most people are not patient about their goals. They're patient about they're impatient about showing someone else a result that reflects back into being accepted into a group ego. And that's ego.

[Justin]

That's it.

[Lo Silva]

Right? And that is the truth. Right? Like I stopped going to events and I've done it twice. Both times I made less friends but more money.

[Justin]

Mm.

[Lo Silva]

Right.

[Justin]

So. But when you Say you went to an event but you didn't get like, what do you mean you stopped going?

[Lo Silva]

I mean, I physically stopped attending and speaking at events. Okay. Like, the first time I stopped going to events because I wasn't speaking. Right, right. And I made less friends because they're fickle guys, just so you know. And I made more money. And then when I started getting recognized again, then I started speaking, then I started going to a lot of events, and that was good for a while. And then I started making good money, but then less money, but I started getting more recognition.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Lo Silva]

And so. And dude, I've coached over 250 people with all the event masterminds and all that kind of stuff that we've had. And I remember multiple times I've talked to people that have lost a $10 million business that they were making 350,000 a year from. And it was a drop ship or it was this. It wasn't a real company. And I'm like, hey, you know, you've got a great name. What if you charge this much? This, you, you can be doing 400,450, working three days a week doing consulting. And they're like, no, no, I got to do 10 million. Why? So what I've done. You haven't done anything. Yeah, you, you made 10 million for other people. They don't remember you even made 10 million. They probably questioned it. You made 350. Why don't you, you know, do something else? Because the attachment of being important in this industry is a cancer, a dopamine addiction. It's a drug, it's cancer all at the same time. It kills your serotonin, so you have no longevity.

[Justin]

Well, it goes back. And not to get too deep in woo woo, but it goes back to being worthy.

[Lo Silva]

Right?

[Justin]

And we all, that's. I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Like, I feel like that's the biggest downfall of, of human nature is wanting to feel worthy.

[Lo Silva]

Because we all come from. I barely know maybe one person that's like, yeah, dude, life's worked out for me, you know, like, it's been easy. Yeah. This is my girlfriend, you know, like, and she's a model. And like, besides like the guy from Snapchat that like, it's all been well for, for that guy. Everyone else is like, hey, I'm. I was poor.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Lo Silva]

Then I like got married or did something else. I was poor still. Now I made 10 grand and then I'm skipping to 100. But like, I read 13, 20, whatever. And then you get to the 100 and then you're like a million. Because you go to these groups and it changes, and it changes your. You had an idea. You wanted freedom, right? You wanted to be free. You wanted, like, man, if I could just remember the days when you were like, if I could just make 15, if I could just make 20. But then you make 50 and you're like, oh, I didn't know 50 wasn't mine. 50's 15, right? 126. Like, now you're like, oh, and I got to. I got to. Because you're. Now you're chasing, but you're. You're making what you wanted and you have that time and autonomy and things and your wife or your girlfriend or yourself even. You didn't change your, Your goals and their. Your perception because someone else went to Barbados or someone else. And you're like, me too. Someone else got a yacht on. On a Thursday. And you're like, now you're chasing a person. You're not chasing your dreams and your goals because you lost them. Most people lose their goals, they lose their vision. I've asked a lot of people, like, what do you want? They're like, well, just to crush it. That's so nothing. That's so generic. It's so ambiguous. What do you want to be like? No one says, happy.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Lo Silva]

And they all say, like, I don't know. I just want to kill it. And you, you become a dope addict, but your dope is like money that goes like this, right?

[Justin]

To be able to walk around and say, I did, I did.

[Lo Silva]

It's not even ego, because ego is. Is like a sign of, like, trying to be somewhere. It's insecurity because it's a. It's a sign of, like, not knowing where to go. Like, you. You just want to follow, like, insecure people follow. Egotistical people are more alone. You know what I mean? Because they're, they're. They're both, they both come from, like, fear of, like, fear of not being accepted of or fear of, like, being neglected in different ways.

[Justin]

Yeah, it's. It's an interesting journey that I think you're on, that I'm on. I think the people that have been around long enough know the economic cycles and the adaptations and they, they really.

[Lo Silva]

Start to understand the words like, money is freedom.

[Justin]

It really is. I mean, I think there's a lot of people that want the flex still. I still think there's the people that the show me economy and listen, it's fun and I live in the show me. I live in Miami. I mean, this is the show Me economy.

[Lo Silva]

It is.

[Justin]

You know, but for some, they're really doing it and they really have the time. Freedom. Right. I was on the phone with Dr. D the other day. He has time for you, right?

[Lo Silva]

Dr. D, Dr. Die. Yeah. And he doesn't play this game, though.

[Justin]

No, no.

[Lo Silva]

See him anywhere. We know this podcast exactly.

[Justin]

Like, he's.

[Lo Silva]

Like, he doesn't play the game. Nah.

[Justin]

Right.

[Lo Silva]

But you see him on the yacht. If you're a homie or whatever. If you follow him, you follow him. But, like, he has two accounts. If you have the homie account, it's a different account. That's right. Yeah. Like, it's. It's. He's not playing this game. He's playing his game.

[Justin]

That's where I think. I think people need to get more into. It's not about the game of I'm using the word ego. And it's not that, but it's not about your work. Like, everyone's.

[Lo Silva]

The game of self acknowledgment. Like. Right. The same reason that people are ego. Like, egotistical and insecure. That same person will look himself in the mirror and go, this is not taking me anywhere. This is going to go away. I don't know what I want. Like, they won't address themselves, so it's easier to follow and hate on. On and say the industry's hard and this and that. Then say, I'm sucking. I don't even know if I like this. Like, I had to do that. I had to say, like, I. I had a lot of opportunities when I was, like, trying to end here, and I was like, man, these are bags. And I was like, but it'll. I won't be this person.

[Justin]

Well, those are the same people that. And it takes you a while to get here. So I would call you if. If you're not where I are. You know, we're an hour. Get her out in that 20.

[Lo Silva]

Do whatever you need to do.

[Justin]

We're now late 20s, so we've had drop shift.

[Lo Silva]

Do all the things. But don't. Don't think you're like him. Like, you're not well. And.

[Justin]

And so I think you need to. The thing that you just said that I think is brilliant, that people need to rewind watch again is admittance of. It's not that. And what it's going to take to be that. They don't. They don't want to recognize it. They want the press easy button to Go, let me get it right now. I mean, to the extent of just like saying, okay, I want muscles, I'm going to do steroids, I'm not going to work out. Okay, fine, but then there's a guy.

[Lo Silva]

That'S like, I want to do peptides and eat, but then I want longevity, right?

[Justin]

So there's like, dude, you can't have them both, right? You can have, you can have fast and you have good and you can have cheap. You can have all three.

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[Lo Silva]

Right?

[Justin]

So you got to choose.

[Lo Silva]

Yeah.

[Justin]

You can't have fast, good and cheap.

[Lo Silva]

Did I, I really think that? And, and I don't want to go woo woo. But I really think that a big part of being an entrepreneur in any sense of the way, because now I work with, you know, people that have software, people that have like home service businesses, totally different people that are like just, they don't know this world exists. It's crazy. But they're, they're going through the same thing. Being an entrepreneur is lonely. Even if you got a girlfriend, even if you got a wife, like you are alone in an island, your employees don't care about you, they will leave you. But, and even if you're like, oh my, they're brothers. 90 of them will bounce on you if like you really have a situation, right? Like your friends won't support you and you'll find like, it's a blessing when you do eat crap or you know, if I can say, yeah, you can pass it up because you'll find out who's who. And that also helps you find out who is you, you know. But I, I had a video that got me like 300,000 something views. A lot of people liked it, a lot of people hated it. But I was like, listen, most people are bitches. They, they take like if I insulted you and it, it hurt your feelings.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Lo Silva]

It's not cause I insulted you. It's because you know that I, I can see that.

[Justin]

That's right.

[Lo Silva]

And so I said, I don't get insulted. And it's not like conceited. I look in the mirror and I say everything that you're thinking to myself.

[Justin]

There's no doubt.

[Lo Silva]

So when you say some stuff to me, I'm like, I get it. Yeah. I Am working on that. Like it can't hurt me. You don't want to see it. So when you see other people, like know it, know that secret, that's when your feelings get hurt. Yeah.

[Justin]

You don't want to recognize what's in the mirror and that's where.

[Lo Silva]

But that, that extended and compounded leaves you alone. It leaves you being someone else and it leaves you not really dialing in what you want by the.

[Justin]

Just to even take it to the next level. Maybe even someone has the business they really want. Maybe they are making two, three, four million dollars personally. Maybe they are actually. Yeah, but then go look at the other sides of their life, right? Go look at what, like what is their mindset? What does their body look like? And then how good are they to the people, right? Like how good of friends are they? How good are they to their wife or their husband? How good are they as a parent? How, like that's how you want to audit somebody in really what I'm trying to tell you, that's how you should audit yourself. You need to look at that mirror and say, am I performing at dad level, husband level, business owner and leader level, friend level, family member level? Like that's the like thing because we're talking about the people that want the financial stuff. Maybe there are people that watching this and listening. They're there. Yeah, but are they really full circle the person that really can have the have it all?

[Lo Silva]

Yeah. Dude, I just got in an argument with my wife because I feel like I'm a piece of shit dad sometimes. And she's like, they know you're working. I'm like, yeah, but I'm working late. It's like they're at cheer. They're. They're home at 8:00. And I'm like, it's not. Doesn't fulfill the need that I think I need to fulfill, you know, because I care a lot, right? In friendship, like I'm a, I'm like a best friend to like four or five people. I'm a great friend to a lot of other people. And because like I look at my friends or my family, I had a, I had a horrible upbringing and stuff like that. And so like for me, my family is my, my. So like spending time with friends, being an amazing dad, being a good husband is like, it's not priority. I'm not gonna lie to you. Priority is making money. Because if I don't make money, I can't be those things. That's it. You know? So like I, I can't stand when people are like, yeah, that's priority. Really? Really? Steven, why don't you do that and like fail at life and see if she wants to move to an apartment. If you can't get your kids into, you know, baseball camp, if you can't like buy them that one thing for Christmas, like that's gonna hurt your feelings and going to resent you. Everything is business. Your, your wife is, is. Listen, Michael, whatever you want. Listen, at the end of the day, your wife is the biggest business partner you have. And, and it's, it's the best employees that you're ever going to have too. Because your wife can take your whole net worth son. Right. And so, and people don't treat it like that. They're like, oh yeah, you know, like we're good. What like, but you, but your business partner, you want to get deals like you, you work that way. Your kids are everything you really have, but you don't treat them like you treat your number one media buyer. That Right. And so that's, that's my first business. Everything else is my second and third. But like it's still business because you have to provide for all of this if you're an entrepreneur.

[Justin]

Yeah. I think there, there's the man side of it. And funny enough, I just watched, you know that mo new Mufasa movie, the one. Yeah.

[Lo Silva]

That was a fire.

[Justin]

Fire.

[Lo Silva]

Really? Yeah. Okay.

[Justin]

Amazing. But I say all that just to bring into like the lion aspect, right? About being. You got to provide for your tribe. I mean there's like, you cannot feel good about yourself if you're forcing and.

[Lo Silva]

If you do, you're a, like straight up.

[Justin]

If you have a, you're finding a bedroom apartment with two kill it. Two kids and a wife and you say you're happy and fulfilled. I just don't know that planet exists.

[Lo Silva]

I don't know if just four other people at your house are happy and fulfilled. And for me it's, I'm trying to fulfill everyone's cup. That's our job. I fill everyone's cup. My cup is full. I can't full fill my cup until I fill other people's cups.

[Justin]

Give me a life hack. Real quick while we're talking, like, what do you do to fill your cup? Right? Like I, I show a lot on Instagram about making sure I'm waking up in the early and I journal and I go to the like, what is, what do you do to fill your cup?

[Lo Silva]

Muay Thai. Okay. Really?

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Lo Silva]

But I also like just got in A car accident and stuff. And so like. And I have a slightly torn biceps. So besides that, I journal. Yeah, it doesn't fill my cup, but it fills my needs to. To decompress. And I call like two people. I will say it. It's Scott Oford and it's you. That is it. And, and it doesn't fill my cup, but it releases the tension in the body that I need. You don't need to fill your cup. You need to release things. You need to feel free and off. I feel. I feel good, right? I go to the gym, I do the normal people things, right? Like, I wake up early, I go, I cold plunge, I sauna. That doesn't fill my cup. Filling my cup is being heard and being seen. Sometimes I'm home and this is what I was talking to my wife about. And this is real talk, right? Like, this is how people feel. And I was like, I feel like I don't have a house sometimes because I'm stressed about work. I'm trying to do so much stuff because all these companies and stuff. Like, I'm the guy, I sent the checks. You know what I mean? It sucks, but it's, it's part of life. I have that. That's my job, right? And then I get home and they're cheerleading and they go home at 8:00 or 8:30. They're brushing their. They're eating, brushing their teeth. They've got to go. And then my wife, she's exhausted and she should be. She works really hard. Like, she, she's an amazing woman, but she's exhausted. And then the lights go off. Or like that, that routine. I haven't decompressed.

[Justin]

I'm like still going.

[Lo Silva]

I'm like mentally shaking. I'm like, oh, I got to like, go. I got to do something, right? But I already worked out. Like, I don't work out at night. And I'm like, man, I just got to like, talk or like, I got to like let it go or keep the lights on and like watch something or whatever. And that's not fair. So like, you, you shut the lights off and I told her, like, you know, I feel like. And we can't go on dates like all the time because our kids try to go on a date. Like, oh, date night. Like, suck it, dude. Like, like 8:00 at night, 7:00, 9:00. When do you have. You're. You're not going on date night. Yeah, you, you can set them up. Like, I just went with Shai And Alex and all these things. Right. But every normal day I haven't decompressed and it hurts me and it stresses me and it makes it worse.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Lo Silva]

And so I need to call, like, my brothers and be like, bro, this is just what happened. Because also, she doesn't get me like that. And that's okay. You know, I don't get hurt in certain aspects. You get me in certain ways more than my wife does. Yeah. And that doesn't make it weird. It makes it normal.

[Justin]

But those are the connections I'm talking about, is people don't put.

[Lo Silva]

That's my decompression. That's my. You know what I do.

[Justin]

Filling your cup up. I mean.

[Lo Silva]

Yes.

[Justin]

And there's no one size fits all, by the way.

[Lo Silva]

Dude, you might be like, oh, man, I. I make Legos.

[Justin]

Right.

[Lo Silva]

And that's totally fine.

[Justin]

I'll do puzzles.

[Lo Silva]

Yeah.

[Justin]

God bless you. Right? I love puzzles.

[Lo Silva]

Really?

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Lo Silva]

Oh. I like.

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[Justin]

And good or fast at them. I just love them. I just. It's fun.

[Lo Silva]

You know what? I'll say it. I like. I like writing poems. There you go. Yes.

[Justin]

So. But I want people to understand, like, in Los's world, and by the way, very similar to mine, I'm people person. If I don't have a Los in my world, if I don't have the people I can call. The connections part is very big. And that's why I say, like, you might be crushed.

[Lo Silva]

You don't have it.

[Justin]

You're $3 million a year and you're like, matter. I'm on top of the world. But you don't have that phone call that you can cry to or. Or just leave it all just be.

[Lo Silva]

You for a minute.

[Justin]

That part. There is no way. Like the. The last episode I just did, we talked a lot about POD or masterminding. That is a version of that. Right? The same version.

[Lo Silva]

That's. I. I will say that's I in my opinion. And everyone has their own opinion. That's the top of funnel version of that.

[Justin]

Yeah. Because you have to develop. You have to be intentional.

[Lo Silva]

Right.

[Justin]

I meant that is how we're best.

[Lo Silva]

Friends, you know, so you have to.

[Justin]

Be intentional with that friendship.

[Lo Silva]

Yeah.

[Justin]

And if you let loose of that intention, then it becomes just a. I.

[Lo Silva]

Will also say friendships are work 100. It's all where I gotta care, bro.

[Justin]

It's all hard. I mean, I just literally just talked about it's all hard. Being closest friend is hard. Not because you're a bad person. Like, I have to be intentional at the time and effort and energy I give los. Yeah, it's all hard, but you get to pick and it's all covered.

[Lo Silva]

It's all effort. Without effort, you have nothing of substance.

[Justin]

Agreed. But we all want it. Not we all. You and I don't. I used to want it, but you want it overnight. Yeah, I don't want to do the effort, but I want the result. Like, what the are we talking about here?

[Lo Silva]

Yeah, I want to get better at creating more impact and less effort. I want to create things that have leverage and that have like, logical sequencing that, like, if I do this and I can do this here and there, that creates a lot less effort, but makes a lot of impact. And I've been working on that. And to be transparent, that takes a lot of time. Three or four times more time than you think. Then it becomes more of an autonomous system. But that, that, like, lack of. In the, in the interim, investing, not making as much for focus purposes and such is. Is very challenging to your mind and to your. To your physical, spiritual, mental life. Right. And thought process.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Lo Silva]

And so you have to. And that kind of goes back to, like, you got to know what you want, bro.

[Justin]

It is the first pillar of success, in my opinion. I think, you know, it's funny is I have these five pillars of success, laws of success. The first one, I've always said, know what you want, who you need to be to get the thing you want. That's all number one. There's actually a zero. There's zero through five. First you have to be able to dream it. Dream of the thing you want. Dream it.

[Lo Silva]

Right.

[Justin]

Because it's all possible now, barring, like, literally think about what AI is doing and Elon putting, like, all of it's possible, right? So dream of the thing you want. Then come back to Earth and say, okay, out of that dream, what do I really genuinely want in lifetime? Because if you don't have that, you're not connected to anything. You will walk. Or you might make a lot of money. That could still be true. But you're gonna walk around aimless. It's not gonna be fun.

[Lo Silva]

I. I just. I agree with you. And to circle back, I. I just realized that as we were talking on this, like, what fills my cup, it's.

[Justin]

Studying I've noticed this in the last 12 months with you, bro. You have become smarter.

[Lo Silva]

You're fucking sure?

[Justin]

I'm not even joking with you as a friend. Like, literally, I get on the phone with you sometimes and go, did you just get out of a fucking PhD class?

[Lo Silva]

It makes me so happy to just, like, learn, but, like, not, like, how to make money online. Like, deep thought, like, psychological stuff, like. Like. Like private equity, like, things that are things that you think. I have, like, this weird thing about me, which is a blessing that. So, like, one of the guys at the office made fun of me a year and a half ago. He's like, oh, what? Lo isn't going to learn. AI blah, blah, blah. Like, you know, he is always on a face and he's not, you know, like, that's. That's. That's something he's just going to let us do. I'm the best person at the office because of it, right? Like, you say something like, you shitting on me is my love language. It is a blessing. Like, I'm gonna go. And so I. I've just, like, found this, like, passion for, like, especially because, like, I kind of. You kind of lose learning when you kind of get into a top level of Internet marketing or such. And now I. I'm nobody in. In these other circles, right? To a degree. And I. Does it. That bothers me. And so, like, I want to be something good and fast, but this isn't good and fast. You have to be meticulous. And so learning has become like, dude, I. I love it. So that. That definitely. That fills my cup more than even we tie.

[Justin]

Hey, I've recognized it in a big way in the last 12 months talking to you. And, like, I'm genuinely recognizing. What are we even talking.

[Lo Silva]

That's a really nice compliment.

[Justin]

Yeah, I got you, dog. I don't. I hate to say, but it goes back to the, like, the first principle. Like, your mind, like, what are you doing with your mind? What are you doing as an entrepreneur? Watching this or. Listen, what are you genuinely doing with your mind? Because if you're not like, Los. Like, I don't know if I love learning in the same way you also.

[Lo Silva]

A seasonal thing, you know, maybe at.

[Justin]

One point, but I love learning in a different sense because now you're a merger and acquisitions and you're buying company and you're going into private equity. Like, it's a vastly different space than I'm in, right? So I don't need to know.

[Lo Silva]

But I'm also learning, like, A frequency and like dorky, like things that I like on spirituality. Yeah. And I, I'm just, I'm finding time to like fill what I enjoy that people would normally make fun of me for. Right. Like, and now I don't care. Like, I just learn different things. Right. Like I'm, I'm into all, all of these things. Like, I'm, I'm also learning like how to work out like twice a week and have like the same results as like six times.

[Justin]

Yeah.

[Lo Silva]

And like all these just out there, like. Yeah. I mean, it's whatever you want, but.

[Justin]

What do you like, dude, look at what you're paying attention to. That's what people need to understand what you like this knowledge about what loses learning. It's knowledge. Your time is spent growing, adapting, building, leverage.

[Lo Silva]

Right.

[Justin]

Like, yeah. Most people out there listening and watching this aren't happy. They're not where they want to be. They don't have the money they want. They don't have the wife and husband they want. They don't have the body they want. But they're not spending their time learning how to get the body they want. They're not learning how to develop more connections. They're not, they're just like saying, oh, that's just my life.

[Lo Silva]

So I've recognized two patterns through like orders of consequence through like the Ray Dalio book, Right. Of principles that, that like, are patterns with me that create a bad time and a new version. Right. And so for people here listening, maybe this can help you. But the first time ever was when I lost my first business. I had a home automation business and I had just got married 2008, hit long story short, all the builders that I was working with went bankrupt. I didn't even know how that worked. And I lost over a million bucks and I didn't have anything. The only time I ever, I asked for, I asked my mother in law for a loan and I was like, I'll never ever ask again. Yeah. And I had never respectfully. And it was back to the wall. Like, I'm not this person. And it, the journey hurt. I didn't win. My wife's like, you know, spent like $50,000 75 on us, like living. I brought nothing to the table. I actually asked her to divorce me because I was like, you can have a life. I can sleep in couches. She's like, you're an idiot, dude. Like, I got it. Uh, so she's a savage. Shout out to Laura, come on, Laura. Uh, but the second time is when I Lost more stuff because I just had a business relationship that I couldn't get out of. And I lost a lot more. Uh. And I had a lot more teams. This. That. Yeah. Children and such. Uh, and so that second time, I. It was like misery. Both times were misery. Not thinking I could do it, thinking I didn't even belong here, but deep down being like, yeah, but you're him though, right? Like. Like, let's also, like, go over here. But this pulled me heavy. Pulled me heavy. And so those times when you're critic, when you're like, man, you don't get it because I. Dude, at some point, I church Chipotle with some of the team members. Like the office. Like, we were eating legit. Well, Chipotle. But, like, kind of shit. Like, you know, and I'm just being really. And my parents killed themselves in the same couple of years. So, like, listen, I, like, really ran through some stuff. And so I was more down than I could pull myself up. My positivity was like, you're him. You got it. You got it. And then the reality of, like, Tuesdays or Wednesdays was like, no, you're not. Like, like, go get a job. You are a loser. Lose your friends. They're already brought. Like, they don't have your back. Figure something else out. That's pathetic. And, like, go get a $40,000 a year job and, like, like, move into an apartment. Your wife will leave you. Like, I've had all these thoughts, right? Every day. It's like fighting those things. So I understand people fight demons, but, like, you have to be the fucking dragon slayer, you know? And if you're thinking like, man, you don't get it. Everyone gets it, man. What you don't get is, like, you're doing nothing about it.

[Justin]

That is a tone that we should leave it on because that is what people need to hear. You, not los, you are doing nothing about it. That's our reality.

[Lo Silva]

And it won't be easy, but it'll be worth it. And that was a movie.

[Justin]

If this. If this helps kill that one or two of you, share it with two more people. If Los is awesome, make sure you're following Lois, but share this episode with two more people. Bro, I appreciate you.

[Lo Silva]

Yeah. If I can help anybody, I will charge you. Nothing. Just DM me at Lowe's. Hustle.

[Justin]

Hustle.

[Lo Silva]

Yeah. Love you, bro.

[Justin]

Love you too, bro.

[Lo Silva]

Love that hat.

[Justin]

It's a gray hair. Thanks for the gift.

[Lo Silva]

Love you. See you guys.

[Justin]

With the Venmo debit card.

[Lo Silva]

You can turn the spa day that.

[Justin]

Your friends paid you back for into.

[Lo Silva]

Concert tickets that you can earn up.

[Justin]

To 5% cash back on, where spa day with the girls becomes concert tickets. Visit Venmo Me Debit to learn more. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. pursuant to license by MasterCard International, Inc. Term Supply Dosh Cashback Term Supply.