Podcast Summary

The Game with Alex Hormozi

Episode: Q&A. Growth Is Just Constraint Removal | Ep 991
Date: January 14, 2026
Host: Alex Hormozi

Episode Overview

This episode of The Game is a rapid-fire, live Q&A where Alex Hormozi fields business growth questions from entrepreneurs across various industries. The central theme is "growth as constraint removal": identifying the bottlenecks preventing scale and implementing actionable strategies to break through. Alex dives deep into each founder’s unique scenario, from SaaS for fitness coaches to home building, real estate wholesaling, e-commerce, agency, construction, and distribution. The energy is fast-paced and tactical, with Alex blending direct advice, real-world anecdotes, and humor.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. SaaS for Fitness Coaches: Messaging, Offer, & Scaling Meta Ads

[00:27 – 06:49]
Participants: Mike Klson (sells GoHighLevel to fitness coaches)

• Core Constraint: Messaging the value of the CRM to attract more leads and scaling acquisition channels (especially Meta/Instagram ads).
• Retention improved, but not enough spend to test ads.
  • “Rule of thumb for everybody... I can’t really test a campaign unless I’m willing to spend 2x my target CAC as just a test to see if it works.” – Alex, [01:59]
• Offer Positioning: Highlight automation to turn IG followers into clients without DMing all day.
  • “You having trouble turning your IG followers into customers? All of this can be automated. We’ll show you in 7 minutes.” – Alex, [03:13]
• Case Study Angle: Present multiple avatars to counter the “will this work for me?” objection.
• Strategic Partnerships: Focus on agencies/guru mentors.
  • "You don't want to generate demand, you want to channel it." – Alex, [06:38]
• Upsell Agencies: Can charge more for onboarding + recurring, but now serving two customer types (agencies + coaches), requiring customer success on both.

2. Home Building Company: Growth Blocked by Land Development

[07:50 – 13:28]
Participants: Katie (sells new construction homes)

• Core Constraint: Land acquisition and development timelines (2–10 years).
  • “So the quantified version of what a constraint is, it’s the allocation of resources that yields you the highest return.” – Alex, [12:57]
• Potential Solutions:
  1. Pillage talent: Poach best developers’ key people.
  2. Acquisition: Buy an established developer (vertical integration).
     • "At your size, it's buyer build. Depends on entrenchment and relationships." – Alex, [09:49]
  3. Earn-out Structures: Structure long-term, low-cash deals for retiring developers.
• Philosophy: As a business scales, it becomes a “business of businesses.” Constraint removal can lead to order-of-magnitude improvements.
  • “Constraints aren’t 10-20% improvements—they can open up path to a billion.” – Alex, [12:56]

3. Biotech Funding: Raising at Higher Valuation

[13:29 – 20:46]
Participants: Eric (Bioxcellerator, stem cells)

• Core Constraint: Raising large capital without being squeezed on valuation or losing control.
• Advice:
  • Focus less on facts, more on investor “belief” story.
    • “This is just a sale...question is what would you need to see in order to believe?” – Alex, [16:24]
  • De-risking: Investors need to know what step has changed since last round (e.g., tech validated or regulatory risk decreased).
    • “If we’re raising at 500M, what risk did the 50M round take that is now removed?” – Alex, [18:12]
• Pitch Strategy: Frame new raise as risk-mitigated, with regulatory progress and working business model.
  • “Do not be a scientist for the pitch.” – Alex, [20:47]
• Ownership: Maintain control via voting rights or structured deals.

4. Real Estate Wholesaling: Sales Team Performance

[20:58 – 26:49]
Participants: Francis (wholesaler, $450K/mo)

• Core Constraint: Variability and inconsistency in sales team; performance drops after big months.
• Main Issue:
  • “You have an ops issue—sales ops. This is a culture game.” – Alex, [23:01]
  • Poor script adherence, lack of training discipline, weak management.
• Solution:
  1. Enforce script—mandatory use, daily training (“If they’re not saying the script, they’re off the team.” – [24:25])
  2. Culture: No cowboy sales; process above the player.
  3. Leadership: Sales manager must reinforce behaviors.
  4. Hiring/training process: Group interviews, script testing, coaching feedback loops.
     • “As the company operator, you have to be militant in sales process.” – Alex, [26:31]
  5. For scaling, the strength lies in how, not who you hire.
     • “The better you get at training, the less raw skill you need to hire.” – [26:57]

5. E-Commerce (Designer Goods): Scale Blocked by Recruiting & Training

[29:46 – 40:52]
Participants: Sasha (designer bags, $6M/yr)

• Core Constraint: Recruiting/talent—limited show hours due to salespeople fatigue.
  • “If we were live more often, we could create more.” – Sasha, [31:50]
• Logistics: Doing own warehousing/packing is a drag.
  • Outsource non-core (packing/logistics) unless a differentiator.
    • “Your value is in distribution and sales, not running a warehouse.” – Alex, [33:39]
• Sales Roles:
  • Hire/train more on-camera salespeople (focus on those with entertainment/presenting skills).
  • Consider “buy or build”—recruit micro-influencers/affiliates or develop new talent.
    • “Buy is faster, more expensive; build is slower, cheaper.” – Alex, [35:22]
  • Compensation: Percentage of profit per show.
• Training Philosophy:
  • Training in concrete behaviors (not fuzzy words).
    • “Don’t say ‘more energy’—be specific: ‘raise your voice, move faster.’” – Alex, [38:39]
  • Focus CEO/founder energy on building replicable sales training.

6. Digital Agency: Incentive Structures for Leadership

[41:09 – 46:19]
Participants: Sebastian (Blue Sense Digital, $3.5M/yr)

• Core Constraint: Talent acquisition & retention (especially as headcount grows).
• Advice:
  • Leadership incentives: “Profit share pool, 10-20%. They get slices of that slice; that's it.” – Alex, [41:56]
  • Don’t give equity unless selling; restrict real shares.
    • "Best future talent is yet to come—save some of the pie." – [42:51]
    • “Four things equity provides: cash flow, sale bonus, risk, control. You want to give cash and bonus only.” – [43:29]
  • For salespeople, stick to commissions unless they move into cross-functional roles.
    • “Giving equity to sales guys: one of the mistakes I’d prefer you avoid.” – Alex, [46:01]

7. Roofing Business: Transition from Storm-Driven to Retail

[46:48 – 53:45]
Participants: Trenton (roofing, $3M to $10M target)

• Core Constraint: Lead generation and team adaptation after storm market vanished.
• Advice:
  • Outbound (door-to-door) and inbound (lead-fed) sales roles must be separate.
    • “Inbound is what you graduate to—those are your all-stars.” – [50:09]
  • Use best closers for inbound; rest back to outbound to maintain hunger and team discipline.
  • Commission lower for inbound; compensation = volume/reliability.
  • Internalize marketing/sales core functions (hire experienced marketer).
    • “Your business is sales and marketing; build internal expertise.” – [53:29]

8. Distribution: Growing by Increasing Customer Value

[53:55 – 59:53]
Participants: Evan (duct cleaning supplies, $1.2M to $3.5M goal)

• Core Constraint: Scaling beyond word-of-mouth; growing LTV.
• Advice:
  • Diversify acquisition: consider outbound, ads, affiliate channels, content.
    • "How do you get customers now? Strictly organic... so you don't do anything. That's why." – Alex, [54:22]
  • Three revenue wheels: sell machines, consumables, service.
  • Focus on increasing repeat revenue (subscriptions, consumable sales) with existing base first, then move upstream to higher-tier customers.
    • “You have the hard part of a profitable business without the actual profitable part in place. Build those other two wheels.” – [59:02]
  • Action: Reach out to existing buyers with consumables, upsell/cross-sell service, implement subscription models.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Growth is constraint removal—businesses get stuck where their bottlenecks are, and the path to scale is always attacking the biggest one.” – Episode premise, continually referenced
• “You don’t want to generate demand. You want to channel it.” – Alex, [06:38]
• "Every business at a large enough scale becomes a business of businesses." – Alex, [12:19]
• “Do not be a scientist for the pitch.” – Alex, [20:47]
• “The process goes above the player—no one is above the script.” – Alex, [24:25]
• “Winning isn’t for everybody—the sales team culture starts at the top.” – Alex, [28:10]
• "As the founder, your highest value is in the training and replication of your revenue-generating roles." – Paraphrase from [38:37-39:56]
• "Profit share—set 10-20%, save room for future talent. Equity isn’t for now; it’s for an exit." – Alex, [41:56, 44:50]
• “You can't iterate on sales/marketing if you have too many new variables—start with your closers, then scale.” – Alex, [52:14]
• "You’ve been relying solely on word of mouth: the good news is you’re good, the bad news is you’ll have a steep learning curve for real acquisition." – Alex, [54:13]

Key Timestamps

• 00:27 – Mike asks SaaS growth question (GoHighLevel for fitness)
• 03:13 – Offer positioning for fitness coaches
• 07:50 – Housing company stuck by land constraint
• 13:29 – Biotech: Raising at higher valuation
• 20:58 – Real estate wholesaling and sales team issues
• 29:46 – E-commerce talent and scaling bottleneck
• 41:09 – Digital agency: Incentive structure for leadership
• 46:48 – Roofing: From storm-driven to retail sales model
• 53:55 – Distributor: How to increase customer value and scale

Tone & Style

Alex Hormozi’s delivery is brisk, practical, and unsparing, often punctuated with sharp humor and empathy for operator pain points. His advice is actionable and specific, translated into direct next steps. The atmosphere is energetic with a consistent focus on "finding and removing the bottleneck" in every business scenario.

Closing Reflection

Across all business types, the common thread is identifying and relieving the true constraint—whether it’s talent, offer, acquisition, operations, culture, or capital. Hormozi’s approach is always to clarify what is really stopping the next level of growth, then attack it with relentless practicality.