The Game with Alex Hormozi – Ep 973

Title: The Lie That Keeps Entrepreneurs Broke
Date: December 2, 2025
Host: Alex Hormozi

Episode Overview

In this episode, Alex Hormozi takes aim at "the lie" that keeps many entrepreneurs stuck: the belief that their market is too small or already saturated, and that this is the reason they can’t grow. He challenges this mindset, breaks down common misconceptions, and outlines practical frameworks for overcoming growth plateaus. Blending business advice with personal anecdotes and behavioral psychology, Alex urges listeners to take ownership of their limitations—most of which, he argues, are internal, not external.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mindset vs. Behavior in Entrepreneurship

• Alex expresses his disdain for the vague talk around “mindset,” urging for clear definitions and direct action.
• Quote:

  "I hate the term mindset. I think it sucks. I think people have all this mythology around it... It's like, dude, just define what you're talking about." (00:40)

• He relates behavioral psychology to business: people’s language and repeated behaviors (even unconscious ones) get reinforced by social reactions, not rational definitions.

2. The Power of Definitions

• Three-step logic for problem solving:
  • What does this mean?
  • How do we know?
  • Why does it matter?
• Quote:

  “That’s logic, evidence, utility, by the way. What does it mean? How do you know? Why does it matter?” (05:08)

3. The Real Reason Businesses Stay Small

• The #1 excuse: “My market is saturated."
  • Alex says 99% of cases are wrong.
  • Most entrepreneurs have accessed less than 1% of their actual market.
• Quote:

  “Your market is probably 100 or a thousand thousand times bigger than you think.” (06:50)

• Most claim saturation to protect their egos, when the real constraint is their advertising skill or lack of channels.
• Quote:

  "No, bro, you haven’t saturated your market. You haven't saturated Facebook. Your ads suck." (08:10)

4. Personal Anecdote: Breaking Limiting Beliefs

• Story of meeting someone in the same industry far outperforming him in revenue by using outbound sales.
• It shattered his limiting belief about "total market size" and how to reach it.
• Quote:

  “Here was this company I’d never heard of that at the time was doing five times more revenue than I was doing. And it broke a belief for me.” (13:10)

5. The Market is (Almost Always) Vast—Bigger Than You Realize

• Uses the “pie” metaphor to show most entrepreneurs are only tapping a sliver.
  • Multiple platforms and channels are available, and most are barely utilized.
• Quote:

  “You’re this tiny little sliver of this one way that you get customers, on this one tiny platform.” (17:15)

6. Saturated/Red Oceans: Not as Bad as You Think

• Highly competitive markets ("red oceans") actually signify lots of demand.
• "The bloodier the water, it means the more fish are there."
• Quote:

  “Where there’s the fiercest competition, there’s also oftentimes the biggest rewards.” (20:30)

7. Reconciling ‘Niche Down’ with Scaling Up

• Start as “the biggest guy in a puddle” (niche)—then, as your capacity grows, move to a pond, then a lake, then the ocean.
• Five directions to expand your market:
  • Go up-market (serve bigger clients)
  • Go down-market (smaller clients, more volume)
  • Go adjacent (serve related markets)
  • Go broader (expand to similar fields)
  • Go narrower (niching even further)
• Quote:

  “You want to artificially constrain the pond…so you can compete where the sharks aren’t swimming.” (23:00)

8. Local Business Advice & Getting to $10M+

• For local businesses:
  • Expand physical location/efficiency
  • Add more marketing channels
  • Open additional locations
• Scaling is about replicating successful models; impatience and shiny-object syndrome hold people back.
• Quote:

  “If you have the goal of getting to $10 million a year, you can pretty much do it in any business.” (36:10)

9. The Cost of Switching: The Grass Isn’t Greener

• By jumping to new opportunities, most entrepreneurs lose their forward momentum.
• Visualizes the “cost of switching” with a simple line chart: progress in one field compounds; starting over keeps you behind.
• Quote:

  “Sticking with it is how you get the head start... Most people get stuck on things that I call features, not bugs.” (38:30)

10. Every Business Has Its Downsides—Choose Your Hard

• Alex reviews different business models (info, SaaS, e-commerce, service) and what makes each difficult.
• Don’t bail when you hit the hard part; that’s expected.
• Quote:

  “Many of you guys just hit the crappy part of whatever the opportunity is and then say, 'there's something wrong', rather than seeing it as the nature of how this business works... it's a feature, not a bug.” (45:00)

11. Take Accountability: Shift From Excuses to Agency

• Instead of saying “there are no good salespeople in my market,” reframe to “I don’t have the skill to attract and manage a great salesperson.”
• Quote:

  “As soon as you state it in that way, guess who owns the outcome? You." (52:15)

12. Pick the Cooler Story—The Power of Perspective

• Life brings choices between the “easy thing” and the “hard thing.” Hard things make for better stories and bigger growth.
• Quote:

  “When you’re 85…pick the cooler story. At the end of your life, it’s the only thing you’re gonna be left with.” (54:50)

Notable Quotes

• On Mindset and Definitions:

  “So many things in my life have happened because I...I hate the term mindset...Like, what are you saying?” (00:25)

• On Market Saturation:

  “Unless you’re selling to 140 people in a rural town in the middle of nowhere, your market is probably 100 or a thousand thousand times bigger than you think.” (07:00)

• On Scaling:

  “Most people’s goals are achievable within their current vehicle. They are just too impatient and believe there’s another shiny object that’ll somehow get there faster.” (37:55)

• Owning Outcomes:

  “It just does not serve you to cast your power outside of yourself and give that as the reason for why you lack the success that you want.” (53:02)

• Final Wisdom:

  “When you have these two choices, there’s usually the hard thing, which is the right thing, and the other way. And…the easy thing were the right thing, you wouldn’t have had to make this decision, because you would have already done it.” (56:30)

Key Timestamps

• 00:00-05:30 – Rant on mindset, language as behavior
• 06:00-10:00 – Market size myth and why most aren’t saturated
• 13:00 – Story of being outperformed, shattering his belief
• 17:00 – The reality of “market slivers” and missed channels
• 20:00-23:00 – Red Oceans, niches, “biggest fish” analogy
• 24:00-28:00 – Five market expansion directions
• 30:00-37:00 – Tactics for local businesses and scaling
• 38:00-46:00 – Cost of switching, business model “hard parts”
• 52:00-54:00 – Owning your outcomes; accountability reframes
• 54:50-End – "Pick the cooler story" philosophy

Memorable Moments

• Alex mockingly calls out the ego-protecting language entrepreneurs use when avoiding the root cause: lack of skill, not market constraints.
• The “pie” visual: you think you’re competing over a slice, when really you haven’t even seen the rest of the pie.
• The personal story of learning outbound sales and having his belief shattered by a higher-performing peer.
• Playful aside about only needing customers with a credit card—"Pulse is optional. Kidding.”—to highlight how undifferentiated many small business customer strategies are.
• The “features, not bugs” framework for business challenges.

Tone & Style

Alex is direct, a bit irreverent, and laces practical advice with real talk and humor. The episode blends storytelling with frameworks, aiming to be a wake-up call for entrepreneurs making excuses and underestimating their markets.

In Summary

Alex Hormozi demolishes the myth of market saturation as a valid excuse for being broke or stagnant as an entrepreneur. He argues that most limitations are self-imposed—rooted in incomplete strategies, lack of skill, or self-protecting stories. He advocates expanding channels, sticking with your “vehicle,” and doing the hard, skill-building work that actually grows a business. Ultimately, the message is about owning your outcomes and choosing the “cooler story”—the one where you push through challenges and become someone worth emulating.