Beyond A Million

David Lawver is a mortgage lending expert, real estate investor, and entrepreneur, who took his mortgage brokerage business from $200k to $12M/year in revenue. His years in the mortgage industry naturally lead him into real estate investing. He started with single-family homes, dabbled in short-term rentals and apartment buildings, and eventually got into retail centers, which became his most profitable real estate asset class. Since 2014, David has acquired over $75M of real estate projects. In this episode, I dig into David's story, his progression from broker to investor, and what makes retail centers such an attractive vertical for him. We also discuss the value of great mentors, his process for recruiting and grooming a top-performing sales team, the VC business model, real estate tax strategies, and much more. Key Takeaways with David Lawver How a mentor's advice helped David scale his mortgage business from $200k to $12M/year in revenue. The value of learning from those who are just out of reach versus leagues ahead of you. Stop competing on price if you want to charge more for your services. Do this instead. How David grew his mortgage team and the recruiting/grooming process he used to increase employee retention. David's transition into buying real estate and doing $100M in deals with zero overhead expenses. The downsides to investing in short-term rentals. Buying a $5M apartment building with $500k down and flipping it for $7.3M twelve months later. He also purchased a group of homes for $3.8M that he sold six months later for $7.2M. The many verticals of real estate investing—and why retail centers are David's preferred asset class. How David finds solid tenants for his retail centers. Why he decided to invest in one of his tenants, Crunch Fitness—and how they thrived during the pandemic when most gyms went out of business. Reframing your behaviors and habits around spending. How much is too much? How can you justify "expensive" dinners, cars, and more? Does the VC business model actually work? And what will come after the easy money era ends for cash-burning tech companies? Leveraging real estate tax strategies to legally pay little to no tax—and how David strategically positioned himself to save $1.2M in taxes last year alone. Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM! 💥

Perry Marshall is a marketing expert who is best known for his reinvention of the 80/20 principle—the theory that 80% of your results are determined by 20% of your effort. His work has helped thousands of companies reshape the way they think about sales & marketing, by teaching them how to focus on pulling the levers that drive the biggest impact for their businesses. He's published a bunch of books, including The Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords, which laid the foundations for the $100 billion Pay Per Click industry and went on to become the world's most popular book on Internet advertising. In this episode, Perry explains that sales is not about ramming your product/service down someone's throat or persuading them to buy stuff they don't need. Sales and marketing are about finding proper matches; it's the art and science of helping people who need each other, find each other. While 80/20 patterns exist everywhere in your business, we specifically dig into how it applies to your sales and marketing efforts. You'll learn how to use the 80/20 principle to qualify your most profitable buyers, filter out and reject clients who aren't a good fit, and find the most powerful points of leverage that produce the biggest results for your business. Key Takeaways with Perry Marshall The 5 essential requirements that are always present when a sale is made. Use these criteria to match what you're selling to the marketplace instead of ramming it down their throats. How your business can differentiate and succeed in a seemingly commoditized market. Understanding The 80/20 Principle and how to use it to prioritize the most productive inputs to grow your business. Why the amount of time you spend on customers has very little correlation to the amount of money that you actually make from them. Perry explains how he uses filters to guarantee results for his customers. What to expect when you oversell to your customers—and why your industry and product are highly relevant when determining healthy refund rates. Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM! 💥

Most of the time, I'm interviewing high 7, 8, 9, and even 10-figure entrepreneurs to uncover the tactics and strategies that worked to scale their businesses. However, this week, I'm doing something a little different… In this episode, I wanted to share some of the best sales advice featured on the show. Our team went back through the archives and pulled the biggest takeaways from 3 killer entrepreneurs—Neal Tricarico, Cole Gordon, and Ted Miller—who have all hired and trained thousands of salespeople. While each of these guys has their own full-length episode on the podcast, I wanted to narrow in on some of the key elements of their sales processes. We only scratch the surface here, but there are a variety of actionable sales tactics and strategies that your company can start using today. Key Takeaways Why drilling in and asking good questions is such a critical step in the sales process. Understanding customer pain points vs. unfulfilled desires. The distinction between selling and enrollment. How to create value that people will pay for—regardless of the price. Getting prospects to reveal why past solutions didn't work, so you can give them something that will. How to tilt the buying criteria in your favor, so prospects buy from you and no one else. Why a proven sales script is the roadmap to guaranteed success. 2 criteria for evaluating high-quality salespeople. Training your sales team—an alternative to roleplaying. Should the sales cycle incorporate multiple roles? How to build high-performing sales teams at scale. How to use group interviews to identify standout performers. Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM! 💥

Justin Donald is a low-risk cash flow investor whose strategies and principles for investing to earn passive income have helped thousands of people create wealth without creating a job. Before turning 40, he multiplied his net worth to over 8-figures in under two years, then doubled it again 2 years later. He quit his job, retired his wife, and started The Lifestyle Investor to help others achieve the life of their dreams. Justin has 20+ years of experience negotiating deals with hundreds of companies. He has invested in a wide variety of asset classes, including mobile home parks, self-storage, single-family, multi-family, land, private equity, startups, and more. His knowledge as an investor allows him to vet "invisible deals," get preferred terms and create unique opportunities—not only for himself but for his exclusive mastermind community. Today, I'm sitting down with Justin to learn more about his investing philosophies and how he built a life by design, not by default. We talk about scaling his first company, his approach to hiring good people, return on relationships (ROR), and how he invests for wealth, freedom, and lifestyle. Key Takeaways with Justin Donald The recruitment and training processes Justin used to take his former company, IFM Restoration, from 0 to $10M in 16 months. Investing in mobile home parks and making 20-105% cash-on-cash returns in year 1. Justin's early success as a division manager for Vector Marketing and lessons learned from managing a team that generated $5-$10 million per year in sales. Ideas for recruiting top talent and how to use personality assessment profiles to hire the right people for the right roles. What Justin credits as being the top factors to becoming a better investor. How to allocate your time so you're not wasting it in the wrong places. Investing in real estate: limited partnership vs. full ownership. Why Justin is willing to take less profit and control in return for more time. The Lifestyle Investor Mastermind—an exclusive community of investors that get access to "invisible deals" that aren't available to the public. Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM! 💥

Alex Charfen is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and coach who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs with 6, 7, and 8-figure businesses grow and scale. He went from declaring bankruptcy as a real estate investor in 2007 to building a certification program for realtors that put his business at No. 21 of the Inc. 500 list in 2011. The company's revenues grew from $500K to $9.9M in 4 years, forcing him to create systems and frameworks that could handle rapid growth. Before long, he was approached by other entrepreneurs who needed help creating structure in their own businesses. This experience eventually led to his current company, Simple Operations. As the Co-Founder and CEO, Alex now shows entrepreneurs how to simplify their business operations so they can make an impact in the world without having to do it all themselves. In this episode, we're talking about the processes and systems for creating structure in your business, so you can scale it without breaking it. We talk about planning, communication patterns, leadership, and more. Key Takeaways with Alex Charfen Find out how Alex went from bankruptcy during the 2008 housing crash to building and scaling an 8-figure real estate certification business. The 3 disciplines Alex uses to build structured companies that scale. Do big audacious goals demotivate your team? Alex explains why setting realistic goals are the key to explosive growth. How to eliminate ad-hoc communication and constant interruptions with your team so your entire business can operate more efficiently. Tactics for staying focused in a world that's fighting for your attention. Delegating an outcome vs. delegating a task. Shift from transactional management to transformational leadership and achieve leveraged results for your business. How your environment affects productivity and performance. Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM! 💥

George Bryant is a digital marketer who's helped thousands of entrepreneurs scale their companies by focusing on building and nurturing relationships. Mike Dillard described him as the "single best marketer in the world right now." His approach to scaling is centered around improving the customer journey. He believes converting new customers is an easy path to growth when you're just starting out, but to truly scale, there has to be a bigger reason for customers to come back for more. In this episode, we dive deep into George's principles for mapping a better customer journey. He explains how to avoid turning your company into an "anti-marketing machine", so you can push past major sticking points and scale beyond 8 and 9-figure businesses. Key Takeaways with George Bryant Understanding the customer journey and what he thinks prevents a lot of companies from scaling beyond 8 and 9-figures. The 4 buyer types that George believes are needed to scale any business. Does your customer retention suck? Discover what could be screwing up your customer journey—and what to do instead. Why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? What makes things go viral? The biggest mistake e-commerce companies make when a potential customer abandons their cart. How to triple or quadruple customer LTV. Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM! 💥

Henrik Johansson is a serial tech entrepreneur and expert at scaling startups. He has built 5 venture-backed companies to date, including the promotional products company, Boundless, which he grew into a $100M business before getting acquired by Zazzle. Now, as the co-founder and CEO of Gembah, he's leading the world's first global marketplace for product development that allows anyone to create new products from end-to-end. Henrik has repeatedly built world-class teams, culture, and scalable processes/infrastructure, so I really wanted to talk to him about his overall experience. In this episode, he shares the story of how he built Boundless into a 9-figure business—including how he navigated the perils of the 2008 market collapse with no funding. We dig into the world of VC-funded companies, the power of cultivating strong relationships, major roles/responsibilities of a CEO, and how he turned an internal piece of software into a completely separate entity before getting acquired. Key Takeaways with Henrik Johansson What to do when the markets shift and your VC-backed company loses its funding? The importance of building relationships early on with potential buyers of your startup. How does the role of a CEO differ between bootstrapped and VC funded companies? How Henrik's company leveraged an internal piece of software to spin-off an entirely new VC funded business. Starting Gembah, the world's first global marketplace for product development that allows anyone to create new products from scratch. Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM! 💥

Trevor Mauch is the Founder and CEO of Carrot—a SaaS company that makes it easy for real estate investors and agents to launch a website focused on driving traffic, converting leads, and closing deals. Carrot currently has 8,000 customers and generates about $13M/year. In this episode, Trevor shares a ton of entrepreneurial wisdom, gleaned from pushing through the pain of various stages of business growth. You'll learn how his focus and strategies shifted as his business hit $1M-$3M, $3M-$10M, and beyond the $10M mark. We also talk about building a brand that connects deeply with your clients, delegating tasks by prioritizing energy over profit, and why Trevor turned down a $65M acquisition offer, despite feeling overwhelmed trying to get to that next level. Key Takeaways with Trevor Mauch A unique approach to delegating tasks that will allow you to create a business you love instead of one that drains you of your energy. Is selling your business actually going to make you happier? Find out why Trevor decided to pass on a $65M acquisition. A simple question you can ask to solve complex business challenges and scale to new levels of success. Why Trevor paid over $600k for the domain Carrot.com. How to infiltrate the minds of your customers and get them to think positively about your brand every day. A helpful tactic to identify client dissatisfaction and reduce churn. Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM! 💥

Today, I'm speaking with Brian Beers. Brian is an entrepreneur who took his small family automotive repair business from $5M to $26M in sales. The company operates Midas franchises throughout the Philadelphia area and grew from 6 to 25+ locations in 5 years. In this episode, Brian shares how he scaled, primarily through owner-financed acquisitions. We talk about how he targets prospective sellers, builds relationships, and negotiates and closes deals with no outside capital. We also dig into his investing philosophies and the vehicles he uses to save on tax and deploy his money across a diversified portfolio. One of the things I appreciate most about Brian is his ability to look outside his industry for answers. Entrepreneurs often get stuck in their own little world and lack new perspectives that could take them further faster. So, while you may not own an auto repair company, the principles discussed for building and scaling a business are still very applicable. Key Takeaways with Brian Beers Scaling a family-run auto shop from 6 to 25+ locations and $26M in sales. How to structure and negotiate an owner-financed acquisition deal. Buying up the competition by developing relationships and building trust with potential sellers. Using 3rd party financing programs to make payments more affordable for buyers. The 4 factors Brian uses to evaluate an investment—and why he's particularly bullish about protecting his time. How to avoid working on unplanned tasks by creating a "not to-do list." Why the best way to learn about investing is to have money on the line. Putting a team around you that can help create a strategy for building wealth. The pros & cons of using cost segregation to accelerate depreciation. Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM! 💥

Ryan Levesque is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, adult LEGO enthusiast, and Founder of The ASK Method®—a 5-Time Inc. 5000 company that has generated over $100M in online sales across 23 different niche markets. I'm talking with Ryan today about The Ask Method, QUIZ Funnels, the software he created that's used by 30M people worldwide, helping them to scale their businesses. Ryan has built and scaled his own companies through these methodologies, creating an email list of over 4.1M people, and helping multiple brands achieve 9-figure exits. In this episode, we dive deep into the QUIZ Funnel methodology. You'll learn why it's so effective at generating low-cost leads, increasing conversions, and collecting data that can help you better sell and serve your customers. Key Takeaways with Ryan Levesque What is The ASK Method®, and how can it help you serve 1,000+ people a day on autopilot, 365 days a year. How to explode your lead growth and business revenue with high-converting QUIZ Funnels. SnackNation Case Study: How a physical eCommerce brand used QUIZ Funnels to target higher quality leads, cut their sales cycle in half, triple revenue, and double their average order value. QUIZ Funnel best practices you can use to accurately diagnose and prescribe the best next step for your audience. Bootstrapping Bucket.io—the most powerful enterprise-level software for building QUIZ funnels. How does Ryan use QUIZ Funnels in his own business as an acquisition strategy? How to drive traffic to a QUIZ Funnel and what you can do post-quiz to segment your market and serve up solutions that serve them at the highest level. Why Ryan closed down a mastermind that was generating $2M/year in revenue—and how doing so led to 5X growth for his business. Knowing when to replace technology and processes no longer serving your business. The new era of online advertising and understanding how to use zero-party data to attract higher quality leads. Why the default state of being online is in a state of distrust for the first time in history. Get FREE Access to Ryan's Quiz Funnel Workshop Ryan is giving you access to his Quiz Funnel Workshop. The cost is normally $100, but Ryan is giving it away to our audience for free. Visit QuizFunnel.com/BAM and enter the coupon code BAM at checkout. Ryan only runs this workshop once per year, so you will definitely want to act on this soon. Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM! 💥