Codie A. Sanchez

Investing millions in Main St businesses & teaching you how to own the rest | HoldCo, VC fund, Founder

On a mission to create financially free and free-thinking humans.

I founded a advisory and investment company called Contrarian Thinking that helps owners buy and scale businesses.

Our newsletter has over 1M+ weekly readers, here → contrarianthinking.biz/li

Our community has taught 9,000+ members biz buying, biz growing, and doing deals. 

We value experience over degrees.
Betting on yourself over building someone else's dream.
Main Street over Wall Street.

My mission is less suits, more boots. Meaning: we the people holding the power… and the purse strings.

🔗Join 1M+ others who get our free newsletter: contrarianthinking.biz/li
🔗YouTube: @CodieSanchezCT
🔗Instagram: @codiesanchez
🔗Twitter: @Codie_Sanchez
🔗Weekly business-buying newsletter Main Street Minute: contrarianthinking.biz/minute-li

Founder

We help free minds and build bank accounts.

This is the real rich life. Don’t buy into the consumerism the world wants you to.

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Investing millions in Main St businesses & teaching you how to own the rest | HoldCo, VC, Founder | NYT best-selling author

The best advice that no one follows:

- Wake up at 5:45am.
- Marriage done well is a huge superpower.
- Trust God.
- Be careful what you read, it becomes the way you think.
- No going out on a school night.
- If you have to drink to hang out with someone, you probably shouldn't be buds.

Feel free to share if you agree ♻️

I have no energy for hate. Love you, wish you well, or hope you heal. That's it.

You will make 10x more money if you present ideas like this to your clients or leaders.

Harsh truth:

Running a company is simply a game of prioritizing problems.

Here’s how to become the Chief Problem Solver in your business:

Want to know Elon Musk's "secret" to running Tesla, SpaceX, and 3+ other billion-dollar companies?

According to Marc Andreessen, it's simple:

"He shows up every week, identifies the biggest problem, fixes it, and does that 52 weeks in a row."

Most companies hide from problems:

• They reframe them as "challenges"
• They create layers of abstraction
• They delegate them into oblivion

But problems aren't biohazards—they're your biggest opportunities.

Bigger the problem? Bigger the potential.

There’s a reason SpaceX is able to send a 400-foot skyscraper into the sky knowing it might explode.

Because they want to know exactly what breaks, when, and why.

Every failure incapacitates dozens of future problems.

This approach works because running a company is simply prioritizing problems.

Your earnings directly reflect what you solve...

Big problems pay better.

Another great example of this is Brad Jacobs.

He built 7 billion-dollar companies in logistics, waste, and warehousing - industries most people find boring until they see his bank account.

Here’s how he evaluates risk vs reward on different deal sizes:

• Small, low-risk deals: exist but limited reward
• Small, high-risk deals: limited reward with high risk (avoid)
• Big, low-risk deals: unicorns (don't exist)
• Big, high-risk deals with solvable problems: "the bingo quadrant"

One of my favorite lines from his book is:

"If you want to win, you have to rearrange your brain to lean into those big, hairy problems and figure out how to cut off the hair and de-risk."

This is exactly what your job is as a CEO.

It’s simple: hire the smartest people in the world... and solve the problems they can't figure out.

That's it. That's the whole job.

Not avoiding problems, but identifying and selecting the right ones to solve.

Becoming a Chief Problem Solver requires you to create your own weekly problem-solving loop:

1. Identify your single biggest constraint
2. Focus all resources on solving it
3. Measure the result
4. Repeat next week

1 problem. 1 solution. 52 weeks in a row.

The best entrepreneurs don't just "think differently" about problems. They actively build muscles for problem identification and execution.

Then they do it again and again.
Fair warning though, this isn't glamorous work. It means:

• Living inside friction
• Facing uncomfortable truths
• Fixing things no one else wants to touch

But it's where all the leverage is.

If your business is stuck, your unlock is often solving ONE big problem.

Maybe you know exactly what it is, but don't know how to solve it. Or maybe you're not sure what the problem is yet...

P.S. If you want to see how we think about solving these problems for our own businesses, you might want to check this out: https://lnkd.in/enaBvipE

Underrated quality of awful leaders:

They try to please everyone & lead by committee.

The hardest parts about leadership:

• Telling truths people don’t want to hear
• Watching decisions people will regret
• But you can’t force mentorship
• No one cares about your business as much as you do
• Micromanaging means YOU hired wrong

Doesn't mean you have to be a jerk.

But often trying to please everyone is the worst thing you can do for your people.

What do you think?

A reminder to myself and you this Saturday...

It’s really just you against the mirror. You vs you. No one else can win at a game of one. I know it’s hard not to get distracted, race horses wear blinders for a reason. Your lane you’re game. LFG.

Codie Sanchez

How to be unrecognizable in 90 days:

1. Be obsessed

Every outsized outcome I’ve seen came from people who genuinely enjoy the pressure. Not motivated people. Obsessed people. It’s almost impossible to compete with someone who treats the thing you dread as fun.

2. Clean out your closet

Get rid of anything that doesn’t fit the person you’re becoming. Cluttered space creates cluttered thinking, and cluttered thinkers don’t make money. Changing how you show up physically is one of the fastest ways to change how you behave.

3. Clarify your ONE thing

Not five ideas. One. Put a number on it and give yourself 90 days to get there. You have to prove to yourself that you keep your word.

4. Tell a better story about yourself

Not a vision board. Write down the words. If your life were a book, what’s supposed to happen next? What goes wrong and how do you react to it? When challenges show up, it’s much easier to keep going if you already decided they were part of the plot.

5. Start a not-to-do list

Becoming elite means cutting distractions aggressively and doing fewer things better.

6. Eliminate distractions

Most distraction is optional so make it harder to waste time and easier to focus. Small changes here create outsized results.

7. Outwork people

If you wake up earlier, protect the first part of your day, and eliminate distractions, you will get ahead faster than you think. Because most people just aren’t willing to work hard.

8. Move in silence

When you’re actually changing your life, you don’t need an audience. Do cool shit. Then talk after the result.

Do this for 90 days and your life will look different.

Because you WILL be different.

Is talking about vanity superficial? Maybe.

Is it effective? Absolutely.

Being well-dressed and well-groomed is a massive edge in any negotiation. It’s hard to push back on someone who looks like they’ve already won. Own your 2026 look.

Harsh truth on scaling businesses: 

Your goal as CEO is to build a team that runs your entire company better than you.

5 other lessons I’ve learned the hard way from 15+ years of being an owner:

1. Operating Systems Win

The difference between McDonald's and your local burger joint isn't the food.

It's that any 16-year-old can run McDonald's because of their systems.

If your business needs you to be the hero every day, you own a job, not a business.

No systems = Everything breaks when you aren’t there

The most effective systems I’ve seen all had the same four features.

I call it the PEIC framework:

1. Proven (battle tested)
2. Explicit Processes
3. Implementation
4. Continuous Improvement

Apply them across your core functions and your business will pretty much run on autopilot:

2. Your Revenue Is A Reflection Of Your Vision Distributed

Every time you say your employees don’t care about your business, you're admitting you failed at distributing your vision.

When your team can't see where you're going, they can't help you get there.

Your business needs two guiding metrics. 

At Contrarian Thinking, we call them “Oars.”

One needs to be quantitative and one qualitative. These act as our north stars to drive prioritization and resource allocation. 

Our left oar? Revenue. Our right? Followers. 

Everything flows downstream from those two numbers. 

3. Successful People Make Quick Decisions

Not only that but they move fast, in the right direction.

It always sounds simple but it comes down to knowing exactly what you want and having systems to execute on it.

That’s where planning in layers comes in:

Annual → Quarterly → Monthly → Weekly

Once you're clear on direction, decisions become obvious.

All that’s left is to track:

- What team
- What goal
- Who
- Percentage Done
- Status

 Keep an eye on all five and you’ll always have a pulse on what’s going on in your biz.

4. Successful People Hang Out With Other Successful People

Your success as an owner is determined by who you surround yourself with.

If you're the smartest person in your business, you're doing something wrong.

Your goal should be to build a team that runs your company better than you do.

5. Find 1-1 Mentors To Hold Your Hands

I used to turn my nose at masterminds.

But then I realized my only other option was to figure sh*t out with years of expensive mistakes.

That’s why I have coaches for everything now.

Most wealthy people got rich by paying for shortcuts whenever they saw one.

There’s no shame in stealing someone else’s 10,000 hours.

Time is the only thing you can't buy more of.

Get in rooms with people who've already solved what you're facing.

↓↓↓

I'm running a masterclass this week on how to grow any business faster. 

Sign up here to reserve your seat: https://lnkd.in/eJcGFHnN

Why most people get married – & divorced.

Petri Dish Effect:

The main reason most people get married is they start out as two petri dishes with the same inputs going into them. School, geography, career. Like likes like.

Then as you grow, your husband joins new clubs, you start a business he doesn’t, your hobbies split and before you know it... what you each have grown in your petri dish is completely different.

You’ve lost compatibility.

That’s why my husband and I do work together, are in the same groups together, read and share what is inspiring us, try to never be apart more than 1 week at a time.

Easier to grow together than apart.

That's just us, you do you.

Only 6% of Americans own a business.

And of that, less than 1% ever hit $1,000,000 in revenue.

After investing in businesses for 15 years, here are three reasons why 99% of businesses never scale past 7-figures: 

1. Organizational Challenges

There are a ton of sub-catagories here but today we’re going to unpack “Executive Vision.”

Most owners think their problems stem from poor strategy, when it’s typically poor execution.

You can have the best plan in the world, but if your team can’t understand it... you're not going anywhere. 

You need to have a clear vision that every person in your business believes in and wants to fight for.

The best CEOs think in years, then translate this vision in plain english to their team.

Make it stupid simple: everybody needs to know where the biz is going, what their contribution is, and why they are important.

When done right, it creates a flywheel:

• Executive vision gets translated into specific quarterly goals
• Goals become daily/weekly metrics on dashboards
• Dashboards drive structured team communication
• Communication reinforces the culture you're building 
(…which makes scaling almost inevitable).

When you nail this sequence, your team starts executing your vision without you having to micromanage every decision. 

2. Finances & Future Casting

The worst thing you can do is manage your business like a personal checking account.

Sadly, that’s what 99% of owners do.

They look at what's in the bank today and make decisions based on that number.

There’s a reason why that never ends well… 

Because revenue is vanity and cash flow is sanity. That’s not just to make a cute rhyme.

If your business lost all revenue tomorrow, how long would you survive?

You need to know this number.

That’s why we tell all our owners to have a rolling 90-day view of expected cash inflows & outflows.

With this data, you know:

• When to hire
• When to invest
• When to hold back on a big purchase

Scaling a business is hard enough, keep a little sanity in your life by keeping a pulse on collections, obligations, and cash reserves. 

3. Avatar Defintion

When owners say people can’t afford their product…

99% of the time, it's not a pricing problem. It's an avatar problem.

Most businesses chase anyone with a pulse and a credit card.

As a result, they end up selling snow to Eskimos instead of hot chocolate to skiers. 

Compare that with owners who get obsessed with ONE specific customer type.

And I’m not just talking about demographics…I mean knowing their pain points, what podcast they listen to, where they go on vacation…

I have yet to find a business that can’t scale to $10M focusing on one person.

↓ ↓ ↓

Come to my masterclass to learn how to scale your business farther than you may think you can push it.

More info here: https://lnkd.in/eJcGFHnN

I asked my mom & dad for advice recently from raising me and my brother...

This is what they told me, maybe you’ll find it useful too:

1. Your kids are not your friends. They’re yours to safeguard and support, but set rules. Biggest problem with most kids in our generation, their parents wanted to be liked not respected.

2. Psy ops are underrated. My mom had this line for whenever I got into trouble. She’d say, “When I ask you a question like this, I already know the answer. I am giving you a chance to come clean...” At which point I’d sing like a canary because I’m a scaredy cat. I found out today she rarely knew the answers. Brilliant and maniacal.

3. Always on the same page. My mom and dad rarely fought in front of my brother and I. They would never go back on the word of the other. United front to deal with us mini terrorists.

4. Make time. My dad had this silly line that is actually not silly: “You can make money, you can make a cake, but you can’t make time.” So they made allllll the time for us.

5. Four chairs. We have these four chairs in our living room, no tv. Growing up, we’d sit and debate and talk for hours. Politics. Opinions. Our days. Only thing not allowed was an opinion you couldn’t defend unemotionally. We still do this today.

6. Mi Sangre mi siempre. They’d always say, blood comes first. They meant it. I hired my brother, my dad, my mom, my cousin at times. We stick together and we may fight like hell but never in front of others.

7. Once you decide, you don’t quit. We could play any sport or instrument BUT if we committed we had to play the full year all out. No 3 lessons and quit. Taught us to choose thoughtfully and keep going even when it hurt.

8. Always call. They still pick up the phone nearly every time it’s family. My dad in a meeting will pause to answer my mom. My husband taught me this too, and I try to do the same. If they’re your first priority this is an easy way to prove it.

9. You’re not a princess, you’re a president. My dad always used to say that line. He told me this week that I lived up to it. Gutted me. He taught us we didn’t need to be saved, instead we could save ourselves and help others.

10. Hug often and seriously. If you’ve ever hugged my parents, they mean it when they do it. Such a simple, free gesture. My mom always gives you a hug and says vaya con dios… go with God. How can you not do big things with parents that hold you like that?

Just some Lessons from the Road from parents I happen to think are some of the best in the world.

Moms and dads everywhere, I’m in awe of you.

Hardest job I’ve ever seen.

*This is one of my favorite pics of me and my dad. Doesn’t get old.

The #1 killer of businesses is bad cashflow.

15 other harsh business truths for you:

1. The greatest muscle you can build is urgency. Bureaucracy is business poison.

2. Decrease the time between having an idea and getting it done. Everything changes.

3. Never sacrifice reputation in the name of business. You can always start another company. You can never create a new reputation.

4. Long-term games and long-term people compound. Resist shiny objects.

5. Hire smart people, pay them well, set them up for success... Then leave them the hell alone.

6. “There’s nothing worse than being sick, fat, tired and trying to run your business.” - Dana White

7. The highest ROI investment founders & owners can make is in themselves. Health shapes mindset. Mindset shapes action.

8. You're better off learning negotiation than financial modeling. Business is less spreadsheets than words.

9. The best business of all time has only you, a computer, and the send button.

10. Every additional employee increases complexity. Hiring is a last resort.

11. The best advice comes from those just a couple steps ahead of you. These people still vividly remember the problems you're facing today.

12. Sell painkillers, not vitamins. There's more money in needs than wants.

13. No discounts. Compete on value, not price. Any biz with $$$ can enter your market and bleed you out. Differentiate beyond commodity.

14. A happy customer is the most powerful marketing. Prioritize reviews. Humans are social animals.

15. If no one thinks you’re crazy, you’re too late. If everyone thinks your idea is good? Even worse. Outsized returns lie in non-conformism.

↓ ↓ ↓

Come to my masterclass tomorrow to learn how to grow your revenue & profit. 

It's 90 minutes + fully remote. 

Details here: https://lnkd.in/eJcGFHnN

Everyone should be obsessed with chasing their first $500k.

Capitalism has pulled more people out of poverty than any system ever created.

Stop pretending it’s evil.

↓↓↓

And one of the most important skills to learn to hit your first $500k? 

Sales. 

Read this to learn why now is the perfect time to get great at sales: https://lnkd.in/eqESyABe

The surprising truth about stocks and getting seriously wealthy:

99% of people will not get wealthy from it... you need money first. 

Let me break down an unsexy but effective path to wealth that I call Evolutionary Wealth Theory.

There are 4 levels to the theory:

Level 1: FEEL

Your money mindset is programmed early.

Most of us inherit beliefs that become self-fulfilling prophecies:

- Finances are stressful
- Money is always scarce
- Never enough to go around
- Hold onto every penny
- Don't spend too much 

If you hate money, you'll never attract it.

If you never feel that you COULD be wealthy, you never will be.

Get your money beliefs right first.

Level 2: WALK

Performance is contagious.

To build wealth, you must:

- Go where the game is played
- Be ruthless about who surrounds you
- Level up your environment as you grow

Hard truth: Your current friends might hold you back. They love the old you. They fear the new you. 

Level 3: SPEAK

This is the next plateau people hit.

They do their affirmations, they level up the people around them... But then they never truly learn the game.

You must learn the language of money. 

The real game is understanding:

- Business fundamentals
- Deal structures
- Contracts

But most people never learn these because they're too busy gambling. 

The correct order:

1. Earn first - negotiate a higher salary
2. Learn the mechanics - how to invest
3. Invest intelligently - now that you have the $$$ and the knowledge

Level 4: MASTERY

The wealthy have a different goal than most:

Ownership.

Look at the world's quietest billionaires:
- Bernard Arnault (LVMH) worth $171B
- Charles Koch worth $67B
- Carlos Slim worth $81B

All worth that much because of the businesses they own.

The final step of wealth-building isn't a trick or a hack. It’s simply, owning.

That’s what the entire framework is about:

The slow, uphill grind until you can intelligently own assets. Then you let those assets gain value over time.

Most people rent their whole lives:

- Rent their time to employers
- Rent their apartments
- Never own real assets

This is your sign to stop trading time for money and start gaining ownership...

Come to my masterclass this week to learn how to get started: https://lnkd.in/g3V6NrTZ

What no one tells you about being a CEO:

1. If you want to be the boss, first be the top performer where you are.

2. At the start, CEO is Chief Salesperson. Your entire job is cashflow.

3. Your goal is to build a company that runs better without you.

4. If you’re growing fast, your number one job as CEO is to replace yourself every 3 months.

5. You can usually tell if a startup will win or lose by one thing... Do they ship product fast? The best CEOs push for action.

6. You are no longer paid to "do things." You're paid to hire smarter doers, while creating a dream so big it overwhelms theirs..

7. Get over the title of CEO. How do you own your business instead of it owning you? Let your specialists run the show.

8. You really just become a recruiter for a living.

9. Understand your employees. A CEO is a psychologist. It's all about carrots and sticks.

10. Big vision = top talent. Can you get smarter people than you to believe YOU are a bet worth taking?

11. Being able to actively look for a sale is the greatest sign of health for your biz.

12. Your fastest way to millions is hiring the right people.

13. Your fastest way to misery is hiring the wrong people.

14. Pick a goal, and repeat it constantly. You must be comfortable repeating yourself over & over.

15. As a CEO you have to be a surgeon. Cancers will pop up... bad workers, terrible deals... Cut them out, fast..

16. Do what is required, not what is desired. "You can't show me a task that is beneath me."

17. Working harder always leads to money is a beautiful lie.

18. You will have to work irrationally hard and ALSO learn what to work on before you make real money.

19. It's all a who problem past your first $1 million.

20. You win in business doing the boring things: hiring well, spending little, selling often, and obsessing on customers.

21. You are always one hire away from a better, happier, more stress-free life.

↓↓↓

If you own a business and want to grow your profit this year...clear your schedule March 11th @ 10 am CT. 

I'm hosting a masterclass on how to grow any business faster (using my "Profit Multiplier" method).

Grab your spot here: https://lnkd.in/eJcGFHnN

We put a lot of pressure on interviews.

Here's what to ask to get more out of them:

↓ ↓ ↓

Want my full hiring method?

Download the system + matrix template here: → https://lnkd.in/euywp8w7

Job Interview Questions

The average person thinks having a job is safer than starting a company.

They're wrong:

Having a job vs Starting a compamy

7 Years in Pharma until I Escaped the 9 to 5 | I Help 249+ People Build Financial Freedom ($29.3M+) by Passively Investing in Multifamily Real Estate

Concerned with the sobering reality that you're not on track to provide for your family.

No one to turn to develop a strategy to help. I get it, and that's why I am here for you.

Everywhere you look, people appeared to have mastered their finances, and yet no one talks about money or helps. 

Being in this situation is confusing.

In 2015, I was confused.

I had an average income...

and a high expense lifestyle. 

I viewed it as normal.

I was not on track.

Why do I share this?

Because it's a honest, simple and powerful realization that most people don't reach.

This reality is true for a lot of us, irrespective of income.

I say this backed by anecdotal evidence.

Everyday I help people redefine their relationship with money. 

I've done it for 291+ people. 

Making them $20.2M+ since 2018.

Growing their net worth by $35.2M+.

And the average client has a similar story. 

Looking to make money, but doesn't know where to start.

And no time to figure it out.

And so, I help people build financial security.

Using the tips and tricks that I've done for myself. 

I help people that are: 

- Tired of paying too much in taxes
- Confused with how to manage their investments
- Unsure how to grow their business
- Flustered with the myriad of options   
- Overwhelmed with where to start

Nothing is more important to me than adding value to those around me. This is why I actively work to understand pain points and how to turn them into the foundation for people to scale. 

What I do isn't for everyone. If you think we might be a good fit, contact me:

📞 https://calendly.com/mustafal/15min

📧 ml@velocecapital.com

Disclaimer: Please note that past performance is not indicative of future results and investing involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. There are no guarantees in any investment. Content is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Any forward-looking statements or forecasts are based on assumptions and actual results may differ materially from those expressed in such statements.

Before investing, carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the investment product or strategy. Each investor's financial situation and investment objectives are unique, and the information contained herein may not be suitable for all investors. Prospective investors should consult with a financial or legal professional to determine the appropriateness of any investment in light of their individual circumstances.

Mustafa Ladha

If you’re in your 20s or 30s

This is huge

Your biggest asset isn’t your income

It’s your time

And time + leverage is powerful

You don’t need ten properties

You need one

One property bought intelligently

One that cash flows 

This one decision changes your trajectory

Because real estate has a superpower

Something rare

You can use other peoples’ money responsibly

That leverage accelerates ownership

Most people delay this move

They want perfect clarity

Perfect timing

Perfect confidence

But momentum doesn’t come from perfection

It comes from starting

If you looked back 5 years from now

What would you wish you had bought today?

From 9–5 to Financial Freedom | Helping 291+ People | Generated $20.2M+ in Passive Income & Increased Net Worth by $35.2M+ | Learn How You Can Too

We don’t learn about money in school

We learn it on LinkedIn

[There’s a lot wrong with this...]

Here's what nobody tells us about investing

Volatility doesn't just change our portfolio

It changes our behavior

[And people don’t talk about this]

We're told to invest for the long term

Don't time the market

But here's what actually happens

People buy when stock are high

[After a big run-up in a bull market

We get hit with fear of missing out

FOMO]

Then sell after a big drop

[Once again

We make decisions based on emotion]

Not because we’re dumb

Because uncertainty is stressful

Crypto is the cleanest example

Bitcoin can make us huge gains and losses over short periods of time

That level of volatility is hard to sit through

So people do the worst possible thing

We turn a long-term plan into a short-term emotional decision

After helping 291+ investors generate $20.2M+ in passive income

I've seen this pattern constantly

Here’s what I mean

One client came to me after panic-selling

He lost $40K 

Not to the market

But to his own reaction

The stock recovered 3 months later

He didn't

The best investors I know don't have nerves of steel

They have a tried and tested strategy

Build by a solid team

A team that they’ve vetted

The core of that strategy is simple

Assets they can actually hold long term

That's the real edge

Not picking the ‘best’ investment

Picking one you won't abandon when things get uncomfortable

Before the next dip

Write your rules

If you can’t explain why you’ll hold it during a drop

You shouldn’t own it

What’s one rule you follow when markets get ugly?

P.S.

I buy when the market is down

It’s my version of black friday

80% of people talk about financial freedom like it’s a destination

Here’s why only 20% actually become financially free

Here’s the reality

Financial freedom is a lifestyle built from repeated action

1. How you manage money when nobody is watching

2. How you build income that doesn’t depend on a single paycheck

3. How you stay consistent when life gets busy

Most people don’t fail because they’re lazy

They fail because:

1. They don’t make success inevitable 
2. They don’t have a system
3. They’re trying to build alone

No structure 

No feedback loop 

No one to call out the excuses

They’re stuck in an endless loop:

Plan → Motivation → Stall → Guilt → Reset

The thing that changed everything isn’t finding ‘new information’

It was getting clear on the system

Learn → Apply → Review → Repeat

That’s why we’ve built the MFJ community 

A room for people who want more than inspiration

Inside, we focus on

Practical monetization paths (how skills turn into income)

The foundations that create options (credit, discipline, strategy)

Accountability so you don’t disappear when it gets uncomfortable

If you’re serious about building freedom 

Not just posting about it 

(or reading about it)

Come join us

The view is better on the inside

80% of people won’t click the link in the comment section

20% of people will

And their lives will change

Which are you?

No alternative text description for this image

Everyone loves free things

So how do you design life that way?...

I got upgraded to a Mercedes GLE

Paid $50 

Got $275 in value

Fun perk 

But here's why it actually matters for building wealth

After helping 291+ investors deploy $64M+ into real estate 

I've noticed something:

The investors who move fastest don’t just have money 

They have the total stack 

Things like the ‘right’ credit cards

Credit cards aren't about the perks 

They're about what those perks represent:

→ Credit history that gets you approved for better financing terms
→ A profile that signals reliability 
→ The discipline to use debt as a tool, not a trap

One of my clients came to me last year wanting to invest $100K.

Great income 

Weak savings 

He used a line of credit

A high risk strategy that we talked though

We structured a fixed income strategy

It covered the cost of the line of credit

He invested the rest in a high growth opportunity

3 Years Later...

He’s happy he took the risk

He leveraged the bank’s money to make a huge time weighted return

But all investments carry risk

And when it came to investing I had to caution him on the risks associated with this approach 

This move helped him strategically wealth building

The people that build wealth

Look for ways to be efficient 

Ways to build in asymmetric risk 

To get more out of life...

When done right

You look back at life and appreciate the grand design

This is intense, maybe a bit crazy

But there’s an element of wisdom, a bit of value

If you’re not willing to outwork everyone

Don’t ask the world to trust you

Here’s why:

Helping people isn’t a ‘content plan’

It’s a responsibility

And responsibility has a cost

You wake up earlier

You do the extra reps

You take the harder conversations

You keep going when it’s boring

That’s why passion matters

Not because it’s cute

Because passion is the only thing that makes ‘hard’ sustainable

On my podcast, Owen Beiny explained it using credit card points

He basically said:

If you love the craft, 

You stop fearing competition 

Because nobody can outwork obsession

That clicked for me 

Because it’s exactly how I think about money

Most people don’t lose financially because they’re ‘bad with money’

They lose because they never build the habits that require repetition

Tracking spending weekly

Understanding risk (not just returns)

Learning the difference between income and wealth

This is why I’m passionate about what I do

I’m not here to ‘motivate’ you

I’m here to help you get money clarity 

And build a system you can follow for years 

And if passive real estate fits

Use it to compound

Because results don’t come from intensity

They come from consistency you can sustain

If you want help building that system

Message me

Here's what's quietly draining your wealth.

It's not inflation.

It's not bad timing.

It's the need to feel certain before you act.

One investor told me 

He'd been ‘waiting for the right time’ for 3 years.

He wasn't lazy.

He wasn't even cautious.

He was protecting himself from the feeling of being wrong.

In the meantime he lost 8%

His $100 is now only worth $92

But he did nothing wrong

In fact 80% of people approach life the same way

They keep their money in the bank

Making 0% a year

That's what most people don't admit.

Waiting isn't about timing.

It's about avoiding regret before it happens.

And along the way we’re losing money 

Without realizing

So the questions loop:

‘What if the market drops?’

‘What if I pick the wrong opportunity?’

‘What if it doesn't work out?’

Each question feels like due diligence.

But really it's just fear dressed up as logic.

And we get caught up in analysis paralysis

Here's the part no one talks about:

The mental cost compounds too.

Every month you wait, 

You're not just losing opportunities.

You're reinforcing the belief that you're not ready.

That story gets heavier over time.

So what's the answer?

Not ‘just take action.’

That's reckless.

The answer is to reduce fragility.

Build a structure where being wrong doesn't break you:

1. Strong reserves 

So surprises don't derail you

2. Conservative assumptions 

So you're not betting on best-case

3. Trusted partners 

So you're not figuring it out alone

When the downside is manageable, 

Fear loses its grip.

And you stop needing certainty to move.

So if you've been telling yourself 

‘I'll start when I feel ready’.

Ask yourself this:

What is that story costing you? 

Not just financially, but mentally?

If you want help building a structure that makes the first step feel safe, 

Comment ‘READY’

It’s really that easy

You just need to take one step

Show me your calendar

And your circle...

80% chance I can tell how the next year will go

Because your results aren’t just about effort

They’re about what your week keeps reinforcing

What you talk about repeatedly

What you tolerate

What gets celebrated

What gets ignored

In a conversation on my podcast

Junaid Ahmed 📹 shared a simple idea worth passing on 

The people you spend time around shape your standards

Often more than your goals do

That’s why two people can want the same thing...

And get completely different outcomes

One person has a room that normalizes progress

The other has a room that normalizes excuses

So here’s the practical move:

Don’t just set a goal

Set a room

A community 

A circle

A space where the behavior you want is already normal

Because when the standard is higher

Consistency stops being a personality trait

It becomes part of the environment

If I looked at your calendar this week, what room are you in most often?

Comment one room that’s helping you (or one you need)

Bonus: tag someone who’s raised your standards just by how they operate.

You’re doing everything right

So are you tense?

You earn

You work hard

You’re responsible

But there’s a quiet tension underneath it all

Because deep down, you know one thing:

If this one income stopped

Life would get hard very fast

That’s not a money problem

That’s a design problem

And design isn’t really about investments

It’s about meaning

A meaningful life needs space

Space to breathe

Space to choose

Space to slow down without fear

That space only exists when your life isn’t dependent on one pillar

Some people rely completely on a paycheck

Some make great money but have zero freedom

Some know they need a plan

But keep delaying it

Different situations

Same root issue

And procrastination is what keeps it in place

Not because people are lazy

Because planning forces decisions

Decisions create responsibility

Responsibility feels heavy

So ‘later’ becomes the strategy

Until time passes anyway

Diversification is how you remove single points of failure from your life

Not to get rich

To create freedom

Because freedom is what gives success its meaning

Be honest with yourself

Where are you right now?

The answer usually tells you what needs to

Adam was fired...

Along with half his team

Replaced by someone that doesn’t need food

Doesn’t need sleep

And can improve efficiency beyond belief

When I read something like Block firing ~50% of their staff

Citing how they’re going to invest in AI instead

It feels like the writing is on the wall

It feels like we all need to take radical accountability

If AI replaces jobs as we know them

We will pivot

We will survive

Life will go on

But there will be pain in the market

When people say 7 streams of income

This is why

Because the market is always in flux

It’s always changing

And yet

Only 50-65% of people invest in the stock market

Only 10-20% of people invest in real estate

The top 20% of people in America are worth $890k+

But people don’t have financial freedom

Realistically most people I work with are aspiring to get to $3-5M

So how do you bridge the gap?

There honestly isn’t a one size fits all answer

You can follow the tried and tested path...

Save more than you earn

But most people don’t get there by saving

They get there by following the path of least resistance

By investing

That’s what I did 

Until I quit at 29

I was offered a promotion ~6 months before I quit

And honestly, this promotion didn’t materially change my financial health 

What was a modest ~6% salary increase going to change

What was a new title going to change

It wasn’t creating the freedom I was looking for

I got that freedom by diligently investing and growing for 7 years

I say this to say that there is only one person that can build you financial freedom

It’s you

Everything else is designed to help build you up

Or knock you down

What steps will you take?

Here’s the truth

A bad market won't kill your portfolio

A broken plan with no backup will

That's what happened on one of our opportunities

We strategically bought the land 

We rezoned the land

We pushed approvals through

Then the city came back with something unexpected

Approved for 11 units instead of 15

Four units gone

Just like that

I remember staring at the numbers

Running the same model three times

Hoping it would somehow change

It didn't

Most people panic here

Or they force the original plan and hope the market saves them

We did neither

We sat with it for a week

Then made the call

Instead of 15 one-bedrooms

We shifted the unit mix

Studios, 1-beds, 2-beds

That pivot protected income

We ended up making about $300 more per unit than expected

Then the second punch landed

Cap rates expanded

The market moved from sub 5% to around 5.5%

Asset value came in about ~$1M less than projected

At this point most operators start ‘explaining’

We focused on outcomes

We sold our equity and returned 65% to investors in 24 months

A 32.5% IRR

Was it the original plan?

No

We targeted a 1.25x refi

For every $100k invested, the investor gets $125k back tax-free

And still owns the asset

That didn't happen

But here's the part most people miss

Real estate isn't about being right

It's about managing risk

And maximizing value

Creating options

And always having a clean way out

Those investors made a 1.65X 

More liquidity in a similar time frame

What's the tightest spot you've navigated in an opportunity?

I'd love to hear how you handled it

Upside is easy to love

Downside is what decides if you keep the win

Here’s my 4-step check

4 Easy Steps To Protect Downside

This is crazy...

But I see it all the time

Two people can look at the same opportunity

One feels calm

One feels anxious

Not because the opportunity changed

Because their life is different

Example:

Adam has $250k liquid

Stable income

No big expenses

Omar has $500k liquid

But also a mortgage

And private school tuition

So a chunk of this money is already ‘spoken for’

They both want to invest $75k

On paper, both can afford it

But life doesn’t pay out like it does on paper

One feels relaxed

The other knows he’s taking more risk than he should

Both understand that they need to invest to provide for their families

Both understand that investments carry risk 

That’s why I like asking a simple question before investing:

How much of my liquid cash is going into one opportunity?

Here’s a helpful guideline:

When one investment is 10–20% of your cash...

It usually feels easier to invest

You don’t overthink every update

You don’t need perfection

You give the plan room to work

That’s the quiet benefit of building the right strategic approach 

Investing done right builds wealth…

Without taking over your headspace

I’m curious…

What percent do you invest in one opportunity?

My client made 30.14% 

Here's what he did next

He pulled out all his money

Because of missed expectations

Honestly, I get it

And it's painful to admit I didn't deliver

But the reality is more nuanced

This client wanted more regular touch points

Not a newsletter or a LinkedIn post

1 on 1 interaction

I can't fault him for that

He also wanted a 20% return a year

Not 30.14% over two years

That's a communication gap

I can't legally promise a specific return

He expected something I couldn't deliver, 

Something I can’t imagine committing to

So clearly I messed up when we first spoke

So here's what I did:

-Sent him the steps to cash out.
-Asked for feedback.
-Sent steps I'll take to address it.

I don't usually ask for feedback

I don't like probing and bothering people

It's their money

They can take it back whenever they want

This bias is stopping me from growing

The goal isn't just to ‘get good results’

The goal is alignment between results and expectations

Most frustration in investing doesn't come from the numbers

It comes from unclear expectations:

How often will we talk?

What does ‘good performance’ actually look like over time?

What does this strategy feel like in the slow months?

I normally avoid probing questions

Avoid reaching out uninvited

I like to protect people’s space

But silence doesn't always feel like respect

Sometimes it feels like being left alone with uncertainty

And uncertainty is dangerous

It’s where people start making emotional decisions...

Even when the investment is performing

The ‘miss’ here wasn't effort

It was alignment

And I'd rather learn it now than repeat it 10 times

Have you ever left an investment that was working...

Because it didn't feel right?

If your real estate plan feels ‘comfortable’

You should be nervous

Mohammed Quadri, MD, MBA, SSBB said this on my podcast

‘Leadership isn’t doing what people want

It’s pointing to the direction they don’t want to go’

That’s how I help people too

It’s not my job to push an opportunity

It’s my job to guide 

Even when the answer is:

Not this opportunity

Not this timing

Not this leverage

Not this level of risk

That can sound crazy in a world that rewards transactions

Because sometimes it means I step back

Even when I could push it through

Even when it would be easier for me

Even when it’s a clean ‘yes’

But I sleep better

Because the long game is trust

And peace of mind may feel expensive

But it is really invaluable

What’s the uncomfortable truth you’re avoiding in your real estate plan right now?

I Invest In And Support Healthcare AI From Innovation To Adoption | For Founders, Funders & Physician-Innovators

Hey

This is why you’re stuck

You keep asking:

Should I persevere?

or

Should I pivot?

But that question is almost impossible to answer in real time

Because you’re asking it after you’re tired

Stressed

And in your head

...

On our podcast, Rob Durant pointed out something that just clicks

The real leverage is deciding before you’re emotional

So here’s the habit

Write down why you started 

While you still have perspective.

Then add a few ‘decision rules’

What does success look like in 6–12 months?

What evidence would tell me to keep going?

What evidence would tell me to pivot?

What’s a non-negotiable I won’t trade away?

Later

When things get messy

You don’t have to guess

You can look at what you wrote and say

‘This is still true - I stay’
 
Or

This changed - I pivot

That’s the difference between a strategic pivot 

And a panic move

If you’re deciding between pushing and pivoting right now

What’s the one signal you’re watching most closely?

Like Walt, I’m a bumblebee - bringing together ideas, perspectives, and people.

I live for this

[And you would too...]

It’s the reason I get up in the morning

I got a call late one night

Let’s call him ‘Adam’

He has a senior role in tech

With a high income

On paper

Everything looked perfect

But his first sentence wasn't about money

‘My son just asked if I'm coming to his game tomorrow

I told him, 'I'll try.'

He said, 'You always say that’

This line, from a child to a parent, hurts

We do everything for our kids...

Honestly, 

I've heard this story so many times

From executives

Business owners

Founders

‘I'll slow down after this project’

‘Once I hit X, then I'll have more time’

But the target keeps moving

And the people we say we're ‘doing it for’

Get what's left of us

Not the best of us

His story hit close to home

Adam is essentially asking 

‘How do I earn more?’

‘How can I slow down
without everything falling apart?’

The answer was simple

The right real estate strategy that makes Adam enough to retire

So Adam makes money, whether he checks his phone or not

It wasn't overnight

But slowly…

The feeling shifted from ‘If I stop, it all stops’

To ‘I can choose my pace and still be okay’

The real win for Adam wasn't a spreadsheet

It was showing up to his son's midweek game

Phone face down

Fully present

For the first time in years

Same career

Completely different relationship with time

Is your life designed to support the life you want

Or is it structured to starve you of the freedom you crave

We can all be Adam

Book a call to learn more

Everything has a cost

Especially success...

Everyone chases success

We want to look impressive

We want to be paid well

We want applause

But there’s a version of success that costs too much

And it quietly takes your sleep

Multifamily can do that

Because the work never ends

It just changes form

As you scale It becomes:

1. Refi pressure
2. Capex surprises
3. Insurance spikes
4. Leasing risk
5. Investor expectations
6. A calendar you can’t control
7. And the list goes on

So you adapt

You carry it

You become 'the reliable one'

But reliability turns into identity

And identity turns into a cage

You stop asking the real question:

Is this what freedom is supposed to look like?

Most people don’t burn out from one big problem

They burn out from constant vigilance

Always scanning

Always bracing

Always one step away from 'if this goes wrong...

That’s not wealth

That’s survival with nicer spreadsheets

This is why I’m sharing Freedom Isn’t Free

A live workshop hosted by Faisal Masud Ensaun

It’s for the person who’s growing…

But wants to grow with more clarity, calm, and control

If you’ve been feeling stretched thin

Even while you’re 'winning'

You’re not alone

Details in the first comment

80% of people obsess over upside.

The 20% that don’t, 

They protect their future

Making money lures us in

Managing risk enables us to build the foundation

The foundation to exponentially grow

Here are 4 simple steps I use:

1. Assume delays and surprises.

Don’t treat them as bad luck.

Treat them as normal.

Part of the process

2. Stress test the numbers.

Change your assumptions

Assume higher costs and longer timelines.

If it only works in the perfect scenario,

It’s not for me

3. Look at human behavior.

How have the people involved behaved when things went wrong in the past?

Character is part of risk management.

4. Ask: would I still do it if this is how it played out?

If the 'bad' version of the investment

Still leaves you standing,
 
You can breathe easier.


This isn’t about pessimism. 

It’s about protecting your future self.

If you want help pressure-testing the downside

In your current plan,

DM me review

And we can walk through it.

What’s the hardest part of investing in real estate?


1. Finding an opportunity 
2. Figuring out if it’s a good opportunity
3. Actually turning that projection into real money

In real estate investing, what’s hardest to manage?

Everyone talks about AI

But nobody explains this part

It feels like a toy

Something ‘smart people are playing with’

Smartphones were like that

In 2004–2005, 

Basically 0% of the world used a smartphone

Today it’s roughly 70–80%

And it didn’t just change communication

It changed every aspect of our lives

Work

Learning

Investing

Generative AI is in that early same early stage 

Only ~10–20% use ChatGPT monthly

Most people ‘try it'

Very few rebuild their lives around it

Here’s the part people miss:

Technology changes how we live

But it doesn’t change the truth of building wealth

Here’s what I mean

Real estate has been creating wealth for generations

Own a physical asset

Let time do the heavy lifting

Let income + appreciation compound

But only about 10–12% of U.S. adults invest directly in real estate.

That’s not because everyone else is broke.

It’s because most people never get clarity

They never learn how to build wealth 

They don’t know where to start

If you’re curious how to build wealth 

Comment below or DM me

I’ve helped 291+ people make $20,200,000+ in real estate

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