Escaping the Drift with John Gafford - How to Pitch Anything to Anyone in 3 Minutes (Hollywood Secrets) with Brant Pinvidic

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

Brant Pinvidic has sold over 100 TV shows and movie projects to every major network in Hollywood. But one day, while standing in the lobby of MTV, he realized he hated the industry he had conquered.In this episode of Escaping the Drift, John Gafford talks with the legendary producer and author of The 3-Minute Rule about exactly how to simplify your message to close any deal. Brant shares the terrifying story of pitching between Mark Burnett and Simon Cowell, why he took his family to 52 countries in 52 weeks, and the harsh truth about "investing" in private equity that most entrepreneurs ignore.If you struggle to explain what you do clearly or feel trapped by your own success, this episode is the blueprint for reclaiming your freedom and your voice.In this episode, we cover:How to pitch your business clearly in 3 minutes or less.The "whiplash" method of storytelling.Why he quit a dream career in Hollywood to start over.The "Game of Money": Why you are the end consumer, not the investor.Chapter Titles & Timestamps00:00 – Intro: Pitching with Mark Burnett & Simon Cowell03:15 – Traveling 52 Countries in 52 Weeks with Kids12:45 – The 3-Minute Rule: Conceptualize, Contextualize, Actualize20:30 – The CBS Pitch Story: Out in 9 Minutes28:10 – Why I Quit Hollywood: The MTV Lobby Moment36:00 – The "Game of Money": Are You the Investor or the Consumer?45:00 – Finding Purpose Beyond the Paycheck💬 Did you enjoy this podcast episode? Tell us all about it in the comment section below! ☑️  If you liked this video, consider subscribing to Escaping The Drift with John Gafford *************💯 About John Gafford: After appearing on NBC's "The Apprentice", John relocated to the Las Vegas Valley and founded several successful companies in the real estate space.➡️ The Gafford Group at Simply Vegas, top 1% of all REALTORS nationwide in terms of production. Simply Vegas, a 500 agent brokerage with billions in annual sales Clear Title, a 7-figure full-service title and escrow company.*************✅ Follow John Gafford on social media:Instagram ▶️ / thejohngaffordFacebook ▶️ / gafford2🎧 Stream The Escaping The Drift Podcast with John Gafford Episode here:Listen On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7cWN80gtZ4m4wl3DqQoJmK?si=2d60fd72329d44a9Listen On Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/escaping-the-drift-with-john-gafford/id1582927283 *************#The3MinuteRule #SalesPitch #PublicSpeaking #BrantPinvidic #HollywoodProducer #BusinessTips #EscapingTheDrift #StorytellingSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

And now, escaping the drift, the show designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be. I'm John Gafford, and I have a knack for getting extraordinary achievers to drop their secrets to help you on a path to greatness. So stop drifting along, escape the drift, and it's time to start right now. Back again, back again for another episode of, like it says in the opening man, the podcast that gets you from where you are to where you want to go. And today I got a dude in the studio, a friend of mine, that literally has been everywhere. We will get to that in a second. So if your goal is to go everywhere, we're going to talk in depth about that. But he's done so much cool stuff.

You ever have that friend that, like, he's just like Mr. Cool with all of his jobs? You're like, dude, how much cool stuff can one human do in one life? And this guy's trying to do it all. He has been a television producer for a great part of his career, producing shows that you know, shows that you watch a lot. lot shows that you've seen he is the best selling author of which i'm terribly jealous of a book called the three minute rule he has a new book coming out and they dude this is an unbelievable human and i can't wait for you to meet him because you're going to like him as much as i do ladies and gentlemen welcome to the program this is brand hypnotic oh my god i got to take you

with me for you fired up that oh my god i am the flavor flay of podcast introductions i'm looking to my daughter saying you know he's talking about me yeah like that's your dad you know what you know it's funny. If she's, his daughter is in the podcast studio with us. And if it's any, she's anything like my daughter. I love to torture her with everything in my being. And I don't know if you're torturable as she is. The other night at my book signing when we did my opening, every time I signed a book, I made sure to let her know that somebody had asked for my signature in a book. Yeah. And you were going to watch me side. I thought she was going to murder me by the end. The best was we were, uh, we were in Tennessee at Dollywood. And we're in line for

the train with my two kids. And she was there. And somebody screams, Brad and they were like oh who's that and it was somebody who had just been following me on Instagram was a fan and had seen from my story that we were going to Dollywood and came to Dollywood to meet us and it was the greatest one when I'm looking at my kids like yeah that's right that's right yeah yeah suck it up what we're gonna do we're going to talk about so much on the podcast today we're going to talk about the new book which is all about money we're going to talk about the old book we're going to talk about the TV stuff but the first thing I want to talk about is probably the thing that gave me more FOMO than anything I've I've

literally ever seen in my entire life, which is you did something with your children that I think should be the envy of every family on earth. On earth. Literally. Tell the people what you guys did. Last year we left in a one year tour of the world and we did 52 countries in 52 weeks. And it was unbelievable. I followed you all around the world on Instagram, watching everything he did. When he says we went, like, it's not like we went and got an Airbnb and sat in the Airbnb and watched TV. I mean, it was, they did it. Yeah, we, it was a mission, right? Like, the mission was to go to the 52 countries, to experience the culture, to go do fun stuff, to compare and contrast. And it became part of our lives living with each other with my kids and stuff to be like, what is the goal today? Oh, we're going to do. What's the most fun thing you can do when you're in Paraguay? What's the most thing fun you can do? We're in Saudi Arabia. What are we doing, right? Like, how do you, And so that became part of our lives, not just a vacation. And it changed the dynamic of all our relationships and what we did because it became your everyday mission. And that was what made it possible.

Listen, traveling 52 countries in 52 weeks, I would not recommend for someone just because it's a lot of work. One, it costs a fortune. It's a lot of work. It's a ton of planning. I literally have my credit card framed. It is mangled and fried from like, it's not that it was just so much money. It was just that it was so constant. like every single week you're chasing around restaurants and like but the mission side of that

of having a mission to do as a family and going with it and having it that it was fun like the mission was to go have fun everywhere yeah was life changing like that was so incredible when you talk to the kids at first when you were pitching this to them yeah because i know that part of it was you're allowed to take literally what you can carry on your back and one one one suitcase that was it yeah you know we had done the like just just at the end of COVID, we had done the United States in a big, huge RV. We'd done all 48 states, and we loved it. We traveled every three days. It was wild. It was the same thing.

We got a taste of doing that adventure mission. And so I realized that as my daughter was finished with high school and my son had come through, he was doing graduating high school, we had this one little moment. And I said, hey, you know what? Like, we could do one more adventure together before everybody goes their separate ways. like, you know, it was already at the house. Like, you know, we had a relatively large house with a ton of property and like, kids at a certain age stopped using all that stuff.

Yeah. So like, I would be going out back and be like, oh, I have a horseshoe pit. No one's played horseshoes in six months. I'd go play by myself because I hated the fact that it wasn't getting used. So I knew it was a time that we could probably do something like this. So we had a whiteboard in my office in the house and my daughter and I were going through all the ideas. Oh, I got to get a big boat and we're going to go in the great loop and we're going to, and all these ideas listed to go.

and let's go backwards around a different RV. And my son finally came to have the family meeting to decide what maybe our adventure could be. And he was like, I'm not doing any of that. No, I got girlfriends. I got college coming up. I got a summer with all my, it's going to be amazing.

I don't want to go do some stupid thing, like go down to Europe. Like, no. But if you want to go around the world and do 52 countries in 52 weeks, like, I can't say no to that. Yeah.

And that was the decision where, like, I guess we got to do this. The multi-level of why it was so cool, because number one, to be able to be in such close quarters with your kids for that long, you know, when if you're listening to this and your kids are little, yeah, you're used to have them stuck to your hip. But they hit a point in somewhere between when you go from dad to bra, somewhere when that happens, they just kind of stay in their rooms and talk on their phones. And that's what you get. And to be that close with them for that long was unbelievable. But number two, probably you gave them the greatest gift you can ever give. One of my favorite things that's ever been muttered in this particular studio was my friend, Chris Connell once said, I've never met a well-traveled racist. And I thought that was such a great comment, not just about racism, but just really learning how the rest of the world operates. And, you know, giving you a great appreciation for what we have in this particular country. Did you see a change in your kids?

I know she's sitting right here. She could probably chime in a bit. Did you see a change in your children over that time? Yeah, like definitively. Yeah. And particularly with my son who, you know, when we went around the country, he was much younger, right? And so when we went this time, you could see them come out of their shells and they meet

people, they tell stories, people ask them questions. And they learned about how people in all of these countries are so overwhelmingly similar. like it was stunning and how everything that you think you believe about the way other countries and the world works comes from a box either your phone or the computer or the TV and somebody is filtering that information to you and then when you go and you find yourself in Saudi Arabia on Christmas Day and you're like there are no other white people anywhere near us yeah on Christmas Saudi Arabia not a big Christmas destination for Christians right and so you do that and you realize like this is not what we expected little things like that where you're

like we used to we use the term the Middle East and that'd be like someone saying the Americas to describe Argentina and Canada yeah it's like well it's called the Americas you're the Americas and so you could see the kids their eyes like just taking all this in and understanding and the freedom that they felt to go and experience it so much of the world just not have petty crime or crime in general as part of their day-to-day existence, which we found shocking. Like, so much of our trip for so long was like, there's not a thought of, there's no crime in South Korea.

There's no crime in Japan. Like, these places in Norway and Denmark, and like a lot of, the African places we went to, you're just like, you're in Kigali, Rwanda. It's the most beautiful, clean, organized, amazing place. And you're like, I had no idea. Is that the places, would you say that's the place that surprised you the most? For sure. Without question, Kagali Rwanda is like, it's like, you know, we call this Singapore of Africa

kind of thing. Like they have come from literally the depths of despair in the most, one of the worst genocides you've ever seen and heard of rubble in the streets of their city. 25 years later, it is beautiful and modern and perfectly clean and still very African. Like women with things on their heads walking along with their. But it's beautiful. It's the culture is just like, wow. It's shocking. What was the one thing that you guys did that you would just say, if you literally can go anywhere in the world and do this one thing, this is the thing. You have to go see their guerrillas in Rwanda. That's the thing.

We're going again in January. Like it's, it's magical. It's a magical experience. That's what I would say. Yeah, that's one of the things I love about you is you're always calling. me trying to drag me on these trips. I have. Why don't you come on this an African one? But I would have. I know. But like we talked about,

I will be in kick down, staging to land on the ice in Antarctica. Yeah, Africa had most of those like epic things that are hard to describe, you know? And so, but I would say there's a couple other ones that people wouldn't necessarily like know right away. I would say Norway,

Oslo, Norway in the summer is like euphoria. It is like the classic spring break Daytona Beach euphoric feeling but with adults like with normal adults because in Norway you have to remember like it's dark all the time and the sun it's cold and they're very wealthy country and so

when summertime hits it's just like everybody's out in the sunshine they're so happy they have built the most beautiful waterfront I've ever seen in my life and so many people are just out there on the dock you would just randomly swim you would go swimming yes I remember this yes at the end of like a pier

everybody was just out at the end of the pier It was, it was magic. Like, I'm talking magic. That was one of those things you're like, whoa, I got to go, like, that is one the thing everybody should experience. All right, well, let's back up, dude. Yeah. Because let's talk about what, you know, your early life.

Let's talk a little bit about that. You're Canadian, yes? Yeah. Yeah, that's right. So, which is why you can stay in the cold water. I'm Floridian. No way I'm getting that water in Oslo, Norway, not a chance. What do you think about your upbringing gave you this hunger for adventure?

sure. And it, listen, I think at the end of the day, it's a combination of a few things. One is, my dad did not wake up every day trying to make me happy. Okay. Like, I know how you are with your kids. You know, my daughter knows how I am with her. Like, it is my only goal in life every day is how can I make my kids lives better today, right? And there's a lot of great things about that. There's a lot of downside about that, right? So I had to create my own hunger to go achieve, to go develop, to go build things for myself. I was very, very focused on trying to find success in Canada. Canada is not built for entrepreneurs. It is not built for the mentality of go make something, go try something different. That is not the way the culture is. And the culture is palatable

there. And I beat my head against the wall for 27 years in Canada unsuccessfully and sort of mildly mocked for my goofy ideas, right? I come to Los Angeles on kind of a whim as a last ditch effort. I live in my parents' basement with my two-year-old son at the time, out of money. my dad's like get a job like that kind of stuff yeah I hit Hollywood I have an idea I have a project I meet people they're like oh my God you how did you do that on your own and you know and it's like they saw potential they love potential here they value potential they're like come join us do stuff with us we like this kind of thing and it was like what was the idea what was the first it was called life of the party it was sort of like a party animal fun thing

where you traveled around like and it you know NBC bought it and they loved how much a work I had done at a time when you sold your first idea yeah yeah i went and made it myself in canada my own money and raised money for friends like and all this stuff which is a stupid idea i said a finished product i had an almost finished product this is what this is what the life-changing moment is that i couldn't afford to edit the show that i had created because i didn't know anything about television was a stupid idea shouldn't have done that but i couldn't afford to edit it i just thought that when i explained it to people they would give me money so i could edit and put on the air canadian television's like no we don't do that idiot like i buy first

friends for $70,000 an episode. Why would I pay hundreds of thousand dollars for your stupid idea? Right. I didn't know that before. You should figure these things out before, right? Anyways. That's a lesson, kids. Make sure there's a market for your product before you build it. My story, I say this all the time. My story is not a treasure map. Like you cannot follow the map here. It's a highlight. It's a minefield. Yeah. So, but there's something about finding your place and finding your people. In Los Angeles and the United States, I always, wanted to be part of. And when I got here, it was like, oh, my God, this is where I'm meant to be. And I remember it specifically. I'm driving down the 405. It is Christmas time. I had been in

the country for seven months, got this fancy, cool job and stuff. And I'm driving my convertible seabring that I had bought when I got there. And I'm, oh, I got a blackberry from the, oh, yeah. Well, now we know what year of this office. Exactly. Exactly. And, and, Yeah, it's 22 years ago. Yeah. And I'm sending, hey, because, you know, Hollywood shuts down early for Christmas, everybody goes away. And I'm sending messages to people saying, hey, man, have a great Christmas break. I'll see you when you get back.

Really cool meeting you, that kind of stuff. And I realized, oh, my God, like, I have more friends and interested people that care about me that I care about in seven months in the United States than in almost 30 years in Canada. And I fell in love with people. being successful, not so much the TV industry. Like, people thought that I, like, I was so great at the TV industry. The TV industry just gave me my first taste of actual, verifiable success. And I was addicted to that.

And that's why I dedicated my life at the time to being exceptional at producing and developing TV, at pitching ideas. And so. Well, give them the litany of the shows that you've done. Give them the laundry list of stuff that they probably watch on Sundays. I think Barr Rescue is probably the big one. I get the most now. It used to be the biggest loser.

Now it's probably Bar Rescue is like, that's the one people talk to about the most, you know, or Extreme Makeover was a big one. My cat from hell, people talk about, you know. Did you speak, well, let's talk about Biggest Loser for a minute before we get the Bar Rescue. Did you, I'm Biggest Loser. Did you watch the documentary that they just had on Netflix?

Were you in that documentary? No, no, I didn't have very much to do with the biggest loser. I ran the company that was a tenant to the company. It was already sold. Okay. It's like, it's one of those beautiful situations where it's like I was involved enough where I can put it on credit

yeah but you're not handing people diet bills oh my god no and if you talk to the guys who actually run biggest loser they'd be like brand told you he's gonna be like that guy did nothing right yeah that's the fun of Hollywood like every success has many many fathers and like I've been introduced so many times

in this world where it's just like you know I'm like oh the creator of amazing race I'm like I used to be like I don't I, sorry, thinks I'm making an emergency call. I don't do, like, you know, I, I don't know, I didn't create that. I wasn't the executive reason. I was only this person, like, yeah.

And now I'm like, oh, whatever, yes. Yes, I was the host of American I. That was me. Like, nobody cares. But Biggest loser was a big hit. Everybody loves that show. I talk about that all the time. It's great.

But Barr Res. That was like my, that was like one of my jams, you know? Like, John Taffer and I, like, it was like, are one of the best meetings in the, when we're pitching that, you know, and like, it was cool because... Did you have the idea for the show and then found him or... No. No. First of all, the idea for the show, not what you would call super original, you know,

like Gordon Ramsey kind of already doing that on the air. Sure. But I saw John Taffer and I was like, ooh, like, is this our, you know, is this Gordon Ramsey for bars and nightclubs? Yeah, maybe. But I didn't know. Like, I would tell people, and now that I'm so far away from that, I don't care anymore, but I will tell people like, I like, I like John.

But I didn't know if he was going to be a TV star. Like, I see this every day. Like, I could not say, that's a star. I just said, like, that's pretty good. He looks like, and it's an industry I haven't seen yet. Maybe I could pitch it. So when we talked to Spike, it was Spike TV at the time, it was a little bit of a flyer. Um, and they fell in love with him.

So then I'm like, well, I told you he was amazing, you know, like, I liked him, but I just didn't know, but now I'll take total credit for the process of it. It's so funny. When the entertainment choices were few and far, between. I'm not even going back to three channel days with the click or whatever it was when you had to get up and push the buttons on the little box on top of your TV. But I think that there was even you look at the science that went into trying to figure out

how to pick a winner. Yeah. And now you look at the internet with all of the, you know, YouTube and Instagram and stuff. And dude, every day I probably look at something and shake my head and I go, how is this person, the person that's, this blowing up? Yeah. And then I see other people that I'm like. Like, how is this person not blowing up?

It's so, and here's the thing, bar rescue is a perfect example. I went to set on Bar Rescue a few times. I had nothing to do with the day-to-day production. That's not my job. My job is to create and sell and pitch and oversee and develop. And like, that's what I do. And so you're talking about an ecosystem of hundreds of people

that go through this process. And every single thing has to work. Because I have sold shows that didn't work that were far, better conceptual ideas, original and no one never done before and so fun and interesting that never went anywhere, right? And a show like Bar Rescue, which is, again, it was a remake of a sort of kitchen nightmares just instead of a restaurant, it's a bar nightclub. So the origination of the idea is not overly impressive. It just happened. John just sparked and just was like, we love that guy. So it's like, is that I didn't discover John. I didn't make the show day

today. So it's like, so what did I have to do for the success? I went in the room. I pitched it. I orchestrated. I shepherded it. Like, how valuable is that in the marketplace? I don't know. But without that, that shows not in the air. But without the guy, without DJ Nuri and without all those guys that are in J.D. Robb and Todd Nelson, without all these guys and John himself on the day to day. Does any of that happen? The truth is all of it needs to happen. And you have thousands and thousands of TV shows going out there and they all have thousands of thousands of working parts and if a few of them don't fire at the exact right time it turns to nothing and that's life that's business why are you what you are why am i what i am today is like a few things work out

really well but you've got all the other momentum going at the same time and you can capitalize on those moments see just sitting here talking to you i would have i'm going to change my opinion on something i would have thought the creative would have been your superpower But I think the pitch is your superpower. Yeah, the pitch is my super power. What makes a good pitch? I think, well, the good pitch. In anything, what makes a good pitch?

The simplicity, for sure. Like, in the three-minute rule, everything about your business, product, your service must be conveyed clearly, concisely, and accurately in three minutes or less. And there's science behind that, like, that why the human brain structures decision-making, and you can't get somebody to stop thinking yes or no in their mind for longer than three minutes if you do it really well.

And so the structure is built on brevity, simplicity, and understanding that as human beings, we make decisions in three very distinct pieces, right? First we conceptualize, then we contextualize, then we actualize. Conceptualize, I have to understand what it is I am looking at or talking about. Yeah. And anybody at home, how many times has somebody come pitching you something or wanting you to do something? You're like, whoa, can you just explain what this is and how this works? Like, you have to understand the concept.

Then's what you do that. Then you contextualize, meaning like, okay, how does this relate to me? What do they want for me? How am I going to be involved? What will this mean for me? And then we decide, okay, here's how I want to do it. This is what I want to wear today. Yes, we should go to war.

Like, whatever those huge decisions or small decisions, it's the same process, three steps. And so I was very good at structuring that. And the irony was it came sort of out of fear. And a little bit of experience, you know, like I was, raising money to do with this TV show thing. And I've been in people's living rooms trying to raise money to get $5,000 or I wouldn't eat, right? You let somebody know that that's how desperate you are for them to invest. You will not be catching a single penny. So you develop an ability to be explained things without being, you know, overpowering. But the big one was I was at CBS pitching a show

and I was waiting and out of the pitch room where the, you know, they're making the pitch out walks Mark Burnett. No, sorry, I'll tell it this way. Outwalks Mark Burnett. It's reverse, but doesn't matter. And we're saying hi, we're talking jib-jib-jib-jib-er, and over my shoulder, he's looking as we're talking, and I looked around to see who's there, and it's Simon Cowell. And he's pitching after me. So I have to follow Mark Burnett, and Simon Cowell is after me. Now, the truth is it was reverse Simon came out of there. And I was so, like, overwhelmed with dread, because even today, I am still as far away as being on the peer level as Mark Burnett and Simon Cowell as I was back then.

So I'm just a junior producer. I'm in the middle of them. And I remember Simon just asking me questions about the pitch and how are you? And I'm just like, I can barely hold a conversation because I'm thinking like, I got to go into this room after that. This sucks. And they invite me and I go in. And normally the meetings are like 45 minutes.

And it's a whole thing. And you're just going into it. And I'm like, what is Les Moonvez going to want to talk to me about? You know what I mean? It's him and getting Naird's in there. And I'm just like, oh, God. I got my hair done next to him once. Right.

You know, and so it's like, I'm like, you're not going to hear all the crap that I have to say. Like, this is insane. I got all this plan. He doesn't want to hear this from me. And so I hated, oh, hey, Brad, oh, good to see you again. And he's like, what's right? I was just like, the idea is this.

Here's what we're going to do. We're going to bring these things. This is good. Here's why I think it's good for CBS. Here's where I think the budget starts. Here's what you can think. That's it. bye-bye. And I was out of that room in less than nine minutes. From the time I walked in to the time

I walked out, it was nine minutes. And my agent was like, oh my God, that pitch was amazing. And I was like, what? I thought he'd be like, don't ever come back here again. He's like, hey, you got to do that again. So I did the same thing at NBC. And the same thing at ABC. We got three offers on the show. And I was just like, wow. And he's like, you got to do that. And I was like, well, he's like, just, so I just started doing that. I'd walk in and be like, here's the idea. here's why it here's exactly how we're going to execute it here's why i think it's good for you and it's a good idea here's so the way we can produce it got to go see i think it's so funny that you in this with all of this great accolades you're like i'm not in the same breath as these dudes right

i was i saw something this morning and i write a newsletter that comes out every Wednesday the one's awake i read it if you haven't subscribed subscribe to so i write down my little i write down my little anecdotes of what i think and i saw something this morning they'll probably be coming out next couple weeks where this person that, I don't even, I don't even think I follow him. I just saw this video and she was talking about meeting a person that I have talked to 50 times, right? This is a person that I know very well as an entrepreneur. And to me, he's just this guy. I'm not even going to say who it is because it's not important.

But this person was like, I went to a mastermind meeting and this person was speaking and I just decided we were going to be friends. So I started DM in him, what can I do to help you? And I started doing this to try to help the other stuff, blah, blah, blah, blah. And the end of it, then I had an event and they, this person came to me and said, oh, do you need a speaker, I'll come. And I had the one and only and then said this person's name. And I got to thinking of myself, man, I didn't get it because I'm like, this is a person I just know and I just know them as this person. And we're friends and it's cool, but I don't think of them like that. But to this person, they were the one and only.

And I got got me to be thinking in those moments when I have imposter syndrome, or I feel like I don't necessarily belong. I'm probably somebody's one and only. Yes. Everybody is somebody's one and only. I haven't. Everybody has this important. And this happened to me one time when I was in,

early in my career, I was down with a music producer named David Foster, who is one of my greatest. Of course. He's like a mentor of mine. He helped me come to the United States. We're at dinner, and Farah Fawcett walked in at the dinner.

And he waved her over. and they said hi and she knew who he was now and like said hi and he said you know when i first moved here i met you at this thing and you had been like a movie star to me and i was so impressed and you were so kind to me and i never forgot that and i can't believe that now it's been 29 years or 31 years and i finally get to see you at this random restaurant and she was like oh my god i didn't know idea we'd ever met before and all this other stuff and she left and he was saying to me He's like, isn't that crazy that someone that's a non-issue in their life could be so impactful for me, right? And I remember when I had first moved down and the agents that I had got for this stupid show and they chopped it around.

And there was a moment where we were pitching it to various networks on my third or fourth day in the United States. And the president of NBC had called the agent. And I was in the parking lot at ABC. And he had called and said, like, I don't know who that kid is. or where he came from. But whatever he did to that show, I need him to do on my shows for us at NBC. So I want to make him an offer.

Will he come and work for us to do this stuff? And Lance Klein, my agent goes, he goes, it's Jeff Gassman, ABC. He wants you to come work for him and do this. And I'm like, yeah, yes, yes, oh my God. We'll consider it. He says, sorry, Jeff, that's not going to happen. He's going to go with the show.

We're getting a lot of heat on it, right? And my brain is melting. And so Gavs is like, no, no. We'll take the show too. We'll do that as well, right? And so I got on the phone with Jeff and he had just said all these amazing things. And he's like, I've never seen anybody put this kind of work into a TV show and ability to explain it so clearly. And I want you to come do this on and on, right?

And those agents went and leveraged that. They talked to other people. They're like, hey, you know that kid you met from Canada? NBC wants him. And everybody's like, oh, my God, who the hell are you talking about? But we want him to, right? Like, it's just the way the world worked at the time. Anyways, I got a different job.

I didn't do the NBC thing. I sold the show to NBC, but I didn't do the work job. I got a different worker on. And I was like, Jeff Gadsman changed my life. If that call didn't come in and they weren't be able to do that, I never would have been the same. Just that level of belief. And just like, and four years after, almost the day,

I had got a job as the head of programming for TLC. So this big, huge job, right? That I was like, I can't believe I got this job. And I finally felt at a level where I could be like, like, I'm going to tell Jeff Gaspin about how important he is. Oh, I love that. And so I wrote him a letter, and he's still the chairman of NBC at the time. And I wrote him this letter, and I just said, you will have no idea that this meeting even happened. But this changed my life. I have never forgotten about this thing. I remember it. I tell the story. And I thought,

I should tell you the story about how important he was. He called me. He's in tears. He could not believe that he had that kind of impact. And it was hard for me to understand that, because to me, he's Jeff Gaspin. Yeah. And as you grow and become more successful in life and whatever, and you still have those people and you forget how many people down there where you were are looking at you being like, you're my Jeff Gasp or whoever that is, right?

And that's like, it's shocking to me to see that. And I get that quite a bit and it's just like, oh, man, whatever I can do to help, you know? It affects me on a visceral level when I get stuff. When I get notes from people, especially notes, handwritten cards like that are just I had another experience just like two days ago where a guy that I was talking to was telling me his partner Todd he works on this stuff and I'll connect you to him and you guys can do that he connects us on a group text you know and

his number because I just met him is just a number and then on my on my phone it says Todd brackets Dave Meltzer and I was like I must I met this guy like oh I think that's a guy who used to work for Todd oh I know Todd for the Dave Meltzer I know I think I have my phone the same way. I know, Todd that you said were Dave Meltzer. And so he's like, oh, my God, Brad. So we get on the phone and I'm just saying, oh, yeah, I remember. He used to work.

How are you? What's going on? It's been five years, right? I'm going to look. I almost bet I have him in my phone the same way. And so we're talking on the phone, going to this. And he just says, hey, man, I want you to know something like, what you said to me changed my life.

And I was like, oh, what? And he's like, if you didn't have those conversations with me, if you didn't inspire me, if you didn't say these things to me, I know. never would have been ready to move to the next level and take on this new gig and be partners in this new thing. And I was like, oh, oh my God. And like, I don't want to say that I don't remember because he might be listening, but I like, I don't remember the details of what I had told him. No. And he's like, but you were so giving and you, and I was just like, oh, yeah. You know, you shake so many hands and you do so many events and you speak and you do these

things. And I never forget when I'm in those moments with people, especially at events, right? Like I used to, when I first started doing them, I would just, part of it was, should I be up here having, doing this anyway, you know, should I be the one talking? And then it was always this moment when I got on stage. Like I was, I was, I was want to shuffle out very quickly. Uh, because I just, I just, I just, you know, being on stage and then coming off, it was like, I just want to, I just want to be, I'm depleted. I want to be by myself. And then, you know, Steve Sims, my, my good buddy, watching him in events and how he, how he made, doing events with him and watching. And why he made, doing events with him and watching. watching how he managed himself. And Steve was an incredible introvert. People don't know that. Like he, he's never know it by saying, he had to flip the switch.

But yeah, but watching him manage himself was really amazing. And it was like, listen, you know, they're not just hiring you to come talk on the stage. Yeah. They're hiring you to give.

And it was like, and with him, it was always like, I'll do dinners beforehand, whatever the night before. If you want a VIP dinner on there, you know, whatever I can do.

So, yeah, changing that. because you just never know, that two-second conversation you can have off the stage, a lot of cases is way more impactful than the 45 minutes you had on the stage. Yeah, and it's been interesting to see that transition for everybody. Like, as they go, you know, the book did pretty well, so that's nice. And I get a lot of inflow from that.

And it's like, I like hearing that. And it's good because my, you know, my daughter's heard, you know, she'll be on the phone. She'll hear people. And it's just like, it's nice to have impact in the world in that way. I found that the traveling, and you know, like you followed on Instagram. I'm like, I spend quite a bit of time and energy on my Instagram stories to talk to actual people because I know how much engaged they are in that process. Yeah.

And I find that now I'm, I'm what I call an experience philanthropist, is that I believe that I get the most joy sharing my experiences with people. That's why I do the trips and I take people on these adventures. And like, I do stuff that I've already done a bunch of times that if I was by myself, I wouldn't go do again, like I've done it enough. But seeing other people and sharing those experiences, I get a tremendous amount of joy. It's like taking your kids to Disneyland, right?

Like, you do that because you want to see them enjoy it. I find that with my friends. I'm in that same mode. And social media allowed me to do that for that travel and to like show people elements that I'm going through or the things that I've found to share those experiences. I find that I get a lot of the same sort of like feelings that I get if I donate stuff to people and I donate money, I find that's even better sometimes is that

sharing the experiences like really drives me. Yeah, we, I was on a podcast yesterday and I was asked by the host who has been to this event. I throw one party a year in my house. It's it. One, we throw a martygar party that is over the top. And he goes, can I ask a question? What's deal with the martygar party? And I'm like, you know, we just, we love New Orleans so much where there are so much. And, you know, I'm a member. I'm a member of the oldest night parading Mardi Gras crew in New Orleans. My wife rides on a parade this on Saturday before a show of Tuesday. And we take as many people as we can to Jazz Fest and to Mardi Gras, just New Orleans as we can.

And I just love that city so much. And I want people to experience as much as what they can to do that. So, yeah, I think giving back that experience of things that you love to people is such a joy. Yeah. And I think that that sort of drives me. And I made the decision, I made the decision early because I, grew up kind of poor, you know, in that sort of situation. Holy crap.

And it's just like, we didn't do much. We didn't have much. Like, it was the most average middle class experience in life. And I remember so much of my life being like, God, if I could just make $2,000 a month, I would be, I'd be happy by that for the rest of my life. And it's sad that that number keeps growing, obviously, right? Like, we all go through that. And so I remember.

when I finally got to America and, you know, financially things changed dramatically and it was an interesting process. And I had made one big decision to go back to a situation that wasn't right for me, but it was for the, for the check. It wrote me such a, you know, it was life changing money. And so I went back and I wasn't happy about it, but I did it. I remember like, oh, man. And it's different when you're, when you're chasing it, when the check's over there, your brain rationalize what you're willing to do to get it. Yeah. But after you get it and it goes into your bank and it's your money,

now all of a sudden you're like, wait, what? I agreed to what? Like the emotion, it's like I make the joke about tattoos. You know, it's like a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling. And like, that's the same thing, doing something for money. It is intoxicating when you're trying to go get the money. Once you already have it, you're like left with what you have to perform, right? And so I remember thinking like, okay, I'm not doing this again.

Like, I'm not doing it again. And I was in, I was in the lobby of NTV. And one of my absolute mentors, one of the greatest producers of all time in my business who had sold his company for hundreds of millions of dollars was in the lobby. And I was like, oh my God, what are you doing here? Like, what are you doing here? And he was waiting for someone to pitch the show to. And the person he was waiting for was like a level down from the person that I was meeting. just because that's sometimes the way it works, right?

Like, who's available when you want to pitch it, whatever. And I was thinking to myself, and I said, like, what are you doing, pitching them? Like, what? You sold? Why aren't you? And he said, and he's like, I don't have anything else to do. Like, this is what I do. I don't know.

And it, it hurt my soul. And I thought, oh, my God, this is going to be me. Like, I will do this. I'm not spending the money that I make right now. Like, I don't need. this, right? And so I started to make a conscious decision to be like, I am not going to do that. And it coincided with this on the 405 and guy drive by with jet skis on the back of his truck, you know? And I'm like, oh my God, when was I love jet skiing? When was the last time I was

jet skiing? Years and years and years. I was like, that's it. I'm going jet skiing. And I rented eight jet skis and I sent an email out to 35, 40 people. I'm like, oh man, I hope people want to go jet skiing. I got like 30 of them. I'm like, yeah, I want to go. And one of the network presidents had emailed me and said, oh, I can't go this weekend. I would love to do this. Let me know when you're going again. I was like, oh, well, I got such a response. I'm going next weekend. Can you do next weekend? And he's like, yeah. And I was like, oh, yes. And I realized like, hey, man, I can share experiences. I can do whatever I want this way. And it built this process of like, I shifted from focus on making a career and building it to how can I be as good at doing that

as I am when I'm going and doing adventures. Well, I think that for everybody I know that's a high-level successful entrepreneur, there's a shift that happens at some point where you go from chasing the dollars to maximizing time. Yeah. Was there anything that happened particularly in you? Because obviously you've made that shift. You took a year off to go to your family.

Was there anything in particular that happened where you were like, Whoa, I got to start really paying attention. Yeah. So one of my buddies is a big hedge fund guy and one of the coolest guys I know and love him. And he is a house in the Hollywood Hills, up on the hill, looks into Jennifer Anderson's best bait backyard. And it was the first time I went to see it. And at the time, I didn't know him very well.

And we were doing business. So when I first saw the house, I was like, I tried to keep my emotions to myself. I don't want to be like, oh, my God. What a house. Right. So it was kind of cool. And I played a cool. we met a couple more times.

I was cool. And then eventually I was like, okay, I know him well enough. And I was like, dude, Greg, you've got to show me this house. What the hell?

He's like, oh, yeah, come on. I'll give you a tour. So he gave me a tour. And we walk into this bedroom that is the most spectacular view and the thing,

the waterfall, and the band of it. And I'm just like, oh my God, it's the greatest thing you've ever seen. And I am beaming with excitement. And I look over to Greg. And I'm just,

oh my God. And he goes, He goes, yeah, you know, and he's like, it kind of gives me like, it's kind of cool, you know. And I was just like, oh, man, I can't believe like he doesn't wake up every day. Because when you're in that situation, you, you picture yourself. I could see myself sleeping better in this guy's room. Like, it's the greatest thing ever. Cut to barely a week and a half later, these young business guys from somewhere in the interior of country had been following me and asking me questions.

and they were in L.A. for the first time and they were doing interviews for their little podcast. And they were begging me to come on. And I was like, every time I thought I might be able meet them at this podcast studio, I was like, I got other shit. I can't do it. So they finally convinced me to let them, they were going to come to my house and film at my house for this podcast thing. And I was like, fine. You guys can come to the house. So they come to the house. And they're like, holy crap. Like, what is this? And I was like, oh, yeah. And come on. I'll give you a tour. And I had horses at the time in the back.

And so I'm showing this. And they were just like, oh, oh my God. Could you imagine? And I did this exact thing. Like, I just kind of waved it up. I was like, yeah, it's kind of cool. And it was a chilling realization that I had just done what Greg had done. And I realized, like, if Greg can't be the way I was at his $20 million house,

because that's how I thought I would be every day if I had a $20 million house. And I can't do that at my $2 million house. And these guys don't do that. They're 200,000. Like, how will I ever do that? And that was, I made such a conscious decision to do that. And, you know, listen, it's a tradeoff. It's definitely a tradeoff.

There's no question. Yeah. Because, you know, a lot of my friends are in a group called Tiger 21. Very wealthy people, great people, amazing. You have to have 30 million liquid investable to join. I don't mind telling people. I do mind telling me, but I tell people, I don't qualify. I don't qualify.

Yeah. And like that's because of decisions I have made is I spent like, I'm definitely farther from qualifying now after the year around the world. But I have them, many of their members who are friends of mine, that are so enamored with my life. Oh my God. Because they don't do that. And I'm looking at them being like, what are you talking about you don't do this?

You could hire someone. God damn. you could probably hire me with the kind of money you have to just do stuff with you this way. Like and so that mentality to be able to break away from that and to make the trade like, again, it's a trade. You have to be willing to do that. And it's not always easy because we're used to chasing as much money as you can. Just more.

More. Just more. And so like, again, like I can't get these guys go and have meetings. My buddy, oh, I'm sorry about my tiger meeting tonight. And I'm like, no, I mean, I agree. I, you know, I love the hustle culture. I love what's happened over the last five, six years. I think Gary V.

birthed this culture that I love. And I love seeing people go get it and get what's theirs. But, you know, I have fallen into this in my life, too, where I don't, I don't take a moment to sit with my wins, to celebrate my successes and to really, really be happy there because you're always chasing the next thing. It checks some more, chasing this, chasing that. And if you don't take that second to appreciate what you've got, what you've accomplished, then what are you doing it for anyway?

Yeah. And I understand that there's, you know, for me, I teach people, you got to fall in love with the process or whatever you're doing. You can't fall in love with the end result because if you fall short, if you blow past it, you've got to be loving what you're doing. And you don't want to trade, like you said, you don't want to sell your soul for a check. You don't want to do that. But I agree.

I think so many people lack the ability to have absolute clarity. about what really it is that will make them happy. Yeah, and I think. And it doesn't have to be dollars. No. And I, I've had, you know,

the imposter syndrome is very hard to get over, right? Like, it's tough. Everybody goes through that. And I do that sometimes on a personal level because there's a couple of guys that I consider very close friends and I'm like, I don't know why the guy likes me this much.

Like in the circles that he runs and the people that he knows, I just, it's like, I can't get over. I'll tell you why. Want me to tell you why? Yes. dude you have so okay i'm going to tell you why okay i need a little bit i'm going to i'm going to pump you up

better than i did when we first started this thing the innate true authentic wanting to see your friends win is a rarity in men yeah it's a rarity and you now matt when somebody that you like and you know is doing something you get behind it in a way. Like, dude, you didn't have to get behind what I was doing. What you did was so over and above what I, what I even asked you to do in my small way of trying to help me sell books. And you did it in a joyous manager where you were genuinely interested. And even after you did that, you called me and you were like, hey, how's it going? How are we doing? Yeah. I want to know where the numbers are. What are we doing? And you were genuinely interested in my success for zero

self-serving purpose. And especially when you start playing at bigger levels, most of the people that are around you, and this is going to suck to hear, but it's unfortunately true, a large percentage of them want to see you fail. It's stunning. Because your failure reminds them in certain cases why it's okay they didn't try in the first place or that you're still an equal peer to them. Because people's biggest fear in your circle.

is you're going to outgrow them. Yeah. And, dude, you just don't even care. You're going to cheer for people at every level. Yeah. And it emanates from you in such a positive way. It's the delusional optimism. No, but that's why people want you around.

There's zero, there's zero jealousy if a guy has a hundred million or a guy is coming up trying to figure it out. There is just, for you, you just want to see people do what. And I think that. It's the Canadian India. It's the Canadian India. Well, I appreciate that. brother. And you're a good dude. And I think what I'm getting to understand a little bit is

there is a peer group that we believe as men is only hierarchy by success and monetary success and material elements, right? And everybody wants to be in their peer group and they want to be in the peer group above them. And that's natural for our process. What I'm starting to get okay understanding is that excellence is the peer group you want to be in. People who are excellent at something. And I think about this, the richest people in the world want to be around artists or, you know, athletes, regardless of financial status, because they're amazing and they're exceptional, right? And like, Oprah's really great about this. Because it's like nobody's on her financial level for the most part, but she appreciates excellence in anything and anybody and you want to surround

yourself with people. And what I've noticed is that I'm not at the excellence level that my partner Greg is at. You know what I mean? Like from a financial standpoint, we could never run at the same levels, right? But when it comes to living life and passion and relationships and adventure and trying new things and energy and all of these things, I'm the Greg. in that relationship, right? And he's learning and he's striving and trying to get better. And that's hard for someone like me to be like, oh, like I have as much to offer in this relationship.

Even though the people he knows and the circles he runs with are so advanced, they're advanced in one dimension. And so it's helped me to balance a little bit of that where it's like, it's okay. And I needed that because you get to a certain point where you're like, I trade on the idea that I've traded my income potential to have more fun and enjoyment. But there's a piece of me that says like, oh, good, because you probably wouldn't have made it anyway. No, you know what I mean?

Your brain's like, this way, I don't have to try to make $100 million because I probably wouldn't have been able to do it anyways. But how many people on their deathbed are going, if I just had one more dollar? I know. No. Dude, you're going to go sliding in sideways with no trends out on the tires. Oh, my God. That's going to be it. And that's been part of it.

Like, that is where I'm at. I love it and I'm excited and it drives me. I tell people and I teach this as well. It's like you have to get the three P's in your life organize. It's prosperity, passion, and purpose, right? And like, it's hard to do anything if you don't have some sort of prosperous element in your life. Financially is, it's just a factor.

If you're about money, there's nothing else. It sucks. It sucks. That's all there is to it. And it's been so long since I've had those feelings that even on the trip was a, was a slightly painful, but good reminder because it was the first time I was like, man, like, how much is this costing? And when you, it was like, whoa, I don't like that feeling. Like, I do not like worrying about that, wondering about that. And it was like, I've looked

on the right side of the menu in a while. And it's like, whoa. And it was good to be like a little bit of snap to reality, right? And so, you know, you have to focus on that. You have to be prosperous in a way that you feel like you've got that side of it. Right. And then compassion, you really do need to balance. Like, what do you love to do? And are you using your prosperity tokens? The tokens that you make in your work world, are you spending them on joy? Like, that really is what life is about.

The only reason you go to work and work your ass off is to be able to build things that you can enjoy. And we make calculus, calculate decisions on how much we're willing to work really hard so that we can enjoy later. And unfortunately, a lot of people blow past the exit. And they're like, wait, I got so many tokens. I got nowhere to spend them, right? So when you find what you're passionate about, you want to be able to do that as much as you can to bring joy into your life and the joy into the others. That's the passion. And then once you have the ability to do that and you've learned to do that, it's like, okay, what is your purpose?

Like, what drives you? What's your mission? What are you, what's the legacy in all different ways that makes the most sense for you? And, like, as I'm trying to fill that out in life, it's like, I'm, I'm closer now than I've ever been. And it's like, I want other people to understand that process as well. It's like, purpose really helps. What's your purpose right now? My purpose right now is knowledge philosopher.

I'm a knowledge philanthropor. That is my main thing in life is I'm going to, I have a 501c3 that we're launching. And it is basically the entire thing of successful entrepreneurs giving back to the entrepreneurial community by sharing their wisdom. and their knowledge and their experiences or free for people that want it. So we do these summits where we bring companies in. You get four of the members of my group and we just try to help your business

costs nothing for the companies and my members pay their own way there. And it's like you have to be at a point in your life where you are prepared and you value giving what you've learned to others for nothing in return other than the joy of seeing them prosper. And I think that what we believe in deeply

is that entrepreneurs and business owners are the most important factor in our entire society. And they don't get anything. Nobody gives them anything. It's like if you're a business owner or an entrepreneur, you have to provide to get anything.

Provide me your business, provide me your service, provide me your time, provide me risk capital, provide me a loan, like whatever it is, you have to give something to get these things back.

Of course. And I just want to forward that more, which is the knowledge of how to run a business and how to do things at a high level should never go away because you've retired or that you sold your business. And that is like my biggest passion. I love that you talked about that because we're in a world where it's changing rapidly. I mean, jobs, careers, things that people thought were safe are going to be automated and moving around and people are going to be forced to kind of pick a new lane.

And you did that at a very high level. when we talk you touched briefly on her earlier when you said you know i wanted to take the skills that i learned in television and translate them to another career yeah talk about the emotional decision and the preparation to to walk away from one industry where you had done so well and dive into something else talk about that i mean listen if we're being you know we're being dead honest here it's so easy to talk about and to tell people how to do it it's a little hard to do it yourself, right? Like, it, it was an interesting time because I already knew I was done with television and entertainment. Like, I stopped loving the process because I had already reached a

level of success that was kind of a ceiling in the business. I had done well financially. I had made shows that people had heard of, but the days of having an American Idol hit, or even a biggest loser hit, are, we're gone. Yeah. So it's like, okay, so maybe I'll do four shows this year. Maybe they'll do six. Just killed by like the internet as well. Yeah, it wasn't even, it was just the process of the evolution of the business, right? Like the big giant earth shattering,

everybody in the country watches hits were, that just didn't exist anymore, right? And so it was like, so it was making widgets is what the business turned into. And so I was signing deals and always looking for the bigger deal. And it was all about the dollars, which was fine. It's just that it's like I didn't love the process because my success had

petered into a normal world, right? And I was definitely feeling like I am not the best at this as I used to be. And I remember one of my very good friends offered me a huge deal to come to his company. And I had to call him and say, listen, honestly, David, like, you won't get what you think. Like, I can't take this deal with you. Because he was offended. I said no and signed with someone else. I was like, you won't get the best. You're not going to get the brand you think you're getting. Like, I'm like a quarterback that hurt his shoulder in preseason and didn't tell anybody, you know yeah and so that's great analogy you know like that that was my world and so the funny part was is it was tony robbins who i became pretty friendly with when we did a show together and

and you know i worked with him on stuff and he got me tony's very good at getting you excited right like that's his vibe but kind of a job it's kind of a thing i can do anything in the world i can i'm gonna walk on fire which i have at u pw right i've done it too so so i just and then i made the mistake and telling him that I didn't want to do TV anymore. And he's just like, oh, guess what? It's Tony time. And, you know, and so I just decided I wanted to write this book. I had been working with companies by accident and having really good success. And, you know, the story I tell on stage is that one of the first guys I worked with, I had no idea what to do was an oil and gas company. I watched his pitch for the company, a $2 billion company, it's a microcap company.

It was the worst thing I'd ever seen. I was like, what the hell was that? It's like, you're drilling for oil at $32 a barrel. Everybody's laying their rigs down at 37, and it took you 17 minutes to say that? Like, what the hell? And he's like, oh, can you help me rebuild this whole pitch? And I was like, I don't even know anything about this, but sure, come out to L.A. I work.

And so he did. And I rebrew this pitch. Just like, I win a TV show. What do I know? Yeah. And he called me and he left this message on my phone and voicemail. And you could hear him emotion, like the emotion, his voice. He was cracking up and he was saying,

you've changed my life. The one and only. I will never forget what you've done for me. I used to hate going on the road, raising money. Now I love it. We filled our first round. I'm so excited. Like, thank you so much.

And I remember thinking like, oh my God, no network president has ever said anything like this to me before. In fact, the very first note that we ever got on Barrexu, the first thing that came back from the network on the first pilot, the first cut, the only words that came back in the email was, this is the worst piece of shit I've ever seen. Do you even know how to make television, right? That's the world.

And that's the world I come from. And so, you know, like, I'm one chromosome away from being a caveman. So when someone tells me, Brant, you're pretty, Brent, you're amazing. I brand, it's like, oh, you're right to that. Brand loves that. And you get more of that. Speaking of his language, yeah. So once I had had that a couple of times, I was like,

this is what I want to do, but I was too scared. And then you get Tony telling you you can do anything. And so the next thing, you know, you're like, I think I'm going to do this. And the truth is, is like, I had written the book proposal. I didn't, I didn't even tell my agent. No, William Morris is a pretty good book lit department. And I didn't want to tell my agent because I didn't want him to be like picking up the phone and be like, oh, my reality TV crew producing client wants to write a book.

Like, I just didn't want to do that. I didn't want anybody to know, you know, I had a different, a completely different agent out of the, out of the entertainment business. I got a, you know, a very large book deal offer. And I was like, oh, my God, like, I think I'm going to make the leap. And so once I started that process and I realized, like, I love doing this. I don't love doing this. I'm doing it for the money. And Tony said to me, he's like, oh my God, you said, you talk like a poor person, is what he said to me. I was like, what? He's like, yeah, the words you use, the phrase you use, the way you do you're monthly this month like that's how poor people talk like i don't talk like that

my friends don't talk we don't talk like that it's like and he made me get my net worth together and talk to him through it right and he put it in a different perspective and i was like god you're right like i guess i could just i could take this risk and he's like yeah you'll be fine you're doing it go ahead and the irony is i don't tell the story very often but i do love you is that i had an offer to renew my deal and they wanted me to stay another three years And basically I told Tony, like, you're right. I'm going to totally tell them to pound sand and go away, right? And I was like, oh my God, I don't know if I can do it because it's a lot of money.

Yeah, sure. And it's like, so I went back to him and say two years. And then even that, I was like, what am I going to say to Tony Robbins? Like, you know, we're, I'm holding on to a friendship with him by the thinness of thread. Obviously, he's Tony Robbins. And you're about to be an ass. And I'm about to be an ass. I'm like, oh, no, what am I going to do?

Tony, what should I do? Do this. I'm going to do the opposite. Ask Cole. And so. And so they were, you know, we were going back and forth negotiating. So I'm engaging. And my concern is like, they're going to settle in the middle.

As everybody knows, it's usually what happens, right? And so I'm picturing, okay, settling in the middle is going to be this. And like, what am I going to say? No? Like, ugh. And I had been a little bit more aggressive than I would have normally been if it wasn't for the Tony insurance. But I was like, I kind of know how this is going.

So I was like, oh, so I'm making up excuses in my head, trying to come up with lies. And then I'm thinking like, well, could I ask the company not to announce. the new deal so that maybe Tony doesn't find out like I don't know what I'm going to do and then the head of the company calls me and he says hey listen I think we're too far apart and I don't think either of us are going to be happy and as much as it sucks but I think maybe we should go our separate ways that's the universe right there and I was like and so I did feel like a weight was lifted and then I got a little excited because I called Tony uh he doesn't listen to You're like a turn down.

Tolum's about saying. It's exactly right. And I said, Tony, they offered me like 10 times. And just so you know, Tony calls me personally for a copy of this before it goes out so we can listen to every single episode individually and absorbed them. And I said, oh, man, I told him, no, I, you know what? They doubled the offer, Tony. But you know what? You're right.

And so the universe made the decision. I didn't have to find out if I was a real pussy or if I would have done it. and that was the decision move into the book thing and you know I got a really good launch date and the publisher was super happy and all that went great but I still feel like I tricked the publisher

right like they're not they're in New York, they're a publisher they're not equipped to have someone like me come into the room and pitch an idea for a book that's not really the way it happens so I felt like I tricked them right that's what I felt like because it's like I overpowered them in the room

they're you know they're not at my level in that room like I do that for a little This is your superpower. We just talked about. And so it wasn't until I got the, you know, and they were Bob Eager's broker Brant's book was getting a date and there was back and forth and people who didn't even know me like in the,

in Penguin were like, yeah, this is great. And I was like, oh my God, like maybe the book's reasonably good, right? I didn't fool everybody. And I went to a, there's an important party in our business every year around this event. You're my friend Steve Michael's house. The best party of the year.

Everybody goes there. You know where you are in the peer group, effectively if you get invited and you go there because it's the first time we get to see each other in a non-competitive non-combative atmosphere you see all the producers and it kind of who's who who's in that mode right and everybody's trying to get in there and so year after year there's always younger people their first time and you're like who are these people and and so I went there to that year after I already sort of been out I didn't sign my new deal and I remember I'm like I'm done with this party it's good I and I start saying goodbye to people yeah I

I'm leaving. Oh, hey, it's good to see you again. And I realized, this is it. Oh, my God. Like, I'm saying goodbye, like, saying goodbye. Yeah, you won't see me again. Bye-bye. And I remember being in at the valet line. I was the only one there because it was a little early. And I am so giddy and gleeful. And the, and the valet guys, what's going on with you? And I'm like, I'm never coming to this again. I don't play the game anymore. I'm never. And it's just like, it was such a dream.

It was so joyous. And I had a joyous six months between the book release and when I knew television was over for me. And I don't have to ask somebody for something that, you know, I don't have to pretend to be friends with people. You know, people don't realize sometimes how unhappy they are in the game they're playing when they're playing it. Until the second you step out of it, you're like, what was that? And as you know, it wasn't until I went to have to promote the book. and I was like, oh, God, I'm back into this again. Hey, can I have a favor?

Oh, hey, is there, no. Like, and that sucks so bad. And it was like, I don't want to be responsible for people to people anymore. I don't want to ask for favors. I want genuine relationships where I owe them. And it was like, you know, I, in the book proposal, I had said a lot of how great I am and my great connections. And it's like, I didn't lie to them, but, you know, and I said in the book proposal,

I was like, these are the people you can see that I'm related to. Like, I have credits with all these people. I know these people personally. These are my sort of like effectively. These are people in my cell phone. And I said in the book proposal, obviously I can't get all these people, but I have a better chance than most of the people in your rangerous.

There you go. True statement. Yeah. And one of the ones they were on me about. And the publisher is pretty good about it. But they were like, hey, man, we need you to promote this book. Like, get out there.

And one of the big ones was Whoopi Goldberg. They were like, hey, you know, you know her, you work with her. she's a friend of yours, get out there, get on the view. You got to do it. And they would, did you call her? When is you, did you find out? And the publicist call me back in there.

And I'm just like, ugh. Yeah. And so I had to call her and I had to ask. And you have to understand, like, Whoopi Goldberg are not peers, right? We work together. It's very friendly. I adore her.

We had a great relationship, but I would not say I'm going to her house for dinner. Yeah. I don't like text her. You're not going to play board games. What's up with this? Like, we're not like that. You're not meming each other.

Like, I say we're friends. She would say, I like him, I know him. She would not be like, oh, that's one of my friends. I don't think. All right. Anyways. So I call her. She gets on the phone.

It's a lovely conversation. My entire existence with her, I have never asked her for a single thing. Our relationship is mutually based on work and enjoyment. And we like each other. And I have done very well in my career to make sure that those are the relationships I have. And I had to say, hey, man. you know, I got this new book coming out, and I'd really love to get in the view.

Like, is there any way you can make that happen? Want-w-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-R. Right? And, like, I knew what she was going to say. And she was like, oh. She was gracious, I'm sure. Of course. Yeah.

She's like, oh, man, I totally love to do that for you, but we don't do, like, lifestyle programming anymore. We only do basically political stuff. It's our whole new world. So it's like, it's not really my thing, but, like, you know, I love you or whatever, right? Yeah. And it, like, it wasn't super awkward.

She gets asked all the time. If you ask her about the same thing, I'm assuming she would say like, it's totally cool. I love him. Of course you can ask me, right? Except for our relationship is different. It's not physically different,

but it's different to me. Because now I'm that guy. And like, I watched you. I know what it's like. You're going to promote a book. You've got to ask people, who can I send you a bit? Like, it's so draining.

It's so crushing. And that's when people ask me like, hey, are you doing another book? It's like, if I can get out of my book deal, I will. Yeah. Well, how I, how I digested it was like, it's the mission of the book in waking people up is so important to me that I'm willing to, yes, hat and hand it. Yep. To people that, you know, I wouldn't.

And, you know, and a lot of people were, a lot of people that got those boxes were incredibly supportive and did help me tremendously. You in particular. But there were people that, you know, didn't do anything. And there was no reminder message. there was no hey what do you think none of that it was like you know I was very I just chose to be very grateful for the people that chose to support yeah and understanding for the ones that didn't like just yeah you to pass nobody I and I did not let it affect my view of those relationships at all because you can't yeah and by the way and for me and maybe it's only me maybe other people don't mind but

like the greatest time emotionally I have is one of my buddies see rocky as the other day. He's like, what can I do for you? Like, this is awesome. Thanks for the help. Like, what can I do for you in your life right now? You said, Mikey C. Rock? All right. I know, Mikey's been on that couch. Yeah, I love that guy. And so, I'm like, the greatest thing is I can be like, I don't have anything right now. Even when we, when I was coming through Vegas talking, it was like, I don't really have anything to promote right now. Like, yeah, I don't need to sell any more books. I don't make any money on the books. It doesn't matter. Like, buy a book, though. It's a good book. Buy a book. Buy a book. Send me,

I'll send you a free copy. Like, that is not my part of. my world anymore. Yeah. You know, I don't take on new clients really anymore. Like, it's like, but you do have a new thing

that we gotta talk about. Yes. And but that the sort of core of that is like, I'm giving that. Like, that is not the same process that you and I went through in a book thing.

Yeah. It's like, I don't have anything that you can do right at the moment. And I love that. It's like, it's joy.

It's a joyous moment where it's like, I don't have anything. Now, does that cost me stuff? Probably. These are things that could be doing bigger, better and more profound

and make more money and all these things. probably you just traveled around the world with your children yeah for 52 weeks for an entire year I mean dude I don't know anybody yeah wealthier at life than that fair enough not anybody do I know that's wealthy your life it was wild um let's talk about the new thing a little bit real quick because you did a seminar yesterday I said I sent a bunch of our people from our wealth we have a we have a wealth circle here at assembly Vegas where you we teach, you know, because obviously with real estate, especially agents get so caught in the

commissions, but to me, the commissions are the rocket fuel to power the engine. The engine is actually getting wealthy from owning real estate. So we're very, very, we teach that a lot around here. So he was with my partner, Orrin Klaff, who wrote the book, Pitch Anything, basically the definitive, most successful book on pitching any business for raising money. That is his core competency is the best in the world at it. And worked with Lauren many times. We've had co-clients on lots of stuff, Because, you know, he does the sort of the financial and the deal structure when a company is going to look for money, right? He builds, and that's the hard work, the detailed. I come in when it's story and, you know, presentation.

Positioning. Yeah. And like, I know how to tell the story, but like, I don't do financial at the level he does, right? So we've had really complimentary services and we worked really well together. And we do this thing called now. It's called the game of money, which is basically how the financial capital markets really work when it comes to either investing money in companies or companies looking for investors. And I think people are shocked at how those two entities are desperate for each other.

Companies, I mean, I get, you know, I have a lot of inflow on this kind of stuff. People send me stuff every day. They're all looking for investment, raising money. And there are so, there's so much money out there, desperate to deploy capital. And like I was telling you earlier, like, you know, I got hired to do a big consulting gig, one of the largest private equity firms and investment banks to train, we're talking hundreds of analysts on how to pitch and present their company to business owners to take money.

And their biggest concern, their sort of existential crisis is we can't deploy enough capital. We have lots of assets under management, but if you don't deploy them, people take them away. And so they're desperate to give money away. And so people are like, what?

How is that possible? And it's like, well, in that. And the professionals look at companies and deals in a very structured way. It'd be like asking a casino to put a game on their casino floor that you had made up yourself. And they'd be like, okay, but like, what are the odds? How are the, how frequently are the dice going to roll? How many people can play at once? Like the number of things they ask when you're like, oh, but this is such a fun game to play. Yeah. And people will gamble on it. And you're like,

but a casino has like well how much floor space does it take and like how many dealers do I need and what's the cost per minute and what's the and like the actuaries have to look at it and be like well here's our projections and does it fit and like you don't even know that and that's why you're wondering like why does no one invest in my company it's like because we don't know the metrics you don't know how the game of money is really played the game of money played is by insiders who have cheat codes and they know how to structure it right and that's why it's easier to raise 50 million or 500 million than it is to raise 500,000 or 5 million because if you have a company that's raising that kind of money,

you have all of the structure. Yeah. And like I said to you and too many people listening, like, have you ever invested $25,000 or $250,000 or more in something that you thought was an incredible company? Yeah, we both left. We got a stack of those deals. Yeah, you love the people.

You think the product can't miss. How did cauliflower foods fail? How? Right. And it goes away. Oh, man. And this is what I say. Great management team.

How did cauliflower foods fail? That is not play. playing the investment game. That is playing the part-time amateur venture capitalist. And that is not a strategy and that is not a job. There's no job for part-time

amateur brain surgeon. There's no job for part-time amateur bomb squad technician, right? Like those don't exist. Well, and like I said, all three of those jobs were in the same way. That's exactly right.

And so we kind of pull the curtain back on the structure, what it looks like, and why you as an investor are not getting the Royal Flush five-card poker hand deals coming your way. There's a reason because there's an industry out there that sources them, that analyzes them,

and funds them before you even hear about it. Yeah, everything is upstream. Everything is so far upstream. And it's like you can't expect that. And it's hard for people to understand that when you are looking at investing in a deal, it's the same thing as buying toothpaste from Walmart. You are the end consumer.

But it's, but it's not just, but it's not just about education. You and Oren are actually starting a fund. Yeah, so the fun, it's going to get you upstream. And Oren already, yeah, and Oren did the fund. He started it, you know, he does all the heavy lifting. I swoop in for the glory, which is great. You know, he started this fun. Just get your producer, line out of credit.

It's all you need. And it's such a good job raising this fund. You know, $40 million he put into this huge factory in Texas that they funded themselves, no private money, no institutions, all, no debt to build a 70 million. total investment in this factory and it's up and running right now. It's incredible. And it's a community. And I was so impressed by it and I've watched them from the bare beginning. And the interesting side of it is in a fund, anybody who's ever asked you or you know any hedge fund or any private equity fund, here's a good litmus test. Ask them for the names and contact information

of all their investors and see what they say. And you're like, oh, okay. In the deal with Orrin, when I went in, it was like, everybody's connected. They all know each other. all contact each other. They're in a group. They meet every week. They go to Italy to see the Breton factory where you invest in it. It's like it's part of that process. And you can come into the fund right now today and not invest and not spending it. There's no cost. You get to come in and play for a year and watch what's going on, learn as much as you can, and see deals, bring deals. We chop. I mean, if you've ever watched Oren Klaf chopped together somebody who's pitching an idea, it's ruthless. I'm kind. He's not. And in the group, it's like, it's this private deal partners that

we call it. And it's just like, you get to play. Are you doing like elevator nights where you're letting people come in and pitch or is this just strictly stuff for your sourcing? No, we do. We let people come and pitch. This is a little bit of a, you know, it's not going to turn into a WhatsApp group wherever he's just loading shit in there. Yeah. And at the end of the day, I think I'm a member like three of them. Yeah. And listen, I'm relatively good at this process. I mean, Orrin Claff is a legend. Like, I will tell you. you how the pitch should go, but he will tell you financially and deal structure and performers where all the holes are, right? And so we do a lot of that. But really, we're sourcing,

like we don't, right at the moment, we don't have a new deal. Yeah. Like finding good, great deals with three to four really high cards in your poker hand that need one more card is hard to do. Just need one thing to go right. We want to provide one thing. Usually it's the story or the capital or something like that, but it's got to have everything else. And the truth is, in the world today, if you think you can get 100 X on your money, you're nuts. What's the one thing you, yeah, I mean, that's a great way to look at it. It's it. What's the one thing we bring the table that completes this. That's right. And we are boring businesses, functional, real businesses, not fancy. Nobody's funding and building flying cars. There are 50 countries,

companies trying to do that. I don't know which one's going to work. We're talking core businesses that you can double triple revenue, you can make better decisions on process. You can get in and out in, you know, 18 months, three years, four X your money. It is the classic investment banking private equity structure. This is nothing new. It's just when you do it on this side from scratch and you become the banker instead of the player, it's like, that's why, that's why J.P. Morgan doesn't shell, they don't sell their deals to chase. You know what I mean? Like, they don't sell deals to each other. Why is that? Because they package the deals and sell them to you. You are the profit. They're getting out. Dude, I'm with you. I went from flipping luxury homes where we were

have exposure of, you know, 15, 20 million out, like trying to then, you know, turn a profit on these houses, which we, you know, you hit home runs on some of the bigger ones, but you can get behind the eight ball and take a seven figure loss on one house if you do it wrong. To now, all I do is by notes. I'm buying 60-day coupon from a buddy mine owns a big fix and flip lender in Texas. I'm buying 60-day coupon, you know,

12% interest with 1% discount, and my money goes out and comes back in 60 days and just churns. And that's like that's the bank. That's the game of money. You're the bank. That's the game of money. That's not the game of chance. That's the game of money. If they want to find you, how do they find you, BradmanvindVitt.com is pretty easy to get me there. Okay.

You know, all my connections of the game money, all that stuff's there. That's a pretty easy one. And at Brandtman Vidig, you can follow me on social. Love it. Well, brother, I appreciate you coming in. And do, of course. Listen, if you took nothing away from today's conversation, I want to you to take this way, which is wealth can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but I just don't understand

how time with your family and time well spent giving back to others cannot be the number one thing over dollars. Chase Legacy. Don't just chase a check. We'll see next week. What's up, everybody? Thanks for joining us for another episode of Escaping the Drift. Hope you got a bunch out of it, or at least as much as I did out of it. Anyway, if you want to learn more about the show, you can always go over to escaping the drift.com. You can join our mailing list. But do me a favor. If you wouldn't mind, throw up that five-star review. Give us a share. Do something, man. We're here for you. Hopefully you'll be here for us.

But anyway, in the meantime, we will see you at the next episode.