Multiplier Mindset® with Dan Sullivan

What separates a successful entrepreneur from one who changes the way people live and work? In this episode, Dan Sullivan explores the shift in thinking that sets great entrepreneurs apart, using Steve Jobs as an example. Discover how a different approach to creating value can open up possibilities you might not see when you focus only on what customers ask for. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The two ways entrepreneurs think differently from most people.What most entrepreneurs focus on in the marketplace.What great entrepreneurs focus on instead.How Steve Jobs created capabilities for himself and millions of others. Show notes:Entrepreneurs take responsibility for their own financial success and security rather than expecting an employer, government, or institution to do it for them.Entrepreneurs don’t get paid first; they get paid after they create value that someone else is willing to buy.It doesn’t matter how useful you think your work is; it only matters if someone else sees enough value in it to write you a check.When you focus only on solving existing problems, your clients can end up defining the work you do.Great entrepreneurs are more interested in creating new capabilities than solving known problems.Start with a capability you wish existed for your own life, then ask whether other people would want it too.Steve Jobs wanted computers to be easier to use, music to be purchased one song at a time, and phones to do far more than make calls. Great entrepreneurs build a formula around their capabilities that stays true even as technology, markets, and the world change. Apple’s enduring formula is to create beautiful technology that people love using. A clear formula lets you keep creating new value without having to reinvent who you are every time the world changes.

After seven years in the NHL playing for the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens, Evan Lindsay retired as a professional athlete and entered the realm of entrepreneurism. Evan shares the story of how he went from the National Hockey League to engaging in successful teamwork he’ll never have to retire from. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:The mindset that’s made Evan both a successful athlete and a successful entrepreneur.How Evan’s multi-faceted company works with failing gyms.How Evan’s employment experiences always ended.The ways in which Evan’s company has grown and continues to expand.Some of the most useful tools and experiences Evan has gained as a Strategic Coach® member. Show Notes: Being a professional athlete at the highest level means you can be coached and you’re good at teamwork. Those are also the two crucial capabilities to being an entrepreneur. For a lot of professional athletes, their unusual talent was spotted very early in life. NHL hopefuls are serious professionals before the end of their teen years. Many professional athletes don’t prepare for the time when their athletic career ends. And then they're thrown out into the world where they don't have the system that’s supported them. An entrepreneur’s number one job is to improve themselves in relationship to their team members and then to the business they’re in. If you consult but haven’t actually worked in the field for a while, you’re coming from a space of theory and ideas. Being familiar with the nuances and details of an industry makes you a lot more effective and proficient at supporting the people around you. In professional sports, you adapt or you don’t get paid. And whether you’re leading the team or on the bench, you have to be in service of winning. When you take over failing businesses, you take over something where the identity is the losing business. You have to come up against hurdles a few times before you realize what doesn’t work. There’s no finish line for entrepreneurs. Being an entrepreneur is a life sentence. Resources: EOS® Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy Unique Ability® My Plan For Living To 156 by Dan Sullivan

What does it take to build a company that grows without depending on you for every decision? In this episode, biotech entrepreneur Geoff Meyerson shares how failure, clear communication, and continual self-investment have helped him build a global business, empower his team, and create greater impact with less effort. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:Why entrepreneurship may be in Geoff’s genes.How experiencing failure led him to an early breakthrough.How Geoff discovered he wanted to build a career in biotech.What he did to unknowingly prepare himself for entrepreneurship.How he grew his company into a global firm. Show Notes: AI has had one of its greatest impacts in medicine, especially in pharmaceuticals and drug development. Growth-minded entrepreneurs take on the next exciting opportunity, then grow themselves to become more valuable to the team they’re building. Failure is a natural part of the entrepreneurial cycle that leads to breakthrough. To move from failure to breakthrough, the entrepreneur leading the company must evolve their role. One way to make an impact is to donate some of the money you make, but meaningful work can create a more direct impact in your day-to-day life. When your work is meaningful, you know you’re making a difference even on the days that don’t go well. Knowing what you want early in your entrepreneurial career is an advantage because the sooner you gain clarity, the sooner you can get there. Whenever people are involved, challenges, misunderstandings, and things going wrong are inevitable. Clear, honest, and consistent communication prevents small problems from becoming larger relationship issues. Investing more time in your team enables the company to grow faster and allows you to accomplish more with less effort. A Self-Managing Company® gives entrepreneurs the freedom to focus on higher-value opportunities rather than being pulled into day-to-day details. The more entrepreneurs invest in themselves, the more likely they are to have higher-caliber conversations, relationships, and opportunities. Resources: Transforming Experiences Into Multipliers The Impact Filter® The Entrepreneur’s Guide To Time Management What Is A Self-Managing Company®?

Dan Sullivan used to write books the hard way: long, lonely hours at the keyboard. In this episode, he explains the small‑book production system he created in 2014—focused ideas, a repeatable structure, and an editorial team that lets him produce a new book every quarter—and shows how entrepreneurs can adopt the same approach. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:What first got Dan writing books over 30 years ago.The commitment he made at 70 to write a different kind of book every quarter.Why his new book project stalled just four weeks in.Who the books are for and how they’re meant to be used.How Dan selects each quarter’s book topic. Show Notes: You can choose to write only about ideas your clients have already paid you for and that are proven in the marketplace. Long-term creative goals, like a book every quarter for 25 years, keep you active, productive, and future-focused. Advertising taught Dan to write succinctly by getting a complete message across in just a few seconds or inches of space. Strategic Coach® books are written specifically for Program members and for their associates who may want to join. Every quarterly book follows the same structure, with eight chapters, an introduction, a conclusion, and a consistent layout. Short, focused books can reveal which ideas deserve to become bigger, mass market books. Writing a book entirely on your own is often slow, lonely work that doesn’t suit most entrepreneurs. If you maintain your health, you can keep doing meaningful creative work for your entire lifetime. When a company pays you to advise its people, your recommendations can be constrained by the organization’s agenda. Most entrepreneurs get better results by collaborating with an interviewer or editor who can draw out their ideas. When you’re stuck on a project, asking a capable team member to take over the “How” can instantly create momentum. Resources:The 21st Century Agent by Dan Sullivan The Entrepreneur's Guide To Time Management Wanting What You Want by Dan SullivanThe Impact Filter® Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy

Maria Callahan owns a tax advisory firm and has redesigned it around entrepreneurial freedom. Here, she shares how shifting from “professional accountant” to “entrepreneur,” pruning wrong-fit clients, and using Strategic Coach® tools helped her build a lean, right‑fit firm where tax season is calm, her time is protected, and the business supports the life she actually wants. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:How boredom led Maria to entrepreneurship.The risks and sacrifices she made to start her own business.What first drew Maria into accounting.Why she enjoys working with taxes and tax planning.How Strategic Coach has been a pivotal part of her life over the past few years. Show Notes: Professional accountants tend to get hardwired to believe there’s only one “right” way to do accounting. Strategic Coach members recognize how their industry operates, but deliberately design businesses that operate in a way that makes sense for them. Once you’re credentialed, you can choose to be an entrepreneur whose specialty happens to be accounting. The joy of entrepreneurship is focusing on what you love doing, what you’re best at, and the clients you love working with. Not every customer or client is right for you, and accepting that lets you eliminate wrong-fit work and stress from your business. Sometimes the best move is to stop offering products or services that distract you from what you do exceptionally well. Real leadership involves making time to think about your business, where it’s going, and who will be on the journey with you. Focus Days™ are for money‑making activities, Buffer Days™ are for setup and support work, and Free Days™ are 24 hours with zero work. Either you take Free Days intentionally, or your body will eventually force you to take them. Doing everything yourself is one of the most exhausting and expensive habits an entrepreneur can have. If you never challenge your own beliefs about work and success, you’ll never step outside the limits they create. Strategic Coach members learn from each other because they’re in different industries but face remarkably similar challenges. Resources: Unique Ability®The Entrepreneur's Guide To Time ManagementWho Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy Tax-Free Wealth by Tom WheelwrightKolbeTransforming Experiences Into MultipliersThe Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin HardyThe Positive Focus®