Latest / The Vincere Project / Episode 19. Role Models
Transcript
- Vince: man, the end of July. man, July, July, July went fast. Went really fast. We used to have panels that were gonna go up on the wall, and then they didn't because my wife said it didn't match, and then I got my monkeys loose and because we're human and that's that's kind of what happens. And man, what a what a good summer though. Great summer, great summer. Like everybody on my end is is healthy. We're in a good season. That that's not always the case, right? And so sometimes when when you're reaping and you're winning, people feel like there's some way that they're like, meek or or modest or humble. I don't know. I I think the goal is to be victorious, right? That's implied in the name of this podcast and to overcome things. It doesn't mean we don't go through bad seasons of life. I I think I'm a poster for that, you know, in many ways. And I and I think there are many other folks, right? There are just wonderful examples of people that have overcome these incredible adversities. And but that's not the season we're in right now, man. We're we're in July and I man, I broke my nose over a month ago, I guess. Like I was with my uncle the seven mil worth this now it broke broke it good man I kinda downpleted a little bit like popped it out of place and all sorts of weird stuff was going on and you know joked about on on social media like hey SpaceX was was that was supposed to happen everybody's buying SpaceX and I was buying Adobe and we're a month later man and yeah I I feel like I feel like we made a good decision on that that my thesis held. I've had that thesis like eighteen months about Adobe and just tracked it, tracked it, tracked it watched. And this isn't financial advice it's just the game that I play man and I'm gonna talk a little bit today about you know, role modeling and failure models and kind of how we go through that process. And I I would say that my my experience and observations is mo most people don't actually have whatever it is that they want you to perceive that they have and things are never good or as bad as they may seem, right? And you never know the problems, issues and dilemmas that somebody else is dealing with in any way, shape, or form, whether that is physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, vocational, of course, social Lastly, financial. There's a lot of assumptions implied in that stuff. And as I alluded to before about the SpaceX versus Adobe thing, like the hype machine versus where's real capital being allocated and deployed. You know, it's just a language that that requires some learning and paying attention. You know, one of the books that I like, it's in the top, right? It's it's on my top of my bookshelf is the intelligent investor. And I think I think some of the things are outdated in terms of How Ben Graham saw the world, but there's no doubt that he had a massive influence on Warren Buffett. And I think, in turn, a whole bunch of other guys here. And I I study folks like that. And so how do you like people know Warren Buffett for whatever they know him as the Oracle of Omaha and as a great investor and all those things? And I've read a ton about the dude, him and Charlie Munger and their relationship, and two very different people, with very similar value sets. And One of my favorite people as a result of the studies and going along the way is I came across Tom Murphy. And, you know, that dude, man, it it's just hard, hard to explain, you know, what he did as a CEO and man, how he deployed capital and cash flow margins and he was always concerned about the tax implications for investors and it got me the idea with H hour, you know, because we have shares of H Hour right now. earnings per share, that's my job as the leader of the small business if we're gonna grow and become this thing. And if I was to raise money with all of my friends and family and they all gave me a dollar and I told them how much I was going to give them back and what timely order and fashion, how would I do that? Right. And and has me playing in like terms of John Malone and like he didn't believe in a dividend. He wasn't a dividend guy. Neither's more Buffett though. And I think of a Berkshire like that. But it but not the point. And well yeah it is part of the point. But but but But his his his approach overall was always to figure out ways to to limit the tax application. So in my mind for small business, I'm like, man, raise enough capital to deploy it into the two platforms that I believe would serve a human service business very well to extend upon and build upon their existing cash flow. What would I do? And I have a good plan. And that's like who are the people I need. So if they give me the dollar, then I have a obligation, a commitment to back that somehow, some way. And I'm going to do that. I'm gonna honor that every nickel of it. on a personal way if I need to a personal basis. But through the business, I think I think I just wanna help my friends too. It's like, you know, whether whether the initial investment's a lot of the money to them or not, it's the fidelity in the transaction of they believe in the brand, you know, H hour. Like thing, right? The logo, the brand, the company, Vince, Brooke, and and the team. And you know, of course the training event side is merry, but that's a separate entity as far as the the counseling side where we're trying to raise some money. And for me, how do I return that money with no tax on vacations? And I have some ideas and I think I'm gonna figure it out, but I I you know I I think that might be a better way. So then is it a loan at that point? I don't know. Is it some sort of redistribution? What does the agreement look like? I'm rambling right now, but that's kind of where I'm at. But that's a lot of stuff I study. So back to the r the role model, failure model, right? And everybody has role models and failure models. And it's it's nice when we can point to be like, hey, it was it's my dad, it's my grandfather, it's my brother, it's my mom, my sister, a family member, whatever, right? My teacher, my coach. And I feel like we get presented a lot of different models and in a lot of different ways, shapes, and forms. And not every single person is gonna be everything. Encompassing. Some are going to be failing models in some capacities. They may be role models and have massive success in some domains, and they can be explicit failure models in other avenues. And I think that's something we have to be honest with. So, for example, there are people that are wildly successful in business that aren't good people. but alternatively, there's people that are terrible at business and they're wonderful fathers. And I think that's kind of the juggling act in all of this. Nobody can be everything to everybody. So for me, when I when I started H hour, I was like, I don't know anything about business. I don't have an MBA. there's no trust fund. I don't have a rich daddy where I'm stepping into his business or something like that. I don't I don't have some I have a wonderful network, but I don't have somebody that's cutting me million dollar checks to make this thing happen. There's no backing like that. but we're building it, right? And slowly but surely it's it's becoming this thing that's living on its own and starting to grain gain this energy. So I think as the connector to all of it is my responsibility is to figure that out, man. It's like 'cause it 'cause if my mom was to give me a dollar, I would take it deeply personal, right? And I treated it as if anybody else was to do that. If I make a partnership and agreement, I'm an all in all the way to the end kind of person. Then that's a characteristic that's favorable for somebody like myself that's that's that's burning a small business. You know, I I think when you have people that have traumatic childhood at times and then you add more of that and and then you know I think the only way to do it is run a small business or some sort of entrepreneurship. I don't I don't have it in me to ask permission. I know what the right thing is to do and how to serve people. And then we have evidence and proof to support that. You know and it's painful it's hard and it's slow going and and we're approaching seven years of this thing, right? And you know I had a meeting the other day and I had to remind somebody like, yeah, I I remember there was no client. The zero, right? So, you know, when you start to align and start to bring on people, there's gonna be verbal interactions, conversations. And if the agreement can't be done on a cocktail napkin, it can't be done, right? Like that's how I practice it. And so the big screening is like do you like to have fun, help people make money doing it? And if you don't like to do those things, then Vince is never gonna be the guy for you, Mr. or Mrs. Investor. And I think that's kind of a cool idea. I think the funny thing is the ethical boundaries and the weird space 'cause like let's say I had a client and like they hadn't been my client for like two years, right? I could be in a romantic involvement with them at that point, right? That's that's a ethical blind spot people don't consider. But I also think about the financial implications. Let's say it's been two, three years, I haven't worked with a person and that's what they do and part of their thing would I be off on offering that, especially when they know firsthand exactly how good the product is. Like that's the part that's tricky in it, right? It's like there's still people that will see this, listen to this, or they see like whatever we're doing out in the world and they just like are so negative naysayers and they have no but I self selected, why not me? All of it, you know, and I and I think I think that's kind of what we're doing, man. We're just over delivering for individuals and small groups, allowing people to be delighted. But yeah, John Malone, Warren Buffett, people like that. I mean, you know, I I think there's some core competencies. You know, so there's some some really, really important core competencies that I have noted here. You know, I think I think what happens is when you have somebody that doesn't have a massive amount of managerial experience, just enough. That's somebody like me. I'm not corporately groomed. I wasn't an officer in the military. I don't I don't have that. A little buff around the edges, or like deeply personal connections and un undenying loyalty. See I can keep an acquaintance or accommodation or relationship with somebody, but then the minute I sense or sniff that there's not an undenyed loyalty in that, I just play it exactly as is. I'm never gonna be state's evidence on anything. That's not what I do. I don't talk to the cops, it's not my game. but I That's the part in the investing part is an all in person. So if somebody invests me, I believe they're all in. They're making a big bet. Support that. Hard to do. But the c competencies, right? Man, little prior managerial experience. I have enough, right? Like I have enough definitely. Capital allocation is the primary activity. That is what I do. 1000 million, trillion percent. Right. And that is a hundred percent what I've been doing for nearly a decade is that I take capital and deploy it. On a personal level and through my business, it's working, right? We approach seven years next week. This is this August 1st, we have the seven-year anniversary of HR. We're not gonna do anything special. The 10-year one is going to be pretty epic, I think. you know, but Brooke and I are starting to lay the the tracks for what that looks like, but pretty pretty huge. optimize long-term value per share. Look, HR has a hundred thousand shares, right? And The EPS earnings per share is my job. At the end of this year, we'll measure, assess, and evaluate that. Hey, like Vince, are you you you grow in the business or you're not? Point blank period. and the advantage I have is still I play owner-operator role, right? So I still do I'm a practitioner, I still do see 10 to 15 clients a week. I don't know at what point that would end. It's something I think I'll do to the day I die, but the decisions, my job is to think and make decisions. You know, Brooke is the operations of it in the day to day and sometimes our we interconnect. on things and decisions, whether it's financial or personal or otherwise. And we we are disconnected in some ways. And it's for the safety of the business, right? Because I'm all gas. She's all break. And somewhere in the middle we take good turns, right? And you know, that's that's what we're doing. So that long term value per share, I take full responsibility that the margins, returns, free cash flow, drive that up at all times. Toilet paper costs money, right? always have an analytical, frugal and independent mindset of regardless of what the market economy is doing. Starting a business pre COVID, right before COVID, trying to get smart on a business and then trying to build it during the middle of COVID, I think was just man, I feel like I got picked by God for that. it was a wonderful opportunity to build these deep, meaningful relationships. My first wave of clients and the handful of people I've seen come and go through HR that did their tryout in private practice or with partnership and it just didn't make sense. It didn't fit for them. You know, I I I I understand, I'm grateful for every single person, every step of the way. Clients included, right? Like that that's that's part of the game. We're in the human services. orientation is to the long term. And for me, I am man, I turned forty six this week. So now it's twenty nine years. I'm gonna do this for twenty nine more years. That's the plan. We'll see. but the runway is so long in that capacity, right? So I always think about the exit, right? And we got a ways to go before we're anywhere near there. And and I think that I always consider that we're making a decision though, right? It's like, hey Would this decision right here, with this person place or thing, or this decision with capital or strategy or taxes, would this matter in thirty years? Is it yes or no? And I find that it's maybe two to three decisions a year that matter that much through my lens and filter. It's my job to be prepared and present to them and hear all the no's. But I think that's that's having good people around you and good counsel, right? people ask questions and and you know, that that's that's what I'm benefiting having. And then they define, it's funny, the furry animal or describe the furry animal that would describe the outsider CEOs and it's all captured in the book by William Thorndike of The Outsiders, which I would highly recommend if it's of interest. But for me it was life changing a while ago because I'd read a couple books about a couple of these people beforehand and William Thorndike does a good job organizing and packaging them all together and it offers a little bit of that contrarian thinking when you're making decisions to go with the market or go against the market in some ways. And I think there's that that juggling act in there that can change at all times. You know, I mean I I find that we have hit a good stride with all of that stuff. So that's what we're doing. That's what we're doing on that end. I think I talked Brock into running across New Jersey, maybe north to south, most likely west to east, or maybe east to west to east. I don't know. That's kinda that's kind of interesting actually. Or maybe we run from where we're at down to Yeah, maybe we we we go down to the Coast Guard basic training where he's at. You know, where I think he came through there. I'd assume he did. that's right, I think where the Coast Guard guys come through. Celebration can't make. I don't We gotta think about this, but we're gonna do a fundraiser. That's what we're gonna do it for. Who are we gonna raise money and funds for? I don't particularly know. man, I really want to do the veteran housing thing. I I I think that is a way for the community to rally and help a handful of guys because I know what it's like to be strung out, drugs and struggling with PTS, guys need support and help, and it's it's a confidence game, and I think there's things that I I think we can bring to life. But we'll see. We'll see. I think that's kind of like where this is landing or two. So we gotta find the right person to align with on this. I don't want to run a not-for-profit. I have zero interest, but I do want to house veterans, and I think that's something very different. So I just gotta find the right people to help me do that stuff. Man. Look at that. Mary's getting ready for secure the beach. We're right on time. We got 15 minutes. I'm interested to what that is. I don't know if I'm doing it. I don't know if I'm working it or I don't even know if she needs me anymore for that. It's good. I think she needs me for other stuff, but maybe not that. It's gonna be good. Starting to organize for class over at Kane, teaching one grad school class. We're doing human development. Man, I I taught that class before. It was pretty good. I think I can do better though. And it was an accelerated class. I think it was like six weeks or eight weeks, but it was like a lot and like condensed periods of time on the weekend and like I don't know. It wasn't it was a good performance. It wasn't my best performance. We'll And then we've got physiological psychology for the undergrad students. Man, that's I love that class. Get the students all excited, lots of laughs. Man, I got a a full lecture on Neurolink I deliver with those students. It's usually like the that's the tipping point in the class many times. It's good if you set enough good patterns and study habits and rituals to have a really thick, ritualistic conversation about those ethical issues, dilemmas, bring in some cultural context and talk about how psychology impacts and influences all of it. and we end up on You know, the price of toilet paper and how the idea it was, you know, started at medicated paper and yeah, students love it and it it gets the imagination going and opens it up and everybody gets their credits. But yeah, working through that stuff. It's gonna be good. Yeah, physiological psychology, human development. Gonna keep building H hour. I'm gonna take a few more clients this fall, I think. Get up to like fifteen ish every week. Maybe not. I don't know, we'll see. We'll see. Yeah, that's all I got. It's gonna be great, man. But yeah, that's fine role models, right? In in business terms. That's what I did. Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, that's a textile company, John Malone, some of those guys. And then you just start to play the game within the framework that you have. So if you have a small, small, tiny little business and it's a hundred dollar lemonade stand, you gotta start somewhere. And 'cause people immediately gotta start to compare and they're like, Vince, what do you think you are? Who are you, or this or compare to that? I'm like, Well no, like that dude built a hundred and fifty billion dollar whatever something, right? Like That'd be awesome I just you know what if I build a 1.5 million something or 15 million dollars something, right? Like the world's better. So it's pragmatic, right? It's having a vision and understanding of like what you can actually influence and change and and who you can. And but I think you find the the role models. I think you find good models of role out there, and reading is the tool, YouTube, podcast, but definitely reading and writing. So the best tool tactic I'll leave you with if you've made it this far is hey, read for 10 minutes. And write about that particular topic for five minutes. Do it for one year straight. You'll be an expert in that particular thing. There's only a handful of people you could even have a conversation with about the particular topic. That's kind of how the world works. So all good stuff. Cheers.