"I think a lot of founders try to do everything themselves. And I was very much that—we're like control freaks and we just want to make as much money as possible. As soon as you can stop being the best operator and start being the best trainer possible, give up all your trade secrets, which is really hard to do, that's when the companies can really take off in scale. It wasn't until we did that, that they really did. We basically got out of our own way."

"I felt like I had to be more confident than I was. I had to portray like I knew what I was doing, even though I had no clue most of the time. I bottled everything up and truthfully, I got in a pretty dark place where I didn't want to wake up in the morning. I would roll out of bed and immediately—like at 6 a.m.—I'd be working till midnight. The only thing that was relieving me were walks and showers. I ended up in the hospital twice, almost died. But it really helped me to reset and realign and change paths."

"After that time, the doctor said, ‘you're lucky to be alive on many levels.’ I realized I needed to figure out how to sell or exit that company. Over the next few months, we started to hire all these different roles we had done ourselves—it turned out to be like 10 to 15 roles. When we started to do that, the company took off in growth even more. At a certain point, I wasn't really needed. It was a crazy, weird feeling. But it definitely was a catalyst to change in a good way."

"I like agencies because in tech, you’re often waiting until an IPO or something that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon. The great thing about agency models is that they can cashflow pretty quickly—even small margins can expand. For us, it’s really about a killer founder in a less crowded lane. The money doesn’t move the needle—it’s really our playbooks and advisory that help them a lot more. So far it’s proving to be a cool model."

"My goal with agencies is to get them productized. Because if you can get them productized, then they do become sellable. It's more about the playbooks and hiring to backfill those playbooks than doing custom work. We're always taking minority stakes, but we're not excited unless they can get to seven-figure EBITDA in a few years. If you can get there, these are sellable businesses at five to eight times EBITDA, so you can get to pretty meaningful exits."

"It’s not about what service you’re providing. It’s about the results you can deliver. Most people get it wrong—they think about what product or service they could offer, but they should start with a customer base. My definition of Ideal Customer Profile is: who do you know you can hit a home run for, guaranteed? That’s what gets reviews, case studies, results. For me, local markets are exciting—if you can just be better than your local competition at one thing, you can win."

"We wanted this to be the early to mid-stage community for entrepreneurs. Most of the other groups are expensive and tailored towards high net worth individuals. Tribe is different—it’s supportive, ambitious people talking shop, learning, and having fun. Groups are six people paired with facilitators who’ve been there and done that. There’s tons of networking—everyone’s doing business and referring each other, not in a soliciting way, but organically as friendships form."