If you don’t understand acquisitions, you’ll never be truly wealthy.

Here’s what you need to know about how the rich buy businesses: Think of any 3 rich people.

They likely have 1 thing in common.

They own. Often, they own companies.

The average person doesn't understand this about wealth. I love how Sam Altman put it:

When you move from a worker to the leader, you have to change everything.

What no one tells you about the mindset of owners: You’re Either the Hammer…

Hammers make things happen. They aren’t afraid to swing hard, take calculated risks, and make an impact. They don’t wait for things to happen.

Biographies of billionaires teach you more than self-help business books.

Here are my 5 favorites: 1. Built from Scratch (Home Depot Founders)

Read for: Learning how to disrupt an industry.

Marcus & Blank were fired from Handy Dan. Then they noticed a gap in the system...

This UK entrepreneur turned a wire basket manufacturer into the world's largest advertising agency.

Warren Buffett allegedly offered to buy it at a 20% premium in 2012…

Here’s the strategy behind this now-$10B boring business: Our story starts with Sir Martin Sorrell.

But before that, it starts with Wire and Plastic Products plc.

It was founded in 1971 as a manufacturer of shopping baskets, rat cages, and clothes lockers.

That is, until Sorrell came along…

The wealth transfer of the decade is happening on Britain's High Streets.

35 shops closed per DAY in 2024.

But where most see destruction, I see opportunity...

Here's the contrarian’s playbook to making $$$ saving local economies: First, let’s paint a picture:

Nearly 7,000 chain stores closed in the first half of 2024. Pharmacies shuttered. Banks disappeared. Historic pubs went dark.

The American Dream isn't dead.

But it has moved.

Here's what everyone's getting wrong about American money: We’ve been sold a lie.

• Sit still for 8hrs/day until you’re 18
• Take out $100k debt for college
• Get a good job - unless, oops, you don’t
• You still can’t afford a home or family

An America 2.0 that is feeling increasingly anti-American Dream…

How to get a free education on money:

Podcasts.

But with 30M episodes published each year, 99.9% are worthless.

Here’s the .1% that will actually change how you think about wealth: Let me save you 1,000+ hours.

Most money podcasts are recycled platitudes like "follow your passion" and "never give up."

But these episodes are different.

They have specific frameworks that will transform your relationship with wealth…

If you haven’t set your Q1 goals yet, you’re already behind...

Here’s how to transform your business in 3 months (Quarterly Planning Template): I meet so many entrepreneurs with endless to-do lists, working 80hr weeks.

Yet their business barely grows.

Most people confuse tasks with goals and wonder why they're stuck.

There's 3 ways to fix the hamster wheel..

At 30, I thought I’d peaked.
At 38, I know I’m just getting started.

The biggest lessons this past year taught me (that you might need to hear too): 1. Marrying well is the biggest life hack of all. Period.

Your new self will cost you your old self.

21 re-frames to help you actually meet your goals this year: 1. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

If you want to make this year better…
- Debrief your past year
- What went right?
- What do you need to avoid?

You can use this annual review template:
contrarianthinking.biz/49XfSvJ

How to spot a scam...

They promise "passive income."

Here's the problem with passive income (and what you need to build instead): I've spent my career investing in & buying biz's.

First at huge investment firms, then on the side, and now for my own funds.

And there's a truth I need to share with you:

Passive income is a myth.

I learned the secret to wealth building.

It isn't crypto, a trust fund, or a startup.

It's a simple framework that could transform broke people into millionaires.

Here’s the unsexy but effective path to wealth (Evolutionary Wealth Theory): If there’s this great secret, why aren’t more people screaming about it? If it’s so simple, why don’t more people do it?

Because it’s boring, it’s hard, and it’s slow.

Scott Galloway sums it up perfectly:

“I can get you rich, that's the good news. The bad news is, the answer is slowly.”

70% of people live paycheck to paycheck.

This will not be you and I.

Here's exactly how I manage my personal finances (The Personal P&L): Track Your Money

It all starts here.

This may be the SINGLE most important thing you can do for your finances.

Treat yourself like a business. I use a Personal P&L (profit & loss).

If you aren't tracking, take this sheet now:
contrarianthinking.biz/3VswGFE

This guy is an MD who swears you can heal yourself with an animal-based diet.

I asked him about the parts of our food supply making us unhealthy and fat.

His answers surprised me.

Here’s what he said: First… HOW did it get this bad?

Why is everything slowly killing us - and can we stop it?

Turns out, food research is old, funded by pharma, & wildly difficult to modernize.

Paul Saladino is hopeful RFK Jr can start to turn the ship around.. but it's a big ship:

Crypto. NFTs. Sports bets. Dropshipping.

Stop thinking you’ll get wealthy by jumping on the next trend.

Give yourself better odds, do this instead: This Bezos quote will re-wire your brain.

Amazon, titan of innovation, did not use a strategy based on trend-guessing.

Instead, they focused on certainties:

- People will always want low prices
- People will always want fast delivery
- People will always want a wide selection

How to stay poor:

1. Never take risk.
2. Take risks you don’t understand.

If you want to buy a profitable business, here are 9 ways to protect your downside: All you can do with risk is mitigate it.

You can never remove it entirely.

The best deal is a bad deal avoided.

Here are 9 quick tips on how to spot a deal you should avoid…

This is the ONE strategy that’s made:

• Amazon a trillion-dollar company
• Taylor Swift a billionaire
• Your local laundromat worth a million

Any business owner who doesn’t know this model is leaving money on the table.

Here’s how it works: This is Amazon’s income statement from Q4 of last year.

You notice something?

They're an online retailer. But less than 1/2 of their revenue is online store sales.

Amazon doesn’t just SELL to grow. They BUY.

I’m 38.

If you're still in your 20's, read this: 1. As soon as you hit your 30s, you’ll understand... Your 20s actually suck. If you feel like it sucks right now, guess what? It’s supposed to. It gets better.

2. Your first job is like the DMV. Awful. Everyone’s mad. Nothing works. But the key is.. You are not supposed to stay there.

Rich people know a secret.

While normal people grind for a promotion or start side hustles, the wealthy get rich quietly.

But I think everyone deserves to know the secret, so this is what my book “Main Street Millionaire” is all about: The greatest lesson I took from working in finance was this:

The wealthiest people I met all had one thing in common.

They didn’t trade their time for a paycheck.

They OWNED.

When you move from a worker to the leader, you have to change everything.

What no one tells you about being a CEO: You must do what is required not what is desired.

“You can’t show me a task that is beneath me.”

The biggest wealth gap in America isn't between the rich and poor...

It's between business owners and everyone else.

10 tax advantages business owners have that regular 9-5ers never see: Quick heads up:

Don’t take candy from strangers, don’t take tax advice from them either.

Please get a tax professional, and then talk to them before doing anything wild.

Now, let’s get into it: