8 weird ways people got rich.

A 🧵: 1/ Insurance that never pays

Sell insurance or service that never gets used.

We all know the title insurance "industry" (1.2% loss ratio in TX).

But my favorite was a local psychologist who sold counseling services to companies as HR benefits.

Nobody called. All profit.

I considered moving out of the USA.

After some research, I realized leaving is stupid.

There is no chance the USA will stop being the global superpower.

And the best country for opportunity.

The reason surprised me: First, the usual arguments for optimism about USA are:

• democracy
• the rule of law
• the US Dollar
• aircraft carriers (i.e., strongest military)
• immigration
• entrepreneurial culture
• and many more.

But...

Board meetings are expensive.

So to make the most of it, you need a dead simple meeting format.

Here’s the simple, foolproof template used to oversee dozens of companies:

🧵 👇 We'll use a fictional company to show how we do things:

"Grilldey’s"

It’s a beloved neighborhood bar and grill with big ambitions.

I’ll walk through the format we use, step by step.

How I use a simple 2x2 matrix to quickstart turnarounds

A 🧵: First – a bit of context.

I use this approach to start fixing complex systems like:

• Money-losing business
• Failing retail store
• Losing teams

Unlike simple systems, these have:

• Tough to pinpoint causes
• Difficult to measure results
• Variety of factors

Aldi is the fastest-growing grocery chain in America.

They’re adding 800 new stores in the next few years.

Here are 9 things they do differently: * Aldi keeps staple foods cheap

Customers don’t remember the price of everything.

But they remember the stuff they buy all the time:

Milk, bread, eggs.

Lesson: Human psychology means shoppers feel like everything is cheaper.

On our podcast @acquanon, we see this often:

A retiring person owns a business worth $750k.

But they used that business years ago to own real estate worth $5mm today.

This is how to set it up. 🧵 It's called the "OpCo / PropCo" structure...

Your business is the Operating Corporation (the "OpCo").

You buy the real estate via a "Property Corporation" you create.

OpCo rents your business real estate from PropCo.

Generation X is weird.

These 43-58 year-olds are so strange it presents golden opportunities.

Here are 10 mind hacks to use with Gen X: DISCLAIMER: I’ll be generalizing.

Not every Gen X will think this way.

Especially those Gen Xers closer in age to either Boomers (born 1946-64) or Millennials (born 1981-96).

But these will work with most.

Now is a turbulent time in our economy.

My eldest son just started college.

He asked me what careers to pursue, and what to avoid.

Here’s what I told him: First, look at what trends are going on in the world.

- Globalization of workforce
- Reindustrialization of USA
- Shrinking birth rate
- Emergence of AI
- Increasing size of US gov’t spend

So what do you do with this knowledge?

First, what to AVOID:

We hired a private chef to cook for our family.

It was an amazing decision.

What we learned was surprising: Context: my son has a chronic health problem.

So we needed breathing room.

I looked at our time and frustration each week.

Food was a big pain.

We ate poorly, rushed meals and spent hours in prep/planning.

The best-capitalized brewery in San Antonio just declared bankruptcy.

I thought that was weird. Wasn’t beer timeless?

I did some digging.

Here’s what I found. 🧵 Alamo Beer Co isn’t the only brewery to shut down lately.

2024 was the first year more breweries closed (399) than opened (335).

I’ve been thinking about crazy Gen Z salary expectations.

This was big a little while ago.

In case you missed it — here’s what different generations consider a “successful income”: When this study came out it blew people’s minds on social media.

But it all makes sense.

It’s just generational theory:

Basically, the way you see the world is determined by the circumstances you grew up in.

One thing I know from owning an offshoring company (@hirewithnear):

Most people don’t know how it actually works!

So here we go:

GIRDLEY’S OFFSHORING FAQ. Q: What do I pay for a role?

There are two parallel markets: local and global (pays a lot more)

In Latin America, you’ll save 30-75% on wages.

Agencies can give you ranges. Or use Near’s free salary comparison tool (under “Tools” on their site)

Aldi is the fastest-growing grocery chain in America.

They’re adding 800 new stores in the next few years.

Here are 9 things they do differently: * Aldi keeps staple foods cheap

Customers don’t remember the price of everything.

But they remember the stuff they buy all the time:

Milk, bread, eggs.

Lesson: Human psychology means shoppers feel like everything is cheaper.

If you do business, you’ll get stressed.

It’s unavoidable.

Here are 10 ways I’ve learned to deal with stress (mostly because this year has sucked so bad): 1/ Don’t pretend it doesn’t suck.

In our culture, leaders and CEOs are supposed to pretend stress doesn’t get to them.

Don’t fall into that trap.

Acknowledge it’s tough, and you’ll deal with it better.

We hired a private chef to cook for our family.

Call me an elitist, but I was shocked how affordable it was.

Here’s the breakdown: For people asking how we did it:

Advertised (craigslist/thumbtack worked best)
Looked at 10 candidates
Phone screened 4
Checked references on 2. Ran a background check.
Did one paid trial day
Hired him

Now he comes by one day a week, for about 6 hours.

Cooks at our place, then cleans.

Meals in tupperware, ready for us to do our thing.

My brutally honest career advice:

A ton of US jobs are going to be irrelevant soon.

Globalization, AI, the shrinking birth rate… these supertrends are changing everything.

BUT: here are 5 careers with rock solid futures in the USA: #1: GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

Government spending is sticky. And not going anywhere.

Here’s my simple system for KPIs

Financial statements show a company's past.

But… How do you predict the future of your business?

You need a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) system.

Here’s how I do them. 🧵 I’ll use our company @hirewithnear to explain.

Near helps companies hire nearshore employees in LATAM.

Here’s a screenshot of their KPIs (actual #'s removed!).

This simple spreadsheet shows the future of the business.

Here's how we did it:

From the Mr Beast "how to work here" guide.

Interesting how this mindset towards consultants is radically different than how Gen X/Boomers see them. But this makes sense from first principles:

1) Find the absolute best in the world at a thing
2) Pay them (well) just to teach you that thing
3) Do it yourself using that knowledge

Aldi is the fastest-growing grocery chain in America.

They’re adding 800 new stores in the next few years.

Here are 9 things they do differently: * Aldi keeps staple foods cheap

Customers don’t remember the price of everything.

But they remember the stuff they buy all the time:

Milk, bread, eggs.

Lesson: Human psychology means shoppers feel like everything is cheaper.

How to sell a business, make a ton of money — and pay no taxes.

For the right person, this strategy is gold.

Read on 👇 The answer is QSBS ("Qualified Small Business Stock")

A 1993 tax incentive... made amazing in 2017.

If you're a small business owner/investor, it can make you millions.

Board meetings are expensive.

So to make the most of it, you need a dead simple meeting format.

Here’s the simple, foolproof template used to oversee dozens of companies:

🧵 👇 We'll use a fictional company to show how we do things:

"Grilldey’s"

It’s a beloved neighborhood bar and grill with big ambitions.

I’ll walk through the format we use, step by step.