(indistinct chattering)
- So, how long were you a soloprenuer,
and how did you decide,
like, how did you decide
on that first hire?
What did you look for?
- I would say
for the first hire,
you're gonna suck.
Because it's the first one.
Right? You're gonna hire the wrong person,
you're gonna trust the wrong person,
and then that persons gonna quit.
It's gonna piss you off.
It's all part of the process.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- So, knowing that your first hire is gonna
be your worst hire.
- And then that way you'll know
what to look for. - Yeah, You'll know.
Yeah, but I would say like the core values
of my company nowadays,
we have loyalty,
harmony,
extreme ownership,
high performance,
and continuous improvement.
So, out of the core values,
a sheet that I have.
So, let's say if I sit down
with someone,
who potentially I would hire,
show them these five core values.
That's what Team Dan Lok stands for.
And that already turns away most people.
Because they,
in terms of harmony,
in terms of high performance.
Because most men are not high performance.
I tell them point blank,
you're looking for a nine to five,
this is the wrong place.
- Yeah. - This is not it.
My team isn't a nine to five.
This is Saturday, everybody.
- And even if they do,
they lie about it, they wouldn't last.
- They will not last in a week
in my organization.
Period.
So, I tell them upfront,
if you are not putting in the effort,
everyone on the team will see it.
'Cause none of us are nine to five type people.
We are in sync.
We are messaging each other at 2 a.m. in the morning.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- We get shit done.
Like, this is Navy SEAL.
You don't wanna be Navy SEAL,
don't join the Navy SEAL.
Right?
So, I'm very clear upfront about expectation.
So, we have either people join the team,
they'll say either hell yes or hell no.
Right?
What you don't want is kind of people
in the middle.
Like hell yes or hell no.
In the middle is hell.
- Right?
So, hell yeah, I wanna be part of that.
Or hell no,
I don't wanna be part of that.
- That's great,
that's just not for you, right?
- [Interviewer] Generate fight or generate (mumbles)
- So, the first one I would say is
perhaps your
executive assistant.
Because that's the first person
that can free up a lot
of your time.
It will feel a little bit weird
when you
give away
someone to manage your calendar.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, right?
Like how someone tells you what time,
how it should be organized.
It would feel a little bit weird,
When you have someone checking your email,
it will feel a little bit strange.
But, that's the first step.
- [Interviewer} Yeah, 'cause that's the stuff
that really eats away your time.
- Yeah, so when you free up that kind of time,
then you might bring
on a marketing person.
You might bring on a salesperson.
Depends on the business.
How it drives your revenue.
(fingers snapping)
So, you have more revenue,
then you can bring in more people.
Then eventually,
you might bring
on a financial person,
like bookkeeper, accountant
to help you do that.
Then, someone is managing the numbers.
Then, eventually you might bring an operation person
to help you actually run the business.
I have eight executives
on this level
to manage different things.
And then they have more people.
So, that's what I have.
But, one at a time.
One at a time.
But, culture
eats
strategy
for breakfast.
Culture eats strategy
for breakfast.
- Right, right.
- You could get this strategy,
you could have the best strategy,
you don't have the right people,
the right culture,
none of this would work.
- So, you got to be clear
on your culture
and keep hiring people.
- You have the right culture,
anything would work.
Because your team would figure it out how
to make it work.
- Figure out the strategy.
- If one strategy doesn't work,
you pivot,
you do something else.
It doesn't really matter.
But, the team is what makes it really work.
And that's a level that people need to get to.
I was telling Vince the same thing.
Every person that he has,
he outsourced
and he knows.
He can see why he couldn't scale.
Because those guys,
who he outsourced to,
is working with four other guys.
You want your people
to be living and breathing
your business.
So, when you have that kind of momentum
and that kind of team,
you can do anything.
You can literally do anything.
- Awesome, thanks so much, man.