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.

I know a big business where no employees quit for a whole year.

How?

The CEO spends tons of time communicating their story.

One great tool for this is...

The Open Book Meeting.

Here’s how we do ours: This meeting has different names:

· Open Book
· All Hands
· Townhall

Our type is called “Open Book.”

This name reflects the nature of the meeting:

The CEO updates the entire company, good and bad -- with transparency.

Increasing:

· alignment
· engagement
· culture

PSA: You need a Chief of Staff.

I hired one last year.

My productivity doubled – and I’m having a ton more fun.

I regret not doing it years ago.

Here's a thread on how I did it: Let’s start with what a Chief of Staff isn’t.

This is NOT an Executive Assistant.

While there are bits of menial work, the role is high-level.

The CoS covers my “messy middle” of necessary projects.

Too complex for an EA.

But things that someone else could own/accelerate.

What happens in the days after you die?

It will be horrible for your loved ones.

I learned about something you can do to make that easier for them:

The Green Box Exercise. Here’s how it works:

Collect all the info your loved ones will need after you’re gone.

Put it in a box. (Preferably green.)

With a roadmap to find everything.

This will save your family, lawyers, etc., from puzzling out a million loose ends.

Here’s what I put in mine:

Businesses die when they run out of money.

There is one tool to survive a cash crisis.

The 13-week Rolling Cash Flow Forecast 🧵: It is a simple spreadsheet.

To forecast your cash precisely by the week.

For 13 weeks -- a short enough time to be precise.

And just enough time to get ahead of problems.

Here’s the Excel template I’ve used (link at end):

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...

My craziest conspiracy theory:

Parents aren’t actually happy.

But, they think they are happy because their kids brainwashed them.

It’s the same playbook the army uses to indoctrinate happy, dedicated soldiers.

Give me 3 minutes to explain:

🧵 First, being a parent objectively sucks.

- Costs hundreds of thousands of dollars
- Kids’ schedule runs your life
- They can be super mean
- It’s hard freakin’ work!

But ask any parent, and they’ll say they’re happier than before kids.

(Me included!)

Hard truth:

Your crappy business partner relationship will keep sucking.

Success comes from the start.

- Finding the right person
- Setting it up properly

Answering these questions BEFORE you partner with someone: 🧵 * Does each partner bring complementary things?

Partnerships are about 1+1=3.

If you’re both excellent at the same things, that’s not helpful.

You need partners bringing what you don't.

How to terminate an employee with kindness and care…

You'll need this sooner or later if you’re a manager/CEO. Bookmark it now!

🧵 DISCLAIMER: Terminating employees always sucks.

But like hiring, it’s an unavoidable task.

I try to remember employees are humans and deserve kindness and respect.

No matter the reason.

OK, with that said, here are the steps to do it when you’re forced to let someone go:

Want to start a company but not run it yourself?

I’ve done it a bunch.

Some have gone great, like @dura_software.

Others kind of sucked.

Here are 10 ways I learned to incubate companies better: * Nobody wants to work on my sh*tty ideas.

I believed I could get great people to believe in my ideas.

I was wrong.

The only sure way to get someone bought in is to develop the idea with them.

When they talk to genuine customers, they get the fire.

One of the top questions I get:

How do you structure compensation for a small business CEO?

Here’s how we do it:

⬇️ First, quick thoughts on this topic.

CEO compensation must align with the owner's goals.

That might be “grow fast no matter what” or “profitable growth.”

Or it could be “max cash flow.”

Whatever your goal, the comp structure must:

· Work for the CEO
· Work for the owners

“Entrepreneurship through apprenticeship”

Or how a friend of mine became CEO of a $60M company for $0 out of pocket.

Here’s the 4 steps he used: 🧵 Some context:

This is a long-game approach. It took my friend 10 years.

But he was strategic.

And he was picking up transferable skills all the way along.

So it was a safe path.

Many open jobs are getting 1,000s of applications now.

It’s rough out there!

Made worse that almost all resumes look the same.

I should know — I've reviewed 25,000+.

Put these 8 rare things on your resume to be in the top 1% of candidates: 👇 1/ You were recruited by former coworkers to another job.

It's a sign they think you’re a badass.

They know you from real work experience… which is better than any interview.

17 weird ways people got rich

A 🧵: “Selling the Data”

You get data from users and sell it.

An example is FlightAware.

They provide free software where 32,000 hobbyists track airplanes globally.

They get the data for free and sell it to rich corporations.

The founder just bought an $18mm home:

Most managers do regular 1-on-1 meetings with employees.

But few do them well.

11 things good managers do that bad managers don’t in 1-on-1's:

(Bookmark this!) ✅GOOD MANAGERS focus 1-1 meetings on the most critical items on the report’s mind. They ask questions, probe, and coach.

❌BAD MANAGERS think 1-1 meetings are “more is always better." They focus on surface stuff but avoid real issues.

As a Director on dozens of boards, I’ve seen:

Operational excellence adds millions in profits.

My 19 traits of top 1% performing businesses 🧵… The company has internal and board-facing KPIs.

They are updated regularly and give a complete picture.

They often predict problems before they happen.

What do you do when a client doesn’t pay you?

It happens to everyone eventually.

And it always sucks.

I want to make it a little easier:

Here are my 9 steps to deal with it. 🧵 You're not just out the money when somebody doesn’t pay you for a service.

You’re also out all your time, effort, and expense.

So it’s a double whammy.

And it’s normal to have an emotional reaction.

Don’t act on it — it might cost you more in the long run.

I've hired and managed over 4,000 people.

And I've made every mistake along the way.

But I finally found a system that works.

Here's a way to hire that makes your life easier and business better:

(1/x) Let's break this into 6 counterintuitive steps I do:

1) What Makes Someone Great

2) Test Like It's School

3) The A-B-C Player

4) Resumes are Bullsh*t

5) Two-on-One Behavioral Interview

6) Write a Hiring Memo

Gen Z is now entering the workforce as adults.

Born between 1995-2010, they came of age in an odd time.

So Generation Z is… strange to us older people.

Here are 10 Do’s and Don’ts of working with Gen Z: Before I start…

I’ll be generalizing, so these won’t apply to everyone.

However, new technology affects every generation.

Social media, iPhones, and COVID left real marks on today’s early 20-somethings.

Let’s go:

You need a CEO peer group.

I joined a decade ago:

- 10x’ed my businesses
- I now “tapdance to work”
- More time with family/friends

Here’s my story. 🧵 * The Problem

As a CEO, you’re on your own.

It’s lonely and you’ve no professional peers.

And, you’re missing skills.

There’s no “class” to be a business leader.