From: alexhormozi
The common entrepreneurial mantra of “no one can outwork me” is objectively false and misleading [00:00:18]. Hard work alone will not guarantee wealth or success [00:00:00]. While putting in the work and volume is essential for improvement, claiming to be the “best” or that no one can outwork you is often untrue and irrelevant at the highest levels of business [00:00:41].
True entrepreneurial success stems from understanding and leveraging specialized skills, not just pure effort [00:01:26]. As exemplified by Warren Buffett, who makes “a couple good decisions a year” and primarily reads, high-level success is about impactful, leveraged activities, not merely the quantity of hours worked [00:00:57]. All individuals have the same number of hours in a day, so maximizing output requires focusing on high-leverage inputs [00:01:15].
Entrepreneur as the Team Coach
Instead of trying to be the “star player” who scores all the points, the entrepreneur should act as the coach of the team [00:03:37]. Winning in business, much like in sports or video games, requires a diverse group of individuals with complementary skills [00:03:14]. A successful team isn’t composed of ten identical players (e.g., ten running backs in football); it needs a mix of roles, like a healer, a damage-dealing mage, and a tank in a war party, or different positions in a football team [00:03:21]. The ultimate success is determined by how well these diverse pieces are organized and play together [00:03:39].
Key Specialized Roles in Business
In business, different functions require distinct specialized skills:
- Promotion/Marketing The marketer excels at making things known across platforms, telling stories, building brands, and providing value to an audience [00:04:29].
- Sales This role focuses on converting raw attention into actual sales, whether through direct response ads, sales pages, video sales letters, or person-to-person interaction for higher-ticket items [00:04:39]. A great marketer might be poor at sales, and vice-versa [00:05:00].
- Product The product specialist focuses on making something beautiful and functional [00:05:06]. This involves understanding user experience (UX) and design, which is distinct from other roles [00:05:27].
- Customer Experience/Success This individual manages customer engagement, provides value, ensures an amazing experience, and helps customers hit milestones [00:05:16].
As an enterprise grows, skills become increasingly specialized, and individuals need deeper expertise in their specific areas [00:05:34]. The focus shifts from merely claiming to work hard to boasting about abilities like recruitment, management, or culture building, which are high-leverage activities across the organization [00:05:40].
Evolution of Entrepreneurship and Leverage
Entrepreneurial growth can be viewed in stages:
- Level 1: The Player At the start, the entrepreneur is often the primary “player,” focused on getting things done and building skills for income generation [00:06:08].
- Level 2: The Specialist As the business matures, the entrepreneur may specialize in a specific area, becoming a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Chief Sales Officer (CSO), or Chief Product Officer (CPO) [00:06:13]. The emphasis shifts from individual prowess to how the team collaborates [00:06:21].
- Level 3: The Coach The highest level of entrepreneurship involves being the coach, focusing on recruiting the best players and building a sustainable system [00:06:24]. This includes headhunting top executives, creating a farm system for talent, and fostering a high-performance culture [00:07:09]. This role, typically that of a CEO, demands the highest return on time, as they constantly solve the next problem and implement strategies that build the business even more [00:07:40].
“The value of the CEO needs to have the highest return on time out of anyone in the organization because they need to always be solving the next problem” [00:07:40]
Understanding these specialized roles and how they evolve is crucial for entrepreneurs, allowing them to identify their own strengths and build effective teams [00:04:12]. The focus should be on leveraging specialized activities and building a cohesive unit, rather than fixating on individual output or the sheer volume of “work” [00:01:26].