This Is Why You Aren't Where You WANT To Be

You are one introduction, one relationship, one breakthrough away from all the success that you want. And the only thing that is preventing you from having that one breakthrough is that right now, you just don't believe it's out there.

So I have this student. His name is Damian. I love this kid. I work with him inside of our capitalism incubator, and I like him because he works hard, he has attention to detail, he thinks big, he's young, and he's hungry, and he's still scraping things together. And he has this big vision, and it puts me in a great position because my only job for him is I have to believe in his vision until he catches up with it. And one of the beautiful things about entrepreneurship is our job and is to accomplish things that haven't been done yet. So the rest of the world might look at you or look at your goals and be like, I don't know anybody who's done that before. How can you do that? And you're like, I mean, it's kind of my job to figure that out. And when you really believe it, that's when other people start to believe it. And my job sometimes as mentor, especially inside of the incubator, is just to believe it long enough for the other person to see that their vision is actually possible. So Damian came to me with a tactical question, and we answered the question. But what was really going on was something deeper below the surface. And I know as an entrepreneur, you run into this all the time. You have a tactical question that you're really stuck on, and you believe that if you could just solve this tactical thing that's in your way, then everything would become easier. But oftentimes there's something else going on that is making the tactical piece such a sticking point in your way. So watch in our interaction how the tactical piece gets solved as soon as we identify the real problem.

Yeah. So my first question is, when is a good time to think about raising money for a food company? And my second question is, I've been kind of battling and tripping up on this idea of coming up with, like, a mission for my company recently. I just feel like the one I have right now doesn't really hit home personally. And I was just wondering if I should come up with something that's, like, grander in scheme or. Yeah, so those are kind of my two questions.

So knowing what I know about your business, you. Your current mission is making great fucking snacks. Making great fucking snacks is a really good start.

But isn't that kind of like every other snack company out there.

Maybe.

Maybe.

So we could differentiate it from there.

The mission of your company right now is to make the products that you're excited about and making them low sugar and delicious.

Yeah.

You're not first to market, but that is a mission.

Sure.

So we're going to start there.

Right.

And then we can complicate it from there, which is like if you want to go one step more specific, that could be we make sugar free snacks and guilt free indulgences for people who eat late at night. Here's the thing. You're not supposed to eat snacks late at night, but people do it anyway. So we give them healthy alternative that actually make it easier for them to go to sleep. You're the, the dance that you're playing at this point in your business is you want to go as specific as still feels good.

But if you try to force the specific mission, it's no longer authentic to who you are.

So go as specific and what Go.

As specific as feels good.

But if you go too specific before you're ready for.

Becomes inauthentic.

Yeah. So the mission I had in mind was kind of product focused. And I don't know if it was supposed to be like, kind of like a bigger problem in the world that I was supposed to set my mission out to be. So that was kind of where I was tripping up was, was I focusing too much on. On the product to be my mission? Because what I had originally was our mission is to create functional versions of the nostalgic late night snacks, you know, and love. So yeah, so that was the original one before just now. So it's not like too product focused.

I think.

As long as you're excited about it, like when you read it, are you jazzed about that or does it just like sound good?

I'm excited.

Good.

Like, then you have my endorsement. Like your excitement, your clarity, your belief, your compulsion to go in this direction.

That is what people will believe more than what is written on paper. Like the re. When. When Elon Musk says he's going to Mars, you believe him.

Yeah.

And that's what. That's the juice. That's the juice that Elon believes it and you believe with him.

Yeah.

But if like your neighbor was like, dude, I'm starting a company that's going to Mars, you'd be like, okay.

Maybe.

Because he doesn't know, he doesn't believe it. Right. And you don't believe him.

Yeah.

So like, like people pick up on that. And, and this is a perfect lead into your first question of when you raise money, when you believe it more than they do.

One of the reasons why I told Damian this was that as soon as he has conviction he really believes in whatever his mission is, then all the pieces will start to rally around him. A lot of entrepreneurs think that they need some big mission for how their company is going to change the world. And if you have that, awesome. But most of the time we're trying to find or pick a big mission to to compensate for the lack of the fact that we don't know what it is or that we don't actually believe what it is. So I told Damian, pick the mission that you actually believe, which in this case was make really good stuff. That's your mission. Make the best stuff that you possibly can for your customers. That's your mission. And it seems so simple, but it's your job as an entrepreneur. We are here to X for this type of a person. My mission is to help entrepreneurs build businesses and invest the profits. That simple.

Right.

I'm not out trying to solve the poverty crisis in Africa right now. I don't believe I can do that. And it would be disingenuous to cast this vision that I don't believe. Elon Musk really believes he's going to Mars. It's why you believe that he's going to Mars. And just like I told Damian, if your next door neighbor comes out and is like I'm going to Mars, you're like, okay, Mark, okay, hey, Mark thinks he's going to Mars. So start with where you are. Be ambitious. But start with I'm on a mission to build a million dollar business. And the way that I'm gonna do that is I'm gonna make the best day damn product possible in my category. I'm going to go all in on this person. And that sets you free to actually execute rather than be stuck in your head about trying to figure out what the real reason that you're here for. So we shifted that. And then Damian started to get clarity on what his next moves were.

People believe you when you say it. You currently doubt yourself, right? Because you see lack of resources or lack of experience or all this. So like when you've got the idea that you really believe in.

Like you have something special like you, you've got it, Damian. Like you, Damien Law, you've got it.

No, I 100 believe in like the business. But I think where the doubt creeps in is when I'm in like my current state and I'm trying to think too far in the future. You know what I mean? So, like, right now it feels like nothing's moving. But I do believe in the future. So that discrepancy from now and the future is when it's like, oh, like it's a long way to go. Like, can I really do this?

Well, you know, Damon, you know, I go on hunches a lot and I.

Get the hunch about you that.

Do you know a lot of rich people?

What do you mean, rich people?

Like, personally, do you hang out with people who are successful entrepreneurs?

No. No.

Okay. I. I think I'm 20.

I'm 21. Most of my friends go to college, so.

Yeah.

So, I mean, I get the sense.

About you that putting a lot of focus into relationships is a really good move for you right now. And.

Why?

What's that?

Why? Why?

Because I don't think you know yet how close you are.

I don't think you know that you're one relationship away from everything that you want. I mean, like, the fact of the matter is, and again, we've talked about this privately, like, if you have a personal relationship with that one influencer who loves your stuff.

Yeah.

Your idea plus that audience is enough for you to raise 250k and a million to two million dollar valuation in order to fund that inventory. And like, you're off to the races. It's literally one good relationship. Or it's. It's like one investor who really buys into what you're doing because they see how hard you're working and like that, that's the thing that breaks through. So, like, you're really one relationship away. But I don't think you're plugged into a lot of networks that are ahead of you. And so all you really see is your current set of assets and your current. Your current, like, situation.

Sure.

But the fact of the matter is, is there's a billion people that are in a different situation who see their resources and you and how that could be a fit.

It was really important for Damien to get this part about beliefs because Damien is in college and he's hanging out with other people who are 19, 20, 21, 22 years old who aren't necessarily entrepreneurs. He's not hanging around with a whole bunch of successful people.

People.

It would be easy for him to doubt himself because he doesn't have a lot of examples of people who have won. But being on the other side of that, it's easy for me to see how he's going to win. The shift in him is as soon as he gets it, as soon as he believes it, there's literally millions of people out there who could be the one investor, the one influencer. As soon as he believes it, I'll really believe it. And if I really believe it, it's.

Easy for me to call, like, eight.

People that I know who would be happy to invest in this brand. Eight influencers I know who would be happy to promote that brand if the entrepreneur really believes it, and if I really believe it, and if this person really believes it. But you see, it starts with you. So many people are looking for the outside validation for them to move forward. They're like, well, I can't start a business because I don't have enough capital. I can't hit a million because I don't have the connections to that influencer. No, you're the capital. You're the influencer. When you are so confident in what it is that you're doing and what you're going to accomplish, people flock to that certainty. People are drawn to that certainty. When I'm looking to invest in somebody, I'm first looking at how certain is this person that they're gonna win with or without me.

And if they don't think they can.

Win without me, my job's real tough, because now half of my job is, like, convincing them that they're gonna do it right. Like, as an investor, I don't want that. As an investor, I want somebody who is absolutely crystal clear and confident that they're gonna win. Now my money can go to work to support their vision. So do you see that when Damian really buys in, when he knows he's gonna win, I can already see it, because he has a great product and a great attitude and great mindset, great work ethic. But when he really believes it, he could round the corner and meet somebody who had the deep pockets to be able to invest in them, right? When he really believes that he could put up one Facebook post and attract the influencer, that changes everything. Your conviction about what you're doing attracts the people that support you. It starts with you always. And this is why it was so important to Damian to get this. Because as soon as he really buys in, everybody else around him buys in too. And that's the case with you, too. The minute that you really believe it, the minute that you really know that you're onto something, that you're ready, you are, because everybody else starts to buy into that certainty, and opportunities start to open up. A couple days later, I heard back from Damien, because he said, hey, you know, every time we have those talks, I feel better about it, which is great because again, my job is just believe in Damian until he catches up. Like, his success is inevitable.

Right?

He's just the. He's got it. And so the more that I just remind him of that, the more he's kind of called up into realizing it for himself. And he sent me the best follow up message that I asked permission for to share with all of you about what happened when he started operating from this place of. Of belief. Check this out.

Ryan, what's going on, man? I just want to shoot you this quick message because I just want to thank you. Since our last talk on Wine with Ryan, dude, you gave me so much confidence and so much belief. And I've taken everything you said to heart about believing in myself before asking other people to believe in me. Like, having more belief in me than other people would like, I've taken that to heart. And ever since I've done that, I. I'm like, more confident and, like, I believe in myself, like, way more. And the doubts have slowly, like, started creeping in. And like, once I started doing that, I show up differently. And I think people, like, see that. And the way I talk about the business is different. The way I approach influencers are different. The way I talk to customers are different. Because when I, like right now, I'm so sorry. So in the belief mode that I think, like, other people can see it and they see how, like, excited I am. Like, want to join in on that excitement, man. So I just want to, like, thank you for, like, speaking that shit into my head. And yeah, just thank you, man. I don't know what to say.

But yeah, there's something that I like to do when I don't feel certain, when I don't believe it. Because I know you might be watching this being like, all right, I get it. Like, if I believe it, other people will respond to that. But I don't believe it right now. Ryan, what do I do about this? So I have this little trick that I do where I play the game. If I believed it, if I really believed it, how would I see this situation? First time I did this, I was actually thinking about my business, capitalism.com, and I was thinking, you know, the truth is, like, I don't believe this is my hundred million dollar thing. I just don't believe this is it. I like doing it. I think it will be the route to me discovering it, but I don't believe it's my $100 million thing. But what if I did believe that it was my 100 million dollar thing? And I sat with that for just a hot second and I said, okay, if I really believed that this was the hundred million dollar thing, am I doing this over here?

Am I worried about this thing over here? Am I talking to this employee this way? And all of a sudden I was like, oh my goodness, no wonder it's not my hundred million dollar thing, because I'm doing projects that are like hundred thousand dollar things. It is really hard to get to $100 million when you are thinking about a hundred thousand. And so I tried this on for a second. Well, if I knew this was my hundred million dollar thing, what projects would.

I be thinking about?

And I started thinking about the projects that would actually, I wouldn't even thinking about the money I was thinking about. If I knew this was my hundred million dollar thing, what would be so fun for us to do as a business? And it just so happened that they were like 100 million or billion dollar ideas. In fact, there was one I came up with. I'll share more about it. It's just the marketplace that we're building@capitalism.com. and I was actually sitting in this room and I looked out and I was like, this is a trillion dollar idea. I could buy that building and that building and that building. And it was just so fun to think about business from that place. And I'm telling you, that's possible for you. Just experiment with that. Just try that on. If you're like, I, I don't know what my million dollar business is. What if you knew exactly what your million dollar business was? If you did know, what would it be? What would it be like? Would you be so worried about that, Bill? Would you be so worried about that little setback? I don't know what my, I don't, I don't know how this business is going to be a $10 million business.

Business.

What if you were absolutely certain this was a $10 million business? Would you be more likely to hire that person? Would you be more likely to take that risk? Would you be more likely to make that decision?

It's so fun because you realize that you're just tied up in your own beliefs and your own mental stuff and that's the reason why you're stuck. So if you're an entrepreneur and you're like, yep, you got me.

Yep. I don't really believe it. Part of our job is to believe it is that the entrepreneur catches up. We have all the strategies and the introductions and the people and the capital and even in the, even the ideas to make success happen, first you got to believe it. And we help people get clear on it and launch and start to get momentum inside of our incubator. That's what Damian said. Now what we notice is that as soon as you get a little bit of progress, you believe it a little bit more. Get a little bit more progress, you believe it a little bit more.

Most people want to have the big aha, the big clarity, the big realization before they move forward. Doesn't work that way. It's getting up. It's just turning the dial. Turning the dial. You know what's interesting? Like our incubator, some people think it's expensive. And the cool thing is that as soon as they join it, the act of committing to it because it's expensive makes them more confident that they're gonna do it and they believe it a little bit more. That act alone gives them more belief and that act alone gives me more belief in them. And then they start going through the process and they get more, more and more and then they start bringing on the right people and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. That's what we do inside the incubator. You can find out more about what we do in there@Capitalism.com Inc. What I really want you to take away from this though is that as soon as you really buy into, into whatever you're doing, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy because opportunities and relationships and momentum starts to unfold. It starts with you. It doesn't start with you finding the right investor or even choosing the right product. I'm Ryan Daniel Moran. I work with entrepreneurs. I'm an entrepreneur. I'm trying to buy the Cleveland Guardians. I do that by building businesses and investing in profits. And I share this journey because I always wanted somebody to tell me exactly how to get to where I wanted to go. So I share the journey with other entrepreneurs. Hit the subscribe button. I'll see you on the next video.