In this interview with Lewis Howes, entrepreneur Dan Martell argues that the single most valuable skill for generating wealth in 2026 is the ability to build deep, intentional relationships. He structures his case around four core reasons: (1) relationships act as mutual sharpening tools – "steel sharpens steel" – where both parties learn and amplify each other's skills; (2) relationships must be approached intentionally, as they shape personal identity and brand; (3) the quality of your network sets the ceiling for what you consider normal or possible; and (4) modern networking is no longer about cold outreach but about creating content that makes others know you. Throughout, Martell illustrates each point with vivid anecdotes – flying 3,000 miles for a 28‑minute meeting, his mentorship with Taki Moore, collaborations with John Maxwell, a chance encounter with a 12‑year‑old aspiring AI founder, and serendipitous connections with Rob Dyrdek and a super‑car dealership. He stresses that relationships require active investment (time, money, plane tickets, dinners) and that you must continuously add the right people to a goal‑list. Martell also promotes a free scaling workbook and encourages listeners to treat relationship building as a strategic, repeatable system that compounds across all business ventures.
Chapters
If you wanna make more money this year, there's one skill that if you master will easily make you more money than mastering sales, marketing, or AI ever could. And I've been able to master this skill over 30 years in business by going from broke 24-year-old to now building a $100 million a year AI venture studio and getting opportunities daily that I never thought were possible. The skill is building relationships and it can make you a ton of money, but there's 4 reasons why you need to master this skill that if you understand will almost guarantee your success. Starting with reason number 1: steel sharpens steel. What I think people don't invest enough in is in relationships. I flew 3,000 miles to go meet somebody I care deeply about for 28 minutes. Even seeing Lewis, like, he's a very old friend. I've known Lewis for 12 years. You know, he just had his twins and He's somebody I adore and like, look, if he wants to do the pod, I'd love to, but I just want to see Lewis, you know? Rob's the same thing. It's like, last time I saw Rob, we were supposed to hang out for an hour and talk about his new software company, and 4 hours later we forgot to go to dinner and, you know, talk like two college friends that hadn't seen each other in a while. Right. And now I'm excited to do that again. So I think the best relationships are the ones where you feel like you've got a lot to learn and also you can contribute to. The ways you make money, the skills you have get multiplied immediately when you build the right relationships. And I have so many stories that it's hard for me to choose which ones I want to share.
Someone that we really like consuming their content is a guy by the name of Taki Moore. And I know that you're quite close with him.
One of my best friends.
And we've talked about, you know, mentorship and helping people out. And like, what has he helped you with, you know, in this next chapter of your life, the offer creation, the personal brand space content, maybe could help one of our listeners as well.
I have a lot of love for Taki. I wouldn't be teaching people if it wasn't for Taki. As a software guy, I've always built software companies. I'm a software guy. And then the best relationships you can have are people that not only you can learn from, but you can also support. And I think a lot of people, they, they never get those friends. You guys have that for each other. I can see it. I brought Taki in 8 years ago to just help me formulate the framework. Like, I didn't know any of that stuff, the IP stuff. How do you do the YouTube stuff and all that? And then Taki, 2 years ago, he hired me to coach him. That's hilarious. It's hilarious, but you need to understand our relationship. Like, we're homies. I mentioned him in my book. Like, like steel sharpens steel. Like, we're still like, like these two school kids just being I'm like, hey bro, what are you up to? Look at this. And like, we just, just banter.
We're gonna get him on the show, which I'm super excited about.
This has been so much fun, Dan. Reason number 2: it pays to be intentional. See, most people treat relationships like it's a soft skill, something you do, like a nice to have. It's not. The relationships you have shape who you become, whether you realize it or not. What I've always admired about Lewis that it took me a while to appreciate and actually double down on is the personal brand. Lewis was one of the first people that hired a professional photographer to do photography for his website 10 years ago. We're walking around Toronto and we can't go a block without him getting stopped. And I was like, bro, how crazy is this? So to see him, I mean, be on talk shows and the accolades and interview everybody, like everybody, has been just I cannot be a bigger fan of Lewis. Don't you leave me. Ah, I was hoping to see the tweet. Not my house anymore. I know. The last time I saw Lewis was 2 years ago in 2024, and I haven't seen him since. And then I see him now and I'm like, bro, we can't go another 2 years without seeing each other again. Greatness, dude. I was just bragging you up about the greatness that I remember that I didn't remember where I was driving. When you— hey bro, I bought the domain. Oh really? Because I remember thinking, that's a big boy move. It was fun. Yeah, yeah. Look at this. This is the green room here. Pro. Oh my gosh, this is like— this is LA. I love being around just different people. Like, I think you asked me that, right? Like, it's like, how do you choose the people you end up being friends with? And I'm like, I like people that bring different perspectives. And like, I was talking about like, you know, the personal brand stuff. You know this, like, I've always been pro photos in New York City with that guy. I was like, you were early, man. People had blogs, it was like bullshit templates. And then Lewis launches his blog and it's like, all right, bro, are you a pro model? What are we doing here, man? It's like lifestyle shots. You don't have skills, you have to fake it, you know, when you don't have real talent like you. Yeah, man, I'm slow to— like, because you— I mean, you showed me for like 6, 7 years, and I was like, yeah, but now you're doing it. I'm doing it, man. I have the coolest new best friend. His name is John Maxwell, leadership GOAT, wrote so many incredible books. That guy from Ohio, by the way. People come into your life to show you what's possible. I know you do that for everybody that follows. That is, that is what you're here to do, and you do it so well. And, and it's always fun. People like, is Lewis the real deal? The realest of deals. Please get into him. Get to know Lewis. And John's one of those, you know, they say don't meet your heroes unless his name is John Maxwell. Oh my gosh, what a great human. So I'm hanging out with them. This is not long ago, maybe 4 years ago. And we're talking and I'm just blown away at him at his event. He's just such a great person. And I asked him, I said, how do you do it? You know, he goes, oh, it's— I didn't know I'd do any of this. And then he tells me something that just shifted everything. He talked about the biggest impact. He says, I have goals that are God-sized goals, and they're so big they're beyond my ability to know how to do them, and they're so big that it's the ceiling of his floor. How did that impact my life? Oh, fuck, I was under-indexing. I was thinking small. I didn't have God-sized goals. Mm. Oh, was that like a turning point for you? Yeah, conversation. It was a core moment that I realized, hmm, that happened to get me to the point where I can have this conversation to then take the brakes off. Mm. Lewis and I have known each other since 2009. Two guys still figuring it out, and I watched him for 15 years build the School of Greatness, write the books, build the brand, the mission. He didn't do that by being the smartest person in the room. He did it by being intentional about who he was learning from. That's literally the premise of this entire show. That's the master skill in action. It's not a single lesson, it's that the right relationship compounds across everything you're already building. I always thought you were a little taller for some reason. I know, I thought you were like 6— you telling me I'm shrinking now? I am 6'3". No, you're not. I am. I'm 6'4". No, grab a— grab a measure. I'm 6'4". Yeah, yeah, but more than an inch. I think it's your shoulders. I think I'm like Is that it? Yeah, my shoulders are probably the same. Is that what's wrong with you? I feel like it's a wrap. Do you think there's actual cost to not investing in relationships? Yeah, the wrong people will take you out faster than any other decision in your life. Being with the wrong person at the wrong place at the wrong time and get you in a— get you thrown in jail. That's in like a life context. In a business context, the person that's always getting sued, guess what? Give it enough time, you'll be on the receiving end of that. The people around you set the invisible ceiling on what feels normal. So if everyone in your circle thinks $200,000 is crushing it, guess what? $200,000 feels like enough. Most people aren't surrounded by bad people. They're surrounded by limited people. Think about that. I can't think of a better example of that than when we were in Dallas at the book meetup in this awesome warehouse filled with literally millions of dollars of supercars. With a bunch of CEOs and high performers who didn't feel limited at that event. There was a 12-year-old boy who came up to me at the very end to ask this cool question, and I know for a fact that being in that circle is going to make him money, not cost him. You, young man, you're last. What do you got? Your name? Joseph. Joseph. Uh, if you were 12 years old starting from zero, uh, what would you focus on for the next 12 months to be able to build AI company? What are you doing here, man? I was not— how old are you? 12. I love that you're here. I appreciate that. 12 years old. Who was in a room like this at 12? Put your hand up. Yeah, I was in the opposite of a room like this at 12. So the question he asked is, if you're 12 years old and you want to be successful, what would you focus on for the next 12 months? The fact that he asked that question is the reason why he's going to win. It's like asking a parent that read a book on being a good parent, is it because of the book or the fact that you wanted to read the book? See what I'm saying? The fact that you asked the question is all I need to know. I'm buying his stock. So the good news is you already made it. Pressure's off. If you're trying to optimize it, get around other people like the people in this room. Okay? There's a reason why everybody drove to come here instead of going doing something with their friends or watching a sports game or going to a bar or just deciding to lay down and scroll. They didn't do that. They showed up for this room. So the people in this room are self-selecting, being driven, motivated, having vision, want to be better. That's rare. Does that make sense? Super rare. But dude, you're 12. I want you to be so rich every adult in this room wonders why they sat on their hands instead of going all in on that. 'Cause trust me, they will. Most people, their mind is baked at 27. So if you're above 27, you have to work harder. He's 12, he's perfect, malleable. So dude, get in there, be the guy they all turn to for advice. And you're going to crush life. Does that make sense? Cool. 3, 2, 1. Reason number 4: It's not who you know, it's who knows you. Networking used to be cold emails, awkward events, picking brains. The truth is that feels like work. It's exhausting. It's slow. You waste a lot of time and it doesn't scale. Networking now is simple. Make content, add value, and relationships and opportunities come to you. The Supercar Warehouse, that's Tactical Fleet in Dallas, Texas. And the reason we were there is because the owner reached out. So we're flying into Dallas for a speaking thing. This guy on Instagram messaged me. He's like, hey man, I see you're coming to Dallas, need a drive. And I look at his profile, it's supercar dealership. And I'm like, uh, I'm— I think I'm good, but what do you got? He's like, what do you like? I said, I like a Rolls-Royce with a mandarin orange interior. The green— I don't know if you're asking, I've got some thoughts. He goes, I actually have one of those. I said, bet, pick me up at the airport. And he rolled up on the tarmac, and that's how I met Chris. Every DM from someone who wants to work with you, that's your platform doing the networking while you sleep. Think about it. Did the effort to post a video that's being seen by 14 million people? Is it any different than 140? No, you put it out. You didn't chase the next relationship. It came to you, not because of who you know, because of who knows you. That's how I ended up with a DM from Rob Dyrdek. At the end of every year, I always look at my goals and then I write down relationships that I would love to create that would help the goals. Yes. And I wrote Rob's name on there. Okay, there's several names, but Rob Dyrdek was on there. Okay, I don't know Rob. Obviously I had a few mutual friends, but I wrote his name down. I'm in my office one day and I get a text message. Hey Dan, it's Rob Dyrdek. I'm like, shut up. Okay, Rob is an impressive guy. If you don't know who he is, he's the founder of Street League Skateboarding, and you've probably seen him on TV shows like Fantasy Factory, Ridiculousness, or Wild Grinders. Wild Grinders! On top of being a 20-some-time world record holder, he also runs a venture studio where he's building an app called Existence.io. He goes on, he's like, I read your book and it really helped me with my software. He read Software Is a Science. He didn't read Buy Back Your Time. And then he said, in that book you mentioned Buy Back Your Time, and I'm a time guy, so then I read that book. And then he reached out, he texted me, he goes, I got your number from my friend, and, uh, if you're ever in LA, let me know, I'd love to chat. I shot a video right away. I just like went— dude, I have a skateboard behind my desk. Yeah. And I was like, hey Rob, I appreciate you reaching out, I used to skate, like, there's my deck. I've never met somebody that lives in vision. Yeah. And refuses to come down to earth. And it's crazy because like that's how the tables turn. I've known about Rob for 2 decades, and then one day the tables turned because of the content and he reached out to me. So now when I'm in LA, we always get together. He inspires the shit out of me, man. His brain is awesome. Josh, listen, hombre, gracias por esto. It's great to spend the time with you, but ultimately share the progress from where we were before, but not too long, like it happened last time. My favorite Rob story to tell. That you would come all the way out here to get it. I appreciate it. And that's what it feels like when you get it right. You lose track of time, you forget dinner, you walk away thinking, we need to do that again. That's what happens when the right people find you. But here's where most people stop. They get the connection and they don't invest in it. Real quick, if you're a business owner that wants to scale their business, This year I created a scaling workbook that you can use to get through all 6 phases of business. If you want it, just message me scale YouTube on Instagram @danmartell and I'll send it over to you 100% free. So here's the strategy. Invest in your relationship with time. Yes, but put some money behind it. Buy the plane ticket, show up for the event, host the dinner, invite the people, put yourself out there actively, intentionally. You got to put people on your goals list because the relationships that will change your life don't maintain themselves. You have to choose them over and over again. Reinvest, show up, be there. Nobody has shown me what that looks like better than John Maxwell. Yeah, he's my spirit animal. Yeah, he's the guy I look up to and I say, if my life looks a fraction like that person's life, I've won. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, what is it like Speaking on stage just like this right now for John. It's wild, bro. It's wild. It's, it's actually was hard for me not to get emotional just like— So I went to the event and then after we had the opportunity to catch up. And now I've been working on a new book and having John in my life has inspired me more than anything. And when I was leaving and he offered to be helpful anyway, he's just like, hey, Dan, just help me. I wasn't prepared for what he said. Hey, how are you doing? Really good to see you. Thanks for having me. John, come on, buddy. How you doing? Well, my day just got made.
My day.
That's awesome. It's so good to see you. Thanks for having me.
Thanks for coming.
I used to keep relationships almost transactional. Right? Surface level, because it was safe. I curated how I showed up. I didn't disclose too much. But when I started showing up, fully showing up as me and then organizing my own trips, hosting my own dinner, flying across the country just to be in the same room as somebody to celebrate them because I admire them, the quality of relationships and the opportunities that came from showing up that way completely changed. Having John as somebody that I can message and text and ask for life advice, it feels like I'm wearing a cape. It gives me a superpower because I can be more bold. I can take risks because I got him as a buddy. Yeah, 2 and a half years. The next book's coming out in January. It's been wild. Come on, it was the follow-up to Buy Back Your Time. On your title, I can't tell you what it is, but when I see it, I know it. The book's written, so it's the packaging. So like, I don't know, I just— I consider books It's the most craft thing I do.
A book is a picture. It's just a picture. And if done right, it's a piece of art. But it's a picture. And it goes— I mean, that's the picture. That's what— but it stays with people. And what's amiss is the subtitle almost always is more important than the title.
Yeah.
It's the subtitle that draws them in.
Yeah. You know, I think it was our first conversation. I asked you about the 21 irrefutable laws and what number book you said it was. Number 13.
Oh yeah, it was Wade.
That was like, whoa, okay, right, right, right.
Really, it has to be stored up before it shows up. And what happens is—
oh, that's good. Some people want to show up and they got nothing stored up.
And when it shows up without it being down, without it being stored up, everybody says, "It's not any good." It's flat. Because you can tell. You could—
There's no lived experience.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And so it has to have time.
Some things you just can't plan for. You can't engineer them. You can't time them. They only happen because you take a chance and you invest in a person genuinely, consistently, with no specific outcome in mind. And then one day that relationship might hand you something you could have never prepared for. For me, that was a simple question. John, do you mind if I show you my book before? And maybe you could—
you can show me. I'll be glad to read. I'll give you that. We'll get on the— would you go back forward?
Would you? I will.
Yes, I'll write a foreword for you. I'd be glad to, man. I'm so proud of what you're doing. It is really You just need—
all you gotta do is ask.
No, I'll be glad to do it. I—
the whole time I was writing, I was just like, oh, I would love to write something that's going to make you proud.
Oh my gosh, that'd be— yeah, you just let me know what you need. We're partners. We kick around together.
I'm serious.
I'm so proud of what you're doing.
You know how like every young man wants nothing more than to hear their dad say they're proud of them? Yeah, that was like times 100 for me, having John offer and him wanting to do that. That was like, I mean, there wasn't a moment I was ever writing a sentence in that book that I didn't think, I hope if John ever reads this, I hope he doesn't, but if he does, that he's like, okay, this isn't shitty, 'cause like, he's the guy. The fact that he's willing to do that just means the world.
But I wanna tell you something, the book writing, stay right with it, because man, those are markers. Those are markers in your life, and I— the more that you put those markers down, it starts to compound in a different way. It really does. And so, and then you're just doing good. I wish my— your first book was a lot better than my first book.
John is my spirit animal. He's written 92 books. He is the GOAT. He has more energy than most 18-year-olds. He's He's kind. He's giving of himself to a fault sometimes. And I know I can be. Again, it's everybody's different, but I always thought like before I ever met John, I gave him the power of my opinion. So glad to see you.
I'm fine.
Man, anything I can do for you, let me know. I love you, man. I love you so much.
The people that are gonna win are the ones that understand that their relationships, who knows them, how they're talked about, their personal brand, Being out there is the highest form of leverage. So if you're down to do this, type people in the comments. Make sure that people is the number one investment you make this year outside of AI. And again, if you want a workbook to scale your business, just message me scale YouTube on Instagram @danmartell and I'll send it over. And if you wanna learn the systems you need to scale your business that go along with the workbook, click the video and I'll see you on the other side.
