#294 Iman Gadhzi - Behind The Scenes of Iman Gadzhi’s $100M Empire - Kickoff Sessions

Episode Transcript
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Darren Lee (00:00):
How do you plan to build an empire and win in 2025?

Iman (00:04):
A lot of entrepreneurs are not made to make millions a
month.
They don't have what it takesLike.
For example, I have a reallyreally high stress tolerance
Really high Whereas if someoneelse was in my position they
would fall apart.

Darren Lee (00:14):
The reality is, you're going to piss people off
no matter what you do, so youmay as well know who you're
targeting.

Iman (00:19):
And every hero becomes a villain and then, once you're a
villain for long enough, theywant to see you become a hero
again, and that's also why I'mnot emotional about these things
.
So with my investments, I amsuper aggressive and if I can't
be aggressive, I'm not going totake the deal.
If I'm not getting ridiculous,ridiculous terms, I don't take
the deal.

Darren Lee (00:33):
If you had to be remembered for one word, what?

Iman (00:35):
would that be?
I always say this like if infobusinesses had value, I
genuinely believe I'd be abillionaire by now, because all
I do is make money in info andinvest in info businesses.
I don't know if you know this,but there's a guy in there that
does 1.4 billiona year with a b.
Are you proud of yourself?

Darren Lee (00:48):
I guess the simple answer is yes, but proud of
building any empire, there'salways going to be like an
opposing force, someone that'sgoing to try to overthrow you at
times, especially when you buytheir domain and change your
domain.
So how do you plan to build anempire and win, especially a WAP
in 2025?

Iman (01:10):
we have to focus listen when it comes to WAP
specifically, obviously, listenin any company you speak to,
even in my businesses, everyoneis sort of optimized for
different things.
When it comes to WAPspecifically, the thing I'm
optimized for the most ispayments.
Like for me, I want to buildthe best payment infrastructure
of any company out there,because for me that's like short
term how we win Long term.

(01:32):
Obviously, you know Stephen,who's our CEO, and Cam, like
they have much bigger plans forWAP and they see something WAP
is this much bigger thing and,quite frankly, they're far more
intelligent than I am in thosedomains, so I kind of you know
we leave them to that.
Where we really focus on is weknow this online, informational,
digital product industry betterthan anyone else and uh, yeah,

(01:56):
we just keep growing ourpayments infrastructure and it
shows, you know, uh, month onmonth, uh, we pretty much.
Of course there's some monthsthat's not applicable, but in
general, month on month, we grow20 percent sorry, 10 percent uh
, month on month, uh, with howmuch we're processing on WAP and
I don't see that slowing downanytime soon where do you think
your zonal genius is in life?
I'm very pessimistic, funnilyenough.

(02:16):
So I look at things from a verypessimistic lens and I look at
things from a very uh.
I think I'm very strategic andI'm very patient and orderly.
So, for example, let's say wehave this ultimate goal of
hitting this thing.
I'm like, okay, cool, let'sbring that down.
What do we need to accomplishin the meanwhile to get to that
place?
And I said, I'm verypessimistic with things, so I

(02:37):
always I like asking my team allthe time you know what, what am
I not seeing here?
Like, with this thing, withthis initiative or this thing
that we're trying to do, what amI not seeing?
And I'm always thinking worstcase scenario, because I mean,
if it goes better, then it goesbetter.

Darren Lee (02:49):
But I was prepared for worst case how do you
prepare a team for that?
If you're looking at it fromthe angle of what could go wrong
, like, how do you change ourviewpoint?

Iman (02:57):
well, I think there's certain people in the company
you shouldn't burden with that.
So, for example, anyone that'screative, I think in general,
don't try to burden them withwhat could go wrong.
There's certain people who like, for example, me and I'll speak
at least at this company, um,or I mean, you know, I can't
even introduce uh, yeah, you,you'll be here tomorrow, right,
some of that tomorrow.
Uh, I'll introduce you.

(03:17):
You'll meet my coo, for example, my eyewear business, liz.
She's german, like actuallyI've said this before, but I
actually mean it Like I try tohire German COOs.
She is like her and Max are thesame, right, and that's
literally all my businesses.
I try to hire someone who'sbasically the stressor.
I call them Max.
All the Max does is think howcould things go wrong?

(03:38):
Wow, and think worst casescenario.
Okay, what if we forgot thisthing?
What if we didn't get this?
And what if this?
What if the upload fails here?
What if the?
What if this partner of ourscuts our contract with them?
Like, all they do all day isbasically sit, sit and stress,
and there should be people inyour company that are the
stressors and are alwaysthinking worst case scenario.
Now there's certain people inyour company.
Let's say, for example, youknow for this business, luis

(03:59):
Luis can't sit there andconstantly think worst case
scenario because then he's notgoing to have that flow through
of genius to do what he needs todo on the marketing side.
So I think there's certainpeople in the company where
their job, quite frankly, is toworry, stress and just always
think worst case scenario but,at the same time, you're able to
shine a light on like what isthe upside for them?

Darren Lee (04:17):
because that's like, that's the reality you created.
Right, I know you're talkingabout reality, trans surfing.
Before it's the first book youread, you're 14 not first book,
but it was one of the first ones.
How how do you, how do you, uhlike, adapt that reality, though
, into, like, the day-to-day?

Iman (04:30):
well, I think, listen, I said everyone lives a different
reality.
I also understand that eachperson is different.
So what I mean by that iseveryone has a different uh,
stress tolerance, you know.
So I know, okay, this person Icould burden with this stress of
something that potentiallymight not even be a problem, but
but me, bring that on to themisn't going to ruin their day,
whereas some people, if I bringup something that probably won't

(04:51):
become a problem If there's, ifI bring up something that
probably won't even become aproblem, first of all, it
probably isn't gonna become aproblem and, second, that might
throw off their entire workflowfor the rest of the week.
So I think it's just knowing.
I don't believe that there's onesize fits all leadership style.
I think that when it comes toleading a team and running a
team, you just need to know whoyou're speaking to and you need
to have a grace betweendifferent people.
And you know, even for me, Ihave a certain way of

(05:13):
communicating.
But when there's people in myteam, I know I have to maybe
over-communicate or I have tocommunicate in a softer way,
whereas there's certain peoplewhere it's just like we get
along well or it doesn't takeany extra thing, because they
communicate in the exact sameway I communicate.

Darren Lee (05:27):
Just want to take one quick break to ask you one
question have you been enjoyingthese episodes?
Because, if you have, I'dreally appreciate if you
subscribe to the channel so thatmore people can see these
episodes and be influenced tobuild an online business this
year.
Thank you, yeah, man, I fellinto that issue as many times
too is in you're trying to fix aspecific problem to someone

(05:48):
who's more on the emotional side, so it's that person needs to
be communicated differently,like my wife, for instance.
I could tell her to dosomething a hundred times over.
She's not going to do it.
But if I have to showcase whyand connect maybe more
emotionally, then she will, andI think that's just the levels
of like EQ which I feel likeyou've developed at a very high
level.
How have you kind of focused onthat?

Iman (06:08):
I think, a lot of offline stuff.
I think, in general, a lot ofpeople in our online industry
have very low EQ because youdon't spend a lot of time with
people face to face and readthese micro expressions.
And you know, I kind of evensaid alluded to earlier in there
in my last presentation one ofthe most profitable things I did
not to go from zero to like onein our industry, but once I was

(06:29):
already at a pretty successfulplace one of the things I really
did to take it to the nextlevel is just hanging out with
people in different industriesand learning about different
industries and you start tolearn that no business is
perfect, no business perfect.
No talent is perfect, nobusiness is perfect, no talent
is perfect.
Everything comes with drawbacksand whatnot.
So, uh, I think the more timeyou can spend in the real world,

(06:50):
that's why I like even like Aliand I talk about it a lot Him
and I are very like old schoolkind of guys and we learned
respect very early on in lifeand one of the reasons and
that's like carried wealth forus in the space and I think
that's unfortunately one of thethings that space lacks a lot of
is just like old school,respect principles.

Darren Lee (07:08):
What was a driver for that?
Because I completely agree withyou, I feel like this our space
can often be like the 10K monthchop shop.
It's almost.
It's almost like rude right,it's like rude selling.
It's a wrong type of sellingstyle.
And even being mentored byyourself and your team, I've
seen like the elegance and thebrand and the positioning, but
what was the driving force foryou to be like okay, I need to
be much more respectful with thepeople I work with.

(07:29):
Maybe people around you, maybeyour mother, everything together
.

Iman (07:33):
Yeah, so for me, funnily enough, it was actually my
stepdad growing up, so he was avery interesting character and I
even have like a lot of peopleclose to me a lot of times are
like why were you?
Why did you give him so muchgrace?
And I'm like, listen, at theend of the day, he may have not
been particularly nice to me andmy mom, and you know,
eventually it got to a pointwhere he cut us off.
But I don't, I'm just oldschool.

(07:53):
Like I still lived under hisroof.
For me, if you, if I live underyour roof, whatever you need to
do like I was basically hispersonal butler, his like I was
on call 24, 7, 3, 6, 5 days ayear.
So for me, that's, for example,how I learned old school
respect.
Also, I guess, where I come fromin the world, coming from

(08:13):
Dagestan, these are things thatare instilled in you, uh.
But then there's other waysthat you can learn that, like,
for example, you know we haveAlex here.
Alex tells me all the time oneof the things I really wish I
had gone through in life, I'venever, I've never had a job, you
know, and I w I wish I had.
Like I don't say that as inlike oh, I'm better than having
a job, like I really wish I hada nine to five, or especially

(08:33):
something like physical, like,very like just physically
exhausting you know, cause Idon't have that context, for you
know, sometimes we we forgetthat in our world, like we were
having a rough day.
And then for me, I don't havethat time to like go back to
like well, fuck, when I was youknow whether it's like washing
plates for 12 hours.
It's like, okay, no, nothingwill ever compare to like that

(08:54):
time.
So like, let's, let me stopbeing fucking ungrateful little
shit and let me like have somecontext around like really the
reality I'm living.
So sometimes you know, I wish Ihad that Cause.
I feel like that gives you asense of respect and even
learning.
Like because of my stepdad, forexample, I learned how to bite
my tongue and that's been one ofthe like the best things.
Even my team.
A lot of times they're like whyaren't you reacting to this?

(09:15):
I'm like because I don't careabout my emotions or being right
in the moment, I just carelong-term and I just care about
strategy.
A lot of times strategy is youbite your tongue and you speak
when the time is right and youknow you don't say anything
until victory, until you've wonthe war in its entirety.
Until then, you keep youropinions in private or you keep

(09:35):
your moves in private orwhatever it may be.
So yeah, very long winded andkind of went away from the
initial question, but I thinkit's just a larger conversation
about respect and however youlearn those that respect or
those old school principles.
You know I said for me it waskind of because of my stepdad
and then even my mom, like smallfeisty russian woman, like
still to this day, like you know, that's my mom, so it's like

(09:57):
she is the only one that not tosay she tells me what to do, but
like if she shouts at me, Ilisten, like I just don't have a
choice, and that's kind ofwhere I come from in the world.
Um, so, whether it's that,whether it's our experience I
wish I had, which is that havinga nine to five growing up and
really learning like a properday's work, like I don't know, I

(10:17):
know what a proper day's workis like mentally and being like
mentally dreamed, like from aphysical perspective I haven't
had, uh.
So I think any of those thingsteach you respect and if you
know, especially in the space,maybe someone hasn't had a nine
to five or maybe they didn'tlearn that from their parents go
do something.
You know, whether that's, forexample, uh boxing, like

(10:38):
something that like teaches you,quite frankly, how to just shut
the fuck up, bite your tongue,how to be humbled.
Be humbled, and I think I saidI think a lot of people in this
industry unfortunately uh have abad attitude because they
haven't been humbled yet andeven one thing, a big
observation I've had recently ispeople that are not coachable

(10:58):
and people that have god complexand are a variation of it.

Darren Lee (11:01):
I find that coming to this like mastermind and
being here, you get humblepretty hard.
You see people like Ryan, yousee guys are just killing it and
that puts you in your place,maybe from a, maybe from a not
from such a negative perspective, like working in pizza hut
which, by the way, I did at 19years old.
I was like cooking, I wasmaking pizzas and stuff and I
knew that's the hell, I'm notgoing back there, so you don't

(11:22):
need to have heaven and hell.
New.
That's the hell, I'm not goingback there, so you don't need to
have heaven and hell.
But if you're not coachable andyou have that chip on your
shoulder like I don't know aboutyou, man, but you know those
first couple years that reallyknocked the ship, the chip off
my shoulder.
So that's what I see sometimes,like when you make more money,
I don't understand how you couldbecome more arrogant.
What's your thoughts on that?

Iman (11:41):
well, you know you talk about, like, for example, a
german, like ryan, like um youknow you know, I don't know if
you know this, but there's a guyin there that does 1.4 billion
a year with ab.

Darren Lee (11:48):
I think I'm sitting next to him.

Iman (11:50):
Yeah, you're sitting next to him.
Yeah, so, like you know, youtalk you talk.
You talk about levels andwhatnot yeah and once again,
that also like ties into likethe fact like after you know we
just wrapped up thispresentation, he comes to me, he
man I think about all theheadaches in my business and
like he almost wants what wehave.
And it's like you do 1.4billion with aB a year, right,

(12:11):
you do 1.4 billion with a B ayear between your conglomerate
of businesses and he wants whatwe have.
And then we look at him andwe're like we want what you have
.
So that's why you also learnlike the grass is never greener,
like you know.
It's just like there's noperfect business, like we all,
just you know, and that's why,like I'm never jealous of other
businesses, even though I'minvolved in many different
verticals, and I think that alsohas given me perspective is
like you know, I have things Ihate about my physical product

(12:34):
businesses.
I have things I hate about mysoftware businesses, about the
info business.
So it's I have just a very goodunderstanding and that also
parlays into, you know, thefeeling of not having a God
complex.
It's like you can sit here andhave a God complex and then you
speak to someone.
Like that and it's like, andthat's why I like speaking to
people in different industriesBecause it gives you a very

(12:54):
interesting perspective and Ilike speaking to people in
different industries withoutgetting like FOMO or feeling
like, oh, the grass is greenerthere.
I can speak to them and I wantto hear about their wins and
what, how their industry is.
But then I also ask them aboutwhat are the headaches that come
with your industry.
So it gives me a balancedperspective.
It's like you have theserewards but they come with these

(13:14):
headaches.
And also you had the and I alsoa lot of times ask what were
your competitive advantages?
That or did you have anycompetitive advantage 99% of the
time?
That competitive advantagesthat got you to this point of
success with your business?
So yeah, I think it's just beingaround different industries and
, as I said, in our pool, Ithink a lot of times it becomes
this like cesspit of like oh,I'm 200 a month, I'm 20 a month.

(13:38):
Like I said it in there, ifsomeone makes $3 million a month
in profit in an info businessor someone makes 50 grand a
month profit in an info businessI'm joking I don't view them
any differently Cause I'm like Iknow we have a client in AFL
that does more than a hundredmillion a year.
They did more than a hundredmillion last year in info.
It's like I know theirsituation where that or they're

(14:01):
at right now and I knowsometimes for sure they would
want to switch with the person.
They're just doing 100k a monthwith one employee.
So there is no like perfectthing.
Uh, it's just give yourselfcontext and then also remove the
uh, because sometimes basicallywhat the reason I'm saying is
because sometimes they seepeople and they're like, oh, but
he's doing they glorify theextra money when it's like, I

(14:23):
don't think you glorify, justhave context that that's
possible and there's peopledoing that.
But also that doesn't mean thatlike you should do that, because
for a lot of people, a lot ofentrepreneurs, are not made to
make millions a month.
They don't have what it takes.
They don't have what it takes.
They don't have the stresstolerance they don like.

(14:45):
For example, I have a reallyreally high stress tolerance,
really high, whereas if someoneelse was in my position they
would fall apart.
And, by the way, that also, onceagain, just like how I said, in
life everything is a comes withpros and cons and the thing
with me, because everyone wantsto be like stoic, for example,
like they ever want to have ahigh emotional stress tolerance,
but that also, in order to havehigh emotional stress tolerance
, you have to make yourself numbto emotions.
So I'm very numb to emotions,which means positive and

(15:06):
negative.
So, for example, imagine yourbiggest dream day that could be.
That could make me feel nothing.
And, by the way, that's notbecause I take it for granted,
like there's so many things inmy life.
I really don't take things forgranted and I'm very.
I still keep my feet on theground with this stuff.
That's the way I was raised,but I'm just saying I don't feel
it Like, I'm just numb now.

(15:30):
So so that's why you know, uh,that numbness and that, um,
callousness.
Basically I'm very callous,emotionally callous, because
I've been forced to.
Because if I was an emotionalperson, all of these things that
come, emotional person, all ofthese things that come uh, and
all these battles we have tofight and fuck, especially man
like this, last year has beenthe best year ever, but fuck me,
it's aged me.
But if I had the emotionalstress, like the stress,

(15:53):
tolerance of someone else likeyou would the first battle you'd
be out yeah, you'd be out, um,be straight out.
But the benefit for them is theyfeel the highs and the lows.
So, like, my emotionalbandwidth here is like this, and
I said a lot of people whatthey want is because people who
are very emotional, they don'twant to feel the lows as much,

(16:13):
and they're like, okay, so I'mjust going to become stoic and
not feel the lows.
Yeah, but that also means youdon't feel the highs.
So there's a give and take witheverything.

Darren Lee (16:22):
It's kind of like a lot of these guys are operating
from tens, so they're 10 out of10 or they're one out of 10, but
you want to operate from almostlike a four to a seven, because
consistently in that wavelength, consistently.
But would you say that, withthe kind of emotional regulation
that you have, that you'restill at peace with what you do,
or do you feel like you're not?
What does at peace with whatyou do mean?

Iman (16:43):
Are you proud of?
The reason I'm I guess I'mstuttering on this question is I
don't ever sit with myself.
I'm like, fuck, you did such anamazing job, blah, blah.
This like I don't know.
I'm just not one of thosepeople who kind of ruminates on
these things.
For me, I appreciate, Iappreciate what we do and I
don't take it for granted that,like you, look at where we are

(17:04):
with the clients that we have,with the people that we have in
that room, as I said, like 99%of people don't know that
there's people in that roomdoing those sort of numbers.
They're just very private aboutthings or whatever.
These are offline people.
And then, yeah, like I just Idon't take things for granted, I
don't think, take thingslightly, but I'm just not a
person that, like, ruminates andsits and I'm like I'm so proud

(17:25):
of myself.
I let me put it this way If mylife was a movie or turned into
a movie, I would watch a movieand I think for me, I feel good
about that.
I feel like I've had just theright experiences of very low,
lows and very high highs.

Darren Lee (17:37):
Yeah, man, 100% agree.
One thing I really am worriedabout you is, as you have grown,
your brand equity and brandintegrity has improved.
So it's almost like thearchitect the narrative of the
brand has actually improved.
How intentional was that?

Iman (17:56):
Well, I mean yes and no.
Some people would say the brandequity was stronger two years
ago, for example, one of thethings when everyone absolutely
loved us.
Like I honestly don't think Ihad a fucking okay, of course
there's some haters, but like Idon't think I had any negative
feelings towards me, even, let'ssay, like two years ago, I told
the team every hero becomes avillain and then, once you're a

(18:16):
villain for long enough, theywant to see you become a hero
again.
So and and that's also why I'mnot emotional about these things
I understand that these thingscome and go and your viewpoint
on a person, because you canlook at people who have been
known for some time.
They're heroes and they becomevillains.
They become heroes and like,and I'm just not emotional about
these things.
I understand that it's the waythat things go.
So let me put it this way I mythe way that I view brand

(18:39):
because also, for example, we'vemade intentional moves to not
be as viral anymore.
So, for example, our viewershipin the last two years has gone
down.
But I the only barometer that Iwork off of is revenue in the
businesses.
As long as revenue and whatevereach business is different,
revenue slash profit dependswhat business it is.
As long as that's growing, orwhatever the main kpi is for

(19:02):
that business, as long as that'sgrowing, and also as long as my
exposure to the high, high,high, like echelons of people is
growing, anything in between Idon't really care about such a
good point.

Darren Lee (19:13):
Right, because, like , like saying, cash, the amount
of views you get do notcontribute towards revenue.
But that shift has really onlyhappened in the past 18 months,
where before youtube was reallypushing well, youtube
entrepreneurs were pushing moreviews or they were seeing people
like you and thinking I'm goingto go follow that path.
Uh, what was inflection pointfor you to say, oh okay, this is
not contributing to revenue,especially with the business

(19:34):
channel well, for me, nothingchanged.

Iman (19:36):
It's just, for example, like 18 months ago we had
nothing high ticket to sell.
So and and I've tried to saythis many times that you know,
like I've tried to say this manytimes, so people don't fall
under that trap it's like don'tlook at our vlog channel, for
example.
Like our vlog channel, uh,funnels sales for our physical
product, like the eyewearbusiness is still a very small
business.
I wanted to do eight figuresthis year.

(19:58):
I don't think we're gonna hitit and, honestly, but like so
many, many, many millions a yearand next year, definitely an
eight-figure business, so thatwe have a massive competitive
advantage and a massive headstart because of all the
eyeballs from the vlog channel.
Vlog channel also funnels a lotof our other businesses.
Main channel funnels the midticket that we open, monetize,

(20:20):
which we open a couple times ayear before.
It used to be our low ticketdigital launchpad, uh, but I
know you don't watch my mainchannel and that's okay I said
it to the guys earlier.

Darren Lee (20:29):
I was like I have not watched that channel, dude,
but the second you open thebusiness one, the first video, I
watched all 28 minutes, yeah ofcourse and I know that because
at the day you're at a differentstage of your career and that's
fine, you know it's funny aswell.

Iman (20:40):
Sometimes they're like people will like hate on someone
, or like people will be like,oh, his stuff's so basic.
It's like, yeah, but what ifI'm just helping that cater,
catering to that side of themarket, like, okay, your stuff's
so basic.
It's like, oh, cool, yourstuff's so advanced that no one
can even fucking get.
For me I don't look at like isit basic or advanced?
Like what results does it getpeople?
So before I was just cateringto people earlier on in their

(21:02):
stage, because that was all ourproduct suite front facing help
with.
Now we obviously have uh 8fl.
We also now have wop.
Now for me my main focus, wop,is our bigger enterprise b2b
clients.
We're not b2b, I guesstechnically all b2b.
But like you know, I mean likeI'm focused on that side of the
market.
That's actually you know.

(21:22):
You can ask us like comparisonsbetween us and other platforms.
One I'm like listen, bro, forme there's space for all of us
to coexist, just as long as wehandle payments.
Because I said, for me that'sthe most important, that's the
most valuable how come that's sovaluable to you?

Darren Lee (21:35):
what's the, what's the mode or unique angle there
do you want to take?

Iman (21:39):
well, listen, it's the most important part of the
business, like, if we make youmoney, more money, and it's that
like.
It's just like.
To me it's so hilarious when Isee stuff about people like you
know they'll even talk about WAPfees and stuff like that.
It's like, okay, you don't knowwhat our fees are because, once
again, we help a lot of ourfocus.
Now, listen, we have people onWAP that are doing $200 a month.

(21:59):
You know we have many peopledoing five grand Like.
We have smaller creators, butwhich other platforms have as
well.
Where we Excel, no one comesclose to us is on the payment
side of things terms andobviously, just like.
If you go to any company, youknow same thing.
If you work with a private bank, they're going to give you
custom quotes depending on, like, if I had an extra 500 million
dollars that I could put into myuh, one of my private banks, of

(22:20):
course they're going to give mevery different terms than what
I have right now.
So you know people speaking onfees, you know when they don't
like, they don't understand, ofcourse, at this scale and at
this size, if you're doing amillion a month sorry, 10
million a month which we havepeople on WAP doing processing.
Yeah, it's fucking insane,right.
And I think also I'm soridiculously passionate about

(22:43):
payments.
The reason why, as well, isbecause you know even that
individual inside that does 1.4billion a year.
He does in education, but it'soffline education and one of the
things, the things that he does.
So he has a bunch ofuniversities all around europe
and also student lending, and Iasked him the first time I met
him.
I said listen, if you didn'thave student lending, what
percentage of your businesswould you lose?
He said more than 99, overnight, 100.

(23:04):
And then if you inverse that,like invert it in our industry,
if we have the same paymentterms as the old school,
traditional education systems,well then our business will 100X
overnight and I see that inbusinesses that start using WAP
on a payments infrastructureperspective.
Now you have to focus yourcompany resources and, by the
way, I also want to say, like Iam not the CEO of WAP At the end

(23:27):
of the day, stephen Cam, therest of the team over there, you
know I've come, they've builtsomething incredible and I've
come in uh later and obviously,you know, invested a very, a
pretty penny, uh, uh, to be ableto have a seat at the table,
but at the end of the day, theyknow what they're doing.
I'm just saying for me where I'mmost interested.
In the same way, if you speakto Apple, you know an individual

(23:49):
Apple, one of the higher ups atApple, you know maybe they
might be far more interested inApple's App Store ecosystem and
that's really what gets themexcited and they're like this is
where we need to continue to go, whereas someone else you speak
to might be far more interestedin the hardware.
So that's not to say that whenI speak on these things, that's
not to say that this is aofficial WAP statement.
I'm just saying from myperspective, what are we the

(24:12):
best at?
And there's not.
I won't entertain aconversation.
It's payments.
Nothing comes close andobviously we have exclusivity
with you know, majority, if notall the top ones.

Darren Lee (24:23):
So it's super interesting to hear you talk
because you're always talkingfrom perspective of unique
mechanisms and modes, likeeverything is advantages.
Everything is always anadvantage, whether you're
talking about your delivery,we're talking about your team or
whatever.
That is, what sort of what'syour system thinking around that
?
Because you've mentioned theword mode and like advantage
about 20 times since thismorning so it's just, it's

(24:44):
obviously something that'scontinuously.
You're looking, as you're, atyour edge.

Iman (24:51):
Well, I just understand business is very difficult, life
is very difficult.
So even when I was talkingabout, for example, my
investment thesis, I was sayinghow majority of my investments
and majority of my portfolio istied up in private equity and
why, because that's acompetitive advantage I have.
Now I can't go to, you know,let's say, for example, I'm

(25:13):
buying a piece of real estateLike I'm not going to go.
Oh, but my name is Emang Adjiand I have XYZ companies behind
me.
They're like I don't give afuck, you're trying to buy a
house.
What is it Like?
You say I'm going to give you adiscount just because of XYZ
property, even though I havewell over eight figures in
property all cash.
It's something that I invest in,but it's not for me.

(25:34):
I invest in properties.
You know, most of the stuff Idon't make disclose properties
where I just don't want to rent,right?
So for me it's like legacyproperties I know I want for the
next 10, 20 years.
So it makes sense to buy.
It's properties for loved ones,investment property, properties
for loved ones, stuff like that.
So the reason I but and so Iallocate cash there.

(25:55):
But I don't view it as likeokay, this is my investing money
.
It's just like, this is my parkmoney.
It's like watches yeah, exactlybecause I don't have a
competitive advantage there.
Uh, it's in the same way.
If a real estate agent comes tome, I mean, I mean, I guess
slightly different.
You know, sometimes you do have, sometimes you do have, um,
sometimes you do have uhmotivated uh sellers and stuff

(26:16):
like that, and you know you canget a shop, good deals.
But let's say, for example,when my private banks, when they
come to me with a privateequity deal, I'm like, listen,
the fact that it's coming to metells me it's not a good deal
because I'm a fuck, I'm a tinyfish compared to who you guys
work with.
So the fact that it's coming tome already says it's not a good
deal.
So with my investments, I amsuper aggressive.

(26:36):
You know I'm super aggressiveand if I can't be aggressive I'm
not going to take the deal.
If I'm not getting ridiculous,ridiculous terms, I don't take
the deal on, because also and Ialso don't ask for those terms
if I can't help Like so for shoecompany, a shoe company comes
and they want me to invest, howmuch value can I really see
bring to that business?
Okay, maybe a little bit of anaudience, maybe.

(26:58):
So why?
First of all, why would Iembarrass myself for asking for
better terms?
And then also, I have noadvantage in that uh, so it just
doesn't make sense, whereas youknow I invest a lot of software
companies or platforms or, youknow, even like WAP as it
currently stands, for me it's Imean, wap is this huge, uh,
mammoth but the thing, thereason I invested, basically was

(27:20):
payments.
That's, when I think of WAP,just my personal relationship,
it's payments.
Um, that's where I bring themost, uh, value and that's where
my focus goes, or at least asof right now.
So, anyways, all that to say,you have to look at where you
have your edge, right, so,whether that's in your business

(27:41):
or whether that's in yourinvestments, and if you don't
have an edge, like it's in thesame way, like I don't have an
edge in the stock market, sothat's why I just invest in the
S&P 500.
I'm sure I could have an edgeif I allocated time.
I just don't have the time tofucking study every single
company.
So if I don't have that edge,I'm going to get swept by
someone that does have an edge.
So that's why, every singleTuesday, just our cost average
in S&P 500.

(28:01):
Is it the sexiest returnscompared to what I get elsewhere
?
No, but I don't have anadvantage.
So why would I try to engage ina sport where everyone else has
a gun and I have a knife?

Darren Lee (28:11):
why do people shoot themselves in the foot then that
way?
Right, that's, that's the wholelogic is that you see a guy
who's killed in an info and thenhe gets into like a nail
technician business right, it'slike dude, that's just clearly
not alignment, whereas oneobservation I made of you is the
fact that everything isvertically integrated.
I know guys are white labelshit, but for the most part it's
not as deliberate.
Um, how have you thought aboutthat?

(28:32):
Because if you go, if you scaleback two, three years, you were
still picking softwarecompanies two, three years ago
before, like it was the thing todo, right before, like sas and
microsas and ai sas was a thing.
Um, how have you seen that tobe your big swings?
Right, because it looks like,well, it is your cash feeding,
your big bets, um, but you gotto be careful because with a
brand that you have, you can'tbe just investing into any sort

(28:55):
of shit, even if it's, even ifit's something small.

Iman (28:57):
well, I guess one of the benefits as well is I don't make
my money by, like, I don'tmonetize.
Being a smart investor, if thatmakes sense.
You mean, like it's a tertiarything that people ask me for,
but like, I'm not known as mrinvestor.
Now, for me, known as MrInvestor, people should know
what you invest in, so like, andthat's like, for example, I
told you that company earliertoday, like I did an 11 X in

(29:19):
seven months, uh, so, and I'mthe largest shareholder in that
company.
We just closed our latest roundof 40 million.
Uh, I'm the largest shareholder, minus the two co -founders.
That is, of course, uh, so,whatever, I've already made many
, many multiple millions fromthat deal.
Now, I don't need, I don't oweanyone, I don't need to disclose
the company, I don't.
I mean, I'm happy to tell youoff camera, um, because why I

(29:44):
don't make my money from that?
Now, here's the thing If I was,if this was an investing
conference or whatever, ifthat's what I teach, then yeah,
I think you have a moral andethical responsibility to
disclose what companies youinvest in.
Otherwise, it's just allguessing games at that point.
So, yeah, the reason I bring upall this stuff is yes, I

(30:05):
started investing in softwareand the reason why, for me,
software can integrate into thecompany.
So, for example, I example, Ihave no responsibility to tell
people there's many things thatpeople use inside of digital
launchpad, inside of monetize,inside of this, inside of that
company, even stuff that youguys use.
You don't know that I own 5%Because, also, do I need to tell
you that I'm not?
I'm not, it's genuinely thebest product.

(30:27):
Now, in the same way, by theway, people come to me and they
ask and I only roll out when itis the best product.
So, for example, that companywithin three months, everyone
inside of adafl will be using it, but right now it's not ready
yet.
Okay, so I roll it out when thetime is appropriate and when
the product's where it needs tobe.
Uh, so software is in a is alane where we have an advantage.
Uh, because we can bring users,we can onboard users, we can

(30:50):
bring also a lot of productexperience.
So, with that business, forexample, max is very you know,
feel free to speak to him.
Like Max and the guy who ownsthis company, they're very close
in the sense of like, there's alot of like, tight feedback.
Oh, what should we do?
Should we do this, should we dothat, etc.
So we do a lot of producttesting.
Even the product team will testthese softwares and give

(31:12):
feedback, uh, even if we don'troll it out immediately.
So yeah, once again, that'swhere I have an advantage If I
will say this, like if I, ifinfo businesses had value, I
genuinely believe I'd be abillionaire by now, because all
I do is make money in info andinvest in info businesses.
So, for example, if I taughte-commerce, all I would do is
take the money from e-commerceand buy e-commerce businesses.

(31:34):
If I taught real estate, Iguess a little slower.
I don't know.
That is what we'll talk realestate people do.
If I taught real estate, all Iwould do is take that and put
that into more real estate.
So for me, I'm in anunfortunate position where the
thing that I'm the biggestexpert in, which is this whole
info space, this whole infospace I can't take that money

(31:54):
and invest into info.
So then when I looked at it, Iwas like I can't invest in info
businesses.
So what's the closest cousin toit?

Darren Lee (31:58):
And software was that for me Such a good point.
Such a good point.
And again, it's a unique angleyou talk about we're in a
business of transformation, notin the business of information.
But if the value of informationis going to zero because of AI
and you can just chat, gptanything, then what business
will we be in?

Iman (32:14):
Well, listen, I don't think information, the value of
information goes to zero.
I think that the value ofcohesive information, because,
once again, let's say, forexample, when you go take a
driving lesson, the driver oryour instructor, they're reading
off a book.
Same thing, when you go tocollege, your college professor
is reading off a book that youcan literally buy online.
So why are you going there?

(32:34):
You're not going specificallyjust for the information, you're
going for the experience andthe transformation around that.
Right, and I think that's why Itell people in the info space
get you know, I literally toldyou off camera, you know you're
talking about a lot of peoplestruggle with asking bland
questions.
Okay, Well then can you build atool, especially with the way
that AI and software is thesedays?
I guarantee you could paysomeone five grand, ten grand,

(32:54):
to build a tool that will helpscrape and use the correct model
to scrape every single piece ofcontent that they can find on
this person and ask questions.
And, for example, you can evenhave on your tool, you could
have a sliding scale that saysdo you want the questions to be
more rigid, specific or do youwant them to be more open-ended?
And now, all of a sudden, whenpeople come into your program,
they're like what are theirbiggest limiting beliefs?
You also want to build toolsaround limiting beliefs or

(33:15):
things that people tellthemselves okay, but this will
be a roadblock.
So people might come into yourprogram and they go yeah, but I
just don't know the rightquestions to ask.
Don't worry about it, I builtthe right tool for it.
So now you're building ansystems inside of info and
that's why we've been able tosucceed over the years is
because a lot of people on theoutside, a lot of people on the
outside, they don't even botherto check.
They don't even bother to knowwhat we do.

(33:35):
They think we just sell acourse.
I can't remember the last timewe just sold a course, you know.
So now these days, whether it'stools to build a transformation,
or even back in the day, on our$1,500 product, you had six,
six weeks of one-on-one coaching.
I don't know a single soul, Idon't know an info company
that's ever pulled that off atthat price point.
$1,500, six one-on-one callsfor six weeks.

(33:57):
And, by the matter of mind,that's outside of the 15 group
coaching calls we have for thatprogram.
The nine courses that you getinside of it, you know, taught
by the best experts in the world.
You know it's funny.
I even had people say like, oh,you know you shut down your
agency in 2022.
I'm like, do you not check that?
My programs?
Okay.
Well, first of all, yeah, youknow how.
You guys know that.
I literally told you thatnumber one and that's also, for

(34:18):
example, why we shut down thehigh ticket, cause I was like I
don't feel comfortable talkingabout agency stuff at a high
level, but helping beginners getto, you know, start and scale
their agencies.
It's.
We all know, like thosebeginning stages it's really
very little changes, butnonetheless I'm like okay, valid
point.
So you guys feel like I'm outof touch with outreach?

(34:38):
Okay, do you want me to bringan outreach expert?
Even better, let me bring inthe owner of Lemlist, who's a
multi hundred million dollarsoftware, and he'll teach
outreach and he taught all ofour outreach to all of our
students.
So, like you know, I think whenyou get closer to how we
actually run our products, youstart to understand just what
level we play at, which is whywe've been able to do this for
so long and we'll keep growingyear on year.
But it's even not now, it'seven in the past.

(34:59):
I was always thinkingtransformation, transformation,
not just information.
Because, it is true,information is I don't want to
say it's futile Organizedinformation is incredibly
powerful.
Once again, why do you read a?
Why, uh, the for dummies series?
You know the, the books whereit's whatever for dummies, like
all they're doing is takinginformation out there and
synthesizing it and putting acohesive um a book.

(35:22):
And you know those books, youknow the for dummies series,
that they've netted far morethan probably all these other
books combined.
So I don't think informationisn't valuable.
I just think, if you're justselling information and you're
not thinking about what can yousell outside of that?
And, by the way, that's one ofthe coolest things.
Right now, for example, we'rebuilding a WAP and once again

(35:43):
like I'm so you know blessed towork with fucking such geniuses
Like right now, a lot of the WAPteam is in San Fran because
they're building out a very likevery robust apps infrastructure
.
So inside of your WAP you canhave a custom like, for example,
let's say, you're sellingfitness right, you're in a
fitness industry Okay, a calorietracker or like a macro,

(36:03):
whatever you know I'm not verywell versed in all that stuff.

Darren Lee (36:06):
I just have Russian genetics.
I don't do all the macro stuffLimiting belief.

Iman (36:14):
So what you can do now inside of your wop, you can
check the wop app store and youcan literally go and someone
who's already created thesesoftwares.
You pay a one-time fee for,let's say, five grand.
Or let's say, you know you'recharging it for xyz.
You know, let's say, you chargepeople a hundred dollars a
month.
They take a 10 clip of that,but they've built the tool
already for you.
So that's where, for example, um, we think a lot about the

(36:36):
ecosystem experience with WAP,where you're like okay, it is
true, information, just sellinginformation on its own.
Uh, now, it also depends onprice point.
For example, you know, insideof monetize, we help people at
the lower price points.
Now we tell people you cancreate a digital product.
That's just info.

(36:56):
You're not going to sell it forfive grand, okay, but you can
sell it for 30 dollars, 50dollars, 100 dollars.
That's a different side of themarket.
So you know, I know it's a bitof a word vomit, but there's a a
lot, there's a lot of variablesthat you have to consider and
factor in, and then that tellsyou how much how valuable info
strictly on its own is well,that's where people need
accountability, right.

Darren Lee (37:09):
If?
If it was just informationneeded and everyone would be
shredded and everyone would besuper rich.
But most people are fat andmost people are broke, right.
So it's not in that.
I think it's in theaccountability and the
mentorship, because something myhead of client success Tom,
who's an absolute legend, oftensays to me is people aren't
buying just information, they'rebuying the experience of you,

(37:31):
like they resemble, they want tohave the characteristic traits
of you.
Now, they don't want to copyyou, but I mean that's what
they're emulating right To somedegree, because largely it's all
the same shit anyway.
It's lead sales and delivery.
So, knowing that, what is theunique angle you can put in,
kind of like with your team,when you're doing the monthly
reviews, you come in to put yourstamp on things and that's

(37:54):
what's like.
Ah yes, that's the culture,that's what brings the attitude.
So I think even I was speakingto Tristan.
Tristan said that he ran amonetized call yesterday and one
guy wanted to have a facelessAI personal brand.
But that is literally like thatdoesn't make sense.
It's a personal brand that'sfaceless, whereas the unique

(38:14):
mechanism of personal brand isthe fact that it's you, so it's
almost like people are trying touse ai in the wrong way.
That will actually commoditizethemselves in the process,
whereas doing these events.
Man, nothing is better thanthis.
We're literally in englishcountryside, yeah it's a listen.

Iman (38:29):
It depends.
It just depends what gameyou're playing, and that's why
one of the first things you know, people ask me what should my
next steps in business?
I'll just go what's your goallike?
If you're trying to get to amillion a month, we have to have
a different mechanism to 10million a month.
That make a different mechanismto 100 grand a month or 500
grand a month or 10 grand amonth.
Like, let's say, for example,you know that individual that
would have asked about, like,how to have a faceless channel.

(38:51):
Basically, I, I only it wasonly once I started
investigating this topic that Irealized how many channels on
youtube I watch and I'm likeI've never seen their face
because I watched like a lot.
Uh, it's basically like my newssource.
What I mean by like, if I wantto find out what's happening in
the markets or you know why, uh,china's real estate market is
collapsing Like I watch a lot ofvideos and I only realized

(39:13):
later.
I'm like this is an AI voiceand this is like, so this is an
AI voice and then this is alsolike, like faceless.
Now someone like that could takethat and then sell a $20, $50,
$100 digital products.
Are they going to become amillionaire?
Absolutely no chance.
Okay, no chance.
But for some people they justwant to make an extra 1200 a

(39:34):
month, like.
Those are where that modelworks.
Um, and it's in the same waylike if someone was like I want
to make 10k a month in infoshowing my face, I would go okay
.
If you want to do it showingyour face, do coaching, because
that's the easiest way to getthere.
So it just depends like thingscan change.
These levers change and and um,the the right way to go about
the model changes depending onwhere you're trying to take it.

Darren Lee (39:57):
Something I think about a lot is what does success
look like?
What does winning?
What's a win for you?
Not even success.
What does a win look for you?
A win for many people that arehere could just be coming just
spending the weekend here.
It's not even about gettingthat one thing that's going to
scale your business.
Same with joining programs Guysthat are young, that have just
been on the wrong path, or evenon the regular path.

(40:19):
Just joining is like whoa.
There's something on the insidehere and that's one thing I've
gotten, even from your team islike whoa.
All the guys are super dialedin, but it's again.
What does a win look like?
Because it's not always aboutdollars and cents.
It starts a transformation forpeople.
But I would say I want to askyou about let's look at your
positioning.
So, speaking to Tristan, hesaid something that you guys

(40:43):
kind of went through was peopleidentified you as SMA bro, and
then you're the YouTuber andthen at one stage you're a
TikToker.
How do you adjust yourpositioning to be what you want
it to be?
How do you control thenarrative?

Iman (40:55):
Well, yeah, once again, this is where it just depends
where you want.
So you know, I have a dearfriend of mine who's an advisor,
uh, to me I think I'm actuallyhe should yeah, he should should
be coming in a few days.
Uh, you know, and he's advisingme on a lot of the M and and
you know, he tries to tell meall the time like, listen, bro,

(41:17):
we have to start a fund.
And I said, even though, likemy track record, it's under 10
companies, but like what I'vedone with my investments in
companies I've even.
He's like, bro, I've never seenanything like it.
And I'm like, yeah, but no shit, sherlock, it's because I'm
investing in companies I have acompetitive advantage in, and
also like the amount of theamount that I negotiate in terms
of discounted equity on thefront end, and also the way that

(41:38):
I structure the deals, which,obviously, off camera, I'm happy
to talk about.
I'm like, yeah, no shit,sherlock.
But the reason I bring that upis I told him, bro, I'm not
known for that.
I start a fund all of a sudden.
I'm not known for that.
So it just wouldn't make sense.
So for me, there's the whatyou're known for, like I've
always, you know, up untilrecently I've always done myself

(41:58):
down online and that was aspecific.
That was very specific and veryconscious.
I'm like, well, I don't needyou guys to know how smart I am
or how big the business are,because I'm I'm not helping you
guys get to this, I'm helpingyou guys with this stage of your
career.
So if I'm helping you with thisstage of your career, what does
me talking about all this otherstuff?
It's in the same way.
If you know you're working witha running coach and the running

(42:19):
coach is like, if the runningcoach's content if you want to
hit a like a sub four-hourmarathon, and all this content
is like him aiming going for atwo-hour, you're like, well,
you're so far, like, what areyou going to teach?
Like it would be off-putting.
Whereas if all of his contentis like I am, uh, how to do your
first sub four hour marathon,everything around sub four?
Now, in his private life hemight be fucking running a two

(42:40):
hour 30, but what does?
Does he need to bring his thatpart of his life into where he
is right now?
He's not helping people withthat stage.
So for me, I always just dumbedour stuff down.
Listen, if I, if investing wasmy main occupation, of course,
you know, in future all I wouldtalk about is investing and all
I would talk about is all thecompanies I'm invested in.
And you know when I can talkabout the case studies of what

(43:02):
it's done, but that's just notwhere I'm at right now.
So, yeah, quite frankly,there's what you do in your
private life and then there'swhat your solution solves for
people, and they don't need tobe the same thing.
Everyone thinks that you need to, like, constantly talk about

(43:23):
where you are right now.
It's like I mean, yeah, if youwant to, but for me, I just look
at brand as like who am Itrying to attract?
And especially my stuff?
I'm very cognizant, like I have.
I follow a bell curve.
I tell the team this all thetime as well.
If you're first starting out,you think I'm a genius.
If, if you're moderatelysuccessful, you hate me.
No, no, no, but I'm veryconscious of this.
And if you're ultra successful,you think I'm a genius I appeal

(43:46):
to.
I don't appeal to that middlemarket, because the middle
market, they need things tosound more complicated than they
are.
One of the things.
I'm never going toovercomplicate things, because
I've seen the people that usethe biggest words and the
biggest.
I know what they actually dobehind the scenes and what they
own and what their numbers are,and it's never what people think
it is right like you.
Once again, go speak to theindividuals that you actually

(44:06):
know are doing a billion dollarsdownstairs.
See how many fucking crazy bigword terms they use.
They don't talk like that.
That's not how people at thatlevel talk.
You know people at a certainlevel talk very, just, very
bluntly and trying to use aslittle words as humanly possible
super dressed down, justchilling next, literally just
sitting next to me justliterally sitting right
next to me.
So, um, yeah, all that to saythat I understand, that I appeal

(44:29):
to people in the earlier stagesof their career, which
obviously is, you know, a bigpart of our business helping
people launch, you know, launchpad their career.
And I appeal to people at thehighest levels because they
understand they don't look atwhat a person says, they look at
what a person does and theylook at the moves that are being
made and they have the uhcognitive ability to look at
that and go maybe he's notrevealing everything, whereas

(44:52):
the people in the middle, theydon't understand.
Just because you don't talkabout something or just because
you don't need to revealsomething, doesn't mean that you
know things aren't happening oryou know, uh, moves aren't
being made.
So it just depends what.
Now there's some people whoonly want to appeal to the
middle.
Like you know, there's manyindividuals that appeal really
much to that middle market thebeginner, you know, the people

(45:14):
in the earlier stage of theircareer.

Darren Lee (45:15):
They don't really drive with them, by the way, the
really high level people, theyalso don't drive with them
because they see behind the, thewhatever the reality is, you're
going to piss people off nomatter what you do, so you may
as well know who you'retargeting, and just not piss off
people that are going to payyou the most money.
It's going to happen to you,right?
You're gonna?
You're gonna have those people,and was there any point for you
that you felt like, if you gotnegative feedback, that it was

(45:39):
too much?

Iman (45:40):
No, not really, Because you know, for example, like last
year, we had a bunch of hitpieces go out in the SNAT.
I always tell the team, like,for me, my barometer is are the
businesses affected?
No, the last year, actually thelast year has probably been the
biggest growth we've ever had.
Well, specifically this year,number one and number two is the

(46:00):
.
I don't care about the middlemarket, is the high level people
?
Are they still like, where aremy business partnerships at?
Where are my businessopportunities?
Where's my deal flow at?
At the highest echelons.
And that has been, I mean, thelast year specifically, it's
been insane.
You know where we've takenthings.
So, uh, yeah, I, you know, I'mjust very.
I said I'm very unemotional,even with the team.
You know where we've takenthings.
So, uh, yeah, I, you know, I'mjust very.
I said I'm very unemotional,even with the team.

(46:20):
You know, with the team I, I'vetold them these things way
ahead of time.
I said, listen, a hero willbecome a villain.
Once you're a villain longenough, you'll become a hero
again.
Once you're a hero for enoughtime, then you'll become a.
It's just all cyclical and youcan't be emotional about it,

(46:41):
just the way the game goes.
Uh.
And then also, even when itcomes to viewership, like I told
the team, you know when wewould, three years ago, when I
would come up with a titleconcept, the title I write down
bullet points for like threeminutes, I just speak to the
camera for 20 minutes, it wouldcut down to 12 minute.
Videos at 12 minute, just rantabout anything, and every video
would get a million views in thefirst two weeks, like
guaranteed.
I was like guys, this will notlast, this will not last.
Number one and number two alsothis format will become obsolete

(47:01):
.
So you know, when people try todo the email gadget editing
style, once that becomes a thing, once something is named email
gadget editing style, it'salready not effective anymore,
right?
So that's why, like, for us,we've all, it's always been
important that we can do anyformat.
Now there's formats we'restronger at, there's formats
we're weaker at.
But yeah, whether that's vlogs,whether that's vlogs, whether

(47:21):
that's really boring businessvideos, whether that's you know
more high production stuff,whether that's events like,
we're just very multifaceted.

Darren Lee (47:28):
It's interesting, right, because you've gone
through the arc.
You've gone through the arc ofgrowing, feeling that pressure
and strain, but not beingsubject to the algorithm.
Right, and I think with the newwave of YouTube, it being less
focused on just views, likes andengagement, you're well
positioned right, because Ithink a lot of guys will use
those excuses to leave themarket, to move on to the next

(47:49):
thing or say it wasn't workingor whatnot.
But it's people around you too.
One thing I wanted to reallydig into was what your team
structure.
So there's kind of two schoolsof thoughts with teams.
Some people say that if youhave a team, that team should be
so focused on you that theyshouldn't have a brand.
But your C-suite team all kindof have their own brand to some
degree, even like Alex, likeeveryone recognizes, like Alex

(48:12):
from like the random videos.
What's your thoughts on that?

Iman (48:17):
Listen, I'll be entirely honest.
Who was I speaking to?
I was speaking to someone aboutthis the other day.
Maybe they might have smallbrands or whatever.
Like Alex is a different storybecause also Alex, like for me
personally, I don't have anyonein the company that's trying to
grow their personal brands.
Because also, the thing is like, listen, not to say that I
don't enjoy the content we makeand I also know it's super

(48:39):
valuable and that's also one ofthe reasons I keep making it.
The first three years I had onYouTube, I made no money from.
I generated no business from.
I did my years of creatingcontent just to give back.
If there was no businessbenefit from our content, I
would not make content anymoreand that's just the truth.
I've been doing it for 10 yearsat this point.
So my team knows I hate socialmedia, I hate social media, I

(49:00):
hate content, I hate, I hate alllisten.
I just like, I just like tofocus on business, right, so
they understand that.
So they also don't glorifybuilding a personal brand.
And if you want to build yourpersonal brand, usually that's
because you want to go expandout and, by the way, that's
super cool and, like you have myentire blessing to do that.
It's just, you know, we've hadall these years of year on year
growth and also theopportunities and the ventures

(49:21):
we have now.
My team knows if, like, if youwant to stay in this ship, like
we're, we're sailing.
We've already sailed to victory, but we're sailing to like
something that's generational.
If you want to stay on thisboat with us, like, of course we
all act in a certain way, like,if you want to, like be one
foot in, one foot out, likewe're not really cool with that.
If you want to be one foot out,like, that's great.
Like, just go do your thing andyou have our blessing.

(49:43):
And all the time, like,constantly, I'm even introducing
, like people they used to workat our company and then went and
did their own thing, I'mintroducing business them this,
that like, if you want to go, dothat, go, do that now.
Even still, like every singleperson that either whatever
we've had to let go or have letgo on their own accord, every
single person always tries tocome back to company every,
without a doubt that I can'tfind this culture anywhere else.

(50:07):
But going back to, uh, the mainpoint of discussion, yeah, I
guess technically, like, alexhas a personal brand but he's
not like I know alex, he's notlike, he's not trying to grow,
he's just showcasing work.
He's just kind of a bro aboutit.
Yeah, you know he's, he'sshowcasing his work and of
course that's going to get um,of course that's going to get,

(50:27):
uh, followers and likes and this, that.
But, like I know I'm with Alex90% of the time, 99%, 95% of the
time he doesn't.
He's not a social media guy,doesn't care.
In fact, most of the time helike wants to throw his phone
away.
So yeah, I just in general, I'mnot the biggest fan of like.
Let me put this way I viewsocial media and building a
personal brand for the sake ofbusiness.

(50:48):
But if you are within abusiness, then you have there's
no reason for you to be buildingyour personal brand.
If you want to do that, youhave our blessing and we will do
anything to help you with yourfuture ventures.

Darren Lee (50:58):
It's just like it's not really aligned with what
we're trying to do here yeah,same with the culture, I think,
because a lot of guys might comein as, like, entrepreneurs, but
they're just early in theirjourney and the culture that you
create.
It's very similar to culturethat we created.
Man, honestly, a lot of guystried like sma, they tried a few
other things, they triedediting on their own they're
freelancancers and they came inand I said, okay, we'll pay you
but we'll also teach you shit.

(51:19):
And I think they stay for that.
We fly everyone, similar to you, do customer events or company
events.
When we do our masterminds, wetry to bring everyone to Bali
and I feel like that's like anice event for people to come
through.
They stay together and it's agood vibe.
It's a much stronger vibe.
But again, right, right, it'schess versus checkers.

Iman (51:36):
most guys aren't playing those games yeah, listen, you
have to pour into your team andthe other thing is you have to
know what people's dreams andaspirations are and then also
kind of work within that.
Like, for example, you know,alex in a few months is
launching his book.
You know, so he's we're, he'sdoing a coffee table book of all
of his work of art and you know, also now a fucking author,
because he's also wrote likemany, many pages and took

(51:59):
journal excerpts and stuff thathe literally wrote in his diary
from three years ago or twoyears ago, while we're going
through the craziness that isour life, and you know poems and
this and that.
And you know, I really wanted,you know, strongly suggested him
to do that as well, because I'mlike, listen, give people an
insight into this life.
Now, if I sat here and I waslike listen, this is not okay,

(52:19):
blah, blah, this.
That like I know that this isjust sometimes you have to
almost let people have theirside quests, as long as you
understand that they'recommitted to the mission.
Alex and I've been together solong and we know that it's a
like literally fucking lifething, so it's fine to do that
now.
If it was someone who just cameinto the company.
I'll go I'm gonna say you'rebasically just trying to build a
business on the side, which isfine, like once again, it's fine
.
It's just we're trying to getpeople to all focus because

(52:40):
every single person in thecompany every single year gets a
raise, right?
So like I it, like in ourcompany, you grow and everyone
knows being in our company isthe biggest insurance policy on
earth, right?
Because, like maybe I also tellpeople all the time like, let's
say, hypothetically, a dollar Italked about earlier, let's say
, for example, you make a dollara month at our company.
I know you could go to anothercompany and make $1.50 at their
company but in 12 months of thatcompany will be bust or the

(53:02):
person would have given up, orthis person would have like
fucked something up and in ayear you would have been like
$1.50 at our company anyways,regardless, except that then
grows year on year, on year.
So people at our company knowit's an insurance policy.
But going back to the whole EQthing, that's where you need to
know your team, their wants,their dreams, their desires.

(53:22):
And there's been listen,there's been people in the
company where I've told them I'mlike, listen, you're just not
cut out.
To work in a team, you need tobe an entrepreneur.

Darren Lee (53:28):
And that's good leadership from you, because
you're able to spot that tothink like, okay, I'm going to
lead this team and identify thatyou're not the best fit for
this reason, because maybeyou're a better fit to go
somewhere else.
What do you think about how theteam contribute to like
delivery?
So a lot of your team do allthe delivery.
They nail the delivery for allyour products.
How do you ensure that you getamazing results for people when

(53:53):
people expect to work with you?

Iman (53:54):
Because they are working with me.
What they do is they'resynthesizing everything that I
know, so you get the best partsof what I know.
And then also my team knows.
So, for example, you know Itold you we have we've probably
had 15,000 students that havehad one-on-one coaching at that
last uh, the agency program, nowthe, these top coaches are now
the product developers for ourcompany.

(54:15):
So, for example, when we'redeveloping a new version of like
, let's say, you know that finalversion we made of the agency
program, my product team hasliterally spoken to 15,000
customers, taken 15,000individual people, has coached
them for six weeks.
So they're like oh, we thinkthe sticking in my mind.
I think the sticking point isthis.
They're like well, no, I cantell you from experience in

(54:35):
field experience.
The sticking point is this sowe get to put the best of our
minds together.
So there's everything I know.
And then there's also what theyexperience and feedback.
They get boots on the ground,speaking to these people every
day.
So it's just a joint collective.
Now, many times, listen, there'snever a piece of content that
goes out that I don't approve asin like.
I will look at it and I'll belike okay, this one thing I don

(54:59):
don't approve as in, like I willlook at it and I'll be like,
okay, this one thing I would.
I don't believe that.
That's not an actual worldviewthat I have.
And, of course, workingalongside these people for so
long uh, you know, and havingthe the privilege of doing so,
which they just they can speaklike me, they can talk like they
just know me so well at thispoint.
Second brain yeah, yeah, it'ssecond brain.
And also you gotta remember,like when you're all of the
books you're reading, or maybe30, 40, 50 years ago, it's a
brain.
And also you got to remember,like when you're all of the
books you're reading, maybe 30,40, 50 years ago, it's a

(55:21):
different story, but pretty muchevery book you read in the last
10 years, 99% of it was writtenby a ghostwriter.

Darren Lee (55:27):
No, but it's just the truth, so true.

Iman (55:30):
It's literally the truth and people need to understand
this.
99%, like all your top favoritebooks, books.
It was 99% written by aghostwriter and that 1% they
came in and, by the way, there'snothing wrong with that.
I don't say that in anyjudgmental way.
It's like, of course, if theother person thinks so clearly,
like you, they can do 90% of thewriting, and then you come in
and you go okay, actually Idon't believe this, or this
isn't the way we do things, oractually my perspective about

(55:51):
this is different and it's likegreat, why not, it's beautiful
man, because I think that's thepart of like a really deep
culture.

Darren Lee (55:58):
I joke that my wife could answer half the questions
I get asked in my program andshe thinks she can't do.
Like I'm actually being serious.
She's like I think I know thatanswer better even than you.
You said it this way threeweeks ago which is what, like
you know, combining it,combining your thought process
with your actions are.
So we're in the uk andobviously the uk gets a lot of
shit and you spend a lot of timein Dubai.

(56:19):
What's your thoughts, kind ofbeing back here now?
Like, do you, do you kind ofwish to live in UK again at some
point?

Iman (56:25):
Well, initially the plan was to come back and I was going
to claim non-DOM status, so Iwould have been applicable for
non-DOM status, which would havegiven me many, many, many years
of not paying tax here.
How does that work?
So, with non-dom program, Ithink it's like seven years, 17

(56:46):
years or something like that.
I forget the exact numbers, butbasically, uh, if you can claim
non-dom status, any income youmake outside of the uk is not
taxable, so I would have beenable to live here.
It's, you know, similar likeitaly have a similar scheme,
except theirs is not by.
Like there you buy in,basically like italy.
It's 100k.
It used to be 100k, now it's200k a year.
Once again, I'm sure somethings about some minute details
about this have changed.
So, you know don't quote me,this is my main occupation, but,
um, you know, there, forexample, you pay a 200k flat tax

(57:08):
and if you make 100 milliondollars, you make a million
dollars, you pay the same.
It's just a retainer right.
So I would have been able tomove back to uk and that was
originally the plan afterspending enough time abroad.
Now they've abolished that, soI don't get that benefit anymore
.
Um, for me personally, I wouldsay I think the best place you
make your money in the U?
S, and what I mean by that is,like we make our money in the U?

(57:28):
S.
Now our customer, like at theIowa brand, for example, our
customers are U S based majority, that's majority of where our
money is.
In the info business, uh, inthe software companies, majority
of our customers are us based.
So I'm making money in the uswhile not being in the us, or I
have no interest of ever livingin the us.
Quite frankly, um, it's just notreally my place.
I mean new york, I like newyork.

(57:49):
I actually I like because Ilike that energy of go get it.
Um, there's nothing againstamerica, it's just I don't know.
What's interesting is I findthat a lot of Americans have a
fascination with Europe.
Like a lot of Americans want tobe in Europe.
I don't see any Europeans thatwant to be in America.
I don't find that translate inthe same way.
Multiple properties here.

(58:22):
So I have holdings in the uk,like I have um presence in the
uk.
Obviously, you know I'm verycareful with how much presence I
have here.
You know, to make sure thatthere is no there's no way there
can be any misunderstandingthat I most certainly do not
live here.
Uh, so for me, I get to enjoyit.
Listen, I'm here 75 days a year.
I have, as I said, I have carsthat are not my name.

Darren Lee (58:44):
They're not my cars, but I have cars that I might
have access to.

Iman (58:48):
Uh, I have properties that I might have access to, so I
get to enjoy all the fruits, allthe benefits that London has to
offer for 75 days a year.
For me, that's enough, uh, andthe reason I'm going back to my
point.
In my opinion, the best way isto make your money in the us.
You protect your money in themiddle east, as in being tax
efficient.
Now, bear in mind, of course,if you have to have physical

(59:09):
office in the us, in the us youdo it.
You know.
I said most of the businessesI'm invested in, not pretty much
every business I'm invested inis us based and that's also
where our offices are.
So I just don't have like,there's no saying that.
But for me personally, the waythat I'm set up, I can literally
live anywhere.
It's fine, so it's nice tobenefit from the US economy

(59:31):
while also paying no tax in theUAE.
And then, in terms of so youmake your money from the us, you
protect it in the middle east,or singapore, uh, switzerland,
not so much anymore, uh, andthen you spend your money in
europe.
Europe is the best place onearth to spend your money, hands
down, there's nowhere else onearth.

(59:52):
I'd rather spend money.
In what way?
Spend money to enjoy life.
I think if you have money, uhand listen, I'm not saying
hundreds of millions of dollars,I'm just saying, you know, even
if you're in a very comfortableposition, life, europe truly is
such an incredible place tospend your money.
You know, even even smallthings, like if I compare
sometimes, for example, likecars, like the cars I have in

(01:00:14):
dubai compared to the cars Ihave here, even though the price
on the ones in dubai aresubstantially higher, I get far
more enjoyment in the uk onesand in fact I specifically don't
go for the most expensive carshere.
It's just like, like I havelike a porsche targa that's my
favorite car on earth.
That experience of like beingin europe and like having the
top, like it, just, it's justincredible.

(01:00:34):
You're even driving througheurope, man, yeah.

Darren Lee (01:00:37):
Yeah, and it's just so aesthetic and so beautiful.
I know Dubai have kind ofreplicated it to some degree,
but it is completely unique.
Okay, my last question for youis so you can buy anything,
basically anything.
What's like one thing that youenjoy the most?
That money doesn't?

Iman (01:00:54):
even play a factor in Time spent with my team, time spent
with loved ones, like, listenother, listen other than that's
really what it comes down to now.
I think the reason I work sohard is because I work alongside
people I really enjoy with.
Like I don't know what it'slike to work with people I don't
enjoy working with.
I don't think I'll work as hardif I did.
Uh, and then in terms of otherstuff, like for me it you know

(01:01:14):
you should just use your moneyto spend your money on things
that you find beneficial, likeand that's also why I have so
many wealthy friends.
I don't judge them like as infor me.
Like I don't care about wine.
I have friends of mine thathave multi.
I mean, I have one friend thathas tens of millions of dollars
in wine.
I don't get it.
Do I need to get it?
Does he need to explain himselfto me?

(01:01:34):
Does he need to like?
If it's important to you, it'simportant to you, and as long as
you're financially responsible,who?
Why does my opinion matter?
You know, in the same way, like, whether that be watches or
cars, or like like art, like I'mnot educated enough to
understand art for, whereas forsome people they have tens of
millions of dollars in art andthat's like, that's cool.
I'm not nearly enough educatedto understand art or get it, but

(01:01:56):
like, am I going to judgesomeone because they spend their
money on that?
So for me, there's certainthings that bring value to like.
Honestly, every single night Igo to bed and I have fresh
sheets every night.
I'm very blessed to have a maidthat lives in my house, so all
my places I have fresh sheetsevery night.
Uh, chef, that makes me feelvery, very successful and that

(01:02:18):
makes me feel very, verysuccessful and that makes me
feel far more successful thanany supercar or watch or this or
that.
And then buying for me legacyassets and what I mean by that
is I don't really care about allthe cars and this and that and
whatnot.
You know, when you're like, Ilike having the capital to
deploy on If there's a big moveto be made.

(01:02:39):
I like knowing that I canaction those moves when the time
arises.

If you had to be remembered for one word, what
would that be?
What do you want your legacy toremember?

Iman (01:02:50):
By people that don't know me or people that know me,
because those are two differentthings.

Explain.

Iman (01:02:56):
Listen, people know me.
Like.
Whatever people think they knowof me is none of my concern,
you like.
That's why, like I'm, I don'tget emotional when people like I
think xyz, it's like bro, in anice way, nice way possible.
Would you be offended if Ithought xyz of you?
I don't know you.
I've never spoken like.
You have your assumptions abouta person and you have what you
actually know about a personwhen you spend time with them.

(01:03:17):
So what people think of me interms of legacy from my out, I
could not give From closeproximity.
I think for me it's just youhave to make the people around
you feel loved.
Like for me.
I want people, I want thepeople around me to know that
genuinely, truly, I care aboutthem so deeply and I love them
so deeply.
And I want them as long as theyknow the way that I show it.

(01:03:38):
And what I mean by that iseveryone has a different way
that they show love and I don'tbelieve that a person could be
loving in all 10 different ways,like the thing that makes you
loving.
Like I show my love throughacts of service, like I really
just genuinely, I don't care whoit is, especially you know,
even my team, like I, just I dothings to show people I care.

Man, I want to say a big thank you.
You're a legend.

Iman (01:03:59):
I appreciate you having me on Huge influence on me, man
for the past five, seven yearsin total.

Big thank you, man.

Iman (01:04:04):
You're a legend, Thank you bro.

Thank you man.

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#294 Iman Gadhzi - Behind The Scenes of Iman Gadzhi’s $100M Empire

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#294 Iman Gadhzi - Behind The Scenes of Iman Gadzhi’s $100M Empire