Squirrel!

Good morning!

TKO Bros ain’t gonna work, FYI. I can’t disrespect my female subscribers like that! I got an email from a solid handful of them.

Back to the drawing board…and ideas for me?

What’s new ‘round here?

It’s been a whole lot more of perfume vending machine wheeling and dealing. We are still getting 50-60 leads per day from that video that is now almost 2 weeks old.

We aren’t letting up on the gas pedal on the other projects though. That’s why we have an amazing Chief of Staff. He really is perfect for what we need. Incredibly grateful for you, Kamal!

It’s funny, I’ve been chasing shiny objects for 16 years. My reason for this is because I find it almost impossible to not capitalize on opportunity, either within or outside of the organization I’m running at any given moment.

And after doing that for a while you occasionally come across opportunities that are so perfectly crafted for you based on what you’ve done in the past.

Mining Syndicate was this way, and this perfume vending business seems to be the same. Sales heavy, operations light.

I legitimately think we could sell over $300k in vending machines in August, and I will report back in 5 weeks how that went. Remind me!

We’re working on a $170k order right now, and then a $10k order with another person in the same city! And 12 days ago I knew nothing about perfume vending machines!

I was on a podcast last week and the host asked me the age old question:

Which is better? Focusing on 1 thing or chasing shiny objects?

I know what he expected me to say…and he was a holdco owner too so I know what he wanted me to say. But what I said may have surprised him.

If both options make you enough money to provide a good life for your family without having to work too much, then pick the one that’s more fun.

If I focus on one company I am likely to make more money over my lifetime. But would I enjoy it as much? Would I enjoy continuing to be curious about ideas and opportunities and not doing anything about them?

Of course not!

Before I had made much money, I was much more focused on one thing. That was Phone Restore and then that was LCDcycle.

Maybe on my current path I shake out with an 8 or 9 figure net worth when it’s all said and done. Let’s say $100m.

If I went all in one thing let’s say I could die with $500m or billion dollars. Wow!

The only difference between those 2 is:

1. I enjoyed life less.

2. A few more generations get access to wealth after I die.

But who cares about generational wealth in hundreds of years? Statistically speaking someone will have squandered it by then, anyway. Either way, I want my kids and grandkids and great grandkids to have to work anyway.

So I keep chasing shiny objects.

But here’s the honest truth: Deep down I’ll always worry that it’s the wrong choice. That my reasoning above is job a cop out for not wanting to focus.

But there are all kinds of demons lurking “deep down,” and their voices are small and pestering.

It’s funny how the older I get the more gray I say, both in my hair and in the world. Less black and white, and much more gray. There’s only a handful of absolute truths in the universe, and everything else is situational and subjective.

Can I pivot a bit here?

I imagine I have a few Christians reading this.

I’m about to launch a nonprofit podcast. One that I’ve been wanting to launch for a decade. It’s called “How’d You Do It?” It hasn’t launched yet, I’m just riffin’ here.

I’ll be interviewing Christian parents with kids that are grown and asking them tactical questions about how they raised their kids in the faith. The key word there is tactical.

It will be real, raw and vulnerable. Some kids will have left the faith, and we’ll talk about them too.

I think it would be helpful for millennial parents to hear what worked and what didn’t. There’s no right or wrong answers, right? Every family is unique. But I have been greatly helped in my parenting by hearing tips and tricks from those gone before, and I think it would be helpful to others.

The first batch of interviews will be with parents in the LDS faith that I share, and I don’t yet know if the podcast will stay LDS-focused or not.

Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts on that idea. I feel compelled and driven to launch it. I want to use what I’ve learned in the for-profit world to generate some good that isn’t just profit.

Speaking of podcasts, here’s what has been released lately:

• Me telling my partnership betrayal story

• A holdco bros episode

• Biz ideas episode with Connor gross.

And what’s coming out:

• An interview with The Shelf Dude.

• An interview with a kid that started a $1m junk removal brand as a 15 year old

• Much more.

Links below:

• Youtube

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• Everywhere else

Thanks for reading, y’all.

Chris Koerner
chrisjkoerner