Stephen Bartlett

And so my CFO, so it was one of the first people that you're like, oh my God, I hired that person, it changed everything. So my CFO in gym launch had taken four companies from zero to 100 million. She had done over 40 M&A transactions. Her largest one was 5 billion, super experienced. She was at the very end of her career. And she was like, I'll take this one last ride with you guys.

And so, you know, mind you, Layla and I, I'm 26 or 27 at the time. Layla's 23, 24. And we're sitting across the table from a very experienced business person being like, please help us. And so one of the things that she taught me that I will never forget is she said, the grass is always greener on the other side. You just don't know that it's fertilized with shit, right?

And so, you know, mind you, Layla and I, I'm 26 or 27 at the time. Layla's 23, 24. And we're sitting across the table from a very experienced business person being like, please help us. And so one of the things that she taught me that I will never forget is she said, the grass is always greener on the other side. You just don't know that it's fertilized with shit, right?

And so, you know, mind you, Layla and I, I'm 26 or 27 at the time. Layla's 23, 24. And we're sitting across the table from a very experienced business person being like, please help us. And so one of the things that she taught me that I will never forget is she said, the grass is always greener on the other side. You just don't know that it's fertilized with shit, right?

And she's Southern, so she had this deep Southern accent. She's like, there's always shit. Shit everywhere. And so she's like, I've been in enough businesses to know that all businesses have shit. And so you just have the shit you don't know about and the shit you do know about. And you're in this business, and so this is the shit you know.

And she's Southern, so she had this deep Southern accent. She's like, there's always shit. Shit everywhere. And so she's like, I've been in enough businesses to know that all businesses have shit. And so you just have the shit you don't know about and the shit you do know about. And you're in this business, and so this is the shit you know.

And she's Southern, so she had this deep Southern accent. She's like, there's always shit. Shit everywhere. And so she's like, I've been in enough businesses to know that all businesses have shit. And so you just have the shit you don't know about and the shit you do know about. And you're in this business, and so this is the shit you know.

And that has been so profoundly impactful in my life because it was so hard for me to break the cycle, really hard for me. I mean, I gave you my life story of the many businesses that I've been involved in. And so like the entrepreneurial ADD has been so real for me. And I've made some of the biggest career mistakes by just pursuing and splitting my attention between multiple endeavors.

And that has been so profoundly impactful in my life because it was so hard for me to break the cycle, really hard for me. I mean, I gave you my life story of the many businesses that I've been involved in. And so like the entrepreneurial ADD has been so real for me. And I've made some of the biggest career mistakes by just pursuing and splitting my attention between multiple endeavors.

And that has been so profoundly impactful in my life because it was so hard for me to break the cycle, really hard for me. I mean, I gave you my life story of the many businesses that I've been involved in. And so like the entrepreneurial ADD has been so real for me. And I've made some of the biggest career mistakes by just pursuing and splitting my attention between multiple endeavors.

And I can say truthfully that this 2024 was the first year, and this is now 2025, the first time in my life where I haven't experienced FOMO. So fear of missing out. And it was one of those things that I just always had. I would see somebody doing it, and I was like, oh, man, I should be getting into that. I shouldn't be doing this. I should be doing that.

And I can say truthfully that this 2024 was the first year, and this is now 2025, the first time in my life where I haven't experienced FOMO. So fear of missing out. And it was one of those things that I just always had. I would see somebody doing it, and I was like, oh, man, I should be getting into that. I shouldn't be doing this. I should be doing that.

And I can say truthfully that this 2024 was the first year, and this is now 2025, the first time in my life where I haven't experienced FOMO. So fear of missing out. And it was one of those things that I just always had. I would see somebody doing it, and I was like, oh, man, I should be getting into that. I shouldn't be doing this. I should be doing that.

And it was one of those things, kind of like being happy, where you don't realize you're happy. You just look back, and you're like, you know what? That was a really good year. You kind of see it in retrospect. What I realized was that now when I hear someone say, oh, my God, I crushed it with this thing, I think— That's amazing for them. I'm sure there's tons of problems that I don't know about.

And it was one of those things, kind of like being happy, where you don't realize you're happy. You just look back, and you're like, you know what? That was a really good year. You kind of see it in retrospect. What I realized was that now when I hear someone say, oh, my God, I crushed it with this thing, I think— That's amazing for them. I'm sure there's tons of problems that I don't know about.

And it was one of those things, kind of like being happy, where you don't realize you're happy. You just look back, and you're like, you know what? That was a really good year. You kind of see it in retrospect. What I realized was that now when I hear someone say, oh, my God, I crushed it with this thing, I think— That's amazing for them. I'm sure there's tons of problems that I don't know about.

And that's amazing. But I'm going to keep doing this thing because this is the only thing I know how to do pretty well. And I'm just going to keep compounding my information advantage against everybody else who thinks this is easy and wants to get into it. And so I think that that any massive company that you know of has existed for multiple decades.

And that's amazing. But I'm going to keep doing this thing because this is the only thing I know how to do pretty well. And I'm just going to keep compounding my information advantage against everybody else who thinks this is easy and wants to get into it. And so I think that that any massive company that you know of has existed for multiple decades.

And that's amazing. But I'm going to keep doing this thing because this is the only thing I know how to do pretty well. And I'm just going to keep compounding my information advantage against everybody else who thinks this is easy and wants to get into it. And so I think that that any massive company that you know of has existed for multiple decades.

And in order for something to exist for multiple decades, the founder has to stay focused on that thing for the whole time. And I measure focus by the quantity and quality of things that you say no to. And I measure commitment or I define commitment as the elimination of alternatives.