When Do You Push Through Pain and When Do You Walk Away? — Transcript

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1. 0:00Bien, Dima. Que pasa?
2. 0:02>> I recently moved here
3. 0:04from the Boston area and I decided to
4. 0:07diversify my portfolio and open a health
5. 0:09restaurant and lifestyle brand here. So
6. 0:12>> Are you in Madrid?
7. 0:14>> I am in Valencia.
8. 0:16>> Valencia, okay.
9. 0:17>> Yeah, Valencia. So there's definitely a
10. 0:19gap for the health market here, so
11. 0:21that's something I definitely jumped on.
12. 0:22I saw the location of the space and then
13. 0:24kind of created the business plan after
14. 0:26that.
15. 0:26>> Okay.
16. 0:27>> So it's like Sweetgreen meets Erewhon,
17. 0:29but with a huge Spanish terrace. So
18. 0:31>> Okay.
19. 0:32>> It's been really good. We've had collabs
20. 0:33with Porsche, Hyrox, all the wellness
21. 0:35brands in the area.
22. 0:37>> But we're getting all the things that
23. 0:38restaurants have to happen in 1 month.
24. 0:41So we've had a kitchen fire, I've had
25. 0:43managers punch my employees in the face,
26. 0:45I've had employees say that this is
27. 0:47their culture and they don't like to
28. 0:48work hard and that I'm American, I have
29. 0:51too high of expectations.
30. 0:53Um the dishwasher can break on the
31. 0:55weekend and it's a Saturday, so they
32. 0:57don't work on the weekend, so your
33. 0:58dishwasher can't get fixed until Monday.
34. 1:00>> Mhm.
35. 1:00>> Um the list honestly keeps going on,
36. 1:02every day it's something. I feel like
37. 1:05with my American work ethic is super
38. 1:07difficult to feel supported in this
39. 1:09country and the shock I definitely have
40. 1:12a high pain tolerance.
41. 1:14Um and I feel like I wish I could say to
42. 1:16my head every day about you can suffer,
43. 1:18suffering is normal, it's part of the
44. 1:19process. But I feel like I'm at my end's
45. 1:22wit with this. So my question for you is
46. 1:26going to be given how you talk about how
47. 1:28failure and suffering are mandatory for
48. 1:30success, where do you draw the line
49. 1:32between differentiating that suffering
50. 1:34and failure and the suffering that you
51. 1:36need to push through to get to that
52. 1:37success?
53. 1:38>> Great question. Um it's whether you push
54. 1:40or you pivot, which is an eternal
55. 1:41question for entrepreneurs, which is
56. 1:44um somewhat personal, but I would say
57. 1:45from an objective perspective you
58. 1:49is there a fundamental assumption of the
59. 1:51original business model that has been
60. 1:52disproven?
61. 1:53If there's no fundamental assumption
62. 1:54that underpins how demand and the
63. 1:56monetization works,
64. 1:57then I would say that things are hard.
65. 2:00If it's the wrong kind of hard, which is
66. 2:02that like no one's buying the thing, no
67. 2:04one like I thought doggie skateboards
68. 2:06was going to be a a big business and it
69. 2:07doesn't turn out to be, that's not one
70. 2:09where I push it. So, like I do not try
71. 2:10to push where there is no demand. If
72. 2:12there is demand and then things suck,
73. 2:14that's where we have to just like take
74. 2:15it one step at a time and just like
75. 2:17breathe and just solve one problem at a
76. 2:19time. I'm sorry about the the kitchen
77. 2:21fires, that sucks. In terms of the
78. 2:22employee punching the other employee, I
79. 2:24don't know what they said. We got to
80. 2:25We've got to hear both sides, you know?
81. 2:27What did What did you know? What did she
82. 2:29say? I don't know, right?
83. 2:31>> They got knocked out, so you know, it's
84. 2:33just another day in the restaurant.
85. 2:34>> Yeah. Um I 100% uh recognize the issue
86. 2:38with the work ethic piece. I think the
87. 2:40way that you should see it is that
88. 2:41you're going to have to kiss a lot more
89. 2:42toads to find someone who's willing to
90. 2:43work.
91. 2:44Um it's not that the work ethic there is
92. 2:47uh not present, it's just that it's
93. 2:48rarer. Uh because it is your right, it
94. 2:51is absolutely cultural norm. When I
95. 2:52lived in France, which I did, um
96. 2:55I I I mean,
97. 2:57I can appreciate the country, but I
98. 2:59[ __ ] love America. Um and I was like,
99. 3:02this is insane. I get off at work at
100. 3:045:00 and all stores close at 5:00. How
101. 3:06the [ __ ] do you buy anything here? Like
102. 3:08>> Can't eat on a Sunday, you can't.
103. 3:10>> Yeah, it was ridiculous. I I hated it. I
104. 3:12hated everything and I just wanted to go
105. 3:14home.
106. 3:15Um and so I 100% understand. I was like,
107. 3:17all you'd have to do if you want to
108. 3:18compete in this country is just be open.
109. 3:20That's all you'd have to do, just be
110. 3:21open.
111. 3:22>> [laughter]
112. 3:23>> Um and so I think you're encountering
113. 3:25that. I think what you should look for
114. 3:27is that you should be very aggressive in
115. 3:28terms of how you're advertising to get
116. 3:29employees and then state very clearly
117. 3:32um that this is the working environment.
118. 3:34This is an American culture. And one of
119. 3:36the nice things with American cultures
120. 3:37is that we also win.
121. 3:40And I think there's going to be a
122. 3:40certain percentage and it's and to be
123. 3:42fair, and this is really important,
124. 3:43winning isn't for everyone.
125. 3:45It is the nature of winning that is it
126. 3:47ex- it is exclusionary by definition.
127. 3:50And so it means that you'll have to talk
128. 3:51to more people in order to find people
129. 3:53with winning characteristics and who who
130. 3:55are attracted to winning behaviors.
131. 3:57And so, I agree with you that mediocre
132. 3:59people in a country that has a mediocre
133. 4:02economy, just measured by GDP, um
134. 4:06you're going to have a a higher
135. 4:07prevalence of mediocre work work ethic.
136. 4:10But, I do not think by any means that
137. 4:11that represents every person in the
138. 4:13country. It just means that you'll have
139. 4:14to do more of them. Because what is your
140. 4:15alternative right now?
141. 4:20>> Me working and working my consulting job
142. 4:22to fund it and yeah, doing it all. So,
143. 4:25that's not possible.
144. 4:26>> Right. So, you can't really leave right
145. 4:29now. Right? So, I mean like let's
146. 4:31actually walk through the actual doors.
147. 4:33Door one is that you could lose your
148. 4:35savings, shut it down, right? And then
149. 4:37have bankruptcy in Spain. I don't even
150. 4:39know how that works, right? But, there's
151. 4:41some version of that in Spain. That's
152. 4:43option one.
153. 4:44Um
154. 4:45option two is you you know, make it
155. 4:48work.
156. 4:49All right? Option three is that you sell
157. 4:51it at a loss, which is similar to number
158. 4:52one, but just you probably recoup
159. 4:54something.
160. 4:55Um
161. 4:56is there like what would you do if you
162. 4:58didn't do this? Do you still like the
163. 4:59business?
164. 5:01Like the idea of the business?
165. 5:02>> Yeah. I think playing into like the
166. 5:04health factor definitely makes this feel
167. 5:06like just a space for me to have like
168. 5:08grow my community, being a foreigner and
169. 5:10having a place where everybody comes and
170. 5:13cares about their health, meets for
171. 5:14workouts and stuff. So, I do find the
172. 5:16passion when I'm able to shift my focus
173. 5:18into that, but I feel like my focus is
174. 5:20completely on catching up on the next
175. 5:23fire of the day that I'm really losing
176. 5:24that.
177. 5:25>> Yeah.
178. 5:26Um
179. 5:29What do you want to do?
180. 5:32>> Good question. I don't have a brain
181. 5:33today.
182. 5:34I think that I want to push through,
183. 5:36but I'm being told by a lot of people
184. 5:38that I've endured enough, but
185. 5:40>> Well, okay, hold on.
186. 5:42>> to you and I really I know what my
187. 5:44answer is, so I just need some
188. 5:46validation.
189. 5:47>> Well, let
190. 5:48I this is this is really good. I'm glad
191. 5:49you said that. Um the people who told
192. 5:52you that you have suffered enough,
193. 5:55have those people accomplished the goals
194. 5:57that you have want to accomplish?
195. 5:59>> One is my business partner,
196. 6:01unfortunately.
197. 6:03>> Well, that's that person is the question
198. 6:05was have the people that are telling you
199. 6:06that accomplished the goals that you
200. 6:08want?
201. 6:08>> No, the answer is no. But yeah, it's
202. 6:10hard to be in that environment every day
203. 6:12and have that in your ear.
204. 6:13>> I totally understand. I think that it
205. 6:15would be worthwhile for you. So, you
206. 6:16have two options there. Either you can
207. 6:17not talk about work with those people
208. 6:19because they're going to piss on it.
209. 6:22Um
210. 6:23or you just don't see them in general
211. 6:25because they're not helping.
212. 6:26>> Um they're my partner in the project.
213. 6:28>> So, it's just this one partner. Well, I
214. 6:30mean, the question I mean, this is real,
215. 6:33right? This is real.
216. 6:35Um
217. 6:36I think you have to have a conversation.
218. 6:37Like I think you need a real
219. 6:38conversation. And so, what's your
220. 6:40partner's name?
221. 6:42>> Philip.
222. 6:43>> Was it?
223. 6:44>> Philip.
224. 6:45>> Philip. All right, got it.
225. 6:47Um
226. 6:48One of the things that makes So, this is
227. 6:50partially addressed to Philip, but also
228. 6:51partially addressed to all the other
229. 6:52business, you know, partners out there.
230. 6:55Um
231. 6:56the people who succeed in life are
232. 6:57delusional optimists. And part of being
233. 6:58a delusional optimist is that you have
234. 7:00to ignore reality to some degree, which
235. 7:02means that you have to through a fire
236. 7:04see that things are going to be pure
237. 7:05afterwards and we're going to start
238. 7:07fresh and we're going to make it exactly
239. 7:08the way we want it, right? Uh through an
240. 7:11altercation, you're going to be able to,
241. 7:12you know, clean house and reset the the
242. 7:14cultural standards. Like, whenever, you
243. 7:16know, things don't go your way, there's
244. 7:18always a narrative that makes it work
245. 7:20for you. And so, there's the classic
246. 7:22story of the, you know, the the
247. 7:23Buddhist, uh you know, the wise man and
248. 7:25and and the and the child where uh you
249. 7:28know, hey, uh a baby is born.
250. 7:31Uh you know, he's going to have a
251. 7:32blessed life. The wise man says, "We'll
252. 7:34see." And then they uh you know, buy the
253. 7:37kid a horse and they said, uh
254. 7:39you know,
255. 7:40"We'll see uh whether it's good or bad."
256. 7:42Then the kid falls from the horse and
257. 7:43they say, "Oh, everything's [ __ ] now."
258. 7:45He says, "We'll see." And then, the army
259. 7:46comes and recruits is going to go
260. 7:48recruit the kid, uh but he can't because
261. 7:50he has a a bad leg. He says, "We'll
262. 7:52see." And so, the issue is that like
263. 7:54there's a framing for every single
264. 7:55situation that is both positive and
265. 7:57negative, and I think the people who are
266. 7:58entrepreneurs are able to always frame
267. 8:00something that would appear negative to
268. 8:02most people as something that is
269. 8:03positive or an opportunity, right? And
270. 8:06so, you never want to waste a crisis is
271. 8:08one of the one of the first rules of
272. 8:09marketing. And so, you have a lot of
273. 8:11crises. And the thing is that at the end
274. 8:12of the day, what story do you want to
275. 8:14tell when you're older?
276. 8:16Like that you persevered or that you you
277. 8:17quit when it got hard. And if you really
278. 8:19do believe in the business, like the
279. 8:20thing that I ask up front is like, is
280. 8:22there demand? Do people actually like
281. 8:23this? Are you making money? And these
282. 8:25are one-time expenses um and they're
283. 8:27just emotional conveniences? Um like
284. 8:30would the business be making money if
285. 8:31you didn't have these, call it, one-off
286. 8:33whatevers?
287. 8:35>> Yeah, I definitely feel that I've
288. 8:36created a community here. I have some
289. 8:37like wallets, and I'm in cards in your
290. 8:40wallet. So, I have about like 100 to 200
291. 8:42regulars that come about three or four
292. 8:44times a week. So, it's definitely and
293. 8:46we're hitting we're on track for about
294. 8:481.5 million this first year.
295. 8:49>> Are you going to make money? Like
296. 8:50outside of the the kitchen fire or
297. 8:52whatever, but like will the business
298. 8:53make money?
299. 8:54>> After year one, yeah, we should be
300. 8:55netting about 20k a month.
301. 8:57>> Okay. Was that like was making that like
302. 9:00a goal that you had?
303. 9:02>> This is kind of just like my passion
304. 9:04project. I have
305. 9:05uh properties, and I have my retirement
306. 9:07funds completed. So, yeah, this is my
307. 9:09fun thing.
308. 9:10>> Well, if it's a passion project, then
309. 9:11you never did it for the money to begin
310. 9:13with. And so,
311. 9:14>> Right.
312. 9:14>> I mean,
313. 9:15like beautiful things come from chaos.
314. 9:19Like and I don't even think you'd care
315. 9:20for it as much if you if it came easy.
316. 9:23>> I agree.
317. 9:24>> Right?
318. 9:26And so, like that's what makes things
319. 9:27worth doing worth doing is that no one
320. 9:29else does them, which is why they're
321. 9:30worth doing.
322. 9:32>> Amen.
323. 9:33>> Right. So, I think that there's probably
324. 9:35a conversation that has to happen with
325. 9:36Philip, which is like listen, this is my
326. 9:37viewpoint of the world.
327. 9:39Um
328. 9:40and in order for this project to be
329. 9:42successful, we both need to be
330. 9:43delusionally opti- optimistic. You've
331. 9:44already obviously cracked something cuz,
332. 9:46you know, you're you're you're you're
333. 9:47pacing 1.5 and you're in your first year
334. 9:50for a restaurant, really good. Um
335. 9:52so like that's first year, like next
336. 9:55year might do three or might do two and
337. 9:56a half. And if it does that, like you'll
338. 9:57be really making money, right? Um
339. 10:00and so it's just like I like I would
340. 10:02give him instructions on how you would
341. 10:04like him to behave. Meaning
342. 10:06when bad things happen, I would prefer
343. 10:08if you did this instead of this.
344. 10:09Like when I like and also it's on you,
345. 10:12too, which is that you need to reward
346. 10:13him for not being
347. 10:15negative. And also, you can't start it.
348. 10:17Meaning if you
349. 10:19complain, you are starting the cycle.
350. 10:23So just stop complaining to him because
351. 10:24on some level you might say those things
352. 10:27and then he reinforce that loop with you
353. 10:29and then you feel bad afterwards.
354. 10:33>> Right. Yeah, I know I'm definitely
355. 10:35totally fine with the suffering that I
356. 10:36don't feel that I'm complaining. I think
357. 10:38it's like an outside view of looking at
358. 10:40me and being like how does someone do
359. 10:41this? Like I'm Spanish. We take naps.
360. 10:45Why are you not napping today? It's like
361. 10:47>> we must persevere.
362. 10:49>> Well, yeah, and I think there's probably
363. 10:50a conversation there where it's like
364. 10:51hey, if you want, like
365. 10:53why don't you just go down to being a
366. 10:5425% partner, I'll be 75% you have to
367. 10:56worry about it. Like I think you I think
368. 10:58you do need to have a partnership
369. 10:59conversation because it's going to
370. 11:00become an issue, especially if you have
371. 11:01differences. Like part of the issue you
372. 11:02have with the employees is that one of
373. 11:04the owners is not modeling what good
374. 11:05looks like.
375. 11:06Right? So if they look at the hard
376. 11:07working one and the not hard working
377. 11:08one, they're going to pick the one the
378. 11:09pick the view of the world that they
379. 11:10prefer, which is going to be the not
380. 11:11hard hard working one.
381. 11:15>> I get you.
382. 11:15>> Right? So I do think you need it like I
383. 11:17actually don't think you have a business
384. 11:19problem, I think you have a partner
385. 11:19problem.
386. 11:23>> Yeah, definitely.
387. 11:24>> Like did you did you expect this to be
388. 11:26fast, easy, and risk-free?
389. 11:30>> Not at all. I know that I am exactly
390. 11:32where I'm supposed to be right now.
391. 11:33>> Right. And this is what hard feels like.
392. 11:35And so, it is exactly what you expected.
393. 11:38It's just this is what it feels like and
394. 11:39it always feels different for every
395. 11:40person. Um and so, I think that you just
396. 11:42need to have that conversation with
397. 11:43Philip. And then you need to look at
398. 11:44what next steps look like, which is
399. 11:45either like you behave in this way and
400. 11:47that is like what we need in order to
401. 11:49succeed. And if you don't want to do
402. 11:50that, I understand that and let's come
403. 11:51up with an exit plan for you.
404. 11:56>> Okay.
405. 11:57>> Which might mean that like if you put
406. 11:58cash into it, that you pay him by
407. 12:00planning back out almost as like a bank
408. 12:02note fundamentally and then you just pay
409. 12:03him over five years or three years or
410. 12:04whatever. And then he doesn't have to
411. 12:06participate in the downside and you're
412. 12:07like, "Listen, I'll take all the risk
413. 12:08back over, but I get all the upside."
414. 12:09And that's the trade.
415. 12:12Cool?
416. 12:13>> Yep.
417. 12:13>> All right. Appreciate you.
418. 12:16>> Cool. Thank you so much, Alex.
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