163. He made $750 million, but it almost killed him… ft. Mike Lazerow

The 10 Minute Personal Brand Kickstart (FREE): https://the505podcast.courses/personalbrandkickstart What’s up, Rock Nation! Today we sit down with Mike Lazerow, the founder of Buddy Media, a billion-dollar startup he sold to Salesforce, and the author of Shoveling Sht: A Love Story, one of the realest takes on entrepreneurship you’ll ever read. In this episode, Mike unpacks the hidden cost of success - from nearly dying after scaling too fast, to rebuilding his identity after stepping away from a company worth hundreds of millions. We go deep on why founders burn out, how to avoid it, and the mindset shift that saved his life. We also talk about selling to Salesforce, the early days of Facebook and Instagram, building with Gary Vee, investing in Liquid Death, and his 6-part Go Gauge framework for picking winning startups. If you’re building something big, or thinking about it, this conversation is your warning and your roadmap. Check out Mike here here: https://www.instagram.com/kassandmike/ https://www.youtube.com/@UCgLzz0yep6lUaE5i62zMXTw https://shovelingshit.com/ SUSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER: https://the505podcast.ac-page.com/rock-report The Creator Pricing Guide - The No BS Guide to Pricing Your Creative Services Coupon Code: ROCKNATION10 gets you $10 off at checkout for the boulders https://courses.the505podcast.com/pricing-guide Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/xgEAzkqAvs More Free Products: Our 5 Positioning Tips to Land Bigger Clients (FREE): https://the505podcast.courses/5positioningtips 6 Questions to ask on Every Sales Call (FREE): https://the505podcast.courses/6questionsfordiscoverycall COP THE BFIGGY "ESSENTIALS" SFX PACK HERE: https://courses.the505podcast.com/BFIGGYSFXPACK KG Presets Vol. 1 https://www.kostasgarcia.com/store-1/p/kglightroompresets Kostas’ Amazon Storefront: https://amzn.to/3GhId25 15% OFF Prism Lens FX with code: KOSTAS15 https://bit.ly/42sNdej Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 1:21 - The cost of building a $745 million company 4:24 - prioritizing health 6:58 - Mike’s biggest tradeoffs 7:30 - Mike’s relationship with his father 9:41 - Getting out of your own way 12:46 - The most important trait of a good leader 13:26 - How to fire someone 17:23 - The fuel that drove Mike early on 21:06 - Early days of facebook 23:36 - The common trait of ultra successful entrepreneurs 27:42 - The process of making a book 30:45 - Shoveling sh*t in Central Park 33:00 - The biggest life lesson from Marc Benioff 37:46 - Processing selling Buddy Media for $745 million 40:02 - The challenges of working with your wife 41:50 - Venture Capital is broken 42:36 - Why pizzeria are great business 44:59 - You can’t fire your own kids 46:36 - Go Gauge - 6 steps to determine if Mike invests 49:31 - Not investing in Uber 52:27 - Everyone is born an entrepreneur 53:31 - Investing in Liquid Death 57:06 - Pivoting the revenue model 4 times for Buddy Media 59:44 - Not every business can become a $100 million business 1:01:07 - Pizza business roleplay 1:03:16 - People don’t know how to market 1:04:36 - What founders get wrong with scaling 1:08:00 - Going all in on social media 1:11:17 - How Kass and Mike push each other 1:12:17 - Finding the right business partner 1:14:08 - What makes Kass (Mike’s wife) an amazing entrepreneur 1:18:32 - Tips for becoming a better manager 1:20:10 - Hiring A Players 1:22:16 - How to keep employees motivated 1:24:46 - How to divide equity of a business 1:27:04 - Meeting and working with Gary Vee 1:30:12 - Mike was college roommates with Seth Myers 1:34:04 - Reminiscing on the journey 1:37:36 - Advice to 18 year old self If you liked this episode please send it to a friend and take a screenshot for your story! And as always, we'd love to hear from you guys on what you'd like to hear us talk about or potential guests we should have on. DM US ON IG: (Our DM's are always open!) Bfiggy: https://www.instagram.com/bfiggy/ Kostas: https://www.instagram.com/kostasg95/ TikTok: Bfiggy: https://www.tiktok.com/bfiggy/ Kostas: https://www.tiktok.com/kostasgarcia/