Do you feel torn between the company you have and the one you wish you had? In this episode, Dan Sullivan reveals The Second Company Secret—how successful entrepreneurs leverage their first (real) company to fuel a second (multiplier) company built on intellectual property. Discover how to eliminate tension between the two, protect your creativity, and unlock exponential growth.

Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why your real company frustrates you.
• Why your imaginary company seems perfect.
• What you can do with the new Second Company Secret thinking tool.
• What you’ll come to realize if you closely examine your two companies.

Show Notes:

Entrepreneurs often undervalue their real company while idolizing an imagined “perfect” version.

Your real company isn’t the problem—your thinking about it is.

Your most creative breakthroughs feel tied to this unrealized vision, but it lacks traction.

Your second company allows you to see the value of your first company.

You could be making money at one company while still resenting how much of your time it takes up.

Your second company thrives through collaboration, not through your time and effort.

Structure and partners are non-negotiable—they’re the multipliers of your vision.

You bring the vision and capabilities, and your partners bring the reach.

When your second company succeeds, it fuels even greater creativity and innovation in your first.

The solutions you create are your intellectual property. Take steps to protect them.

Resources:

Unique Ability®

The V.C.R. Formula

Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn’t Show On The Front Stage

What Is An Impact Filter?

Are you prepared for the biggest economic shift in 80 years? In this episode, Dan Sullivan reveals how the new global tariff landscape creates unprecedented opportunities for agile entrepreneurs. Learn why the post-WWII economic order is over, how to adapt your business model, and why being alert, curious, and resourceful is the secret to success in this emerging era.

Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:

• The real history behind today’s tariffs—and why it matters for your business.
• How WWII transformed the U.S. economy into a global powerhouse.
• Why the U.S. dollar leads world trade (and why that’s changing).
• Why the U.S. Navy started protecting trade routes around the world.
• Five critical strategies every entrepreneur must adopt now.
• A simple framework to help clients regain confidence in uncertain times.
• Why China faces unprecedented challenges in this new era.

Show Notes:

On April 3, the U.S. announced tariffs of 10% for most countries, with higher rates for nations with significant trade imbalances.

Post-WWII, the U.S. economy was self-sufficient, yet other countries charged tariffs on U.S. goods while enjoying tariff-free access to American markets.

One-sided tariffs led American corporations to offshore factories, costing U.S. jobs and prosperity.

Trump’s tariffs are a negotiation tactic to reset unfair trade terms and bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

China’s current trade practices make it the primary target of aggressive tariffs (now 125%).

U.S. companies abroad face tariffs unless they relocate production home—creating a surge in domestic opportunities for entrepreneurs.

You want to be the buyer in every negotiation. The buyer is the one who can walk away from the table.

The United States is the best place to sell a product created anywhere in the world because it has the most customers.

Tariffs aren’t about fairness. They’re about trade.

Entrepreneurs are skilled at responding very quickly to new dangers and new opportunities and developing new strengths in the process.

Global supply chains are fracturing, forcing businesses to source locally and regionally.

During uncertain times, people feel as though they’ve lost their future.

You can help clients and customers rebuild confidence in their future by focusing on their dangers, opportunities, and strengths (D.O.S.®).

The 1945–1992 economic order was a historical anomaly, and we won’t see anything like it again.

AI reduces labor costs (and creates new opportunities for entrepreneurs as a result).

Resources:

Perplexity

Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump and Tony Schwartz

The D.O.S. Conversation® by Dan Sullivan

The Great Meltdown by Dan Sullivan

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz

What if leadership isn’t about titles, but about creating new capabilities others can observe? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller break down the shift from bureaucratic management to self-leadership in the networked economy. Learn the four-step process to transform uncertainty into confidence—and why focusing on problems is the death of innovation.

Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:

• The four-step process that always makes you an inspiring leader.
• Why a goal isn’t a destination.
• The big difference between a role and a job.
• Why there are no orders in the network economy.
• How Dan is finally revealing his process in a new book.
• Why unique skills are generally wasted in bureaucracies.

Show Notes:

Self-leadership starts with creating new capabilities—not waiting for permission.

Anytime you’re doing something that creates a new capability, and other people observe you doing that, that's leadership.

Your activity of creating a new capability gives others the confidence that they too can have the courage to create a new capability.

The pandemic created a network economy.

Great technologies like Zoom have enabled people to work remotely.

Many management activities within a company can now be handled by apps.

Bureaucracies punish boundary-crossing, while networked teams reward it.

When people get possessive about their territory, it shuts down creativity.

Instead of trying to fix problems (or worse, just complaining about them), create solutions that make problems irrelevant.

Confidence comes after courage—not the other way around.

Resources:

Growing Great Leadership by Dan Sullivan

The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan

The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller

Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy

The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan