IAM995- Co-founder Teaches Others How to Pursue Entrepreneurship

00:18 - Intro

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share the valuable info you're searching for. This is the I Am CEO podcast.

00:46 - Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Cody Berman of Gold City Ventures. Cody, it's awesome having you on the show. Yeah.

00:54 - Cody Berman

Yeah. Thanks for having me, man. I'm excited to dive into everything business today.

00:58 - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. You're doing, phenomenal things in the entrepreneurship world. And what I wanted to do is just read a little bit more about Cody so you can hear about all those awesome things. And Cody is a cofounder of GoCity Ventures. He is also the co-founder of the Financial Freedom Summit, owner of Fly to Fi, and cohost of the Fi show. He left his corporate banking job at the age of twenty-two to pursue entrepreneurship full-time and now teaches others just exactly how to do the same. Cody, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO  community?

01:22 - Cody Berman

I am ready. Let's do this.

01:23 - Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Let's do it then. So to kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit and hear a little bit more about how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

01:30 - Cody Berman

Yeah. I mean, the first time I knew, and I know in that intro there, I left my corporate banking job when I was twenty-two. But rewind a couple of years, My mom handed me The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss, and I'm sure a lot of people in your audience are familiar with that book. It just revolutionized the way I thought about business, your time, and your money. I was like, wow. You don't have to work at this job making x number of dollars per hour. You can build a business. You can invest in assets. Things that go they're gonna pay you to do nothing essentially. And so once I kinda get that idea that your time and your money don't have to be linearly related, I was just hooked. And that's what kinda just spurred the entrepreneurship bug, started building businesses, some succeeded, some failed, and that's how I'm here today.

02:11 - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. I love that you said that phrase, your time and your money don't have to be linear, I guess, on the same line, so to speak. And you can understand that if you're able to build, like, businesses or even systems, it allows you to to make so much more money than your time would it would normally allow for you to work at a job or even spend time, freelance or whatever that might be.

02:31 - Cody Berman

Yeah. I mean, that was revolutionary, and it wasn't like I know you can eventually. You can make a lot more money doing that type of stuff. Because when you're an entrepreneur, one, you're someone who does build the system or build a business or invest in real estate, whatever the thing is, whatever that asset is that you're building, usually, it's not very big from the start.

Like, when I started, I was making a couple hundred dollars a month, which I was making more at my day job, which is, in commercial real estate lending. But just knowing that I could, at some point, scale those things up to more than that, that was just, like, I could taste the freedom, and it was a crazy freeing feeling.

02:59 - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. And I think that's where so many times I'll say it's a marathon, not a sprint. And if you have that mindset, especially in the beginning, you're planting seeds to grow into those trees and opportunities, and you understand that, you can take more control and have more, impact with your time.

03:13 - Cody Berman

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more, man.

03:15 - Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more and hear about some of the ventures, and the things that you're working on as well. So could you take us through a little bit more about your business ventures?

03:22 - Cody Berman

Yeah. I mean, I guess I'll just quickly sweep through some that have failed and some that have succeeded. So the first one I ever started was I don't know if you ever heard of disc golf before.

03:30 - Gresham Harkless

Disc golf? I don't think so.

03:31 - Cody Berman

It's like ball golf, except you're throwing plastic discs into chains. It's the same thing. There are eighteen holes. There are drivers. There's putters. There are mid-ranges. Like, there is it's pretty much the same thing. It's just different utensils for the sport. So when I was nineteen, I founded a disc golf company. We manufactured the disc, and that was my first taste of entrepreneurship. And Nice. Don't spend as much time on it now as I used to, but man, I learned so many lessons. Like building websites, marketing, and pricing, like how to have a profitable business, made so many mistakes, lost thousands, and made thousands. I mean, it was just a crazy learning opportunity. Fast forward past that one, and I got immersed in the financial independence community.

And I know at the beginning you mentioned my blog, which is Fly to Fi, Financial Independence trying to teach people how to hit financial independence fast, the Fi show, the financial independent show. I just got so immersed in that community. There's all these amazing entrepreneurs, people retiring from corporate America at thirty, and I'm like, woah. Like, real people are doing this. And so I decided to go that way, start writing, start podcasting in that niche, which, yeah, that was just a whole rabbit hole I went down. And now today, I  still have the blog, still got the podcast, although I don't spend as much time on the blog anymore. Ended up meeting a lot of cool people in the community, and that's kind of I'm sure you've I mean, just from having a podcast, met so many amazing people. Linked up with this girl, Julie Berninger, who's the other cofounder of Gold City Ventures, which you introduced me, at the beginning.

And we just started building side hustle courses. We had both made tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars online at that point doing different types of side hustles. And we're like, you know, let's combine, and let's create something that we can give to the masses. So we don't have, like, the one friend is like, how do you get started? And then someone a few months later, how do you get started? And you're just reiterating the same story over and over again. So I ended up launching three courses simultaneously. One on freelancing, one on blogging, and one on creating and selling digital downloads and digital products. Freelancing one failed miserably. I spent hundreds of hours on it. There just wasn't the right marketing angle.

Maybe it was too broad. Don't know. But I just I'd like to say that because it wasn't just a smashing success right off the bat. The blogging course actually, we probably had for nine months, and then there's just so much more demand for that digital download, selling digital products course that we ended up just tabling those first two courses and using all of our efforts to run that one digital downloads printables course. Let's see. What other stuff was I doing? The financial freedom summit was another thing you mentioned. And we can just dive into literally wherever you want after this crash because I'm sure I just unboxed a whole can of worms.

So I went on a book tour with this guy, Grant Sabatier, right after I quit my corporate job. We drove around the entire country and did over eighty events, going to thirty-three states. It was crazy. But after that, we just saw the demand for people wanting to get together, and talk about personal finance, talk about business, entrepreneurship, and how to achieve financial freedom, and ended up creating the financial freedom summit. And so that was slated to happen in person in Saint Louis in May of twenty-twenty. As you know, COVID had other plans for a thousand-person event. Yes.

But, we did end up having a virtual event later that year, and we are still pushing hopefully in twenty twenty-one, late twenty twenty-one or early twenty-twenty-two to have that really big in-person event because, I mean, just I mean, especially after COVID, just like people are missing out on the camaraderie, networking, meeting other people. And I guess the most recent side hustle is I'm so that same guy, Grant, that I wanted the book tour with, he had a website, Millennial Money, that he sold to The Motley Fool pretty recently, and they hired me on as their content manager in December of twenty. So depending on when you're listening to this, it's been in that role for a couple of months. It's awesome meeting a lot of new people, but, yeah, man. Got my hands super full. And real estate's another thing I'm in, but I'll let you ask whatever questions about whatever business you want.

07:05 - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. No. I appreciate you for sharing all that, and I appreciate you for being transparent as well too because I think so many times people don't realize that even from that first business, I appreciate you drilling down and talking about the things that you learned. After all, I think so many times people think people flip a switch and then they become successful, but there's a progression to it. And even if things don't go the way we want them to go, there are often some C's that we can kinda learn from to help us in the next venture and the next venture and the next venture.

07:29 - Cody Berman

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I would never even be close to where I am if I didn't just start that first venture. And even, like, there are businesses I tried to create and failed. Like, I tried to create a tutoring business when I was in college. I tried to create, like, a custom clothing line when I was in college too and just, like, got into the weeds and it was just too much for me. So definitely not all smashing successes, but once you pile those failures, like, if each failure is just like an inch and you have a hundred failures, like, you're gonna be standing pretty high after you learn all those lessons.

07:52] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. I started a tutoring business as well too, and it's not something I talk about now. So it's not a smash of success as you said. But it's so funny. Like, there's a quote by I think Robert Kiyosaki said it where he says nine out of ten businesses fail, so he decided to start ten businesses because he knew that I would fail. And, again, it gives you that inch of progression towards where you wanna be.

08:10 - Cody Berman

Yeah. I couldn't agree with that quote more. I think, like, a lot of people ask, you know, what's the number one thing you need to learn or what skill you need to harbor to be a successful entrepreneur? It's just getting up from failures, man. Like, if you can't handle failure, then you will not be a successful entrepreneur because you will fail so many more times than you're successful. But if you can take those failures and craft them, learn lessons from them, and then iterate and make your businesses better and, you know, create that next awesome business, that is how you're gonna be a successful CEO, successful business owner, entrepreneur.

08:39 - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. I appreciate you for sharing that. And so I was gonna ask you for what I call your secret sauce, and this could be for yourself or your businesses or a combination of both. But do you feel it's that ability to be okay with the failure or even understand that that is the way to success? Do you feel that that is what sets you apart and makes you unique?

08:54 - Cody Berman

That's one of them. But honestly, I think my secret sauce is networking or giving before I get it. That is something that has stood the test of time with just me leveling up my businesses, and leveling up myself as an entrepreneur. A lot of these businesses that I'm talking about like the Gold City Ventures, the Financial Freedom Summit, going in the book tour with that guy. I am a giver before I'm a getter definitely when it comes to business. If I see someone who's successful, if I see someone who I wanna work with, I approach with, hey, how can I help you?

Like, I'll help you. I'll do this thing for free for you. I just wanna learn like dude or girl whoever I'm talking to, like you're crushing it. I just wanna learn from you. I wanna work with you. That's honestly how it kinda unfolded for those two things. I had reached out to that guy Grant Sabatier who I wanted the book tour with. He was crushing it. He retired at thirty and I'm like dude, like just let me help you. Like I'll work for you for free. Now we're good friends. He's hooked me up with multiple different ventures like starting companies together. 

09:45] - Gresham Harkless

Super cool. I appreciate that. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

09:56 - Cody Berman

Outsourcing. And this is something that I was so hesitant to do because I'm a very perfectionist type of entrepreneur. Like, I always want everything to be perfect. I spend when we first started podcasting, I would spend four hours editing my podcast. It would be like a forty-five to an hour-long podcast. So I'm like, this is insane. But I was just like such a perfectionist. I've slowly started to let those perfectionist tendencies go because I don't know who to attribute this quote to but done is better than perfect and that is the truest thing ever. But man, I started outsourcing in a lot of my more successful businesses like outsourcing email, outsourcing social media, outsourcing editing, outsourcing content creation where it makes sense.

But once I started getting those systems in place I was like why didn't I do this three years prior? Like, if you can give someone solid instruction, if you can, you know, record a video using some screen share software, show them exactly what you're doing. I mean, people are pretty smart. They pick things up pretty fast. And kind of like I was saying before, if you do want perfection, you're not going to get it. But you will get ninety-nine percent of the way there. And if that can free up 10:20, thirty, or forty hours a week for you, and you can be more productive, you can focus more on the high-value activities in your business or whatever the thing might be.

Man, outsourcing has changed my life and maybe just so much more effective. Allowed me to step out of the business, look from a thirty thousand foot view instead of being in the day-to-day, and not being able to focus on the more visionary things. I forget also another cool I can't attribute to, but it was saying you can't see the label on the jar if you're sitting you're standing inside. If you're always constantly working, you can never see what the outward look of your business is, and you can't iterate and change that and, you know, be a visionary and focus on, like you said, the marathon. You're focusing on the sprint because you're just trying to get this stuff done week after week after week. So outsourcing is one hundred percent.

11:35 - Gresham Harkless

I truly appreciate that hack. And so I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. And that could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client or if you happen to be a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

11:47 - Cody Berman

I was gonna do the failure one, but I have a better one. It's okay to quit something, and that might seem counterintuitive and, you're working kinda like the freelance course. I worked a hundred-plus hours on that course for creating videos. We paid a decent amount of money to get the videos edited and get everything together, and just it wasn't popular. And that's okay. Like, you need to learn to know when to quit. Now, you know, some people could take this the wrong way, but there are I'm sure your audience is a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of CEOs, business owners, people who just don't want to give up on that idea that they thought was gonna be a million dollar idea and it just isn't.

For some reason, the way you packaged it, the audience just isn't there. It's not the right time for this thing. So knowing when to hang up the towel is that's a superpower. If you can kinda figure out and pivot and figure out like how you can make money, how this business venture, this product, or this service, this idea can be successful, man, you're gonna save yourself so much time, so much energy working on something that it's a dead end. There's there's nowhere to go.

12:42 - Gresham Harkless

Nice. I appreciate that. And so I want to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're open to having different, quote-unquote, CEOs on the show. So, Cody, what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:53 - Cody Berman

I think being a CEO is being a leader not in that you can tell other people what to do, but, you know, show people. Like, I think the best way to teach is by example one hundred percent. So even if you are outsourcing, I mean, you already have to have developed an awesome system yourself and you record it and you send the instructions out, like, whatever that might be.

So to be successful in what I think it means to be a CEO is, to be a leader, but to be a leader by example. Don't be a leader because you can just tell other people what to do. And hopefully, it works out. But be a leader because you are you have all these tried and true methods. You're the one who's, taking in these failures, developing the right systems, and then turning those into a successful business or a successful venture.

13:30] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. And then it reminds me of, there's I think it was something I saw on Instagram where there's an image of there's a difference between a leader and a boss, and a boss is somebody that's saying, oh, you need to do x y z and, you need to follow what I am because I'm, you know, whatever title that there might be. But I think when you're a leader, you are, quote-unquote, being the change that you wish to see in the world, and you're not just, hoping to create that. You're doing that yourself and people are kinda emulating what you're doing because you're creating that energy. So I think when you tap into that, not only does it affect us as leaders, but it also affects so many people that we come across with it come across as well.

14:01 - Cody Berman

I think even being, like, the CEO of your life, and I'm just thinking of some examples of, you know, you do have to embody whatever you're teaching. Like, I know so many of us have had the health teacher in middle school or grade school whatever that's overweight and that smokes. And, like, you're not gonna take advice from that person because they're not healthy or, like, if you're hiring a personal trainer and they're super overweight or skinny and you're trying to, like, bulk up, you're probably not gonna take advice for them because they're not embodying what they're trying to teach you.

Or someone who's teaching you SEO and doesn't have any successful websites or a history of knowing anything about SEO, you're not gonna hire that person. So I do think the proof is in the pudding. And if you do wanna be a leader, if you wanna attract other smart people if you wanna collaborate and create a successful business, create these networking partners, you have to walk the walk and talk the talk. I think that's so important in business.

14:50 - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. And I think it's something that we all should keep in mind as well. I think I read something or I know he came to speak to a class I was in too, Kevin Flynn who started Under Armour. And he said when he first started Under Armour, he said he was out of shape, and he started to think like, okay. I'm selling, you know, all of this fitness stuff, but I'm out of shape. So I just have to get my butt in line so I can make sure that I am a perfect steward for what it is that I'm creating.

So I think that's right in line with what you said is, you know, b, what you're preaching and b, what you say that other people should do as well too because people are watching and following you if you're, perfectly in alignment. So, Cody, truly appreciate that definition. I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know, and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on. 

15:34 - Cody Berman

Yeah. So, I mean, like I mentioned before, I do have my hands in all the different buckets. But I guess since you are listening to a podcast or watching this YouTube video wherever you're coming from, definitely check out my podcast, the Fi Show, the financial independent show where I know you talk a lot about business and entrepreneurship. We talk a lot more about personal finance and obviously, we do tie in entrepreneurship and whatnot. But it's really interesting to hear people who are retiring in their twenties or thirties or just doing amazing things. So definitely check me out on the phi show. Fly to phi, my blog is kind of my hub where you can find the courses. You find the Financial Freedom Summit and all the other stuff. So I guess that's enough. I won't throw ten URLs in here.

16:05- Gresham Harkless

Take it easy. Yeah. Well, I would appreciate that, Cody. We will have the links and information in the show notes just in case we could put those other eight on, in the show notes. We will do that as well too. But I'm always reminded of the quote, success leaves clues. So I appreciate you for for providing a platform for those people to kinda understand and hear about the success of others so that they can implement that and put that in, to their businesses and into their lives. So truly appreciate you again, my friend, and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

16:29 - Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.