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BigDeal by Codie Sanchez

If I Wanted To Become A Millionaire Creator in 2025, This Is What I’d Do

My new book, Own Or Be Owned, is all about building a business so good it doesn't need you. It's out September 18, grab your ticket to the launch event here: - cs

Codie SanchezhostJon Youshaeiguest

Sep 15, 202540mWatch on YouTube

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CHAPTERS

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Chapter summaries

Building a creator business that scales: right info, right time, no fluff
Codie frames the episode as a practical, step-by-step playbook for making money online and building something that can scale beyond a single personality. She tees up the core tension: big media companies often struggle financially, so creators need a more durable business approach.
- •Codie says people don’t need more information—just the exact right information at the right time
- •She sets the goal of outlining an actionable playbook for making money online and becoming a millionaire in 2025
- •She argues that large media companies often struggle financially and may go under or get bought
- •Codie introduces Jon as a well-known journalist covering creators
- •She emphasizes building a company where she is not the single point of failure
Burnout, the “artist” myth, and the rule-of-thirds mindset for consistency
Codie explains that burnout often comes from lacking processes rather than from creating itself. She challenges the romantic “muse” narrative and offers a mindset framework—expecting cycles of great, neutral, and miserable periods—to keep going through hard stretches.
- •Codie says burnout happens because creators don’t have processes, systems, and people
- •She rejects the idea that great work is ethereal and instead emphasizes consistent effort
- •She argues success isn’t an accident; famous or wealthy people fought for it over time
- •Codie shares a “rule of thirds” framework: great, neutral, and miserable phases cycle
- •She says understanding the cycle helps prevent quitting during a rough period
SOPs as a creator’s superpower: the rule-of-three for documenting work
Codie describes how scaling requires transferring what’s in her head into documented processes so teams can execute without constant clarification. She explains her rule: if something has more than three steps and happens more than three times, they document it as an SOP.
- •Codie says big businesses are built with people, which requires documentation
- •She explains the “rule of three”: more than three steps, done more than three times → write an SOP
- •She calls SOPs her “love language,” underscoring process obsession
- •Jon asks her to define SOP for creators unfamiliar with business operations
- •Codie positions SOPs like a pilot checklist—repeatable and safety-oriented
Making SOPs actually work: podcast checklist, implementation, and the laminated hack
Codie gives a concrete example of a podcast production SOP covering guest prep and on-set steps. She stresses that documentation is useless without implementation and shares a tactic: printing and laminating checklists to avoid phone distractions and ensure compliance.
- •Codie walks through a detailed podcast SOP: guest scheduling, messages, preferences, timing, room setup
- •She says SOPs should be “living, breathing” documents that evolve
- •She emphasizes documents are only as good as implementation—actually using them
- •Codie says phone-based SOPs compete with distractions; physical checklists remove friction
- •She describes having the team print and laminate the SOP so it’s unavoidable during execution
“Mini masterpieces”: quality standards, Picasso lessons, and treating content as a life resume
Codie explains a principle from her internal creed: even internal notes should be high quality. Using Picasso as an analogy, she argues mastery comes from volume and refinement, and that every public artifact contributes to a long-term “resume” online.
- •Jon asks about the creed principle: “Even our notes will be mini masterpieces”
- •Codie cites Picasso’s prolific output and the story of charging for a quick drawing due to decades of practice
- •She frames content creation as many “shots on goal” to reach excellence
- •Codie asks the team to imagine their biggest inspiration seeing only their worst piece
- •She says internet content becomes a permanent life resume, so quality matters
Repurposing system, not vibes: defining “viral,” hooks, and content buckets
Codie outlines how her team operationalizes repurposing podcasts and speeches with detailed checklists. She argues that ideas without plans are just hope, and that “find the viral moment” must be defined through specific buckets like pain points, emotion, credibility, and clarity.
- •Jon asks for Codie’s SOP for repurposing podcast clips and speeches
- •Codie says an idea without a plan is hope, and hope isn’t a strategy
- •She explains creators do everything early, then need help to avoid burnout and focus on unique strengths
- •She says they created detailed setup bullets and defined what “viral” means instead of hand-waving it
- •Codie lists hook buckets: audience pain/desire, emotion, specificity/numbers, quotable motivation, credibility borrowing, and concise delivery
Ruthless editing and respecting attention: cut what isn’t necessary
Codie describes an editorial philosophy: value the audience’s time by removing anything non-essential. She applies this to scripts and even to her book, emphasizing clarity and concision over volume.
- •Codie says she wants to value the audience’s time highly by cutting unnecessary content
- •She describes pushing for large cuts in scripts (e.g., asking if they can cut 30%)
- •She shares that her book was reduced substantially through editing
- •She reiterates the core idea: exact right information at the exact right time and nothing else
- •The editing approach ties back to building repeatable standards for the team’s output
From personal brand to enduring company: aiming for a “21st century media company”
Codie shares a bigger ambition: building a modern media company focused on serving a specific audience while being resilient beyond her personal presence. She says removing herself as the single point of failure unlocks creative expansion into new formats and talent.
- •Codie says she’s trying to build the “21st century media company”
- •She references the gap in where people go for finance news and what they can trust
- •She emphasizes building a lasting company that can exist beyond her time
- •Codie says systems let her team explore documentaries and potentially feature films
- •She reframes scaling as starting with small delegation (like not wanting to edit) and building processes from there
Revenue breakdown across holding company, media, affiliates, and a costly marketplace bet
Codie breaks down where her money comes from, emphasizing that her largest earnings come from her holding company rather than content monetization alone. She also details the media company’s income mix and describes BizScout as a major long-term bet that currently costs money.
- •Codie says her biggest income source is Main Street Holding Company, which does nine figures a year (varying over time)
- •She says Contrarian Thinking (the media company) makes strong eight figures in revenue
- •She mentions sponsorships/partnerships as a meaningful line item and AdSense as relatively small
- •She describes affiliate-style arrangements where they own a portion of a company and get revenue share/distributions
- •She says BizScout currently costs millions and is intended to become a major long-term play
Info products and the case against traditional universities
Codie addresses the stigma around education products and explains why she’s committed to them. She criticizes university economics and argues alternative education can teach practical financial freedom at a fraction of the cost, while acknowledging skepticism due to scammy actors online.
- •Jon asks about courses/info products, pricing tiers, and performance
- •Codie says some people look down on education products and see them as inferior to investing others’ money
- •She criticizes universities as overrated and describes rising costs with flat returns in salaries
- •Codie shares her own experience with an MBA and questions its value outside corporate ladder climbing
- •She frames student-loan debt as a major scam and says her education business is a large part of their revenue
Why “content-only” is a bad business model: deal-making, equity, and distribution
Codie argues media companies historically struggle and that pure attention/information businesses are increasingly fragile, especially as content gets copied and duplicated. She says creators should build equity exposure and recurring value through deal-making rather than relying only on AdSense or even education products.
- •Codie says making money from content alone is a terrible business model and cites large media companies struggling financially
- •She warns content is easily copied and says relevancy will be harder as duplication increases
- •She says creators should think about acquiring businesses, getting equity, and earning distributions over time
- •Codie urges creators to become deal-makers and learn the language of money
- •Jon notes they weigh deals involving equity and cash flow; Codie leans into structuring better deals
Brand deals, affiliates, and “risk transfer”: structuring creator partnerships
Codie breaks down multiple ways creators can structure brand partnerships, from flat fees to revenue share, equity, and profit/distribution participation. She explains how deliverables can be negotiated as inputs or outputs and ties everything back to risk allocation between creator and brand.
- •Codie outlines partnership structures: flat fee, affiliate revenue share, cash plus equity, and versions including distributing equity
- •She explains distributing equity as participating in payouts (distributions) or sharing in profit/revenue
- •Jon reacts to the breakdown as a clearer framework than he’s seen before
- •Codie distinguishes input-based deliverables (posts, lives) from output-based deliverables (views, customers, revenue)
- •She says deal-making is fundamentally about risk transfer: more risk can mean more reward
Hard moments behind the scenes: cash crunches, shutdowns, and responsibility to be truthful
Codie shares examples of stressful business crises, including operational shutdowns and near-insolvency moments, highlighting how fragile businesses can be. She says what keeps her up most is protecting reputation and ensuring truthful, compliant operations, emphasizing creators’ responsibility in a low-trust media environment.
- •Codie describes a payment processor shutting down a company and taking recurring monthly income and user access
- •She recounts turning around a business close to running out of cash, with high stress and firings
- •Codie shares a moment where mismanaged finances nearly left the media business without cash
- •She cites an idea about forgiving mistakes except those that damage reputation, and says integrity is the biggest concern
- •She says creators have a responsibility to tell the truth—or at least not lie—given low trust in media
Standing out in business content: fear of criticism, “show don’t tell,” and curiosity-driven finance storytelling
Codie explains how she handled early fear of being on camera by accepting that even top experts get labeled fakes. She credits differentiation to showing proof on-site, combining the “shiny” and the “shitty,” and following genuine curiosity about costs, cash flow, and how businesses work—while pushing for more open financial literacy.
- •Codie says she was initially scared to be on video despite years in finance and investing
- •She recounts seeing harsh comments about a famous investor and realizing criticism is inevitable
- •Codie describes a “show, don’t tell” approach: filming on-site, asking for specifics, and validating details
- •She emphasizes showing both the appealing parts and the ugly realities of businesses
- •She says her content began from curiosity and a desire to change investing distribution via the internet, and she argues talking plainly about money helps people gain financial literacy

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