By playing, you agree to uListen's Terms and Privacy Policy and YouTube's Terms of Service.

BigDeal by Codie Sanchez

Your Ego Is Keeping You Poor | Bill Perkins

My new book, “Own Or Be Owned”, is all about building a business so good it doesn't need you. More profit, less pain. It's out NOW. Grab it here!

Bill PerkinsguestCodie Sanchezhost

Jan 29, 202546mWatch on YouTube

Summaries, chapters, transcripts, and FAQs on this page are made by uListen, not YouTube.

Great conversations run long. Their best ideas don't have to.

uListen is free on iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome, and Claude.

CHAPTERS

Jump to publisher timestamps

Chapter summaries

Ego Over Ambition: Why Codie Needed to Think Bigger
Codie previews the episode and introduces Bill Perkins. She tells the story of walking at his house, where he asked whether investing in small business had let small thinking infect her ideas. She says that kind of honest pushback is rare.
- •Bill's opening claim: many people fear looking like an idiot more than they fear financial risk
- •Codie promises talk about decisions, blind spots and getting impressive people to bet on you
- •Bill asked whether small had infected her thinking when she pitched her idea
- •Codie says few people will tell you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear
Why Speed and Action Matter
Codie asks Bill how he thinks about speed and knowing whether you're moving fast enough. Bill says money is easy to find and the scarce thing is an executable idea. He argues that life is urgent and that moving quickly toward your dreams is how you take them seriously.
- •Bill says he wants to hold Codie accountable to her best self, not crush her dreams
- •Plenty of rich people want to back executors and are willing to fund them
- •Bill asks what would exist if Codie had acted on the idea three years sooner
- •Speed means action toward your dreams, not running in circles
- •Bill says willingness to take risk and move quickly are his only advantages
The Last Cowboy: Ego Risk vs. Financial Risk
Codie raises the Wall Street Journal's "last cowboy" label for Bill. He argues that educated, ambitious people face essentially no financial risk when starting a business, only ego risk. He adds that people love a failure because it validates their own cowardice, and he shares his own failed projects.
- •Bill explains the "last cowboy" nickname as willingness to take risks and love the process
- •Educated, intelligent people can get a job anywhere, so they face zero real financial risk
- •What stops people is not wanting to be a waiter or look like an idiot
- •People love a failure because it validates their own unpursued dreams
- •Bill lost $10 million on a failed El Salvador LNG project and another one failed in California
How Bill Chooses What to Pursue
Codie asks how Bill decides which idea is worth the risk. Bill says there is a millionaire in every field. He looks at consistency, alignment with his values and mission, and whether he can get people aligned to execute.
- •There is a millionaire in every field, from shoe lasting to pizza to energy
- •He asks whether he'll be consistent and whether it aligns with his values and mission
- •He asks whether he can get people aligned who will execute
- •Bill describes himself as the vision guy who moves fast, takes risks and stays curious
- •If he enrolls people in his vision, he says he can get rich in any business
Building Teams: Visionary and Operator
Codie asks how Bill found Omar, who is very different from him. Bill describes enrolling him by offering the freedom to run experiments a bank wouldn't allow. They discuss the roles of visionary and operator, and Bill explains working on rather than in the business and letting experts handle details.
- •Bill recruited Omar from New York around 2008-2009 by offering freedom to execute in his area of expertise
- •Bill says that in his companies, if they aren't failing, they aren't trying hard enough
- •Bill sets the vision and Omar acts as the guardrails and detail expert
- •Bill loves to fire himself from tasks others do better
- •Working on your business is the difference between a pizza parlor and Pizza Hut
Protecting the Meal Ticket and Paying the Market
Codie asks how Bill gets his people to protect him. He explains that team members have a mini business within the organization and that he takes the risk. Codie notes owners must be comfortable saying they are the key asset, and Bill describes how he pays at the top of the market.
- •Bill's CFO calls him the meal ticket, and he says to protect your meal ticket
- •Team members get freedom and a good job while Bill takes the risk
- •Codie says owners should be okay acknowledging they are the number one asset until more talent arrives
- •Bill says people think he's unapproachable, but he shows up in jeans and a ball cap
- •He pays at the top of the market and calls it golden handcuffs
Peak Utility of Time and Getting Your Partner On Board
Codie asks about peak utility of time and assistants. Bill says to offload everything below your hourly rate so your brain can go to high-value work. They then discuss aligning with a spouse or partner through regular, honest conversations.
- •Bill invests in Codie's time and neurons, not in her pumping gas or buying groceries
- •Offloading low-value tasks to assistants could yield much more of her output
- •Doing tasks below your rate is an inefficient allocation of resources
- •Friction with a life partner is wealth-, dream- and fulfillment-destroying, like cracks on a windshield
- •Bill stresses frequent alignment conversations and getting buy-in
Choosing a Business Model and Money as a Tool
Codie asks how Bill decides among business models, such as owning small businesses versus taking a percentage of listings. Bill says he picks the most fun and fulfilling outcome and describes derivative value at scale. He says money is a tool for building the life he wants.
- •Bill describes derivative value at scale, such as cheaper insurance and data across a large employee base
- •He says the decision is individual and depends on how big you want to be
- •Bill likens money to hammers and saws, bought to build a house
- •Work and winning are fun, but ultimately serve a complete, fulfilling life
Why Keep Playing: Spending Wealth Before Experiences Fade
Codie asks why Bill keeps taking risk at a high level despite his wealth. He cites fulfillment from building companies and helping others, and says he won't die like Scrooge McDuck on a pile of money. His ability to convert capital into experiences declines with age, so he wants to deploy resources at the right time.
- •Bill won't risk what he has for something he doesn't have unless he really wants it
- •Technology lets him work from his phone, including from a boat on vacation
- •He is building for his employees and funding others' dreams
- •He plans to use up his money before he dies and before he can no longer enjoy experiences
- •Lung capacity, muscle mass and even attitude change as you age, so there's a time for everything
Shared Experiences and Memory Dividends
Codie highlights how much fun Bill has and how generously he shares his home and toys with friends. Bill says you buy stuff to give it away and that experiences are better shared. Codie reflects on how reality differs from the news's portrayal of wealthy people.
- •Codie describes laser tag and werewolf games and large parties at Bill's house
- •Bill quotes a friend: you buy stuff to give it away
- •He says the toys are for enjoying the ride with friends, not sitting alone
- •Wake surfing creates memory dividends with everyone rooting for you
- •Codie contrasts media portrayals of the wealthy with her experience of their generosity
Audience Q&A: Die With Zero Evolution and What to Subtract
Codie opens the floor to questions. Bill says his Die With Zero philosophy is solidified and that he now focuses on applying it. Asked what he subtracts, he talks about working on impulse control and reacting with equanimity in interpersonal relationships.
- •Four years on, he believes Die With Zero is more correct than ever
- •The book is a 10,000-foot theory and he now works on the application layer
- •He and his wife use the book's exercises to decide on a course of action
- •Bill cites impulse control as one of his biggest flaws coming out of Jersey City
- •He is learning to choose his reaction instead of responding histrionically to annoyances
Finding Operators and Letting Go of Low-Value Tasks
Bill answers how he finds good operators, calling it always an HR problem and an enrollment game. He then tells a questioner who wants to stay in the trenches that offloading is simple math. He adds that you must let people fail and learn.
- •Finding an operator is a hunt, sometimes by nudging, sometimes by outright theft
- •Life is an enrollment game: either they enroll you in their vision or you enroll them in yours
- •He says hearing no is fine as long as a yes eventually follows
- •Remind yourself you are destroying value when doing tasks below your level
- •If you tell people exactly what to do, you have a child instead of an employee
Going Big, Memorable Experiences, and the Ingredients Bill Looks For
Bill explains how being delusional about what he can do, plus a path to execution, drove him to go big. He tells the story of a solar project sold for about $180 million. He then discusses his most memorable experience, his COVID engagement trip, and the traits he saw in Codie and why he enjoys learning from people.
- •Bill calls himself fantastically delusional and says he is the salmon that tried, with survivorship bias in the legend label
- •He developed a Nevada solar project and sold it to Capital Dynamics for about $180 million
- •His risk-taking friends say that if it can't hurt, it can't help
- •His most memorable experience was the engagement trip to Croatia and Greece during COVID
- •He backs people who are intelligent, smart, driven and have integrity, and he loves learning from them

Publisher timestamps

Get more out of YouTube videos.

Read along on your phone, search it beside the video, or ask your favorite AI app what was said.