E15: Gerard Adams - A $50m Elite Exit
Jared Adams, co-founder of Elite Daily, discusses selling his company for $50 million in his 20s, the immense pressure, betrayal, and his subsequent journey of starting over to find purpose beyond financial success.
Deep Dive Analysis
12 Topic Outline
Gerard Adams' Early Life, Struggles, and Mentorship
First Startup: Stockspot and Building Online Communities
Founding and Growth of Elite Daily
The Decision to Sell Elite Daily to Daily Mail
Emotional Impact and Depression After the Company Exit
Re-evaluating Purpose and Values Post-Acquisition
The Truth About Entrepreneurship: Challenges and Rewards
Impact of Social Media on Personal Values and Self-Awareness
Perseverance and Patience for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Gerard's Perspective on Death and Living a Fulfilled Life
Characteristics of a Perfect Partner for an Entrepreneur
Fownders' Mission to Evolve the Education System
5 Key Concepts
Hustle Mentality
This refers to channeling intense drive and resourcefulness, often originating from difficult life experiences or backgrounds, directly into business endeavors. Gerard Adams describes using this mindset to transition from hustling drugs to building a company.
Intuition-led Decision Making
This is the practice of making significant life and business choices by following one's inner feeling or gut instinct, even when it involves taking substantial risks or going against conventional paths. Gerard Adams highlights his own tendency to be impulsive and follow intuition, such as when he dropped out of college.
Entrepreneurship as Best and Worst
This concept describes the dual nature of the entrepreneurial journey, offering immense freedom and the ability to create one's reality, but simultaneously bringing extreme stress, uncertainty, and the need for significant personal sacrifice. Gerard Adams states it's 'the best and worst thing that ever happened to you'.
Comfort with Uncertainty
A defining characteristic of successful entrepreneurs, this refers to being at ease with risk, a lack of security, and the unknown, contrasting with individuals who require stability and predictability. Gerard Adams explains that entrepreneurs are 'completely comfortable' with doing the most uncertain and uncomfortable things.
Purpose Meets Profit
This idea emphasizes that for a business to achieve broader impact and sustain its mission, it must also be profitable. Gerard Adams explains that learning to 'turn a profit' is essential to 'impact more people's lives'.
7 Questions Answered
Entrepreneurship is described as both the best and worst thing that can happen to you, offering ultimate freedom and creation but also bringing immense stress, uncertainty, and the need for personal sacrifice.
Entrepreneurship is for individuals who are so passionate they can't wait to wake up and work, are comfortable with uncertainty, and are okay with the possibility of starting over from scratch.
Gerard felt like a 'lone wolf' because he had fought hard, even raising $5 million to keep the company, but his co-founders and investors ultimately pushed for the sale, leading to a sense of loss and emotional struggle.
Gerard advises against this, suggesting that happiness doesn't automatically come with an exit; instead, individuals should re-evaluate their core values and ensure they are living by them now, rather than waiting for a future monetary event.
Social media is seen as a 'new drug' that has brainwashed a generation, making it difficult for young people to identify their true values by constantly exposing them to external aspirations like wealth and superficial displays, leading to a cycle of consumption without self-reflection.
Many aspiring entrepreneurs lack the perseverance to see their ideas through long-term when faced with tough times, often quitting instead of adapting and being resourceful, especially when financial pressures arise.
Gerard seeks a partner who is independent, self-sufficient, and comfortable with being alone, allowing for mutual support and individual growth without codependency, and someone who is intellectually stimulating.
13 Actionable Insights
1. Re-evaluate Core Values
Sit back and re-evaluate your true values, ensuring your actions, company culture, and how you treat people align with them, rather than waiting for a major life event like a company exit.
2. Disconnect and Self-Reflect
Regularly put your phone away, get outside, and deeply reflect on what you genuinely want and what you must bring to the world, to avoid being brainwashed by social media and to discover your true purpose.
3. Cultivate Perseverance and Adaptability
Develop the perseverance to see things through long-term, adapt to market changes, and be resourceful when challenges arise, rather than quitting too easily when plans don’t go as expected.
4. Seek Mentorship Actively
Actively seek out and learn from mentors throughout your entrepreneurial journey, as their guidance can help you grow and navigate challenges without having to experience everything yourself.
5. Embrace Uncertainty and Risk
Get comfortable with uncertainty and taking risks, as entrepreneurs thrive by doing the hard, uncomfortable, and uncertain things, and by being willing to start from zero if necessary.
6. Channel Hustle into Business
If you have a strong ‘hustle mentality’ from past experiences, channel that intense drive and resourcefulness into building legitimate businesses and creating solutions.
7. Prioritize Character Over Materialism
Recognize that at the end of it all, how you make people feel and the character you embody are what truly matter, more than materialistic achievements or financial exits.
8. Focus on Self-Growth to Inspire
Shift your focus from ‘saving’ others to living your best life and continuously working on yourself, as this personal growth and self-inspiration will naturally motivate and influence those around you.
9. Build Solutions for Your Own Problems
Start by creating solutions to your own problems, as this often leads to the development of valuable platforms and services that others also need.
10. Avoid Comparison, Trust Your Path
Do not compare your entrepreneurial journey to others; instead, trust your own intuition and unique path, and focus on writing your own story.
11. Define Entrepreneurial Passion
Identify if entrepreneurship is truly for you by assessing if you possess an intense passion that makes you excited to work, even to the point of not wanting to sleep, and if you are comfortable with uncertainty.
12. Seek Independent Partners
In romantic relationships, look for a partner who is independent, comfortable being alone, and supports your individual lives and passions, rather than fostering codependency.
13. Advocate for Entrepreneurial Education
Support and advocate for the integration of entrepreneurship principles and emotional intelligence into education systems, especially for younger generations, to equip them with essential life skills.
5 Key Quotes
It is the best and worst thing that ever happened to you.
Gerard Adams
You have to be a certain kind of individual to get comfortable with uncertainty.
Gerard Adams
I've always seen that as like the natural selection of entrepreneurship is when those first hurdles come into play. The ones that do get over it are the ones that are in some respects meant to go the distance because they have that why.
Stephen Bartlett
It's not my duty to save anyone. It's my duty to just live my best life, continue to work on myself, and through that, be selfless and inspiring others to do the same, to really make sure that they're questioning everything.
Gerard Adams
Social media has brainwashed us to not even know what we want, what our values are.
Gerard Adams
3 Protocols
Gerard Adams' Post-Exit Self-Reflection and Re-evaluation
Gerard Adams- Send all acquired money to a trust.
- Start from complete scratch.
- Re-evaluate what you are truly meant to do.
- Re-evaluate how you want to pursue being an entrepreneur going forward.
- Work daily on becoming a better leader for yourself.
- Inspire your team and followers to ask themselves deep questions about purpose.
- Live the most fulfilled life possible, spreading your message and voice.
- Be more present by getting outside, traveling, going on adventures, meeting new people, and being present for family.
Gerard Adams' Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs: Re-evaluating Values
Gerard Adams- Sit back and truly re-evaluate what your values are.
- Assess if you are genuinely living up to the standards of your values.
- Consider how you are treating the people around you.
- Ensure that the company culture you are creating aligns with those values.
Gerard Adams' 'FaceTime Fridays' Exercise for Mentees
Gerard Adams- Completely put your phone away for the entire weekend.
- Get outside and spend time in nature.
- Reflect deeply on: 'What is it that you want to bring to the world?'
- Reflect deeply on: 'What must you truly bring to the world?'