In 3 Jahren mehr verdient als in 16 Jahren Unternehmertum mit Erdem Nazli Lopez

[00:00:00]If you develop bad habits as a CEO, you can pretty much watch the boat sink relatively quickly.

[00:00:10]He makes €16,000 while I'm currently shoveling away for what feels like 10 hours a day for €400 a month.

[00:00:21]You can be a pessimist and maybe be right in the end, but in the picture, you have suffered until the very end.

[00:00:31]Welcome to the COA Podcast today with a very special guest, namely someone who was a blood entrepreneur for 16 years, who really built companies, had hundreds of employees and also made hundreds of millions in revenue, but then made a partial exit and later a complete exit. But we all know him out there. Uh, under a different name, namely Adam 247, because he has now shared his entire life on Instagram, experiencing all the highs and lows, and I am really looking forward to the conversation.

[00:01:01]Welcome, Earth.

[00:01:02]Thanks for the invitation. It's great that you're here.

[00:01:04]Thank you very much.

[00:01:05]Yes, you were CEO for 14 years, but thankfully you've put that behind you now. What constitutes good DNA? What are good character traits for a CEO?

[00:01:13]Speaking about the general public is actually difficult for me now, after my somewhat, uh, unpleasant moments. Yes. Um, but when I look at myself, I can say one thing and give another, and maybe try to pass something on to people along the way. Uh, consistency, yes, everything uh is based on good habits as a CEO. If you develop bad habits as a CEO, you can pretty much watch the boat sink relatively quickly.

[00:01:45]So, your company is failing.

[00:01:48]Personally, I've definitely found that consistency paired with good habits, not traits, is key. I have bad qualities, but also good ones, yes, but good habits, um, ultimately led to me being clear about myself and therefore simply being able to do justice to my partners who invested in my company or companies. Yes, I also went through a phase in my life, and that was towards the end, where I actually considered selling my company, or rather selling it completely, because I didn't have any good habits.

[00:02:31]Mhm.

[00:02:32]I immediately put my companies on the sidelines and, for example, started throwing many more parties, and then I could see relatively quickly – um, quickly meaning three, maybe six months later – how the performance of my companies suffered.

[00:02:50]In my case it was perfect because I was already mentally detached from my head, but if you really have an ambitious vision and want to keep growing, with even more revenue, even more employees, even bigger warehouses, even bigger offices, then bad habits should definitely be postponed for a few years first. They should remain in the company as long as they can continue to exemplify good habits.

[00:03:23]But as soon as you realize, hey, this is n't working for me anymore, the daily grind, whatever it is, I want to work on the business, maybe like in the [unclear], then it also makes sense to say: "Hey, I'm taking the step, because many people know you as a personal brand, Erdem 24, but 724, but many don't even know that you were also a passionate entrepreneur before, who was completely [unclear] for 14 years. How did that start for you? Well, it actually started relatively simply during my apprenticeship. So, maybe 16 years back, in a kind of time travel scenario. At some point, I had [unclear] my ex-girlfriend, now my ex-girlfriend, back then my girlfriend Sarah, and her father, and her father was an entrepreneur, and I was, I think, 14 or 15 or so, just actively watching him lead a great life by working a lot and then, after he came home, a wonderful life with his daughters, two of them, and his wife.

[00:04:25]At [unclear] home, I have a very I was shown a different way of life. My father was the classic Hassler, Hassler, trading time for money, but a lot of time for very little money, yeah, uh. That means I led two double lives during that time.

[00:04:41]I could observe Werner on the one hand and my own father on the other. And I'm incredibly grateful to both of them, because from my father I inherited this down-to-earth nature.

[00:04:52]Composure, but also the ability to talk to people as equals. For example, my employees, whether it was a manager or, at the end of the day, maybe even the cleaning lady, always had the same values. For me, there were no differences.

[00:05:08]But I didn't learn that from Werner, but from my father, who didn't have much money. From Berner, I learned an authoritarian way of managing companies and employees, and that, in turn, was the beginning of a 14-year career. Um, I started an apprenticeship with him as a wholesale and foreign trade merchant, directly with Werner back then. Okay, cool.

[00:05:34]Exactly. Um, wholesale and foreign trade merchant. Um, I was lucky to get this apprenticeship because he was in saw an opportunity for me.

[00:05:42]Yes. Everyone else said, okay, even my own father, that boy will amount to nothing.

[00:05:46]Wow. Okay, that's why I'm incredibly grateful to him today for the opportunity he gave me back then. And that was the starting point. I started an apprenticeship, approached things rather unfocused for the first two years, until at some point after the—uh— not the final exam, but the intermediate exam—uh—the results came in, and Werner called me into his office and said, "Hey, um, this doesn't look good." I said, "What doesn't look good?"

[00:06:12]Yeah, your results, you only have one more year, and if you mess this up, it looks very, very bad.

[00:06:19]And at that moment in his office, as I've mentioned several times, his payslip was lying there.

[00:06:27]Hmm.

[00:06:27]Whether it was a coincidence or not, I'll leave that open to debate. €16,000.

[00:06:32]Hmm. [clears throat] Monthly paycheck as CEO. Yes, that was the moment when I said, okay, wow, he's doing €16,000 while I'm currently shoveling away for what feels like 10 hours a day for €400 a month.

[00:06:48]Yes, I have to change something. And at that moment, back in 2006, I started to use the internet as a medium for myself, or rather, to recognize it as such—though I was n't actually using it yet. I first had to convince Werner that the internet was a medium through which we could sell his products.

[00:07:07]Long story short, he was fiercely opposed to the internet because he had relied on field sales representatives for decades and had been very successful with them, believing he could stick with that sales method. I was the one who ultimately managed to convince him, at least, of my vision: to create his own online shop for his company.

[00:07:31]So, I went from being an apprentice to essentially a joint venture partner with Werner.

[00:07:37]Yes. First year: €500,000 in revenue. Wow.

[00:07:40]Second year: €2 million in revenue.

[00:07:42]Amazing.

[00:07:43]Fourth year: €10 million in revenue.

[00:07:45]Amazing. What kind of products were they?

[00:07:46]Cosmetics.

[00:07:48]Exactly. His company was called Back then it was Werner Camper GmbH. A specialist retailer for cosmetics and hairdressing supplies.

[00:07:55]Yes.

[00:07:55]In the end, I did nothing more than take his entire structure.

[00:07:59]Yes, and transferred it to the internet, did online marketing, and when orders came in, his employees, his structures, took care of everything, and at the end of the month we simply made a cut, looked at the revenue, the profit, 50, let's go, let's continue. Then you also went from the trainee, who was getting €400 a month, suddenly as a joint venture partner, really, uh, then also sales, sales, yes, so for the circumstances there nowadays, uh, yes, it's different for others, logically, but uh, exciting, also exciting, that you are able to use certain moments in life, and I hope that many listeners understand that, uh, to align themselves correctly. That means, you said, so to speak, I'll take the knowledge from one father, my real father, and I'll take this from the other, and And you dose them according to what works best for you and make the most of it. Exactly. That's why I always say, you're also the CEO of your own life.

[00:09:04]Absolutely.

[00:09:04]It's extremely important to understand that you get to decide which path you take, what you do, what's good, what's bad for you. Do I want to criticize someone, oh, they have a car or a boat or whatever, or do I want to use that as an advantage to my advantage, to focus my thoughts positively?

[00:09:24]And I think that's extremely important. Apr, you, um, I agree with you a million percent. Too many people, um, as soon as they start— at least the people I met on my journey— come into a bit of money, they simply believe they'll become the CEO of other people's lives. And that's exactly where I draw the line. I was never the CEO of other people's lives.

[00:09:49]I was the CEO of a company for which 312 other people worked.

[00:09:57]But I never saw myself in a position where I could control their lives.

[00:10:01]wanted to control their lives.

[00:10:02]Yes, but there are many CEOs, and this is perhaps where most fail, who turn their employees into, um, how should I describe it? They turn them into... who try to control their employees' lives and essentially push them away.

[00:10:20]Yes, well, I always had a cooperative way of dealing with my employees. I also rarely used the word "employee"; for me, they were really colleagues, good colleagues, very good colleagues.

[00:10:33]I'm still in close contact with some of them today, and not with others. Uh, what I want to say is that for me, this cooperative approach and simply giving people freedom was the be-all and end-all. Yes, I still remember today, I think it was in 2009 or 2010, I bought my employees Snapchat stock and said, " Guys, in addition to the income you make from the company I run, you should even try to make money elsewhere." I tried not to pressure them, but simply to give them alternative options to what they were already doing. They were used to me. I said, "Hey, this is a job you're spending here, but hey, if you want more, look, stocks, yeah, um, later Bitcoin were instruments I used to simply share my vision with people and hope that they wouldn't feel dependent on me."

[00:11:37]Yes, and I succeeded very well at that.

[00:11:40]Interesting. Today, many of them are financially independent.

[00:11:43]Not because they worked well, but because they had a CEO who was a colleague and shared his own actions with them, shared his ideas, and ultimately led people to perhaps do something similar.

[00:11:59]Yes.

[00:11:59]Yes. And today they no longer work for those companies.

[00:12:02]Fascinating. Yes, they got a taste for it, much like I did over the years, of earning money in their sleep without doing much work, and yes, that's possible too. Of course, for a regular employee or someone who's currently in Hassle mode, it feels a bit, um, strange, where you say you're earning money in your sleep. Uh, How will you define that?

[00:12:24]Well, investing correctly.

[00:12:26]Exactly. Making money in your sleep [ahem], for that you first need a financial foundation. Of course, nobody, including me, managed that in the first few years. So, let's rewind a bit. Yes, we first have to bust our asses for at least 10, 15 years, make a lot of money, get through the mud, fall down, get knocked down, get back up, fall down again, get knocked down again, and then maybe even make some bad decisions and grow, both financially and mentally. And I think it 's important—it was simply crucial for me, and also now, as I'm about to become a father, for my son—to show that sleeping in money isn't something that happens instantly.

[00:13:11]It's a journey you have to take to eventually reach that point.

[00:13:15]And that requires some cash reserves or a good cash flow.

[00:13:20]Yes, the sooner you start thinking about your money like you would your employees, sending it out there and saying, Double your money and come back, then you can enjoy it sooner or later. A great metaphor to say: "Hey, I'm the CEO of my own life, and my employees are at least my capital, and what I do, even if it's only €20, but €20 invested every month for years in the right things, whatever they may be—you can argue about it, whether it's Bitcoin, for me it's S&P 500 stocks, whatever—but I believe in the long run both will actually go up." So I'm not entirely in agreement there [laughter].

[00:14:01]But okay, okay. Yes.

[00:14:04]But no, absolutely right. So everyone has to decide for themselves which asset classes to choose in the end, but as I said, the real issue is reinvesting the money. When did you start doing that? Which one are you in? For the first few years, all I did was work and save. I come from a family where saving was the norm. So save, save, save. That's how I grew up. Later, Werner taught me that investing also makes sense, and S. had the pleasure of meeting your father a few times. That super, super nice, down-to- earth guy is grateful for it. I learned a lot from him, but I also unlearned a lot of what he taught me, very consciously, because everything he brought or gave me would not have actually contributed to where I am today.

[00:14:50]Yes, because I believe it's also very, very important to accept some things, perhaps those taught by parents, but then at some point to say: "Hey, you know what? I have to unlearn this in order to open myself up to something new."

[00:15:05]Amazing development. Yes, if you take everything your father tells you seriously, it can work out well.

[00:15:11]But in most cases, we're talking about different generations in which one grew up. Times are changing. My father has not evolved with the times.

[00:15:20]That means everything he gave me was perfect at the time.

[00:15:24]Mhm.

[00:15:24]But he didn't consider that we live in a world where digital computing power and speed play a role and can lead to changes in circumstances. That means he did his best for me in his faith.

[00:15:39]Mhm.

[00:15:39]In my faith, I gratefully accepted it, but later also gratefully declined and tried to unlearn what he had taught me, only to subsequently learn that other ways were significantly more relaxed.

[00:15:49]What a great attitude. So much respect for that. Yes, because I believe that's the key moment, when you consider, hey, what do I currently accept, and also understand that normally parents simply want the best for their child, and you should be grateful for that. And you're going to be a father now, I'm already a father.

[00:16:07]Uh, I know I probably do n't do everything right either, not by a long shot. And um, I'm doing the best I can right now, what I think is best for our daughter. And that's why I think I can simply understand to say: "Hey, I assume this, not that." And you also need certain things at certain, um, times in life. That means sometimes you might just need a fitness trainer who simply stands behind you and yells at you. Now get up and go to the gym and eventually you'll be more trained and might need someone to show you more about the technique. That's why I think it's very important. Very, very well said. Just as. That's exactly how it is. And uh yes, um, perhaps one last thing: as you already said, my father gave everything, tried everything, did everything within his discretion and knowledge.

[00:16:52]Yes, but he wasn't even aware that he might actually be harming me with the things he told me. Yes, his wish was to send me to university to study, just like his daughters, my siblings, after graduating from high school.

[00:17:11]I couldn't imagine that happening to you at all. [laughter] Me neither. Do you know what those moments were like for me? In what kind of arguments, uh, were we sometimes like me and my father, or back then, me?

[00:17:26]Because sometimes you think maybe they're right after all, right? Exactly. And from the moment I became more consistent and increasingly asserted my opinion, even towards him, he began to let go of me more and more and give me space.

[00:17:44]Not even five years later, after I was six or six, it was 2014 or 2015, um, after I had success with my own businesses and he let me go and could watch me really build something fundamental, hire employees, my office space, warehouse space grow, yes, I uh, retired him.

[00:18:05]Super-duper.

[00:18:06]And then he was a pioneer thanks to his son, who took an alternative path to the Tüchter family. I'm not saying that my sisters did anything wrong. They are super happy. One is a teacher, the other is a social worker, they are super happy, earning between €5,000 and €10,000. But that was n't something I was willing to settle for at the time, after seeing that dear Werner was making €16,000 per month.

[00:18:32]Thanks again to Werner. Absolutely.

[00:18:34]Yes, and that was really, uh, yes, uh, everything comes as it should.

[00:18:39]My father, and that was a realization I also came to later. When I was a teenager, I used to think, oh, he's against me, but he never was.

[00:18:48]He was always there for me, but with the wrong mindset and the wrong information. And that's why I eventually developed this mentality of saying, no matter what happens to me in life, everything that happens happens for me, never against me. Do you want to do something stupid or anything like that to me? Then I can either get upset with you now or say: "Hey, you know what? I even have tattoos myself, I accept you as you are."

[00:19:17]No, go your own way, because what you are about to do to me, you are doing for me, not against me.

[00:19:25]Yes, and that was also an insight or mindset later on, for example after the Bild newspaper story, which helped me a lot.

[00:19:33]Yes, interesting. Yesterday I posted something where I wrote that the difference between heaven and hell is just a thought. That means we can really interpret exactly what you say, every situation. Hey, this is happening to me right now, and often something good comes out of something bad in the moment. And when you understand that, you approach the moment in a completely different way. Look, you can lead a good life or a shitty life, I always say. The good life for an optimist, and the bad life, unfortunately, for a pessimist. You can be a pessimist and maybe be right in the end, but in the picture, you have suffered until the very end.

[00:20:13]Yes, that's right.

[00:20:14]Then I'd rather be an optimist and end up wrong, but on the way to the result I simply lived a great life, absolutely. 100.

[00:20:22]So why should I approach something pessimistically? And that's why I'd rather be an optimist but wrong later than a pessimist and right later.

[00:20:31]There are also 1000 studies, including some from Harvard University, which say that people are not only happier but also more successful. So, more successfully, that was done by a studio, I think, with over 60 years of experience. So, sustainably, if you say, hey, the classroom is more like half full than maybe half empty, then you do other things with that information instead of saying, oh, careful, it's half empty.

[00:20:58]And often in entrepreneurship, the upside potential is much higher than the risks. I've noticed that in Germany, people talk incredibly openly about the risks. Yes, or also that if a company goes bankrupt, then it's only highlighted in a negative light and portrayed very badly. In America, that's almost a title. So, if you say you want to raise money, or rather, raise money for a business, ask how many times have you failed?

[00:21:25]How many times have you failed? If you say zero, then you have less chance of raising money. And the other thing is also looking at the potential downsides, not just the risks, what can happen, but also what can happen positively, and I think that, in my mind, has helped me a lot, I think. Yes, that was the case for me; strangely enough, I wanted to buy real estate even at a young age. I was always totally motivated and my parents, who of course only meant well, but I said, Michael, yes, but take it slow, uh, better start with a smaller unit and maybe wait a while, see that you have more equity capital and in retrospect I am glad for everything I actually can't have done with equity capital externally financed, [laughter] they just totally meant well, they meant it completely well and they also, yes yes yes, they knew, they just didn't have the necessary knowledge and that's perfectly okay.

[00:22:22]Yes, and at one point I even got down to 1%, which is what the bank offered me, wait a minute, that's maybe still high. And then I said, yes, how much lower can it go?

[00:22:34]Sometimes you have to say, hey, I'm doing my own thing and living my own life, because in the end we can only point to ourselves later and not say, I did n't do that either, because some other people told me it would n't work. Yes, that's how it is.

[00:22:46]Yes, before we delve deeper, a brief note. [music] Almost half of you are watching without subscribing to this channel. If you value genuine conversations with real movers and shakers, then please help us to further expand this platform. We don't do superficial entertainment. We bring voices that can change businesses, careers, and lives.

[00:23:10]If you want to support this, take a second and subscribe to the CEO DNA Podcast and become part of the CEO DNA community. No, cool. [music] So, as I said, um, you also partially exited the company, um, then exited. Um, and what happened next for you?

[00:23:30][snorting] What happened next? Good question. It's been so long. No, so what happened next? I made a partial exit in 2016. At that time, I sold 60% to the German industrial holding company and Absara Holding. Later in 2020.

[00:23:45]So, small, not small businesses, one has to say.

[00:23:47]No, groups, we were at 100 million in annual revenue at that time.

[00:23:50]Yes, well, respect. So it was a really cool company.

[00:23:53]Yes, a cool little, solid, profitable company.

[00:23:57]Medium-sized businesses with 100 million employees in Germany already exist. But we were, we were now our company, the one that bought us, which was already at 3,400 million. So, compared to the Anyways, it was a nice, solid, profitable one.

[00:24:11]I placed more emphasis on profitability than on revenue, and investors liked that very much after the due diligence.

[00:24:19]Um, yes, I sold the company in 60, with a 60% share. That was the first time I had a bit more money in my account, in my private account.

[00:24:29]How was that for you? That looks depressing. It wasn't nice. Yes, it was me, I have already told you several times. I was a multimillionaire at the time and didn't touch my money because I lacked financial intelligence. That means for the first two years after I came into the big bucks, I didn't even collect any interest on them at the savings bank or anything like that, just left them lying there stupidly in my checking account. Not stupid today, but back then, if I had had that knowledge, I probably would have started making my money work for me much sooner.

[00:25:00]Anyway, imagine if all that had been put into Bitcoin back then, [snorting] then [laughter] then the world would look different today.

[00:25:06]But hey, I'm also grateful for the experience, because it was meant to be. Long Story Short. Back then, I simply started analyzing people who had significantly more money than me. Okay, so once again, now that I have this, I look at my checking account and see more zeros than ever before, and a number in front of them. Uh, uh, and after that, yes, I'll still check what happens next. Exactly. And then I started to learn, hey, what do other people do who get too big for their boots and make too much money? I started reading books, I started watching YouTube videos, and in the course of that, well, I just sort of became an investor, without it being my plan. Today I manage, uh, high nine-figure millions as my own portfolio manager. I don't have a bank, I don't have any money in any banks, I don't have any money with any asset managers. I hold my real estate in Duai, I hold my real estate in Germany, my garages in Germany, and in addition, a lion's share in Bitcoin. Uh, and I'm my own portfolio manager, without having intended to do so.

[00:26:14]Mhm. And so it continued. I started to understand that assets should be viewed like employees, and then, after doing my research and defining asset classes that fit me and my vision, I simply allocated them to my portfolio and continuously built up my dollar cost through DCA, similar to how an entrepreneur does. So I buy Bitcoin every day, my community knows that.

[00:26:49]Mhm. Is there anything cheap right now, or at some point?

[00:26:52]I bought it at 120,000. I bought at $400 and I will continue buying at $1 million.

[00:26:58]Yes, because you said that some of what comes in is reinvested, or a portion is reinvested. Yes, exactly. I [snort] am completely out of the system after my emigration. Okay, then, just a quick note to answer the question definitively. In 2019, the time would come when I would lose my mother. 2019 was the year my beloved mother said goodbye to us after a cancer diagnosis.

[00:27:22]A [snorting] ball diagnosis up to the day of death, not four months. And that was the moment when I simply realized, okay, life is really far too short to postpone anything any longer. After that, I sold all my companies. I completely exited the system and slipped into coaching. But not because I wanted to become a coach, but because my community kept saying, "That's awesome, teach us this and that, and that." Then I offered coaching sessions, initially small coaching points for €19 or €20, which then became increasingly expensive, more compact, and more intensive. Um, until I eventually started offering coaching sessions worth up to €60,000 via Copecard, and later, yes, actually passing on the knowledge I had acquired over the years in various ways to people who were interested. But ultimately, that was also a journey in my life, which ultimately led to me saying at some point that I'm not interested in that anymore, because, for me personally, working with people eventually became very difficult. Um, at some point, after I understood Bitcoin more and more, and defined Bitcoin more and more as the medium of my life, working in relation to people became increasingly difficult. And at some point I also realized that I seriously have no interest in doing things that I find difficult. And everything that is difficult for me today, I simply let go of, and I let go of certain things today because, in the course of selling my companies and giving up coaching, I have actually realized that true strength lies in my lightness.

[00:29:23]Mhm. and the big money comes without effort.

[00:29:30]And I can tell you all, and you and everyone out there, and this isn't some kind of white lie or anything I'm trying to use to mislead people. In 3 years without work, I made more money, but did n't earn more, than I did as an entrepreneur in 16 years.

[00:29:54]Wow. Yes.

[00:29:56]So. And now you're probably wondering, or I was wondering at some point, how can this happen? Yes, [laughter] uh, that's why I said, hey, actually I'm not really suited for this format anymore, but um, I've taken advantage of the power of ease and made more money in 3 years without effort than in 16 years of hard work.

[00:30:20]And [snorting] after that, your mindset starts to tick differently. You question everything at once.

[00:30:26]Yes, that was the case for me. That doesn't mean I regretted the path I've taken so far. It was all necessary.

[00:30:33]But as I said earlier, and will repeat now, I had to unlearn that a good CEO is a good thing.

[00:30:40]Mhm.

[00:30:41]I was CEO of a company and now I am CEO of my life. I see my project, my life's purpose, as giving my future child, my wife, myself, and people I love a wonderful time.

[00:30:58]Yes, that and being healthy. My business is getting up in the morning, my body, doing something good, swimming, running, gym, whatever, hiking, traveling or sometimes doing nothing at all.

[00:31:11]Just lying in bed until 12 o'clock if I feel like it.

[00:31:15]Yes, that was the case yesterday. I woke up at 12 o'clock. That was back then for me.

[00:31:18]Ugh, I would fall into a depression if I woke up at 12 o'clock and half the day was already over. That was my former self.

[00:31:26]Mhm.

[00:31:26]I had to [ahem] unlearn everything I thought was right back then in order to open myself up to new topics. Yes.

[00:31:33]And lo and behold, with the certain ease that I had learned or trained myself to have, it was then done in a significantly shorter time. Very interesting, if I may interpret it that way for myself, it is, or for us, that in those 16 years you haven't had any real ease. That means, I think for entrepreneurs where everything was difficult, we are now in the Red Race and I have to turn things around and we have to turn things around, and you have said this over the last three years, and that is really a huge learning experience, I think, for everyone listening.

[00:32:02]Things often go better when they're easy, and you even have " yes, I will do" tattooed on your hand. Not or impossible, here everything is possible.

[00:32:15]And more importantly, folks, no stress. Yes, it says exactly that, and it fits well. So first of all, I'll just say yes, I'll do it with ease, but without stress, and I think that's super important.

[00:32:30]And as an entrepreneur, I think everyone knows that. Anyone can tell me whatever they want. Every entrepreneur suffers from stress, even if it's not a huge amount. Yes.

[00:32:41]And perhaps because of that, sorry to interrupt. I think this is really important. My mom never smoked, never drank alcohol, ate healthily, yes, but also suffered from chronic stress.

[00:32:56]Wow.

[00:32:57]We never received a cause of death, but I am sure that the reason for her passing was chronic stress.

[00:33:09]Wow.

[00:33:10]Something inside me then said, yes, then get rid of the stress, let go of everything that stresses you out, let it go. Yes. Hey, I swear to you guys. My life has turned around completely, and you might not believe it.

[00:33:25]You always hear things like, oh, sleep, make money, this and that.

[00:33:29]But yes, I believe that if you take on the task and truly believe in it, but also try to live it out and are willing to unlearn things that you have held to be true for years because it was socially required, then life cannot change that much from various perspectives.

[00:33:49]Whether it's about scale, income, happiness, or anything else, life can only change when you 're ready. In my case, this meant proactively unlearning old behavioral patterns that I had considered correct.

[00:34:11]Wow, I think it's so important to zoom out from your own life every now and then. I'll do it up top then, you saw that and I'll be looking out of the water. But you can also do it in the forest, I used to do that too, when I lived in a shared apartment, just look at the wall and think to myself, um, yeah, how can I make certain things easier? That's how it was for me, my father unfortunately passed away, God rest his soul, from the same cause as your mother. And he was always with us, which always meant in Praszle, meaning under stress.

[00:34:44]He was always like, "I'm in the Praszel, I 'm in the Prassel, I'm this, this, this."

[00:34:47]And then I sometimes saw it from the outside, which is why I'm saying this now, um, how he did things that could perhaps have been done more concisely, but definitely with less stress. That's the journey again; time passes one way or another. Now I can choose: do I want to make myself totally stressed, or do I want to make it easy?

[00:35:08]Yes, and I believe that serenity simply holds the power to make things even more effective and efficient. Um, but what this story isn't supposed to mean, and this is important for me to mention again, is that you're now sitting back, twiddling your thumbs, and just doing some kind of hocus pocus, believing that money will fall from the sky or that you can pick it off trees. That was not my position. I was always curious, always open, and recognized every trend, then tried to use each trend for myself in some way and also tattoo it on your skin. Focus. That's interesting because we were just looking at my office upstairs, where I probably spend most of my life, and I have flip charts hanging over it and I've written down almost everything that I focus on. I'm awesome. Do you know what I find awesome?

[00:35:56]Explain again.

[00:35:57]I was recently in Japan with my fiancée. Mhm. I went on a trip to Japan and I already knew what Ikigai was, but I didn't know that the oldest people [snort] live on a Japanese island and live their lives exactly according to this, let's say, lifestyle. Ikigai simply means having a purpose for your existence.

[00:36:20]Mhm.

[00:36:20]So, what is the existence of most people on this earth? What would you say? Um, for most people, or what is the purpose in life for most people?

[00:36:30]Uh, probably just to earn the money and pay the bills. Exactly. Unfortunately for God. We live in a world where money truly becomes the center or the circle of life for many people. That was the same for me.

[00:36:44]Mhm.

[00:36:46]Since ikigai, or since I positioned my life as myself, as a Circle of Life, everything else that was previously part of the Circle of Life has suddenly come automatically to me.

[00:37:02]Wow.

[00:37:04]Yes, those are things that I don't think you can learn at all. You have to, you can only go through that if you are truly ready to let go of and unlearn old patterns of behavior and old beliefs and embrace new topics.

[00:37:16]But a conversation like today's also helps me tremendously to open up again. That's why I always love podcasts with super cool guests like you. We'd been planning to do this for ages, so it was super cool that they actually did it. Um, because this is a journey for me, or life is a journey for me, and a constant development, and that's why I love learning new things every day, and uh, I'm convinced that you have to look at what the most important things in life are, also uh, for an entrepreneur, because only then can he be successful. That's why I say companies should also have their relationships under control, meaning their relationships with their partners, because I don't know anyone who is totally stressed at home and can still perform super well, or have their investments under control. I don't know anyone who can run a company really well if their private investors aren't there, if there's funding from their house and so on. And that's why I believe it's simply important to consider the company as a whole. to become truly successful.

[00:38:20]And then there are also people who just feel like it. I had an investor, Peter Zülzdorf, who is 84 today and still works, that 's also fine. That doesn't mean that what I did is the right way for everyone out there.

[00:38:31]I believe that every individual person is entitled to chart their own course and follow it back. This is not to say that what I have done is something that people should necessarily write on their windshield as a wish or goal.

[00:38:47]No, um, I'm just sharing what I've done. For me, it was the best route I could have taken, but at the end of the day, folks, I think most of those of you watching from the start probably still have that long way to go. It means sticking with it, being consistent, simply developing good habits, yes, and maybe at some point you'll reach a point where you think, okay, that's it, and then maybe let go and unlearn things in order to start learning new things.

[00:39:14]Yes, I think good habits are absolutely essential. Um, that helped me a lot too. Um, for me it's always about doing my sports to balance things out, because otherwise I'd be spending a lot of time on the laptop or in meetings. Um, and then there are all the parallels that I'm noticing again in the conversations. Some people think, oh, that's the new, the latest Reus. Reus makes me happy. The entire watch collection makes me happy. You also told me I had sold the Rosrous. I sold a lot of watches. It's always the case that we think certain things will make us happy, but when we actually have them, we realize that materialistic things do n't really make us happy at all.

[00:39:53]What else makes you happy? Having control over my own time makes me incredibly happy.

[00:39:59]I talk about it with my fiancée practically every day. Uh, I am incredibly grateful that I have managed to have full control over my time. And unfortunately, money also plays a role in this. Yes, because without money you can't control time. So I first have to take this step in order to say I can be financially free. What truly makes me happy today is that I can say no to things I no longer want to do.

[00:40:24]Mhm.

[00:40:24]And as a result, I automatically only do things that I actually want to do. Yes, everything else. I mentioned it earlier, actually perhaps not worth mentioning in the podcast, but yes, a few months ago I bought a Rolls Rolls Country Series 2, the new one, for almost $700,000 and was incredibly happy.

[00:40:44]So, a car that costs 700,000 dollars can actually fly?

[00:40:50]No, unfortunately I don't [laughter].

[00:40:53]Do you know what it can do?

[00:40:54]But do you know what it can do? It can exert a lot of pressure.

[00:40:58]Mhm. Wow.

[00:40:59]And unfortunately, it can even negatively affect your ego, which ultimately led to me parting ways with these vehicles a week ago after only 6 months and a very heavy loss.

[00:41:12]Respect. But then to say, "That's actually not good for me at all." I think all I have to do now is park in the front row. That's not me at all.

[00:41:21]Hammer. Respect.

[00:41:22]I swear to you, that was... I thought a Geo for 700,000 would give me God knows what.

[00:41:29]Yes, the only thing it gave me was a loss of about $220,000 in just 6 months.

[00:41:36]Headaches and burden. There were no benefits, because whether I'm sitting in my Ferrari, which only cost 200,000, or a Rolls-Royce, it makes no difference.

[00:41:49]I'll get from A to B one way or another.

[00:41:52]So regardless of whether Rollsreus or Versreus caused it, the fact is that my Ferrari suddenly lost value. I no longer enjoyed driving my Ferrari because I believed that the car was cheaper and perhaps could no longer be taken seriously by outsiders.

[00:42:10]Oh wow.

[00:42:11]And those were moments when I said to myself, dude, you do n't really want this, kid. That's not what you want. Yes, hand that crap over. I lost 220,000 in 6 months with this vehicle.

[00:42:21]Yes, but I declined with thanks.

[00:42:24]I gratefully accepted, took all the money via DCA and invested it in BTC, and I know that Bitcoin will cover the loss from this vehicle again after two years at the latest. Yes.

[00:42:37]And then I learned from my mistake and made everything right again. Yes. And can such a car drive you again?

[00:42:44]If you're still here, it's not by chance. You're looking for depth, not headlines. So don't remain anonymous, subscribe to this [music] channel and let's continue this journey together. Thank you for being part of the CEO DNA community.

[00:42:59]But it's really great how you see them learning. What would you say? What's your superpower?

[00:43:05]My superpower, I believe, is serenity.

[00:43:11]No matter what happens, nothing can touch me anymore, and that was true even before.

[00:43:14]No, it wasn't like that before. I can remember that day when we had that picture thing. I was living in Berlin and my viewers sent me screenshots of me on the cover of the Bild publishing house.

[00:43:28]I wasn't calm about that.

[00:43:29]Let's talk about that. That is, what did Bild say? Earth superstar Instagram scammer disappears with millions.

[00:43:37]Oh my God. I wake up and think to myself, what is this? I am in Berlin.

[00:43:42]Instagram scammers disappear with millions. I was like, oh my God, I thought I was really losing my footing at that moment. It was anything but easy for me to deal with this situation, because suddenly you have millions of people, yes, who see something and then believe the publisher and think that it's all true.

[00:44:04]And then try to stay calm. I quickly re- implemented and developed composure afterwards and then began to be able to deal with the situation. Um, but at first I wasn't calm. No.

[00:44:18]Um, moments when something happens that we don't expect, yes, automatically cause initial unease or stress.

[00:44:28]The question is always, how do you deal with the situation? And at that time, I think I did relatively well. I let everything sink in first. I was aware, hey, maybe just briefly for those who don't know, I had 4000 clients in a 90-day challenge at the time and nine of them were dissatisfied, which is perfectly okay, which in my opinion is even a good rate.

[00:44:51]But these new ones caused such a stir that the Bild newspaper talked about me and my product, and spoke negatively about me, and even started to smear me.

[00:45:03]There's no chance of taking action against it because I'm a public figure and share my life 24/7 on Instagram.

[00:45:09]Yes, the lawyer told Christian Scherz back then: "Hey, we can't do anything about companies. You're a public figure. If there are nine people who were dissatisfied with your service, while 3,993 were super happy, unfortunately, that's what you just have to accept.

[00:45:28]I know, because we had spoken on the phone at the time, we would have also tried to talk to Bild, but you have to understand, they only work for headlines.

[00:45:36]Exactly, that's how they live. And that's exactly what led to me becoming more relaxed again.

[00:45:41]Bild lives on headlines, and after I then had the pleasure of being next to Mr. Cobart at a masterclass, I had invited Kai Digmann from Bild. Exactly. He then said to me, 'Adam, you know what?' Um, our job at Bild back then was to generate headlines every day.

[00:45:58]Our listeners or readership are addicted to headlines, whether positive or negative. We need something every day, and you were Probably perfectly suited for it at that time.

[00:46:09]Yes, make the best of it.

[00:46:11]I then had you two sitting next to each other in a panel discussion; that was the editor-in-chief of Bild at the time, and you. However, one has to say, it's not just Bild, it's all the media in general. It happened to us at Kobkatbahn, uh, with a comedy show where we were kind of dragged through the mud, where the facts were completely twisted. And then you have to say again, it 's also the viewer. That means many people in Germany, um, want these negative headlines about other things, and it's up to us, the consumers, what we watch. So, for example, I have a rule: I don't watch the standard news; I get my information from elsewhere because I find it rather negative. I think that's unhealthy. Yes.

[00:46:55]Yes, but in the end, it was good. It was n't against me, but for me. In the end, that also contributed to me stopping offering coaching, because I felt I said, "Hey, if that happens again, I don't want to go through that." And that's why it was good for something, namely, when someone is going through a time like that, what advice do you give them if they're stuck in it right now and Bild or someone else says something about them that's completely taken out of context? Because sometimes, especially online, where you're constantly online, they just take one sentence and twist it completely. And they ca n't straighten it out. What do I recommend? I think everyone processes things like that differently, but what I would recommend is acceptance, yes, accepting the situation, because I've found in my own life that whenever I start fighting against something, I make it bigger. In other words, what we focus on grows.

[00:47:51]Yes, if I focus on making something grow that I don't want to see, it's my fault. I accepted this situation, and then I dealt with it as best I could. I tried to do everything within my power to make it happen, and then I let go.

[00:48:09]Mhm.

[00:48:10]And I simply continued on my path and, uh, focused on what I wanted to see grow. And that was contentment in my life. That is, after that headline and after those few days where I really suffered, where I even didn't dare to go out because I was so paranoid at the time, um, I said to myself: "Hey, what do you want to see grow now?" "This negativity or the positive and the good in life?"

[00:48:43]Yes, of course I want to grow positively, and that requires me to say, okay, this happened, I accept it. It wasn't nice. I apologized. I also paid back to those new people, I think, the €3,000 or whatever it was, all good. Uh, and I focused on my life, and look, how long ago was that? Three years. I don't even think about it anymore. At times, it was a difficult, difficult period in my life. But hey, as you just said, our lives are like a journey. We always have stopovers, and if this was a stopover in, let's say, 90 years of life, then I'm incredibly grateful that I was able to have this experience, learn from it, let go, and focus on my life.

[00:49:31]The difference between heaven and hell, for example, is just thoughts about how you perceive certain things. So, super exciting. Um, then you Uh, a very active profile with a really, really strong community. I can say that because I know the scene, the influencers, and the creators, through Cobgrad.

[00:49:52]Adam 247. Is it a blessing or a curse that you're now saying, "How long have you been doing this?" that you're so active?

[00:50:00]2016, the first time we met, my business partner introduced us, and you immediately came up with your... I don't think I even had a real Instagram account, and I said, " Listen, I don't want to... I want to stay in the background. Can I be public?"

[00:50:17]And that's what I've started doing now, and you said, " Hey, Micha, by now you can even finish a sentence in front of the camera." Wasn't that the case? Um, yeah, how long have you been doing this? And so active in 2016, that was back with the first part exit in Frankfurt. That was my first story back then on Snapchat or something, because you have so many amazing stories. So, a huge learning curve there too. You I think you once wiped your butt with a €500 bill and said, "You can... I have the money then and then." Now, what are you doing?

[00:50:46]But that was all a strategy back then, right?

[00:50:48]I was just trying to cause a stir. What happened then?

[00:50:51]I tried to be controversial to get more people's attention. So it was more or less a role I was temporarily thrust into. But yeah, it all started in 2016. I shared snippets of my life on Snapchat, later on Instagram, and in the process, I attracted a lot of people who did n't see me as a role model, but rather as themselves. Because I, a regular guy without a high school diploma, started running a company, made money, achieved freedom, and people could identify with me, but not in the sense of, " Hey, he's my role model." It was more like, "Hey, he's my role model." It was more like, "Hey, he's similar to me." And because I shared a lot of private stuff from my life, I created a kind of... I built a bridge of identification with my followers, which they could then cross if they were interested and thus become part of my life.

[00:51:45]Yes, I would say that my community, as you say, was huge. I don't have a huge following, I only have, in quotes, 140,000 or 145,000 followers, but a very strong, loyal community that isn't growing that much.

[00:51:59]So, I have a base that's been with me for years and really goes with me every step of the way. If you were to break a leg today, say, "Listen, can one of you come?" They will come, I tell you. I know that from other things. I also have a charity and you said I'd make a post about it and my wife called me and said, Michael, someone hacked our profile, we're getting lots of new followers on Trops [laughter]. Exactly. And I'm completely hacked. What is? No, no, I just met Adam and he posted that. So this is a very strong community. Exactly, I have a very loyal community. Uh, I have exceptionally high storylines for the small number of viewers I have. I have a very high interaction rate, but that's really only because people have been around for years and, I don't know, are interested in seeing snippets of my life.

[00:52:53]But how does that feel for you personally?

[00:52:54]Isn't that sometimes the case, like, "Now I have to post again today, or do you say: 'Hey, cool, I just won't post then.'" So, no, if I don't post, I will post, I'm not stressing about it. You have some days where you have a story like 200, and sometimes where you have nothing at all. Yes, and in my opinion that's how it should be, because it shouldn't feel like a business.

[00:53:13]Yes, for me Instagram is not a business.

[00:53:15]For me, Instagram is simply, hey, if I feel like it, I share my life with you, and if not, then I just don't. I make money with Instagram, yes, or through Instagram, but I don't have to.

[00:53:25]And that's why I no longer see it as a business. I now see it simply as, hey, I'm into it, and look, even now, maybe again, when I considered using my Instagram account as a business medium and offered coaching, I did make money with Instagram, but significantly less than today, when I do n't even use my Instagram as a business tool.

[00:53:49]What do you wish for your son? Um, that he lives life the same way you do? What do you want to give her? You, I am, or what would you give yourself if you were, say, 10 years old (back then everything was still a bit white), or 16 years old? What would you take with you into life?

[00:54:07]Wow, that's a good question. I haven't really thought about it that often myself, but I think I would definitely try to pass on to my child what my father passed on to me. Down-to-earthness, diligence, good manners, decency, respect towards older people, yes, parents. Good person, good person.

[00:54:26]Being that way is something I learned from my upbringing. Yes. Um, being helpful, yes, comes from my upbringing. I would try to pass on the same advice to my parents to bring my child along.

[00:54:39]Furthermore, I would try to instill in my child the understanding that life, at least in their early years until they become an adult, i.e., until they reach the age of 18, perhaps consists of three phases. Section 1 is, he is super dependent on me, I don't know, until he is three years old he will probably be super dependent on me. But as soon as they can start walking, I would really try to teach them that walking alone is simply more advanced than being held by the hand.

[00:55:06]And sometime from the 13th or 14th year onwards, when my father and mother actually had no time for me, to take care of me or to do my homework or to sit down with me because they simply had to work, I would make it clear to my child, from the moment many parents start leaving their children alone, that I am there. So, unlike my father. I want to pass on many things that my father and mother gave me, but also do many things differently, because I have control over my time, whereas my parents were controlled by time. So, to dedicate a lot of time to my child, a very, very lot, because I believe that most fathers, and I have spoken with many fathers in the recent past, regret not having spent time with their children during their teenage years.

[00:55:59]I don't want to make that mistake, and I believe I've made good provisions to be able to give my child the necessary time they deserve. Parents spend 70% of their time with their children until they are 10 years old.

[00:56:14]There are studies that suggest this, but generally speaking, children start playing sports from around age 10 onwards; other hobbies tend to be more outdoor activities and are sometimes considered uncool by parents.

[00:56:23]I would do it exactly differently.

[00:56:24]Aha. Yes. I would give my child plenty of time beforehand, but from age 10, 11, 12 onwards I am fully there for my child. Yes, I always think it's extremely important to instill values ​​in children. These are the most important things. And I think the best way to do that is simply by leading by example. Yes, that you are friendly to the waiter, that you are friendly to the lady who cleans the toilet, but also show respect. My wife does n't; for example, we don't talk negatively about other people at home. Awesome!

[00:56:57]And then I also believe that you give the child the freedom to develop as they want, you understand? Because too often, perhaps, is also because that's how it was for me, where people would say, "You electrician Micha," that they would simply say, "Hey, go your own way, I'm here, I'm standing here, learn from it, fall flat on your face, but I'm here." Yes, and I didn't have that, and probably many children whose parents grew up in our generation don't. Not because the workers, well, they had to work, they simply didn't have any time, they were under too much stress. My father worked three jobs just so we could maybe take us on three car trips on vacation at the end of the year. So, this required that he sacrifice, that is, he had to sacrifice time, in order to make certain things possible for our family.

[00:57:45]And I think that's exactly what I don't want. I just want to have made provisions in advance so that I can really spend plenty of time with my child later on and open the doors to my child that he himself wants to open, you know?

[00:58:02]Yes, I think that's it, but hey, I 'm not a father yet. Um, I don't know yet what it will be like when the time comes.

[00:58:08]Call me. I can tell you, you still wo n't know any better. I know I wanted to change the first diaper in the hospital, and at some point I pressed the emergency bell because I just couldn't do it. Uh, and I did n't want to wake my wife, who logically had also been through a lot that day. I'll do it overnight. So, that means I believe in learning by doing and also understanding that you don't have to be perfect, also going back to entrepreneurship, where you might be a CEO for the first time in your life or a new role.

[00:58:38]It's always something different. Hey, I'm doing my best in this situation, and that's what we can do, I think. Yes, cool. Finally, let's reveal the secret of what you've just gotten tattooed, IKY Guide, what your purpose in life is now, and what do we see in the future?

[00:58:57]That means, where you say you've positioned yourself or found your own meaning, where you say: "Hey, this is my inner meaning in life, this is... there is no meaning for me in life. Yes, for me personally, that doesn't mean what I would say for everyone. For me, the meaning in life is always in what I'm doing right now.

[00:59:21]Yes, according to Ikigai, the meaning of my life is exactly what I'm doing here. I'm sitting here with you, recording a podcast episode, trying to give people something meaningful, perhaps something of value. And my next purpose in life is to get from A to B, so from here back to my loved one and spend the rest of the time with her by the pool or on the beach.

[00:59:43]So I think we, I personally, were conditioned from a young age to believe that there should always be something very specific that gives meaning to life. Go to university or you know, work for it, do this, that's what I was raised to do, and I had to unlearn that too. I actually always see the meaning now." There is n't just one meaning, because one meaning would feel wrong to me. There are thousands of meanings to life, and one of them is what I'm doing right now, that's the meaning. And if that's just lying around and relaxing, then that's my meaning of life for the moment. Yes, Eckhart Tolle wrote a great book about it. I can recommend it again.

[01:00:26]Never read it, but I've heard a lot about it. Exactly. Or always moments of it, but I believe it's simply about finding it for yourself, that this is the here and now. I always tell entrepreneurs when they say, "I need a tip," it's a tip, and I always say, "Enjoy the journey."

[01:00:40]For me, it's always about enjoying the journey, because today's problem or challenge will be, in a year's time, totally beautiful in retrospect, because you'll have a completely different challenge then, and to live in the now.

[01:00:52]Exactly. Sounds simple, but there's more to it than you think.

[01:00:56]Yes, Adam, thank you very much for the open conversation. Let's go over it again.

[01:01:00]We've learned about tattoos and focus. Then no stress.

[01:01:04]No stress, live in the now.

[01:01:06]Stay hungry.

[01:01:07]No matter how rich and how much time you have, keep working at it or at least do something to make it last.

[01:01:12]Discipline.

[01:01:13]Yes. [snort] Now, the little ant that always accompanies me and illustrates to me that I can carry my own weight at least ten times. Wow. Yes.

[01:01:25]Dream big or go home. Yes.

[01:01:27]Smiley.

[01:01:28]Smiley. Yes.

[01:01:29]Have fun in life. Absolutely.

[01:01:31]Here it is again.

[01:01:32]Yes. Smile.

[01:01:33]Great moments.

[01:01:33]Great moments. Yes.

[01:01:36]Die with memories, not dreams.

[01:01:37]I like that. Yes, that is. And then, what else do we have?

[01:01:40]Impossible acceptance. Yes, changes.

[01:01:43]Super important.

[01:01:44]The most constant in our lives should be change, my investor said back then, and I'm sticking to that. I like that.

[01:01:52]Eram, it was an honor. Thank you very much. Thank you.

[01:01:54]Thank you.

[01:01:54]Before you go, a quick note to all our entrepreneurial listeners out there. If you're looking for a reliable, inefficient way to scale your online sales and payments, I highly recommend Cobcard. It was developed to streamline your processes, from payment processing to customer management. [music] All in one platform. Whether you're just starting out or looking to grow your business, cobcard.com provides the tools you need for success.

[01:02:29]So visit cop.com today and see how it can truly revolutionize your business operations. Dive in and start optimizing your sales processes now. M.