Codie Sanchez

The best founders do one thing brilliantly...

Hire.

Here’s how we think about finding & attracting A-players for our portfolio companies:

Most owners hire like they're running a restaurant.

They think more cooks = faster service.

Instead, they get a kitchen full of people bumping into each other, burning food, and blaming everyone else.

That’s why hiring isn’t a numbers game.

You don't need more people. You need the RIGHT people.

It’s impossible to build a worthwhile business with mediocre talent.

Over the years, we've developed a framework to find, attract, and close the top 0.001%.

I call it the 4 C's to Top-Level Talent:

1. CURATE

Start hiring before you start hiring.

Follow smart people in your niche on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn.

Bookmark stuff that makes you say, "Damn, I wish I wrote that."

Treat talent like a portfolio. Study first, invest later.

The best hires happen when you're NOT desperately hiring.

1. CULTIVATE

Engage without being weird.

Compliment their stuff. Comment. Ask smart questions. Send them ideas.

The best talent moves when THEY'RE ready, not when you need them.

Plant seeds early. Water them consistently.

3. CLOSE

When it's time to close the sale, go HARD.

Fly them in. Meet their spouse. Pay more than you're comfortable with.

I wasn't even looking for a company President when I met Marc. I wanted a CRO.

But after one conversation, I knew he was our guy.

So I changed the org to fit HIM.

That's how good hires work. They change you.

Don't squeeze top talent into your current structure.

Bend your business around exceptional people.

4. CONTINUE

Top performers won't always stay forever. That's okay.

Even when they leave, keep them close.

My old Head of Content now runs a 7-figure business. We still trade notes.

They send better talent than any recruiter ever could.

As someone who’s hired 100s of people, take it from me:

Your best hires won't walk in the door with a resume in hand.

They're already working somewhere else, crushing it.

It’s your job to go find them.

Hiring the right people is one of the most powerful growth levers for any business.

If you want to see exactly how we attract and retain top-tier talent across our portfolio, I’ll be breaking it all down in an upcoming workshop (tomorrow).

This is just one of several proven scaling strategies we’ll cover— more info here: info.contrarianthinking.co/build-masterclass?utm_s…

6 hours ago | [YT] | 2,191

Codie Sanchez

We work with 2,500+ business buyers every day.

Big deals and small deals almost always come down to the same few specific forces.

Spot them, and every deal starts to make sense.

Here’s how we do it.

www.contrarianthinking.co/newsletter-articles/the-…

1 day ago | [YT] | 317

Codie Sanchez

Stop letting the noise dictate your net worth. If you want financial freedom, your focus must be non-negotiable.

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1 day ago | [YT] | 3,020

Codie Sanchez

“The cold and unromantic fact is: a good product with great distribution will almost always beat a great product with poor distribution.” -Reid Hoffman

Our goal at Contrarian Thinking is a great product with great distribution. Inside, we show you exactly how we do this in our own business: www.contrarianthinking.co/newsletter-articles/law-…

2 days ago | [YT] | 536

Codie Sanchez

A lot of people ask me how I’ve built what I’ve built over the last year and a half...

• All the businesses.
• A real man and incredible husband by my side.
• My friends all crushing it and fascinating humans.
• Best shape of my life.
• More energy than ever.
• Truly financially, physically, mentally free.

You wanna know how?

I do the hard things. Then I do them again.

A muscle grows by breaking. A seed by cracking open. A child by growing pains. Humans need hard...

So how do I build this growing empire and life I love?

I said yes to hard things like:

• A man I knew could break my heart and hold me accountable.
• Buying businesses and taking on debt that I had to follow through on.
• Early mornings and late nights.
• Spending $50k on a venue when I hadn’t sold one ticket yet for our first conference.
• Quitting jobs that were easy to bet on the value of the hard.
• Building a team who all rely on me to pay them.
• Being relentless about working out food and my body.
• Never saying no to more info and smarter humans.
• Failing publicly with my own name in a world of peanut gallery trolls.

THAT is what it takes.

Someone said to me, I just have to do more things I like and I’ll be happier.

WRONG.

You need to train yourself to love the hard. You’ll be amazed at how incredible your life becomes.

↓ ↓ ↓

Join the Contrarians choosing hard here → contrarianthinking.biz/ctnl-csyt

3 days ago | [YT] | 6,997

Codie Sanchez

Want to buy a business in 2026? Start now.

Here’s your plan:

Let’s say you start trying to buy a business today, and you close on one next week. I guarantee that deal will make your life 10x worse.

Lots of folks lose money fast because they try to expedite one of these steps.

It’s good to move fast, but it’s better to be intentional and methodical.

Only fools rush in.

You’re no fool (right?).

So use what I call the 3-6-12 framework:

💥 At least 3 months to learn about deal-making:

• The terms. The financials. The roles, responsibilities, and tactics.
• Business-buying is a language. Maybe you know a few words. But you need to be fluent.
• There’s no such thing as a perfect business. Only a perfect business FOR YOU. Figure out exactly what that business looks like before you start looking for it.

💥 At least 6 months to work toward sourcing, negotiating, and securing a deal:

• You could look at 50 business before you submit an LOI for one.
• You could submit 25 LOIs before one is accepted.
• You could perform 10 rounds of due diligence before you find The One.

💥 At least 12 months post-purchase to fully acclimate to the ins and outs of a business:

• The crazy thing about buying a business is… You then own a business.
• Like it or not, it typically takes an entire year to fully integrate yourself and understand it inside out.

Ever heard that Warren Buffett saying?

“You can't produce a baby in 1 month by getting nine women pregnant.”

You CAN have the business you want.

But smart investments take time.

Follow the 3 steps here, but there’s an underrated 1st step before any of this:

Deciding if buying a business is even right for you.

• What kind of business would you buy?
• Why should (or shouldn’t) you?
• What’s business-buying like?

The kicker:

This step only takes 60 minutes.

I’m going over all of it in my live Masterclass (TOMORROW).

Save your spot here → info.contrarianthinking.co/buy-masterclass?utm_sou…

5 days ago | [YT] | 5,635

Codie Sanchez

You want to know where the criticism comes from? People doing less than you are. Period. The heavy hitters and the real wealth creators are too busy running deals to waste time on your feed.

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6 days ago | [YT] | 3,694

Codie Sanchez

Business lessons after 15 years:

↓ ↓ ↓

Want 15 years of business-BUYING lessons in 60 minutes?

I’m giving away as much info as I can fit in an hour. Free.

Save your spot here → info.contrarianthinking.co/buy-masterclass?utm_sou…

1 week ago | [YT] | 3,476

Codie Sanchez

The #1 killer of businesses is bad cashflow.

15 other harsh business truths for you:

1. The greatest muscle you can build is urgency. Bureaucracy is business poison.

2. Decrease the time between having an idea and getting it done. Everything changes.

3. Never sacrifice reputation in the name of business. You can always start another company. You can never create a new reputation.

4. Long-term games and long-term people compound. Resist shiny objects.

5. Hire smart people, pay them well, set them up for success... Then leave them the hell alone.

6. “There’s nothing worse than being sick, fat, tired and trying to run your business.” - Dana White

7. The highest ROI investment founders & owners can make is in themselves. Health shapes mindset. Mindset shapes action.

8. You're better off learning negotiation than financial modeling. Business is less spreadsheets than words.

9. The best business of all time has only you, a computer, and the send button.

10. Every additional employee increases complexity. Hiring is a last resort.

11. The best advice comes from those just a couple steps ahead of you. These people still vividly remember the problems you're facing today.

12. Sell painkillers, not vitamins. There's more money in needs than wants.

13. No discounts. Compete on value, not price. Any biz with $$$ can enter your market and bleed you out. Differentiate beyond commodity.

14. A happy customer is the most powerful marketing. Prioritize reviews. Humans are social animals.

15. If no one thinks you’re crazy, you’re too late. If everyone thinks your idea is good? Even worse. Outsized returns lie in non-conformism.

Like this list? Then you’ll wanna see my list of the top 5 business buying mistakes to avoid here: contrarianthinking.biz/5mistakes-csyt

1 week ago | [YT] | 3,663

Codie Sanchez

“I'd exit my 9-5, but I need more time.”

"I'd negotiate a raise, but I need more time."

“I'd start a side hustle, but I need more time.”

“I'd focus on that bigger project, but I need more time.”

"I'd start investing seriously, but I need more time."

“I'd make a plan for financial freedom, but I need more time.”

“I'd search for a business to buy, but I need more time.”

Nope.

You just need a deadline.

If you want to get serious about buying a business, I have the perfect low-stakes deadline for you:

Tuesday, December 9th at 6PM CST

I'm hosting a live masterclass on how to buy the perfect business for you. I'll walk you through exactly what to look for and teach you as much as humanly possible in 60 minutes. Plus 30 minutes where you can pick my brain on anything related to business buying or deal-making.

Grab your spot here for free: info.contrarianthinking.co/buy-masterclass?utm_sou…

1 week ago | [YT] | 4,620