The Deepest Conversation You’ll Ever Watch About Money | Codie Sanchez
Codie Sanchez, a nine-figure founder and author, discusses how most entrepreneurs are miserable and unnecessarily grind themselves into exhaustion. She emphasizes that building wealth doesn't require suffering, that most business owners underprice their services by 30-300%, and that success comes from implementing proven systems rather than working harder than competitors.
Summary
Codie Sanchez challenges the prevalent narrative in entrepreneurship that success requires grinding to the point of misery. She reveals that most entrepreneurs in the US make between $46,000-$64,000 annually—less than minimum wage in some states—because they optimize for revenue rather than profit and don't pay themselves first. She discusses how social media amplifies comparison and creates false aspirations, causing people to build businesses that don't serve their actual lifestyle desires.
Sanchez introduces three key mindsets for becoming a millionaire: (1) believing you can become one, backed by research showing that people who consider themselves lucky find more opportunities; (2) knowing yourself—understanding your archetype and strengths rather than copying others' strategies; and (3) understanding what the market actually wants rather than building what you personally desire. She illustrates this with her own failures in fashion and consulting businesses that she built without validating market demand.
On the business side, she outlines three immediate profit-boosting strategies: selling to richer customers (persona), raising prices (most businesses are underpriced by 30-300%), and implementing recurring revenue models (only 30% of US businesses have this, which she considers an 'F grade'). She emphasizes that billionaires didn't get rich through grinding but through implementing systems, setting favorable terms, and making one to three key decisions well.
Sanchez discusses the 'Own System'—a framework analyzing 12 profit levers (the 6 P's being pricing, product, persona, profit, process, and people). She introduces business archetypes (workhorse, ball hog, good guy, founder, dreamer, etc.) and warns that many entrepreneurs suffer from 'keyman risk'—being so essential that the business collapses without them. She shares a personal story of nearly losing a business when an operations manager hid cash flow problems, teaching her the necessity of systems and tracking.
Regarding the next generation, Sanchez notes they're questioning the traditional American dream, starting more businesses (5 million in 2025 vs. 500,000 in 2019) but many lack profitability. She cautions against feeling obligated to be an entrepreneur or own a house, noting that both the college degree and homeownership might be outdated requirements. Her final vision centers on enabling human capability and sovereignty through business ownership, wanting people to remember her as someone who believed in human potential.
About this episode
🔔 Subscribe for more great content: https://www.youtube.com/lewishowes ▶️ Recommended for you: https://youtu.be/cKwykBHgNio What if the grind you think makes you successful is the very thing keeping you broke and exhausted? Codie Sanchez, a former Goldman Sachs employee who has run 1,621 businesses through her company’s systems, sat down with Lewis to talk about money, freedom, and why most entrepreneurs across the US earn less than California’s $78,000 minimum wage. Her book Own or Be Owned is built on one uncomfortable question: do you own a business, or does it own you? She tells the story of walking into a bank for a loan and finding the account she thought held a million dollars almost empty. That night she sat in the dark and called her dad, who told her you are not really in the game until you have had a night like that. She never ran a business without systems again. The fixes she shares are simpler than you expect. Most businesses are underpriced by 30 to 300 percent, fewer than a third have recurring revenue, and hard work has almost nothing to do with how much money you make. She also explains why more than 80 percent of kids want nothing to do with their parents’ business. You will finish this one ready to raise your prices and build a life where work fits around the people you love. Own or Be Owned: Build a Business So Good It Doesn't Need You https://amzn.to/4gMh7Sb Main Street Millionaire: How to Make Extraordinary Wealth Buying Ordinary Businesses https://amzn.to/4xEEGno Codie's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/codiesanchez/ Codie's YouTube @CodieSanchezCT Big Deal Podcast @PodcastBigDeal Codie's Website https://contrarianthinking.com/ Listen to this episode on the go! 🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-school-of-greatness/id596047499 🟢 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/07GQhOZboEZOE1ysnFLipT?si=a03d916bade54d4f For more info about this episode, go to https://lewishowes.com/1983 💰 get my NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING book "Make Money Easy" today!https://lewishowes.com/moneyyou 📙 get my NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING book "The Greatness Mindset" today! https://lewishowes.com/gmyo 📤 sign up for my FREE newsletter https://lewishowes.com/greatnessdelivered Follow Lewis! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lewishowes/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lewis Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lewishowes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/LewisHowes 💻 Website: http://lewishowes.com/ 📲 For more Greatness text PODCAST to +1 (614) 350-3960 Get More Greatness! Greatness Clips: https://www.youtube.com/@GreatnessClips Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/@LewisHowesEspañol Portuguese: https://www.youtube.com/@LewisHowesPortugues Lewis Howes Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/@lewishowesshorts 00:00 The Grind Myth 04:18 Why Entrepreneurs Go Broke 07:12 Rethinking Time & Money 14:07 Builders vs. Takers 17:34 3 Millionaire Mindshifts 25:40 The New American Dream 29:00 The Billionaire Playbook 33:28 3 Steps to More Profit 40:03 The Owner Mindset 45:11 Hitting Rock Bottom 50:15 Asset vs. Expensive Job 52:02 Finding Hidden Money 56:45 Business Builder Archetypes 01:04:20 Buy Boring Businesses 01:09:03 Codie's True Legacy Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. WaldenU.edu #greatness #inspiration #motivation
Key Insights
- Most entrepreneurs in the US make $46,000-$64,000 annually, which is less than minimum wage in some states like California ($78,000), contradicting the typical narrative of entrepreneurial wealth
- Most businesses are not optimized for profit because entrepreneurs and their teams don't view profit as 'sexy' and therefore don't prioritize paying themselves first
- Research on 'luck' shows that people who self-identify as lucky find opportunities 15 times faster than those who identify as unlucky, suggesting belief shapes perception and discovery
- Only 30% of US businesses implement true recurring revenue models where customers are automatically charged monthly until they opt out, despite this being the most profitable structure
- Billionaires typically attribute their wealth to one to three key decisions and implementing systems repeatedly rather than working harder than others
- Most businesses are underpriced by 30-300%, and in a sample of 1,621 businesses analyzed, not a single one was found to be overpriced
- Keyman risk—where a business collapses without its owner—indicates you have a job, not a business, and most entrepreneurs unknowingly have this problem
- Private equity firms and billionaires steal small business market share because they operate on proven systems, while small businesses lack systematic approaches and fail through inconsistency rather than poor strategy
- The entrepreneurship industry teaches that struggle and trauma are prerequisites for success, but this is a bias derived from entrepreneurs who happened to have experienced PTSD, not a requirement
- The younger generation is starting businesses at a historically high rate (5 million new starts in 2025 vs. 500,000 in 2019), but these businesses are less profitable than previous generations' ventures, indicating consolidation by larger players
- Over 80% of children refuse to take over their parents' businesses because the business competed for their parent's attention growing up, creating resentment rather than legacy appreciation
- Hard work has almost no correlation with wealth—plumbers and roofers work extremely hard but don't become wealthy unless they own their businesses with proper leverage and systems
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] You need to realize that most people who are giving you advice on the internet about business were miserable before they started their business, miserable as they're building it, and probably still kind of miserable post success. Those people who say that you have to do the really click- bay thing, which is grind to the point of misery until you eventually outlive everybody else. [music] I'm not saying that you don't have to work hard. I'm saying you could actually choose a life that you like [music] and fit work into it. And I actually think that's possible. >> A former Wall Street investor turned [0:32] nine figure founder and bestselling author of a book called Main Street…
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