Welcome to YBAWS!
Acronym for your Your Business Ain't Worth Shit!
After decades of building, advising, and occasionally rescuing businesses, I'm officially retiring from consulting, but I'm not done mentoring. I want to help you build, grow, and sell your business for maximum cash value.
Someone told me Substack is "where the smart people hang out," meaning serious folks discussing real issues without all the marketing noise drowning out genuine conversation everywhere else. That resonated with me. What I want to share here isn't wrapped in a sales funnel or designed to grow my personal brand. I'm past that stage of life.
Why YBAWS! Exists
This is my mentorship venture. Yes, I do some marketing on social media for broader reach, but here's the thing: being serious about business growth that affects your family's financial future isn't like learning to fix a light switch or making small talk at networking events. Those are casual skills you can pick up anywhere.
Building real wealth in your business requires daily discipline, strategic thinking, and the kind of commitment most people won't maintain without real skin in the game. That's why I'm using Substack to deliver regular value you can actually implement, not motivational fluff or recycled business tips, but specific guidance from someone who's built, scaled, and sold businesses successfully.
The best business advice comes from someone who has nothing left to sell you. My retirement gift to myself is the freedom to mentor through YBAWS! without hidden agendas. No coaching packages, no masterclasses, no "limited time opportunities." Just straight talk from someone who's been in the trenches.
I'm working on a couple of business books for Indiegogo, but they're extensions of this same philosophy. Again, I was told this is what old retired people do. When I published my previous book in 2016, it worked as a screening tool for potential clients. If they couldn't grasp the concepts, we weren't a good fit. The system worked perfectly. You can still find that book on Amazon, but the updated version will offer the same value at the same price, because maximizing profit was never the goal.
Why This Isn't Free (And Why That Matters)
Let me address the obvious question: if mentorship is my only goal, why isn't this free?
Real mentorship isn't broadcasting to millions of casual followers with completely different situations. You can't effectively mentor 2 million people, you work with committed individuals who prove they're ready to do the work. Managing a massive free platform would consume my retirement and cost thousands monthly, defeating the whole purpose of stepping back.
The subscription isn't about generating income. It's about filtering for commitment, just like my book was. Here's the psychology:
Payment creates investment. When you pay for advice, you've already committed to the outcome. You're far more likely to implement recommendations rather than let your investment go to waste.
Loss aversion drives action. Once you've paid, you're motivated to extract value to avoid feeling like you wasted money. Free content creates no such pressure to engage deeply.
Identity consistency matters. By subscribing to business mentorship, you're declaring yourself a serious business owner. People naturally behave consistently with their stated identity.
Payment eliminates paralysis. Free content creates endless options with zero commitment. Paid content creates focus, when you specifically choose my guidance, you're more likely to follow it instead of constantly seeking alternatives.
Reciprocity creates obligation. Payment establishes a psychological contract where both parties have skin in the game. Free advice creates no such mutual commitment.
Nobody respects what they get for free. More importantly, nobody takes action on advice that cost them nothing and continue with the destructive cognitive bias that is leading to failure in the first place.
The Problem with Business "Expertise"
Here's what drives me crazy about modern business advice: everyone wants to stay in their lane. The marketing gurus, leadership experts, finance wizards, they all act like business is a collection of specialized departments. But business isn't departmental. It's a living organism where everything connects.
You can't say "I own a business, I don't need to know about venture capital" any more than you can say "I want to build house, I don't need to know about plumbing." Whether you realize it or not:
If you're a new business owner, you're essentially a seed or Series A investor in your own company
If you're profitable but still working 60-hour weeks, you're a Series B investor who needs banking expertise
If you've achieved 20-hour work weeks, congratulations, you're now a Series C investor
When you eventually sell, you'll need estate planning, investment knowledge, insurance expertise, and more
Just like building a house requires understanding how all the trades work together, building a business requires understanding how all its systems connect.
What You'll Get Here
My background spans venture capital, banking, investment insurance, taxation, and business growth, not because I collected certifications, but because real businesses forced me to understand how these pieces fit together.
I can't promise to stay in a neat content lane because business problems don't come in neat packages. One week we might discuss cash flow management, the next week succession planning, then pivot to reading market signals or understanding investor psychology. But you will understand how it all fits in.
What I can promise: no fluff, no recycled guru wisdom, and no solutions that ignore the messy reality of running an actual business. The is more of a business course that a coffee meeting.
My One Ask
If something I write helps you, share it with another business owner who might benefit. The best mentorship has always been passed along, not sold.
That's it. Sure I will have free downloads of analysis, checklists, execution programs. There will be homework, this is not passive, it is aggressive. This will be a productive use of your time not a recreational one. Educational, informative sure, but no less valuable to achiever your business and family wealth needs. Just someone who's walked this path sharing what he learned along the way.
Let's talk business, the real kind.