Multiplier Mindset® with Dan Sullivan

Hosted by Dan Sullivan and Strategic Coach

Business Management NewsInterviews guestsExplicit

Website RSS feed

Episodes

258

Latest episode

Nov 2026

Language

About the show

Strategic Coach founder Dan Sullivan shares his wisdom and insights with entrepreneurs who want to multiply their freedom and success.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

November 4, 202617 min

The Secret To Loving The Business You Built, with Charlie Bassett

Does growing your business have to mean working longer hours? Charlie Bassett grew up watching his family work hard for slim grocery margins. In this episode, he shares how Strategic Coach® helped him rethink his role, build strong teams across four stores, and find more enjoyment in a business he once thought about leaving. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: Why Charlie’s been hearing about grocery prices since kindergarten. How COVID brought both tough challenges and record success to Charlie’s business. What helped Charlie realize it was time to step back from day-to-day operations. Why Charlie credits Strategic Coach with keeping him in the grocery business. Show Notes: There are no bad industries; you can still build a great business in an industry where others are struggling. In the Strategic Coach community, there are about 100 industries represented, and clients come from about 75 different countries. Focusing on what makes your business different is more useful than watching every move your competitors make. It’s easy to change when everyone’s changing. Everyone else is so busy with their own adjustments that they’re not paying attention to yours. Working in your Unique Ability® lets you bring more of what you do best to your business. The work you don’t enjoy may be exactly what someone else on your team loves doing. Part of your job as a leader is to help your team stay confident when things get tough. When you’re under pressure, stop and take a breath before your thinking runs straight to the worst-case scenario. Making a little progress each day can help you get through even the toughest stretches. It’s easier to think clearly when you’re not physically, mentally, and emotionally worn out. Building a business that manages itself takes practice, but small changes can add up and start to build on one another. Resources: Unique Ability® The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy What Free Days™ Are And How To Know When You Need Them The Positive Focus® Your Life As A Strategy Circle by Dan Sullivan What Is A Self-Managing Company®? In our last episode, you'll discover how a different approach to creating value can open up possibilities you might not see when you focus only on what customers ask for. Tap here to listen to The Difference Between Most Entrepreneurs And Great Entrepreneurs

October 14, 20267 min

The Difference Between Most Entrepreneurs And Great Entrepreneurs

What separates a successful entrepreneur from one who changes the way people live and work? In this episode, Dan Sullivan explores the shift in thinking that sets great entrepreneurs apart, using Steve Jobs as an example. Discover how a different approach to creating value can open up possibilities you might not see when you focus only on what customers ask for. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: The two ways entrepreneurs think differently from most people. What most entrepreneurs focus on in the marketplace. What great entrepreneurs focus on instead. How Steve Jobs created capabilities for himself and millions of others. Show notes: Entrepreneurs take responsibility for their own financial success and security rather than expecting an employer, government, or institution to do it for them. Entrepreneurs don’t get paid first; they get paid after they create value that someone else is willing to buy. It doesn’t matter how useful you think your work is; it only matters if someone else sees enough value in it to write you a check. When you focus only on solving existing problems, your clients can end up defining the work you do. Great entrepreneurs are more interested in creating new capabilities than solving known problems. Start with a capability you wish existed for your own life, then ask whether other people would want it too. Steve Jobs wanted computers to be easier to use, music to be purchased one song at a time, and phones to do far more than make calls. Great entrepreneurs build a formula around their capabilities that stays true even as technology, markets, and the world change. Apple’s enduring formula is to create beautiful technology that people love using. A clear formula lets you keep creating new value without having to reinvent who you are every time the world changes.

September 23, 202627 min

What It Takes to Go From Pro Athlete to Entrepreneur, with Evan Lindsay

After seven years in the NHL playing for the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens, Evan Lindsay retired as a professional athlete and entered the realm of entrepreneurism. Evan shares the story of how he went from the National Hockey League to engaging in successful teamwork he’ll never have to retire from. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: The mindset that’s made Evan both a successful athlete and a successful entrepreneur. How Evan’s multi-faceted company works with failing gyms. How Evan’s employment experiences always ended. The ways in which Evan’s company has grown and continues to expand. Some of the most useful tools and experiences Evan has gained as a Strategic Coach® member. Show Notes: Being a professional athlete at the highest level means you can be coached and you’re good at teamwork. Those are also the two crucial capabilities to being an entrepreneur. For a lot of professional athletes, their unusual talent was spotted very early in life. NHL hopefuls are serious professionals before the end of their teen years. Many professional athletes don’t prepare for the time when their athletic career ends. And then they're thrown out into the world where they don't have the system that’s supported them. An entrepreneur’s number one job is to improve themselves in relationship to their team members and then to the business they’re in. If you consult but haven’t actually worked in the field for a while, you’re coming from a space of theory and ideas. Being familiar with the nuances and details of an industry makes you a lot more effective and proficient at supporting the people around you. In professional sports, you adapt or you don’t get paid. And whether you’re leading the team or on the bench, you have to be in service of winning. When you take over failing businesses, you take over something where the identity is the losing business. You have to come up against hurdles a few times before you realize what doesn’t work. There’s no finish line for entrepreneurs. Being an entrepreneur is a life sentence. Resources: EOS® Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy Unique Ability® My Plan For Living To 156 by Dan Sullivan

September 1, 202628 min

What Entrepreneurs Can Accomplish With An Open Mind, with Geoff Meyerson

What does it take to build a company that grows without depending on you for every decision? In this episode, biotech entrepreneur Geoff Meyerson shares how failure, clear communication, and continual self-investment have helped him build a global business, empower his team, and create greater impact with less effort. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: Why entrepreneurship may be in Geoff’s genes. How experiencing failure led him to an early breakthrough. How Geoff discovered he wanted to build a career in biotech. What he did to unknowingly prepare himself for entrepreneurship. How he grew his company into a global firm. Show Notes: AI has had one of its greatest impacts in medicine, especially in pharmaceuticals and drug development. Growth-minded entrepreneurs take on the next exciting opportunity, then grow themselves to become more valuable to the team they’re building. Failure is a natural part of the entrepreneurial cycle that leads to breakthrough. To move from failure to breakthrough, the entrepreneur leading the company must evolve their role. One way to make an impact is to donate some of the money you make, but meaningful work can create a more direct impact in your day-to-day life. When your work is meaningful, you know you’re making a difference even on the days that don’t go well. Knowing what you want early in your entrepreneurial career is an advantage because the sooner you gain clarity, the sooner you can get there. Whenever people are involved, challenges, misunderstandings, and things going wrong are inevitable. Clear, honest, and consistent communication prevents small problems from becoming larger relationship issues. Investing more time in your team enables the company to grow faster and allows you to accomplish more with less effort. A Self-Managing Company® gives entrepreneurs the freedom to focus on higher-value opportunities rather than being pulled into day-to-day details. The more entrepreneurs invest in themselves, the more likely they are to have higher-caliber conversations, relationships, and opportunities. Resources: Transforming Experiences Into Multipliers The Impact Filter® The Entrepreneur’s Guide To Time Management What Is A Self-Managing Company®?

August 12, 20268 min

How Entrepreneurs Can Publish Books Without It Being A Chore

Dan Sullivan used to write books the hard way: long, lonely hours at the keyboard. In this episode, he explains the small‑book production system he created in 2014—focused ideas, a repeatable structure, and an editorial team that lets him produce a new book every quarter—and shows how entrepreneurs can adopt the same approach. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: What first got Dan writing books over 30 years ago. The commitment he made at 70 to write a different kind of book every quarter. Why his new book project stalled just four weeks in. Who the books are for and how they’re meant to be used. How Dan selects each quarter’s book topic. Show Notes: You can choose to write only about ideas your clients have already paid you for and that are proven in the marketplace. Long-term creative goals, like a book every quarter for 25 years, keep you active, productive, and future-focused. Advertising taught Dan to write succinctly by getting a complete message across in just a few seconds or inches of space. Strategic Coach® books are written specifically for Program members and for their associates who may want to join. Every quarterly book follows the same structure, with eight chapters, an introduction, a conclusion, and a consistent layout. Short, focused books can reveal which ideas deserve to become bigger, mass market books. Writing a book entirely on your own is often slow, lonely work that doesn’t suit most entrepreneurs. If you maintain your health, you can keep doing meaningful creative work for your entire lifetime. When a company pays you to advise its people, your recommendations can be constrained by the organization’s agenda. Most entrepreneurs get better results by collaborating with an interviewer or editor who can draw out their ideas. When you’re stuck on a project, asking a capable team member to take over the “How” can instantly create momentum. Resources: The 21st Century Agent by Dan Sullivan The Entrepreneur's Guide To Time Management Wanting What You Want by Dan Sullivan The Impact Filter® Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy

July 22, 202622 min

Why It’s Worth The Entrepreneurial Risk, with Maria Callahan

Maria Callahan owns a tax advisory firm and has redesigned it around entrepreneurial freedom. Here, she shares how shifting from “professional accountant” to “entrepreneur,” pruning wrong-fit clients, and using Strategic Coach® tools helped her build a lean, right‑fit firm where tax season is calm, her time is protected, and the business supports the life she actually wants. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: How boredom led Maria to entrepreneurship. The risks and sacrifices she made to start her own business. What first drew Maria into accounting. Why she enjoys working with taxes and tax planning. How Strategic Coach has been a pivotal part of her life over the past few years. Show Notes: Professional accountants tend to get hardwired to believe there’s only one “right” way to do accounting. Strategic Coach members recognize how their industry operates, but deliberately design businesses that operate in a way that makes sense for them. Once you’re credentialed, you can choose to be an entrepreneur whose specialty happens to be accounting. The joy of entrepreneurship is focusing on what you love doing, what you’re best at, and the clients you love working with. Not every customer or client is right for you, and accepting that lets you eliminate wrong-fit work and stress from your business. Sometimes the best move is to stop offering products or services that distract you from what you do exceptionally well. Real leadership involves making time to think about your business, where it’s going, and who will be on the journey with you. Focus Days™ are for money‑making activities, Buffer Days™ are for setup and support work, and Free Days™ are 24 hours with zero work. Either you take Free Days intentionally, or your body will eventually force you to take them. Doing everything yourself is one of the most exhausting and expensive habits an entrepreneur can have. If you never challenge your own beliefs about work and success, you’ll never step outside the limits they create. Strategic Coach members learn from each other because they’re in different industries but face remarkably similar challenges. Resources: Unique Ability® The Entrepreneur's Guide To Time Management Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy Tax-Free Wealth by Tom Wheelwright Kolbe Transforming Experiences Into Multipliers The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy The Positive Focus®

July 2, 20260 min

The Shift That Happens When You Commit To Your Best Work, with Jane Pegg

Dr. Jane Pegg is a veterinarian specializing in dentistry and oral surgery, and her ambition led her to build an enterprise that includes both a hospital and a school. In this episode, Jane shares how she went from feeling unhappy in traditional jobs to doing only the work she’s best at and loves most. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: How you actually grow as an entrepreneur by designing your own future instead of following a prescribed path. The number one thing entrepreneurs learn in The Strategic Coach® Program. Why Jane’s first year in Strategic Coach® was very different from what she expected—and why that turned out to be a good thing. The most valuable part of The Strategic Coach Program for Jane so far, and how it changed the way she thinks about problems and opportunities. Show Notes: Entrepreneurs learn at a very early age that they can’t just follow along; they have to create their own path. Entrepreneurs create their own futures, and the best ones always see their futures as bigger than their pasts. Problems are raw material for expanding the usefulness of your business. If you do something only rarely, you have no ability to become truly proficient or truly exceptional at it. If you don’t know where you want to get to, it doesn’t matter which way you go. You won’t get any closer to your next goal by sitting still. Entrepreneurs need the courage to say, “There’s no other option. This is what we’re doing.” Strategic Coach thinking tools aren’t tied to a particular industry; they connect directly to your unique experience. Entrepreneurs have to figure out for themselves what they want their main area of focus to be. Resources: Unique Ability® Your Life As A Strategy Circle by Dan Sullivan

June 10, 202620 min

Not Being Normal Is Your Biggest Advantage, with Andy Howard

Andy Howard always knew he didn’t think like everyone else, and school confirmed it. Today, he runs Karuna Impact, a niche property business that converts underused commercial buildings into homes and channels a third of its profits to fight child bed poverty. Discover how Strategic Coach® helped Andy transform discomfort and loss into clarity, confidence, and a powerful freedom of purpose. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: Why Andy’s entrepreneurial mind didn’t fit formal education. What Andy started doing after school that finally felt energizing. How a neglected niche in property became a huge growth opportunity. How Andy has gained confidence and clarity through Strategic Coach. What sparked Andy’s renewed sense of purpose as an entrepreneur. Show Notes: Many successful entrepreneurs don’t thrive in school, so they use their own experience as their real education. Most coaching programs focus on goals and tactics; Strategic Coach focuses on expanding your freedom. Freedom isn’t handed to you—you earn it through the entrepreneurial journey. To be free in any area of life, you first need freedom over your time. As you grow your personal freedom, you naturally create greater value for others. For many entrepreneurs, work loses its energy once it feels routine. Big opportunities often live in niches that most people overlook. Social impact and company profitability aren’t mutually exclusive; a well-designed business can achieve both. Strategic Coach thinking tools help you get crystal clear on your vision and the people needed to achieve it. Every Program Coach is an entrepreneur, so they coach from real-world experience, not theory. Finding a community of like-minded entrepreneurs makes it easier to take risks and pursue bigger freedoms. Clarifying your freedom of purpose gives you the motivation to keep growing long after you’ve hit your initial goals. Resources: Karuna Impact The Kolbe A™ Index The Impact Filter® The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs Everything Is Created Backward by Dan Sullivan

May 20, 202632 min

Find Your Fellow Gritty, Courageous Entrepreneurs, with Eric Hansen

Eric Hansen built his business the hard way—decades of grit, risk, and going it alone. But he hit a ceiling he couldn’t break through by himself. In this episode, Eric shares how joining The Strategic Coach® Program helped him multiply his business, reclaim his time, and design a more balanced, purposeful entrepreneurial life. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: Why entrepreneurs talk about completely different things with one another than anyone else in their lives. The two crucial stages that signal you’re ready to join The Strategic Coach Program. Why Eric said no to Coach for years—and what finally changed his mind. The kind of wireless telecommunications company Eric has been growing for nearly three decades. How Eric has actually gained more free time and freedom as his company has scaled. Show Notes: When corporate executives meet, they share wins. When professionals meet, they discuss problems. When entrepreneurs meet, they trade stories about their biggest failures and comebacks. Entrepreneurs routinely put themselves into situations where they have to grow as people in order to create the solutions they need. Great entrepreneurs are always acquiring new capabilities, and that continual growth is what builds their confidence. The most successful entrepreneurs can go through almost any kind of trouble and still find a way to come out stronger on the other side. In the Strategic Coach® community, you never have to explain yourself because everyone has lived through their own version of the challenges you’re describing. It’s a powerful advantage for a new entrepreneur to admit they don’t know everything and be open to learning. Companies, like people, move through distinct phases of growth, and each phase demands a different kind of leadership. When you’re staring down potential business ruin, you quickly discover who you are and what you’re really made of. Grit is a crucial entrepreneurial capability that never shows up neatly on a resume and is almost impossible to judge on the surface. Most small businesses don’t survive beyond their first few years, which makes staying power and resilience a serious competitive advantage. The willingness to be vulnerable, especially after major setbacks, can become one of an entrepreneur’s greatest superpowers. Resources: The 4 C’s Formula by Dan Sullivan Grit by Angela Duckworth The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur C. Brook The Impact Filter®

April 29, 202628 min

The Scary Decisions That Fuel Top Entrepreneurs, with Zack Oliva

From the start of his career, Zack Oliva has deliberately moved toward where he sees the next wave of growth. Now co-owner of a national energy law firm, he shares how he makes major career and business decisions, builds a focused niche, and uses entrepreneurial thinking to stay in the right position for long-term expansion. Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode: Why Zack says he “wasn’t a real person” when he started his firm in 2013. How focusing on the right people allowed Zack’s company to grow exponentially. Zack’s attitude toward every person who comes through his organization. How The Strategic Coach® Program has helped Zack and his business partner grow their company 3-4x. Why Zack thinks joining Strategic Coach® is one of the best investments you can make in yourself. Show Notes: Becoming a professional takes years of study, but becoming an entrepreneur starts with choosing to keep growing beyond your credentials. Most professionals follow best practices, while entrepreneurs create their own rules and go where the future growth will be. Entrepreneurs are people who want to grow. Your personal growth as an owner sets the ceiling for how big and how fast your company can grow. Choosing a growing niche creates a powerful platform to multiply opportunity. Casting for roles, not hiring for generic jobs, helps you find A‑players who fit your vision and teamwork standards. Treating your team members as whole people, not just employees, creates loyalty, creativity, and staying power. A business becomes more valuable when it runs increasingly well without the founder at the center of everything. Trusting your intuition is a learnable skill that gets stronger when you pay attention to past decisions and meaningful coincidences. Entrepreneurship is largely a game of confidence, and protecting that confidence is one of your key responsibilities. Strategic Coach thinking tools and workshops give entrepreneurs and teams a shared language that accelerates connection and progress. Investing in your team’s development produces more creative, capable people who free you up for higher-level work and a fuller life. Resources: Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy The Entrepreneur's Guide To Time Management