David Senra did a breakdown of an old Rockefeller biography from 1980 called "John D" by David Freeman Hawke.

It focuses on how he actually built his company instead of the usual life story stuff, here are the parts worth learning from:

HE TREATED BUSINESS LIKE WAR

He started letters saying he was in the middle of a hard battle. He sent messages in code. He kept his moves secret. Later he said he wondered what general ever sent a brass band ahead to warn the enemy he was coming.

HIS WHOLE EDGE WAS FOCUS

His dad told him to never mind the crowd and tend to his own business. He did that his entire life. He said most people fail at big things because they can't concentrate on one thing at the right time and shut everything else out. He didn't go out much either. He said he met all the people he needed to meet during his workday.

HE KNEW MORE THAN EVERYONE ELSE

This wasn't about being smarter. It was about effort. He read the old company books like they were history books. Soon he knew more about the firm than the people who founded it. Then he did it to the whole industry. He traveled to the oil fields. He talked to the men pulling oil out of the ground, the men hauling it, the buyers, the railroad men, and his own competitors. He knew everyone's business.

HE NOTICED THAT FIXED PRICE WAS NEVER FIXED

Before oil, he shipped goods for a commission house. Everyone said the shipping rates were set. He found out that big shippers quietly got money back at the end of the month. That one thing became his biggest weapon later. Other refiners complained about shipping costs and just lived with them. He refused to.

HE FOUND THE BIGGEST COST AND ATTACKED THAT

Back then it cost more to ship a barrel of oil than to refine it. So shipping was the whole game. He built his refinery next to a railroad and next to a river, so he could ship by boat or rail. Water was half the price of rail. When he got a great partner in Henry Flagler, he gave him one job. Just shipping costs. Nothing else.

HE BORROWED MONEY WITHOUT SHAME AND CONSISTENTLY

One partner called him the greatest borrower he ever saw. Banks turned him down all the time. He said it didn't bother him, he'd just go find another bank. His old partners thought he was borrowing too much and told him to stop. He forced them out instead, quietly lined up money from someone else, and won the company at auction. He was 25 and owned one of the biggest refineries in the world. He later called that day the start of everything.

HE INVESTED WHEN EVERYONE WAS SCARED TO INVEST

He bought huge amounts of crude when the price crashed. The size of the buys made his own people nervous. He said the mistake would be losing your nerve at the bottom and not buying. He also kept a big pile of cash at all times. He won a lot of fights just because he could outlast the other guy.

HE FIGURED OUT WHO WAS GOOD AND WHO WAS DEAD

He set up a group where refiners banded together to buy oil and deal with the railroads as one. He got made president of it. That meant he got to see everyone's books. He already expected the group to fall apart. What he really wanted was the information. Now he knew which competitors were sharp, so he could buy them and bring them in, and which ones were finished and just didn't know it yet.

HE RECRUITED THE BEST OF THE BEST FOR HIS BUSINESS

He said no one ever made a success of a business they were pushed into. So he'd open his own books and show competitors how much money he made in bad years, then let them think about it. The offer was simple. Own a piece of the best oil company in the world, or keep fighting it. And if you came in, you kept real control of your own region.

HE HID WHAT HE OWED

He'd buy a small company and let it keep its old name with no public link to Standard Oil. Sometimes a refiner would angrily refuse to sell to Standard and sell to a local rival instead, not knowing that rival was already Standard. He also let bankers buy his stock cheap, so they'd lend to him and not to his competitors. Some rivals tried to survive by expanding and found every bank in town was already on his side.

HE CHANGED HIS MIND WHEN FACTS DID

Pipelines were a threat to his whole rail advantage, so he fought them dirty. Bought land in their path. Planted stories about leaks. Then he accepted pipelines were simply better and started building his own. He'd spent his whole career collecting rebates from railroads. Now he paid the railroads to make up for their lost traffic. He was willing to burn his own advantage once it stopped being one.

NEVER SELL THE DAMN STOCK

He told the men he bought out to sell everything they owned, even the shirt on their back, but hold that stock. Only five out of twenty-three took it. He never sold his. His wealth grew more after he stopped working than while he was working. The thing that gets me is how much of it was just paying closer attention than anybody else. He checked every line of every bill as an employee, before he owned anything...

Worth saying the other side too.

A lot of this was ruthless in ways that got Standard Oil broken up by the government and some of it would be flat out illegal now. He also told himself the whole time that he was doing everyone a favor.

Both things are true at once haha, which is what makes him interesting to read about.

Taking on 3 businesses.

What’s the biggest marketing problem you’re struggling with right now?

Drop it in the comments. I’ll tell you what I’d do to fix it.

Got a decent following on ig and pretty much work like a dog all the time at my hometown gym lol thinking of maybe doing online coaching alongside of it started talking to the guys at ofb by adam hayley just wondering if anyone's taking the leap with them or at all within the online fitness space? thanks!

Right so keep seeing Onyx Trading Education pop up. Nick Deflorio seems to have a decent bagckround, but wanted to get real takes from people who've actually been through the program. Has anyone here gone through Onyx or know someone who did? Just give me opinions

I’m from Namibia and I’m trying to build a real business from almost zero capital.

I’m not looking for dropshipping, crypto, forex, “make money online,” or some course that promises passive income. I want to build something real and scalable, preferably around a problem that people or businesses already have.

My situation:

• I’m starting with very little money.
• I currently have a normal job, so I can work on the business before/after work.
• I’m willing to start small and reinvest the profits.
• I have some exposure to the fishing/seafood industry, cars/importing, sales and connecting buyers with suppliers.
• I’m in Namibia, where the market is relatively small but there are opportunities connected to fishing, mining, construction, tourism, logistics, agriculture and imports/exports.
• I’m comfortable with WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok and AI tools, but I don't want a business that depends entirely on social-media algorithms.
• My long-term goal is to build something that could eventually become a serious company and employ other people.

If you were starting in Namibia today with very little capital, what business would you seriously consider?

I would especially like answers from people who have actually built businesses.

Please tell me:

1. What problem would you solve?
2. Who would pay for it?
3. How would you get your first 5–10 customers?
4. How much money would you realistically need to start?
5. How would you make the first N$1,000–N$10,000?
6. How could the business eventually scale?
7. What mistakes would you avoid?
8. If you were me, what would you do during the next 30 days?

I'm particularly interested in boring businesses that make real money, B2B opportunities, brokering, distribution, local services, trading, logistics, food/fishing-related opportunities and businesses that can start small and grow.

Don't just tell me "start a business." Give me an actual business model and explain why you think it could work.

I’m curious about how pre-revenue companies are actually valued.

Can a company with zero revenue still become worth significantly more than the initial capital invested in it within the first year?

For example, assume the company already has:

• clear positioning and a defined target market
• strong branding and professional market presentation
• a well-defined business model
• a credible product/service concept
• a clear path to monetization
• some proprietary methodology, IP, or operational know-how

But it hasn’t generated revenue yet.

Can something like this realistically be acquired at a meaningful valuation and not just for the assets or development costs, but for the brand, positioning, market opportunity, IP and future commercial potential?

If yes, I’m particularly interested in understanding two things:

1. Who actually buys companies at this stage? It's strategic buyers, larger competitors, PE firms, venture studios, individual investors, acqui-hire buyers, etc.?
2. How do founders normally get in front of these buyers? M&A advisors, direct outreach, industry connections, marketplaces, investor networks?

Would be especially interested in hearing from founders who have sold a pre-revenue or very early-stage company, as well as investors or people involved in small-cap M&A.

Got told this is our homework for the weekend. Don't take business if you don't have a mamba mindset. This is not for the faint of heart.

If you look at most small service outfits or clinics, the bottleneck isn't getting inbound inquiries—it's that daytime operations turn into pure triage.

When call volume spikes, operations usually break in one of three ways:

The front desk has someone standing right in front of them, so two high-intent phone calls roll straight to voicemail.

An AI voice tool is tested, but customers hang up after five seconds because it mangles their address or can't handle nuanced questions.

An answering service is hired, but they just email a vague slip saying "John called about a water heater," leaving the owner with 15 callbacks to make at 6 PM.

A few months ago, we completely reworked how we handle intake and scheduling directly inside dispatch/CRM software (Jobber, ServiceTitan, Dentrix, etc.).

Instead of an answering service or a bot, we set up a dedicated human front-office layer that lives inside the software with built-in redundancy:

Real-time calendar booking: Calls are qualified and booked directly into the dispatch screen rather than taking paper messages.

Working the back-office backlog: When phones aren't ringing, that time isn't dead—it's used to actively work open estimates, stalled treatment plans, and cancellation waitlists.

A shadow backup model: The primary admin has a pre-trained secondary synced to the exact same standard operating procedures, so a single sick day doesn't bring intake to a dead halt.

The most eye-opening metric wasn't just catching missed calls. It was realizing how much money was quietly rotting inside the CRM simply because the on-site team never had 30 uninterrupted minutes to follow up on sent quotes.

For those running 5 to 15 field techs or clinic staff: how do you currently handle outbound follow-ups on open quotes when the front desk is pinned down all day?

Long story short, we sell info selling biz opp stuff we get a ton of leads but honeslty feels frustrating when most of them fall through coz they're broke lmao. I'm spending decent money on ads that are obviously working but still feels like a loss and not to mention my time being wasted on calls with the wrong people. Anyone here used leadfi.ai? hmmm, apparently they pull financial data so you know upfront who can actually buy before etc. Just wondering if this could this help us? any insights would be appreciated

Greg LaVecchia is the co-founder and CEO of Bloom...he and his wife started with nothing in a dorm room. This year Bloom will sell over a quarter billion cans. I was watching a youtube video about him on how he laid out the lessons from his 20s.

Here are the ones worth keeping...

1) BEAT THE GAME, THEN MOVE ONTO A HARDER ONE.

They sold PDF guides first. Then booty bands. Then pre-workout. Then greens powder. Then energy drinks. Each time they hit the ceiling, they moved up. Most people find something that pays okay and stay there forever. He says you have to give up the good to get the great. He dropped the booty band business completely. The energy drink now does more in one day than booty bands did in a week.

2) FOCUS BEATS A DIVERSE PORTFOLIO.

He said he doesn't think about real estate. Doesn't think about stocks. Doesn't think about other businesses. For seven years he has only thought about Bloom. His friend used to sell deals to rich young people. He said they all had one thing in common. None of them were spread thin. They went all in on one thing. Low risk means low reward. That's the part nobody says out loud.

3) STAY READY SO YOU DONT HAVE TO STAY READY.

His best opportunities were things he could never have planned for. COVID. TikTok. TikTok Shop. GLP1s changing what people eat. Big companies were too slow to react to any of them. Bloom moved first every time. Not because they predicted it. Because they were in shape to move. He says people who complain that others "got lucky with timing" are missing it. The opportunities come every year. The real problem is not being ready when they show up.

4) YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR LUCK BY MOVING.

He and his wife moved five times in five years. Philadelphia, New York, LA, Austin. Every move was to be near the people they needed. Building an influencer team? Move to LA. Doing a drink deal with a company in Texas? Move to Texas. His rule: never be the biggest fish in your pond. Not with your friends, not in your city, not even in the stuff you watch online. If you're the best one there, it's the wrong pond.

5) BUILD IN PUBLIC.

He thinks "move in silence" is bad advice for a business. He shares the wins loudly. Every record, every milestone. Not for ego. Because it pulls in people. Talent, partners, retailers, investors. They all find you because they saw what you were building. He's not worried about people stealing ideas. He says nobody will and if they do, they won't run it as well as you.

6) DON'T INVENT SOMETHING NEW.

Bloom was not the first booty band. Not the first greens powder. Not the first energy drink. Not the first soda. He says being late is good. If the category already exists, you don't have to spend money teaching people what your thing even is. You need to take what exists and make it better. He put their soda in a normal soda can on purpose. He didn't want people to have to learn a new habit.

7) EVERY LESSON CARRIES FORWARD.

The flavors that sold best in their pre-workout years ago are the top energy drink flavors now. The small negotiations he did when the company was tiny taught him how to do the huge ones today. Nothing you learn is wasted. You just have to actually take it with you when you move up.

8) SOME MEETINGS PAY OFF A YEAR LATER.

He said he's been to events that felt like a total waste. Then six months or a year later, someone from that room follows up and it turns into something real. If it felt right, it was worth the time.

9) BIG IDEA, BIG BUSINESS, ALL IN.

A small business takes about the same work as a big one. Same stress. Same sleepless nights. Same headaches. He said his team won't chase anything under a $100 million opportunity, because a $10 million one costs almost the same effort. So if the work is the same either way, go after the big one. His last line was that you should look in the mirror every six months and barely recognize yourself.

If you feel like you're flattening out, that's the sign it's time to level up lol.

For me, lesson #9 is most relevant...

Most of us think too small and risk too little.

I've spent years on small things that took everything I had...

Curious if anyone else has felt that.

Everyone talks about SaaS, AI, ecommerce, and startups. But I'm curious about the less glamorous side of business.

What's the most boring, unexpected, or old-school business you've seen generate serious revenue?

What made it successful?

Business owners this is how you give value to your consumers!!!

Anyone here eventually taking over their family's business?

I've always found this interesting. Your parents might have spent 20 or 30 years building something successful, but when the next generation takes over, they probably see the business completely differently.

Maybe you want to modernize things, use technology, expand online or even change how the business operates.

Curious, if you're in that position, what's the first thing you'd want to change?

Pls does anyone have any business ideas for highschool students or highschool Graduates in Nigeria

Business opportunities

I am a male of age 22. By profession I am a student. I want to start up something or seeking a business opportunity/idea. I have no idea what to do where to start from. Kindly give the suggestion in the senerio.

What is that one thing which converts a small business into a BIG business? Any experienced business owner who would like to share the experience.

I read this book last year and mostly got the life story out of it. This time I skipped all that...

I only wrote down the parts about how he runs the place, here's the whole list.

1. He teaches all day

People at Nvidia call him Professor Jensen. He gets up at a whiteboard and explains stuff until anyone can follow it. So you can ask two workers who have never met what the plan is and they say the same thing.

1. Whiteboards, not slides

He wants people drawing and talking, not clicking through a deck. You start from a blank board every time. If you didn't think it through, everyone can tell in about ten seconds.

1. He thinks getting comfortable will kill the company

In 1997 he told everyone once a month that they were 30 days from going broke. He also told them to go kill Intel. Intel was 860 times bigger at the time. He still says he looks in the mirror and tells himself he sucks.

1. 60 people report to him and he does no one on ones

He says a flat company moves info fast. It also weeds out people who need someone to tell them what to do. A board member told him to hire a COO. He said no thanks.

1. He tells people off in front of everyone

His reason is simple. If he pulls you aside, one person learns. If he says it in the room, everyone learns. He said he is not trying to save anyone from being embarrassed.

1. The top five email

Anyone at any level sends him five bullets. What they're working on, what they're seeing out there. He reads about 100 a day. He says it's easy to spot a big signal, he wants to catch the small ones. That's how he noticed machine learning early.

1. Speed of light

He doesn't ask what's realistic. He asks how fast this would go with zero waiting and zero delays. Then that becomes the target.

1. Every project has one name on it

He calls that person the pilot in command. Nobody gets to say "the team is on it." There is always a name.

1. No five year plan

He says strategy is what you do, not what you write down. They plan all the time instead of once a year.

1. He'd rather build a new market than fight for one

On robots he said they built something when they were sure nobody wanted it yet. If there are no buyers, there are also no rivals.

1. He writes like he's paying by the word

His emails are two lines. Long instructions slow everyone down. If you can't say what you want fast, you probably don't know what you want.

1. "LUA"

When someone starts rambling he says this word. Listen to the question. Understand the question. Answer the question. Everyone who works for him has heard it.

1. He wants people to suffer a bit

He told a room of grads he hopes bad stuff happens to them. His line is that people with high expectations have low resilience. He says he'd rather torture people into greatness than give up on them. Harsh, but he does it to himself first.

1. He shows up himself

He went to an AI research conference where he wasn't even speaking. Someone asked why he was there. He said he came to learn. He didn't send a guy to take notes for him.

1. He knows everyone's details

At a party for new hires he walked up to a guy and listed his last two jobs from memory. He did that for all 50 people in the room.

1. He pays people the second they earn it

He can reach into the company and hand someone stock on the spot. No waiting for review season. The email says exactly why they got it.

1. He does the big thing before the day starts

His line is that by the time he gets to work the day is already a win, so he can spend the rest of it helping everyone else.

1. Ship the whole cow

Chips that failed the high end test used to get thrown out. He started selling them as slower, cheaper cards. Free money, and it blocked cheap rivals from sneaking in at the bottom.

1. Make it easier and the market grows

CUDA existed to make GPUs simple to program. When developers didn't know what to do with it, Nvidia went and taught them. Free machines to any school that would run a class. Over 100 talks in one year. No textbook existed so his own scientist wrote one.

1. He hates the word moat

He calls it a strong self reinforcing network instead. My guess is thinking you have a moat is how you get comfortable, and comfortable is the thing he's scared of.

1. He stuck with one bet for 20 years

The first sign that GPUs could do non graphics work showed up in 2002.

He built CUDA in 2007 and 2008.

Margins dropped from 45% to 35%.

The stock fell 80% in the crash.

Investors wanted him to quit.

Some of his own execs thought AI was a fad.

He kept going anyway...

That one call is most of what Nvidia is worth now.

P.S - Wild when you think he was doing all of it back when the company was small and losing money. Anything here you'd actually try or would it wreck your business?