5 Expensive Mistakes I’ve Made in My 30s That Could’ve Ruined My Life After 40
A few weeks ago, I owned up to the biggest mistakes I made in my 20s… mistakes that cost me literally millions.
Believe it or not, when I turned 30 I didn’t magically become an angel, with a perfect track record of success.
(Shock! I can hear your gasps from here)
I squared up to that decade as a new man, confident and determined to avoid past mistakes.
…but immediately started making new mistakes!
The reason I’m sharing this is:
- To humanize me (I’m not a flawless success story, I’m a patchwork of mistakes.)
- To show you that mistakes are ok (Heck, they’re necessary.)
- So you can avoid my mistakes (Don’t screw up the way I did.)
My 30s started out strong.
I was on the brink of exiting my second company, Flowtown, ready to add a few more zeroes to my bank balance.
Right after that, I started Clarity.fm and without any help from co-founders, I scaled the company, closed $1.6M in funding from investors like Mark Cuban, then successfully exited that company too…
…and then launched one of the biggest YouTube channels for SaaS Entrepreneurs.
But during this decade, I faced a new beast:
Myself.
My 30s was full of mistakes that came from within me. Broken thinking.
I had to reinvent myself — more than once — to become the leader I needed to be.
Please… don’t make the mistakes I did.
Watch my latest video where I roast myself, shake your head at my expense (I encourage it) but don’t repeat my screw ups.
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Today I’m sharing with you:
- How I lost 30–40% in market value by drifting
- The wrong narratives that shaped my leadership
- The day I knew I crossed the line (and I had to change)
- My anti-portfolio mistakes
- How I passed on a $250M company *face-palm*
- Why I have 3 coaches… right now
Look, I get it.
Every advert in your feed, every case-study in your inbox, every silicon valley interview is screaming “SUCCESS!!” right in your face.
You just want a break, right?
I hope you can see that that’s why I make these videos.
It’s not to show off or to wave dollar signs in your face.
It’s because I want you to live a better, more fulfilling life while growing a richer business.
That’s what motivates me even if it means sharing my embarrassing mistakes. I hope you can see that I’m doing my best to help.
Peace.
P.S. Prefer audio? Subscribe to the SaaS Growth Stacking Show directly on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and make sure to leave a rating and review if you find the show helpful.
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Dan Martell has advised more startups than his hometown has people and teaches startup founders like you how to scale. (Get access to all my latest business hacks.) He previously created, raised venture funding for and successfully exited three tech companies: Spheric, Flowtown and Clarity.fm. You should follow him on twitter @danmartell for tweets that are actually awesome.
Originally published at https://www.danmartell.com on September 7, 2020.
