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Last month, I had the opportunity to spend 60 minutes interviewing the co-founder and CEO of Real Social Dynamics and RSD Founders Club and learn what he did that took him from sleeping in his car and building a business off of free hotel wi-fi, through a media storm that was intent on destroying his company; into the multi-million dollar company it is today.
Turning Adversity into Triumph
Face it.
As entrepreneurs, there is a dark side of success that most people never talk about. Day in and day out, you read all these success stories of people living the good life, driving the fancy cars, living in the nice houses, and they have it all.
But what does it really take to get there?
In 2008, Nicholas Kho, the co-founder and CEO of Real Social Dynamics (RSD), was living the life that most people dream of, and few actually live.
• His company was making millions of dollars per year and was just listed in the Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing companies in America.
• He was hosting VIP parties in Hollywood, mingling with high-level celebrities, who knew him on a first-name basis.
• His business partner was living the same type of lifestyle, in a luxury beach condo in Hawaii.
• He has one of those credit cards with no limits. He literally had the ability to buy an entire house on his credit card, if he wanted to.
But if you fast forward to later that year, what you would see was a very different story:
The year is 2008 and the economy just crashed. All of a sudden, his clients who flew into Los Angeles and Hawaii on a regular basis, paying thousands of dollars for live training events, were no longer able to afford his services.
• As a result, he was forced to sell virtually everything he owned and is living in a 1997 Toyota Avalon in an airport parking lot.
• He’s surviving by eating the free food from a hotel and using their wi-fi to rebuild his business.
• He’s over half a million dollars in debt.
• His company is losing $6,000 per day.
In June of 2016, I happened to see a video interview of Nick talking about reaching this low point in his business, and the steps he took to rebuild his company to be what it is today. The topic I wanted to interview him about was:
How do you respond when you face the greatest adversity your business would ever face?
Nick’s company, Real Social Dynamics (RSD) has always put me in perspective whenever I faced adversity with my own business.
When a major news publication published an unfavorable story about me, it resulted in 350 emails and death threats. At the same time that happened, RSD was facing a global media storm, where the founders and instructors were not only villainized by every mainstream media outlet, but they were also banned from multiple countries that they did business in.
When my websites got hacked and I had to start over from nothing, I noticed a video on Facebook of the founders of Real Social Dynamics talking about everything that happened to them and how they survived the 2008 economic crisis, rebuilding from over half a million dollars in debt.
If there is anyone who knows how to handle adversity in business, it is Nick. So I reached out to him to learn what it takes to not only survive the adversity we all face in our businesses, and share these experiences with you; but how to turn that adversity into the very thing that propels our personal and professional lives to new and greater levels.
What motivates you when you are facing adversity?
When asking Nick what his motivation was, and what drives him forward through hard times, it wasn’t so much the answer he gave me, but how he said those words that took me aback during our interview, and set the tone for how every successful entrepreneur should run his or her business.
With boldness, and the undying confidence that you would expect from an experienced CEO, he said the two most powerful words that anyone could hear in this situation: “I win.”
That’s it.
No fluff, no explanation. Just pure, undying confidence behind those powerful words. There is no other option.
I Always Win. No Matter What (A Winner’s Mentality)
When you have a winner’s mentality, and there is that part of you deep down that truly believes that anything is possible, you’ll always find a way to win.
• The bad news is that this isn’t a mentality that most people are born with.
• The good news is that it’s a mentality that anybody can develop.
Nick said his “I win” mentality began to be developed from his parents at young age, pushing him to strive for success in everything he did. As an adult, he continues to strengthen this philosophy by doing things that purposely push his mind and body to the limits.
He began running marathons, just to see how far he can push himself, and kept going when he felt the pain and his knees started to go out on him.
How could he expect his employees to push through tough times if he didn’t lead by example and push himself?
When doctors diagnosed him with cancer, he had that belief deep down knowing that they could be wrong.
And they were wrong.
So he came out on top, with great health.
“If they say I can’t, I’ll find a way.”
Taking these reference experiences from other areas of life naturally carry over into your business.
When the mainstream media villainized his company, his team spun the negative press around and turned it into a $500,000 product launch, and revenue for his company went through the roof.
We all face struggles and adversities in our personal and professional lives, and when you go through them with an “I Win” attitude, with the underlying belief that anything is possible, you can make it through anything.
And when you keep pushing through long enough, you’ll soon be greeted by the success that is waiting for you on the other side.
Keep pushing, and you’ll come back stronger.
How can you begin pushing yourself to your limits and developing that “I win” mentality today?
When things go wrong; you’ll have to do some crazy things.
One of my first business mentors gave me the following quote a long time ago:
“You can do new things and get new results. Or you can keep doing what you’ve been doing in the past, but then you’ll only wind up with what you already have.”
The business environment is constantly changing. Just because things worked yesterday, doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to work right now.
The very same strategies that grew my magazine publishing company from zero to 942,000 readers no longer work today. Anybody who reads a book on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) from 2012 will know this. Things are always changing and if you want to be successful, you’re going to have to be able to adapt to an ever-changing world.
All of a sudden, his company began making changes, such as putting $250,000 into a new website, clearly defining roles between the co-founders, setting key performance indicators (KPIs), and doing new, crazy things.
When things were taking a turn for the worst, he decided to travel the world.
As a last-ditch effort to salvage the company, Nick recalls that he was on a flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii when he pulled a world map out of the seat of the airplane. He began to circle every city he had customers in, with a population of half a million people or more.
He was planning a world tour.
Instead of hosting trainings in his company’s comfort zone of Los Angeles and Hawaii, he began hosting free seminars all across the world, bringing with him DVD’s, books, and offering VIP seminars, which 20% of the free tour attendees began purchasing.
The risk paid off, the company began bringing in revenue again, and these free seminars are an integral part of their business model ever since.
When the world is changing, you have to change with it; or else you’ll be left behind.
Is your business doing the things that worked in the past, or is that entrepreneurial spirit still alive?
What is your marketing strategy?
Always be evolving and always be pushing out new content.
The key to growing your business is to always be putting yourself out there, provide new and engaging forms of content, and staying ahead of the new trends.
When a new social platform comes out, such as Snapchat, his company is on it. They are also pushing out free content all the time on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube (with over 16,000 viewable hours of YouTube videos every month).
Keep your ear to the ground.
Keep an eye out for new evolving social media platforms.
Surround yourself with the right people.
The success of RSD does not rest on the shoulders of the co-founders alone. Along with the executive team, they have 10 instructors that travel all across the world to do live events, and hundreds of employees, interns, and volunteers who are excited and passionate to help the company grow.
On top of the free content and free events hosted by the company, there are private, behind-closed-doors, type of events that provide high quality trainings and interactive activities, that their tribe (followers/customer base) are more than excited to attend.
What is the most important thing a founder should do when starting their business?
I’ve seen countless startup entrepreneurs dream and outline their most perfect product, website, and ideas for months on end; but they always are missing the most important thing.
• Business schools tell you to start with the business plan.
• In the real world, your business always starts with your first customer.
Get your first sale.
When you get your first sale, get your next. And then the next. It could be a sale from a consumer, an investor, but the very thing that drives your business forward is: sales.
By following this approach, RSD was able to grow their business into the muti-million-dollar company that it is today without having to take on outside investors.
When they founded the company: They got sales.
When the recession hit and they had to rebuild in a down economy: They got sales.
What else was important to the growth of your business when you were rebuilding?
Your tribe.
Your tribe is the loyal audience of your fans, your followers, and your customers, who will stick with you through anything. When the product or service you offer is so valuable for them, they are more than just customers. They become the backbone of the business.
Before the interview, I noticed “pockets” of RSD fans pop up in different cities.
Men of all ages forming private Facebook groups and local meetups, in line with the mission of the company:
• Creating identity-level change
• Self-actualization
• Freedom
It is this tribe, and this common mission that drives the company and fans forward every single day. It is this tribe that not only holds the company together, but keeps the mission alive and growing.
While a lot of startup entrepreneurs want to start their businesses for their own personal benefit, they forget the most important aspect of it all: Being the leader of their tribe, and serving the needs of their markets.
How do you push through adversity and build up, even if you don’t have that tribe?
Seek out the best people to help you push forward.
When facing the mainstream media crisis that got them banned from multiple countries, they didn’t know what to do. They’ve never faced something like this before. Not knowing what to do next is never an excuse to stop pushing forward when you have that “I win” attitude.
They didn’t know how to do public relations (PR), so what did they do next?
1. They hired the publicist that represented Mike Tyson.
2. They hired the legal team that represented Eminem.
They sought out people with experience in handling the things they needed to handle.
Whether you’re an established company or an early-stage entrepreneur, there is always somebody out there who has been through what you’re going through now.
With that “I win” attitude, you are always able to reach out and get the best people on your side to help you through the obstacle you’re facing right now.
It’s these adversities you push through and obstacles you conquer that are the very things that transform you into the person who is able to handle this in the future. When you look at the bigger picture, the very “worst” things that are happening to you right now are the very best things that have happened to you; when you look back at this event from the future.
The things you are pushing through today are the very things that make you who you are.
“Life isn’t happening to you; it’s happening for you.”
Next time something like this happens, he knows how to handle it because of what happened in the past.
Life is Fair.
Before the video interview, I sent over one of the most important questions of the interview.
On the outside, we already have the resources, or the resourcefulness to be able to learn what to do in order to push forward. The marketing strategies are out there. The mentors are abundant. The actions we take will get us to where we want to be in a matter of time.
But it’s the mental struggle that causes many people to collapse.
How does one get through life when times are tough?
During his journey through entrepreneurship, Nick came across a man who came up with a theory that concluded: life is fair.
According to the findings, over the course of your life, the pain you experience is equal to the amount of pleasure you will feel. When times are tough, believe that something will balance it out and make it right.
Life is fair, and the pain you feel now is only an indicator of the great things that are destined to come.
Final Words:
I originally reached out to Nick to talk about what happens when you fail.
After spending an hour talking with him, I didn’t get the answer I wanted. Instead I got something more valuable: I learned what it takes to finally succeed.
His “I Win” attitude was not just in his words, but in his actions, and in every essence of his being. Instead of simply talking about the things he was going to do, he’s talking about the very things he is doing; day in and day out.
Every day, there are gurus out there who read things from outdated textbooks, and repeat the same old (often outdated) information. If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re looking to have success, it is time to learn from those who are actually walking the walk, and not simply talking the talk.
On top of the mental aspect of succeeding in business:
• Get yourself physically and mentally prepared to take action.
• Know that you believe in yourself.
• Believe anything is possible.
• You may lose a lot of battles, but you will win the war.
It’s time to start learning what it takes to build a business today:
Learn from those who actually practicing what they preach.
Turning Adversity into Triumph
Face it.
As entrepreneurs, there is a dark side of success that most people never talk about. Day in and day out, you read all these success stories of people living the good life, driving the fancy cars, living in the nice houses, and they have it all.
But what does it really take to get there?
In 2008, Nicholas Kho, the co-founder and CEO of Real Social Dynamics (RSD), was living the life that most people dream of, and few actually live.
• His company was making millions of dollars per year and was just listed in the Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing companies in America.
• He was hosting VIP parties in Hollywood, mingling with high-level celebrities, who knew him on a first-name basis.
• His business partner was living the same type of lifestyle, in a luxury beach condo in Hawaii.
• He has one of those credit cards with no limits. He literally had the ability to buy an entire house on his credit card, if he wanted to.
But if you fast forward to later that year, what you would see was a very different story:
The year is 2008 and the economy just crashed. All of a sudden, his clients who flew into Los Angeles and Hawaii on a regular basis, paying thousands of dollars for live training events, were no longer able to afford his services.
• As a result, he was forced to sell virtually everything he owned and is living in a 1997 Toyota Avalon in an airport parking lot.
• He’s surviving by eating the free food from a hotel and using their wi-fi to rebuild his business.
• He’s over half a million dollars in debt.
• His company is losing $6,000 per day.
In June of 2016, I happened to see a video interview of Nick talking about reaching this low point in his business, and the steps he took to rebuild his company to be what it is today. The topic I wanted to interview him about was:
How do you respond when you face the greatest adversity your business would ever face?
Nick’s company, Real Social Dynamics (RSD) has always put me in perspective whenever I faced adversity with my own business.
When a major news publication published an unfavorable story about me, it resulted in 350 emails and death threats. At the same time that happened, RSD was facing a global media storm, where the founders and instructors were not only villainized by every mainstream media outlet, but they were also banned from multiple countries that they did business in.
When my websites got hacked and I had to start over from nothing, I noticed a video on Facebook of the founders of Real Social Dynamics talking about everything that happened to them and how they survived the 2008 economic crisis, rebuilding from over half a million dollars in debt.
If there is anyone who knows how to handle adversity in business, it is Nick. So I reached out to him to learn what it takes to not only survive the adversity we all face in our businesses, and share these experiences with you; but how to turn that adversity into the very thing that propels our personal and professional lives to new and greater levels.
What motivates you when you are facing adversity?
When asking Nick what his motivation was, and what drives him forward through hard times, it wasn’t so much the answer he gave me, but how he said those words that took me aback during our interview, and set the tone for how every successful entrepreneur should run his or her business.
With boldness, and the undying confidence that you would expect from an experienced CEO, he said the two most powerful words that anyone could hear in this situation: “I win.”
That’s it.
No fluff, no explanation. Just pure, undying confidence behind those powerful words. There is no other option.
I Always Win. No Matter What (A Winner’s Mentality)
When you have a winner’s mentality, and there is that part of you deep down that truly believes that anything is possible, you’ll always find a way to win.
• The bad news is that this isn’t a mentality that most people are born with.
• The good news is that it’s a mentality that anybody can develop.
Nick said his “I win” mentality began to be developed from his parents at young age, pushing him to strive for success in everything he did. As an adult, he continues to strengthen this philosophy by doing things that purposely push his mind and body to the limits.
He began running marathons, just to see how far he can push himself, and kept going when he felt the pain and his knees started to go out on him.
How could he expect his employees to push through tough times if he didn’t lead by example and push himself?
When doctors diagnosed him with cancer, he had that belief deep down knowing that they could be wrong.
And they were wrong.
So he came out on top, with great health.
“If they say I can’t, I’ll find a way.”
Taking these reference experiences from other areas of life naturally carry over into your business.
When the mainstream media villainized his company, his team spun the negative press around and turned it into a $500,000 product launch, and revenue for his company went through the roof.
We all face struggles and adversities in our personal and professional lives, and when you go through them with an “I Win” attitude, with the underlying belief that anything is possible, you can make it through anything.
And when you keep pushing through long enough, you’ll soon be greeted by the success that is waiting for you on the other side.
Keep pushing, and you’ll come back stronger.
How can you begin pushing yourself to your limits and developing that “I win” mentality today?
When things go wrong; you’ll have to do some crazy things.
One of my first business mentors gave me the following quote a long time ago:
“You can do new things and get new results. Or you can keep doing what you’ve been doing in the past, but then you’ll only wind up with what you already have.”
The business environment is constantly changing. Just because things worked yesterday, doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to work right now.
The very same strategies that grew my magazine publishing company from zero to 942,000 readers no longer work today. Anybody who reads a book on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) from 2012 will know this. Things are always changing and if you want to be successful, you’re going to have to be able to adapt to an ever-changing world.
All of a sudden, his company began making changes, such as putting $250,000 into a new website, clearly defining roles between the co-founders, setting key performance indicators (KPIs), and doing new, crazy things.
When things were taking a turn for the worst, he decided to travel the world.
As a last-ditch effort to salvage the company, Nick recalls that he was on a flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii when he pulled a world map out of the seat of the airplane. He began to circle every city he had customers in, with a population of half a million people or more.
He was planning a world tour.
Instead of hosting trainings in his company’s comfort zone of Los Angeles and Hawaii, he began hosting free seminars all across the world, bringing with him DVD’s, books, and offering VIP seminars, which 20% of the free tour attendees began purchasing.
The risk paid off, the company began bringing in revenue again, and these free seminars are an integral part of their business model ever since.
When the world is changing, you have to change with it; or else you’ll be left behind.
Is your business doing the things that worked in the past, or is that entrepreneurial spirit still alive?
What is your marketing strategy?
Always be evolving and always be pushing out new content.
The key to growing your business is to always be putting yourself out there, provide new and engaging forms of content, and staying ahead of the new trends.
When a new social platform comes out, such as Snapchat, his company is on it. They are also pushing out free content all the time on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube (with over 16,000 viewable hours of YouTube videos every month).
Keep your ear to the ground.
Keep an eye out for new evolving social media platforms.
Surround yourself with the right people.
The success of RSD does not rest on the shoulders of the co-founders alone. Along with the executive team, they have 10 instructors that travel all across the world to do live events, and hundreds of employees, interns, and volunteers who are excited and passionate to help the company grow.
On top of the free content and free events hosted by the company, there are private, behind-closed-doors, type of events that provide high quality trainings and interactive activities, that their tribe (followers/customer base) are more than excited to attend.
What is the most important thing a founder should do when starting their business?
I’ve seen countless startup entrepreneurs dream and outline their most perfect product, website, and ideas for months on end; but they always are missing the most important thing.
• Business schools tell you to start with the business plan.
• In the real world, your business always starts with your first customer.
Get your first sale.
When you get your first sale, get your next. And then the next. It could be a sale from a consumer, an investor, but the very thing that drives your business forward is: sales.
By following this approach, RSD was able to grow their business into the muti-million-dollar company that it is today without having to take on outside investors.
When they founded the company: They got sales.
When the recession hit and they had to rebuild in a down economy: They got sales.
What else was important to the growth of your business when you were rebuilding?
Your tribe.
Your tribe is the loyal audience of your fans, your followers, and your customers, who will stick with you through anything. When the product or service you offer is so valuable for them, they are more than just customers. They become the backbone of the business.
Before the interview, I noticed “pockets” of RSD fans pop up in different cities.
Men of all ages forming private Facebook groups and local meetups, in line with the mission of the company:
• Creating identity-level change
• Self-actualization
• Freedom
It is this tribe, and this common mission that drives the company and fans forward every single day. It is this tribe that not only holds the company together, but keeps the mission alive and growing.
While a lot of startup entrepreneurs want to start their businesses for their own personal benefit, they forget the most important aspect of it all: Being the leader of their tribe, and serving the needs of their markets.
How do you push through adversity and build up, even if you don’t have that tribe?
Seek out the best people to help you push forward.
When facing the mainstream media crisis that got them banned from multiple countries, they didn’t know what to do. They’ve never faced something like this before. Not knowing what to do next is never an excuse to stop pushing forward when you have that “I win” attitude.
They didn’t know how to do public relations (PR), so what did they do next?
1. They hired the publicist that represented Mike Tyson.
2. They hired the legal team that represented Eminem.
They sought out people with experience in handling the things they needed to handle.
Whether you’re an established company or an early-stage entrepreneur, there is always somebody out there who has been through what you’re going through now.
With that “I win” attitude, you are always able to reach out and get the best people on your side to help you through the obstacle you’re facing right now.
It’s these adversities you push through and obstacles you conquer that are the very things that transform you into the person who is able to handle this in the future. When you look at the bigger picture, the very “worst” things that are happening to you right now are the very best things that have happened to you; when you look back at this event from the future.
The things you are pushing through today are the very things that make you who you are.
“Life isn’t happening to you; it’s happening for you.”
Next time something like this happens, he knows how to handle it because of what happened in the past.
Life is Fair.
Before the video interview, I sent over one of the most important questions of the interview.
On the outside, we already have the resources, or the resourcefulness to be able to learn what to do in order to push forward. The marketing strategies are out there. The mentors are abundant. The actions we take will get us to where we want to be in a matter of time.
But it’s the mental struggle that causes many people to collapse.
How does one get through life when times are tough?
During his journey through entrepreneurship, Nick came across a man who came up with a theory that concluded: life is fair.
According to the findings, over the course of your life, the pain you experience is equal to the amount of pleasure you will feel. When times are tough, believe that something will balance it out and make it right.
Life is fair, and the pain you feel now is only an indicator of the great things that are destined to come.
Final Words:
I originally reached out to Nick to talk about what happens when you fail.
After spending an hour talking with him, I didn’t get the answer I wanted. Instead I got something more valuable: I learned what it takes to finally succeed.
His “I Win” attitude was not just in his words, but in his actions, and in every essence of his being. Instead of simply talking about the things he was going to do, he’s talking about the very things he is doing; day in and day out.
Every day, there are gurus out there who read things from outdated textbooks, and repeat the same old (often outdated) information. If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re looking to have success, it is time to learn from those who are actually walking the walk, and not simply talking the talk.
On top of the mental aspect of succeeding in business:
• Get yourself physically and mentally prepared to take action.
• Know that you believe in yourself.
• Believe anything is possible.
• You may lose a lot of battles, but you will win the war.
It’s time to start learning what it takes to build a business today:
Learn from those who actually practicing what they preach.
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