"I Got RICH When I Started DOING THIS!" (Copy These Billionaire Habits) | Tilman Fertittia
Watch on YouTubeVideo summary
Tilman Fertitta, a billionaire entrepreneur and owner of an empire spanning 600 restaurants across 15 countries plus major assets like the Houston Rockets NBA franchise, attributes his success to fundamental tools rather than innate genius. He emphasizes taking the word "no" out of one's vocabulary by focusing entirely on customers rather than competitors or spare ones. Fertitta advocates for a disciplined approach where individuals must separate themselves from everyone else in their field; whether working as a mail carrier or behind a camera, one should strive to be the absolute best at that specific task. This mindset involves telling oneself daily that they will execute their role better than anyone else, effectively becoming "the bull" in whatever position they hold. The interview details Fertitta's resilience during the economic downturns of the late 1980s and early 1990s when he faced repeated banking failures while building his company from a single restaurant to an industry giant. He illustrates this with his concept of "Keep Punching," urging people to persist through adversity until they can no longer function, noting that one must always prepare for the inevitable downturn by worrying even during good times so that life's challenges do not catch them off guard. This philosophy extends to financial acumen; Fertitta explains how he navigated a period where every bank he worked with failed before him yet still managed to pay his debts in full without interest, highlighting the importance of understanding business fundamentals like occupancy costs, lease terms, and margins regardless of the specific industry. Fertitta stresses that success is not about being naturally gifted but rather about knowing one's God-given strengths while acknowledging limitations through due diligence. He advises against partnering with people who share identical skill sets to avoid blind spots, suggesting instead that leaders must understand every department within their organization, including complex areas like information technology and cybersecurity. By forcing himself to learn the basics of IT despite not being a millennial, he ensures he can make informed decisions across his diverse portfolio ranging from aquariums requiring biologists to casinos and sports teams. He also teaches that one should never assume tasks are completed or answers are correct without verification, a habit crucial for maintaining high standards in operations. Central to Fertitta's methodology is the "95/5 rule," which dictates that while 95% of business activities may be executed correctly, true excellence lies in identifying and attacking the remaining 5%. He demonstrates this by scrutinizing minute details like parking lot weeds or smudged front doors before even entering a building to gauge overall operational quality. Similarly, he applied this principle to his Houston Rockets team, analyzing why they lost despite strong performance to find small improvements, such as acquiring faster transition players. This relentless pursuit of the critical few percent drives him to outwork competitors by negotiating deals late into weekends and early mornings when others are resting, ensuring that effort becomes a competitive advantage. Ultimately, Fertitta's legacy is defined not just by wealth but by fairness and doing the right thing while remaining audacious in his goals. He encourages individuals to dream big with concrete steps toward acquiring new ventures or achieving major milestones like owning an NFL team, viewing business as a sport where one must constantly conquer challenges rather than simply sitting at home. His advice culminates in reading his book "Shut Up and Listen" to internalize these principles of leadership, resilience, and the importance of knowing more about any situation than anyone else in the room. By applying these basic tools—knowing your numbers, focusing on customers, separating yourself from peers, and being the bull—one can achieve extraordinary success regardless of their starting point or current industry.
Read the full video transcript
I think you [music] can see that I'm no
smarter than anybody else in this room.
I just use certain little basic tools to
be successful every day. Take the word
no out of your vocabulary. Worry about
your customer, not spare customers. Use
the 95/5 rule. Separate yourself from
everybody else. Be the bull at whatever
you do. And I don't care if you're in
the mailroom or if you're the person
behind that camera that I'm going to be
better than anybody else with that
camera and I'm going to be the best mail
carrier and the person who comes up and
is the most organized and does it the
most professional way.
[music]
You can be the bull at any position
you're doing and it's just telling
yourself I'm going to do this better
than anybody else.
Hey everyone, welcome to Impact Theory.
Today's guest is an extraordinary
entrepreneur who took himself from the
owner of a single restaurant in Katy,
Texas to the world's richest restaurant
tour with 600 restaurants in 36 states
spread across more than 15 countries.
Today his business empire encompasses
not only such landmark restaurants as
Mastro's Steakhouse, Rainforest Cafe,
Morton's, Dos Caminos, and Bubba Gump
Shrimp Company, but also a wide variety
of other industries including numerous
hotels, casinos, aquariums, and even the
Houston Rockets NBA franchise. He stands
as one of the largest employers in the
nation with a staggering 60,000
employees and his companies collectively
serve over 150 million customers
annually. His outsize success places him
at 153 on the Forbes 400 list of the
wealthiest Americans and he's received
countless awards for his endeavors,
including Entrepreneur of the Year Award
from Ernst & Young, and being inducted
into the Texas Business Hall of Fame as
the second youngest inductee ever. He is
also an incredibly active philanthropist
who currently serves as chairman of the
board for the Houston Police Foundation,
the Houston's Children Charity, and the
Texas Heart Institute. Additionally, he
is the longest-running chairman of the
board of regents for the University of
Houston. So, please help me in welcoming
the bullish and charismatic star of
CNBC's Billion Dollar Buyer, the author
of Shut Up and Listen, Tilman Fertitta.
Good. Welcome. Glad to be here, Tom.
Man, it is good to have you, dude. Your
story is pure insanity. What you have
accomplished and built essentially from
scratch is bordering on unparalleled.
It's It's really insane. And I love some
of the notions that you have that I
think have helped you really build that.
Um
give me some background on Keep
Punching.
You know, it's it's funny, and uh I I
guess when I
first was really going in the '80s,
uh
you hit that horrible recession, and
people talk about how did banks get so
big because the government took a few of
the big banks and said, "You're going to
take the good assets, and we're going to
take all the bad assets." And that's why
you have banks that are too big to fail
today, cuz they're roll-ups of bank
after bank. And And the late '80s were
tough, and I was getting going, and and
and you just realize when other people
were filing bankruptcy, you just got to
keep punching and punching and punching.
And And people don't realize how much
you can take, and and if you just keep
punching and find a way to get out of
the mess. And uh you know what's funny?
This is a great story, and I talk about
it in the book.
I was doing business with like nine or
10 banks in in the late '80s in Texas.
And it was really getting tough and to
make payments or whatever, starting to
default on some by a few days.
Every single bank that I did business
with failed before I did.
[laughter]
Is that not a crazy story? And I know
that's hard to believe, but the FDIC
would come in every Tuesday into Houston
in in the late '80s and close down four
five or six banks. So over about a over
about a six-month period, every single
bank failed that I did business with.
And you had you would call us and say,
"So what do I do with these payments?"
And there was such a bureaucracy, I
truly got a three-four-year reprieve.
Wow. And and then in in 1990, I remember
somebody calling my office and saying,
"Mr. Fertitta, we have these notes of
yours. We would like you to come in and
talk to us." But in that time
I was able to go and and keep building
my company and was able to pay them
100%.
No interest though. Yeah, that that's a
a nice touch. Now, so in this notion of
making sure that you keep punching and
knowing how much of a shot you can take,
how do you stay focused when you're
getting punched? How do you weather that
storm and have the clarity to move
forward? Well, you just got to keep
punching and just take care of your
business and you just realize until they
come and shut you down or lock the doors
or you can't get product or whatever
until you can't make a payroll. You'd be
surprised what you can take though. And
and you just keep punching and punching
and believe it or not, times, you know,
get good and it goes back to what I once
again preach. When times are really bad,
we forget they're ever going to be good
again and when times are really good, we
forget they're going to be bad again.
And we need to always remember that so
the paddle don't get you.
Yeah, tell people your your concept of
the paddle. Well, there's a paddle for
everybody's ass. We all know that. And
uh every day you just get up and I don't
fear anything, but I worry about
everything. And the day you stop
worrying in good times, the paddle will
get your behind. And and and so, as
great as things are in life, I I know
you're only a a few steps or a few
incidents away from something bad
happening. You can never forget it. Did
you have fear as a kid and you just got
into enough business scuffles that you
figured your way through things, or have
you always
been fearless? I'm pretty fearless, but
I do worry about everything. But, you
know, once again, you know, the book and
this is why Harpers asked me to write
the book because of all my Tillmanisms,
you got to know what you know and what
you don't know.
And and I knew that I understood
business. Now, don't ask me to, you
know, go win an Emmy. I took guitar
lessons for 4 years and I still struggle
playing a guitar. I can't draw a stick
person very good, but I knew that I
understood business. So, I I I know what
I know and I know how to do due
diligence on a deal. I don't worry about
making a bad deal because I feel like I
I That's what I know. So,
no fear when it comes to that. And how
much of that is instinctive and how much
of that have you had to teach yourself?
I think I definitely got the DNA gene
and and understood business. But, at the
same time, I've been a sponge. And I'll
look and watch everything and pay
attention. And every day I get up, I
look for mistakes and uh what I can
learn that day. You don't ever think
that you know it all because you don't.
And so, every day is still a learning
process and and you just You can't ever
get caught up with who you are because
you're worth a few billion dollars and
and you have an extremely large company.
And cuz like I said, the day I I don't
look in the back of my head, that
paddle's going to get my ass.
My father-in-law is um a very successful
self-made man, came from a tiny ass
village in Cyprus, which I hadn't even
heard of until I met his daughter. And
he gave me, I think, the best piece of
business advice I've ever gotten, and I
still use it to this day, which is to
know more about any situation than
anybody else in the room.
And that has served me really well. I'm
guessing, given your reputation and how
people say you can spot a light bulb out
at 40,000 ft and all the things that
people say about you, that um you tend
to know more about any deal, anything
going on in your company, than anybody
else. I want to know how. How do you
master it to that level? Well, I mean, I
I can't get into some details that
people know that I don't know, but but
if you walk into my office for a
meeting, I don't care what department
you're in, I will pick apart whatever
you have, and and you better know your
numbers when you walk in there with a
spreadsheet, or you better you have your
ads right if you're the marketing person
walking in. But you also you you you
know, you know if people know what
they're doing, and and uh but it's my
job to make sure and bring everybody up
to another level, and I think that's
probably one of the greatest compliments
I've ever gotten is that I'll take
somebody good and make them better. Is
that Is that a conscious process for
you? Like, what are you doing? Is it
just kicking people in the ass,
inspiring them, leading by example?
the above. I I think I do You always
know where you stand with me. Uh I have
all my top VPs probably have been with
me an average of 25 years. My two
assistants uh have been with me 27 and
26 years. Uh and everybody will tell you
that is the hardest son of a in
the world to work for, but I would never
work for anybody else. What would you
have to see in them to think it's worth
the risk? I think one of the best things
that I ever did was I will I will look
at somebody's resume, and I can say,
"You know what?
You've never been with the right
company, and that's why you haven't
excelled and and and you are that's why
you're in here today. And so many people
choose the wrong company to go to work
for. And I look at people all the time
and I look at your resume and say, "Why
did you go to work for this company? I
knew they were screwed up when you went
to work for them, okay?" And so some
people just are not good at choosing the
right company. And also the person
interviewing them makes promises that
never happen.
And I think that's one of the biggest
mistakes that people make is choosing
the wrong company to go to work for.
Curiosity, what makes something the
wrong company to go to work for? Is it
different by person or are there just
certain things in a company people
should look out for? Well, do they
really have good liquidity? Are they
going to be in business? Are they an
acquisition target where all of a sudden
that they are and you're going to get
bought and probably laid off? Uh
you know, everything is is uh
are they in Do they have a product that
is going to be around for a long time?
So everything from liquidity to product,
acquisition target, growth, where are
you going to go?
Everybody should always ask themselves
if they want to grow and they just don't
want to just
whatever is is say, "Where can I be in 5
years? If I can't be at this position in
5 years, then this isn't a good career
path for me." I think everything is
career path. Mhm. I'd love to talk about
that. So your career path is crazy and
inspiring. So how much of that was
mapped out? Like when you had that
single restaurant in Texas, how big were
you dreaming? Were you already thinking
aquariums? Like how much of this is
you're just going and you're taking a a
deal as it comes? How much of it is you
discovered as you went? Let's do it
another way. Let's go back to
10 years old. I walked around with my my
business, my briefcase. What was it?
full of business. There was no business
in it, but I wanted to be a business
guy, but you really didn't know what it
was. By junior high, I was buying candy
and reselling it at school. By high
school, I was already trading on the
stock market. So, let's take [snorts]
these one at a time. So, the candy
sales.
[laughter]
Who gave you that idea? Did you just
understand uh if I can buy it for less
than I sell it, then I can make money?
That's just hey, doing whatever it took
to make money. I always wanted to make
money. I always had money even when I
was a kid cuz I always worked whatever
job I could find, whether it was uh uh
mowing somebody's yard or washing cars
or selling lemonade uh to the
construction workers. Uh it was just
always about making money. What made you
good at selling? That is a very
particular skill. You know, I
I'm
Even today, it's it's all about Somebody
said, "Why are you so successful?"
Because I sell. And even when you go out
and you raise billions of dollars in
debt and you're meeting with debt
holders, you're still selling yourself.
That's what it's all about. You're not
just selling the deal. When I was public
for 18 years, okay, and you're selling
equity, uh I did five follow-on
offerings, the most a restaurant company
ever did when I was public. And and and
you are selling yourself. And and and
you know, you know your numbers, you
know your business, and you make
yourself that you know more than
everybody else, even if you don't.
[laughter]
So,
to dig beyond the sort of mythology of
just the kid carrying the briefcase and
all this comes naturally, at some point
this becomes somewhat systematic. So, if
you're going to be a sponge, you have to
put yourself in a position to be a
sponge. You have to know who to listen
to, who to ignore. How did you begin to
formulate that and um what does that
process look like now?
I knew how to make money. And so, at 21,
I sold Bottoms and started building
homes, building shopping centers. Uh by
the time I was 26, I built my first
hotel. By the time I was 25, I told
myself I'll have my first jet at 35. And
I did. Uh so, uh I was an investor in a
restaurant uh and then when the world
collapsed in the late '80s,
uh you couldn't develop anything in
Texas for the next 10 years. That's when
every S&L failed, like I said, every
bank failed, and I just started opening
restaurants and did that between like
'86 and '92, and then '93, I said,
"Well, you know what I'll do? I'll just
build restaurants cuz I understand this
business but since you can't develop
anymore, and I'll take it public cuz
that's when the whole big thing of
restaurant chains going public." Did
that for the next 17 years, and uh then
was an opportunist, which I always talk
about, is that my stock crashed with
everybody else in '08, '09. When I took
it public, I owned 100% in '93. You wake
up, you're worth $100 million.
I took it private in '09, and you're
worth $500 million.
I was very successful, bought it right,
and then, you know, I could really grow
then because I didn't have the handcuffs
of being a public company.
Mhm. And when you think about the
fundamentals of a business, when you're
going in to evaluate
or whatever, what like key things do you
look for? Well, everything is uh
occupancy cost, uh term of lease, do
they own any real estate? Uh what are
their margins?
Uh I'm not real smart, but I know how to
do that. Okay, I can analyze the numbers
of any business and tell you what your
margin should be or whatever because my
production cost is this, I have this
many subscribers, you should be doing
this or that, and I don't care what the
business is. So, that's what I know how
to do. And so, if I try to make the
right deal, and I do heavy due
diligence, and and then hopefully, you
can
continue to grow your network. And if
somebody wanted to get good at what
you're good at, what would you recommend
they do?
You know, I think you know if you know
business or not. And people ask me,
"Should I go get my MBA?" And you know
what I usually tell them? You know if
you need to go get your MBA. If you
don't have it inside of you and you
understand economics and finance and and
and operations of business, then you
need to go get it. I knew that I didn't
need it. It was just a God-given gift.
But also remember I didn't get a lot of
those other gifts. Don't ask me to play
that guitar. Don't ask me to sing you a
song. Don't ask me to draw you anything.
But but you've got to know your
God-given gifts and everybody has it.
Everybody in this room has it right
here. So do what you know was your
God-given gift and find a way to use
that as your path.
So when you think about um
somebody stepping into career and
building something, obviously there's an
element of okay, you need to figure out
what you're good at, what you're not
good at. Um do you believe that people
can improve the things that they're not
good at? Should they just entirely not
think about that and partner with people
that have a different skill set? Um
you've said do not partner with somebody
that has the same skill skill set.
the book. You read the book. I I
Absolutely, but at the same time uh
I've made myself, you know, understand
uh IT, information technology. And if
you talk to any CEO of any company,
they'll tell you that's the one
department that you do not want to uh
because no matter who you bring in,
everybody has their own way of of doing
it and and I've just still made myself
uh understand technology even though I'm
not a millennial. I try to at least know
a little bit about every single
department even if I don't know it a
lot.
And so walk me through you want to learn
about IT, what do you do? You Googling
it or do you go sit down with the head
of IT and say teach me everything? No, I
just I I I want to I want to know
everything. I want to understand this,
you know, you know, malware, how people
are are getting into all of our systems
and hacking us and and uh What's your
process for learning though? Sitting
down and say you got to make me smarter
on this. You got to You got to help me
through these steps because I don't get
it. Don't go into too much minutia cuz
you'll lose me cuz I'm not that smart,
but you got to give me the steps of why
this is happening or not happening. And
that's something that everybody should
do. You don't have to understand, you
know, that I'm going to go and be able
to program something or or write
something, but but we should all if
we're running a company understand some
portion of it.
Uh when I was shooting Billion Dollar
Buyer, I know what all these different
people do and exactly what they're doing
and how important, you know, each person
is and and uh it just trying to
understand what you do and it makes you
appreciate that person and how smart
they are at that job, too. And how
important they are to your company. All
right, let's say I'm one of your kids. I
want to take over the business one day.
What How are you going to help me absorb
the business fundamentals? Is it just
follow you around? Is it you're going to
hand me a list of Tillmanisms? Like what
does that process look like?
This This is This is a really great
question that you just asked because
I've had people say to me, "Why don't
you let your kids work for me for a
while instead of just working for you?"
And then other people say, "You should
put them in one department and let them
learn that department." And and uh and
you know what I've said and I I really
think I'm doing it right and we'll see.
Only time will tell. There's so many
departments. You're talking about a a $4
billion revenue company with 60,000
employees and 700 million in EBITDA that
does everything from, you know, I have
25 biologists that work for me at
aquariums. So, everything from aquariums
to amusement parks, to five casinos, to
restaurants, to
uh an NBA basketball team, okay? Just
everything you can think of.
I'm teaching them
to make decisions
because that's really what it's all
about is learn how to make decisions,
see how
I make decisions every day about
everything, whether it's a little
decision
or a big decision.
And they've been doing that with me and
they say they're pretty smart. We don't
know that we could run this without you.
[laughter]
So, it's kind of interesting because
it's just it's them sitting in meetings
and seeing how I make decisions is the
best thing I can do for them instead of
learning one little department. So, if
you were going to teach us
a few key business principles, what are
what are some of the core principles of
business that you really like if you
knew
if I die without my kids understanding
these three to five things, like what
would those three to five things be?
Know your numbers. No matter what
business you're looking at, always know
your numbers.
Number two, realize that that
we're not successful if that consumer
does not
come to us. Whether they're eating in
your restaurants, whether they're
playing in your casino, and and and
whether if you don't have a good product
on that basketball court, the fans are
not going to come and buy those tickets,
the sponsors aren't going to come, and
therefore you're not going to have the
money to pay for those good players next
year. You're not going to be able to pay
Russell Westbrook and James Harden each
$40 million a year. You've got to always
remember we're only as good as us taking
care of that consumer. Um
one of the things I teach everybody, and
especially my kids, don't assume
anything. I people think if somebody
walks in and gives you an answer that
it's the right answer. And and and even
when I tell somebody to do something, I
don't assume they went and did it. All I
ask them a week later, did you do that
that I asked you to do cuz that was
really important to me. Oh my gosh, I
didn't do that. And I think that's the
biggest mistake people make is don't
assume that everything's running right,
don't assume anything. Do you see
parallels between the game that you play
in business and sports? Is that why
there is a passion for you on both
sides? 100% Uh I operate by the 95/5
rule. 95% of of everything we do in
business, if we're doing anything is
right, so look for the 5%. Uh,
it's in
the 5%? This is so powerful and reading
it in the book, I was like, okay, here
we go. So, how do you spot the 5%? How
do you know what 5% matters? How do you
prioritize how you attack that 5%? Okay,
well, let me just say this, okay? I
walked into this studio, okay?
And and I've done a lot of interviews
and and uh, as soon as I walk in, your
your your people greet you, they
introduce you know, this you come up
here. Here's uh,
here's some snacks. There's even a a a
camera light. Uh, so if they're doing
your makeup up there, it's a perfect
lighting. Uh,
I could tell this guy has his act
together. This this guy I'm having a
hard time finding his 5% because they're
doing everything right.
And I'm not just saying that, but you
know everything I'm saying is true. That
you have somebody meet us outside. We're
not walking around lost. And and uh,
so I hadn't found the 5% here. I'm sure
before the show's over, I will. But but
[laughter]
It's there for sure. I think you're
right. Everybody has a 5%.
your you and your operation the second I
walked in. And it's no different if I'm
pulling up to a retail store or a hotel
or a restaurant or whatever. And before
I get to the front door, I'm pulling up
in that parking lot. Is the parking lot
in pretty good shape? Are there weeds
out there? Are there cigarette butts in
the parking lot? Uh, are there lights
burn out? Uh, the front door's got a
bunch of smudges on it. I haven't even
walked in yet and I can tell you this
isn't a crisp operation.
I can tell you everything, how the
operation's going to be inside before I
ever walked in the front door. Cuz if
they're not taking care of the outside,
the inside's not going to be good. And
that's the same parallel that I used for
the basketball team. We had a great year
again. We've won the most games we've
ever won in a 2-year period in my first
2 years of ownership. But I sat down
with the general manager and the and the
head coach and my top basketball people
and said, "All right, we did 95% of
everything right, but we didn't beat
Golden State again. So, let's what do we
need to do? How do we improve that 5%?"
And we kicked it around and and and
that's when we decided that maybe
there's an opportunity to be a little
more athletic in getting a great
transition player
uh who can speed the game up and make us
a better team like a Russell Westbrook.
And so that was the 5% we were looking
for.
Changing out a few coaching positions,
changing out a few other players. You're
never going to be great if you don't
look for the 5%.
Yeah, as you were talking I thought,
"Okay, I'm beginning to get a very clear
picture of what makes you work." So,
remember that I don't believe in It's
not that I don't believe that some
people come with sort of hardwired
gifts. It's that I don't find it very
helpful. So, if you're if the sum total
of your story is that uh you're either
born with it or you're not, why read the
book, right? So, it comes down to there
is an element of this stuff that can be
taught. And hearing you talk, the part
that sounds so interesting to me that I
think can be taught is you have really
high standards. And more
importantly than that, you have high
standards that when you look at where
it's going wrong it doesn't damage your
sense of self-esteem. So, you're willing
to look at it. You're willing to what I
call staring nakedly at your
inadequacies. You don't walk into a
restaurant to clap for yourself. You
walk into a restaurant to figure out
what the going wrong. Not saying
that it's bad, you're just saying that
if we want to and this is my favorite
concept of yours, separate ourselves
from everybody else.
Easiest thing to do. It's the easiest
thing to do. And I tell everybody that
no matter what your job is is that you
can go to work every day and separate
yourself from anybody else. And it's no
different than than the sound guy on
this set. If you pick up, you know, what
this sound guy is really really good.
And he's worried about this and he's
worried about that, then all of a sudden
you tell somebody, "You need a good
sound guy this." And then they end up on
this person because of a recommendation.
All of a sudden, this guy is known as
the best sound guy in LA because he's
paying attention or she's paying
attention to details that the other
sound people don't. No, you know what I
I hear an ambulance out there. Let's cut
it. You know, just a little little
little bitty things. And I just think
that it's easy to separate yourself from
anybody else, no matter what your
position is. If If you go to work for a
company and you don't go up the
corporate ladder, it's your fault. It's
nobody else's. You're either with the
wrong company where there's no upward
mobility or you should separate
yourself. Cuz I know one thing, if you
work for me, I'm paying attention.
Nothing goes unnoticed, okay? And I tell
people that all the time. If you want to
separate yourself, it's easy to do cuz
somebody above you is going to notice
it. Your peers are going to notice it.
It [snorts] is easy to separate yourself
from anybody else. Yeah, that that
notion to me is one of the most critical
things that anybody in a company can do.
And I love what you're saying about
personal responsibility. It's on you,
man. If you're not Even if, like you
said, it's just that you're you're in
the wrong company. You're in the wrong
company. And so, if you want to get
somewhere where you can move, you either
have to go somewhere else or get your
skill set aligned. If somebody comes to
you and is like, "I want to improve." Um
I get that it is specific to that case,
but are there general things that
somebody can do? Is there um
Is it start with shut up and listen? Is
it the Tillmanisms? Is it getting those
things ingrained in your soul? Or is
there something else that give somebody
the the mental framework with which to
propel themselves forward? You know, I I
think that you can pick up from from
talking to me that that I'm not on a
different level. Okay, these are pretty
simple basic tools. And so nobody out
there is listening to him and saying,
"God darn, he's just he's just using
words and he's just so much smarter than
me. So I'm not going to become worth $5
million. That book is okay?
He's just naturally smarter than me."
I think you can see that I'm no smarter
than anybody else in this room. I just
use certain little basic tools to be
successful every day.
Take the word no out of your vocabulary.
Worry about your customer. No spare
customers. Use the 95/5 rule. Separate
yourself from everybody else. Be the
bull at whatever you do. And on and on
and on. Know what you're good at. Know
what you're not good at. I want to go
back to the bull thing. So
certainly I understand it when it comes
down to an acquisition, being bullish.
Basically, when there's blood in the
street, that's when there's real
opportunity. Like I get all of that. Now
give it to me like I'm a young kid. I'm
trying to come up through the mail room,
whatever. Like how does one embody the
bull? Is it about confidence? Is it
about audaciousness? Like what is that
thing?
Whatever position you're at, you want to
be the bull. And I don't care if you're
in the mail room or if you're the person
behind that camera that I'm going to be
better than anybody else with that
camera and I'm going to be the best mail
carrier and the person who comes up and
is the most organized and does it the
most professional way. You can be the
bull at any position you're doing and
it's just telling yourself, "I'm going
to do this better than anybody else."
I don't care what the job is.
I don't care what you do. You be the
bull at what you do.
What drives you? Is it setting goals? Is
it the conquest? Is it
you know, somebody that that's an
all-weather winner. There's something
pushing them. No, it's just sport. It's
just the sport of this is what I do
every day.
And people say, "Why why do you do
this?" And I just say, "Because what
would I do?" I mean, if I can't come to
the office and solve problems and fight
with everybody and and conquer something
you know, conquer then then what am I
going to do with myself? Am I going to
sit at home and die?" I mean, that's
what I enjoy doing. This is my
basketball. This is my game that I play.
This is my pick up
Monopoly game, whatever you want to call
it. Okay? This is I love going to the
office
and and and leading people and and
trying to conquer something. That's what
I enjoy doing. It's sport.
So, when you were
it's so interesting because you once
said that, you know, when I had my first
restaurant and I was finally being
successful and I think you were making
like three or four million dollars a
year and your dad was like, "Why do you
keep putting this all at risk?" And you
said that's basically how I think of
myself now. Like, you may think that
I've gotten big, but to me this is like
nothing compared to where I want to go.
How do you dream big and how concrete
are those dreams? Like, do you maybe
you're not willing to say out loud, but
do you already know like this is my next
acquisition and this is where I'm headed
and this is how I get the NFL team and
Totally. That's you're exactly right.
This is this is steps to get to the next
level. Now, if I don't pull any of that
off, have I reached that point in life
where I'm happy? Yeah. I don't feel like
after I bought the Houston Rockets,
uh and once again, I you know, who gets
to own 100% of their team in their
hometown? There's probably not of all
the major 100 sports teams, there's
probably not five. So, I feel very
fortunate. Do So, if nothing else is
accomplished, do I feel pretty good? I
feel okay. I really do. I I really do
and I thank the you know, the good Lord
and and and all the people that helped
me accomplish it.
But but what you just said is happening.
I'm taking the next steps right now to
get to the next level.
Cuz always that's my sport. Let's go
play pick up basketball. Let's go to the
office and play business. And that's
what I do every day. I go to the office
and play business. I have weekends, if
I'm not on vacation or on the boat
somewhere whatever, and I'm sitting at
home and it's Labor Day or Memorial Day
and I don't have plans, I'm going nuts.
I'm going to go to the office. I'm going
to attack. If people want to engage with
you, they want to learn more about what
you're doing, where would they find you?
Uh
you know,
follow me on Instagram or Facebook or
Twitter and
read Shut Up and Listen. And And all the
people that work for me will tell you
that have read the book, that is Tilman
talking. That is That is him. It it it
it would capture him perfectly. And like
I said, I've never been the smartest guy
in the room, never professed to be, but
I will outthink you. I'll I'll work you.
I will outmotivate you. And And I will
teach you how to lead.
Really fast, talk to me about the notion
of outworking people.
Uh I can tell you we've worn down many
of people on deals when we just say
let's just keep going. The greatest time
to negotiate a deal is Friday and
thinking that uh
everybody's going to leave at 5:00 or
6:00 in the evening.
And so I always try to set up a
negotiation for all you people that I
plan on doing an acquisition for them in
the future because we'll go right
through the weekend and they want to go
home. And so we just keep plowing
through at 3:00 in the morning, 4:00 in
the morning.
We will outwork your ass. Yeah. One of
the greatest strategies in life in my
opinion. I'm totally with you on that
one.
What is the impact you want to have on
the world?
You always want to do the right thing.
Uh you want to be remembered that you
you were very successful, but you did it
fairly and squarely. Uh
I'll out, you know, I'll
I will I have take pride in
outnegotiating your ass, okay? Uh
and and you just want to leave this
world that everybody said, "God, that
was a difficult son of a gun, but he
always did the right thing."
It's pretty good.
All right, guys. The Tillmanisms alone
are worth the price of admission. I
highly recommend the book. It is a lot
of fun.
If you were paying attention to the way
he's talking, you will definitely, when
you read the book, realize that that is
definitely his voice and captures his
spirit. And somebody that can start
with a single restaurant and build what
he's built today. If you have any
interest in doing something
extraordinary in your life, regardless,
by the way, of whether you want to be an
entrepreneur or not, I think a lot of
the rules apply to just knowing more
about something, outworking people,
knowing what you want, big audacious
goals, all of that stuff, being the
bull. It will pay off well in your life.
If you haven't already, be sure to
subscribe. And until next time, my
friends, be legendary. Take care.
Tillman, thank you, my friend. That was
wonderful, man. One that I learned to
sell an encyclopedia [music]
store to door in my early 20s is be
prepared in life for a lot of rejection.
Because if you're prepared for a lot of
rejection and it comes, you don't get
turned off, you don't get disappointed,
like, "Well, I'm not going to do this
anymore. [music] No one thinks this is a
good idea."