Mike Michalowicz
Co-founder, Profit First Professionals. On 1 show, 1 appearance. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
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Michalowicz is best known as the creator of the Profit First cash-management system and the author of popular business books including Profit First, Clockwork, The Pumpkin Plan, and All In. Before becoming an author and speaker, he founded and successfully exited multiple multi-million-dollar companies, including Olmec Systems.
1shows
1appearances
20statements
3resolved
1supported
1contradicted
33%fully supported
Everything Mike Michalowicz said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Michalowicz: MVPs Are Too Advanced; Pre-Sell Concepts with Deposits Instead
“I actually believe MVPs are not the right way to sell. So an MVP is a minimum viable product. I think that's too far advanced. We do a technique we call sell the tell.”
Michalowicz: Customers Want Businesses to Be Profitable More Than Founders Do
“Your clients want you to be profitable. In fact, it's the number one customer, the number one person in your life that wants to be profitable is not you, it's actually your customer, and we don't believe that.”
Michalowicz: The Bottom 20% of Customers Inevitably Cost More Than They Pay
“We usually cut the lowest, 20% of customers, Because inevitably they are costing you money, and you don't even see it. It's like, oh, I'm making revenue, this is great. The expenses are in excess of the revenue, and the emotional, you know, the emotional weigh…”
Michalowicz: Increasing sales often brings organizational stress instead of business salvation
“We believe that sales cures everything, and that is total nonsense. Total nonsense. What sales does is it can bring in more cash, but also brings in more organizational stress. You have more responsibility now, more things you need to service.”
Michalowicz: Diversifying product offerings to boost revenue is a mistake
“So when a business says we're cranking up revenue, I am looking to see, are they doing it through diversifying their offering, which I think is a mistake. Instead of becoming special, they're doing many things, and they dilute their ability, they're not effici…”
Michalowicz: High prices attract committed buyers; low prices attract demanding ones
“And what price dictates is the quality of customer. You will find customers at the lower price point. And for anyone here that sells at a low price point, if you ever found that your customers are really bitchy and moany and they really suck, it's because you'…”
Michalowicz: Businesses should stick to one offering until hitting $10M revenue
“We generally say, if you're not generating ten million dollars doing your one thing, you haven't arrived yet, you're not good enough yet. For most businesses, that's about point oh, one percent of the market cap. So, it's nothing. Yet most businesses said, oh,…”
Michalowicz: Entrepreneurs fail their core responsibility if they do operational work
“The number one job of an entrepreneur is not to do the job. The number one job of an entrepreneur is to create jobs for the other kids in your class. 19 kids in your kindergarten class want good jobs with good companies to live a good life with just good exper…”
Michalowicz: Founders must delegate what they love to master full delegation
“What do you love to do so much you'll never give it up? Delegate that. Because when you can delegate your passion, you'll learn to delegate the entirety of your business.”
Michalowicz: Entrepreneurs Subconsciously Deprioritize Lucrative Clients They Dislike Working With
“Because if you have a customer that generates a lot of revenue, but you don't like working with them, you automatically, inherently, subconsciously perhaps, deprioritize their service. You don't call them back as quickly, you delay it, you avoid it.”
Michalowicz: My computer forensics firm defended Enron executives Lay and Fastow
“Computer crime investigation, and the Enron trial broke. My company, right place, right time, we got the Enron trial. Now, to give context, we were not the prosecution. That's the FBI, the CIA, you know. We were the defense. So if you remember names like Kenne…”
Michalowicz: People Consistently Believe Financial Freedom Requires Double Current Net Worth
“Wherever someone is financially today, they feel their freedom is double of their current worth. So if you're worth a 100,000, when I get a two hundo, I'm good. And people at two are saying four, and people at a mill are saying two.”
Michalowicz: Marginal improvements are unnoticeable; businesses must be distinctly different
“Better than the competition is not noticeable. You answer the phone in two rings. I answer in one. I'm technically better. The customer won't notice. You run a standard baseball game. I have a grandma banana dancing around. I win. You gotta be different.”
Michalowicz: Asking clients what you do right reveals how they judge you
“When your customer tells you you're doing right, they don't tell you what you're doing right, they tell you how they're judging you, what they're observing. You and I do, you do thousands of things for your customer. Your customer does not see the thousand thi…”
Michalowicz: Ask clients what is wrong with the industry, not your company
“Don't ask what you're doing wrong because people lie to each other, social consequence. Ask what is wrong with my industry.”
Michalowicz: Only 3% of people run profitable businesses after 5 years
“17% of the population ever attempts to start a business. So if you think about kindergarten and the, you know, 20 kids in your class, 17, three kids, maybe four kids, ever attempt to start a business. 20% ever start a business and after five years are doing it…”
Michalowicz: SBA study shows 83% of small businesses live paycheck to paycheck
“There was a study from the SBA in conjunction with a major bank. They identified 83% of small businesses in the US. There's thirty six million of us now. Under twenty five million in revenue are considered a small business. So it's probably the majority of thi…”
Michalowicz: Business Expenses Naturally Expand to Match Revenue Growth
“Parkinson's states that our demand for a resource expands as the resource expands, the more time you have to do something, the longer it'll take. The more cookies that are served as a dessert, the more you're going to eat. Guilty. And the more money you make i…”
Michalowicz mandates a four-week vacation for every portfolio business founder
“Oh, we do, with every business we invest in, we immediately schedule a four-week vacation for the business owner within one year of today.”
Michalowicz: I do no operational work in any business I own
“I share in the profit, and I give strategic direction. I vote. I don't do any of the work in the business. So for every one of the companies, we have a president, we have a C-suite, if you will, and these are some of the small businesses. C-suite could be like…”
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Mike's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 BIGDEALLEDGER | Co-founder, Profit First Professionals | 1 | 20 | 33% 1/3 | full record on BigDeal → |