Part 1: Welcome to $100M Money Models | Ep 938
In this episode of The Game, Alex Hormozi shares his path from struggling gym owner to successful entrepreneur, including the pivotal moment when he slept on his gym floor and worked nights to keep his business afloat. He describes how mentorship from a storage facility owner helped him develop a profitable business model, and how a consultation led him to transform his gym business into a licensing operation.
The episode traces Hormozi's business evolution from Gym Launch, which generated $43 million in distributions over five years, to the creation of Acquisition.com with his wife. Through this family office, they expanded into multiple sectors including software services and e-commerce, building a portfolio that generates over $200 million annually. The discussion illustrates how business principles can be adapted across different industries to create scalable, profitable ventures.
This is a preview of the Shortform summary of the Aug 19, 2025 episode of the The Game w/ Alex Hormozi
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1-Page Summary
Alex Hormozi's Entrepreneurial Journey and Early Struggles
In the early days of his entrepreneurial journey, Alex Hormozi faced significant hardships while starting his gym. Despite his father's disapproval and depleted savings, Hormozi persevered, sleeping on the gym floor and dealing with disruptive noise from the parking garage above. To cope, he adapted his schedule to work nights and catch brief naps during the day in a utility closet.
Learning From Other Businesses to Grow His Gym
A breakthrough came when a successful storage facility owner offered to mentor Hormozi. The mentor shared his profitable strategy of offering a "free month" while generating revenue through additional necessary purchases. The storage business sold items like locks, boxes, and insurance upgrades, while also earning from equipment rentals and moving service referrals. Hormozi successfully adapted this model to his gym business.
Pivoting Business Model Based On Expert Advice
After paying $25,000 for an hour of consultation, Hormozi received transformative advice from a marketing expert. The consultant recognized that Hormozi possessed "level 10 skill set in a level two opportunity" and advised him to transition from operating gyms to teaching other gym owners his successful strategies through a licensing model.
Scalable Licensing in the Gym Industry
Following this advice, Hormozi closed his gyms and established Gym Launch. His business model proved highly successful, completing over 30 gym turnarounds and generating $43 million in distributions over five years, all without requiring his direct involvement in day-to-day operations.
Diversifying Into Investing and Growing Businesses Through Acquisition.com
Building on their success with Gym Launch, Alex Hormozi and his wife founded Acquisition.com, a family office investing in various sectors including chains, software services, and e-commerce. Their portfolio now generates over $200 million annually, demonstrating the effectiveness of their business principles across multiple industries.
1-Page Summary
Additional Materials
Actionables
- You can seek mentorship from experienced individuals in your field to gain insights into successful strategies. Just as Hormozi learned from the storage facility owner, you can reach out to professionals in your industry through LinkedIn or local business networks, asking for advice or the opportunity to shadow them. This could lead to learning unique business strategies tailored to your sector.
- Consider pivoting your business model based on expert advice to maximize profitability. If you own a small business, you might consult with a business strategist or attend a workshop to explore alternative business models. For example, if you run a local coffee shop, you could explore creating a subscription service for regular customers, providing them with benefits and ensuring steady revenue.
- Explore passive income opportunities that align with your expertise or interests. Inspired by Hormozi's transition to a model that didn't require his day-to-day involvement, you could start a blog, YouTube channel, or online course in an area you're knowledgeable about. For instance, if you're skilled in graphic design, you could create an online course teaching others your techniques, which could generate income without constant hands-on management.
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Alex Hormozi's Entrepreneurial Journey and Early Struggles
Entrepreneur Alex Hormozi shares the gritty beginnings of his entrepreneurial journey, revealing his initial struggles with financial difficulties and lack of support.
Hormozi's Challenges: Financial Difficulties and Lack of Support When Starting Gym
Hormozi Describes Sleeping On Gym Floor, Dealing With Noise, and Struggling With Few Customers
Hormozi recalls a time of immense hardship and fear during the early days of starting his gym. Despite the disapproval of his father and having exhausted all his savings, he persisted with his business venture. He describes long, lonely nights spent staring at the ceiling of the gym where he slept, feeling terrified about his future.
Adding to the difficulty, Hormozi had to deal with the constant noise from kids partying in the parking garage above. Their racing over steel dividers became a disruptive soundtrack that kept him from getting a restful night's sleep. To cope with the challenging environment, Hormozi ...
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Alex Hormozi's Entrepreneurial Journey and Early Struggles
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- While Hormozi's tenacity is commendable, not all entrepreneurs who face similar hardships will necessarily succeed, suggesting that persistence alone isn't always enough.
- The narrative may oversimplify the complexities of entrepreneurial success by focusing on individual perseverance and not addressing the role of external factors such as market conditions, timing, and luck.
- Hormozi's approach to working through the night could be criticized for glorifying overwork, which may not be a sustainable or healthy long-term strategy for most entrepreneurs.
- The story implies that financial difficulties and lack of support are almost rites of passage for entrepreneurs, which could discourage individuals who might seek a more balanced approach to starting a business.
- The emphasis on Hormozi's lack of ...
Actionables
- You can embrace discomfort by setting up a 'challenge week' where you deliberately choose a less comfortable option in your daily routine. For instance, if you usually work in a cozy home office, try working from a public space with more distractions for a week. This can help build resilience and adaptability, similar to how Hormozi had to adapt to working in a noisy environment.
- Start a 'zero-budget project' to simulate the experience of using limited resources. Pick a goal you've been wanting to achieve, like learning a new skill or starting a side hustle, and restrict yourself to using only free resources and tools available online. This mirrors the constraint Hormozi faced when using up his savings and can teach you to be resourceful and persistent without financial ...
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Learning From Other Businesses to Grow His Gym
Alex Hormozi expanded his gym's customer base and increased its revenue by adopting strategies he learned from a mentor who owned a successful storage facility.
Hormozi Learned Strategies From a Successful Storage Owner to Quickly Build a Customer Base and Revenue
Owner Profited From Recurring Sales To "Free" Month Customers; a Model For Hormozi's Gym
When Alex Hormozi was trying to enhance his gym business, a gym member with a large storage unit company noticed his struggles and offered guidance. They had breakfast together, during which the storage owner agreed to mentor Hormozi on how to grow his clientele and boost revenue.
The storage unit owner shared his successful business tactic of advertising a free month, while making a profit by selling additional necessary items to customers. For example, even though the facility presented a free month of storage, they would also sell high-quality locks for the units at $47. Further to this, the facility offered boxes, tape, labels, markers, and capitalized on an affiliate relationship with a local moving business for kickbacks.
Additionally, the storage business rented out helpful moving equipment like dollies, hand trucks, and st ...
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Learning From Other Businesses to Grow His Gym
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Clarifications
- The storage facility's successful business tactics included offering a free month of storage while selling additional items like locks, boxes, tape, and labels to customers for profit. They also had an affiliate relationship with a local moving business for additional revenue. The facility upsold customers on larger storage units and offered insurance options to increase their earnings. These strategies helped the storage facility maximize revenue while providing value-added services to customers.
- In the context of businesses like the storage facility and gym, upselling involves offering customers additional products or services beyond their initial purchase to increase the overall transaction value. This strategy aims to enhance the customer's experience and satisfaction while boosting revenue for the business. By providing options for upgrades, add-ons, or complementary items, businesses can capitalize on the customer's existing interest or need to make supplementary sales. Upselling is a common technique used across various industries to maximize profits and customer engagement.
- An affiliate relationship with a local moving business for kickbacks means that the storage facility and the moving company have a partnership where the moving company receives a commission or incentive for referring customers to the storage facility. This arrangement benefits both businesses by driving more customers to the storage facility through the moving company's referrals. Kickbacks are typically a form of payment made in return for a business referral or generated busin ...
Counterarguments
- The success of the storage owner's strategies may not be universally applicable to all business models, including gyms, due to differences in industry dynamics and customer behavior.
- Offering a free initial service can sometimes devalue the perceived worth of the service being provided, potentially attracting customers who are only interested in the free offer and not long-term engagement.
- Upselling additional products and services could lead to customer dissatisfaction if not done transparently and with the customers' best interests in mind.
- The strategy of profiting from "free" customers relies heavily on the ability to sell add-ons, which may not be as effective if customers are price-sensitive or if the market is saturated with similar offerings.
- The approach of upselling larger units or additional services could be seen as taking advantage of customers who may not fully understand their needs at the time of purchase.
- The effectiveness of th ...
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Pivoting Business Model Based On Expert Advice
Alex Hormozi, recognizing the potential to scale his successful gym operation strategies, sought the advice of a marketing expert to help him grow his business.
Hormozi Met a Marketing Expert Who Advised Him to Teach Gym Owners His Successful Strategies Instead of Operating Gyms
After paying $25,000 for just an hour of consultancy with a renowned marketer, Alex Hormozi received pivotal advice regarding his business strategy. The marketer, upon understanding Alex's approach, suggested a significant shift in his business model.
Expert Advised Hormozi to Transition To Licensing Model to Scale Expertise
Rather than continue the hands-on management of gyms, the expert recognized Alex's exceptional skills and advised him to ca ...
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Pivoting Business Model Based On Expert Advice
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- The value of the advice may not be proportional to the high consultancy fee.
- A licensing model might dilute the quality control that comes with direct management of gyms.
- Teaching strategies does not guarantee that other gym owners will have the same level of success due to different market conditions or execution capabilities.
- The shift to a licensing model could alienate existing gym staff or customers who are accustomed to the current business model.
- The advice assumes that Hormozi's skills are transferable and that there is a market demand for his expertise.
- The "level 10 skill set in a level two opportunity" comment could be seen as subject ...
Actionables
- Identify your "level 10 skill" by reflecting on feedback from peers, performance reviews, or any consistent praise you've received to pinpoint your strongest asset. For example, if colleagues always commend your graphic design skills, that's likely your "level 10 skill." Start offering freelance services or create an online course teaching others your techniques.
- Evaluate your current opportunities by listing them and assessing if they fully utilize your top skills. If you're a skilled baker always praised for your recipes but working in a job that doesn't involve baking, consider starting a side business selling your baked goods or teaching baking classes.
- Seek mentors ...
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Scalable Licensing in the Gym Industry
Alex Hormozi has reshaped the gym industry by closing physical locations and adopting a licensing model to share his successful strategies with other gym owners, leading to impressive turnarounds and significant financial success.
By Closing Gyms and Using a Licensing Model, Hormozi Expanded Impact, Completing Over 30 Turnarounds
After receiving guidance from a marketing expert, Alex Hormozi made the decision to close his most recent gym venture and sell his other five gyms. This change gave him the time and resources needed to direct his attention toward his new company, Gym Launch. By using the strategies he developed, Alex managed to turn around more than 30 gyms, demonstrating the effectiveness of his approach to fitness business management.
Hormozi's Licensing Model Shared Strategies For Gym Growth and Profit, Yielding $43 Million in Distributions Over Five Years Without In-person Involvement
Alex witnessed the fruits of his labor as his licensing model allowed gym owners to fill their facilities to cap ...
Here’s what you’ll find in our full summary
Scalable Licensing in the Gym Industry
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- The success of Hormozi's licensing model may not be replicable for every gym owner due to varying market conditions and business acumen.
- Closing physical gyms to focus on licensing may not be a sustainable strategy for the entire industry, as it could lead to a loss of jobs and community fitness resources.
- The financial success of Hormozi's model, while impressive, may not reflect the broader impact on the health and wellness of the gym members.
- The $43 million in distributions could be seen as excessive profit in an industry that is often centered around community and individual health.
- The lack of in-person involvement raises questions about the quality of mentorship and support that licensees receive.
- The tur ...
Actionables
- You can evaluate your current business model and consider transitioning to a licensing model if it aligns with your industry. For instance, if you own a small bakery, you might develop a unique recipe or branding strategy that other bakeries could adopt. You could then offer this as a licensed package, providing you with a revenue stream without the need to manage multiple locations.
- Explore partnerships with existing businesses to apply your expertise in a consulting capacity. If you have experience in a particular field, like fitness or retail, you could offer your services to help struggling businesses revamp their operations. This could involve analyzing their business model, suggesting improvements, and helping them implement changes, similar to a turnaround strategy but on a consultancy basis.
- Create digital content that encapsula ...
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Diversifying Into Investing and Growing Businesses Through Acquisition.com
After their success with Gym Launch, Alex Hormozi and his wife have transitioned into broader business ventures with the establishment of their family office, Acquisition.com.
After Gym Success, Hormozi and Wife Founded Acquisition.com, Investing In Businesses Across Chains, Software, Services, E-Commerce
Upon the financial achievements of their initial venture, Gym Launch, Alex and his wife diversified their business interests by founding Acquisition.com. This family office focuses on investing in various sectors, including brick and mortar chains, software services, and e-commerce platforms. At present, their investment portfolio generates over $200 million annually, underscoring their successful expansion into multiple markets.
Hormozi's $200m Portfolio Shows Versatile Business Success
Alex Hormozi's multifaceted businesses, though operating in diverse niches, have all experienced gr ...
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Diversifying Into Investing and Growing Businesses Through Acquisition.com
Additional Materials
Clarifications
- Acquisition.com, founded by Alex Hormozi and his wife, focuses on investing in various sectors such as brick-and-mortar chains, software services, and e-commerce platforms. Their investment portfolio generates over $200 million annually, showcasing successful expansion into multiple markets. Hormozi's businesses, operating in diverse niches, have grown by adhering to foundational principles shared in his book, emphasizing earning more from each customer than the cost to acquire them. Hormozi's net worth has surpassed $100 million, reflecting his business acumen and investment strategies.
- Alex Hormozi's businesses are guided by the principle of earning more from each customer than wha ...
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