Let me save you a few years, a few thousand bucks in mastermind memberships, and at least one panic attack.
If you’re in the startup phase of business, it’s easy to get caught up in the highlight reels — the big launches, the fancy branding, the “We did $100K in 30 days” gurus. But when we started 608B Capital in July 2023, we didn’t have all that. We had a clear vision, a little bit of capital, and a whole lot of grit.
In the first 18 months, growth was… let’s say “methodical.”
In the last 6?
We tripled in size.
And it wasn’t luck. It was these five things. They’re not sexy, but they work in business, health, relationships — heck, even in parenting when your kid decides he wants to be a ninja and live on nothing but Fruit Roll-Ups.
Let’s dive in.
1. Extreme Ownership: Blame is the enemy of progress
At 608B Capital, if a borrower ghosted us, a deal fell apart, or someone forgot to send the wire, the mindset is always:
“What could we have done differently?”
This doesn’t mean self-loathing. It means agency. Control. It means that even when the market is crazy, the appraiser is late, or your Wi-Fi crashes mid-Zoom pitch, you focus on what you can control — like your attitude, your follow-up, your systems, etc.
Own everything. That mindset alone is a competitive advantage.
2. Resilience: Grow teeth or go without
Let’s keep it real.
Startup life is a full-contact sport, and you’re going to get punched in the face. Figuratively, of course. Hopefully.
We’ve had deals fall through 24 hours before closing. Had investors back out. Had days when we questioned whether this thing was even working.
But every time, we got up — even if we had to gum our way forward because we had no teeth left.
You build resilience by choosing hard things on purpose. It’s why I still train hard in the gym in my 40s — not because I’m aiming to be on the cover of Men’s Health, but because I plan on being the most capable 80-year-old chasing my grandkids up a mountain while the rest of the world settles for recliners.
Resilience is a muscle. Train it now, or be surprised when adversity sucker punches you later.
3. Focus: The superpower that beats talent
Entrepreneurs are like golden retrievers in a squirrel sanctuary.
Every idea, every email, every “you should totally start a…” feels urgent and brilliant.
But when we launched 608B Capital, we made one promise to ourselves:
This is the only race we’re running.
Jimmy Iovine once said racehorses wear blinders so they don’t get distracted by everything around them and they run their own race. That’s how we treat our work. Every time a new opportunity pops up, we ask:
“Does this help our borrowers or investors?”
If not? It gets a polite “maybe later” or a hard “no.”
Without focus, you end up halfway up 10 different mountains. With focus? You summit one.
4. Throw the Ego Out the Window: Humility is a growth hack
In the beginning, I had to admit something hard:
I didn’t know everything.
(Spoiler: I still don’t.)
But once I accepted that, the doors to mentorship, coaching, and community opened up.
I started listening more. Asking better questions. And — get this — actually implementing advice from people who were 10 steps ahead of me.
The moment you stop pretending you have it all figured out is the moment you start accelerating.
Humility isn’t weakness. It’s rocket fuel.
(And if you ever forget that, just try doing a workout with someone half your age. That’ll fix your ego real quick.)
5. Patience: Ruthless in the day, chill in the year
Building a business is a lot like planting a garden. Except the soil is rocky, the rain is inconsistent, and half the seeds don’t sprout.
The first year of 608B felt slow. But we didn’t quit.
We showed up daily, made calls, underwrote deals, built systems, followed up, and followed up again.
And eventually, the seeds popped.
We started getting more borrower applications. More referrals. More capital.
And suddenly it looked like we “blew up overnight.”
(We didn’t.)
Here’s the key:
Be ruthlessly impatient with your daily effort. Be radically patient with the outcome.
Good things take time. Great things take obsession, sweat, and a lot of boring consistency.
Final Thoughts: This Applies to Everything
Whether you’re building a business, a marriage, a body, or a legacy — these five principles apply:
• Take ownership
• Build resilience
• Focus like your future depends on it
• Ditch the ego
• Play the long game
We built 608B Capital on this foundation. We’re still building.
And if you make these five things your non-negotiables, you can’t lose.
Well, maybe you’ll lose sleep. And hair. But hey — you’ll gain a business, a mission, and a life you’re proud of.
Now go get it. Teeth or no teeth.