What's Good, Hard Knocks Fam? 💼🔥 

Ready to crush it? The School of Hard Knocks Newsletter is back with fresh tips and tricks to supercharge your hustle.

Here, we’re shining the entrepreneurial spotlight on Lynnwood Bibbens – serial entrepreneur, investor, and CEO of ReachTV. Starting from the ground up, Lynnwood’s generated over $2B in revenue and built global media and tech partnerships. If you’re looking to learn how to scale businesses, form powerful relationships, and disrupt industries, this one's for you.

Today’s Schedule

• From Grit to Greatness: How Lynnwood Bibbens Built Billion-Dollar Success

• From the Hard Knocks Library: The Sweaty Startup: How to Get Rich Doing Boring Things

• In Case You Missed It: We caught up with Stephen Cloobeck, founder of Diamond Resorts International and CA governor candidate.

Time to make moves!🔥

From Grit to Greatness

Lynnwood Bibbens is a self-made entrepreneur who’s built big businesses in tech, media, and entertainment—all by staying scrappy, spotting opportunities, and betting on himself.

Growing up in a working-class New Jersey town, Lynnwood learned the value of hard work from his grandfather, who juggled a 9-to-5 job and a side hustle running a garbage route. In college, Lynnwood was brought in to help fix a friend’s chaotic shipping department. Within six months, he became the top sales rep—and then an equal partner. Three years later, they sold the company to its biggest customer.

In the mid-90s, Lynnwood launched his first internet-based company. Starting with just six deals a day, he scaled it to $40 million in revenue in 18 months, and $100 million just 18 months after that. He exited the business right before the dot-com crash. After the bubble burst, he founded New England Technology, growing it to $100 million in three years. 

The real breakthrough came when Lynnwood asked clients, “What could you do if capital wasn’t a constraint?” That question unlocked $128 million in hidden demand. Over the next two years, the company captured $78 million and then $120 million, eventually hitting a $250 million run rate that held steady for eight years.

Looking for a new challenge, Lynnwood shifted into film finance—structuring deals and helping finance over $2 billion in film and TV projects. Along the way, he reconnected with Netflix, which sparked the idea for ReachTV. He launched the network with a new model focused on guaranteed exposure—not just content delivery—and continues to drive growth through innovation and smart execution.

Through it all, Lynnwood's philosophy remained the same: put others’ needs first, and your own will be met in return.

So, what can you learn from Lynnwood?

3 Takeaways for Entrepreneurs:

1. Mindset Mastery

Lynnwood says the key to transformation is stacking small daily wins and mastering your inner voice—choose self-empowerment, and the path forward becomes clearer. 

Use these mantras:

→ Win small, win often.
→ Your inner voice shapes your reality.
→ Believe in your potential—it's the first step to greatness.

The most powerful voice is your own—speak with belief and positivity to turn obstacles into opportunities.

2. Reinvest Like a Champ

For Lynnwood, the smartest reinvestment is in whatever’s blocking your growth. When putting profits back in your business, remember:

→ Reinvest where it really moves the needle.
→ Build smart, not flashy—cash flow is king.
→ Hire strategically to scale what’s already working.
→ Don’t chase money—chase revenue.
→ Invest in your team; they’re the engine of your success.

Bottom line: focus on what your business actually needs to grow. 

3. Simple Strategy = Power Profit

Lynnwood keeps it real when it comes to strategy—he built ReachTV on just 5% capex so it could survive the tough times and still turn a profit. Here's his playbook:

→ Stay lean – Build low-cost, high-margin from the start.
→ Position smart – Reframe to reach bigger markets.
→ Own data, clear blocks – Use data and fix what’s in the way.

Remember, stay focused and always hunt for the next breakthrough.

Connect with Lynnwood here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynnwoodbibbens1/

Looking for even more tools to level up?

Inside the School of Mentors community, members don’t just get invites to live Q&A sessions with top entrepreneurs. They also get exclusive access to weekly tactical business workshops and 100+ hours worth of courses and masterclasses to start or scale a business to new heights.

View our course library here! 👇

Words of Wisdom

From the Hard Knocks Library

In Case You Missed It

A few months ago, we met Stephen Cloobeck, the founder of Diamond Resorts International in Los Angeles. That video did over 100 million views so we had to run it back!

We hung out with Stephen at his house and learned more about his story on how he became a billionaire, his advice for entrepreneurs, and why he is running for Governor of California. Whether you're looking to get started in business, or scale an existing one, this interview is packed with golden nuggets you won’t want to miss.

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