What’s goin’ on, Hard Knocks Community?💰

We're back with a brand new edition of the School of Hard Knocks newsletter. Today, we're featuring Eddie Wilson who's known in the business world as "The King of Exits." Eddie's built over 120 companies across various industries, including real estate, private equity, media, and financial services. His ability to lead, grow, and systemize businesses has led him to achieve a net worth of over a BILLION dollars!

Today’s Schedule

• Building Brands, Making an Impact: How Private Equity Titan Eddie Wilson Built a Billion Dollar Empire

• From the Hard Knocks Library: The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

• In Case You Missed It: CEO of EFFEX Louis Flory invited us to his garage…full of $20M worth of exotic cars!

Let’s go!🔥

Building Brands, Making an Impact

Eddie Wilson is a private equity titan, but he didn't go into it intentionally.

Eddie started his career in the radio and television broadcasting industry where he saw an opportunity to build an ad agency. After running it for some time, he experienced an unintentional exit…one where he got taken advantage of.

Three Wall Street moguls took about 30 million dollars from Eddie when he didn't expect it. From that day forward, Eddie made a promise to himself that he was going to figure out the private equity game. And he vowed to do it without taking advantage of people.

Eddie set out to create win-win solutions for people that potentially wanted to exit their businesses or partner with him on an opportunity. In 2013, he started investing in a group of companies and ended up with majority control.

Eventually, Eddie got to about 30 companies and hit a wall. He struggled to get past that 30 mark because he didn't have the right systems and processes in place. To overcome this hurdle, Eddie built what's called the Empire Operating System.

After that, Eddie broke through and grew to over 80 companies. In 2019, he sold 76 of those companies for a little over a billion dollars.

Although Covid disrupted business operations worldwide, Eddie took the opportunity to refine all of his processes. He employed eight people that would become the operators of his companies once he started buying again.

Coming out of Covid, Eddie launched what's now called Collective Influence and he resumed buying. His current private equity firm includes roughly 30 companies.

At 18 months old, the firm is valued at around $560 million and things are moving fast. Eddie credits this quick growth to having the right systems and processes in place. When you do, you create a solid foundation so you can replicate what you do with lightning speed.

Being taken advantage of early on was the catalyst that led Eddie to his current success. Despite not having a traditional background in private equity, he now proudly holds the title of "The King of Exits."

On our recent live call, Eddie dropped a ton of practical tips for entrepreneurs. Here are four of the biggest takeaways from the conversation:

In the Zone

If you're a young entrepreneur looking to sharpen your skills, Eddie advises you start with what you're the best at doing. Tapping into your strengths unlocks your potential for greatness. It's a myth that you have to be good at everything to be good at business.

For example, if you're a social person who loves sales, lean in and become a master at it. If you're not so great at staying organized or putting systems in place, you can find other people to help you with those tasks. Outsourcing helps you stay inside your zone of genius.

Makin' Moves

Considering a career in private equity? Eddie says it's the perfect path for solid operators and leaders. Private equity provides tons of opportunities for advancement as you begin to purchase, acquire, and roll up. There's always a new leadership layer.

In a traditional job, moving up can be a real struggle. You're often faced with a ton of bureaucracy and red tape. In private equity, you're constantly introduced to tons of new strategies and players, allowing you to level up your skills and experience much faster.

Big Three

When looking to sell your company, Eddie says there are three main areas to consider. First, you have to focus on your top line and bottom line revenue. Most companies sell on EBITDA so you have to be very focused on revenue and your profit.

Number two, you have to have some intellectual property. There has to be something unique about your business. Without something separating you from everyone else, you won't get a decent multiple. Third, you have to have a solid operating system in place that allows you to walk away.

Clean Break

If you want to scale and exit a business, Eddie advises to start making it not about you. If you're the one point of contact, solving all of the problems, and doing all of the work, you're going to get stuck. You have to create the narrative that you're not necessary.

When you're still working in your company post-acquisition, the new crew may have a completely different view on how to run things. If you're stuck in your role, experiencing this can be tough. In order to make a clean exit, make sure the business can run without you.

Connect with Eddie here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eddiewilsonofficial/
Website: https://officialew.com/

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Words of Wisdom

From the Hard Knocks Library

In Case You Missed It

We sat down with Louis Flory the CEO of EFFEX, a labor force management company. Louis invited us to his car garage which has over $20 million dollars worth of exotic cars and gave us his best advice on scaling and building a company. If you are looking to pursue entrepreneurship or want to learn about how a high level entrepreneur thinks, this is the perfect video for you.

Let Us Hear From You

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