The argument in one line.
Design your life around what gives you energy, systematize everything else, and you'll unlock the freedom to pursue multiple domains of success simultaneously.
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
- You're an entrepreneur or business-builder early in your journey who feels scattered across too many projects and wants a framework for choosing where to focus your energy.
- A high-performer in any field who's achieved surface-level success but questions whether you're building a life aligned with what actually energizes you versus what you think you should want.
- You're someone rebuilding confidence or motivation after a setback or pivot, and you're looking for a concrete mental model for how to reconstruct belief and direction from scratch.
- A parent or partner trying to figure out how to pursue ambitious goals without sacrificing presence in your personal relationships, and you want to see how someone else navigates that tension.
SKIP IF…
- You're looking for tactical operational advice on a specific business problem — this is about life design and energy allocation, not execution playbooks for your current venture.
- You've already built multiple successful companies or exits and are past the 'how do I choose what to focus on' stage — this stays in the foundational mindset layer.
The full version, fast.
Design your life around what gives you energy, then systematize everything else so freedom becomes the byproduct of structure, not its enemy. The mechanism is a relentless pursuit of the fully optimized self: identify the activities and people that energize you, build rituals and systems around them, and treat belief as a trainable foundation rather than a feeling, because every leap into something new requires self-belief before evidence exists. Apply this by running your life and ventures through clear principles� tight schedules that protect family, capital boxes that survive the valley of death, and partnerships chosen on the operator before the idea. Stop chasing every opportunity hoping one reveals your path; the path reveals itself when you master yourself.
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01:02hostEd Mylett
01:19guestRob Dyrdek
Where the time goes.
00:00 – 01:02
01 · Cold open — the thesis
Rob delivers the core insight before the intro: the fully optimized version of yourself keeps evolving as you pursue it. You will catch up with it — it is not forever elusive.
01:02 – 09:00
02 · Origin — the 16-year-old skateboarder
Rob explains why he dropped out: he had already achieved his dream. Placed 4th at world championships in Munster, had signature product. Walked into a room of principals and sold them on letting him go.
09:00 – 14:30
03 · Orion Trucks — first brand at 18
Moved to California for $1,000/month. Hand-drew the Orion Trucks logo, assembled a dream-team roster of pro skaters, partnered with manufacturing. Did it for 0.5% of sales — first expensive lesson.
14:30 – 25:00
04 · Losing the belief — DC tells him his best years are behind him
DC Shoes told him this would be his last contract. He sought out Dr. George Pratt at Scripps La Jolla for hypnotherapy to rebuild subconscious belief. Rededicated, clawed back to top 10 in the world.
21:40 – 30:00
05 · The evolving ideal self — pursuit as makeup
The most philosophically rich segment. You are pursuing a version of yourself that keeps evolving. The relentless pursuit IS your makeup — embrace it instead of resenting that you have not arrived.
30:00 – 38:00
06 · Memory as gift and curse
Both men share poor recall of their own histories. Rob's theory: absorbing at high velocity pushes out old material. His solution: deliberately tell himself 'feel this, remember this' in milestone moments.
38:00 – 1:02:00
07 · Fantasy Factory era — the near-death wave
Fantasy Factory was a moment generator: shark attacks, tiger attacks, horse jockeying, car ramp jumps. Centerpiece: Laird Hamilton tows Rob into an 18-foot wave on his first ever surf. Held under by two consecutive waves, runs out of air, eyes open, all white, cannot find the surface — pops up at the last second.
1:02:00 – 1:03:00
08 · Doing everything, standing for nothing
When you can do anything, you do everything and end up standing for nothing. He spent years hoping one pursuit would show him the way. The pivot: stop hoping and ask what type of life you actually want.
1:03:00 – 1:07:00
09 · Systems as freedom — the soma dome
More systematization equals more freedom. He couldn't meditate traditionally. Found a soma dome (isolation pod with guided audio) and meditates every morning at 5am. Systems remove decision fatigue and free the mind for what matters.
1:07:00 – 1:10:00
10 · Becoming the right person to attract the right life
He had assumed the right woman would make him the right man. The shift: decide to BE the right person first. First date with Brianna: chartered a helicopter to Bakersfield to rescue puppies she'd been tweeting about.
1:10:00 – 1:16:00
11 · Moments by design — family, helicopters, morning rituals
He wakes his kids with singing and dancing every morning, drills self-belief sayings. Surprised his wife with a helicopter to Catalina for their anniversary. Consciously creates and locks in moments.
1:16:00 – 1:39:00
12 · Dyrdek Machine — the billion-dollar blueprint
Co-create, launch, exit: 50-100 companies, $10-20M exits per company equals $1B in liquidity. MVP: $50-100K self-financed. Seed: $1.5-2M. Burn: $75-150K/month. 18-month runway to sustainability. The Valley of Death (months 6-18) is where most companies die from undercapitalization.
1:39:00 – 1:43:00
13 · Why he is successful — energy design
His answer: his engine was built on early success, not early trauma. Belief became identity. He identified his two energy sources (building businesses and family) and designed his entire life around them.
1:43:00 – 1:45:25
14 · Outro — Max Out CTA
Ed wraps, pitches the Max Out community: subscribe, Instagram two-minute drill, daily winner gets coaching and gear.
Lines worth screenshotting.
- Rob Dyrdek dropped out of high school at 16, moved to California for a guaranteed $1,000 per month from a skateboarding sponsorship, and treated that decision as the beginning of a systematic business career.
- Designing a life around what gives you energy — and then systematizing everything else — is the foundation Dyrdek credits for achieving the level of success he has across athlete, TV personality, and entrepreneur phases.
- In December 1991, Dyrdek sold one board and received a check for $2, which he broke into quarters and spent on Doctor Peppers — and he was still tracking his finances and treating himself as a business.
- The fully optimized version of yourself is the person you are catching up with — and the more you master yourself, the further that ideal version moves ahead, which is why the pursuit never actually ends.
- At 16, Dyrdek walked into a room of principals and counselors trying to convince him to stay in school, and he sold all of them on letting him go — which he now recognizes as his first marketing and closing performance.
- Living multiple complete lifetimes — athlete, stunt guy, business guy, father, husband — is possible when each transition is treated as a deliberate choice to pursue what gives energy rather than what is expected.
- Dyrdek's goal is 50 to 100 company exits as a path to a billion dollars — a systematic, portfolio-level approach to entrepreneurship built on pattern recognition, not individual bet-the-company moments.
Design your life like you design a business.
Dyrdek playbook
Ask what gives you the most energy — not what you're good at, not what pays the most — and build everything else around that answer.
- Identify your two or three true energy sources. For Dyrdek it's building companies and family. Everything else is scaffolding.
- Systematize the non-negotiables so you never have to decide them again. First meeting at 11am, last at 5pm, never compromised — that's how he never misses a pediatrician appointment.
- The Valley of Death is real: months 6-18 of any new venture. Make sure you're capitalized for it before you enter, not while you're dying in it.
- Pursue the vision of the person you're becoming — not a fixed destination. The vision keeps evolving as you evolve. That's the feature, not the bug.
- The Dyrdek Machine model (MVPs at $50-100K self-financed, seed at $1.5-2M, sustainability in 18 months, exits at $10-20M) is a concrete blueprint for portfolio-style product building.
- When you can do anything, you do everything and stand for nothing. The move: stop doing everything and ask what type of life you actually want.
Terms worth knowing.
- Doer dyer
- A term for an entrepreneur who combines vision with execution — someone with the grit, work ethic, and self-belief to turn an idea into a built business rather than just talk about it.
- Valley of death
- The period in a startup's early life — typically the first 12 to 18 months after launch — when capital is burning, revenue hasn't caught up, and most businesses fail before reaching sustainability.
- Minimum viable product
- The smallest, cheapest version of a product that can be put in front of customers to test whether the core idea works before investing in a full build.
- Seed stage
- The earliest round of outside investment in a startup, used to take a tested concept and fund it through initial growth before larger venture rounds.
- Unit economics
- The per-unit revenue and cost breakdown of a business — what it earns and spends to acquire and serve a single customer — used to judge whether a model can scale profitably.
- Burn rate
- The amount of money a startup spends each month beyond what it earns, used to calculate how long the company can operate before running out of cash.
- Runway
- The number of months a startup can keep operating at its current burn rate before its cash runs out, usually extended by raising additional capital.
- IRR
- Internal rate of return — the annualized percentage return on an investment over time, used by investors to compare opportunities on a single normalized number.
- Co-founding shares
- Equity granted to someone for helping start a company at inception, typically a much larger ownership stake than later investors receive for the same dollars.
- Exit
- The point at which founders and investors cash out of a business, usually through a sale to another company or going public, turning paper equity into actual money.
- Liquidity
- Money that has actually been realized from an investment — converted from ownership stakes into spendable cash, typically through an exit.
- Hypnotherapy
- A guided technique that uses hypnosis to access the subconscious mind, often used to install new beliefs or remove mental blocks around performance and identity.
- Soma Dome
- An enclosed personal meditation pod that combines light, sound, and guided audio to induce a focused mental state, designed for people who struggle with traditional silent meditation.
- Goldilocks zone
- The narrow orbital band around a star where conditions are right for liquid water and life — used as a metaphor for circumstances aligning just right for success.
- Tow-in surfing
- A big-wave technique where a jet ski pulls a surfer into waves too large and fast to paddle into, allowing them to ride swells of 20 feet or more.
Things they pointed at.
18:10bookHyper Success by Dr. George Pratt
18:10productDr. George Pratt, Scripps La Jolla
1:04:40productSoma dome isolation meditation pod
1:24:00productOutstanding Foods
Lines you could clip.
00:09
“The fully optimized version of yourself is who you will catch up with.”
10:23
“I lost my way, and along losing my way, I lost the belief in myself.”
25:30
“The relentless pursuit is actually your makeup.”
1:04:00
“The more systematized, the less you have to think of, the more freedom you have to think about other things.”
1:37:00
“You only quit when you lose belief. When you don't, you just keep adjusting and moving.”
1:41:00
“By simply pursuing that sort of core aspect of what gives you energy the most and then designing a life around that is why I've been able to achieve the level of success that I have.”
Where the conversation goes.
01:02 – 14:30denseOrigin and early career
14:30 – 25:00denseBelief loss and recovery
21:40 – 30:00denseEvolving ideal self
30:00 – 38:00steadyMemory and intentional moments
38:00 – 1:02:00denseFantasy Factory and stunts
1:02:00 – 1:03:00denseLife design — focus vs everything
1:03:00 – 1:07:00denseSystems and habits as freedom
1:07:00 – 1:10:00denseRelationships — becoming the right person
1:10:00 – 1:16:00steadyFamily, moments, and legacy
1:16:00 – 1:39:00denseDyrdek Machine and entrepreneurship framework
1:39:00 – 1:43:00denseWhy he is successful
Word for word.
metaphoranalogystory
00:00The more you begin to master you, the more that ideal version of you begins to evolve too. That I think at some point it becomes fully optimized. The .
00:12Oh my gosh. That's good.
00:19Think about how optimized you are as a man today versus when they were born. I had evolved to a place where being super efficient and using my energy for what I'm only passionate about and having clear goals and vision for life is the foundation that I started with for the family.
00:43By simply pursuing that sort of core aspect of what gives you energy the most and then build designing a life around that is why I've been able to achieve the level of success that I have.
01:02Welcome back to Max Out. I'm Ed Mylett, and I'm so excited to bring you the program today. The man to my left is literally one of the most interesting men in the world.
01:12And at least for me, I can tell you that for today, it's been something I've been looking forward to for a long time to pick this big brain of his. You probably recognize his face, and most of you know his name. This is Rob Dyrdek, and this is a guy who, at 16 years old, dropped out of high school.
01:27He founded a professional skateboarding league. He's been a skateboarder. He's got 21 Guinness World Records.
01:33He's a media stud. He's a rock star in the entrepreneurial space. He's a branding master.
01:39But most importantly for me, this is a guy who's a tremendous husband and a great father,
01:44we're and gonna pick his brain about how he's accomplished all of those things here today. So thank you for being here, brother. Thanks for having me.
01:49I I you know, I've seen it in video, and now to experience what it's actually like to be here live, it's it's so much more beautiful and remarkable than than I could ever imagine. Thank you, man. I appreciate that.
02:00So let's be honest, man. You've had a pretty interesting life so far.
02:04I have. I certainly have. It's it's loaded to say I've lived a lot of lifetimes already.
02:08You know? Do you feel that way? I do.
02:09Yeah. What do you mean when you say that? Look.
02:11You you wanna be a professional athlete. You have this obsession and pursuit and you achieve that, like then you take that and now like I wanna I wanna expand this and be take this into television and then you go and live this entire television life, all these different businesses and different things.
02:29You go from athlete to stunt guy to business guy to father to husband, know. So each one of those is a is a pretty pretty significant
02:39chunk of life that's completely different than I am today. I wanna figure out how you did that, and I know the audience does too, because they see this guy on TV. Obviously, I think arguably you're the face of MTV, you know.
02:49From by the way, what's interesting about that too is for multiple generations too. Yeah. Here I am at my age, you're the face, and then my kids, you're still the face for them.
02:56And so the career has just been unbelievable. And I'm fascinated by you because when I saw you on TV, I kinda had this picture of who you were, which I think is probably accurate to some extent, but then there's these multiple layers of you.
03:08Like, there are all people. Yeah. And so what I try to do on the show is get to those other layers.
03:13And so let's just start out. How does a dude who drops out of high school at 16? Okay.
03:17So there's a lot of people watching this who, you know, don't have advanced degrees but wanna go win in their life, or maybe they're a parent. They got a child who's struggling in school.
03:26Did you drop out because things weren't going well in school? Did you drop out because of the whole skateboarding thing? I'm just curious what Yeah.
03:31Look. Know? I I'm
03:34I dropped out because I just was a a professional skateboarder. Right? Like and I you know, one year in my junior year, I got straight a's for the semester just to show them, like, look.
03:44I could it's not even hard for me. It's not even a matter of if I need to do it. This is my dream, is my passion, I achieved it, I'm now a professional skateboarder, there's no you know, in that year, in between that year, I had went to my first pro contest in Munster, Germany and got fourth place in the world championships and all my signature product had launched that year and, you know, I was like, I don't need to go to school.
04:11It's just not in my path. I'm not gonna go to college. I'm not gonna I'm going to move to California and be a professional skateboarder.
04:19And so even though I don't fully remember this, my mom tells me the story of going in and them all trying to tell me I have to go to school at, like, principals, counselors, everyone, all in one room. And I just, like, convinced sold everybody on, and they were, you know what? He probably doesn't.
04:33We should probably just let him go. You're already marketing and closing people. Yeah.
04:36And so, you know, it was really the beginning of of just let him he's going to pursue whatever he's gonna do on his own and and you gotta just sort of let him do it and that sort of the process that that that allowed me to get out of school. And I still had to go and take a night class, so I got enough credits to get a diploma.
04:57Got your GED or your diploma. Okay. Yeah.
04:59So Is there a difference between a GED and a diploma? Yeah. I think the with the diploma, like you still had enough credits to get your Gotcha.
05:04To graduate where a GED would be like a I believe, like a not a formidable or a formal
05:12diploma. Yeah. So So how do you get there?
05:14How do you get from you get you're you're 16. You drop out. How do you were were you making enough money at the time that you could move to California or what happened?
05:21Here's the thing.
05:23In December 1991, I sold one board and got a check for $2, know, I needed that $2, you know, because that was all the money I made that month, and I actually broke that up into quarters and went and bought a bunch of sodas that were at a quarter, uh, Doctor Pepper machine.
05:40But Wow. You know, I think, you know, even in that era, I would track all my finances. Right?
05:45I would say back then when I was 16, I'm a bro. I gotta treat myself as a business. And, you know, I want you know, I would got $400 check one month and a 600 and then it was all scattered in that one devastating December where it was like $2 and and in the spring, you know, the company was, uh, was growing, was ultimately like, hey, if you move to California right now, we'll guarantee you a thousand dollars a month.
06:09Thousand a month? And I was like, you what?
06:15Out of here, man. I felt like I hit the lottery. Like, was just like, what?
06:21Me and a buddy of mine who was who was also about to turn pro, like, jumped in our Honda Civics and shot across the country to
06:29begin our professional skateboarding career in San Diego. That's crazy, man. Yeah.
06:33So you get there I'm just curious. As this is happening, I do because people listen to this because I look at you I think some people look at you as the TV guy. I look at you as the entrepreneur guy.
06:42Yeah. And, what's awesome about you is there's so many different marketplaces out there that see different versions of you.
06:48Some of you see the athlete. Yeah. Some of them see the branding guy with by the way, the multiple brands you built from alcohol to apparel to, you know, the the food business that you and I are a part of now.
06:57All these multiple brands. And then there's obviously the TV show. There's the producer.
07:02There's there's just all these layers to Did you see all this? Like, you're 18. Did you were you already kinda like a business savvy guy or were you a skater, professional skater dude in the Yeah.
07:10No. I mean, I was business I was raised by
07:14entrepreneurs. Right? You you gotta understand, even the company that I turned pro for Mhmm.
07:18Was guys that I knew since I was 12 that moved back from California who started the Alien Workshop, the company I turned pro with, with my, uh, entrepreneur mentor, uh, who lived in Dayton, Ohio at the time.
07:32They all formed that company together. Got it. And then there was a couple other guys within that started other multiple companies that I was a part of.
07:41This is all that I watched at 14, 15. So in my mind, this is just what I was supposed to do. So even though I treated myself as a business and, you know, was watching my finances and all this stuff, I started my first soup to nuts, built my first, like, pure brand at 18.
07:59Right? Where as soon as I got to California, I did a partnership with a big manufacturing and distribution company and started Orion Trucks.
08:08I was reading a book at the time called the Orion Prophecy. You know, I was super into conspiracies and aliens and and I was in my teens and like, I was like, man, like, we should name it Orion. I hand drew the logo.
08:20It was like the star with an o around it. I put together, um, you know, five of the literally the most accomplished top level pros in the world which then went and got, uh, two guys apiece and Orion Trucks when it came out was the literally the the dream team of skateboarding that I had built for this accessory.
08:43K. And I did all of that for point 5% of sales. So you you have that kinda going, like you get this entrepreneurial fever, you got the skateboarding thing going, and then there's like kind of this time.
08:54I just want everyone to hear this because as an entrepreneur and as a man, as a person, I should say, there's just false starts in life. Like you get going and then you don't. You make progress and then you regress.
09:03And then I don't think you're ever prepared for every moment. Like, you weren't prepared for the point five. You didn't know to negotiate the right percentage or those things.
09:10But right around '24,
09:12there's another kinda, like, defining time for you, at least one of them. Doesn't doesn't your team come to you and go, hey. Look.
09:17We think you're kinda toast now. So what tell them about that. Look.
09:20In in in that gap now, I've found huge success. Right? Now I've helped launch the DC footwear brand and and moved to California and now become a superstar in skateboarding, and all this stuff's going in in but it wasn't fulfilling me.
09:36Right? Oddly enough, like, the pressure of of being in the streets and being a pro skateboarder just wasn't like like my angst to wanna do bigger things in business and do other things besides skateboarding became incredibly problematic.
09:51I was launching all these different businesses that I didn't know anything about the industry's record labels and and retail stores and all this stuff with this newfound money that I had helped develop by creating DC shoes and all the royalty money I was making at this time. Getting hammered on life lessons with taxes, you know, when you first make big money, starting all types of dummy companies all over the country trying to, like, put my money in different places, Nevada Corps and whatnot.
10:17Yeah. That's not really No. And I equate it to this.
10:22I lost my way, and along losing my way, I lost the belief in myself.
10:29Mhmm. Right? Yeah.
10:30And and when you're have had success your whole life where you were a young kid, you played soccer, you became a top soccer player, you decided to pick up karate, you become an amazing taekwondo fighter, you pick up skateboarding, you path straight to professionalism, everything's first companies, everything you do you're doing like, so when you grow up with a deep self belief and everything you do works thus building this deep foundation that anything you put your mind to, you can achieve.
11:02It's a much more dramatic loss Yeah. When that drifts from you. Right?
11:06Because belief becomes a part of your identity Sure. Which is connected to your ability to achieve, which since that's what you've been doing your whole life, you don't know any other way.
11:18So when that dips from you, it's a much more painful, more dramatic thing. I think a lot of, you know, big athletes like when When it tends, they struggle, man.
11:29Or the ones that were chosen ones from from junior high all the way and they get into their third or fourth year in the league and get hurt or like now, you don't even understand how to like manage your identity because it's had this trajectory for so long. 100% right.
11:46And it was compounded when DC basically told me they thought my best years were behind me and that this would be the last contract, you know, and I think that was and I can I can say it in hindsight and telling the story so many different times of like really knowing like, no, it was like you lost the belief in yourself?
12:09And at the time I sought out a a I was looking for a hypnotherapist, right?
12:16Just to hypnotize me to be a better skateboarder, right? Was like hunting all these things, right?
12:23I found Doctor. George Pratt at La Jolla Scripps and what he did was this technique that was He wrote a book called Hyper Success and he basically did this hypnotherapy to just give your inner cell your subconscious the belief that it was meant to have great success.
12:43And whether it was the moment in time, it was like being at the pit, whatever it was, but at that sort of twenty four years, like it was that moment of like, no, you've got to take control of of all of this. And from that point on, I told them at the time, I said, you know, I don't at the end of this contract, I'll be a completely different person.
13:07And then I rededicated my life to like skateboarding and and you know, took all all the way back to like top 10 in the world again and then like all the signature products and all the filming and and image and brand and everything just exploded basically from that point straight into television you know four or five years later.
13:27Mananas.
13:28Usually when I interview somebody you know, they've accomplished something in their sport and we talk about Or they've accomplished something in business and we talk about that. The complexity of what you've done.
13:38Yeah. I wonder and it's probably even a good thing that you don't always just step back and go, wow, right? But the complexity of and how many times you've remade yourself.
13:45Because that lesson at 24, that lesson at 16, I think there was another lesson when you're preparing yourself, we're gonna talk about later, for finding someone like Brianna, that whole thing.
13:55See, I had this really weird thing happen. I'll tell you. When Max was six years old, I was at this car wash.
14:01And there's a really nice guy I'd see there all the time on Saturday, old guy. Turns out he's about my age now, but at the time he was old to me.
14:07And just out of niceness, he says to me, goes, hey, enjoy the six year old because when he turns seven, the six year old's gone forever. Yeah. And when he turns seven or when he turns eight, the seven year old's gone forever.
14:17And you've got little kids, you know, man. They just keep becoming these different versions of themselves. Yeah.
14:21And I remember saying back to the guy without trying to be disrespectful. I said back to him, said, so when did that stop for you? Yeah.
14:27And he just stared at me kind of blankly and he goes, I don't know. And I said, you should figure that out.
14:33And what I respect about you is that you have not settled. The 18 year old version wasn't the same at 24. The 24 year old man
14:41doesn't even resemble the 43 year old or the 44 year old or the 24 year old. Right? Just it shifts all the time.
14:46I respect that about you. So that happens, and then you go on from there. We can't document your whole life, but let me say let me say this to that too.
14:54Right? Because I think I've heard you say before about how you're you're in pursuit of the vision of of, you know, something to the effect of you're pursuing the vision of the man Yep. That you ex you expect yourself to become.
15:05Right? Correct. Something to that effect.
15:07And I I would say when I finally shifted to that, that at in that pursuit of that individual, I also knew that that individual was slowly changing with the experience that I was having pursuing it, right?
15:22Yeah. And it's that it's this you're pursuing something that's not attainable, it's with experience and knowledge and understanding of yourself because you're on the journey just to master you, that the more you begin to master you, the more that ideal version of you begins to evolve too.
15:40So you're in this sort of relentless pursuit that's clear that I think at some point it becomes fully optimized. The fully optimized version of yourself is who you will catch up with, like, that won't forever be elusive.
15:55And Oh my gosh. That's Right. And and I think as because we're so similar in that sort of idea, it's the moment I realized that, no, this growth is actually one of your key attributes.
16:09Mhmm. Like, embrace it and and enjoy what you're able to achieve, but know that that's not part of your makeup.
16:16Like, the relentless pursuit is actually your makeup. Oh my gosh, brother. And that changed it it allows me to not
16:27very difficult to look back and reflect because, I mean, I just enjoy the pursuit so much. You know what I mean? Me too.
16:34I've had the I've had you I heard you say about this too. You make me feel really good because although we're a little bit different personality wise, you're probably the most similar person to me that I've met maybe ever. And just that it's even hard to describe, but we're both just so obsessed with this pursuit of growth and change and experiences in life.
16:53And one of the things I struggle with is my memory. Yeah. And and I and I know you do So do I.
16:59That's right. I know. Like The gift and the curse.
17:00It's a gift and the curse. I think I think maybe one of the gifts of it is I don't remember all my failures to just hold me back, and I keep telling all these old stories. Yeah.
17:08But I really do have a hard time remembering things. In fact, when I get interviewed, the great gift for me when I'm interviewed is it forces some recall of memories I didn't have before. You have that too.
17:17Right? What do you think that is? 100%.
17:18What do think? I don't know. But just talking it out, thinking about it Yeah.
17:21Right, with somebody else that experiences it,
17:23I think it's more gift than curse. Now, it it comes back to haunt you when you're trying to, like, remember the details, like, on certain things, and it and it jams you up a lit where it jams me up at this state is I'm taking in and learning so much at a high level, and then it pushes out stuff that I could really use again when I wanna Yeah.
17:42Use it for another situation if you will, especially in business. But I also it's also made me super conscious of stuff that I really want to know, that I want to remember and never forget that I tell myself that as I get there.
18:00Right? Meaning when a major moment happens. Have to In the engagement, getting wedding, children, like, a moment with children.
18:07Like, I'll I when I really even just recently taking the helicopter to Catalina to celebrate my three year anniversary, like, I kept telling myself as we're flying over the city and look at the ocean, like, don't like, just feel this.
18:23Like like, remember this. Look at this. Remember this.
18:26So it's like, I have to practice that and those lock in. Right? Yeah.
18:32That's why,
18:33you guys, if I started to try to list for you the amount of moments that he can't remember, but also that have been amazing in his life, some of you you just would literally it is what he said earlier. It's many, many, many, many, many, many, many lives. Right?
18:45And so I wanna touch on some of them where there's lessons, but I just I wanna spend most of my time in your brain and in your heart. So but you go all the way from let's be honest.
18:54You go from Robin Big. You got ridiculousness.
18:58Right? You got all of the moments that happened on all of these shows too.
19:02Right? Fantasy Factory, like, all of these different things. It's just it's it's bananas.
19:07And so
19:08gonna keep in mind, Fantasy Factory was basically a moment generator. You know what I mean? From being attacked by a shark to jockeying a horse for a race to like flipping a car for a Super Bowl commercial, breaking a world record jumping a car backwards, like Yeah.
19:21Getting towed into a giant wave and almost dying, like all these crazy crazy crazy highlight reel that no human being on the planet Earth has. Correct.
19:31Right? Is Did you just hear what he said, by the way? Just just slow that down just a second.
19:35Okay? A mauled by a tiger,
19:37bit attacked by a shark. You kissed a bear on the lips, I think. I kissed a bear.
19:42Right? And then That's an easier one. What so let me just stay on it just for a second because, like, those are once in a lifetime moments you've had over and over and over again.
19:49Right? So Yeah. Stay on that just for a sec.
19:52Meanwhile, kicking ass in business, meanwhile, founding a skateboarding it's just it's it's like man, you make me feel small, which is awesome. Right?
20:00So And keep in mind too Yeah.
20:02They are fully intertwined. What do you mean? Like, how is that?
20:06I'm negotiating a deal a five year, like, multimillion dollar mega deal with Nike right before, like, I gotta hang up the phone and break a world record for jumping a car ramp to ramp 90 feet backwards. Right?
20:19For a giant Chevy integration deal that Chevy's going to do a deal for being a part of our league while launching a complete new company.
20:29It's like you're taking phone calls in between this sort of chaos and sort of all aspects of your life. That was that was a six or seven year run of doing all this insanity while doing all of your business and normal stuff inside it. So that's maxing out these different areas.
20:45The pun is intended. Right? But, like so there are people out here who use the
20:48complexity of their lives as an excuse not to succeed in any one of them. Right? So, oh god.
20:52I'm a dad, and I've got my business, and I got my, you know, soccer league or whatever it is. How did you do that? So if you were to say, here's one of the reasons how I can compartmentalize and win in different areas, what would be one of the keys?
21:03Just
21:04sheer drive and and relentless pursuit of success.
21:11Now the problem with that was is here you are, you know, someone that can do anything.
21:19Mhmm. You you end up you have the ability to do anything, so you end up doing everything, then you end up kinda standing for nothing.
21:29Right? So you end up meaning so much to so many different people.
21:34You you're not even sure what you stand for. Like, are are is your passion business? Do you wanna do stunts?
21:39Are you a TV guy? Like, do you wanna be the commissioner of your league? Do you like skateboard?
21:43Like, what is like, I had to stop and realize that because my hope was if I just kept doing all this stuff, one of them would show me the way.
21:55Right? So and as someone that's so driven and whose gift is execution, the moment you decide to do something, you're gonna do it.
22:04I'm gonna do a cartoon and a toy line like, okay, I got a cartoon on Nickelodeon and a toy line in Walmart. I got attacked by a shark to launch it. I'm gonna do a new television show.
22:13I got this I've read an article with Vinny DiBona. I'm gonna do this clip video show. It's gonna be the biggest thing ever.
22:18Like like, you end up doing all of these things and you basically, uh, behind that, there's 20 of them that aren't working that you're putting that same energy of running into the wall with.
22:30Right? And and furthermore, it's not leading anywhere since you're hoping one will determine what your future is.
22:37Right? And I stopped and and yes, I I would look at myself as this highly conditioned stress athlete where you could you could put yourself under the deepest pressure and and, you know, take on 50 or 60 things at a time and operate smooth and happy.
22:57And but it wasn't until I
23:00looked deep within myself and decided what type of life do you actually want. It's easier to do when you're sort of in the midst of failure Totally. Externally,
23:08but you did it in the midst of success. Totally. And so this is what it does, right?
23:13It when I finally transition to the the the next level, right, or the or the designed version, right, which I'm on my way, right, I would say I'm exactly two and one half years into, then I'll speak about it and it'll be what I'm known for and what we talk about, right?
23:33Because since I'm in the middle of transitioning in it, when you look at at my body of work, it is like so all over the place. You don't even it's so hard to like land on what it is because the stunt aspect is is really interesting.
23:48You know what I mean? And being a professional athlete and then like, oh, you jump up and and now you're doing all these businesses. We're partners together in this super innovative amazing brand like Yeah.
23:58Like oh, but then, no, you're still shooting nine episodes of television a week. You know And, what I like, you're still, you know, entering your twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth season on on ridiculousness, putting you at ten years and twenty five seasons and 500 episodes of television on MTV, like, it's hard to put down, like, what does he really what would he be known for Mhmm.
24:24When really, you would know me primarily for NPV if you know business or you've had a conversation, then you're like, Okay, this guy's tuned But my goal is to be known for the life that I created, the life that I lived and the way that I systematized it and built it that ultimately people could replicate in their own lives Yeah.
24:48In the
24:50The example's gonna be bananas. I actually admire the diversity of your success.
24:55It makes It's been a lot of fun. I mean, it's like Brother. Come on.
24:57Mean And I'll tell you another moment too, man. When I After I got attacked by that shark. Right?
25:02Yeah. Because I'm like, this is so dumb. This isn't even this isn't even gonna be good.
25:06Like, why am I doing this? That's every stunt. Every stunt.
25:09It's like, this isn't even that. This is so dumb. And afterwards, no one in the world.
25:15No one in world. Alright. But I remember swimming up off of the looking down on the on that boat and stopping as I was swimming up, and there's, like, 50 sharks swimming around telling myself, just look and and soak this into your mind because you will never be back here again.
25:33You know? And and I have that to go along with the great photo of that, like, shark on my arm.
25:40You know what I mean? Like but that For all the achievers, though, and for me, like, I just want you to know something. You take
25:46you mentioned it, but I gotta be honest with you. It's one the things you're supposed to say to me. I don't think I personally and I'm an achiever and I enjoy my life and I you know, people come to me for advice on how to live better, but I think I could do a better job of telling myself, hey, man.
26:00Stop. Yeah. What you've said, the flight to Catalina, the shark thing, stop.
26:04I think achievers have to do that once a while. Stop. Appreciate this moment for a second, man.
26:10It's not coming back again. Yeah. And I you and I were talking about your kids at their ages and it made me think, did I appreciate all those moments when they were two, when they were infants, when they were three, when they were eight and 10 and I didn't.
26:23And I wish I could go back in those moments again. Think about it too though.
26:28Think about how optimized you are as a man today versus when they were born. True. And the lucky thing for me is I had evolved to a place where being super efficient and using my energy for what I'm only passionate about and having clear goals and vision for life is the foundation that I started with for the family.
26:54So I've never missed a pediatrician appointment. I've rarely, I've never missed waking them up, very rarely when I'm gone or putting them to bed, right? And that's by design.
27:04That's by moving out of a fantasy factory in downtown and living in Hollywood to a home in Beverly Hills and an office in Beverly Hills and being super close as you're developing this life and creating a plan for my how I use my time and my schedule.
27:22You know what I mean? I everything is systematized around full balance.
27:26I take my first meeting at 11AM, my last one at five.
27:30It never changes. I don't compromise my schedule and my time with my family and wife
27:38in my pursuit. Right? I fit it inside it.
27:41You know? Woah. So say something about that.
27:43So we're gonna I wanna get into this life thing now because I love the word about optimizing your life. Since the second we talked, the first time we talked was gonna be five minutes. It's turned into a really long phone call.
27:53We actually together talked about these things. Yeah. Like these very topics are what you and I discussed when we first connected.
27:59Of all those stunts you had though, I'm just curious because it leads to life. We're gonna go into life stuff now.
28:04So you had to deal with the
28:07tiger chasing you down and mauling you. That to me, even for me, don't know why, that's even scarier than the shark thing for me. Yeah.
28:14Seeing that sucker run after you, dude, like Right. They're trained. I don't give a crap.
28:19Sharks in the ocean on it, but he was biting my neck, and they kept saying, put it down. Dude. Put it down.
28:25Because I was the it. You know what I mean? I'm like, Is this guy supposed to be doing this?
28:30Dude, they're a millimeter away from some artery. Dude, they're just come on, man. That's I'll tell you the scariest thing of all of them was jockeying a horse for a race.
28:38Like, that was the scariest of all of them. Because the car stuff, you're in a cage. Like, you're covered in the mesh here, train tiger.
28:46Like, when you're on the back of a horse going 40 miles an hour, like, if you when you can barely if you get shot off that thing, you're basically in a, like, a car wreck Yeah. With no car. Right?
28:57Like Oh, my. That was the scariest Are you thing hearing what we're saying to each other right now? Yeah.
29:01Like, you know what was scarier than getting bit by a shark? It wasn't the tiger. Was right in the earth.
29:06But then for me And it feels good to be able to say it. You know I mean? Like It feels good.
29:11It's like, I don't think about it so often,
29:13but then just even talking about comparing them and thinking about it and the fact that I own that as a highlight forever brother. It makes me happy. Yeah.
29:20And it's also like hey, man. Look. Being on TV all that long for some people would be scary.
29:24Staying at the top that long can be scary. You know? Not wanting to fall off the the the totem pole you've climbed up, the flagpole, all those things.
29:32But wanna ask you about one of the stunts you did because I think, like, at least for me, it would cause me to do a little reflection. So of all of them you did, the one that captured my heart the most was the one where Laird drags you on the I think it's Laird on on the Sea Doo into riding the wave.
29:47Yeah. Okay. And so you ride this wave and you crash, and you thought you were gonna die.
29:52Yeah. Of all of them, is that the one that you were the most sure you were gonna die in the middle of? I'm curious.
29:57No. I mean, it's the only time in my life that I was dying. So tell tell me about what happened there and what it did to you.
30:03I'm
30:05you know, the trippiest thing about it too is, like, it was pouring rain, and I swear the moment I stepped in the water to do it Mhmm. The it stopped raining, and a rainbow went right over it. Right?
30:15And I'm like, what's what? Like, it was freaky enough, we're like, what is going on?
30:21Like, it was just this freaky sort of moment in time. So it like already had this like weird tone and if you can imagine, like, and then like, some of the local Hawaiian guys were, like, asked where I was doing getting towed in, and they were, oh, it's real sharky out there.
30:38Right? So I'm, like Sharky? Yeah.
30:39Was this after the shark thing or before? Yeah. Like, this is this is way after.
30:43Okay. It doesn't when you're doing, like, you know, go getting a Bahamas reef shark with a metal thing, like, it's super controlled.
30:50When you're laying on your back in the deep ocean and all you can think of is, like, sharks coming up from underneath to get you. I didn't even I wasn't worried about what was gonna happen in that wave.
31:00I just wanted to get up so that I don't be attacked by a shark. Right? And and if you can imagine this, you know, I've grinded a 20 stair handrail and flipped a car ramp to ramp and and done all these crazy stunts and you face them.
31:16You face the danger. On getting towed into a giant wave, it's behind you. So like you like I'd never surfed before.
31:23It's literally the only time I'd ever surfed in my life. You had never surfed before. Never surfed before.
31:27And it was like the first wave I ever surfed was like 18 feet. Right? And so it's the most peaceful, amazing, like, you know, because you can't see it and like you're like, woah.
31:39You know what I mean? Like, what do we And and then it's like a house crashes on you. And you don't like, you can feel something coming.
31:45You can start to hear it and then just wham. And now you're in like this fight. Everything in you to just get to the surface.
31:53Right? So I was like, you know, it's really weird management of emotions and experiences as it as it's related to when you get into kill mode for its stunts.
32:05Right? Because you have to shift into a mindset of like where you basically, you get to a deeply calm place because you literally nothing else matters and you understand that that for this moment in time, you have to put everything you have into making sure that that you do everything for this to work.
32:26It's a different different level of mindset. Right? Because you're it's a it's it's your life is on the line for this moment.
32:34And it's so so much easier when you're facing it and you go go go go, you know, and in this one, so as I did it and and fought back up and then I wanna get out of the water, I wanna get back up, you know, all this.
32:49It wasn't as bad. Right? So it was like it was like, okay.
32:52It got up pretty good. Like, that didn't, you know, like, it's still water. You know, I got spun around, but it wasn't too bad.
32:57Okay. Let's let's try to get a bigger one. Right?
32:59Like, so you get into that zone. And now the problem was I got a bigger one and one right behind it.
33:08Oh, gosh. So not only did I get annihilated, but then as I was, like, trying to find the surface, another one came down.
33:16And now I'm so deep and have no idea where the surface is. And, you know, believe it or not, this is a viciously vivid memory just out of death.
33:29Right? Wasn't trying hey. You gotta remember this.
33:32Yeah. You're not lying. You wanna remember You what I mean?
33:36No. No. This is like you was like like, eye like, eyes open, spinning.
33:41It was just all white, and I just remember kept trying to push to what I thought was the surface, and I kept going nowhere, and the light kept changing, and I kept trying to find what I think was the surface, and it all kept looking the same regardless of where I went, and I was could not no more breath, no more breath, no more breath.
34:00Like, as far as you can hold, as far as you can hold, as far you can, far as you can, if you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't. And right as I like had to like pass out to take the breath like I popped right up. And then he come flying and he was so freaked out, right?
34:16Because it's all fun and games. You're Laird Hamilton, you're gnarly, you literally don't even have the the gene like Yeah.
34:23To even be scared of like water. You're like literally Aquaman. So you're like, of course you could do it Rob.
34:28Like he just looks at me and is like, you're a stunt guy. You can do this stuff easy. He thought I died for sure.
34:33And he just, we are done. He ripped me out of that, threw me on the back, we are done. Like he was so freaked out, you know.
34:39Brother. And you know, of course we made that whole episode, we wrote that episode around testing your man level. Yeah.
34:46And we had decided I had reached it. Yeah. You reached it.
34:49And That's bananas. The joke was like, man, you don't you don't wanna get to the edge of your man level because you really you really lose some layers of your man level if if Lair's gotta give you mouth to mouth. Oh, god.
34:59Yeah. Right. Right.
35:00But, yeah, that that was I think if people rewound that and they were listening to your description of what it was like during that time, some people feel like their life's in that place right now, man. Like, they're just everything looks the same. They can't get out of it.
35:11Can't get out it. Really, what you eventually is you just kinda surrendered. Right?
35:13And then, thank god you popped up. Yeah.
35:16I I that's my favorite story, by way, of all the stunts is to think that you that was the one where you thought you were dead. I mean, that's that's insane.
35:24I wanna ask you a couple things you said because I think that they're worthy of covering. You said earlier about your habits and routines and your rituals, and I've heard you talk about how that actually creates freedom for you. People usually think the reverse.
35:35They're like, hey, if I have all these rituals and habits and I've got no real freedom in my life, you you would say that that's completely opposite. Yeah. Right?
35:41Yeah. Well, look, I'm I'm
35:43the more I'm I'm People call it habits, rituals, think it's systems. Right?
35:50The more systematized, the less you have to think of, the more freedom you have to think about other things. Like like when you're optimized, you know you know you feel the best when you're the best version of yourself.
36:02Yep. So the more like it is a machine and systematized for you to do it, and it's based around you.
36:10It's based around what are the things that ultimately help you and you can you can actually do.
36:17You know? And I would equate meditation to it.
36:20Okay. Everybody will tell you meditation is is great. Meditation for me is impossible.
36:25K. You can't quiet yourself, you mean? Can't quiet myself.
36:28I'll never be able to get there. It is it is, you know, even if it's great for the mindset, like, uh, but I knew that eventually I needed to.
36:40Right? Mhmm. And I eventually found a meditation machine.
36:44Right? So, um, what it now allows me to do is meditate every single day at five in the morning.
36:50I couldn't do it if I was just gonna sit there and try quiet. But when I jump into my soma dome, which is basically like a giant egg with like lights and and sound and guided meditation, it now has become an essential part of my life Woah.
37:06Because I needed to find a something like that because that's what I needed to actually apply that to. It's about your system to And so, you know, for me, if you can imagine, you're up in the morning at five in the morning, irregardless of how you feel, you're gonna feel a lot of different ways when you wake up.
37:25And I go into that machine for mindset only. It is like I just think about everything I want to achieve and how it looks when it happens and
37:34every single layer and level and you pop out of that thing and you are you're just in a different energy. Right? Of all the people I've had on the show, you've maxed out the most areas.
37:42And so I know people are listening to like, hey. What how does this person think? Like, this is the guy that is on Ridiculous.
37:47This is the the Robin Big guy. This is the Yeah. You know?
37:50And now, you're like, nah. I remember we had a mutual friend. I won't say who it is.
37:53He was a very well known dude. This was a long time ago too. And your show was on in the background when I was at his house.
37:59I'm like, this dude's hilarious. And the guy checked me. He goes, just so you know, he's not just hilarious.
38:04This dude's special. This dude's like a freak. He's like a super, super successful guy.
38:08He's a business guy. I'm like, yeah, right. Then I started to research.
38:11I'm like, oh my god. Now, having the conversation, I like, I get it.
38:15You know, I understand why. Let's talk about Brianna for a second, though. Sure.
38:19So you said something, man, that's just, like, blew me away because I think it's true in business, it's true in family, it's true in fitness and everything. You said that you were kind of one kind of a dude, living a certain way, and that you knew that you needed to become a certain version of you in order to attract the spouse, the mate, the life partner that you wanted in your life.
38:42And I think that's true, like, in business. We have to become that person too. So tell them about how you did that and what you were thinking.
38:48You know, I I would I would almost equate it the same way that I was saying earlier where I
38:55was just doing all of this, like, different stuff thinking that one was gonna show me the way. I I would think that I I was thinking like eventually I would find the right woman that would make the right man, you know, like Make you the right man.
39:11Right. You know what I Like that sort of idea and I I just knew that that the same time of sort of this this revolution of mindset of like, no, you need to start to be the person that you want to be.
39:27And and I think that ultimately, it allowed me to to create the narrative and and the storyline of like this, if the perfect woman for me should love the way that I am, not wish that I could change to be the way they wish I was, if you will.
39:49Right? And to me, I tried to be to create that in all aspects of life.
39:57So when I did finally found her because God brought her right to me. You know what I'm saying? It was like, man, I'm not it was like like, I did a year of like really in this like deep mindset, kept telling every one of my friends you have got to you have got to be like this if you want to find great love you've got to prepare yourself for great love which I mean I was like preaching it and they were just so when she showed up they were like it worked it wasn't like it wasn't like, oh, Rob, like, he's a I preached it so loud and so pure to like every single one of them on how they needed to act and if you really wanted to, and it was it was I kid you not.
40:38Every single one of my friends, I had preached it so much that when, like, I I would introduce her as it it happened. You know what I mean?
40:45Like, I like, it really like like Can you believe it? Like And I and and the trippiest thing about it is, you know, you there's all these expectations and thoughts and excitement that comes into, like, thinking you met the one.
41:03Right? Mhmm. Now, let reality set in.
41:06Right? Like, oh, it's this and imagine now the opposite is the reality of your love and life is actually 10 times better than you could have ever envisioned
41:19when you laid out the most perfect scenario. You're such a good guy too. You know, the other thing you won't say about yourself, everybody that knows you that knows me, it's just the first thing they don't tell me is about your brilliance or your success.
41:30It's not the first thing they tell me. Say he's just such a good man. He cares about people so much, and that's why this is so real.
41:35And which is ultimately,
41:37you want that. Yeah. You know what I mean?
41:39Like, you also like like, you want that to be part of your reputation Mhmm.
41:45Ultimately, why people respect you. I mean, I want to be respected for like being like the man, the father, the husband, the family man, like someone working.
41:58I want like to be respected for the way that I live life and the type person I am as opposed to
42:04what I simply achieve. Yeah. You know?
42:07Yeah. I think you are. I think you're becoming that, and I'm proud of you, and we're just getting to know each I want you to do one thing for me, I want them to know this about you.
42:16I think all people should be I think people matter, things don't. Right? I have that philosophy.
42:21And I think you're amazing at, like, creating moments. And I'm not talking about, like, shark attacks and jockeying a horse or anything. I'm talking about, like, life moments.
42:29Like, you're conscious of creating moments. So within this structure of your life, which you are, like, in your businesses, you're very systematized. You're very you need that.
42:38You you want that. Yet, you have this complete freedom to have all these magic moments. So, like, just real quick, I wanna go through a couple with you that I just know about.
42:46Like Sure. Your first date Brianna wasn't even normal. Didn't you, like, go rescue puppies or something on a first date?
42:52Like, is that right? Or Yeah. Look.
42:54So, look. I mean You take this this for granted. That's not a normal first date.
42:58Look. No. You don't no.
42:59That wasn't it wasn't intended to be that way.
43:02It was, you know, just just taking a shot. Right? Yeah.
43:06And we had we had we met via DM on Twitter. Right?
43:12The modern way that love formed. And she was posting about like these like, you know, big thing that had been going on is like this kennel was getting youth they're euthanizing all the dogs in in Bakersfield.
43:26And so, you know, I was texting her and, um, you know, asking her, you know, would you like to hang out this this weekend, know, what do you have in mind to do?
43:36And so I I was thinking it was in Ontario or somewhere close. I was thinking, let's go rescue these puppies. We can drive out there And I'm like, it's like six hours away, but I still you know I was thinking we take a helicopter to to Bakersfield, rescue these puppies.
43:52You know what mean? Just being all like, you know, slick and funny. He's so funny.
43:58And, like, a half hour later, she was like, sure. And I know she was like, perfect.
44:02And I'm like, what? I'm like, that was kind of a joke. And I gotta can somebody get me a helicopter?
44:08My gosh. And we never spoke on the phone, anything like, you know, first time we met was like, you know, like picked her up and drove straight to airport and jumped in a helicopter and got to know each other by flying to Bakersfield to rescue some puppies.
44:26And there's And and look, and I was so deep. And now we're in a moment. Okay?
44:30Yeah. Now we're in a moment and and throughout that flight, I was like, not even a question. This is who I meant to marry and spend the rest of my life.
44:37So it's instant for me. So I'm like, since this is so instantaneous, I'm like, we gotta get a puppy to remember this by, but it's still like first date, like, still wanna try to get this puppy into this helicopter right now.
44:50Like like, the fact that we did not actually
44:54rescue a puppy that day is So you did not get a puppy that day? Did not. But then, you repeat this, like, these moments.
44:59Like and by the way, there's dudes listening, oh, I can't afford a helicopter. Just do something special, man. Yeah.
45:03Just find a way to make a moment. Make a memory. Right?
45:06Take a walk. Yeah. You know, do something.
45:07I mean, look. I went yeah. I You just took another helicopter ride on your anniversary, though.
45:10Yeah. Much sketchier one that she was not happy with, like, when we get in this tiny where I was like I didn't even, think about the first one. We was such a long trip.
45:19It was a more sizable manageable one. We get in this like somebody's
45:22backyard copter. Woah. Take over there.
45:26But look, again, it's let's go have fun.
45:30Yes. Right? Like, I am am my success is not predicated on trying to achieve some sort of financial milestone that I can do anything other than live an amazing life.
45:47And being able to surprise her with a helicopter trip to Catalina, know, having the kids taken care of and like she doesn't know what it is and then like, oh, then this super unique adventure where we land on the top of a mountain.
46:03Don't know if you've ever been there but you gotta land at an airport in the sky, 100 feet, then take a forty minute drive down a sketchy road to get to the town. Super weird and driving by bison because they did a movie in the twenties and left all these bison over there. It was just this It's Catalina.
46:17Right? Yeah. Yeah.
46:18It's like have you ever have you ever been to the okay. I've been helicopter over. Look.
46:22I've never been there. Didn't even know what it what but for us, that should be what life's about.
46:27Yeah. It's like go on. Go experience just a a twelve hour adventure.
46:32You know what I mean? We left at four, came back at eight the next morning, had to take our daughter to the pediatrician. I had go do meetings all day.
46:38Right? Like, That's amazing still how you navigate these different spaces. And it's such a fun, great experience.
46:45And I think not only do I set the precedent for it in our in our life, and I'm you know, whether it's, like, every every occasion I try to to put that level in You do it every morning.
47:00Into it. You do it every morning with your little ones. Right?
47:03And like, and I wanna add those experiences long term for the kids too. You know Like, what I so that there are moments that they can look back and and that, you know, their dad is, you know, I'm not a normal dad.
47:16You know? I'm a little bit nutty, you know, and and that how that ultimate know, I'm pretty disciplined and militant with with the children from a structure standpoint, which does include full fledged, full scale singing every single morning at like the highest level.
47:33Dancing. Sometimes I'll make him just, like, dance before he gets out of bed, you know, like and hit him with the positive reinforcement of, like, been drilling in his head over and over.
47:42He's happy. I'm happy. Strong, strong.
47:45Smart, smart. Healthy, healthy. And just self belief.
47:51Right? Of just, you can do anything because you believe in you. Say, I believe in me.
47:56I believe in me. Right? It's It's amazing.
48:00It's, let's give this them this beautiful house of love and peacefulness and then just try to And believe though. To to have belief in themselves and and help nourish that.
48:11Because at the end of the day, it's the only way you ever do anything. Right?
48:15Yeah. It's like even when people call it experience, experience is just gaining knowledge to believe that you can go achieve something at a higher level. Right?
48:22Yeah. And and you're only your pursuit, why you stay in lanes that you fully understand because you believe you can do it because you understand it well enough.
48:32Right? And when you take that step out to learn something new, you you have to be, uh, sitting there with with some doubt on whether or not you could do it because you've never done it before.
48:44You don't have a foundation of belief. But if your life is about, uh, taking risks and you believe that you can figure anything out along the way, you take that leap into that new thing in a system of how you create belief to make sure that you can irregardless
49:03of whatever that may be. That's what make people watching this, two of the more successful entrepreneurs under the age of 50 in a room together.
49:12And then, like, you know, what do you do with your families? He gets up every morning and sings with his. I dance with my daughter every morning.
49:19I show her a move in the nineties every morning. I told you And you do your sayings with your kids and mine with my son as you're a leader, you're a gladiator, you're the greatest of all time.
49:27He's been hearing that since he was a little My daughter is that she's a superstar and she can do anything, hugs not drugs. I do these sayings. Everyone there you know, they're at the age where they roll their eyes now.
49:35Right? But the fact is we both do these things where we Yeah. Do this wacky crap with our kids.
49:39And but what I wanna talk about because I I there's so much, so I'm a go longer, if you're okay with that. Right? Yeah.
49:44So you you also have been successful because you do this for other people too. And so there's this great story that I think there's so many lessons in about the deaf couple that I want everyone to hear this story because what you did with it is, one, were trying to help people, and then you repurposed a mess Yeah.
50:02And made it an unbelievable change for your own family. And so the lesson before he tells you the story, because I want you listening for the right stuff, is one, his heart and what he wanted to do, that sometimes there's shocking events that take place, but then the most important thing is you repurposed this mess and did one of the most spectacular things you could ever do for your own family through it.
50:20So tell them this stuff, Man, you're you're digging deep right now.
50:24Man, so super fans, right? Stalker level, Right?
50:30Everything that I would do, this this this deaf couple would show up to. Right? And I you know, I've I've always been a big fan of embracing stalkers.
50:38Right? Where, like You embrace stalkers. Okay.
50:40You know, it's just, like, you you humanize yourself, like Mhmm. When you when you're just a normal person like a stalker puts you on like a pedestal till they talk to you then like what this is just like a normal person now these guys were just so sweet right just the like greatest couple and and I had a public birthday party at a club and of course he shows up and I know these guys don't have that much money.
51:07He presents me with a Yacht Master Rolex, Right? Didn't know it.
51:12And I'm like, dude, I'm not you you have heart. You have heart. You know, I'm like, dude, I am not take I wouldn't even take this from one of my friends unless they were super rich.
51:21Right. Right. Right?
51:21But no. No. Like, take this.
51:23Go give this to somebody. Right? Like, go take this back.
51:26Like, Spenditide says, I'm not gonna take this. Then he handed me a note saying, will you help us get engaged?
51:33Right? Mhmm. And and so I thought, you know, they they're they're such a great couple, all this stuff.
51:37So and they're such huge fans so I wrote the whole episode around them coming to the Fantasy Factory and then I got ordained as a minister and was gonna do the the entire thing and went through the whole thing, surprised her, put her on the zip line, sent her down on the bottom, said, Will you marry me?
51:57You know, I learned sign language. I was like, you know, love, you know, whatever it is. And she literally said, no.
52:04And I was like I was like, like, I mean, none of us anticipated that.
52:11We're like, why would he allow this to happen if there was even a shadow of doubt? And she was like, absolutely no.
52:18Like and we're like, what? And then it was like and look, we had all of us hidden behind, like, world's biggest skateboard with, like, confetti and all this stuff. And then finally, he was like, please for TV.
52:30And she was like, okay. Yes. And then like, we like, like, shot it.
52:35And then was like, okay. And and so, you know, there we have it.
52:41It's over. Right? So and you can call this an incredible moment.
52:47I still feel a little bit guilty about by driving someone's destiny. But my sister had been dating her boyfriend for a while and it was pretty serious and I called my mom and said, man, do you think that they would be willing to get married on TV?
53:08She's like, oh, they said they were just gonna go to you know, I asked them, have they talked about getting married? You know, would they oh, they're just gonna go down to the courthouse.
53:16So I thought it was like a a thing. So I called her. I said, totally crazy idea here, but if you guys are down to get married in the next three months, I'll pay for everything and do everything and we'll do a show and she's you know, I felt I felt guilty after I talked to my mom.
53:35So I'm like, I can't be like manipulating. What if they have, you know, whatever. So it ends up they never even spoke about marriage.
53:40The first time they talked about it was like, Rob just called and said he'd throw if we wanna get married in the next three months, he would pay for everything. So I called him. I'm like like and so she calls me.
53:50He's like, oh, I've never even we've never even talked about it. And when I said it to him, he just walked out of the room.
53:55Right? And I'm like, oh my god. Here.
53:57I'm like, what? I'm drink like, ruining people's lives trying to make TV. I called him, said, look, man.
54:03I'm not like I don't wanna, like, mess with your life. This is your life. But, like, on some real shit, man, if you wanna do it, we'll make you an amazing wedding if you wanna do this.
54:11You know? And they committed to doing it. And imagine we're talking about moments.
54:17I don't even even as you were even as you were, like, bringing up, I'm like, what's he talking about? Right? Like and this is you became a minister.
54:24You built a basically a giant church in your fantasy factory, brought everyone in your family, and fully presided over a wedding to marry your sister on your television show.
54:37You know what I mean? Which is so buried deep in the back of the memories, like, and as I'm even saying it and now I'm thinking about myself, like, walking down the aisle with, like, them singing and, like, my parents crying and, like, it act like, actually doing it is is a remarkable thing.
54:55And think about it too is, like, I have one sister. I only have one sibling. So it's, like, for it to not only be such an amazing moment for our family, but then them having my nephew and and all of this and me feeling guilty of like manipulating like their reality ultimately ended up being this incredible thing that we as a family have forever.
55:21And for my parents, you know, now we have this, you know, both of us have kids and it's like this great for all holidays, how incredible it is to be together and have all these kids.
55:37But, again, another memory taking me down memory lane that I But
55:42there's all these lessons. There's the lesson of, first, you're trying to do a good thing for this couple. Yeah.
55:45Then you repurpose the mess. Then you do this thing for your sister. If they end up in a home that you get for them too and they end up with their family there, you're being humble about that.
55:53Yeah. And then the other part of it is Yeah. On top of that is that you've built this great platform so that you can do great things for your family.
55:59There's all these ancillary benefits to becoming successful Yeah. That people forget about. So And and look.
56:04And when it comes to that, I'm
56:06to me, it's taking care of my family at, like, on all levels. Right?
56:11Like, and when you find success like that's really is one of the greatest things that you can do.
56:19Right? And and I don't talk about it like very often but it's it's really I know what peace they have because of it.
56:28You got And it's like it's not that much for me to put them in a position to where they don't ever have to stress ever again and I know how much of a release that is and how what that can potentially do to their health long term, their just mindset long term, their self worth long term, know, so There's all these benefits to becoming successful that you don't think about when you're becoming successful is the bottom line and you're doing that.
56:57And we I wanna talk about success because we're running out of time. Sure. You have invested in a lot of businesses that have worked and you've started a lot of Rob and I are partners in in a business called Outstanding Foods that we're both excited Right?
57:10And how do you evaluate a business? I curate the individual first
57:16and then the idea. Right? Like, the idea has to have some unique value proposition for a clearly targeted consumer, um, and all of that has to ultimately triangulate to decide whether or not it goes through my system to systematically build it into a successful business that can be sustainable and profitable.
57:40Right? Like I I just love creating ideas with other individuals as opposed to investing myself.
57:48Right? And and long term, you know, my legacy I want to be is the 100 50 to a 100 build businesses that I help create, launch, and drive to an exit or to profitable sustainability.
58:05Right? And that's through the Dyrdek factory. Dyrdek machine.
58:08Yeah. The machine. So you call it the Dyrdek machine.
58:10So listen to this, you guys. You said something earlier about these doer dyers. Can I read your quote on there?
58:15Sure. I think this is telling. He says, doer dyers are the ones who have the fortitude, work ethic, grit, determination, and unwavering self belief to turn their passions into reality.
58:24They see it, plan it, believe it, then do it. And you talk a lot about belief. Mhmm.
58:29How important is belief do you think just like in life and in business? I I mean, it's everything. Right?
58:34It's everything. It's everything because,
58:36you know, and I've I've said this before where I feel like you only quit when you lose belief because when you don't Mhmm. You just keep, like, adjusting and moving and moving around, and what can you do? And and even in business, it is so essential because you're gonna start with a plan, but that's not gonna be the plan you end up doing.
58:54It just doesn't work out that way. Now, there's gonna be tons of little things that, uh, you adjust along the way Yeah.
59:01But it has to still believe in the first milestone you're trying to hit. Right? And and really, you know, business, know, people you've all I know you've seen the, you know, successes like this.
59:14You know, people think it's this, but it's really like this. But really, it's 10 of those things and it's the chaos in between each one. Right?
59:20Like, because the milestones are real and the end goal is. Right? It's just how you get to those milestones is what changes.
59:29And and to me, you don't wanna get into you when you build a business with someone, especially if you have built a business, you know that there is so many layers deep you could never plan for, you could never even like talk through or ever think about, you have to deal with them as they happen and it's only people I've I really, you know, I have six sort of core values of the doer, dier, and I used to think relentlessly consistent was the most important.
59:58You build trust in everyone around you when you're super consistent. You you're executing at a high level, but I I'm really leaning into, like, perpetually optimizing where you're always getting better and seeing seeing how things can be better is is really one of the most important attributes to finding success in a business because you everything is changing constantly and you have to constantly, even when it's working, be looking at how could it be working better or else you're going to get left behind.
1:00:30Right? And so to me, um, all of that, uh, against a great idea, great unit economics, high growth industry and opportunity, and all this all this different stuff does not work if there's not a single individual that's filling in all the holes as as the entire process is happening.
1:00:51And and ultimately that requires somebody that that believes in the vision and believes in themselves to execute it irregardless of how heavy it may get at times, right?
1:01:04Because we have been referring to it as the valley of death, right? I did I kept three businesses when I launched the machine in 2016 and I've launched 18 builds, right?
1:01:15Wow. And that two and a half years and there's this pure constant.
1:01:21Almost every single one of these businesses, whether it's protein, uh, outstanding foods, alcohol, uh, luxury accessories, jewelry, like, whatever the the business is, all of them needed around the same amount of capital in the valley of death to survive.
1:01:39Right? So it costs a little bit of money to come up and test an idea, get to your minimum viable product, but then that first year and a half where you find the customer and can find sales and and really, it is the most treacherous waters and it is where they all die.
1:01:59Right? And so to me, what I'm what I'm what I'm learning above all is make sure you got enough capital in the Valley Of Death. I I equate it to, you know, I would I've launched a couple businesses with lean capital going into the Valley Of Death and it's like Rob with like two water bottles like, let's go.
1:02:15We got this. Trust me. Trust me.
1:02:17I know it's straight shot. Yeah. And we're over here dying like we're out of water.
1:02:20Yeah. Versus like, you know, someone like Outstanding Foods and Bill, he's got he's so sweet. He's got like three or four umbrellas.
1:02:27Like, he's got he's pulling up like a full water tank behind him. He's like, know what mean? It's the the the difference, but every single one of these businesses experiencing the same sort of chaos that it takes to get something off the ground and it's this beautiful thing for me.
1:02:46Right? Now, don't I don't I don't wanna go through that fire because I enjoy being a guide.
1:02:52I like to say I'm your Sherpa through the . Right? Yeah.
1:02:55But I because I I wanna be there for you and help create this, but it's still on you to to to get us to the to the to the green lands. Right?
1:03:05So but it's I I enjoy being there with them and guiding them through experience and and being a part of it, and that's the the life's mastery and the clarity of like, of how I even, uh, look at business as a whole.
1:03:23I had to realize, like, because I operated a lot of businesses and I had to like, when I when I really did a deep dive on what types of businesses do I wanna do and what experience, what do I love doing the most in business, I had to realize like, god, you actually hate operating it.
1:03:40Like, you love creating it, but as it gets going, you don't wanna have you just wanna, like, advise it and be a part of it, and really sometimes you just want it to go on without you. You just like being there in the beginning when it's so exciting, and I had to basically build a business that does that.
1:03:56And the beauty of that is it gives you all the reward of being the co founder. You get to shape the idea and come up with the name and be there on what it is, then you get to see the product for the first time.
1:04:07Then when you like start getting sales, it's like, like, it is the the most thrilling and exciting part of business that I want to be my life's mastery, but I will be judged by the liquid dollars that I create.
1:04:23I will be judged by the IRR. Right? And and to me, um, I want to look at the amount of capital I invest, what is my return over what time, the people that come along with me that invest along with me, what is their return over what time, because at the end of the day, I want all my business friends, uh, I want our success in Outstanding Foods to be equated to a single return number that you're like, dang, we did You got it.
1:04:5287% IRR over the last five years. Like, I want that to be my marker for other entrepreneurs and business people of what that success is, and then, um, it is a goal.
1:05:05I keep a billion dollar bill in my wallet. Right? And it is I would like to create a billion dollars in liquidity by creating 50 to a 100 businesses that when they exit, I make 10 to $20,000,000 off of.
1:05:22That is a clear clear as day path to creating a billion dollars in liquidity.
1:05:30Right? For you. For me.
1:05:31You're reporting on it. Me. Right?
1:05:33And so, like, that, you know, it allows me now to have principles of when I go into a business.
1:05:43Yes. Right? So now it's like, okay, I need to own this certain amount of it.
1:05:46I need Gotcha. To know that in order to get it off the ground, I can create the minimal viable product for between $103,100,000. Mhmm.
1:05:55I always want to finance that myself because then I want to, uh, be the co founder, get co founding shares, finance that, so now I have a huge equity position, then make sure it's capitalized the right way in in the seed stage, and if I participate in that again, I'm I'm gaining that much more equity, but make sure it has the proper capital to get to growth capital to create a return.
1:06:18Right? So this now, and then every business that I I do, I wanted to be able to two years of runway by raising, uh, 1,500,000 to $2,000,000 and the burn can be 75,000 to 150,000 a month.
1:06:33It can get the sustainability within eighteen months. God, that that tightens a box up real quick. Right?
1:06:40And then I have founders that want to, uh, build the sale at a clear number. We start in the end on what that number will be and and doesn't mean you gotta do it there, but at least everybody now is fully aligned with what the return potential of the opportunity is. Because even though I love creating and being a part of it, it's still I wanna be judged by the scorecard
1:07:05of the return. Yeah. You know what I mean?
1:07:07It's interesting when I watch you. There's two things that energize you, like complete shift in you.
1:07:13Yeah. Yeah. Family Yeah.
1:07:15And this topic right here. It's not and I'm not it's not that the other things in your life, I don't see passion Yeah. In front of the camera, behind the camera, all that.
1:07:22Yeah. You're literally a different dude Yeah. When you shift into family mode in this mode right here.
1:07:26Like, to me, now we're in the go zone for you. That's what it feels like. Am I right about that?
1:07:30No. You can feel it. You feel it.
1:07:31Can feel it. Because I get all fired up. Well, that was a master because I'm just like, that was that was a master class in how to be an entrepreneur, how to invest in a business.
1:07:39By the way, also, how you should be pitching your business and what savvy investors are looking for if they're gonna capitalize you. And so and it's it's also knowing your lane too. It's like there's not 800 different types of businesses.
1:07:51You know the type, the amount of capital, and so you're not gonna put $50,000,000 into one, and I love that right there. And it I learned that when you and I talked.
1:07:59Yeah. And just so you know, he's so and I wouldn't call it persuasive. I I believe so much in what he's saying that after about fifteen minute phone call in one of these businesses, I made the decision that I wanted to be involved with you because I believe so deeply in what your machine is creating and what these principles and systems are, and, you know, and that includes you.
1:08:21So we're running out of time. Like, brother, like, I don't know how long we've been going. Don't really care because, like, there's so much in here.
1:08:27I want to ask you a basic question. Yeah. Because I kinda get it.
1:08:30I got it. I got this massive heart in front of me. That's what I see.
1:08:35I see this guy with this massive heart, heart of a champion. I don't mean that hokey either. Like, this dude just wins.
1:08:41I'm winning when I'm 16. I'm winning when I'm 18. I may fall down when I'm 24 for a bit.
1:08:45I'm gonna win again, then I'm gonna make myself again. I'm gonna win in TV. I'm gonna pitch shows.
1:08:49I'm gonna be the talent on the show. I'm gonna have these experiences. I'm gonna start businesses.
1:08:53I'm gonna start a family. I'm just gonna fucking win. Right?
1:08:56And, like Good. Feels good. That's what I love.
1:08:58Right? That's what I love. I and it's like and I still don't feel like I've refined it, and now I'm gonna show you how to optimize your life.
1:09:04Right? Yeah. So that's my version.
1:09:07Yeah. But if someone was just to ask you I'm just curious. This is a hard question, man.
1:09:11But, like, someone said, why are you successful? Yeah.
1:09:16Like, just why are you successful? Like, how the hell are you this way? Like, do you know yet?
1:09:22Do you have have you touched on some of it? Why are you successful to the extent that you have been so far?
1:09:28But and look. I I'm
1:09:31I think there's a couple things. Right? K.
1:09:33I'm Think of the foundation of what I was built on, right?
1:09:38And I think a lot of people find drive in early trauma life circumstances and things that kind of build the engine, right?
1:09:51And I think is for me, the engine was built off of finding early success in a foundation.
1:10:00It's very different, right? So your, um, it embeds in your core that this is how you're meant to do it and then ultimately, the effort and everything that you put into your life is based off of mastering you.
1:10:20And I wasn't in denial of I I got caught early on and people saying like, when's enough enough? Right? Like, when is like like, you know, like, why do you gotta do all this stuff?
1:10:30Like, what is and and and by not listening to that, but but taking it as, like, what are what can you do to just be happiest?
1:10:41Right? And my pursuit was simply energy. I started first with like, what are the things that you actually love to do and give you the most energy?
1:10:50That energy shift, when I got into that, like, that's real, like, because that's really what I love to do. Right? That energy shift with the family because it's like it is like those two pieces are really what the future of my existence is and what it is.
1:11:05And and I think by simply pursuing that sort of core aspect of what gives you energy the most and then build designing a life around that is why I've been able to achieve the level of success that I have.
1:11:25And it's also man, there's some luck in there, man. You know what I mean?
1:11:30Like, I I am not I work really hard, constantly learn, and super grateful, but but man, if I didn't like, you know, how planet Earth was built and the chaos of this solar system, like, there's only one in here that's that's nice and protected, that's got oxygen, that's making liquid water right in the the Goldilocks zone, right?
1:11:53Like, I still think there's a a ton of that for me that I've never I think I probably, like, took for granted in 2324 that led to that zone and and now I just never have again and it's it's the idea that you know, the harder you work and the more prepared and the more your mindset is leaning into you deserve to be successful and you will be successful, things really start to happen for you that are are are hard to explain, you know.
1:12:32But again, it goes back to to belief. I will and I deserve, you know.
1:12:37And and when you it's how I feel at my core. Yeah.
1:12:41I you do. I don't like like that I'm that unwavering self belief is like really like there's highs and lows with the pursuit, but the pursuit is clear and gets clearer every day and and although it's not clear how exactly it's gonna happen, no doubt in me that it's going to happen, you know.
1:13:00Man, I don't want this to end because it's so good for me. It confirms things about me, and I I think that your answers are so deep.
1:13:09They're so profound. I just consider you unbelievably interesting, And the thing I probably admire the most about you is you're so self aware. The people I like the most are really self aware.
1:13:18Like, there's it's really interesting. You have this unbelievable balance. I just wanna acknowledge this in you.
1:13:23You have this unbelievable balance of real confidence and no ego. Yeah. It's it's There's an ego in there.
1:13:28Yeah. But, well, there's there's a confident well, I don't know. I mean, I I feel like I'm rooting for you.
1:13:33Usually, when a guy's a big ego, kinda like, I don't know. Like, I feel like I root for you, and I know audience felt this way too. Feel like we haven't finished everything I want, and so we're gonna continue this.
1:13:43I have an idea for a roundtable with you and me and a couple other people, but I'm really grateful for our new friendship Yeah. No. Because you because you inspire me.
1:13:50Yeah. Look. And I'm I'm grateful to be here.
1:13:53This is an inspiring location. Thank you. It takes it's like like I said, getting to Orange County is like going to Mars.
1:14:00But it was well worth the trip, and I I knew it'd be a great conversation. And And ultimately, I do think there's so much of us that's aligned from a mentality and a personal lifelong optimization that
1:14:15we will be sharing stories of growth together for the rest of our lives. I believe that too, man. I really believe that.
1:14:21Thank you so much today, brother. Appreciate you, man. Enjoyed it so much.
1:14:24Hey, everybody. I tell you that on this program, I'm gonna bring you people who have maxed out certain areas of their lives. I probably never brought you somebody who's maxed out more areas of their life than today, and I hope you've enjoyed.
1:14:36If you have, please spread the word about the program. Make sure you subscribe. If you're listening to this on iTunes, subscribe to the YouTube channel, leave some comments, And also remember, every day on Instagram, I run the two minute drill because I wanna engage with our community.
1:14:48And on every single day, when I make a post within the first two minutes of my main feed, if you just make a comment within the first two minutes, hashtag max out. We pick a daily winner. You get max out gear.
1:14:57Am I wearing a max out hat? I am. Max out gear.
1:14:59My book signed, maybe sometimes a coaching call with me, some of my guests, and so please make sure you do that. If you miss the first two minutes, just make a comment every day. We pick a winner of the week who just comments on everything.
1:15:08So make sure you do that. I hope you enjoyed today's program. God bless you, and max out.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
Rob Dyrdek opens before the intro even rolls, dropping the thesis of the entire conversation in under a minute: you are chasing a version of yourself that keeps moving, and that is not a bug — it is the point. Ed Mylett's reaction is audible. Then they spend the next 74 minutes proving it.
