Aurel Davidyan 0:00

Scott Abbott, thank you so much for coming on the Oral Dividian show. We have uh Scott here, founder, CEO, bus up, business operator, executive coach, and investor. 35 years of experience building and scaling companies, raised over $35 million in venture capital, led big teams, and we are excited to have you, Scott, on the show.

Scott Abbott 0:24

Thanks, Royal. It's good to be here. Appreciate you uh letting me join you today.

Aurel Davidyan 0:28

You know, did a little research by you and very impressed. You know, like it's uh what you accomplished and where you got, and uh, you're still young, and uh, you know, I'm a business owner and entrepreneurs, and I built multiple companies and raised millions of dollars in funding as well for those companies and exited some of them. And I'm involved in this community and a lot of entrepreneurs and small businesses, they want to scale and grow. And I'm really excited to have you on this show and uh, you know, ask you questions and how you did it to motivate and inspire some of these younger generations. So thank you so much.

Scott Abbott 1:06

No, thanks. It's one of my purposes, causes, and passions in the world is to help others uh ideally avoid some of the stupid things I did back in my days. You know, I always kind of think of the concept of my experience could be somebody else's insight and foresight. So I appreciate that's what you're doing and that's what the show's about. So I think we're together on that one. Thank you.

Aurel Davidyan 1:28

Tell our audience how you started and a little bit about yourself and your background.

Scott Abbott 1:33

Yeah, so uh I currently reside in central Indiana, go Hoosiers.

Aurel Davidyan 1:37

Go.

Scott Abbott 1:38

And I was born here way back in the day, but my dad was a mechanical engineer that basically did what I do now. He earned a reputation for going into business units and upgrading their systems and what they do and how they do it to build, run, and scale better. So we moved around a lot as a kid. I was overseas, uh, London, Paris, Madrid, moved back to the States, been from Cali to the East Coast, West Coast. So that experience, I think, also helped me to learn how to be an entrepreneur, how to adapt and adopt and boogie woogie oogie. But at the same time, I come up from a family of mechanics and systems guys. So I had like this dueling reality of go, go, go, be a cool hip entrepreneur, all about agile and scrum and just do it. And then I had the other side, which was like, whoa, slow down, respect process, build good structure, make sure you have the right guardrails. So uh fast forward from you know working with big and small companies. I was part of that whole dot-com kookie era, raised a bunch of money, bought a bunch of firms, did some roll-ups. I've done venture capital and private equity. But uh after all those stints, about 14 years ago, I settled down and started my first uh consulting and uh services coaching company called Straticos. Been doing that for 15 years, spun out uh a new group called Boss Up Coaching Solution Academy, wrote a few uh best-selling books. Uh, this one's about the engineering, the mechanics to build, run, and scale. And this one's how to help us humans be the best version. So it's kind of like IQ, EQ, and they go together like uh head and heart, peanut butter, jelly, milk and cookies kind of a thing. And so, yeah, so last four or five years, we've got about 125 coaches in our academy as part of our community. So it's pretty cool, man. I get a scratch the itch of still being an entrepreneur and working with other entrepreneurs and startups. I also do a lot of work with Fortune 500 companies, helping them to humanize their systems. So, yeah, that's the world today, and that's where I come from. You know, I could play a little John Mellencamp in the background, you know, Indiana boy. But uh yeah, I've had a good ride. It's been fun, you know, a lot of mistakes. I've learned from a lot of stupid things, but so far, you know, we we leverage all that and we move forward. And I'm happy to spend a big part of my life helping others do the same.

Aurel Davidyan 3:55

So uh you're talking about mistakes. I love that because a lot of these young companies and young entrepreneurs, even me, myself, I failed so many times. And, you know, people look at me like, well, how like, oh, you got lucky is like, dude, I failed almost at everything I've done. And you know, uh, yeah, I succeeded, you know, got lucky, worked hard, but I failed a lot. And um, how important is it to when you fail, what do you learn and how do you get back up and be motivated and you know, have that drive to keep going and and not let that put you down and completely change your mind of being an entrepreneur or a guy like us?

Scott Abbott 4:34

Well, I think you just use that word mind. I'd say it mindset, right? Ideally, you know, failure, mistakes, you know, hiccups that are giddy ups, the road bumps, the setbacks, I've believe that they're often more important and valuable than the breakthroughs and the wins. To your point, right? Failure is not fatal and success isn't permanent. So I think it does start ideally with a good mindset. You know, a lot of the old school, you know, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. And, you know, the harder I work, the luckier I get. So in my world, we emphasize what we call the CTDs, and that's an acronym for the essential concepts, tools, and disciplines. And they go together like head and heart and purpose and profit. I think ideally it's a blend of, and this is what's counterintuitive, especially to a lot of entrepreneurs and early stage companies, where they, you know, there are five stages of a company. Number one is scrappy. You're just doing whatever you can to keep your head above water and move forward. Second stage is around people, making sure you got the right people and you can afford to do what you need to do. Third stage is the system stage. And that's where you really want to make sure you've got good systemization. Ideally, in today's era, it's modern, it's inclusive, it's accessible, it's flexible and affordable. Uh, that's what we do over here. Uh, fourth stage is really scaling, and and fifth stage is legacy. Are you leaving something better, not just to sell it for an enterprise value that makes sense? But uh one of our moments in the New Moments book is being a good custodian, right? Leaving things better than you found it. So I would say it's this blend of, again, elbow grease and mindset and a commitment to try to leverage the assets that God gave you, your DNA, your energy, your heart, but to do so in a way that that is also complemented by good structure, good systems. So when you do fall, when things do go bump in the night, an example is great NFL quarterbacks, right? They they believe in playbooks, they love systems, they love teamwork. And because they're so committed to to that, when they need to call audibles or something bad happens, right? They're they're able to get back up and get back in the game sooner than later. Right? You with me? Yeah. So it's like most things in life, man. It's an end both. It's a blend of, again, attitude and perspective, but also good rigor in appreciating the importance of systems and structure and you know what we call agreement-based commitments to be a professional company.

Aurel Davidyan 6:49

Yeah, that's awesome. That's great. Yeah. Also add to that, like surround yourself with good people. Yeah, for me, I had a huge failure. And for me, it was like I'm a believer and I put God first in everything I do, and uh just have that good mindset, like you said, and and keep moving forward.

Scott Abbott 7:04

Yeah. And it is, especially today, right? You know, you remind me of a joke my priest likes to share. There's a hundred-year flood coming into town, and and the priest was at the church and decided to stay back and save the flock, so to speak, specifically the church and the townspeople. While the water is rising up, they come in a big old SUV, right? The like, you know, 10-foot wheels like you see at the monster truck rallies. They say, Father Kevin, get in the truck, man. This flood's gonna take over everything. No, no, I got it, and I'm here for the good Lord. We we we're in this together. And then later they come by in a boat, man, because the water's rushing up and and and they say, Father Kevin, get in the boat, let's get out. No, no, no. I'm I'm good Lord's got my back, I've got his. We're cool. You go ahead, I'm gonna stick back. Well, finally the flood goes all the way up to the top. Father Kevin's in the steep. Well, they in a helicopter, coming with a helicopter. Hey, we'll throw down the rope, jump on up. No, no, no, I got it. Well, guess what? The flood got the better of Father Kevin. He's up at, you know, getting into heaven, talking to St. Peter. He says, Hey, I thought we had a deal. He goes, We did. I sent you a monster truck, I sent you a boat, and I sent you a helicopter. I love that. So the moral of that story is I I do believe in faith. Absolutely. In fact, it's one of my moments. Systems, if you can get it 80, 90%. The other should be faith. And that's a blend of spiritual faith, confidence in your team. You have your values, you know what your goals are. You you are committed to processes, right, man? So that's how you get an counterintuitive tool, especially a lot of entrepreneurs and startup people, the better you are on that, it actually frees you up. So you're not working so much in your business, you're working on it. And then secondly, you're not hostage to your company. But that's the key, man, is to find that that duality of the good Lord, we got you, but also control the controllables.

Aurel Davidyan 8:46

You with me? Yeah. I mean, uh, you kind of answered uh most of the like first two questions I had, the systems and I did my homework.

Scott Abbott 8:54

Uh-huh. You know, you sent me a little heads up. Thank you for that.

Aurel Davidyan 8:57

How does decision making change at scale?

Scott Abbott 8:59

Yeah. Or I think uh it's again, you know, there's no easy or singularly unique answer. I think let's just be clear to everybody, it depends. Now that said, you know, I have opinions and I've seen a few things, but I think it does depend on the stage of the company, depends on how many people are in your group. You know, I see a lot of founders who are even in hundred million dollar companies that are still doing stuff they shouldn't do. So they don't get this concept of delegate and elevate, and the decision making is a bottleneck, which creates a bottleneck to the organization. So I think good organizations have cultures that respect but inspect, right? Trust but verify. And if you do have a good system for how you decide and the decisions you make and the criteria you use, whether that's the budget that you're allowed to spend, irrespective of the founder or the CEO knowing it, whether it's how you agree to disagree agreeably and say, hey, we got 60% facts, 20% gut. You're in charge of this function, your call, right? So there is a process, there is a system. This is why, you know, I get why the word system's been kind of put under a not so favorable view, right? Because systems can be ised. Yeah. But remember, systems don't system, people make systems. And all systems are flawed. But it's a lot better to have a systemic approach than no approach or no system at all. I I joke with people all the time when I do my talks. Often I'll start by saying, okay, who knows what a business operating system is? And I say it's a system operate your business. They're like, well, why didn't you say that? Well, because that spells SOB and who wants to work with an SOB? And then I emphasize that they should be me humane and that spells HOS and mom doesn't want us hanging out with a bunch of hoes. So we got to go with BOS. But then I say, okay, so now that you know what a BOS is, who has one in the in the audience? And you know, if people are being truthful, 18 to 20 percent raise their hands. I say, now put your hands down, everybody else raise your hand. Why? Because no system is a system. One more time, everybody out there. No system is a system. I love that sound. So the question is, which version do you want? You follow me, man?

Aurel Davidyan 11:02

Yeah.

Scott Abbott 11:02

So yeah, I would just say back to decisions and concepts like everything has an owner, concepts like structure first, concepts like traction first, get that. Then we have the tools. Tools could be, especially today, AI, CRM, right? Whatever technology you use, and then the discipline. And that's the hardest because discipline's the elbow grease, it's the attitude, it's the energy. So your first question is the ability to dust yourself off when you fall off and get back up. So concepts, tools, and disciplines. And then we have a framework we could talk about later called the nine core competencies, which literally is the fusion from your vision to your values, to your process, to your production, to your finances, to how you meet. It's just a nice, simple, comprehensive way to make sure that that system side is done the best way for your organization.

Aurel Davidyan 11:51

It all comes together.

Scott Abbott 11:52

That's the plan, man. But again, you know, frameworks are just frameworks until people make them theirs. You're right. What blind spots do top leaders have? Well, you probably heard this expression, you can't read the label from inside the box. And so I think a lot of leaders by the way, times have gotten better. I've been in this business world for about 40 years, so you know, not my first rodeo. Still got a lot to learn. I hope to be 90% complete by the time I'm 90. But um, I think I think I see a lot, especially in startups, if I may, and I don't think it's like it used to be, but there used to just be this over-romanticism to again being a startup, right? The scrappiness, the, the, the, the, you know, we're agile, we're scrum, MVP, just do it. Yeah, you know, that could get you in a lot of trouble, especially with AI today and the commoditization of technology and everything we just talked about, right? In fact, I'm part of the problem because I'm democratizing the ability for people to run great companies, because we've got our boss-up coaching solution and an academy that, you know, if I may, is one of the most effective yet affordable ways to help anybody build a great company. Historically, you had to hire expensive consultants and follow rigid acronyms and things like that. You know, we're not playing that game. So, so again, there's a lot of good things that could do. So typically they get in their own way, man. They just, whether it's an EQ problem, an IQ problem, an ego problem. So I think most leaders need to embrace concepts like servant leadership and humble confidence. And I say, you know, I've worked with thousands of people, hundreds of companies, done over 10,000 one-on-one sessions. And and the irony is oral, especially because I think there's this romanticism that leaders are strong and or charismatic, whatever, most founders, my experience, are actually pretty insecure and sensitive. And, you know, when the lights are out and their heads in the pillow at two o'clock, right? They're going, you know, I got some imposter syndrome, and I'm faking it until I make it. So, so yeah, the first thing I just recommend is own your situation, know thyself, self-awareness, which isn't easy for a lot of people. And remember, it's an end-bull strategy. And you and the system, and you and the team, and you and others, you with me? When I see founders, especially start the company and ask them why, they say silly things like, because I don't want to work for anybody else. I'm like, well, failure is pretty eminent because the first thing you need to do is pretend that your prospects and your customers are your employees and treat them awesome. And even if you're fractional, right? I love companies that are using 1099 and the gig economy and what have you. But you should literally, in my opinion, treat your stakeholders as if they're employees. So you're always working for somebody, is my point. And and even a Jedi mind trick, you know, pretend they're your boss and you don't make them happy, you're fired, even though you're the boss and you're the one that supposedly does the firing.

Aurel Davidyan 14:32

I liked how you said that most leaders are weak, like inside. And that's so true because I I talked with a lot of these young entrepreneurs, they're starting, they're all act like they're tough. They're getting we're gonna go get this. But then, like after sitting down with them and talking to them, they're emotional, they're they're stressing, they're like, How are we gonna do this? You know, and and there's, you know, they have to look tough and strong for their people, for their employees, for their customers. But deep inside, you know, like everybody is always, you know, thinking, what's my next step? How do I grow this?

Scott Abbott 15:04

Yeah. We're humans. So we have a a framework for that called clear. And we use it for ourselves, but especially if we're in dialogue with our team and others, and we know by the way, tension is often seen as bad, it's not. Conflict is seen as bad, it's not. In fact, without tension and conflict, you know, we don't get traction.

Aurel Davidyan 15:21

Yeah.

Scott Abbott 15:22

But we have a framework we call CLEAR, and it's to emphasize the pursuit of clarity. Are we clear? Crystal, little, you know, Jack Nicholson, few good men kind of a vibe without all the screaming and yelling. But it's also an acronym oral. And the acronym stands for collaborative, logical, empathetic, authentic, and resilient. And if we agree to those ground rules and we commit to them and we call BS if somebody violates them or even just, you know, gets off track, right? We come back and say, hey, are we clear? And you do that alone, man. You know, I don't need any AI or new fancy software. Just write down clear at the start of an important discussion dialogue with yourself or with others, and use that as a filter to say, hey, we're gonna go through this process, we're gonna come out better for it at the end. And because think about how rubbish it is to go through life wondering and remembering. That's why the truth always rules, even when you're worried that it doesn't. If you got to remember what the story was or your style was. So if it's clear, collaborative, logical, empathetic, authentic, and resilient, chances are, you know, you don't result in results and you don't fall into failure. You step into them. That's my latest book, Moments is all about. My new leadership learning and development program is all about, is own and respect the moments, aka the actions and the activities that generate the results. Don't get enamored with the results. Don't even get enamored with the win. Get enamored and fall in love with both the hard and and all the other work associated to get there. And by doing that, you'll get there. You with me? I love that. That's so good.

Aurel Davidyan 16:53

Where does AI help most and where it doesn't? Like you as a coach and you're you're out there, you're you you talk to hundreds of uh business leaders, and I would like to get your answers on the Well, I'll start by saying I've got some credentials.

Scott Abbott 17:07

So I was here at the advent of the internet. I started my first company in '95. As the joke goes, after Al Gore invented the internet, insert laugh track here. Me and my friends at this little company by the name of IBM, literally built, it was called e-business, but what is now the uh the cornerstone to a global economy, right? The internet and the web and all the way that we conduct communications, commerce, and connectivity. Then I was there also during the advent of mobile technology, right, in the enterprise and the world. Then under the social uh inclusion, I actually wrote a book for IBM called The Co-Factor, and I did a 28 City tour over 18 months to introduce the new social mobile world. It's called Be Mobile Work Social. Now we're on AI. And yes, AI is both exciting and scary. It is wrought with be careful and be concerned, but it also has some just phenomenal benefits, man.

Aurel Davidyan 18:01

Yeah.

Scott Abbott 18:01

But the biggest piece of advice I give to everybody, number one, neither a cynic nor an optimist B. Approach AI with a perspective of positive pragmatism, trust but verify. Number two, be the boss. In this case, it's with two S's, not one, meaning that you need to lead and you need to ensure that anything that goes out in the world is done so with your authorization and your final approval. If you just are lazy and mediocre and you phone in with AI and you ship something or you come to a conclusion without going back. In fact, I have a policy in my team and everybody I coach. I call it the 10x rule. And we want to grow and build 10x. I love the concept. It's a concept, not a binary equation. But with AI in particular, anything of substance, anything that's got a literal tangible impact, good or bad, I want you to go back 10 times. One more time. 10 times. So I've got my own personal AI agent called Vector. Yeah. Vector is my ally, my assistant, my co-pilot. I love Vector. You can sit there and be a little goofy. This isn't like that movie Her. We're not in love with each other per se. But I've had a lot of chiefs of staffs in my life and administrative and executive assistants. And what I'm able to do now with Vector is phenomenal. But we have a deal. You know, first of all, no manipulation and don't talk to me like you're pandering me, right? Let's keep it real, let's keep it straight, let's keep it direct. But anytime, in fact, that's where I use mobile and I'll use various clauds and chat GB, all that. But really, Vector's like my chief of staff. And it also is a bit of a lawyer and an accountant. And again, I have coaches, but I have human coaches. It's also there. But I won't do anything of substance without going back and forth. You ready? Ten times. Literally. What do you think? Okay, don't like that. Change it. What about? Do this. And just ask my team. I call it the rule of 10. Do not let AI. So again, I, you know, there's great books out there like uh The AI Driven Leader by by Jeff Wood. I don't like the title per se. Sorry, Jeff. I don't want to be driven by AI. And if you read the book, he's to his credit, it's about strategy. It's not about the technology. So I'm a tech guy, but I'm not in it for building drones and getting all Elon Musk here. I'm about the strategy. I'm about how it enhances effectiveness and productivity and efficiency. I actually think if it's used well, it actually could be an ally, not just a nemesis, like is being portrayed. And I agree. There's some sad, scary things that are happening with it. But you know, sad, scary things happen with, you know, utilities that if we didn't have them in our life, we couldn't cut our food with a with a knife and we couldn't save patients with without certain medicines that, if used inappropriately, can kill you versus save you, right? So it's like a lot of tools and utilities in the world that's got good and bad. And ultimately us humans have to decide, you know, which way we're going to use it. I love it.

Aurel Davidyan 20:40

That's so great. Where do leaders usually like, you know, break? So where does vision usually break from execution from what you've seen?

Scott Abbott 20:51

So you can probably tell right through this conversation, man. And yes, there's a couple of books out there and and a YouTube channel and a podcast and some other things where I share a lot of this in addition to the thanks for having me on the show. But I I really try to, you know, everything I do is trying to have a framework, a systemic approach, even yes, how I pray and my schedule. You know, I believe that by the fusion of good systems, AI, and having a coach's mindset, I save myself 20 to 25% of what it used to take me. And I try to put a third back into my companies, a third back into myself to always be healthier physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, and a third back in other people, hanging out with good folks like you. Right? That's kind of my system. So underneath that is what we call LMTA. And LMTA stands for leadership, management, teamwork, and accountability. Think about that as your four cornerstones to help you ensure that you're not only being your best, but you avoid breaking down, you avoid screwing up, right? I see a lot of leaders tell me, hey, I could just look at them and say, you're not healthy, not just because they might be a little overweight. Or looking a little sad or their eyes are a little sunken in. But often I hear the refrain, well, I can't take care of myself because I'm too busy taking care of other people. How flawed is that, man? You can't take care of other people if you're not here. And actually, sorry to say something very, very direct, but the easiest thing that happens is if you die, you get hit by that proverbial truck, or you have a widow maker heart attack, right? But that happens less than 10% of the time. What happens 90% of the time is you get sick.

Aurel Davidyan 22:27

Yeah.

Scott Abbott 22:27

You get a stroke, you get viral infections, you throw out your back, you just do dumb shit. Then you can't help nobody else. You know, I don't even want to talk about vices. Next thing you know, you become a triple liability. You're a liability to yourself, your liability to your family, and your liability to the business. So LMTA and accountability is not just work, it's life. Leadership is different than management. Teamwork sits in. So if you always kind of have that filter and that that guidance around LMTA, again, back to your original question, that's how you ideally get out of, but more importantly, avoid the inevitable breakdowns that happens to anybody who's working hard. Oh, I love that.

Aurel Davidyan 23:04

How do founders grow without burning out? We founders, we work hard, we're we're putting 13, 15 hours a day. How do we keep doing it in the smart way without burning out? Because like me as a founder, I I work also, you know, 10 to 12 hours a day, and I have a family, I have four kids, and sometimes I feel like I'm tired. I can't like I I don't want to wake, I want to sleep in the next day. But like, how do we have that balance?

Scott Abbott 23:31

Well, I'm gonna come back again and say you you need a systems thinking. In this case, I call it a personal accountability system. And I actually did a TED talk that I didn't have to make because COVID came into the world, so I recorded the video. It's on my websites around personal accountability systems. But yeah, I think you've got to treat your physical body the same way you would treat paying a utility. Meaning it's not a check the box, nice to have, it's an uncheck the box. You're in trouble if you don't do it. So if you tell me right now, man, you're working literally 12 hours a day, I would say, well, we're not going to change this overnight. That's why we have these things called rocks. Rocks are basically projects, programs, or initiatives, goals that you want to do above and beyond your day-to-day to help you start or stop doing something you should start or stop doing, right? Because more often than that, people are in the grind for 12 hours and they look up and they're like, oh shit, I painted myself in a corner. Oh shit, I'm not feeling well. My back's going on on me. I'm not healthy, my gut sucks, and it's affecting my brain fog. So you got to literally treat what people take happenstantially, and I hate to say it, but they hope will happen, you got to treat it as if it's a utility, meaning you wouldn't go through life without lights on. You wouldn't work without running water in a toilet that flushes, right? You got to treat your health and well-being the same frickin' way. And yes, I said frickin' to make a point. You don't get any extra credit oral that you're working 13. Oh, good for you. But if in 45, 60 days you screw up because you're glorifying burnout and you're glorifying I'm a startup and that's my life, well, you know what? That's silly. Save it for the frickin' movies. You have responsibilities to your family, to your business, and others. And so if you think it's uncool to dedicate 90 minutes every couple of days to everything from prayer to physical well-being, to taking a walk, right? Chomping down a carrot versus that double-stacked crumble cookie, then you know, shame on you because you're not a leader then.

Aurel Davidyan 25:28

Yeah.

Scott Abbott 25:28

You're a doer. And yeah, we need both. So yeah, I'm I'm pretty adamant about this one. It's back to my new book, Moments, which was a labor of love. I even made it for you kooky entrepreneurs that have ADHD. It's only four pages. And I got moments in here that are all about, again, you know, setting good boundaries, getting an alignment, getting over excuses, establishing energy, how to overcome avoidance, the consequences when you don't do it, where faith sits, how to create, you know, the vibrancy in your world, how to think about coachables, right? The soft skills, if you will, that all too often get taken for granted, moreover than not, are not taken seriously enough. And health and well-being is one of them. So I say to everybody, you should know better. If you think you're a leader, then you should dedicate a certain point of that 12 hours and literally it's non-negotiable, man. You have non-negotiables in your life, don't you? You have non-negotiables at work, you have non-negotiables in the office, you should have even had non-negotiables in your marriage. That's why marriages fail more often than not, is because people don't know how to set good boundaries. They don't know how to overcome conflict. And as soon as something goes tough, they go, ah shit, I'm out.

Aurel Davidyan 26:30

Yeah, yeah.

Scott Abbott 26:32

That's not good, right? I don't want to go all David Goggins on you or Jocko Willie, but no, no, this is good.

Aurel Davidyan 26:38

I I love it. I love it, Scott, because like I love how you said it's like a utility. You can't go without the lights. And it's like, it's so true. It really hit me. It's like, man, we should prioritize. Like, hey, we need to go to the gym and work out. We need to be healthy. We need to pray. We need to make that time in the schedule. And that this is so I love it. Thank you for this.

Scott Abbott 26:59

Well, said differently, again, back to PLs and balance sheets. And I work with a lot of big companies that kind of will take this conversation and still kind of roll their eyes a little bit. So utility is one word. The other way is I put it, it should be considered and respected like it's infrastructure. And that concept says, okay, I know that I should turn on my alarm system at night. I know that I paid for my CRM. I know that I'm committed to posting on social. That's infrastructure, man. That's the call what you will. You know, that's why I'm not a big fan of EBITDA, because I don't really think most of us care about depreciation or amortization. I care about cash flow. I care about cash, and most often than not, especially for your listeners, I care about net operating profit after taxes. That's the stuff I get to do other stuff with above and beyond the business. And where a lot of people get it wrong is there's a there's a great quote by Abraham Lincoln. If you gave me seven hours to chop down the tree, I'll spend five hours sharpening the axe. No. When I hear people say I work hard, I'm like, bully for you. Are you working smart? What? What's the difference? Okay, stay after class, pull up a seat. Let me explain to you the difference between working smart and working hard. Back to AI. I mean, again, I'd rather spend five hours with me and Vector. You know, I do venture capital and I sold my last company about six years ago, and I took about half a million and became a venture capitalist because I thought it sounded cool. It's not as cool as it sounds, and it's more frustrating, and you'd be amazed how many, you know, these founders, you can lead a horse to water, you can't make it drink. It's one of my dad's favorite, favorite quotes. I just again, I find it inexcusable that in this stage and age, what is today, April 16th of 2026, especially with AI, that people are able to say, hey, I'm doing this without an appreciation of consequences, or B, realizing that back to my moments momentum, it's not the lagging indicators that matter the most. It's the leading indicators. What are the actions and the activities that I'm either doing or not doing that are going to impact the results? If you can't give that to me, you ready? I ain't investing even my time into you. I'm serious, right? Not to overtoot my horn as a recognizable business and executive and performance coach, but you know, I also have companies I run. But if I'm going to coach you, you know, we have a deal. It's not only a two-part harmony, it's a five-part harmony, right? That's where I go back to this concept of work-life balance. That's a load of rubbish, man. Just close your eyes and think about a person trying to balance on a beam or a ball. You know, you're always, you're always funky. Now, harmony, that's a different story, right? Harmony ebbs and flows, seasons and highs and lows. It's like a good meal and music and life, right? We don't get up every day the people we love and tell them how much we love them because we don't love them necessarily that much at that moment. They pissed us off. They said something we didn't like, you know, but we hang in there. And again, that's where harmony comes in versus balance. Work life balance is rubbish, but I can harmonize because I appreciate that just like good music, sometimes the trouble's high, the bass is low, sometimes the percussions are higher, and the uh, you know, the guitar is a little bit lower, right? You with me, man? There's a difference. So back to concepts, tools, and disciplines. Any founder today, any entrepreneur today, if they're not coming up and saying, hey, I respect the concept of end both. I want to jam, I want fun, I want to be that quintessential rock and roll, coochie coup entrepreneur, great. But if you're not doing that with an appreciation of the how, the why, the what, the when, and the where, you know, good luck to you. Wow. Scott. You didn't know I was gonna kind of come off lecturing today, but uh yeah. I love it. I love it. This is actually a little bit why I'm doing, you know, you're you're my this is a porn tune. In fact, I told my agent who introduced us, James, James Callistra, wonderful guy, but you're like my 45th podcast in the last 60 days. We're kind of doing this tour. And I'm like, but I'm trying to be truthful to myself. I'm not just getting out here to play patty cake, man. You know, the good Lord has me on a, you know, I'm gonna even use the word ministry, and some people that might bother, you know, whatever. But you know, if you're passionate about something, you got a purpose and a cause. You know, Simon Sinek calls it a just cause, right? But but the other problem I see in the world is people don't appreciate the income side, right? Who says you can't have income and impact? Who says you can't, you know, have both, right? And that's another challenge in this world today. We have too many people that are either overly extreme on the the impact or overly extreme on the income. Well, the reality is back to harmony, some days your impact is higher and you go, where the hell is my income? Some days you're looking at the income because I've seen success cover a lot of sins. You get a little cocky and full of yourself. And uh, with all due respect to Mr. Grant Cardone, right? I don't need you to be sitting on your G7 telling me how awesome you are. I'd rather you be a little more humble about it and get to work. So, anyhow, having a little fun with this one, Grant, don't uh, you know, love you, man, in your way, you do you. But I think most of the world's not sitting on G7s, and most of the world isn't doing, you know, most of the world just wants to have a good job, especially if you're a founder and entrepreneur and uh, you know, you're leading and running. You know, you you want to have harmony, right, man? And that's central to this conversation and central to my my theme this day is hey, what's it take? A lot. A lot. But the charter is to try to make it simple. Uh, you know, a big concept that I love today is lean and clean. And if you look look at your Fortune 1000, right? Lean meaning let's not spend a bunch of time, money, effort, and energy doing what we shouldn't. And clean is be a good steward. You know, in my book, I talk about architect, builder, custodian. You know, custodian's a fancy word for what? Janitor. Clean up, leave things better, wipe it down. To this day and age, I swear, right, I do, I used to do a lot more traveling, but I hate it when I walk into a restroom in an airport, at an airplane specifically, and it's a mess. And yes, the person before me may not have made it, but I'm gonna blame that person. So I always clean up. It's a dirty job. I hate it. But even simple things like the other day, these two guys, man, they're younger and healthier than me, and they left their freaking shopping carts in the middle of the freaking parking lot at Costco. I'm like, and I did I couldn't help myself, but goes, dudes, that's like a two-minute walk. And they and they basically gave me the finger. And I literally, while they're driving, I took both all three carts, and you I'll tell you what, I guarantee you later that day, those dudes were like, Yeah, you know what? I should have done right, lead by example. So, anyhow, yeah, we're on a little bit of uh, again, a tour ministry these days, and yes, it's business. We get it. Awesome, but it's got to be an end both, man. Life's too short, and there's too much funky stuff going on in this world that if you don't have head and heart and income and impact, you're missing it.

Aurel Davidyan 33:20

We need more people like you, man. I'm glad we met. And I I really want to talk to you after this. And uh yeah, I love your uh mindset and what you're teaching people up there. And I'm in this point in my life that I I I want to give back and and um you know, got closer to God and and ministry and how do I build an empire, but not just for me, but you know, for the kingdom of God too.

Scott Abbott 33:44

Well, it's just in Birmingham, Alabama. Shout out to my friends at Cornerstone Coaching. James Justice runs several faith-based Kingdom Factor coaching cohorts, and I actually did my new talk, Moments to Momentum, which you can check out yourself at leadwithscott com. Sorry for the plug, but there's actually a lot of great free information out there, so I'm not that bashful about sharing it. But it was amazing how, and again, you know, I know that's not what we're supposed to do here today, but you know, and I would say irrespective of your religion, you know, faith is something that should be understood. And a lot of people think faith is this mystical, can't see it. And I and I disagree. I think faith and trust, those words coincide. And again, back to my my emphasis and love of systems, and it really ties into the famous pretto principle, the 80-20 rule. You know, I get some owners who get frustrated and they say, Scott, I want I want literally 92% of the things to be systemized so I could touch it, feel like oh, that's that's not reality, man. Do we want six sigma five nine excellence and quality on airplanes and cars and things that you can get hurt if they're not as close to perfect as possible? 100%. But we're talking about, you know, I can run the business of Boeing on what you and I are talking about today. I can't fly an airplane, you know. There's a lot more diagnostics and responsibility in flying that plane than there is in building, running, scaling a company. It's just a fact. And so if you get 80 to 90% of everything you need documented, systemized, done, and you have good values, and you know what your purpose and your vision and all that correlates, you know, again, at the end of the day, 90% success rate is phenomenal. And you're relatively consistent, that is phenomenal. They go, well, what about the other 10%? I go, trust, faith. It comes from that. And I got guys that just can't, they can't get it, man. I'm like, well, then I gotta let you go because if you can't get that detail right there, you with me? Yeah, I am. So, you know, it's one of the software companies I've invested in and partnered with is called 90, and and it's a digital system for systems to operate your business. And, you know, the the the reason the word 90 is there, my brother runs it, is is exactly kind of part of this philosophy, right? 90% of your goals, 90% of your hopes, 90% of your plans. If you do that consistently, and I would say that most people should just sign up for 80%, but that's where we come in and say, you know, plus if you bring uh good people in and you know, you can get an extra 10 points. But anything over 90, man, and you're living that life, that's like expecting to dominate day in and day out to be perfect. Well, that's not real. So keep it real, and again, as as best as possible, we've talked a lot about today, but do keep it simple. And keeping things simple isn't easy. It's not. But that's part of a leader's job is to take all of this stuff and say, okay, how do we now turn from a street lamp into, you know, more like a flashlight?

Aurel Davidyan 36:21

You with me? That's awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much, Kyle. One last question. Uh, if me and you died today, what advice do you have for the young entrepreneurs, business owners out there that's starting out?

Scott Abbott 36:33

Well, I'll I'll give advice that basically centers on one word. One word. And while the word itself is just a word, when you unpack it and you basically use this to be what we call the straw that stirs the drink, uh, that one word can manifest into all the actions and activities and work you need to do with that word. And the word is drummer, please. Ownership. Own your situation, own your numbers, own your goals, own your team, own yourself, own what you can't own, aka control the controllables, knowing that you can't control the uncontrollables. But if you just basically go through life and say, I have a moral, an ethical, whatever term you want to put into it, responsibility and accountability to ownership, to lead, to manage, to be a team member. But at the end of the day, right, if you're not doing what you need to do and owning all of that, you just not only can't get the results you want, but I just don't see how you live the life you want to live as well, where you can knock off at 3:30 in the afternoon, where you can, you know, sleep through the 2 a.m. jitters that you're wondering what the heck, right? So, and then last but not least, as a flawed man of faith, right? I think if you don't have some degree of spirituality, uh, and I'm kind of I'm kind of partial to the faith that I'm in, but things go a lot better when you believe in a purpose-driven, for-profit, well-run company for the right reasons. Again, income and impact, but you also know that your time on earth is limited. And so try to be the best version of yourself and and pay it forward and help others do the same thing. Simple things like tithing, simple things like again, putting back your sharping cot. Yeah, you may not see it on the spreadsheets, man, but it compounds one way or the other. It compounds and making you a better person or compounds making you not so better of a person. Choose your path. And that comes down to ownership.

Aurel Davidyan 38:20

Pug up first. Let's go. I love it.

Scott Abbott 38:24

Man, Scott, thank you so much. Thanks for being a wonderful host. I appreciate your hospitality. I appreciate what you're doing, more or why you're doing it, man. Godspeed on everything you're doing and uh keep up the good work and and that fusion again of passion and purpose and you know, recognizing that we also got to have process and profit, right, man. So thanks for having me on the show. And, you know, you know where to find me and vice versa.

Aurel Davidyan 38:45

Thank you, Scott. Appreciate you.

Scott Abbott 38:47

God bless. All right, you too.