Dan Martell

There's a reason your team stops talking when you enter the room.

The corporate world is drowning in toxic leadership.

Bosses who mistake fear for respect. 
Managers who confuse control with competence. 
“Leaders“ who destroy morale and call it accountability.

The world doesn't need more bosses. It needs more actual leaders.

And here's the uncomfortable truth: your team is watching to see which one you are.

They watch everything. How you handle stress. How you treat mistakes. Whether you practice what you preach.

They don't follow your words. They follow your example.

If you demand excellence but deliver mediocrity...
If you preach accountability but dodge responsibility...
If you talk “growth mindset“ but resist feedback...

You're not leading. You're performing.

Real leaders demonstrate:
• Consistency between words and actions
• Vulnerability when they don't have answers
• Ownership of failures, sharing of victories

Fake leaders demonstrate:
• “Do as I say, not as I do“ mentality
• Blame-shifting when things go wrong
• Expecting standards they don't meet

Your team doesn't need you to be perfect.
They need you to be real.

Ask yourself: Would I follow someone who acts the way I act?

If the answer is no, your team probably feels the same way.

Leadership isn't a position.
It's a standard you hold yourself to first.

Be the leader you wish you had.

-DM

Want to know if someone's ready to lead?

Don't look at their performance. Look at their team's.

The best predictor of leadership isn't how good someone is at their job. It's whether they make everyone around them better at theirs.

Do people ask them for help? Do they share knowledge freely? Do they celebrate other people's wins? Do they take blame when things go wrong?

That's leadership. Everything else is management.

Most companies promote their best individual contributors and wonder why they fail as managers.

It's because you promoted them for being great at the job, not for making others great at the job.

Stop promoting for past performance. Start promoting for future impact.

-DM

It's okay to live a life others don't understand.

-DM

Everything you want is just 30 minutes away.

The fitness. The creativity. The connection. The progress.

It's all right there. Waiting.

Not for someday. For today.

You've been telling yourself you'll start when things slow down.
When you have more time.
When it feels right.

But the truth is... it'll never feel right. And you already have the time.

30 minutes. That's it.

That's the distance between who you are and who you're becoming.

The better version of you isn't months away. It's one decision away.

Make the call. Start the workout. Ask the girl. Have the conversation.

Just give it 30 minutes.

You're so much closer than you think.

-DM

If you've ever thought "I could build that if I just had a team"...

You now have a team.

It just doesn't require payroll, management, or meetings.

This is the unlock. The excuse of "I don't have the resources" has evaporated.

You have access to tools that give you capabilities that used to require hiring 10 people.

The gap between idea and execution has never been smaller.

What are you waiting for?

-DM

On my flight the other day, I heard an elderly woman who was boarding ask the staff if they accepted cash on the flight.

Anyone who travels knows they only accept cards...

But something pulled at me to say something.

So as she passed by, I quietly asked if she’d allow me to cover anything she needed.

It was 12 (noon) and a two hour flight... I figured she was probably hungry.

She couldn’t believe my offer.

She asked me why I would do that?

I just told her that she looked like someone who would do the same if our roles were reversed. 😉

She smiled and said, “100% I would.”

After a few seconds, she graciously accepted and I let the stewardess know that I’d cover whatever she ordered.

Towards the end of the flight, a stewardess handed me this note. ❤️

Now, I’m not sharing this to brag...

I’m sharing this because I believe every once in a while we get asked - inside our hearts - to serve.

Many of us rationalize that voice... dismiss it... and move on.

But what if you didn’t?

What if you leaned in and did what you could to help?

It’s been years that I’ve been listening with my heart wide open.

I don’t question it anymore... and I give without expectations.

I just assume there's a higher reason.

Who knew what she was dealing with in her life. What she’d experienced.

Maybe it was her first time flying?

All I knew is that if it was my grandmother, I would hope someone would take care of her.

It just felt right.

So next time you hear that voice...

Or something pulls on your heart...

Just know that you are being guided.

And if you’re in an incredible & fortunate place to help... that you should do something.

No matter how small.

You never know the ripple effect it might have in this crazy world we live in.

Insanely grateful,

- DM.

Every legend looked “average” first.

455 uploads. 300 rejections. 9,000 missed shots.

Keep swinging until consistency makes you dangerous.

Your job isn’t to be perfect, it’s to keep going.

The work compounds. The world catches up.

So, why not you?

-DM

Never underestimate a person who practices self-education in their free time.

I've built multiple companies alongside both Ivy League graduates and high school dropouts.

The correlation between success and formal education?
Almost zero.

The correlation between success and self-education?
Nearly perfect.

The standouts were rarely the ones with perfect resumes.
They were often the ones who never stopped evolving.
The ones whos refuse to stay the same.

The world rewards credentials, but it runs on competence.

The degree on your wall might tell where you've been.
But what you do at 9pm on a Sunday tells the world where you're going.

-DM

The most expensive hire you'll ever make is the one that replaces someone great.

Your top performers aren't just doing their job. They're preventing problems you don't even know exist.

They're the ones who catch mistakes before they become disasters.
Who solve issues before they reach your desk.
Who make the impossible look easy.

You don't realize how much they were worth until they're gone and everything starts breaking.

The companies that win pay their best people like they're irreplaceable.

Because they are.

Your choice: pay them what they're worth now, or pay someone else twice as much to get half the results later.

The math is brutal either way. One version just costs less.

-DM

Trained employees solve problems. Untrained employees become problems.

Trained employees make your life easier. Untrained employees make everything harder.

Trained employees attract other good people. Untrained employees drive good people away.

The companies struggling to hire right now are the same ones that never invested in the people they had.

The companies with waiting lists of applicants are the ones known for developing talent.

Your reputation as a leader isn't built on who you kept. It's built on who you developed.

Stop hoarding people like assets and start developing them like investments.

Some will leave. Most will stay. All will remember how you treated them.

-DM

People don't quit jobs where they're learning and growing.

They quit jobs where they've stopped.

You can have the best salary, the best perks, the best title.

If someone isn't developing, they're leaving. Just a matter of time.

Your team will either grow with you or outgrow you.

Train them so well they could thrive anywhere. Treat them so well they don't want to go anywhere.

It's the only retention strategy that actually works.

-DM

Want to know if someone's ready to lead?

Don't look at their performance. Look at their team's.

The best predictor of leadership isn't how good someone is at their job. It's whether they make everyone around them better at theirs.

Do people ask them for help? Do they share knowledge freely? Do they celebrate other people's wins? Do they take blame when things go wrong?

That's leadership. Everything else is management.

Most companies promote their best individual contributors and wonder why they fail as managers.

It's because you promoted them for being great at the job, not for making others great at the job.

Stop promoting for past performance. Start promoting for future impact.

-DM

Turned 46 today.

I woke up this morning and realized something: I'm twice the age I was when I decided to bet everything on myself.

23 yo Dan was broke, angry, and convinced the world owed him something.

46 yo Dan knows the world doesn't owe you anything.

But it will give you everything if you're willing to work for it and give it away when you get it.

Here's what's shifted for me this year:

I used to measure success by what I built. Now I measure it by who I helped build.

I used to think freedom meant not having to work. Now I know freedom is loving the work so much you'd do it for free.

I used to believe I needed to have all the answers. Now I know the best thing I can do is ask better questions.

The truth is, I'm not done. Not even close.

There's more to build. More people to help. More impact to make.

And the best part is I finally feel like I know what I'm building toward.

Not another exit. Not another company. Not another milestone.

But a legacy. Something that outlasts me. Something that matters beyond the money. A movement.

To everyone who's been part of this journey - THANK YOU 🩵

Here's to another year of building what matters.

-DM

This is how ChatGPT would destroy young men…

agree?

Your idea isn't the problem.
Your timing isn't the problem.
Your market isn't the problem.

The only real failure is letting the hard days convince you to give up on the great days ahead.

Stay in the game.

-DM

--

Enjoyed this?

Join 200,000+ entrepreneurs receiving my weekly insights: https://bit.ly/3RQoZ9U

There are two paths in business.

Path 1: Get really good at what you do. Work harder. Optimize your time. Build expertise. Trade that expertise for income.

Ceiling: $500K-$1M. Maybe $2M if you're exceptional.

Path 2: Build leverage. Create systems that scale without you. Build assets that compound. Multiply through others.

Ceiling: Doesn't exist.

Most people spend their entire career on Path 1. Then wonder why they're stuck.

It's not because they're not good enough. It's because they're playing the wrong game.

Code, content, capital, collaboration - these are the only things that scale infinitely.

Everything else caps out.

That's how empires are built now.
Not by trading time for money.
But by trading leverage for freedom.

Most still play the old game better.

But those who win play a different game entirely.

-DM

The most valuable thing a successful person can do is send the elevator back down...

What would 8-year old you say if they saw you today?

I spend a lot of time thinking about what's next. What I haven't built yet. Where I'm falling short...

Then I think about young Daniel who was convinced his life was over at 15.

If I could show him what's on the other side, he wouldn't believe it.

Do not let the next mountain make you forget the last one.

Your younger self is already proud of you. Don't forget that.

-DM

If you quit now, you lose more than the goal.

You lose the proof that you can do hard things.

You lose the story of the comeback.

You lose the version of yourself that makes it through.

The tired goes away. The failures become lessons. The stress becomes strength.

But if you quit? That stays forever.

Future you is counting on current you to not give up when it gets hard.

Don't rob yourself of that person.

Rooting for you 👊
-DM

You're not easily distracted. 
You just don't know what matters yet.

People with clear targets don't struggle with focus. 
Everything that's not the target becomes obvious waste.

It's not about fighting distractions. 
It's about having something worth ignoring them for.

Find that first. 
The rest fixes itself.

-DM

I've bought 35+ companies in last 5 years.

The pattern is obvious once you see it: Some businesses print money. Others barely survive.

The difference comes down to one metric: how much each customer is worth over time.

Whether you're building to sell or building to keep, here's how to make your customers worth more:


Step #1: Know what your customers are actually worth

Most people think in "monthly revenue." Winners think in "lifetime value."

Formula: LTV = Average Order Value × Purchase Frequency × Customer Lifespan

Bad business:
• Customer pays $100
• Buys once
• LTV = $100

Great business:
• Customer pays $100
• Buys monthly for 3 years
• LTV = $3,600

36x difference. Same price point. Same customer. Different business model.


Step #2: Calculate your LTV:CAC ratio

This tells you if you're building something profitable or just treading water.

LTV:CAC = Lifetime Value ÷ Customer Acquisition Cost

The breakdown:
• Less than 3:1 → Burning money
• 3:1 to 5:1 → Healthy
• 5:1+ → Printing money

If you spend $100 to get a customer worth $300, you're barely profitable.
If you spend $100 to get a customer worth $800, you're building an asset.


Step #3: Keep customers longer

If customers stay 2x longer, LTV doubles. Simple math.

• Nail onboarding: They bought based on a promise. Deliver that promise in the first 7 days.

• Increase stickiness: Integrate into their workflow. Example: Dropbox becomes sticky because your files live there.

• Monitor usage proactively: If someone hasn't logged in for 14 days, reach out before they cancel.

Real example: Client of mine tracked their customers on LinkedIn. When someone changed jobs, they reached out to both the old team AND the new company. Retained both.


Step #4: Get customers buying more often

• Usage-based pricing: Basic tier = 5 visits/week. Premium = 10 visits/week.

• Add complementary products: What do customers buy before/after using you? Sell that.

• Shift to subscriptions: $5,000 one-time project = $5K LTV. $500/month for 3 years = $18K LTV.


Step #5: Increase what they spend

Implementation fees: Charge for onboarding/setup (standard in B2B)

Upsells at purchase: "Customers who bought X also need Y"

Premium tiers: Basic/Pro/Enterprise. Same product, different support levels.


Step #6: Pick ONE lever and execute for 90 days

You just learned three ways to increase LTV:
1. Keep customers longer
2. Get them buying more often
3. Increase spend per purchase

Don't try all three at once. Pick the one with highest return for least effort. Execute. Measure. Move to the next.

That's how you build a business worth buying. Or better yet, a business worth keeping.

-DM

P.S. Want to know what your business is actually worth? I built a valuation calculator that shows you exactly how investors would value your company based on these metrics. Comment "VALUE" and I'll send you the calculator plus the breakdown of what makes businesses sell for premiums. My gift to you 👊

These 6 books cost me $120 total. They've made me tens of millions.

I always say most of your problems aren't new. They're just new to you.

Someone already figured out the thing you’re struggling with. They lived it. Learned from it. They wrote the lessons down.

You just haven’t found the page yet.

If you're stuck, the answer is probably sitting on a bookshelf somewhere.

Go find it.

-DM

What would you add to the list?

Most companies operate on a simple principle: Only pay more when forced to.

Someone threatens to leave? Counteroffer.

Someone actually leaves? Hire their replacement for more.

New hire demands market rate? Fine.

But proactively paying people what they're worth? Never crosses their mind.

Then they wonder why everyone's always halfway out the door.

Here's the thing: Your team knows exactly what they're worth. They're on LinkedIn. They see the job posts. They talk to recruiters.

The only question is whether you're going to acknowledge it before or after they have another offer.

One builds loyalty. The other builds resentment.

-DM

Want to stay consistent?

Make promises, not plans.

You'll skip the gym for yourself.
But you won't bail on a friend.

You'll quit on your goals.
But you won't fail your commitments.

You win not by pushing harder,
But by making it impossible to quit.

-DM

Most people are building skills for jobs that won't exist in 5 years.

They're ignoring the AI wave. Hoping it passes. Thinking their role is "too complex" to automate.

They're wrong.

I spend my time analyzing cutting-edge AI companies and market trends. Watching which roles disappear and which ones become more valuable.

Here's what I'm seeing:

The jobs that survive aren't the ones doing the work. They're the ones directing it, protecting it, or building the tools that do it.

AI can execute. It can't decide what's worth executing.

AI can create. It can't determine taste or vision.

AI can automate. It can't build the systems that make automation secure and scalable.

The 6 jobs in this post are the ones that will not only survive - they'll thrive.

All six figures. All learnable. All positioned at the intersection of human judgment and AI capability.

You don't need med school. You don't need rocket science. You need to understand where the world is going and position yourself accordingly.

Most people won't do this. They'll wait until it's too late. Until their skills are obsolete and they're competing for scraps.

You're not most people.

The future isn't coming. It's here. These are the roles that will pay you extremely well to help build it.

Swipe through. Pick one. Start learning.

-DM

Smartest advice I've ever got:

/1 Be easy to find, hard to reach.

Be visible enough that opportunities find you.

Be scarce enough that people value your time.

Best time management advice I've ever received.

/2 Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.

Some days, answering one email is a win when your inbox is overflowing.

The point? Doing it poorly is infinitely better than not doing it at all.

This isn’t about lowering standards, it's about making progress.

/3 NO is just a YES playing hard to get.

If you ask, they might say YES.

They might also say NO, but if you don't ask it's always a NO.

So ask.

/4 Success is rarely a brain game.

People who are further in life aren’t smarter than you. They’re just doing more than you.

There's no such thing as "ready".

You learn to swim by drowning a little every day.

Jump in. The water's fine.

/5 Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.

Knowledge without action is like a Ferrari without gas. Looks cool, goes nowhere.

Learn → Apply → Fail → Learn more → Apply better → Succeed → Repeat.

That’s it.

/6 Stay curious.

There’s always room for a new idea.

Be humble. Be teachable. Ask dumb questions. Challenge assumptions.

Be that annoying kid who keeps asking "why."

The moment you think you know it all is the moment you're done growing.

Now tell me, what’s the smartest advice you’ve ever received?

Share it below. Let’s learn from each other.

-DM

2 Million on YouTube.

My kids will grow up watching these videos.

That thought has been sitting with me since we crossed 1M.

One day, they'll click through this archive and see their dad teaching millions of people how to build businesses, lead teams, and bet on themselves.

And here's what I want them to see:

Not that I built something big. That I built something that mattered.

That every video was in service of something bigger than views.
That every lesson came from real scars, not theory.
That I chose impact over income, movement over metrics.

Because this isn't about me leaving a legacy for my kids.

It's about us creating a legacy for every kid who needs to see that ordinary people can build extraordinary things.

Every entrepreneur in their garage who thinks they're alone.
Every founder betting their last dollar on themselves.
Every person who's been told to "get a real job" but knows they're meant for more.

2 million people who are now living proof.

And we’re not done.

I’m not interested in just change lives - we'll change what's considered possible.

That's the world I want the next generation to inherit.

That's the movement I want you to lead with me.

Thank you for helping build something worth leaving behind.

Onwards.

-DM

You don't need the perfect information.
You just need action.

That's how progress works:
First you move.
Then you improve.

The only mistake is waiting.

-DM

Everyone you admire once stood exactly where you are.

And if they made it happen…

Why not you?

-DM

Protect your people or lose your people. It's that simple.

Real leadership shows up when the pressure builds and everyone's looking for someone to blame.

Here's how great leaders actually protect their teams:

From Office Drama
Bad leaders: "You need to navigate the politics if you want to get ahead here."
Good leaders: "Focus on your work. I'll handle the politics and drama."

From Busy Work
Bad leaders: "Corporate wants these reports, so you need to fill them out."
Good leaders: "This is pointless busy work. I'll handle it so you can focus on what matters."

From Micromanagement
Bad leaders: Pass down every controlling demand from above.
Good leaders: "My boss wants daily check-ins, but I trust you. I'll handle the reporting."

From Pointless Meetings
Bad leaders: "Everyone needs to attend the all-hands, no exceptions."
Good leaders: "This meeting doesn't apply to you. Keep working, I'll brief you on anything important."

From Burnout
Bad leaders: "Everyone's working late, why aren't you?"
Good leaders: "If you're working nights and weekends regularly, we have a process problem I need to solve."

From Blame Culture
Bad leaders: "Why did this happen? Someone screwed up."
Good leaders: "This happened. Here's how we fix it and prevent it next time."

The best leaders I know aren't popular with their bosses. They're popular with their teams.

Because they choose their people over their politics.

What kind of leader are you?

-DM

Everyone wants to be rich. Most people just lie about it.

They say things like "money isn't everything" while secretly resenting everyone who has it.

Here's the thing: The guilt you feel about wanting wealth didn't come from you. It was installed.

By broke people who needed you to stay broke with them.
By a culture that romanticizes struggle
By a system that calls ambition greed.

But you know what's actually greedy?

Having the ability to solve problems and choosing not to because you're afraid of what people will think.

You're a creator. You solve problems. That's who you are.

And every time you hold back because making money feels wrong, you're robbing people of the solution they need.

So stop asking if you're allowed to want wealth. Start asking who you can help.

Wake up tomorrow and decide to serve a thousand people.
Then ten thousand.
Then a million.

Pour everything you have into making their lives better.

Do that. Show up. Build. Serve.

Karma will take care of the rest.

-DM

Most managers don't realize their leadership style has a price tag.

Your best employee quit because you micromanaged them.
That's $75,000 gone.

Your project is late because people are afraid to bring you problems.
That's $32,000 in missed deadlines.

You're still avoiding that conversation with your worst performer.
That's $45,000 in annual dead weight.

While you're protecting your ego, your business is paying the bill.

The receipt below shows what bad leadership actually costs.
Most leaders are too busy being right to notice they're going broke.

The math doesn't lie, even when leaders do.

-DM

You're smart but imagine if you were consistent.

I know plenty of brilliant people who are broke because they can't stick to anything long enough to see results.

And I know plenty of average people building empires because they show up every single day.

The gap between knowing and doing is where potential dies.

It's also where fortunes are made.

Stop relying on your brain to save you.

The world doesn't pay you for being smart.

It pays you for being reliable. Especially now.

-DM

The person you're jealous of isn't your competition.

They're just further along a path you're both on. They started earlier, failed faster and kept going longer.

You vs. you is the only scoreboard that counts.

Win there. Everything else handles itself.

-DM

I was seconds away from the biggest mistake of my life.

Look at this photograph.

Techcrunch 50, 2009. San Francisco.

I showed up with nothing but a laptop and an idea called Flowtown.

Within minutes, I knew I didn't belong there.

People around me casually talked about their millions in funding, their exits, their poached Google executives.

And there I was - a nobody.

My hand was on the exit door, ready to leave. Ready to go back to playing small.

I almost walked out. Almost.

Instead, I turned around and forced myself to stay.

That decision ended up being the catalyst that changed my life forever.

And it wasn't the panels or the workshops that did it.

It was standing shoulder to shoulder with founders who operated at a level I couldn't yet comprehend.

I watched how they thought. How they spoke. How they carried themselves.

One moment, I was hiding in the corner, questioning my existence...

The next, I was shaking hands with Drew Houston from Dropbox.

That made me realized that these people weren't special.
They weren't any smarter.

They just played a bigger game. They thought on a different scale.

That was my lightbulb moment.

I walked out of that event with my entire perception rewired.

I knew deep in my bones that I could take Flowtown to heights I'd never even dared to imagine before.

And that's exactly what happened.

In the years that followed, I:

- Secured $1M in funding from a top-tier Silicon Valley VC firm...
- Built my dream team...
- Exited to Demandforce in 2012 for more zeros that I knew to do with.

All because I didn't walk out that door.

This is why I'm obsessed with who you surround yourself with.

The right room changes everything.

The right community expands what you believe is possible.

The right peers pull you up faster than you could ever push yourself.

It doesn't matter where you are today.
What matters is where you put yourself tomorrow.

This is why I wake up excited to build communities for founders. It's a big reason as to why I started Martell Ventures.

Because I've seen what happens when someone steps into a room they don't belong in (yet).

When you deliberately surround yourself with people playing bigger games, you become someone who plays bigger games.

One day, you look around and realize:
You've become what once intimidated you.

And nothing beats that feeling.

To your success,
-DM

I know it's hard. Watching people celebrate wins while you're still grinding in silence. Seeing someone get the recognition you've been working toward.

But bitterness doesn't speed up your timeline. It just makes the wait miserable.

Here's what I've learned: The people who make it aren't the ones who resent everyone ahead of them. They're the ones who study them. Learn from them. Celebrate them.

Because your turn is coming. And when it does, you'll want people clapping for you too.

Support costs you nothing. And it says more about you than it does about them.

Keep building. Keep clapping. Your moment is closer than you think.

-DM

Do you understand what happened in the last 24 hours?

→ A CEO of a $200B company said 35% of new grads won't find jobs. He didn't even flinch saying it.

→ A random guy in Florida sold his house in 5 days using ChatGPT. No real estate agent, no commission, no experience. Just a $20 subscription.

→ Meta just had their best revenue year ever. $200B. And they're still planning to fire 15,000 people (20% of its workforce) - because apparently AI is cheaper than people.

→ A man in Australia cured his dog's cancer with AI after every single vet told him there was nothing left to do. Built a custom vaccine from his couch.

→ Naval Ravikant said software is dead. Four words. The entire industry felt it.

→ And Anthropic doubled everyone's usage for free. Because when the product is addictive enough, you give the first taste away.

None of this was breaking news. None of it made the front page.

It was just a random Saturday.

This is the pace we're moving at now. Not quarterly. Not monthly. Daily.

If you're still debating whether to get involved with AI - the world already answered that question for you.

Every entrepreneur has an invisible number.

The revenue level where everything starts falling apart. 
The team size where your leadership breaks down.
The pressure point where you self-sabotage.

Most people call it a plateau. It's actually a ceiling built by your own psychology.

I've seen brilliant founders with perfect strategies crash at the same level repeatedly.

Not because of market conditions or competition.

Because they hit their internal limit for what they believe they can handle.

$20K months feel comfortable. $100K months feel terrifying. 
2 employees feel manageable. 6 feel overwhelming.

The problem isn't your business skills.

Your mindset simply can't support the weight of your ambitions.

And that’s exactly what my "5 Daily Non-Negotiables" were designed to fix.

Not only your tactics. But your capacity to handle MORE.

Most entrepreneurs will keep hitting the same ceiling forever.

A few will realize the ceiling is internal and do something about it.

If you're ready to expand your capacity instead of just your strategy...

I've got a handful of spots open to work with entrepreneurs who are looking to shatter their invisible number.

If that’s you, message me "COACH" and I’ll send you all the details.

-DM

I'm looking for a handful of entrepreneurs who know they’re meant for more.

If you’re feeling frustrated, it’s because you’ve been operating at 100% capacity…

Laptop open at midnight, burning your eyes. Skipping the Saturday hang out to finish client work.

…giving it everything you’ve got, but only seeing 60% results.

From coaching thousands of founders, let me tell you...

It’s not because you're lazy. And it's not because you don't know what to do.

It's about who you need to become to do it.

The entrepreneurs winning at the highest levels aren't just better at business.

They've mastered something most never touch: their internal operating system.

While others optimize funnels, they optimize their psychology.

While others chase strategies, they upgrade their identity.

While others react to circumstances, they move toward their vision.

This is why I created the "5 Daily Non-Negotiables". A system that’s helped all my private clients rebuild from the inside out.

When you become the 10.0 version of yourself, everything else becomes easier.

If you're ready to start getting results that match your effort...

Message me "COACH" and I'll reach out to see if it's a fit.

-DM

A few weeks ago I told my team that AI needs to do 92% of their work or they'll get left behind.

Here’s how we're doing it (and why):

Step 1: Get ChatGPT Plus/Pro


Step 2: Create your master prompt

• Tell AI: "I'm [your role] at [company type]. Create a master prompt for me. Ask me every question you need to give me the most context possible."
• Spend 30-45 minutes answering everything it asks
• Save the output as a PDF
• Upload this to every new chat so AI knows your full context


Step 3: Build system prompts
Master prompts tell AI who you are. System prompts tell AI HOW to work.

Here's the process:
• Ask AI to create any output (email, ad, report)
• Keep refining until it's perfect (3-6 iterations)
• Then ask: "Write the system prompt that would have generated this output"
• Save that prompt - it's now your intellectual property

Now you have the exact formula to get that quality every time.


Step 4: Use project folders 
Think of these like rooms in your office with all context on the walls.

• Create a project for each major area of your life/business
• Upload your master prompt + all relevant documents
• Every conversation builds on previous context
• Share folders with your team for instant knowledge transfer

I use this for investment decisions, business strategy, even family planning.


Step 5: Set your custom instructions
This makes AI remember how you like outputs formatted.

Go to Settings → Personalization → Custom Instructions:
• Tell it your communication style (short, bullet points, no fluff)
• Remove AI language like "delve" and "moreover" 
• Set your default tone and format preferences

Never repeat formatting requests again.


Step 6: Turn everything into custom GPTs
These are your AI employees that do specific tasks consistently.

• Take your best system prompts
• Create custom GPTs for each repeatable task
• Share them with your team
• Update once, everyone gets the improvement

I have custom GPTs for: emails, content creation, financial analysis, hiring, strategy docs.


Step 7: Refine and improve
Use AI to teach you AI.

• Ask it to create your master prompt
• Ask it to write your system prompts 
• Ask it to suggest custom instructions
• Ask it to help you build better prompts

Here's what 92% actually looks like:

- Content: AI does research, outlines, first drafts. You edit and add your voice.
- Operations: AI creates SOPs, analyzes processes, suggests improvements. You decide.
- Finance: AI analyzes reports, creates models, finds insights. You make decisions.
- Strategy: AI processes information, suggests options. You choose direction.

The 8% that stays human: Vision, taste, final decisions, and emotional intelligence.

My team went from thinking AI was "kind of helpful" to saying it's their most valuable employee.

It could be yours too.

-DM

P.S. If you want my complete prompting template and the 7 system prompts that save me 15+ hours per week, MESSAGE ME the word "AI" and I'll send it over. My gift to you 👊

You're more than a job title.

I've reset my own career multiple times. Each restart taught me that the path is rarely straight.

What matters isn't how quickly you find your way.
What matters is that you keep going until you do.

-DM

I love watching founders win.

My buddy Vive (founder at Revio) just hit $1M ARR as our first Martell Ventures portfolio company.

He did it in 10 months 🤯

This is what I built this for. Not the returns. Watching great founders accelerate.

And I want to do it 10 more times this year.

AI founders building for small business - if you've got customers and momentum:

Drop your AI startup in the comments with:

• Your company name
• Your one-line pitch
• The problem you're solving
• What sets you apart from every other AI company
• Your current traction

I'll personally review every comment with my team.

The ones with real potential? We'll reach out to discuss partnership opportunities with Martell Ventures

Plus, I'll be connecting the most promising companies directly with investors and strategic partners in my network.

Your next funding round or partnership could start right here in these comments.

Tag an AI founder who deserves visibility.
Share with builders who need to be seen.

The floor is yours.

-DM

P.S. I'm pinning this post for maximum exposure to my investor network - this is your chance to get in front of serious players in the AI space.

Tiny apartment. Mattress on the floor. Ramen for dinner.

This was my reality at 24.

Grinding 14-hour days building my first company.

I kept thinking the problem was:
• Not enough capital
• Wrong market timing
• Cheap clients

But the truth?

My biggest obstacle was the person staring back in that bathroom mirror.

My mindset was broke.

The apartment wasn't the problem...
The entrepreneur was.

Today:
Multiple 8-figure exits.
A business that serves my life.
Freedom to choose my days.

What changed?
I did.

Used the "5 Daily Non-Negotiables" to completely rebuild:
• How I see opportunities
• What I believe I deserve
• Who I am at my core

The same system that rebuilt me is now transforming thousands of entrepreneurs.

Want to see if this could work for you?

Message me "COACH" and I’ll send you the details to see if it's a fit.

-DM

You can beat 99% of your competition by:

1. Finishing what you start
2. Obsessing over problems, not solutions
3. Learning the basics before the shortcuts
4. Executing while others plan
5. Charging what you're actually worth
6. Doing what you said you'd do
7. Helping others without keeping score
8. Building relationships before you need them
9. Making things right when you mess up
10. Taking responsibility without being asked

It's not complicated.
It's not fancy.
It's not even innovative.

It's about doing the unsexy work, at scale, every single day.

-DM

Best skills to learn in your 2026...

People always ask: "What AI tool should I use?"

Here's what I tell them: Whichever one is best today. And be ready to switch tomorrow.

I use 5+ different AI tools every day. Each for specific tasks. Because no single tool wins at everything.

But more importantly: The best tool changes.

What's dominant today might be obsolete in 6 months. If your entire workflow depends on one AI knowing your history, you're trapped.

And that's exactly what happens to most people.

They spend months training ChatGPT on their business, their voice, their context.

Then Claude releases something better. They try it. But it doesn't know them. Clean slate.

So they go back to ChatGPT. Not because it's better. Because starting over costs too much time.

They choose familiarity over performance. And they fall behind.

In a world where AI is evolving this fast, being locked in is dangerous.

The people who stay ahead aren't the ones who master one tool. They're the ones who can switch without losing momentum.

This is how I do it:

My Digital Brain.

One document. Under 1,000 words. Contains everything - my role, my voice, my projects, my business model, my constraints.

I paste it into any AI tool. Instant context. Like hiring someone who's worked with me for years.

Claude. Gemini. Grok. Whatever launches next week.

Same brain. New engine. Zero setup time.

That's adaptability. And it's the only way to win.

If you want the full prompt to build your Digital Brain, MESSAGE me "SWITCH" and I'll send it over.

-DM