My playbook for achieving high net worth

Hey there,

I want to share my story with you—a journey from being a $50k salary coder with no belief that I could be rich, to a multi millionaire on the path to building a nine-figure empire by 2030.

Hopefully, my story can save you the 10 years it took to get here.

A Realization That Changed Everything

I grew up in a real estate family, so I always knew that making your money work for you is key to building wealth.

But despite that, I never saw myself as someone who could actually get rich. I was an engineer and an introvert. I liked punk rock and psychedelics, not fraternities and MBA programs.

But an early health scare in my 20s left me with an unwavering commitment to earn my freedom.

I remember this one gem of a thought experiment from The 4-Hour Workweek:

Tim Ferris struggled with Lyme disease, so this was not hyperbole. This was his real lived experience. He had to put his health first. And so did I.

So that’s what pushed me forward. Not some sort of greed but self preservation. I had to figure out a way to get out of this toxic 40 hour/week grind that was killing me.

So what did I do? I worked 80 hours a week of course.

FIRE & my First Exit

Like many in the early 2010s, I got caught up in the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement. I thought I was going to retire early through sheer savings rate and working a boring job.

But fate had other plans. I got lucky early on when I worked at a startup that sold for eight figures. At 24, I received my first six-figure payout.

Suddenly, the world of startups seemed a lot more appealing. I thought maybe this could get me to my goal. But I still didn’t believe in myself. I was just a kid.

I invested my payout in real estate and tried to launch a venture-backed startup but failed miserably to make even one sale. I was spending too much time building my product (happy place.) It was just too much for me.

Again, fate forced me to simplify.

I thought, what is the simplest possible business I can start? Almost a “dummy” business. Remove all the complexity so I can just focus on learning the art of business.

Of course it was an agency.

The Agency Model: Business for Dummies

Starting an agency taught me how to sell myself and my team. How to create a brand. How to run a process-driven organization.

And most importantly, how to build a team.

I got my agency to seven figures within a year using a straightforward strategy:

Sell coders as a service. Nothing fancy. Just, “get a great developer at $X per hour.”

I subcontracted to my team at half the rate I sold their services at.

I just said, “hey guys, I’m going to do my best to sell your services… the higher rate we get, the more you’ll get paid. Let’s do a great job so I can up the rates.”

This built loyalty and trust. Something we need to learn if we’re ever going to build an empire.

It also solidified something I already knew intuitively: people will work so hard if they feel bought in to the business. I learned very early to share in the upside on every project I do.

Simplest way to start your empire? Build yourself a 6-7 figure agency. Then hire a full time CEO with generous equity to take it over.

That’s how it starts.

What I Would Do Differently Today

I ended up hiring a bunch of W2 employees.

Employees are a headache unless your business is rock solid. So I’d avoid full time employees at any cost.

Instead, I’d find some new AI tools in my niche and become the de facto master of those tools.

I’d then productize them as a service, build a simple process around how to use the tool and then hire a low cost VA to run fulfillment.

I’d just focus on sales and marketing.

My advice? Do that. Don’t hire people.

Building Wealth Through Acquisitions

Once your agency is running smoothly, the next step is buying equity in private companies.

A couple ways you can do this:

• You can acquire companies on sites like acquire.com. You can “roll up” companies in the same niche over time and use the same resources to run them.
• You can invest in companies. I like investing in cashflowing bootstrapped companies that strategically align with my overall goal.

Investing is an important part of empire building because it allows you to provide something (capital & business “production”) rather than your time and energy.

The north star is, as always, to learn to provide value without investing your time.

If you dedicate your time to every little project, you’ll be bottlenecked.

If you can learn that one simple lesson, you can start a massive holding company empire.

How to provide value without giving away time:

• Providing advising and mentorship.
• Connecting people & companies together.
• Providing capital.
• Providing access to capital.
• Providing access to your network.
• Aggregating valuable information
• Strategically combining assets in your portfolio i.e. servicing your new acquisition with your agency.

Acquisitions are hard to learn, harder to master. Start with the agency. But once you start succeeding in the M&A space, things really start accelerating.

Where I Am Today and My Strategy for the Next Decade

Now, I’m focused on building an empire. I’ve transitioned from actively working on businesses to investing in them. Whether it’s search funds, private equity, or minority investments, I’m all about making my money and assets work harder than I do.

Here are three things you can do today:

1. Start Building Your Personal Brand: Begin sharing content related to your industry. The world continues to evolve towards a social economy. Social capital is virtual gold.
2. Learn About Mergers & Acquisitions: Whether it’s holding companies, microacquisitions or passive funds, dive deep into this skillset. You will need it.
3. Build a Cash-Flowing Business: Start an agency or service company to generate cash flow—this is the foundation of your empire.

These are the steps I’ve taken, and I believe they’ll set you up for success.

I’m here to help. Feel free to reply to this email and tell me what your biggest career blocker is today.

To your success,

Nick Bryant