Ayman Al Abdullah — How to go from 6 to 7 to 8 Figures and Beyond Through Subtraction, Not Addition

“Your job and your goal should be ‘How do I continuously build the systems in place in order to have an empty calendar and empty tasks list?’ In the beginning, you are the firefighter. Your job as the CEO is to create the fire departments.”

— Ayman

This week Sachit (@sachitgupta) chats with Ayman-Al-Abdullah (@aymanalabdul) — Former CEO of AppSumo where he grew them from $3M to $80M+ in annual revenue). Now he coaches CEO's to go from 7 to 9 figures.

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(06:39) - Internal psychology evolution that happens when going from solopreneur to CEO who manages people

(07:36) - Tools that he uses to help leaders

(09:58) - The different steps that he takes a CEO through in order to transition from black pen writer to red pen editor

(12:45) - The first step Ayman takes with a creator that is earning less than a million

(16:07) - How and why to double down on one revenue stream instead of multiple

(17:49) - Example of what Sachit should do

(19:59) - Internal psychology of creators who are diversifying too much, way too soon

(23:50) - Do you need to start selling the courses before you maximize your profits on services?

(27:04) - Price, client selection, and other levers in a course + how to get them right

(31:09) - Why you should focus on removing things, rather than adding

(33:39) - Benefits that come with only focusing on one thing at a time

(34:33) - Other things that distract founders

(37:27) - How to know when you are ready for the next phase in your journey

(41:18) - The core team that a founder needs in the early phases

(43:57) - Where he starts with businesses that are doing 5 million

(47:31) - How to decide which tasks to keep and which tasks to delegate, as a creator

(49:28) - The next steps - Process, people, and performance

(52:04) - How to create and run the master dashboard for your business

(54:23) - When should you start hiring leaders instead of specialists?

(57:24) - Why no one is able to break through a certain cap when it comes to selling courses

(58:36) - How to level up as a leader if you’re working with a CEO

(01:00:47) - Mindset shifts required to hire leaders in the company

(01:02:45) - Story of a leader who let go of total control and hired someone + the changes that it brought to the company

(01:05:15) - What happens if a founder actually achieves a clear calendar?

(01:11:20) - How to be a complete person as a CEO

(01:14:17) - Tools that can improve the psychological aspects of CEOs

(01:18:08) - Three books that have made the biggest impact

(01:19:33) - One piece of wisdom that changed the game for him

(01:20:29) - One person he is grateful to

(01:21:36) - What it means to be a conscious creator

(01:22:36) - What he’s looking forward to the most in the next 5-10 years