516 Your Profits Aren’t the Problem. Here’s What Actually Is

[00:00:00]

Introduction to the Deep Wealth Podcast

Jeffrey Feldberg: Deep Wealth Nation welcome to another episode of the Deep Wealth Podcast. This is a solo episode and it's all about:

Your Profits Aren't the Problem. Here's What Actually Is.

And Deep Wealth Nation, you may be saying, Jeffrey, well, what is the problem if it's not profits, what is it?

I thought not having profits is the problem.

Well, I'll tell you what the good things come to those who wait. 

The Silent Trap of Success

Jeffrey Feldberg: So let's talk about the silent trap of success. And let me start with the uncomfortable truth that most successful founders and entrepreneurs, you're already feeling this, but rarely are you saying it out loud.

If your business is growing, it's profitable. You're respected in the marketplace, yet your life feels well, I'm going to use the word heavier, more constrained, more demanding than it should.

You definitely know that profits are not the problem.

Profits are the signal because somewhere along the way, without realizing it, success rewired how your business runs and rewires how you show up inside of it. And for better, for worse, I know this personally, when I was building my e-learning [00:01:00] company, Embanet, from the outside looking in, everything looked terrific.

Revenue was skyrocketing, momentum was massive. Opportunities kept on showing up. Were creating a market disruption from the outside looking in. It was incredible. By every external measure I was winning, but yet the better the business performed, the more it depended on me.

And that's your first hint is that what the, "this is," well keep on listening.

Every meaningful decision ultimately found its way back to my desk. Every escalation it required me to get involved. Every big win had my fingerprints, my time, my effort, all over it.

And at first I loved it.

It felt validating. It was exhausting though, as I look back at it, and eventually it became outright dangerous because when a business can't function at a high level without the founder, that business, it's fragile, no matter how profitable it is.

And here's the part that most founders [00:02:00] miss.

This has nothing to do whether you want to sell your business tomorrow, or you want to keep it forever, because I've seen this trap play out in both scenarios with founders who love what they're doing with no interest in selling, and they genuinely enjoy what they've built.

But I've also seen it play out with founders who, yeah, I want to grow my profits today and in the near future I do plan to exit.

Because the destination, that's not the issue. The issue is the operating system that you're running every single day and insult to injury you may not even realize that it's an operating system that you have or that you're using.

The Deep Wealth Operating System

Jeffrey Feldberg: Most entrepreneurs our operating, what I call on the "Deep Wealth Operating System."

This system, it rewards speed, responsiveness, problem solving, and personal heroics. The harder you work, the more indispensable you become. The more indispensable that you become, the more success depends on you. Profit goes up, but your freedom goes down, [00:03:00] stress rises, health gets deferred, and choice slowly disappears.

At some point, you realize that the business you've built to create freedom, that lifestyle that you want is now the very thing that's limiting it, and the most dangerous position for an entrepreneur is not failure. It's being too important. Let me say that one more time.

The most dangerous position for any entrepreneur or founder is not failure.

It's being too important.

Because when you're the single point of failure, you do not have options. You cannot step away. You can't slow down without consequences. And even if someone knocked on your door tomorrow with an opportunity, is it the opportunity of a lifetime or is it the worst deal of a lifetime?

You'll never know because you're not coming from strength.

You'd be choosing from fatigue, and we talk all about that deal fatigue in the Deep Wealth Mastery Program and it's that realization that forced me to confront something I didn't want to admit. The question wasn't how to grow faster.

Instead, the question [00:04:00] was, how can I build a business that grows and runs without me at every single stage?

That question became the foundation what would later evolve into the Deep Wealth Operating System?

Not as a to-do list, not as a product, not as a theme of the day, not as a theory. Instead as a disciplined approach, forged through my own mistakes, pressure tested from the trenches, from my own journey, and refined by helping countless other founders avoid the same traps and mistakes that I made. What makes it different is simple.

The Deep Wealth Operating System doesn't optimize solely on profit.

Instead, it optimizes for profit, control, and choice simultaneously. Because real wealth is not about forcing an exit or avoiding one. Real Wealth is knowing you could keep the business forever or sell it tomorrow, and either choice would be coming from strength.

I know what you're saying, Jeffrey how can you do that?

That's [00:05:00] impossible. How can you keep a business forever or sell it tomorrow?

And it's that fine balance or that blend, not even a balance, it's the blend between the two, that's what keeps it real.

So if you're listening to this, it's for a reason. There's something about how you're running your business that's not working the way that it used to.

Maybe the growth, I'm going to use the word heavier again. Maybe the growth feels heavier, maybe the winds feel smaller. Maybe you're succeeding, but it's costing you more than you ever expected. So in this episode, I'm going to walk you through step-by-step why this happens. How even the most successful entrepreneurs accidentally design themselves to be the center of everything. And how to begin to shift your business away from you so that it operates in a way that supports your life instead of consuming it, not with hype, with a system that's been lived, tested, and proven.

So what do you say?

Shall we do it?

Shall we keep on going?

Let's do it.

Let's rewrite the operating system that's quietly [00:06:00] working against you like a thief in the night. It's robbing you of everything that's important to you.

So I'm going to share something. It might sting a little bit, just a heads up on that, but if you're still listening, I know you can handle it. Most founders and entrepreneurs do not fail because they're not smart, they're not ambitious, or they're not hustling. In fact, they're all of those things. They fail or plateau or quietly trap themselves because they're running an invisible operating system that they never chose.

It's the operating system that you inherited from early wins, from urgency, from doing everything yourself because you had to, from being the smartest person in the room when the company was small. From firefighting, your weight of profitability. And here's the uncomfortable truth that nobody talks about.

That operating system might be the very thing that made you successful. And I can tell you this, it's also the thing that is capping you in terms of your success. It's exhausting you. And eventually it'll break both you and the business. And I should know, I lived this when things [00:07:00] are working, when revenue is growing, when the market is responding. Nobody taps you on the shoulder and says, hey, Jeffrey, just so you know the way you're running this will eventually cost your freedom, your options, and your clarity.

Instead, you get applause, you get momentum. You get rewarded for being indispensable, and that, that Deep Wealth Nation is the trap. Your business starts to look strong on the outside and becomes fragile on the inside.

Every decision still routes through you and every problem ultimately lands on your desk. Growth creates more complexity, not more ease, and you start to feel something that's, well, it's hard to articulate. You're winning, but it feels heavier. There's that word again. You're profitable, but it's less free. You're building something impressive, but it quietly depends on you far more than it should.

Conventional wisdom tells us founders, well, hey, that's just the price of success. And as usual, conventional wisdom isn't so wise, it's wrong. It's the [00:08:00] cost of running the wrong operating system. Here's what I learned the hard way, you don't outwork this problem. You don't delegate your way out of it, and you definitely don't fix it by waiting until you're burnt out or bored or forced into a decision.

You fix it by changing how the business is designed to run, not how hard you run inside of it.

This is where the Deep Wealth Operating system comes in, and I want to be very clear about how, I mean that, what I'm suggesting with this. Because it's not a slogan, it's not as a framework that you glance at once and forget like our corporate vision or mission that we put on the walls. It's a way of thinking and operating that replaces reaction with intention. Now, the shift, it's subtle. It's incredibly profound.

So instead of asking, how do I grow faster?

You ask, what is this business depending on that it shouldn't be?

Instead of asking, how do I scale myself?

You're asking, why does this even need me at all?

Or instead [00:09:00] of asking what do I want from the business?

You're asking, what would a great business look like if I stepped back for six months, maybe even a year or more?

Most entrepreneurs never ask those questions because they're too busy inside the business. It's so ironic. We create the business for a lifestyle, but it's that very business that robs us of that lifestyle that we want, and by the time we slow down enough to ask those questions, the answers are so incredibly painful.

What I discovered through my own 9-figure exit journey is that the moment we change the operating system, everything else starts to reorganize around it. Profits become a cleaner. Decisions become simpler, growth becomes less dramatic, but more durable. And success, I'm going to use a different word here it becomes lighter and something else happens that nobody expects:

Choice.

You get choices choice to grow without burning yourself out choice to keep the business because it serves your life choice to [00:10:00] sell. Not because you're tired, but because you're ready. And this is why Deep Wealth was never designed as a single outcome system.

It's not a build to sell or grow forever. That's a false binary. It's all about designing a business that doesn't trap you in one future, whether as a founder, entrepreneur, business owner, whether you want eventually to get into deeper growth or prepare for an exit or start with health first because your body is sending you signals that you can no longer ignore. The operating system underneath is the same.

A healthy system creates healthy outcomes. Fragile systems create forced decisions. And if you're feeling that low grade tension, the one, you know what I'm talking about, that one that you can't quite explain to your team or your family, the one that says. I can't keep doing this forever like this.

That's not weakness, Deep Wealth Nation, that's awareness. Trying to get your attention, but we're too busy to listen. Even if we want to listen, we don't have the time or the energy.

The founders who do incredibly well [00:11:00] from here, they're not the ones that are looking for a shortcut.

They're the ones willing to pause long enough to redesign how the game is being played. 

The Importance of X-Factors

Jeffrey Feldberg: I'm going to walk you through what happens when you stop optimizing for speed and you start building real X-Factors that compound without you, because this is where the business stops being impressive and starts becoming powerful.

In the Deep Wealth 9-Step Roadmap, Step 2 X-Factors it is foundational because an X-Factor, it's what makes growth easier. And there's a moment that every serious founder and entrepreneur hits, whether they admit it or not, where growth, it no longer feels exciting and it starts to feel repetitive.

Same blank, different day. You can fill in the blank. Same problem, same decision, same pressure, just bigger numbers attached to all of it. And that's usually when people say we need to scale, when what they really mean is, hey, this is getting harder than it should be.

And here's the single truth that separates a business that is effortless and is growing with ease compared to [00:12:00] one that is growing from the grind.

Most companies try to grow by doing more of what already works. The elites grow by becoming fundamentally different. Different in a way that competitors cannot easily copy. Different in a way that customers actually feel. Different in a way that removes the pressure from the founder instead of adding to it.

Step 2 X-Factors are deep structural advantages inside a business that make growth inevitable and competition irrelevant. I didn't understand this early on. I thought excellence alone would carry the business. If we were smart, hardworking, ethical, delivered, got results, everything else would sort itself out.

Hey, Deep Wealth Nation Does that sound familiar? Well, I got news for you. It doesn't sort itself out and you know this. Excellence without differentiation just makes you a better version of the same thing that everyone else is doing. And better versions still compete. What changed for me and later [00:13:00] became a core pillar of the Deep Wealth Operating System was realizing that the real game, it's not growth, it's leverage.

Leverage of thinking. Leverage of positioning. Leverage, of capabilities that don't require more of you every time the revenue increases.

Step 2 X-Factors forces you to answer uncomfortable questions.

Why do customers choose you when they're cheaper alternatives?

Why do they stay when competitors show up?

What would break if you stepped away for 90 days?

And what would keep working without you?

Those are just the tip of the iceberg what we're asking in the Deep Wealth Mastery program and in Deep Wealth Nation, when we're going in there and looking at the X-Factors for every company. And I've got to share with you, every company has at least three to five X-Factors.

Here's the thing though, for most companies, they take this for granted. As a founder, we just walk in, oh, everyone's doing that. We're nothing special. Well, actually, no, everyone is not doing that. And yes, you are special. So [00:14:00] part of the magic happens when we recognize that, because as a founder, we avoid these questions because the answers, well, they can expose dependence.

 But inside the Deep Wealth Operating System, that's exactly the point. X-Factors are designed to move value out of the founder's head and into the business itself to turn tribal knowledge into institutional advantage. Boy, talk about some fancy words there, but it's the absolute truth because we want to convert our experience into assets, and this is where growth stops becoming personal effort and starts becoming systematic.

And here's where most founders miss the boat altogether. X-Factors matter whether you ever sell or not.

So if you want to grow your profits, keep the business forever terrific. X-Factors give you margin, profits, pricing, power, and breathing room. If you want the option to sell. X-Factors are what buyers actually pay for, not effort, not passion, not how hard you work. They pay [00:15:00] for advantages that survive without you.

And this is why Deep Wealth, Mastery Growth and Deep Wealth Mastery Exit share the same underlying roadmap, the same discipline, the same operating system. The difference is not the destination.

The difference is how explicitly you prepare for optionality to have options.

As I love to say, both personally and in business.

Having one choice, that's not really an option. Two choices is a dilemma. It's only when you have three or more choices. That's when you have true options. And in every case, X-Factors are a non-negotiable. Without them, growth becomes complex. With them, growth increases freedom. The founders who get this right, that's when you begin to experience something most never do.

The business starts pulling you forward instead of pushing it forward. Decisions get easier, opportunities become clearer, and the constant sense of urgency begins to fade.

[00:16:00] Wow, can you imagine that?

Do a quick thought experiment of what that would mean for you, your life, your loved ones. And I got to tell you, that's not luck.

That's by design. And once the X-Factors are in place. It's only then that the next shift becomes possible. Because designing a business that no longer needs you at the center to function at a high level, that's only where real choice begins.

So Deep Wealth Nation, are you wondering what's next?

How do I get there?

What does it look like after X-Factors as well.

Are you ready?

Can I have the drum roll please?

Step 3: Future Buyer

Jeffrey Feldberg: Step 3 Future Buyer.

Now, I've got to tell you, as soon as I say that, most founders become uncomfortable. So let me be clear right away.

When most people hear Step 3 Future Buyer, they wrongly assume that the "buyer thinking" only applies when it's time to sell the business, but actually it doesn't.

The buyer thinking it's disciplined, unemotional outside in thinking, and when you apply it early, it helps you expose the fragility in your [00:17:00] business long before it becomes a problem.

Inside Deep Wealth 9-Step Roadmap, Step 3 Future Buyer, it forces a shift that no founder usually makes on his or her own.

You stop asking, does this work for me?

And you start asking, how does this look to someone who owes me nothing?

That question changes everything.

When you apply Step 3 Future Buyer properly, you begin to see where your business is overly dependent on you. Where decisions lack clarity, where systems are informal instead of intentional and where risk is being tolerated simply because it's familiar.

Most founders assume that their strengths are obvious, but I got news for you, Deep Wealth Nation, it isn't. And you may be assuming that risks are manageable, but they're often invisible until someone else points them out. And this is one of the biggest lessons from my own 9-figure exit journey. The things that I thought were strengths needed to be made visible, documented, and undeniable. I had to get it out of my head. The things that I thought [00:18:00] were fine for now, needed to be addressed long before anyone else ever saw them.

That discipline that doesn't just prepare the business for an exit, it made the business better to own.

Think about it: cleaner decisions, less noise, more confidence, more leverage.

And this is the thing, whether you plan to keep the business forever or in the near future, have an exit. You've got to have a business in the first place.

Because if we're not asking these questions, there's risk. And that risk may put the business out of business. And that's the key point.

So whether you're inside Deep Wealth Mastery Growth, or Deep Wealth Mastery Exit, Step 3 Future Buyer applies the same way. The only difference is how close you are to a potential transaction.

The operating system, it's exactly the same. It doesn't change. The standards don't change. The questions don't change. Only the timeline does. Founders who embrace this step early on, they experience something rare.

Deep Wealth nation when [00:19:00] you do this, you stop being surprised by problems. You stop defending the business emotionally, and you start designing it deliberately.

This is also where you have choices. Yes, choices begin to show up because when you know how your business looks through a future buyer's eyes, you're no longer guessing. You're no longer hoping. You're no longer trapped inside your own assumptions. And by the way, a future buyer isn't necessarily an investor or a stranger.

It could be the next generation. It could be whatever you want it to be. And that's the point, because you're operating with clarity, and clarity is power.

And as you're thinking about that, I'm going to walk you through the next section. You're going to absolutely love it. This is where everything, once you get this done, begins to feel lighter.

Are you curious?

Do you want to know what it is?

Terrific. Glad you asked.

Well, what is it?

Step 8: Skeletons and Rembrandts

Jeffrey Feldberg: Going back to the Deep Wealth of 9-Step Roadmap, we're now looking at Step 8 Skeletons And Rembrandts. And this is the step where most founders either grow up as owners [00:20:00] or stay trapped as operators.

Where are you?

Are you an owner or an operator?

I know where I want to be. So Step 8 Skeletons And Rembrandts. Yes. Right up front. It's not comfortable and that's exactly why it works. Because every business has two things hiding inside of it.

Skeletons and Rembrandts.

Skeletons are the risks that you've, well, you've learned to live with. They become normalized when they really shouldn't have. Think about it. Those are the shortcuts that at the time they made sense. The decisions that you meant to clean up later, but later never happens. The dependency that everyone quietly works around because, well, that's just how it is around here. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

And your Rembrandts, well, those are the opposite. Actually, I love Rembrandt because a Rembrandt comes from an X-Factor. An X-Factor when you're incredibly strong in that area, it's world class. That's what becomes normalized. That's what becomes a Rembrandt.

Sadly, most Rembrandts are hidden in the attic. We never know about them.

We never [00:21:00] take the time to recognize them, to put them out for public display.

And why these Rembrandts are so important, because they're there. Every business has Rembrandts. But these are the advantages that as founders we're not seeing because they're too familiar to us. They seem so obvious, and we assume, well, everyone else is doing this, just like with X-Factors, so we don't bother to articulate them or to protect them or bring them out for public display.

But here's the brutal truth.

Founders almost always underestimate both the skeletons in the closet and the hidden Rembrandts in the attic.

I made this mistake myself inside my business, Embanet. Yes, I knew where the risks were. I told myself, well, Jeffrey, yeah, you can manage it. Not a problem. They're only temporary anyways, it's all under control. After all, nothing's bad happened just yet. But that's the lie that skeletons thrive on.

And at the same time, when I had those hidden Rembrandt in the attic, I didn't even recognize them. These incredible capabilities, these insights, the positioning advantages that felt normal to me because, well, I [00:22:00] lived with them a day in, day out, hey, Deep Wealth Nation.

Is that sounding familiar?

I assumed that everyone else saw them too, but they didn't. And what I love about Step 8 Skeletons And Rembrandts, it forces us to confront both sides honestly. We're not beating ourselves up about this. We're not creating fear, but instead our mission, we're removing fragility so that we can put value right up to the surface very deliberately.

Because this step, it's not a one-time cleanup, it's a ritual, it's a discipline. That's why it's an operating system. It's a way of operating where skeletons are exposed early, while they're so fixable, and the Rembrandts are identified, named, and amplified, like compound interest before they're wasted.

Now, most founders and entrepreneurs, they only do this under pressure. Maybe it's a crisis or a health scare, or a partner conflict, or a stalled growth curve or a buyer may be asking uncomfortable questions. That's reactive.

Inside the Deep Wealth 9-Step Roadmap. This work [00:23:00] happens proactively while you still have the time, the leverage and the options.

And Deep Wealth Nation, this is why this step matters whether you plan to exit or not.

Skeletons don't just scare buyers. They drain you as the founder. Skeletons create stress, demand attention, and they keep you mentally on call even when things look calm. Rembrandts don't just increase the valuation, they increase confidence.

They give you clarity about what actually makes your business special. They sharpen decision making. They make growth easier instead of heavier. They enrich your culture. They have your team members want to stay there, want to come and join your team because of how special you are.

And this is where as a founder, something incredible begins to happen. You feel a shift internally. The business becomes less mysterious, less, if I can use the word emotionally charged, less dependent on intuition and heroics, and instead more intentional. When skeletons are removed and the Rembrandts are brought out for public display, the [00:24:00] business stands on its own legs.

Well, it's not perfect. Yes, I get that. And it's not instantly, but it is measurable. And that's when something powerful happens.

You stop waking up, wondering what's going to break today?

You stop carrying that invisible weight you didn't know how to put down, and you start feeling like an owner again, not the glue holding everything together.

And this step, it's uncomfortable for founders who want to be told they're doing great, because chances are you're probably not. It's transformative for the founders who want their business to work for them and not the other way around. And once this discipline is in place, that's where the final shift becomes possible.

Where we turn all of this into real choice, not theory, not someday, but practical lived leverage.

Okay Deep Wealth Nation, are you ready for the next step?

Step 7: Timing and Execution

Jeffrey Feldberg: It's Step 7 Timing And Execution.

And what I love about the step, this is where everything you've heard so far stops being theory and [00:25:00] starts to become real.

Because timing is not about the market, and execution is not about speed. Instead, they're both about leverage. Most entrepreneurs think timing means waiting for the perfect moment, the right marketing conditions, the right valuation, the right amount of energy, the right time in life.

I got news for you. Deep Wealth Nation. Do not shoot the messenger on this one.

That moment rarely comes.

What actually happens is the business keeps growing. Complexity keeps stacking. Pressure is quietly increasing, and eventually timing chooses you not the other way around.

Perhaps it's a health issue. Maybe it's a partner conflict. Perhaps it's burnout or boredom or a surprise offer that you're not ready for, but it just shows up and now you feel like you've got to deal with it.

That's not timing, that's reaction.

Step 7 Timing And Execution in the Deep Wealth 9-Step Roadmap, it exists specifically to flip that dynamic completely. 

The Power of Not Needing Anything

Jeffrey Feldberg: When I went through my own [00:26:00] 9-figure journey, the biggest lesson wasn't how to negotiate or to structure the deal.

Instead, it was realizing that the only people with real power are the ones who don't need anything to happen.

Let me say that again.

The only people with real power are the ones who don't need anything to happen.

Or you've heard me say in the podcast, the one who wins the negotiation is the one who cares the least.

Why do they care the least?

Because they don't need it. They'll just keep on doing whatever they're doing. That is true power, because when you're in that position, you're not rushed, you're not desperate, and you're certainly not guessing.

What you are is prepared.

Timing and Execution: Designing Multiple Futures

Jeffrey Feldberg: Timing when done properly it's not about predicting the future, it's about designing the business so that multiple futures are available to you at the same time.

Let me say that one more time. Step 7 Timing And Execution through preparation ensures that multiple futures are available to you at the same time. And [00:27:00] that's the difference between hope and choice. Execution can now become clean, focused, intentional, and not frantic. Not pandemonium. This is where everything converges.

Health gives you the capability to think clearly. Growth gives you the momentum without fragility. Buyer thinking removes the blind spots. Skeletons are addressed, Rembrandts are amplified. The list goes on and on. And execution is not exhausting. It's the opposite. It's decisive. 

Introducing Deep Wealth Mastery Paths

Jeffrey Feldberg: This is also where the three Deep Wealth Mastery paths make sense without being forced.

You may be saying, Jeffrey, well, what are the three deep mastery paths?

Well little surprise for you, Deep Wealth Nation. A bit of a spoiler alert.

Behind the scenes. Myself and the team, we are working on a brand new mastery program. 

Deep Wealth Mastery Health: Optimizing Founder Health

Jeffrey Feldberg: Deep Wealth Mastery Health. This is all about how we can optimize our health as founders.

This is not general tips or the flavor of the [00:28:00] day. It's actionable strategies from the trenches to have you optimize your sovereign health, which is your sovereign wealth. When we make health our first wealth, that's where everything else begins to happen. After all, what's the point if you have a successful business and all these zeros in the bank account, but you can't get out of bed, or you have brain fog, or you just have the final exit far too early. So that's what we're working on behind the scenes. And for some founders who want to double down on their business, they want to grow their profits, but they don't have any plans to exit.

Deep Wealth Mastery Growth: Enjoying Business Again

Jeffrey Feldberg: That's where you want Deep Wealth Mastery Growth. This is where you get to enjoy the business all over again the way it should have been. Where you have leverage, where you keep on building without being the bottleneck.

Deep Wealth Mastery Exit: Strategic Choices

Jeffrey Feldberg: And then for the other group of founders who want to grow profits today and have an exit in the near future, that's where Deep Wealth Mastery Exit comes in. Not because you're tired, but because the business is finally strong enough that selling or exiting becomes a strategic choice, not an escape.

So where do [00:29:00] you start?

Really the choice is yours.

Maybe you start with Deep Wealth Mastery Health, because when you start with health, that's where you finally admit the truth, that without your body in peak condition in every area none of the other choices matter.

Again, all of these Deep Wealth Mastery programs, Deep Wealth, Mastery Health, Growth, or Exit, it's the same operating system, different expressions.

What matters is the choice is yours, and this is the part where most entrepreneurs, they never get to experience it. Waking up knowing you don't have to make a decision today. Knowing you can keep the business forever and enjoy it, or knowing you can sell it tomorrow and be proud of what you built.

That level of calm doesn't come from money.

It comes from preparation.

And preparation is not a one-time thing. It's not a to-do list, it's not an event. It's a way of operating.

The Essence of Deep Wealth Operating System

Jeffrey Feldberg: And that's what I love about the Deep Wealth Operating System. It's a system, a system built to create, not pressure, not [00:30:00] hype, not a promised outcome, but a business and a life that gives you options. And when you have options, everything changes. And talking about changes and options, that's what I love with Step 9 of the Deep Wealth process, the Deep Wealth Roadmap.

Step 9: Extracting Your Deep Wealth

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Step 9 Extracting Your Deep Wealth, pun intended. And this is the step that most entrepreneurs think they want, but very few actually ever reach. Not because it's complicated, but because it requires everything before that it be done, honestly and earnestly.

Step 9 Deep Wealth is not about money. It's about power, but not the kind of power that you're thinking Deep Wealth Nation. Quiet power, the kind you feel in your body when you know you're not trapped. Most founders sadly, are chasing outcomes. Maybe it's a number, perhaps a title, a transaction, some kind of milestone that they believe will finally give them permission to relax or brag about.

The Importance of Choice in Business

Jeffrey Feldberg: What they really want is choice. While you're asking, well, Jeffrey, sure, but what do you mean by choice?

[00:31:00] Well, the choice to keep building without resentment.

The choice to step back without fear.

The choice to sell without regret, or the choice to say no even to good opportunities.

The tragedy, it's a true tragedy for most founders, is that they achieve financial success, but they never experienced this.

And Deep Wealth Nation you've heard this on this very podcast where we talk to post exit entrepreneurs who have not had their happily ever after. And Hey, look no further than yours truly, for a while, that's what I went through, and that's what I love about the Deep Wealth Operating System. It comes from the trenches, it's battle proven. It is not theory. It actually works.

Because I got to tell you this, once you've been there, you never want to go back. Choice is not granted by success. Let me say that one more time.

Choice is not granted by success.

Choice. It's designed into the system, and I didn't really understand that until very recently in my own journey, my 9-figure exit is [00:32:00] not powerful because of the number. And yes, don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for the number. It's powerful because by the time it happened, I didn't need it.

Now, you've heard me say in this podcast, when you're going through a liquidity event, that deal goes off the rails a gazillion times. And there was a point in time where our deal went off the rails, and I remember speaking with Waleuska, speaking with Steve and saying, okay guys, it's just not going to happen. But so what. We have this incredible business. We'll just keep on going and we'll change the business to suit our needs, not the other way around.

Our business, Embanet, was strong, the systems were clean, my health mattered. I was doing the right things, and my life wasn't waiting on a deal to restart. And that's what made it deep wealth, pun intended, not just wealth. And it was even sweeter when the deal happened.

And I got to tell you, I believe that the deal actually got back on track because we weren't dependent on it. And as crazy as it sounds, it happened because we didn't [00:33:00] need it to happen. Life is funny that way. The moment we stop needing something, even the word need, it's needy. The moment we stop needing something and we go in a different direction, all of a sudden life goes our way, exactly the way that we want.

Isn't it funny that way?

That's a whole other episode and a whole different conversation. 

The Deep Wealth Operating System: A Different Way to Operate

Jeffrey Feldberg: In fact, we can even make that a conversation, but that's what I love about the Deep Wealth Operating System. That's what it's really about. It's not about forcing an exit. It's not glorifying endless growth, and it's not selling a fantasy.

It's about building your health so that you're vibrant and healthy, and you have an amazing legacy, a long runway ahead of you. It is about building a business and a life that don't corner you into one future with only one choice or maybe even no choice. Most systems push you towards a single outcome. This one pulls you towards optionality.

When health is sovereign, you have energy. When growth is intentional, you have leverage. When the business is designed to function without you, that's when you have control.

And when [00:34:00] all of that is true, at the same time, Deep Wealth Nation, you have something so rare.

You have calm. Calm, in decisions, calm in negotiations, calm in conversations with your loved ones, with your family, calm, knowing you're not late, behind or running out of time.

And this is when founders stop asking, what should I do next?

And start saying, I get to choose. That choice might be to stay, perhaps it's to grow. Perhaps it is to exit. Perhaps your shifting your focus to health or family or legacy. The point is not which path you take. The point is the path is yours. So if you're listening to this and something in you feels seen, it's because you already knew this truth.

What got you here is not what will get you where you actually want to be. And that's not a failure. This is an invitation. An invitation to stop running the business the way you always have. An [00:35:00] invitation to operate with intention instead of inertia. And an invitation, pun intended to build deep wealth, not just surface or visible success.

And I know this is not for most founders or entrepreneurs. It's for the ones who are ready to stop trading their future for momentum. And if that's you, well, you already knew this, because the next move isn't about doing more. It's about operating differently.

So you may be asking, well, Jeffrey, what do you mean operating differently?

The Founder's Journey: From Tactics to Operating Systems

Jeffrey Feldberg: Well, Deep Wealth Nation. I'm glad you asked about operating differently because I'm going to share with you the invitation and the line that most entrepreneurs never cross.

If you stayed with me so far, and I'm glad that you have, let me say something as plainly as I can.

This episode is not meant to convince you of anything.

It was meant to hold up a mirror. Because founders, we don't need more motivation. We already know as founders, we already have that. We don't need another tactic, another framework, another productivity [00:36:00] trick. We've tried all those and then some. What we need as founders, whether we've named it or not, we need a different way of operating.

And the Deep Wealth Operating System, it's not interesting because it promises results.

It's interesting because it removes the traps that most founders don't even realize they're in, and it's not for most people. I'll be the first one to tell you that. It's not for the founders who want reassurance. I'm not going to give you that.

It's not for the founders looking to be told that they're already doing everything right. Go somewhere else for that, and it is not for the founders that are chasing shortcuts or magic bullets, you've already heard me say, those don't exist, at least here in Deep Wealth Nation.

If you're a founder who's willing to slow down long enough to redesign how you're winning. If you're a founder who understands that if success feels heavier than it should be and that something structurally is off then you're a founder who's open enough to experiment, honest enough to look at what's actually happening and committed enough to [00:37:00] invest when it'd be easier not to.

That's why here at Deep Wealth, we're saying "no" more than we say "yes," not because as founders, we're not capable, because capability without commitment doesn't change outcomes. You know that. It's the founders that are getting results. The ones that are inside the Deep Wealth Operating System, they're the ones who are putting the time where they say it matters.

They put attention where it's uncomfortable, and that is easier said than done. And they're putting their money literally where their mouth is because they understand that transformation without investment, well, it's just entertainment. 

The Invitation to Build Deep Wealth

Jeffrey Feldberg: Whether someone starts with Deep Wealth Mastery Health or Growth, or Exit the path, it's the same underneath. One operating system, one standard, one decision to stop drifting and to start operating with intention.

If this is the first time that you've heard of the Deep Wealth Operating System and you're now feeling that quiet sense of relief, the one that says finally someone is naming what I've been [00:38:00] feeling, I've got to tell you, Deep Wealth Nation, that is not an accident.

That's what I call resonance.

And resonance only happens when truth lands. You don't need to decide anything right now. You don't need to act today, but you do owe yourself honesty. Ask yourself one question and Deep Wealth Nation and want you to sit with it. Here's the question:

Is the way I'm operating today creating more choice or quietly taking it away?

Let me ask that question one more time.

Is the way I'm operating today creating more choice or quietly taking it away?

Because the difference between those two paths, it's not talent, it's not intelligence, and it's not luck. It's the operating system that you choose to run.

And once you see that, you can't unsee it. And that's where deep wealth actually begins.

So let's talk about what happens after you finish this episode.

And let me bring us home and close this episode out the only honest way that I [00:39:00] know of.

Nothing changes just because you listened to this episode.

I wish it were the case, but it isn't. Insight without action is just recognition. It feels good. It even feels relieving, but it doesn't change the trajectory of your business or your life.

What changes is what you do next.

Most founders, most entrepreneurs, they'll hear something here, they'll nod along and then they'll go right back into the same operating system they've been running for years. It's not because you're lazy, it's because momentum is powerful and default behavior is comfortable. Our brain craves us.

It's part of the human condition, even when it's costly. A smaller group, they're going to feel something different. These founders, they'll feel, well, not urgency, not pressure, and instead clarity.

This group of founders realize that the discomfort that they've been carrying is not random. It's not just in their heads. It's structural. And once you see that, you now have two [00:40:00] choices.

You can keep managing around it.

Or you can redesign it.

The Deep Wealth Operating System. It exists solely for the founders who choose the second path. Not because it's easy, but because it's necessary. Remember, doing what's right often isn't easy.

Now, some founders start by reclaiming their health because they finally admit the truth, that without the energy, the clarity, the longevity, every other goal, every other ambition, it's simply theoretical. And if they're really honest about it, they may have their final exit far too early and may not even get there.

Some founders will start with Deep Wealth Mastery Growth because they want the profits without the chaos, without the dependency, and without the burnout.

And yet there's other founders who want Deep Wealth Mastery Exit. Not because they're running away, not because they're burnt out, because they want to be ready for the opportunity instead of being surprised by it.

Different starting points.

Same operating system.

The [00:41:00] same standard. And here's the part I really want you to hear.

You don't have to figure this all out today. You don't need to overhaul your business tomorrow. In fact, don't do anything. Sleep on it. Because you don't need to stop pretending that time alone will fix structural problems. You know it won't. I know that you know that. If the way you are operating today is slowly taking away choice, it'll keep doing that until you do one thing.

Intervene.

And no Deep Wealth Nation, I'm not being pessimistic. It's pure mechanics. The founders who build deep wealth, pun intended, are not the ones who work the hardest or even move the fastest. They're the ones who design how the game is played. They're even changing games before the game forces them to.

So if this episode stirred something, don't ignore it. Sit with the question, talk it through with yourself. Be honest about what's working and what's not. Because the most expensive mistake an entrepreneur can make is not failing. It's succeeding in a way that costs [00:42:00] you the very life you're trying to build.

And that's exactly what the Deep Wealth Operating System is built to prevent. And whether or not you even do anything further, I hope that this episode helps you see something clearly because you deserve a business that gives you options.

You deserve health that supports your ambition. And you deserve success that doesn't come with a hidden bill, an unwanted bill. This is not fantasy. It's a design choice. And now at least you know it exists.

So I want to share one final word as I bring this home for you, for the founder who knows better because you've stayed with me.

The Final Thought: Freedom and Choice

Jeffrey Feldberg: So before you move on to your next activity, your next meeting, whatever it may be, your next decision, the next fire, sadly, the next fire. Let me leave with you one final thought. As founders, as entrepreneurs, we don't struggle because we lack the answers.

In fact, it's the opposite.

We struggle because we've outgrown the operating system that once served us so well. What worked when the business was smaller, [00:43:00] simpler, and more dependent on you does not scale indefinitely. I think he knew that deep down inside that at some point that same approach becomes the problem. It becomes a constraint.

And believe me, Deep Wealth Nation, this is not a character flaw. There's nothing wrong with you. It's a stage of the journey. Every founder goes through that. And I want to share with you that every meaningful transition in my own path began when I stopped asking for better tactics and started demanding, yes, demanding a better way to operate.

And this is what ultimately led to my 9-figure exit. And more importantly, to a life that I didn't need a vacation or even an exit to escape from.

The Deep Wealth operating System came for one reason and one reason only:

Too many founders and entrepreneurs, they win financially, but they are losing personally, strategically, and physically along the way.

The Deep Wealth Operating System exists so that you don't have to make that trade. You can grow your profits without growing the pressure. You can build a business that works without you [00:44:00] being the glue. You can protect your health while increasing your ambition, and you can even create the option to sell without being forced into it.

None of that happens by accident.

It happens when you, as a founder, you decide to stop letting momentum dictate what your future is, and you start designing your future instead.

Deep Wealth Nation thank you. You're still listening. You're still here. And I respect you for that because I know deep down inside, something inside of you knows that it is time to operate differently. You don't need to rush, you don't need to impress anyone and you don't need to announce anything.

All I'm asking, don't ignore the signal.

Because as founders, as entrepreneurs who build deep wealth, we're not the loudest. We're certainly not the flashiest. We're not the most reactive. We are the ones who are choosing the right operating system before circumstances choose for us.

And that's the difference. And now Deep Wealth Nation, now you know that exists.

So as we wrap this up, and yes, I promise you, I really am wrapping this up. I [00:45:00] want to give you the choice that most founders never realize they have.

I want you to leave with this because this is the one quiet truth underneath everything we've talked about today.

Most founders believe they have freedom because they own a business. In reality, most businesses, sadly, own their founders.

And if you don't believe me, look at your calendar. Your calendar tells the truth. Your stress levels tell the truth. The fact that you're always needed, always involved, always just one more decision away from things running smoothly. That's what's telling the truth.

And here's the uncomfortable part. That reality exists whether your business is doing a million dollars in revenue or a gazillion dollars in revenue. Size, does not fix this. Growth does not fix this. Time will not fix this. Only a different operating system fixes this, and what the Deep Wealth Operating System ultimately gives you is not an exit. It's not growth, it's not even profits, although all those things happen.

It gives you choice, the choice to keep the business forever [00:46:00] because it finally serves your life instead of consuming it. The choice to sell the business tomorrow because it's prepared, it's resilient and valuable on your terms, not a buyer's.

The choice to step back without fear because the business no longer collapses without you. In fact, the business runs without you.

And last but not least, the most overlooked choice of all. The choice to still be healthy enough to enjoy whatever you decide comes next. This is why health is foundational. This is why growth is intentional. This is why exit readiness is baked in and not bolted on.

Not because everyone should sell, but because every entrepreneur, you deserve options. I didn't learn this from theory. I learned this the hard way. I went through the trenches. I did the heavy lifting. I learned it in building, in breaking and rebuilding, and ultimately exiting a business at a scale that I never imagined when I started. And then I learned it again by helping other founders avoid the same blind spots that I had.[00:47:00]

So if you're listening to this and something clicked, not excitement, not hype, but a quiet recognition, that's not an accident. It means your current wave of operating has taken you as far as it can. And it might be time to consider a different one. Not rushed. Not pressured, just considered.

Because the most dangerous place for an entrepreneur is not failure. It's success without clarity. And if what you're hearing today resonates with you and you want to learn more, you want to find out more, send an email, a simple email to success at Deep Wealth dot com.

S-U-C-C-E-S-S at Deep Wealth, D-E-E-P-W-E-A-L-T-H[dot]com. 

success [at] deepwealth [dot[ com 

And in the subject, put the word "Choices."

 success [at] deepwealth [dot[ com 

In the subject, put the word "Choices." It'll come directly to me. I will get back to you. We'll have that conversation because I want you to know Deep Wealth Nation, that the most powerful position that you can be in is knowing that whatever you choose next, you're ready [00:48:00] for it.

And as you think about that, it's official.

This is a wrap.

As we left to say here at Deep Wealth, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe.

Thank you so much.

God bless.

So there you have it, Deep Wealth Nation. 

Subscribe to Deep Wealth Podcast

Jeffrey Feldberg: What did you think? 

So with all that said and as we wrap it up, I have another question for you.

Actually, it's more of a personal favor. 

Did you find this episode helpful? 

Have you found other episodes of the Deep Wealth Podcast empowering and a game changer for your journey? 

And if you said yes, and I really hope you did, I have a small but really meaningful way that you can actually help us out and keep these episodes coming to you.

Are you ready for it? 

The dramatic pause. I'll just wait a moment. Drumroll, please. Subscribe. Please subscribe to the Deep Wealth podcast on your favorite podcast channel. When you subscribe to the Deep Wealth Podcast, you're saving yourself time. Every episode automatically comes to you, and I want you to know that we meticulously craft Every one of our episodes to have impactful strategies, stories, expert insights that are designed to help you grow your profits, increase the [00:49:00] value of your business, and yes, even optimize your post exit life and your life right now, whatever you want that to look like.

And every time you subscribe and a fellow entrepreneur subscribe, it's a testament to how together, Yes, we are. We are changing the social fabric of society. One business owner at a time, one liquidity event at a time. So don't let the momentum stop here. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast channel.

You'll never miss an episode. You'll be the first to hear from the top industry leaders, the innovators, the disruptors that are really changing and shaping the business world, and maybe you're commuting, maybe you're at the gym, maybe you're taking a well deserved break that we spoke all about on this episode.

The Deep Wealth Podcast, it's your reliable source for the next big idea that could literally revolutionize your business. So once again, please hit that subscribe button, stay connected, inspired, and ahead of the curve. And again, your next big breakthrough moment, it might just be one episode away. Maybe it was even this episode.

So all that said. Thank you so much for listening. And remember your wealth isn't [00:50:00] just about the money in the bank. It's about the depth of your journey and the impact that you're creating. So let's continue this journey together. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for listening to this episode.

And as we love to say here at Deep Wealth, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe. 

Thank you so much. 

God bless.