Brandon Dawson: 97% of Startups Fail! How to Beat the Odds and Scale to 9 Figures | Entrepreneurship | E364

Young and Profiting with Hala Taha (Entrepreneurship, Sales, Marketing)

YAP Media Network

Education, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Business, Self-improvement

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A few years after being voted 'least likely to succeed' in high school, Brandon Dawson defied expectations by scaling his first company from zero to $75 million. Since then, he has built and sold multiple nine-figure businesses. As the co-founder of Cardone Ventures, he helps entrepreneurs build wealth, scale effectively, and lead with purpose. In this episode, Brandon reveals why 97% of businesses fail and shares how to beat the odds and achieve business growth. He also discusses his core leadership principles and the key traits of a great business partner. In this episode, Hala and Brandon will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (02:21) His Early Life and Entrepreneurship Journey (09:27) Bootstrapping a Startup vs. VC Funding (19:10) Why Entrepreneurs Should Prioritize Cash Reserves (26:14) Scale vs. Scaling: Redefining Business Growth (36:48) Why 92% of Businesses Fail to Scale Past $3M (40:25) The ‘Law of the Lid’ in Leadership (45:47) Actionable Steps to Improving Leadership Skills (55:46) Building 9-Figure Businesses with Grant Cardone (01:03:01) The Key Traits to Look for in Business Partners Brandon Dawson is an entrepreneur, scaling expert, and co-founder of Cardone Ventures. As CEO of Sonus Corporation, he grew it to over 1,400 locations and raised $58 million. He later founded Audigy Group, scaling it from $500,000 to $35 million before selling it for $151 million. With over 30 years of experience, Brandon helps businesses scale using data-driven strategies, navigate breakpoints, and avoid common pitfalls. Sponsored By: Shopify - Start your $1/month trial at Shopify.com/profiting Indeed - Get a $75 sponsored job credit to boost your job's visibility at Indeed.com/PROFITING OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first 6 months at OpenPhone.com/profiting Airbnb - Find a co-host at airbnb.com/host Mercury - Streamline your banking and finances in one place. Learn more at ⁠⁠mercury.com/profiting⁠⁠ Policy Genius - Secure your family’s future with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/profiting Framer - Launch your site for free at Framer.com, and use code PROFITING Resources Mentioned: Brandon's Website: bdawson.com Brandon's Book, Nine-Figure Mindset: bit.ly/9FigureMindset Brandon’s Podcast, Building Billions: bit.ly/BuildingBillions-Apple The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell: bit.ly/21-Laws Good to Great (6 book series) by Jim Collins: bit.ly/GTG-Series Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant by Robert T. Kiyosaki: bit.ly/CashQuadrant Sell or Be Sold by Grant Cardone: bit.ly/Sell-Be-Sold Start The Work by Natalie Dawson: bit.ly/StartTheWork Three Feet from Gold by Sharon L. Lechter: bit.ly/3-Feet-Gold Active Deals - youngandprofiting.com/deals Key YAP Links Reviews - ratethispodcast.com/yap YouTube - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Social + Podcast Services: yapmedia.com Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Podcast, Business, Business Podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal Development, Starting a Business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side Hustle, Startup, Mental Health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth Mindset, Passive income, Online Business, Solopreneur, Founder, Networking

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today's episode is sponsored in part by Open Phone, Shopify, Mercury, Indeed, and Framer.
0:06.0	OpenFone is the number one business phone system. Build stronger customer relationships and respond faster with shared numbers, AI, and automations.
0:14.3	Get 20% off your first six months when you go to openphone.com slash profiting.
0:19.1	Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you grow your
0:22.6	business. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash profiting. Mercury
0:28.6	streamlines your banking and finances in one place so you can focus on growing your online business.
0:34.2	Learn more at mercury.com slash profiting. Attract interview and hire all in one place with Indeed.
0:39.9	Get a $75-sponsored job credit at Indeed.com.
0:43.2	Profiting. Terms and conditions apply.
0:46.0	Framer is the designed first, no-code website builder that lets anyone ship a production-ready site in just minutes.
0:52.8	Launch your site for free at framer.com and use code
0:55.9	profiting to get your first month of pro on the house. As always, you can find all of our incredible
1:00.7	deals in the show notes or at young and profiting.com slash deals. 97% of businesses fail out of
1:08.0	34 million and most of them stay at 3 million or less. If the business
1:12.6	is going to grow and scale, the person in charge of the business must grow and scale.
1:18.3	Brandon Dawson is the co-founder and CEO of Cardone Ventures with Grant Cardone, and he's a serial
1:24.6	entrepreneur who's built not one but multiple companies into nine-figure successes.
1:29.6	I wouldn't raise my first million. I made 100 presentations. I was laughed out of most of them.
1:34.1	I bought my first business. I had no idea what I was doing between 26, 27.
1:39.2	You ended up selling your next company for a lot of money like 77 77 EBTA. Why do you think you were able to
1:45.5	sell it for so much? Boostrap your company, be in control of it, and learn to force the company
1:50.6	to make money. And if the company doesn't make money, there's sort of like a bottleneck or a plateau
	...

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