Andrew Safnauer | Business Ops & Strategy Advisor

Most advice comes from people who’ve only done one thing. I’ve built award-winning media, launched a 7-figure apparel brand, scaled a global car platform, and helped founders solve problems. Here are 6 business lessons I’d bet on again:

It is a totally believable story bc I had it happen to me yesterday. Vehicle has price listed but ‘click for sales price’. I do so. They ask how I want to be contacted (email) and then proceed to text and call me 7 times. Do I need to post the missed calls to prove that to you? This is Hendrick btw. A big organization. The vast majority of car dealerships are terrible. The stories of bad ones aren’t figments of people’s imaginations. The dealer lobbying groups restrict how things are sold across every state. That isn’t real choice for consumers. It’s me having to choose the best of bad choices.

This isn't a believable story. The Ford site puts the price of the truck right up front. It may not be the price the dealer will sell for, but the price is clear, not "vehicle details hidden". Tesla does the same thing with "vehicle discounts". I had one when I bought my Tesla. There are no "popups all in your face". The purpose of multiple calls and emails is competition. Suddenly you have dealers fighting for your business. This puts the CUSTOMER in control. If the dealer "forces you to come in" for anything, they are a shit dealer. Mine gave me my trade value over the phone, then actually increased it once I arrived because it was in better shape than they anticipated. Tesla gives absolute shit values even for their own cars. When I traded in my Tesla, Tesla offered me $28k. Echo Park gave me $32k. They price low because they haven't seen the car. A dealer who sees the car will give a better value. When I bought my lightning, I literally called my local Ford dealer, they gave me a great price over the phone, and I was at the dealer signing papers a few hours later. However, when I bought a Tesla, I ended up spending 8 hours on hold over a few days to talk to a real person about multiple issues with my order, or even switching to a different car that had popped up after I ordered. I had to drive to the "dealership" just to get a motherfucking person to talk to me. Literally the worst car buying experience ever. Don't even get me started on delivery day where I showed up and they were like, "here's the car", then whined like I was a massive pain in the ass to them when I pointed out several issues like panel gaps (Tesla is the only brand where this is an issue) and paint chips. If I had walked, they couldn't have cared less. At least traditional dealers will bust their ass to make sure that sale goes through. But you're biased, Stan.

Had a fam member look to buy a Ford F-150 Lighting. Let me vent here: - website = can't even go down the page without popups all in your face, text call chat, vehicle details hidden and all this discount BS. Fill out one and you get 5 calls, 5 emails and 5 texts - dealer forces you to come in and get your trade valued or talk estimates, set expectation of at least 2-3 hours 🤯 - @Ford dealer reps we went to pushing ICE hard- "no one wants EVs", "batteries break often", "not enough charging"- can't answer basic questions on range, charging, tech etc instead just push their "dealer discounts" and "let's make a deal" Dealers aren't dying, they're dead. Cousin bought a Tesla instead - shoutout to our web and sales team making the Tesla experience transparent and seamless

New year, new cars, new models. But which model deserves a modern comeback?

The most dangerous phase in business is “fine.” Revenue is steady. The team is functioning. Nothing is on fire. It sounds good. But is it? In my experience, this is where founders start delaying decisions because they're afraid it will "mess everything up." Unfortunately, staying "fine" IS actually messing everything up. Staying status quo is when you lose momentum, and opportunities start passing you by. If things feel “fine,” it’s worth asking what decisions you've been putting off. That’s usually where the real work is.

Make him sign a deal that you get all merch rights in perpetuity. If he’s a good kid and works hard at the stuff you want him to do - school, whatever - I’m prob making a deal w him over this. My daughter played travel soccer. We made her work for us when we owned a soccer training franchise. A little skin in the game.

The unemployed guy who lives at my house never really had to sweat for anything. That part is on me. I know exactly why I did it. I grew up with nothing. Truly nothing. So I overcorrected. I made sure he never felt that gap I felt as a kid. Here’s the thing though. He’s not spoiled. Not even close. He doesn’t crave expensive stuff. He takes care of his things. He’s calm, measured, almost annoyingly frugal for his age. Now we’ve hit a real fork in the road. The one thing he’s certain about in life is music. Drums, specifically. His first drum set was given on his 1st birthday and he never stopped. He didn’t dabble. He committed. Now he wants to level up. Better equipment. Turn the garage into a real music room with soundproofing. Rough number: six grand. Every instinct in my body screams “just handle it.” I can. I want to. It would be easy. But he’s almost fifteen, and this feels like one of those moments that actually shapes a person. He never did the kid hustle phase. No lemonade stands. No odd jobs. No earning his own money, ever. So telling him to come up with $6k in a few months feels disconnected from reality. And handing it to him feels like robbing him of something important. I’m stuck in the gray zone… Help? Enable? What’s the right move when there’s such an opportunity for a lesson but still wanna make it happen?

@therayjgreen Long career in voiceover who got paired up w some really talented tv people. Right person, right place, right time.

@longtrain Similar backgrounds from very different spaces. No Emmy though. Would love to hear the story. How do I get one of those bad boys?!

With the New Year here and a few new faces around, a quick reintroduction feels right. To anyone just joining me, I'm Andy Safnauer. I’ve spent the last 30 years building, scaling, and sometimes shutting down businesses across industries. From e-commerce to automotive. At various points, I’ve been a studio owner, a founder, a consultant, and the person brought in when something needed to be built quickly and figured out as it went. Simply put, I've picked up a lot of playbooks. These days, I help founders and leadership teams make confident decisions when the next step isn’t clear. I sit in the discomfort with them long enough to reach the decision. A few things about me that don’t fit neatly on a bio: - I used to work with Ludacris (he was Chris Lova Lova back then) - I once wired $36,000 to China without an on-site inspection or contract (it worked out) - I have an Emmy (happy to share that story if you're interested) - Every weekend I get closer to finishing my rebuilt Ford F-100 (my wife isn't worried) That's me. Tell me about you. Glad you’re here.

@Camp4 The struggle for me sometimes is delineating between actual work and busy work. ESP when you’re trying something new to see what sticks. The key has been to be aware of not getting stuck too long once you realize it isn’t getting you where you want to be.

A kick in your butt for the new year: (Yes, I’m talking to you 🫵.) There’s a trap that keeps many people from getting what they want out of life. I call it “fake work”. We pretend that we don’t know how to obtain what we desire. So we… read self-help books listen to podcasts join masterminds bookmark posts on X attend workshops buy online courses “grab coffee” hire coaches create elaborate plans There’s nothing wrong with any of those things… ⚠️Which is precisely why they can be dangerous. ⚠️ It feels like progress, but it’s not. It can become a sneaky form of procrastination. And it comes at a real cost: for many, it adds up to hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars. As the saying goes, “Success is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.” Too many people are stuck on the 1%. 🦵Here’s the kick we all need for 2026: YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO DO. So stop doing fake work and do the actual thing. Take a baby step. And then another. Don’t stop. Walk the way and the way will appear. I’ll end with a quick personal example: When I lived in Texas, I joined the local climbing club. I was new to the sport and very eager, so I attended all the meetups. What I found was people who talked a lot about climbing… but didn’t do much actual climbing. I called them “theoretical climbers”. Real climbers are found on the rocks... who knew? Don’t be a theoretical… entrepreneur fit person wife/husband traveler [INSERT THING YOU WANT TO BE] Now stop reading this self-help post and go do the thing!

@themgmtconsult Oh, I like them all - those were just ones that really stood out.

@longtrain 3 out of 26, not bad 🤣🤣 Thank you!!

INTERNALIZE THESE 26 IDEAS TO ATTACK YOUR CAREER IN 2026 1) Stamina is your most underrated career advantage. Everyone's a genius in January, but talk to me in November, when the novelty is gone, the work feels like sh*t but you still show up. 2) Stop obsessing about "finding your passion", instead become so good at something that people shut up and listen when you talk. Passion comes AFTER competence. 3) Your boss promotes the person who reduces their anxiety at 11pm the night before submission. Become the person who makes problems disappear. 4) The higher you go, the less your job is about work… and the more it becomes "politics", power, ambiguity, unstated agendas. If that sentence makes you angry, you are still entry-level. 5) You do NOT need another bullsh*t productivity app. You need fewer priorities. Focus is violent subtraction. 6) A dangerous point in your career is when you start believing your own legend. You stop listening and learning. That's when you get brutally humbled. 7) Doing important work in silence is noble. It is also career suicide. Learn to narrate reality. No grandstanding: make sure the right people understand the impact you actually created. 8) It's not the hours that burn you out, but the sprinting in the wrong direction. Hard work compounds... but so does self-delusion. 9) The market rewards leverage, not loyalty. Skills, relationships, common sense. If someone can swap you with a cheaper version of you, they eventually will. 10) If your entire identity sits inside your company logo, you are renting your self-worth. One reorg and you're nothing. Build your own name, slowly and consistently. 11) Your career WILL stall if you cling to the work you are already good at. Let go of the comfort blanket or stay stuck at that level forever. 12) Learn how money moves in your industry. Who makes it. Who loses it. Where the margins are. That knowledge is worth more than 10 certificates and a shiny Linked1n badge. 13) If AI scares you, don't learn prompts. AI is the power tool, leverage is the architect. The amateurs obsess over features while the pros redesign the house. 14) Early career: say yes to everything. You are collecting dots. Mid-career: say no aggressively. You are connecting them. Late career: say yes only to things that multiply your legacy. 15) Titles are mostly BS. Ask yourself: if the org chart vanished tomorrow, would people still come to me? 16) Changing companies is not always growth. Sometimes it's just running away from uncomfortable feedback you were not ready to hear... 17) Your network compounds when you help people and expect nothing back. The loudest "networkers" are usually the most useless. 18) Read history! Every generation thinks its crisis is unprecedented but most are not. Panic is a terrible career strategy. 19) Growth hides in the conversations you avoid because they feel uncomfortable and political. But that's where adults live. 20) If everyone in your industry agrees on something, the upside is gone. Look for the places where smart people sound… uneasy. 21) Great opportunities come from reputation echo: your name bouncing inside places you have not even entered yet. 22) Go deep on 1 thing until people trust you, then stretch sideways. Breadth without depth is nothing. Depth without breadth is a prison. 23) Work-life balance must be seasonal. Some years you build, others you repair. Pretending every week should feel "balanced" just makes you miserable. 24) Your body is part of your career infrastructure. You can bullsh*t your way through bad sleep in your 20s. In your 40s it wipes you out. 25) The sovereign career move is to own something nobody can take away from you: your craft, audience, relationships, and ability to think clearly even when nobody else does. 26) In 2026, speed is overrated. Everyone is sprinting... Instead, ensure you know exactly which game you are playing and refuse to be dragged into someone else's. All the best! And HNY!!

Agreed that it’s an unlock - not sure it’s not a trait though. Def a developable skill. Hard to move some people to be interested in learning new things. For me, it’s been always putting myself into rooms with smarter people. I want to learn from them (partly to level up to feel more part of the group and partly to have actionable insight to deploy). Feel like Justin is looking at me w ‘mediocre intelligence’ comment lol.

@thejustinwelsh Curiosity is the ultimate unlock Most people think it’s a trait It’s actually a skill

Mediocre intelligence + curiosity + showing up every day will outperform most people who are 10x 'smarter' than you.

@carkerpox @nahuelhilal You are making this person a better player. And they seem to appreciate it - which indicates to me they want to get better. Building confidence in decision making is hugely valuable in a world where many people won’t or outsource to ai.

🙏 I think the comments highlight a real problem in management— A lot of people feel like this sort of feedback is demeaning, it’s not, it is empowering. If this was a sports team, a player needs specific feedback, anyone who only wants you to cheerlead, or be tiptoed around is not gonna have a long career. No one would bat an eye at a coach giving specific feedback like this to a quarter back, but as soon as it happens in a workplace it’s a problem. Top people, A Players, want this—they recognize it as a hand at their back while the climb the career ladder— What this text really says is: “I trust you to use your own judgement. I am here if you need specific help, but you gotta take the leap yourself to learn “how to think,” not rely on me for “what to think.” Here’s how you do it.”

I have a rule for 2026 Train A- until they become A+, Leave Bs, Remove C's This guy on my team is in the process of a promotion He has low TRM (task relevant maturity)--whenever possible I do my very best to give him super specific examples of ways to level up. A+ in no time

I found someone who has never been to the dmv.

@Webmiester @MikeCalcara Same

@MikeCalcara Form is busted. Next button just shows the first page of questions again.

@MikeCalcara You’re the best in the biz brother.

I really get to do this for people? That’s what I want my process to feel like: - White glove - No pressure - Handled You walk away with the perfect vehicle for your life.

I've never followed the “grow at all costs” script. I’ve built businesses in very different ways. One stayed intentionally small for 20 years. Another scaled to seven figures and competed with PE-backed brands. Different outcomes, same principle. Growth is a choice. But so is the life that comes with it.

@themgmtconsult I’ll buy you a glass of wine in 26 and tell you the details. It’s not publicly shareable - it’s unspoken by anyone in my bridal party. And it happened 28 years ago lol.

@longtrain We want to know that story know!!

ON RISK AVERSION AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF LIFE One thing I often think about is that, as a 20-something year old living in London, UK, coming from some unknown small village in the ass of the South of Italy, every weekend in the city felt absolutely surprising. I literally never knew what was going to happen. With my friends, we would make some loose plans for the weekend (maybe we would start at some place like KOKO in Camden Town) but then we would be pulled in 100 different directions. I remember having a running joke with my flatmate before going out at night: “Let’s see what the f*ck is going to happen tonight!” Some of the things that actually happened still blow my mind: - started in a club in East London, ended up eating grilled octopus at 4 a.m. in a house with four Greek girls on the opposite side of the city; - went to Barbican and spent an hour talking with "Flavio", an Italian homeless guy from Rome who used to be a pimp (according to him, at least); - met a Colombian girl at a house party of somebody I didn’t know, and she did a headstand on the roof (3-stories building) in front of me because she was training for the circus; - went to have a pizza in Leicester Square, ended up in Soho where a woman was taking a man on a leash for a walk, crawling like he was a dog. I could probably continue for a while. The point is, right now I would absolutely not appreciate the feeling of going out without having any idea of what’s going to happen. My weekends now are fairly predictable, and I’m not sure I would have it any other way. This behavior likely translates into other parts of my life, where my risk aversion is now significantly heightened. I still wonder these days how the f*ck, as a 23-year-old kid, I thought that moving from Italy to the UK without speaking a word of English was going to work out! I’m not saying I feel nostalgic (maybe I do), but I probably miss my old self a bit... for having the mental freedom of taking small risks nonchalantly. Did I miss that completely? Is it age? Am I the only one? Did you experience something similar?

Govt/teenager : It’s cold in here. You need to turn up the heat. Me: Why don’t we just close the windows and doors? Govt/teenager: (rolls eyes) capitalism is bad.

@MikeCalcara @mattressguy_ Sleep more. Spend less. Who are you trying to appeal to w these? It can’t be ‘everyone’.

@mattressguy_ I’m still partial to “Sleep Bedder” only cause it’s more clever than 2 and less risqué than 1… just a car guys thoughts… if you want a direct answer go for 2 cause price is your differentiator. Not cleverness.

Two tag lines for mattress biz 1) We Bed’em better 2) Sweet Dreams for Less Which one wins?

There’s a specific kind of "stuck" I see in founders. Tell me if this sounds familiar. You already know the right answer. You just can’t get yourself to make the call. So you: - Revisit the same conversation - Ask for more data - Delay one more week - Tell yourself you’re being “thorough" But deep down, you know these are just delaying the inevitable. This is where I do my best work. I’ve built, scaled, and exited businesses across media, e-commerce, automotive, and manufacturing. And after 30 years of studying patterns, I can tell you that most “complex” decisions aren’t actually complex. They’re just noisy. My role is to cut through that never-ending noise, align the room, and help you make the call you already know you need to make. If the decision feels heavy and you’re tired of circling it, it might be time to talk.