Daniel Priestley31 August 2023

Entrepreneurship Masterclass: How to Make $10k - $1M per Month - Daniel Priestley

11Frameworks

13Insights

Episode overview

Ali Abdaal and Daniel Priestley map an entrepreneurial path from zero to $10,000 per month, then $100,000 and ultimately $1 million per month. Priestley proposes the CHAOS framework—concept, audience, offer and sales—for validating and selling an initial high-value service, then argues that growth requires a key person of influence, a broader product ecosystem and scalable assets. They also discuss team-size thresholds, delegation, portfolio ownership and the trade-off between entrepreneurial upside and stress.

Key ideas

Use the CHAOS sequence—concept, audience, offer and sales—to structure the journey toward the first $10,000 in monthly revenue.
Test concepts cheaply through introductory events, scorecards or quizzes, and WhatsApp groups before committing substantial capital.
For a beginner, a high-value service sold to a small number of well-funded customers can be more tractable than a low-ticket, volume-dependent J-curve business.
Treat sales as professional diagnosis: understand the customer’s current reality, desired reality and obstacles, then recommend a path of least resistance.
Moving from $10,000 to $100,000 per month requires one-to-many reach, a key person of influence and products spanning gifts, prospect offers, core offers and ongoing client offers.
The entrepreneur’s highest-value role is organizing talent and creating opportunities, while a capable manager handles routine business operations.
Scalability comes primarily from intellectual property, media and technology; people-heavy delivery tends to make costs rise with revenue.
Beyond roughly 12 people, a company begins splitting into teams and eventually needs an executive structure; reaching $1 million per month commonly involves teams organized by function, market, territory or product.

Transcript available · source text is retained privately and is not published

Frameworks in this episode

Strategy4 steps

Assets Over Effort: IP, Media and Tech

Scale on intellectual property, media and technology instead of throwing people at problems

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Influence4 steps

Key Person of Influence

Become the recognisable face that pulls a business from £10K to £100K a month

Read →

Sales4 steps

LAPS Sales Rhythm

Run a weekly loop of Leads, Appointments, Presentations and Sales

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Entrepreneurship3 steps

OMV: Origin, Mission, Vision

Ground a business concept in your story, your endgame and today's highest-value act

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Sales4 steps

Sales as Diagnosis: The Path of Least Resistance

Sell like a doctor by moving people from current reality to desired reality

Read →

Strategy3 steps

Sales vs Volume: Escaping the J-Curve

Pick businesses where the sale comes first, not ones that bleed cash before profit

Read →

Entrepreneurship4 steps

The CHAOS Model

Take any idea from zero to £10K a month in four ordered moves

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Marketing3 steps

The Eiffel Tower Model

Be the attraction people gather around while a product ecosystem makes the money

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Marketing4 steps

The Four Types of Products

Build a product ecosystem of gifts, prospect products, core offerings and client products

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Entrepreneurship3 steps

The Three Cheap Idea Tests

Validate a business idea for under £100 with an event, a scorecard and a WhatsApp group

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Finance4 steps

The Ventures Model: Influence for Equity

Turn a personal brand into a portfolio of equity stakes in businesses you accelerate

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People & resources mentioned

Attributed to the moment in the episode. Timestamps are approximate.

People · 20

Daniel PriestleyMentionshis name's Dan Priestley he written a bunch of business books and this sort of does business coaching and stuff
“what you're about to hear is a round two interview between me and the incredible Daniel Priestly”
▶ Watch at ~0:00approx.
Ali AbdaalMentionsthe ongoing podcast where every week I get the chance to sit down with inspiring authors, entrepreneurs, creators, and other inspiring people.
“Daniel welcome back to the podcast”
▶ Watch at ~1:30approx.
Warren BuffettMentionsthe thing that Warren Buffett and basically everyone who sensible in the space recommends
“whether it's Warren Buffett or some amazing hedge fund manager my goodness it runs deep in their veins”
▶ Watch at ~23:00approx.
Richard BransonMentionsmentioned
“if we look at Richard Branson millions of followers virgin only has like quarter of a million followers”
▶ Watch at ~24:00approx.
Julian HearnMentionswe have the founder of huel Julian Hearn who was on the very first season of the podcast
“we have the founder of huel Julian Hearn who was on the very first season of the podcast”
▶ Watch at ~26:00approx.
Cristiano RonaldoMentionsmentioned
“Cristiano Ronaldo 500 million followers on Instagram every single football club combined less than 200 million”
▶ Watch at ~1:24:00approx.
Gordon RamsayMentionsmentioned
“you're gonna book this restaurant because Gordon Ramsay”
▶ Watch at ~1:24:30approx.
Jamie OliverMentionsmentioned
“if Jamie Oliver suddenly said that's my restaurant it would double in size straight away”
▶ Watch at ~1:25:30approx.
Steve JobsMentionsmentioned
“Steve Jobs carried Apple”
▶ Watch at ~1:26:30approx.
Bill GatesMentionsmentioned
“Bill Gates did the same for Microsoft”
▶ Watch at ~1:26:30approx.
Walt DisneyMentionsmentioned
“Disney drove Disney Walt Disney drove Disney and he was like Mr Walt Disney and he was the personal brand”
▶ Watch at ~1:26:30approx.
Phil KnightMentionsPhil Knight was the CEO
“Phil Knight was the CEO Bill Bauman was the Visionary”
▶ Watch at ~1:32:00approx.
Bill BowermanCoinedBill Bowman was the co-founder of Nike
“Bill Bowman was the co-founder of Nike”
▶ Watch at ~1:32:00approx.
Michael JordanMentionsmentioned
“we need a key person of influence for that Michael Jordan”
▶ Watch at ~1:32:30approx.
Andre AgassiMentionsmentioned
“then they said tennis oh there this guy called Andre Agassi let's sign him up”
▶ Watch at ~1:33:00approx.
James HoffmannMentionsthe most famous coffee guy in the world from his YouTube channel
“unless it's a James Hoffman's coffee shop because he's like the most famous coffee guy in the world from his YouTube channel”
▶ Watch at ~1:35:30approx.
MrBeastMentionsmentioned
“what Mr Beast he's like turned down a billion dollars”
▶ Watch at ~1:36:30approx.
Alex HormoziMentionshe's a business owner I guess who's just he's also absolutely jacked and just produces loads and loads of content
“and Alex hermosi's doing that”
▶ Watch at ~2:15:00approx.
Roger FedererMentionsmentioned
“why did Roger Federer quit tennis because of his knees”
▶ Watch at ~2:20:00approx.
Lewis HamiltonMentionshe's a race car driver
“why does Lewis Hamilton keep racing a car because he's a race car driver”
▶ Watch at ~2:20:30approx.

Resources · 34

How to Raise Entrepreneurial KidsCoinedbook · Daniel Priestley
“you've written a book called how to raise entrepreneurial kids”
▶ Watch at ~6:30approx.
PirelliUsescompany
“let's get Pirelli tires on there and let's get a Bose stereo system in there”
▶ Watch at ~9:00approx.
BoseUsescompany
“let's get Pirelli tires on there and let's get a Bose stereo system in there”
▶ Watch at ~9:00approx.
HuelUsesproduct · Julian Hearn
“I've been a pain customer of huel since 2017 since my fifth year of medical school”
▶ Watch at ~25:00approx.
Huel Black EditionRecommendsproduct · Huel
“my favorite version is the heel black edition it's absolutely sick”
▶ Watch at ~25:30approx.
HuelRecommendsproduct · Julian Hearn
“if you're interested in trying out huel then head over to huel.com forward slash Deep dive”
▶ Watch at ~26:00approx.
Trading 212Recommendssoftware · Trading 212
“invest in Broad stock market index funds which is exactly what you can do completely for free with trading 212”
▶ Watch at ~26:30approx.
Trading 212Usessoftware · Trading 212
“you can use Apple pay like I do initially”
▶ Watch at ~27:00approx.
YouTuber AcademyCoinedcourse · Ali Abdaal and team
“when we open the door for our YouTuber Academy suddenly oh crap we've got more more demand than we even know what to do with”
▶ Watch at ~33:30approx.
WhatsAppRecommendssoftware · Meta
“I've got three ways that I like to test ideas I like to run an intro event”
▶ Watch at ~34:30approx.
ScoreAppUsessoftware · Daniel Priestley and team
“answer 10 questions and find out on score app”
▶ Watch at ~35:00approx.
WhatsAppUsessoftware · Meta
“what he did is he started a WhatsApp group”
▶ Watch at ~36:00approx.
LinkedInUseswebsite
“message them on LinkedIn I'm launching a family office group”
▶ Watch at ~36:30approx.
ZoomRecommendssoftware · Zoom Video Communications
“Zoom events free events online things”
▶ Watch at ~37:00approx.
NotionMentionssoftware · Notion Labs
“notion and things and todoist like they're Evernote they're all a bit like”
▶ Watch at ~38:30approx.
TodoistMentionssoftware
“notion and things and todoist like they're Evernote they're all a bit like”
▶ Watch at ~38:30approx.
EvernoteMentionssoftware
“notion and things and todoist like they're Evernote they're all a bit like”
▶ Watch at ~38:30approx.
ShopifyUsessoftware · Shopify Inc.
“we've been using Shopify for the last several years a to sell our physical digital product planners”
▶ Watch at ~53:30approx.
ShopifyRecommendssoftware · Shopify Inc.
“head over to shopify.com forward slash deep dive and that URL will let you sign up for a totally free trial”
▶ Watch at ~54:00approx.
ScoreAppCoinedsoftware · Daniel Priestley and team
“when I launch Score app I literally sat down with people”
▶ Watch at ~59:00approx.
WordPressUsessoftware · Automattic
“I had my team building them on WordPress”
▶ Watch at ~59:30approx.
MicrosoftMentionscompany
“Bill Gates did the same for Microsoft”
▶ Watch at ~1:26:30approx.
AppleMentionscompany
“Steve Jobs carried Apple”
▶ Watch at ~1:26:30approx.
PelotonMentionsproduct
“think Peloton bike then Peloton monthly subscription”
▶ Watch at ~1:29:00approx.
NikeMentionscompany · Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman
“they had a key person of influence called Bill Bowerman Bill Bowman was the co-founder of Nike”
▶ Watch at ~1:32:00approx.
Rethink PressMentionscompany
“I actually have a publishing company called rethink press”
▶ Watch at ~1:34:30approx.
DentMentionscompany
“I've got a an accelerator business called Dent”
▶ Watch at ~1:34:30approx.
AugustMentionscompany
“I've got a um Awards business and a PR business called August”
▶ Watch at ~1:34:30approx.
Amazon Web ServicesMentionscompany · Amazon
“there's like the AWS business”
▶ Watch at ~1:46:00approx.
Go Do DealsCoinedbook · Jeremy Harbour
“he wrote a great book called go do deals”
▶ Watch at ~2:11:30approx.
Scorecard MarketingRecommendsbook · Daniel Priestley
“there's scorecard marketing which is all about like setting up your own lead generation campaigns”
▶ Watch at ~2:27:00approx.
OversubscribedRecommendsbook · Daniel Priestley
“there's over subscribed there's how to raise entrepreneurial kids”
▶ Watch at ~2:27:00approx.
Key Person of InfluenceRecommendsbook · Daniel Priestley
“there's the key personal influence book there's entrepreneur Revolution”
▶ Watch at ~2:27:00approx.
Deep Dive with Ali AbdaalCoinedpodcast · Ali Abdaal
“that's it for this week's episode of Deep dive”
▶ Watch at ~2:28:00approx.

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Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Myth Buster· 2

Myth Buster04:30

Why entrepreneurship isn't trading (and why that matters)

Priestley separates entrepreneurship from trading to explain why one is beatable and the other isn't. Trading is a zero-sum game where you can't add value and you're up against full-time professionals you won't beat. Entrepreneurship lets you value-add and de-risk through a series of steps, which is why it's more predictable than the '99% of startups fail' myth suggests.

Trading is zero-sum: winners, losers and brokers, with no value-add.
Competing with pro traders is like scoring against NBA players.
Entrepreneurship lets you add value and discover unmet needs.
Most course-sellers profit while course-buyers fail at trading.

“trading is a zero-sum game ... there's winners and losers and there's nothing in between”
Daniel Priestley · 05:00

#trading#entrepreneurship#risk

Myth Buster1:05:00

Sales isn't manipulation: even Apple does 40 minutes of it daily

Priestley dismantles the used-car-salesman stereotype most people fear but have never actually experienced. Good selling is described as 'professional': asking great questions, giving guidance, doing homework, listening and making sensible recommendations. Apple Geniuses do 40 minutes of sales training every day and it still feels like a positive, helpful experience.

The pushy-salesman fear is usually imagined, not experienced.
The word for good salespeople is 'professional'.
Apple Geniuses train 40 minutes daily and still feel helpful.
Sales is a valuable, transferable skill in any profession.

“they do 40 minutes of sales training every day ... but it's positive they're professional”
Daniel Priestley · 1:08:30

#sales#objections#professionalism

Hot Take· 4

Hot Take11:30

Why Priestley isn't a fan of 'solopreneur'

Priestley pushes back on the trendy 'solopreneur' label. If you're solo, the whole business goes on holiday when you do, and you never truly switch off. As soon as something shows signs of working, he argues you should bring in a salesperson, an assistant or customer service, both to make it a proper business and to specialise your own time on your highest-value work.

A solo business stops entirely whenever you stop.
You never really switch off doing everything yourself.
Early signs of working should trigger your first hires.
Delegation frees you for your highest-value activity.

“if you're a solopreneur and everyone goes away all at once ... that's a very precarious position”
Daniel Priestley · 12:00

#solopreneur#team#delegation

Hot Take50:30

'Is a Ferrari expensive?' Depends entirely on who's buying

Priestley reframes price as relative to the buyer. A Ferrari is expensive to an average earner, a toy to a billionaire, a marketing budget to an influencer, and capex to a rental company. The lesson: nothing is objectively expensive, so get good at figuring out who has the most to gain from what you offer.

Price is meaningless without knowing the buyer.
The same item is a splurge, a toy, marketing or capex depending on who buys.
A £10K podcast studio is cheap for a famous YouTuber, dear for a kid.
Find who gains most from what you can do.

“a Ferrari it may or may not be an expensive car depending on who's buying it”
Daniel Priestley · 51:30

#pricing#value#positioning

Hot Take1:18:00

Hire 'rebels and misfits', not the perfect CV

For early hires, Priestley says look for the 'wrong' people, not the right ones. No one leaving Microsoft will join your random startup, so recruit cheerful McDonald's workers, uni students, parents wanting flexibility, people judged for a thick accent, a disability or bad body odour, but who are actually smart and great. In the early days it's simply anyone you can rope in.

You won't win people who'd quit Microsoft for you.
Look for talent overlooked by corporate hiring.
For them, joining you is a genuine step up.
Early on, hire anyone you can rope in who's passionate.

“you're looking for Rebels and misfits you're looking for the wrong people not the right people”
Daniel Priestley · 1:18:00

#hiring#team#talent

Hot Take1:39:00

Anyone who can run a pub can run your business

Priestley argues founders massively overestimate how hard it is to find someone to run their business. A Starbucks doing millions is often run by a 24-year-old on ~£35K. A pub has drunk people, relationships and razor-thin margins, so anyone who can run one can run your company, freeing you to be the Key Person of Influence doing what only you can do.

A million-dollar Starbucks is run by a 24-year-old on ~£35K.
You don't need a COO for a small business.
A pub manager handles chaos and thin margins already.
Your job is stirring the beehive, not running operations.

“anyone who can run a pub can run your business ... that's not what you're good at”
Daniel Priestley · 1:39:30

#management#delegation#operations

Explainer· 5

Explainer07:00

Why school makes entrepreneurship feel alien: 'component labor'

Priestley argues the education system was built in the Industrial Age to produce 'component labor', people machined to fit into someone else's business in a local economy. That's the opposite of entrepreneurship, where you start with a customer problem and organise a solution. Employees market their skills to an employer; entrepreneurs find a solution to what the customer wants.

Schooling was designed to create parts that fit existing businesses.
The digital age rewards niche, creative, specialised work instead.
Employees develop skills and seek an employer who needs them.
Entrepreneurs start from a customer problem, like Porsche building around what the driver wants.

“the model for schooling was to create component labor people who fit nicely into other people's businesses”
Daniel Priestley · 07:30

#education#employment#mindset

Explainer10:00

The three things that actually define an entrepreneur

Priestley defines entrepreneurship as the combination of three elements: pursuing commercial success, taking a real risk, and organising resources beyond your own control. Drop the money and you're a change-maker; drop the risk and you're a leader or asset manager. Entrepreneurs enrol team, investors and customers into something unproven.

Commercial success: you're trying to make a profit, not run a charity.
Risk: your time, your money or someone else's is on the line.
Organising resources beyond your control by enrolling others.
Without risk you're just a leader; without profit you're a change-maker.

“an entrepreneur is normally someone who's accessing resources beyond their control”
Daniel Priestley · 11:00

#definition#risk#resources

Explainer49:30

Where the money actually is: the wealth and income stats

Priestley lays out who holds the money and why they're underserved. The top 10% of over-55s hold about three-quarters of the economy's wealth, locked in a 'cookie jar'. The top 1% of UK earners make £163K+, averaging £360K, roughly a grand a day, with no time to spare. Everything they don't spend earning is benchmarked as lost income, so serving their time is valuable.

Top 10% of over-55s hold ~75% of wealth.
Top 1% of UK earners make £163K+, averaging £360K a year.
High earners value their time against a ~£1,000-a-day benchmark.
This small, wealthy, time-poor group is massively underserved.

“the top 10 of people over 55 have three quarters of the economy in wealth”
Daniel Priestley · 49:30

#wealth#demographics#target-market

Explainer1:14:00

The morality of selling: why every transaction is two happy people

Priestley addresses the guilt many feel about selling and money. Using marginal utility, he shows a transaction leaves both sides better off: the coffee shop owner is happy to take your three dollars, and you're happy to hand it over for the coffee. Snake oil is bad because it doesn't work; if you worry about selling well, you're already one of the good actors.

Marginal utility means both buyer and seller walk away happier.
Every economic transaction is a mutual win.
Snake oil is wrong because it doesn't work, not because selling is wrong.
Worrying about it means you'll only sell to the right people.

“every single transaction that happens in the economy is two people who felt that they walked away going that is so great”
Daniel Priestley · 1:15:00

#ethics#capitalism#money

Explainer1:49:00

Team thresholds: why 13 people breaks everything ('crossing the desert')

Priestley describes predictable team-size thresholds. Up to about 12 people a business self-organises like a dinner party; the 13th person fractures it into sub-teams and stress rises. It doesn't feel good again until roughly 40-50 people with a full executive team. The awkward in-between, too big to be small, too small to be big, he calls 'crossing the desert'.

Up to ~12 people the team self-organises like a dinner party.
The 13th person splits it into separate teams and adds stress.
It only works well again at ~40-50 with an executive team.
The painful middle is 'crossing the desert'.

“up until 12 you're just one team ... and then the 13th person is ruining things for everyone”
Daniel Priestley · 1:49:30

#team-size#scaling#management

Takeaway· 2

Takeaway30:30

Sell to people who throw money at problems, not time

Priestley draws a hard line between two kinds of buyers: those who throw time at a problem and those who throw money at it. Students famously spend time, not money, which is why student-focused businesses struggle. A few multi-millionaire clients solving a real problem beats a large audience with nothing to spend.

Every problem attracts time-throwers and money-throwers.
Great businesses sell to the money-throwers.
Student markets love spending time, not cash.
Three wealthy clients can out-earn a huge broke audience.

“if you want to run a great business you need to talk to people who've got money to throw at the problem”
Daniel Priestley · 31:00

#audience#buyers#pricing

Takeaway2:25:30

Life moves in chapters: freedom, family and not clinging

Closing on a personal note, Priestley frames the freedom-versus-family trade-off through survival and reproduction wiring, arguing having kids taps 'a whole other wing' of your nervous system that travel never will. But he stresses life moves in chapters, single, couple, young kids, teenagers, empty nest, and the people who cling to a past chapter end up miserable.

Human wiring is built around survival and reproduction.
Having kids activates a part of you travel can't reach.
Life runs in chapters you should move through deliberately.
Clinging to an old chapter makes people miserable.

“life moves in chapters ... people who cling to the last chapter they're miserable”
Daniel Priestley · 2:25:30

#life-design#family#fulfilment

Key ideas

Frameworks in this episode

Assets Over Effort: IP, Media and Tech

Key Person of Influence

LAPS Sales Rhythm

OMV: Origin, Mission, Vision

Sales as Diagnosis: The Path of Least Resistance

Sales vs Volume: Escaping the J-Curve

The CHAOS Model

The Eiffel Tower Model

The Four Types of Products

The Three Cheap Idea Tests

The Ventures Model: Influence for Equity

People & resources mentioned

People · 20

Resources · 34

Insights & moments

⚡Myth Buster· 2

Why entrepreneurship isn't trading (and why that matters)

Sales isn't manipulation: even Apple does 40 minutes of it daily

◆Hot Take· 4

Why Priestley isn't a fan of 'solopreneur'

'Is a Ferrari expensive?' Depends entirely on who's buying

Hire 'rebels and misfits', not the perfect CV

Anyone who can run a pub can run your business

✶Explainer· 5

Why school makes entrepreneurship feel alien: 'component labor'

The three things that actually define an entrepreneur

Where the money actually is: the wealth and income stats

The morality of selling: why every transaction is two happy people

Team thresholds: why 13 people breaks everything ('crossing the desert')

▲Takeaway· 2

Sell to people who throw money at problems, not time

Life moves in chapters: freedom, family and not clinging

Myth Buster· 2

Hot Take· 4

Explainer· 5

Takeaway· 2