Alex Rodriguez shares his valuable advice for young founders wmphasizing the importance of humility in the business world, Rodriguez discusses how checking one's ego can pave the way for better decision-making, stronger leadership, and ultimately, greater success.
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00:00One of the mistakes I see a lot of young athletes and young entrepreneurs do is
00:03everyone wants a billion-dollar idea. Everybody wants 500 home runs. Focus on
00:07the process. The journey is the most beautiful part. Longevity to me means
00:13being consistent over a long period of time.
00:21My number one passion growing up was playing baseball and I was able to play
00:25for almost 25 years in the major leagues. I've had over 15,000 at-bats. I'm fifth
00:30all-time in the history of strikeouts. So I always say that I have a PhD in
00:34failing but I also have a master's in getting back up and I know so many young
00:38entrepreneurs that if something bad happens, it may take them three or six
00:41months to recover, I can fall on my face and get right back up like nothing
00:45happened. As long as you're learning from your mistakes and then pivoting and not
00:48make those same mistakes again, that's the key to a successful entrepreneur.
00:53A-Rod Corp is a private company. We have three silos we focus on. Sports, real
00:57estate and venture investing. You have to be able to identify a great deal, a
01:02great founder and then strike and be quick to the point. You have to have what
01:05I call VCP. You have to have the vision, the capital and the people and you have
01:10to be crystal clear in your vision. Then you need capital to be able to deploy
01:14into that vision and the hardest part is always the P, the people and you can have
01:19a great business idea if you don't have the right team and the right people, it's
01:23not going to work. Just like a good teammate for the Yankees, if they're
01:26coachable, if they're talented, if they have great work ethic, if they can adapt in
01:30real time and if they have their ego in check, these are attributes that I look
01:34for in young founders to invest in. One of the great advantages of building
01:38long-term companies is the same approach I had in baseball. I've taken that
01:43responsibility, those disciplines, the grittiness and I've brought that to the
01:48corporate room and it's always great when you're thinking about building a
01:52great business, building enterprise for the long run rather than, you know, what
01:56are the quarterly earnings after this month or this quarter. It's always much
02:00more sustainable to think long-term. Whether you're playing business or
02:05you're playing the sport of baseball, you want to have sustainability, you want to
02:09have longevity. It all starts with your health. When I was in COVID, I kind of
02:14lost my way a little bit and I put some extra pounds. I wasn't as healthy as I
02:18needed to be. I got diagnosed with gum disease. Almost 50% of all people over
02:23the age of 30 have gum disease and coming out of the pandemic, I made a
02:28commitment that every day from 8 in the morning to 12 was my me time and that
02:32meant my time to work out, train, do my cardio, lift, yoga, Pilates, whatever it
02:38took, making sure I'm taking care of my teeth, my mouth, making sure I'm clean
02:42because everything starts there, right? And then on my desk, suit and tie every
02:46day from 12 to 6 and then I will go have dinner with Jack and the girls at
02:50home and that commitment, it all started with my priorities to prioritize my
02:55health and wellness and then everything else will follow that. My benchmark for
02:58success, it's really about just putting great content out and sharing my
03:02experiences, the good, the bad, and the ugly with the next generation of
03:07entrepreneurs. I look at legacy as something that other people can think
03:11about you. My message to all of you is you don't have to be defined by your
03:14mistakes. It's about being able to go down a path and being able to pivot and
03:19change your mind. That's sometimes considered to be weakness. I think it's
03:23growth.