10. Lost My Business and Almost Lost Myself | Levi Lindsay

Levi Lindsay, former cofounder of VidArmy and now CMO at Hona, sat down with Joe Grover to share his story of how he started VidArmy. Believing hustle would lead to success, he worked for years without pay but unfortunately battled cofounder disputes and lost himself in the process.

As a recent college graduate, Levi started VidArmy after getting the idea from a friend. The first few years went well as they slowly gained clients and eventually added two more partners—without an official partner agreement—and a CEO. When COVID hit, a government loan provided their first real working capital. Instead of stabilizing the business, it fueled over-expansion and bad hires and forced the partners to work without a paycheck.

Levi found himself on the edge of burnout and suffering panic attacks when one partner demanded a permanent 6% of future revenue. He had built his entire identity around VidArmy, convinced that walking away meant failure. But everything changed when he finally decided to step away as his wife requested, “I just want my husband back.”

From his experiences, Joe and Levi discuss the importance of giving yourself permission to quit in order to find yourself again. They explore the dangers of the sunk-cost fallacy, how some leaders deplete themselves to the point of losing who they are, and the trap of the “I’ll be happy when” mentality.

Links:

Levi Lindsay: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/levilindsay/)

Joe Grover: LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/joelgrover/)

This episode is sponsored by Amplēo, offering fractional executives in finance, marketing, and HR. Visit ampleo.com to learn more.

Chapters:

[0:00 - 1:44] Intro

[1:44 - 5:26] The Birth of VidArmy and Early Struggles

[5:26 - 10:44] Scaling Up

[10:44 - 28:55] Partnerships, Paychecks, and Panic Attacks

[28:55 - 41:53] The Breaking Point and Letting Go 

[41:53 - 46:05 ] The Aftermath and Personal Recovery

[46:05 - 57:59] I’ll be happy when . . .

[46:05 - 1:00:00] Permission to Quit

#TheRealFWord #PermissionToQuit #Failure #Entrepreneurship