The Richest People I Know Do One Thing
Building a business portfolio taught Nick Huber that overconfidence and market timing can humble even the most successful entrepreneurs. His biggest lesson: focus deeply on fewer businesses rather than spreading thin across many. After buying Somewhere.com (formerly Shepherd) for $52M and facing imm
54mKey Takeaway
Building a business portfolio taught Nick Huber that overconfidence and market timing can humble even the most successful entrepreneurs. His biggest lesson: focus deeply on fewer businesses rather than spreading thin across many. After buying Somewhere.com (formerly Shepherd) for $52M and facing immediate headwinds from rebranding, algorithm changes, and increased competition, he learned that sustainable growth comes from doubling down on what works rather than chasing multiple opportunities.
Episode Overview
Nick Huber shares his journey from running 11 companies to consolidating into 3 core businesses after acquiring Somewhere.com. He discusses the humbling experience of buying a company at peak confidence, facing immediate challenges including a costly rebrand that killed SEO traffic, Twitter algorithm changes that decimated lead flow, and increased competition. Despite setbacks, he's grown revenue 60% by rebuilding with international executive talent and focusing on core strengths. Nick provides tactical advice on hiring global talent, including specific countries for different roles and step-by-step filtering processes using typing tests, video submissions, and task-based assessments.
Key Insights
The Danger of 'Peak Confidence' Decision-Making
Nick describes his acquisition of Somewhere.com at what he calls 'peak Nick Huber' - maximum confidence with minimal humility. He bought the company thinking his personal brand alone would drive growth, started 11+ companies in three years, and made bold moves without considering downside risks. The market humbled him when multiple factors (rebrand SEO loss, algorithm changes, competition) hit simultaneously, teaching him that irrational confidence, while useful early in a career, must evolve into measured strategic thinking.
The Hidden Cost of Portfolio Diversification
Running 11 companies simultaneously led Nick to shut down four and keep two 'treading water.' While total group cash flow is now higher than ever, it comes from just three core businesses following a power law distribution. The lesson: spreading attention across many ventures dilutes focus and execution quality. Deep focus on fewer businesses with strong fundamentals yields better returns than surface-level involvement in many.
Rebranding Can Kill Your Distribution Overnight
Changing from SupportShepherd.com to Somewhere.com cost $400,000 for the domain and immediately eliminated 300 of their 1,000 monthly leads (30% of traffic). Despite the intuitive appeal of a simpler name, the SEO and brand recognition loss was devastating. The lesson illustrates how distribution channels, especially SEO, represent fragile competitive advantages that can vanish with one strategic misstep.
Platform Risk is Real and Unpredictable
When Elon Musk bought Twitter and changed the algorithm, Nick's ability to drive leads through his personal brand 'vanished.' Previously, a single tweet about hiring could send 3,000+ website visits and 200-400 leads. This dependency on one platform created vulnerability. Entrepreneurs must diversify traffic sources and never rely on platform algorithms they don't control for core business growth.
Executive Talent is Now Globally Available
Nick's biggest revelation was hiring C-suite executives internationally, not just junior staff. His companies now run with 90%+ international employees, including COOs in South Africa, heads of finance in Egypt, and performance marketing leaders in Colombia. These executives have MBAs, decades of experience with international companies, and cost a fraction of US hires while often being more hungry, hardworking, and low-maintenance.
Notable Quotes
"I thought business was easy. I thought building executive teams was easy. I thought customers just came. I thought I could do no wrong because I had this personal brand."
"99% of people talking about their experiences buying and running businesses, the selection effect is the people who are failing shut up and the people who are succeeding get real loud."
"I have six Americans at somewhere out of 160 employees. Re Cost, another company in my portfolio that's growing really fast, 130 employees, seven Americans. Bolt storage, six Americans out of 60 employees."
"85% of them can't type 35 words per minute. And if we're talking about remote work in any role from engineering to marketing to graphic design to admin to sales to executive leadership, your easiest immediate filter is typing speed."
"There's 30,000 South Africans that get on a plane and go to America every single year to do audit and tax work for big four consulting firms. They go back to South Africa and you can hire them for three grand a month to be a controller at your small business."
Action Items
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1
Implement Task-Based Hiring Assessments
Replace traditional interviews with 60-90 minute practical tasks that simulate actual job requirements. For assistants, test trip planning, email drafting from voice notes, research skills, and basic design. For sales roles, have candidates review actual sales calls and provide improvement feedback. This reveals true competency better than conversations and gives you objective comparison data between candidates.
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2
Use the Two-Filter Method for Global Talent
Post jobs on LinkedIn with $100/day promotion for 5 days in target countries (Colombia, Brazil, South Africa, Philippines, Egypt, Sri Lanka). First filter: require 35+ words per minute typing speed (eliminates 85% of applicants). Second filter: request a 1-minute video introduction (80% won't complete it). You'll go from 1,000 applicants to 30-40 qualified candidates, then review videos for communication skills and professionalism before selecting your top 5 for task assessments.
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3
Match Talent Type to Geographic Hotspots
Target specific countries for different roles: Egypt (Cairo) for finance and Excel/PowerBI specialists; Colombia and Brazil for operations roles requiring same timezone work; South Africa for sales and finance professionals with perfect English; Sri Lanka for executive assistants; Philippines for general administrative work; Eastern Europe for engineers. This geographic specialization increases candidate quality while reducing costs.
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4
Focus Resources on Your Top 3 Winners
Audit your business portfolio and identify which ventures follow the power law - generating disproportionate returns. Actively shut down or sell underperforming businesses that drain attention and resources. Nick went from 11 companies to 3 core businesses and actually increased total cash flow because deep focus on winners beats shallow involvement in many ventures.