Free Checklist
Run the 8 checks first
Before you join any company, inspect the same eight things I inspect.
Show Me the 8 ChecksI have seen this cycle too many times to count. A company launches. The early people make big money fast. The buzz spreads. Leaders from other companies start moving. Events get big. The social media blows up. Everyone is talking about it.
And then two years later, it is gone. Or broken. Or acquired by someone who does not care about the field.
Hot and real are not the same thing. Learning to tell them apart is one of the most valuable skills you can develop in this industry.
What Makes a Company Hot
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Run any company through the same standard I use. Free, takes 10 minutes.
Hot companies have good timing. They hit the market when the problem they solve is growing. The product feels fresh. The comp is aggressive. The early leaders are winning publicly. The story sounds great on stage.
None of that is wrong. But none of that is a foundation either. Timing is not infrastructure. Buzz is not culture. Early money is not proof of anything except good timing.
Hot companies are great places to make a quick run. They are bad places to bet your long-term reputation.
What Makes a Company Real
Real companies are boring by comparison. They talk about manufacturing. About supply chain control. About debt levels and investor structure. About how the founders built it and what they sacrificed.
The questions I ask now before I align with anything: Who owns this company and what is their track record? Are they in debt or financially clean? Do they control their own product or are they dependent on vendors? What happens to the field builders if something goes wrong at the top?
Those questions do not have exciting answers. But they have honest ones. And the honest answers tell you whether this company will be here in five years.
Ownership Is Everything
The most important variable is who owns the company and what they are building toward. Are they building to exit? Building to grow? Building because it is their life mission? Each of those answers changes everything about how the company treats the field.
“I have been burned by ownership before. That experience permanently changed what I look for.”
Founders who came from the field build differently than investors who see this as a financial play. They understand what it costs to recruit someone. They understand what trust means. They build compensation systems that make sense because they have lived the field.
The Test
Here is the test I use. Imagine the company having a bad year. Revenue drops 30 percent. What happens? Does ownership protect the field leaders or protect themselves? Does the comp stay intact or get restructured? Do the founders show up or go quiet?
Hot companies fail that test when times get hard. Real companies are built for it.
Before you move your team anywhere, ask the hard questions. The right company will have good answers. The wrong one will distract you with excitement instead.
Free Checklist
Run the 8 checks first
Before you join any company, inspect the same eight things I inspect.
Show Me the 8 ChecksEarnings Disclaimer: Results in direct sales vary based on individual effort, skill, consistency, and other factors. No income or earnings guarantees are made or implied. See the official Vital Health compensation plan for full details.
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