Picture a kid from a small town in Eastern Canada. He struggled in school, bounced in and out of jail and rehab by 17, and by most measures should have stayed stuck. Then Dan Martell, the creator behind this video, cracked one thing that flipped his whole life: relationships. That same skill later got Mark Cuban to invest, earned him a week with Richard Branson, and put him on Tony Robbins’ stage seven times.
I’ve heard “your network is your net worth” a hundred times, but almost nobody breaks down the actual how. This original poster does, and I took notes.
🧭 Why it matters
The big mindset shift from the author: think in people, not problems. The average person asks “how do I solve this?” The most successful ones ask “who’s already solved this?” Every problem you have, someone out there has cracked. Build the relationship, inherit the solution, skip years of trial and error. He even moved to San Francisco at 28 just to be near people living bigger lives, because proximity is power.
🚫 The invisible showstoppers
Here’s the part that stung. This industry pro says tiny actions quietly kill relationships before they start, and nobody tells you that you blew it. His four to avoid:
- Flaking or being late. Fix: only commit when you’re 100% in, and text if you can’t make it.
- Neediness. Fix: act like a peer, not a fanboy.
- The instant ask. Fix: give first. Don’t offer to edit the video, edit it and send it.
- Being transactional. Fix: stop keeping score, be genuinely intentional.
He also names three internal lies: “who am I to take their time,” “I have no value to add,” and “they’re different.” His reminder is blunt and funny: everyone uses the toilet the same way. They’re just further along the same road.
🛠️ The TRIBE system
This is the framework the creator uses for every relationship, Cuban and Branson included:
- Target: list your goals, then name a person who’s achieved each one. Start with people close to your level.
- Realize you don’t need any ONE person. Go wide. Never make someone the gatekeeper of your dreams.
- Invest: the best investment is simply showing up.
- Build: create a platform where you bring people together, a dinner, a newsletter, a podcast, a hike. You send one email and become the connector.
- Edit: clean your feed. Follow the people tied to your goals, mute the noise so you actually see when they post something big.
💬 How to reach out without the cringe
The person who shared this gives a tight outreach playbook:
- Do your homework. Read their stuff, find real specifics a bot could never write.
- Follow and comment genuinely first.
- Open with something hyper-specific, no pitch.
- Ask for advice, something they can answer short and sweet, not something you could’ve Googled.
- Drop your cell number in the email to make replying easy.
- When they answer, thank them and show what you did with the advice. That’s how the relationship keeps going.
- Never outsource the message to AI. Inspiration only, the words must be yours.
🎯 Your first step
The author’s challenge is simple: grab a piece of paper, write your top goals, and next to each one name a real person who’s already living it. That list is your starting network.
There’s a lot more nuance in the full video, including his volunteer story that got him into every top room in a new city. Go watch it, then write your list.