How Top Entrepreneurs Stay Calm and Negotiate Better Deals w/ Antoine Rousseaux | Elite Performance Podcast #88

00:00:00:07 - 00:00:03:13
Itamar Marani
How do you gain confidence from your past?

00:00:03:15 - 00:00:26:20
Antoine Rousseaux
You've been doing this for how many years? You built all of this. You did it once. You can do it again. I will see myself at the lower level of like, what people will see in me. I will take that and mirror it in my actions and business. It didn't work as we expected. Now what can we change?

00:00:26:22 - 00:00:39:00
Antoine Rousseaux
What can we do better? And then going in afterwards. Again and again and again until we achieve the result we want. That changes everything.

00:00:39:02 - 00:00:45:12
Itamar Marani
So what changed when you started trusting your skill instead of trusting the revenue stream?

00:00:45:14 - 00:01:02:17
Antoine Rousseaux
It gave me a lot more confidence and gave me patience. And I think like patience is actually a virtue. When you start to negotiate. Also, being in business in general.

00:01:02:18 - 00:01:23:12
Itamar Marani
How did that how do you see that across the board? With the patience and the deal, because you're in a business where you guys, you can't see striking deals, joint ventures, sponsorships and so on. How do you see that impact people when they think in their revenue stream, or this current product, or this current offer is a thing that's actually working, and not their belief in themselves as an entrepreneur?

00:01:23:14 - 00:01:51:10
Antoine Rousseaux
Well, particularly I think you change when you work with a team because like that you don't become the boss who is always like, although now we need to change this or we need to do that or that. It's like we need to rush into this. That's like a major point. I think the second thing is also, not wanting to be always in the rush of running after one or other direction helps to channel the energy in the right way and buy in the right way.

00:01:51:11 - 00:02:18:10
Antoine Rousseaux
I mean, like building more the business for like a longer term vision or having better assets. And then the third point is also in the negotiations, people are going to feel it. They're going to feel like, well, they are not needy. And they straight to their point. So if they are confident in their business, that's how they should be.

00:02:18:10 - 00:02:28:10
Antoine Rousseaux
And then if they are confident in this business is probably because they deliver the results and and so on and so on. So then they agree more on deals.

00:02:28:12 - 00:02:48:05
Itamar Marani
When you're talking about the patience and the rushing from people, call it shiny object syndrome, all that kind of just like what I'm kind of reading between the lines, if you like. The main reason people fall for that is because they don't trust themselves, and they're like hoping some other thing will kind of save them. And they don't have the self-confidence that we can just figured this thing out.

00:02:48:07 - 00:02:50:02
Itamar Marani
Is that kind of accurate?

00:02:50:04 - 00:03:15:05
Antoine Rousseaux
Yes. I think it's like that's the challenge between the shiny object and like going to try something else and then it's like also what we say, like shooting bullets and then after cannonballs, right where you got to try things in the short time and not allocate all your time. And, and when you see that it works like double down on it, go harder on it.

00:03:15:07 - 00:03:42:19
Itamar Marani
Yeah. But I think like I'll show my perspective. I think a big part of it is differentiating between when are you trying something new because you think that even with the upfront cost of getting something new up and going. The cost, financial time, effort, etc., it's going to have a larger impact on what you're currently doing versus are you just afraid that what you're currently doing, you're not good enough to pull it off and just hoping something will be easy?

00:03:42:21 - 00:03:55:15
Itamar Marani
You know, like and that's the thing, when people start looking for something easy, that's when, yes, it's all an emotional thing. There's no real logic. Yeah. Just like, oh, I don't have confidence in myself. Maybe this thing will be easier for me and that rarely works out.

00:03:55:17 - 00:04:14:06
Antoine Rousseaux
I agree 100% is if you set up the target and you know you can achieve the target, like, of course you're going to have like for example, you usually have like a good start and then after you start to go down and then that's the moment we are like, well, let me occupy my brain with something new that I don't have rejection on.

00:04:14:06 - 00:04:21:13
Antoine Rousseaux
And like this, I'm going to be all good and everything. And yeah, is is the recipe for disaster.

00:04:21:15 - 00:04:49:04
Itamar Marani
It's like, how do you spend a year in the crypto niche? Yes. And a big part of that you have have major swings, and the swings are sometimes you can't ignore them as far as the marketplace. It's really like, you know, good entrepreneur, bad marketplace, bad result. And like, you guys really feel that hard. What has been kind of your methodology or your process with these swings is to stay calm and not hit the panic button.

00:04:49:05 - 00:04:52:20
Itamar Marani
Well the leader and personally.

00:04:52:22 - 00:04:58:19
Antoine Rousseaux
I training with Itamar. Know that definitely help a lot.

00:04:58:19 - 00:05:09:03
Itamar Marani
But there's also the fact that you're naturally handsome and handsome and fine. It's the worst thing you do that can happen.

00:05:09:05 - 00:05:26:13
Antoine Rousseaux
Yeah, that definitely helped with that because that that will help me to to build that resilience, I would say. And I'd like to gain that confidence into like, hey, look what you achieve. You can do that and you can do, more. And I actually had a conversation with, another entrepreneur in this industry, at a conference.

00:05:26:13 - 00:05:51:14
Antoine Rousseaux
And in those guys, like, they made, like, 8 or 10 million in one year in a very short amount of time. And now when I talk to them like they were not really making any revenue on this thing, like really substantially good. But he still had the whole team. EY was not in a scarcity mode. He was like completely relax and just continue to build what they supposed to be.

00:05:51:14 - 00:06:16:00
Antoine Rousseaux
A and I was asking him like, how does he feel that way? It was like, well, we know we're going to have the swings, but when we make a lot, we make a lot, and then we can just take those resources and install them. And then being able to continue to work on to work for Y based on the those resources and that shifted a little bit.

00:06:16:01 - 00:06:42:02
Antoine Rousseaux
My mindset around that there was like, okay, I have to understand that I'm going to have really high profitable months and then months where I'm just going to be breakeven and it's going to be like that few months. But the more we build at that time, and we don't need to build at the same intensity, because the goal in crypto particularly, is like when it starts to go like unleash all the intensity you have because like, that's when you go to have to be really present in the market.

00:06:42:02 - 00:07:01:09
Antoine Rousseaux
Then there's that. All the time where you can actually sit down and be more strategic and take your time. Of course, lower the cost as much as you can, but once you build, a warchest like you don't need to worry because you have your warchest, so there is no need to be in the panic mode.

00:07:01:11 - 00:07:25:06
Itamar Marani
The I want to dig on that. That's really interesting. So you're saying basically that beyond the not panicking, you're also purposely a bit relaxing? I kind of like really getting air in your lungs. And there's basically a purposely down regulating yourself that I don't 70, 75, 80%, whatever it may be, so that when an opportunity comes, you have the full energy to really go after.

00:07:25:08 - 00:07:26:21
Itamar Marani
Is that kind of accurate?

00:07:26:23 - 00:07:28:11
Antoine Rousseaux
Yes.

00:07:28:13 - 00:07:39:07
Itamar Marani
So question do you think that's only relevant to the crypto market because of that extreme volatility, or do you think this is just kind of a general like I mean you've had other businesses you think they should disappeared.

00:07:39:08 - 00:08:02:23
Antoine Rousseaux
You go, yeah, it's a general thing for business because even I was with a friend recently and this scale very fast, the ecom website too, like in like two, three months ago we didn't have a business. And then now it's like making 200 K per day. So it's like the size of it. And then of course like now it's like super intense and all in on that.

00:08:03:01 - 00:08:26:11
Antoine Rousseaux
And I think it's a it may sound stupid, but I sounds like really like, what we would do back then, like ancient time where you kind of like build something, you build yourself and then there is a war to happen. And then doing that while you go really intensively, and then after there's no more war, and then after you rebuild and everything, and then you need to have those foundations.

00:08:26:13 - 00:08:38:04
Antoine Rousseaux
But that's where, like having your rest mind and, and your body aligned with it are going to be really the asset for the moment, where things go hard.

00:08:38:06 - 00:08:48:18
Itamar Marani
So why do you think people resist doing? I think logically everyone's like, yeah, that makes sense. Why do you think people resist doing that? Or why did you also resist doing it? In the past? Probably. That's a better question.

00:08:48:20 - 00:09:10:06
Antoine Rousseaux
I think, is because from either what I understood or what I was told, I thought like business was a lot more linear. It was a thing like that, but it's not the case at all. This has cycles, it has waves. And I mean, it's it's the course of nature when you think about it and you can't really go against it.

00:09:10:06 - 00:09:34:02
Antoine Rousseaux
So in the past I've been the guy like when, for example, like the market is down, there's nothing going on. And then I would be just trying to swim upstream, upstream, but then just get tired and then when things change, I don't even have the same level of energy that I released because I, I just tired myself before.

00:09:34:04 - 00:10:11:21
Itamar Marani
Yeah, I'll say I need another level to that as well. It's not just the energy as far as, okay, I work from this hour to this hour like it's a big part. Let's call that your emotional energy. When there's a downward cycle in the market or just a period like we experienced it. For example, on my business and, and I, I took me a couple of years to understand this cycle that in July, August, people that don't that live anywhere where it's not right on the equator, they are not the most intent on doing hardcore coaching right now because it's summer time, especially if they're Nordic countries, like they have sunlight suddenly.

00:10:11:23 - 00:10:32:03
Itamar Marani
And it was one of those things where I do recognize that it was almost emotionally frustrating trying to push the business in July and August, that when September or October came around, which are actually some of the peak months, you're almost just a bit deflated. You don't have the same kind of like swagger in your step because it's like, oh, man, I feel like I just kept on losing, keep losing, keep losing.

00:10:32:05 - 00:10:55:06
Itamar Marani
And it's one of those things that beyond just, you know, energetically, you're you're less tired because you don't work as much. It's something about just it's a bit too fleeting when you're trying to swim upstream and especially when there's just there's not a lot of productivity to it. Now, the counterargument is like, well, it's better than nothing. But what I think that you're saying here that there's more to that, because there's also the aftermath where there is the opportunity.

00:10:55:06 - 00:11:03:03
Itamar Marani
And if you're not setting yourself up to succeed there, you're not actually going to capture more. So it's not just like, just do more because it's better than nothing.

00:11:03:05 - 00:11:22:09
Antoine Rousseaux
Yeah, I agree. I mean, it's a lot like for me it was also the self image. It's like, oh, I'm a successful entrepreneur too. Like I'm a shitty interpreter and I can't do this. And it was like a in any sport. So any type of thing it's your mind can't see that you can't do it. You're not going to manage to do it.

00:11:22:09 - 00:11:43:02
Antoine Rousseaux
This is already it's gonna limit yourself too much. And then it was like, yeah, this like it's just a time like that. And then that's it. And then focus more and then actually building better mental systems and better yourself and having more strategic thinking. That's going to help you to go to the next level.

00:11:43:04 - 00:11:57:18
Itamar Marani
So what does it look like on a practical level for you when you have these? It's called like an off season basically the crypto market. Yeah. What are the things that you do to put yourself in a position to really win big and capitalize when the market goes up?

00:11:57:20 - 00:12:21:08
Antoine Rousseaux
For me, it's a lot about like continuing to grow the skills. And luckily enough, I'm like fascinated by what I do. So I want to grow those skills into this. So if I take like right now, with the advancements in AI, when before I had to get a team of like four developers to build something, I can start to build by myself or build only with one developer.

00:12:21:10 - 00:12:42:20
Antoine Rousseaux
So that helps a lot, because I cannot predict what will be, interesting in the new wave of the markets. It's like the it change all the time. So I can't decide like, oh yeah, I know exactly what's going to happen next. But I can grow those skills. And then also they sales things going on like the crypto market, even if it has like waves up and down.

00:12:43:01 - 00:13:15:02
Antoine Rousseaux
Now, the low is still higher than the previous low. So there is still business to do. And then I saw it because like we, we had like still opportunities and deals. It's just like not that crazy. As much as like in the bull market, but it's, it's okay. And that's the thing. And then after also like for me, it's like building another business during the downtime which is in, in AI because I had like, a lot of time to learn about the AI agents and how to actually use them.

00:13:15:04 - 00:13:21:01
Antoine Rousseaux
And then we had a lot of people interested in that. So I was like, okay, why not doing that as well?

00:13:21:03 - 00:13:47:01
Itamar Marani
Was this kind of leading into something interesting? And it's something I work a lot with. My, my guys have big portfolios and it's don't focus on what's wrong, focus on where the biggest opportunity is. And I think it's just very counter-intuitive to our nature, where we see something that's problem and we want to fix it instead of recognizing, you know what, maybe if I don't fix this problem, but I just actually let it kind of keep building as a problem.

00:13:47:03 - 00:14:09:06
Itamar Marani
But I focus on a big opportunity. It can do me solving that problem, so to speak. And I wonder, I'll put it this way. Your mindset about this is unique. It's advanced. Do you think it is because of the nature of the crypto industry that everyone is just so aware of this because it is such an extreme?

00:14:09:08 - 00:14:37:19
Antoine Rousseaux
I think, yeah, I mean, it's it's my third cycle. So I guess there is this part and and also like because I quote unquote a low myself just few years ago to start again, as my business was previously on the French market and like fall 5 or 7 years and then after I've felt so detached from that market because I haven't lived in France for so long, and I was talking about personal finance and things like that.

00:14:37:19 - 00:15:07:00
Antoine Rousseaux
But no, nothing that I was doing would apply to the to that market. And then I started brand new on the English speaking market. And then there I saw really nice growth right from the beginning, which was like I was surprised the first and then also all the opportunities where a lot better, a lot more interesting. And I managed to kind of like build an authority and a good network right there.

00:15:07:01 - 00:15:29:06
Antoine Rousseaux
And the same again, when I saw the AI agents coming out, I was like, well, this is right up my alley. I'm used to like work with tech and I explaining, complex concept around tech to like everyone. And I was like, okay, I love automations. Like I've been using Zapier and stuff like that. Like before, it was cool, like seven years ago.

00:15:29:08 - 00:15:46:02
Antoine Rousseaux
So I was like, okay, like, now I can go to the next level with this thing. And then I did some videos and then same again. Like, it happened, where it really resonated with a lot of people and created a lot of interesting connections in business and even some opportunities.

00:15:46:04 - 00:16:01:17
Itamar Marani
Yeah. So on the video stuff, I want to dig on that a little bit. If you remember when we talked about you doing a second cycle of coaching, one of the biggest things that we kind of figured out is like, I think you're in the media business too. It's like it's either crypto, it's obvious, like where you're really honest.

00:16:01:17 - 00:16:08:22
Itamar Marani
That and where you're able to build good teams is in media money out of that kind of land for you.

00:16:09:00 - 00:16:31:09
Antoine Rousseaux
That was like really? A something new to me, I would say, because like when when you looked at the numbers, you're like, yeah. Like, when it's nice, you get those the stats, but like, yeah, they made a lot of money at some point. But now, like you, media seems to be making more. And then we switch to that, that.

00:16:31:11 - 00:16:55:18
Antoine Rousseaux
Yeah, a lot more. When we switched to that it actually made a lot more sense. And even the tools like one of the tool, we switched it to free instead of having the, the payment gate because there's like the Twitter profile and everything on that one. They just like gathered a lot of attention. So it's like there's probably better opportunities for us to continue as a media.

00:16:55:19 - 00:17:13:22
Antoine Rousseaux
Then, as, as selling the tools, that we had in that way. And it doesn't mean that we cannot produce tools, but it means like we have to be media first. And I was like, okay, oh, that makes sense. Because it's funny because some even, like some friends here, they're like, yeah, you should just be on video.

00:17:13:22 - 00:17:40:02
Antoine Rousseaux
That's what are you good at? These like, what people like will connect with me is when they see me on video. And I always forget about. That's how I can. I kind of forgot, I guess, in the moment where I felt like, okay, my identity is different than I'm doing this, so I'm doing that. So like I over complex ified, like, you know, like when you start to do video or YouTube and then it happens to me on the French market, I remember where I started.

00:17:40:02 - 00:18:02:05
Antoine Rousseaux
You have someone that did the research, someone that do all the parts after for the editing, posting and analyzing everything. And, and, I was supposed to just be like the person that comes on the camera in a way, but it broke everything because it was my personal touch in the production of the video. In a way that in the research it was me who put in the work.

00:18:02:05 - 00:18:29:22
Antoine Rousseaux
And I try to really change the complex idea of like trying to find an original idea. And I think, like, now, today, I build it just with AI instead of hiring someone that will help me with that way. It's like the AI that would gather like the topics and the ideas and the framework for like all those steps of the process I built based on me on my way off of like the analysis.

00:18:29:22 - 00:18:48:22
Antoine Rousseaux
Yeah, exactly. So like this saved me time. So I don't know if today I should hire. I don't think so. Probably not. Someone to help me, on the topics. It would be good to just have, like, some consulting some time, I guess, to be sure to be in touch. But that's where, like, when you're very good at that time.

00:18:49:02 - 00:18:54:14
Itamar Marani
Of year versus kind of question on that with the consulting, like just to get a touch point.

00:18:54:14 - 00:18:57:14
Antoine Rousseaux
On, yeah.

00:18:57:16 - 00:19:15:17
Itamar Marani
Why do you need that? Here's, here's what I'm asking about because like you with your channels and all that, I'm assuming the data can give you the feedback. Is it more so? Like, God, this just feels like I want another human because I'm just dealing with I just, like, kind of like emotional, like, oh yeah. This validated, etc., etc..

00:19:15:19 - 00:19:21:14
Itamar Marani
Or do you think there's any data that you can get just from any validation you can get just from the data?

00:19:21:16 - 00:19:48:02
Antoine Rousseaux
Yeah. When this thing is just, it's mostly I think, In a way, like making into serious in my mind or trying to transform it too much as a business where it's like, same again, like some learnings I had before, like, oh, yeah, if you cannot be removed from your business, then you don't have a business.

00:19:48:02 - 00:20:02:17
Antoine Rousseaux
You have a job. And then I needed to die. It's like, yeah, but like if you're very good at something and like, you can be you that cool piece. And then if you like doing it, like, why, why would you try to remove it completely? Right?

00:20:02:18 - 00:20:27:03
Itamar Marani
Yeah. I'll say this from my experience, the whole, you know, if you can't, you can remove yourself entirely from your business. You don't have a business. It's something that's interesting that I hear a lot. And. And I'm going to say this, I'm trying to say with the right case. So at a more beginner level, entrepreneurs and I think they just read the image and they're just kind of spouting that back.

00:20:27:04 - 00:20:44:01
Itamar Marani
They're like, oh, this is what I heard. This is how it is with the higher level guys that I work with, like, oh, they're the guys that are a nine figures or even a billion at the billion, it's different. They definitely have an entire like C-suite, and some of them are completely out of it. But a lot of the guys, they still do a couple things, even if it's like four hours a week.

00:20:44:01 - 00:20:56:19
Itamar Marani
And all it is, is connections. They're like actual network, and they make those personal pages for the big entrepreneur. Like they still do something. And I think it's like it's just about finding what that power point is for you.

00:20:56:21 - 00:21:15:00
Antoine Rousseaux
Yeah, yeah. I also I guess it really depends on the nature of the business and what you do. Like if you have a media business or that is anything you run a you being the, the. The carry of the knowledge or the message like how you doing product.

00:21:15:00 - 00:21:33:15
Itamar Marani
It's yeah you're the products and it's it's yeah, yeah. Cool. So question for you what made you reach out the second time around because you done the the program about like three years prior. And yeah, I don't think it was actually on your radar until we kind of had that book launch event and you were there like what?

00:21:33:15 - 00:21:36:03
Itamar Marani
What sparked something.

00:21:36:05 - 00:22:00:07
Antoine Rousseaux
I wanted to have, a third, a third person view, like someone that will have like, another point of view of the business. That was like something important. But also it was for me, like, I was like, okay, like, now I have all those things that go really fast. I had some, like, we had opportunities in the media.

00:22:00:07 - 00:22:23:02
Antoine Rousseaux
We had opportunities with the SAS. But also I had this agreement with a partner at that time. So it's like there's so many thing going on. And I felt like, okay, I need some help to be sure that's I do the right thing at the right time because it's going to cost me so much if I fuck it up when if I don't, it's going to be just so much better.

00:22:23:02 - 00:22:41:06
Antoine Rousseaux
So it's like, how did I ended up with like, oh, this is all good. This new business is growing so fast and everything is good and good and good too. Like, oh shit, shit, shit. I don't know what what I should do right now. And the best way is to have someone that can challenge you and help you find the answers, I guess.

00:22:41:06 - 00:22:44:06
Antoine Rousseaux
So that's why I reached out.

00:22:44:08 - 00:23:08:19
Itamar Marani
So the startup. What do you think? Because I'm assuming a lot of people are in that place. They're resentful. You're saying that like, oh, I succeeded, and all of a sudden, because I succeeded, things got a lot more complicated. What was for you, let's say, the single most impactful thing that we did that helped you basically break everything apart and see where the real opportunity was, whether the spreadsheet with the numbers that we spoke about earlier, was it something else?

00:23:08:21 - 00:23:41:12
Antoine Rousseaux
I think yes. The spreadsheet with the numbers, of course, was a big one, because just like when you I shifted myself to allow, okay, we're media first company, that's like you get to be more on the content side into an like you're going to produce more. You get to do it better like it's it changed everything. And also, the fact I as well, I think to retrospect and understand and having the confidence in the skills helped massively.

00:23:41:14 - 00:24:00:04
Antoine Rousseaux
Let's say like we we had few ideas that like, well like quote sizable size of deals and and not rushing things or like being confident into the price. I would say was important and then played a big role. So it's a combination, I guess, of those two.

00:24:00:06 - 00:24:16:23
Itamar Marani
Can you speak more a bit to the second one? Like what was that for you? What if for someone at home with kind of listening to this mic, I don't fully understand how you do this. How do you gain confidence from your past? What was the process for you like, and what did that actually mean to you.

00:24:17:01 - 00:24:37:14
Antoine Rousseaux
To gain the confidence? It's like it resonates a lot with what we talked about earlier, where we become a good entrepreneurs. And then when nobis goes down the like when we feel like we're not in control fully, we feel like, oh, I'm a shit interpreter. But it's like, hey, wait, you being this, doing this for how many years?

00:24:37:16 - 00:24:57:12
Antoine Rousseaux
Okay. That's like, you built all this. You did it once. You can do it again. And then you did it twice. And I bet you can see that it's happening. Then after. Also, it's like you're going to see, like, what is your circle like, like what people say about you. What what what they there actually think about you.

00:24:57:12 - 00:25:39:12
Antoine Rousseaux
And then you usually I mean I can talk in my case, I will see myself. At the lower level of like what people will see in me at some times. Yeah. And I will take that and mirror it in my actions and business. And that's what it will be negative when actually if I come from a place of confidence and then come from a place, I think also of being optimists and having that, it's like thinking first, like it's going to work, I'm going to find a way to make it work that changes everything.

00:25:39:12 - 00:26:01:05
Antoine Rousseaux
Because, yeah, instead of like, oh, I tried one time, it didn't work. I don't fucking know what to do. Let's run in another direction and like, let's do this. I do that. It's like, no, I okay. It didn't work as we expected. Now what can we change? What can we do better. And then going in afterwards again and again and again until we achieve the result we want.

00:26:01:07 - 00:26:23:23
Itamar Marani
Yeah. I think just as naturally ambitious people, the dry reality that you're probably going to come up short more than you're going to have big wins. And even if that's not true, even if you have, let's say, two times more wins than any kind of coming up short, the emotional math, like the losses, see you in a lot deeper take.

00:26:23:23 - 00:26:44:05
Itamar Marani
I remember someone saying that emotional math is usually like 8 to 1. If that wins to counter one loss, that's how your you interpret. And the problem is that that creates a perception in ourselves where our self-image is less than where it actually should be. We think less of ourselves than we actually should. Like usually, I'm sure you think like you have a couple friends.

00:26:44:05 - 00:26:50:06
Itamar Marani
You have mutual friends that are entrepreneurs. You probably think more highly of them in some ways than they do of themselves.

00:26:50:08 - 00:26:51:11
Antoine Rousseaux
Yeah.

00:26:51:13 - 00:27:10:06
Itamar Marani
And I think it's one of those things where it's an actually I remember, if you remember, but I don't know if you remember. Sorry, but we ran in the arena back in the day where you're really forced to get an external perspective on what have you accomplished wherever you failed and actually look at it objectively and then say, okay, this kind of person, what should they go after?

00:27:10:08 - 00:27:28:08
Itamar Marani
And what's interesting is whenever I do that exercise with someone, all of a sudden their perception of what's possible for them goes up a lot. And I'm not fudging it. I'm not saying, okay, like, believe in yourself, I hear you. But it's objectively like, if someone did this and do that, what should they realistically aspire to go to achieve?

00:27:28:10 - 00:27:49:12
Itamar Marani
And I think that's something that you've been able to kind of solidify yourself, which is really cool, dude. And I think that's what gives you that calm. You're able to see yourself in a more realistic perspective of like who you are, what you able to accomplish. And that's what enables the calm. That's what enables the negotiating power, and also just the ability to not get frantic whenever things are going down.

00:27:49:12 - 00:28:02:12
Itamar Marani
Because like you said, it's not about is this working? It's can I make this work and that belief in oneself. It's so much stronger than just the belief in the thing, because that's external and that could be taken away.

00:28:02:13 - 00:28:26:01
Antoine Rousseaux
Yeah. That's true. And that's why when you stop to think like that, you cannot go after so many things because, you know, you're going to have to try harder, iterate, and then that's what like one of the things we had a, in the last times, it was like I could only do three things. I could go on me after three goals at the same time.

00:28:26:03 - 00:29:08:22
Antoine Rousseaux
And then that helped me a lot because it's like, okay, I have those goals. And then once I establish them, I go afterwards. And then if I decide to remove one, I decide to a one, that's fine, but I'm not going to reshuffle everything. And then like this video one, it's not going to be like that. And this is continuing after those and that, that give me, more direction into what I need to do because I think, like, I mean, a lot of businesses changed a lot in the past the six months, 12 months, particularly for me, where the speed to execution just, like, changed drastically, from before and at the time

00:29:08:22 - 00:29:30:06
Antoine Rousseaux
of the I am like, I'm so grateful that, I did this work with you before. It kind of like went all crazy bananas because, like, now I really see, like, some friends that like, in the urgency constantly and in having even more the swings is like, oh, but what if whatever I do like now, it's going to be replaced by that?

00:29:30:06 - 00:29:39:01
Antoine Rousseaux
I needed it. Was like, it's a big change, but it's not that much change in reality. Yeah.

00:29:39:03 - 00:30:10:20
Itamar Marani
It's a big change, but it feels a lot bigger than it actually is. And I think that's the thing. And people are. Yeah, I hear what you're saying, like the I it's interesting because, you know, I have a lot of data points working with a lot of people. And also just like being in various communities. And it seems to me that the most successful entrepreneurs I've seen are like, we're really trying to find good use cases for it, and it's allowed us to probably reduce headcount by about 40% and increase productivity anywhere from 20 to 60%.

00:30:10:22 - 00:30:33:03
Itamar Marani
But they're not saying, okay, the whole world has changed right now. Yeah, there is a common okay, this is a tool. It's a lever. How do we use it? How do we keep implementing it where the one's talking every day about the new feature, the new this, the new, you know, the new clawed bot to do this, all that kind of just like it doesn't need to be the people that are actually doing a lot as well.

00:30:33:05 - 00:30:37:05
Itamar Marani
You're just kind of stuck in analysis and they're paralyzed. That always.

00:30:37:06 - 00:30:43:01
Antoine Rousseaux
Yeah. Yeah, I agree 100%. Yeah. It is a dangerous place.

00:30:43:03 - 00:31:04:04
Itamar Marani
It is. That is cool. So Antoine, any other thoughts that you want to share? I appreciate you coming on. I think it was a very interesting podcast kind of the way I would. Fame is like peace as peace of mind as a revenue multiplier is got a with you locked into any team that you go for.

00:31:04:06 - 00:31:31:07
Antoine Rousseaux
Yeah. I think it's like the results of all this, it kind of like remove weights on my back and then when you know you're doing something but you're not so attached to the results and you do it more naturally and it's just better, and it's kind of like when I do standup comedy and, and I can always like, almost, like see, like it doesn't work all the time.

00:31:31:07 - 00:31:50:08
Antoine Rousseaux
It's like if before going on stage, I'm like, right, like I'm going to have a good time, then it works. And then when I put like too much pressure on myself or something that I then it doesn't always work or like it can be like really disconnected from the audience when it's like, no, I'm going to come here and I'm going to have fun.

00:31:50:08 - 00:32:07:10
Antoine Rousseaux
I'm going to be a good listener as well. So I'm going to like, really receive the feedback and adapt from that. And I feel like, having this kind of like serenity as well help me with this and help to actually get better results.

00:32:07:12 - 00:32:27:10
Itamar Marani
Yeah, it's interesting what I, I heard in the middle of what you were saying is you're also able to listen to the marketplace, whereas some people, when they're so when they don't have that peace of mind, becomes a frontier. And that's where you're just trying to exert your will on something that isn't achievable. Instead of actually listening and say, okay, like, where is the opportunity here?

00:32:27:10 - 00:32:37:07
Itamar Marani
How can I capture it? So I appreciate you coming on as well. Any last things you want to say? Parting messages, anything of that nature?

00:32:37:09 - 00:32:39:01
Antoine Rousseaux
Oh, good. No thank you. Yeah.

00:32:39:05 - 00:32:40:10
Itamar Marani
So if you could be online.

00:32:40:10 - 00:32:44:17
Antoine Rousseaux
Yeah. You need to work with Itamar. Just do it. Maybe.

00:32:44:19 - 00:32:47:19
Itamar Marani
Appreciate it. Where can people find you, man?

00:32:47:21 - 00:32:57:07
Antoine Rousseaux
I'm on Twitter, mostly. Antoine RSX. The, crypto channel is handsome. Finance and everything about AI is on X.

00:32:57:09 - 00:33:13:22
Itamar Marani
So sorry, I actually, I do want to talk about that for a second. Yeah. Having the audacity to call your channel Handsome Finance and really lean into it with the humor and everything. Yeah. Was there any part about that that you hesitated or was it that was like completely. Let's go all in.

00:33:14:00 - 00:33:33:18
Antoine Rousseaux
Honestly, it was actually the opposite as I just wanted to have a normal channel. I didn't want it to be like, oh, I don't want crypto and just my name, because I had like, everyone had a channel like that. That's like, I don't want to bring in the market the same thing as everyone. And it's like, okay, well, what can I bring else?

00:33:33:18 - 00:33:53:23
Antoine Rousseaux
What I write jokes, I like to have fun. Well, why not mention them together? Yeah. No, I'm also it's like it's like I was like it was a way of me of, like owning it. I was like going crypto. Everyone is look like a nerd or a dork. And I'm like, this is like, people are going to be like, why would I listen to this guy?

00:33:54:00 - 00:34:07:18
Antoine Rousseaux
Like, it doesn't make sense. Does it look like a normal crypto guy or like someone that we talk about that so like, well, let's get rid of it. It's going to reject a little bit of people and, and that's good. But it's going to attract the right one that can have a sense of humor.

00:34:07:19 - 00:34:25:06
Itamar Marani
Yeah. I guess also, if you're listening to the pod and you're not curious and you want to check out Handsome and Fine, let's go for it. Actually that's on that one that I appreciate your time, brother. Like going to be happy for all your success, man. And all the growth. Awesome to have been a part of it. And again, congrats to your brother.

00:34:25:08 - 00:34:25:21
Antoine Rousseaux
Thank you.