Early one summer morning a few years ago, overlooking a beautiful mountain canyon, I sat outside with a sage-like business owner at his private home. Not only an accomplished businessman, he was an active college professor and private investor. As we took in the view, he shared with me how the deer would visit him on his porch in the mornings while he sipped from his cup of coffee.

In these quiet mornings, he would take a moment to contemplate what really mattered, and what did not.

As an expert in using statistics, supercomputers, AI, and predictive analysis of weather patterns, he had a deep experiential set of understanding of the nature of reality, and how the patterns apply to the little corner of the world we call business. And for his work, he had been—and continued to be— compensated handsomely.

To say that his luxurious mountain mansion was nice would be an understatement. Wondering aloud at what it took for him to achieve that type of success, I asked him a question. I asked him what he thought was the key to running a successful business.

He said, “It’s not how much you make; it’s how much you keep.”

What I’m about to share with you is not always popular and, in some circles, incredibly controversial. Not just anyone can build a business that takes care of their customers, their shareholders, their internal and external stakeholders, and their communities. It takes time, patience, and persistence. It takes a level of consciousness and a support team that is not always available to founders.

One enemy is the unicorn and startup culture. The culture around startups that focus more on bling, bright shiny objects, and hustle. You have seen these people on social media; for instance, the young founder who suddenly comes out of nowhere and is surrounded by luxurious apartments, super cars, private jets, and more. Yet, you can’t quite figure out his business model.

It’s Hollywood-level storytelling with Silicon Valley aspirations mixed in. And like a good movie, it’s only partially true. Anyone can rent a luxurious Airbnb and a Ferrari and get a nice haircut and a suit for some pictures.

It’s the difference between style and substance.

As a traditionalist, I am taking a stand for you, and for wealth creation through value and substance.

Ask any grizzled veteran of turnarounds or business scaling, or one who has taken a business public.

Building a long-term, successful business is a lot different than what you see on Shark Tank.

After helping countless businesses along the spectrum from startups to Fortune 500 and everything in between, what I am about to share might make you uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, what I am about to share with you is the unvarnished truth of how it goes… most of the time.

In today’s business environment it has somehow become okay to be unprofitable for a very long time.

The root cause can be argued, yet the fact is, there are countless startups and non-revenue generating companies out there.

These zombie companies want you to look at anything they are doing—the change they are making in the world, the disruption they are bringing to their industry, their founders’ private jet photos on social media—anything at all, except for whether or not their business model is sustainable with good old-fashioned cash flow and profits.

Instead of focusing deeply on value creation for their clients, their shareholders, and their internal and external stakeholders, these zombie companies are selling themselves and their business potential short and setting themselves up for failure.

Today, you will hear an overabundance of disruptive ideas that would take the world by storm “if only we had an investor who believed in us.”

There are untold millions of Elon Musk wannabes out there who never created their first operating business.

There is too much looking out there for the capital to get things off the ground instead of creating the value and subsequent business out of good old, massively abundant human ingenuity, creativity, teamwork, and persistence.

What if there is a better way?

There is.  It’s called Exitology™, a step-by-step method to grow and profitably exit your business in the next 3-5 years.

Jason “Wally” Waldron is the secret weapon behind owners, founders, and CEOs of B2B companies who use his unique profit acceleration strategies to grow faster and maximize the value of their business. When these owners feel trapped in their businesses, he applies Exitology™ so they can buy back their time and freedom. He’s published a book on how to profitably grow to exit your business in the next 3-5 years. Grab your copy here.