• No Bollocks with Matt Haycox
  • Posts
  • The Secret to Arnie’s super-human success, future-proof your brand like Wimbledon, how the payments sector is using AI, and more!

The Secret to Arnie’s super-human success, future-proof your brand like Wimbledon, how the payments sector is using AI, and more!

Author

Matt Haycox
July 07, 2023

Welcome back to your weekly dose of everything you need to know in the world of business, entrepreneurship and all things Matt Haycox!

That’s me!

Welcome to your Friday morning dose of everything that matters in the world of business, finance, entrepreneurship and my life! If you want ‘agenda free’ news, top tips, tried and tested strategies and a bit of my banter, then you’re in the right place!

This week you’ll find:

  • 🤔 MATT’S COLUMN: Secrets to Arnie’s super-human success, and one YOU can apply NOW!

  • 📸  BIG PICTURE: What we can learn from Wimbledon about future-proofing your brand

  • 😱 SCARY STAT: How AI saved one company $35bn

  • ✂️  QUICK SNIPPETS: Quick but powerful. Fast links to the info you need that I guarantee makes a difference.

  • 📈 IN THE NEWS: M&S sparks shareholder anger

  • 📑SPOTLIGHT: American tycoons rule the football & premier league

🤔 MATT’S COLUMN: Secrets to Arnie’s SUPER-HUMAN success!

I watched the Arnold Schwarzenegger documentary on Netflix last week. If you haven’t seen it yet, I can’t recommend it enough. Three episodes, each about a different chapter in his life. Bodybuilding. Acting. Politics.

Arnie v Matt

I have read quite a bit about Arnie over the years. I started his autobiography, Total Recall, last summer (but never actually finished it off) - so a lot of what was talked about in the documentary, I already knew. But it was great to see it all together in a single format. And especially great to hear Arnie tell the stories himself as I think it is impossible not to find him an impressive, likeable and interesting character.

Achieving just one of the feats that Arnie did in a lifetime would make anybody be considered highly successful. But to achieve the amount of things he did, in multiple different fields, is unique and incredible - almost superhuman - like many of the characters he played in the movies!

Just some of Schwarzenegger’s successes were:

  • He was the youngest Mr Universe ever at the age of 20

  • He had a successful bricklaying business at age 21

  • He had a mail-order business selling exercise equipment and instructional videos

  • His is one of the world’s biggest stars with his movies have grossed over $4 billion

  • He was a millionaire from property investment before he even made a movie

  • He co-founded the restaurant chain Planet Hollywood, at its time one of the biggest entertainment brands in the world

  • He is a prolific philanthropist, raising millions for causes in health, fitness, education and environmental concern

Often people look at movie stars and think they got lucky for being in the right place at the right time. Handsome or beautiful people who caught some producer or director’s eye, made a movie and then made millions living in the public eye doing a job than anyone could do.

This is utter rubbish at the best of times and certainly impossible for a multi-disciplined, 55+ year success story like Arnold. So how did he do it? And what can the rest of us learn, what character attributes can we develop, to turn us into ‘Predators’ of success!

As I went back to check what I had written in the article I realised that whilst written in the past tense, as most of his successes and career is historical now, I would actually say the most impressive characteristic and real reason for his huge and continuing success is that you could actually rewrite all the above in the present tense.

Even now, at the age of 75, with all those achievements under his belt and hundreds of millions in the bank, he doesn’t rest. He is always learning, growing, giving, sharing and driving forwards with discipline and determination.

Whenever I write or talk, I always want to think that EVERYONE can take something away from it and immediately implement something towards their success. Looking at that list of a terminator above may be overwhelming for many, and you could use that as an excuse not to start.

So, let me give you just one thing that can be implemented by anyone, anywhere, in any field or any area of life. This is my translation from watching the documentary and something that even though I consider myself good at it anyway, this made me want to push further - VOLUME.

The volume (or quantity) of Arnold’s workload was insane! When he was a body builder, he would go in to training and do 10 (yes TEN!) sets of each exercise, writing them up on the gym wall and chalking them off after he had completed each one.

That is a serious number! Now look, I am not here to give gym and fitness advice - I already had about 35 comments on Instagram yesterday when I made a post about me being in the gym and using this inspiration to make me now do 5 sets of every exercise instead of the usual 2 or 3 most people do.

But what I am here to tell you is that you can outwork your way to success.

It doesn’t matter what you are doing - the gym, telesales, real estate negotiation, being a lawyer, walking dogs - anything! You are fully in control of your ability to do more than the next person and outwork your way to greatness.

And let me give you some great news…… The bar has been set fucking low!!

The vast majority of people out there are lazy, excuse ridden bums. Sat on their asses, dishing out options and advice on everything, whilst doing fuck all!

So, when someone is telling you that you are working too hard, or doing too much, or need to slow down or take a break - take a look at them and ask yourself if they are a shining example of someone you would like to be like. I highly, highly doubt it.

I don’t know a successful person who does too little of an activity, and I don’t know an unsuccessful person who does too much of an activity.

Whenever I have fired a shit person from one of my organisations, someone who has failed to meet targets or achieve anything, I always take a quick look in their email account when changing the password after they leave. Guess what I find……. FUCK ALL!

People with literally 2, 3, 5, 10 outbound emails in their sent box per day. Seriously!! I have sent more than 10 emails whilst doing my Instagram posts and doing a poo whilst also cleaning my teeth in the morning!

Genuinely. If you think I am saying that for affect then think again. My outbound emails are in the 100’s each day - and if you have ever watched any episodes of my daily vlog, Million Dollar Days, then you will know how many calls I make each day.

But this isn’t because I am clever or special. It isn’t a skill that took me years to develop - it is a simple work ethic that you can apply today too.

I have genuinely had sales’ people tell me how difficult the market is, and how there are very few deals around, whilst only sending 5 or 6 emails to potential prospects in a day!

I can’t tell you the right number for the output of each individual activity you are all doing - but you need to make it more than everyone else.

Find a successful person. See what they are doing - AND DO MORE! I like to use the number 100 as a rule of thumb - it is far from exact but is miles ahead of most other people believe me.

  • 100 outbound calls per day

  • 100 emails per day

  • 100 press ups per day

  • Etc etc etc…

I promise you, most inadequacies can be masked or overcome with a killer work ethic.

So, get out there - well finish reading this newsletter first - and go and increase your volume in whatever activities you are doing. Then in the next 14 - 30 days I want you to send me an email and tell me what improvements you have made and what success stories you have. I GUARANTEE you will have something to tell me!

 📸 BIG PICTURE: What we can learn from Wimbledon about future-proofing your brand

What Wimbledon can teach us about future-proofing your brand

With one of the world’s most famous tennis tournaments in full swing, we take a look at what this historic event can tell us about future proofing your brand.

Wimbledon is innovating…

The 150+ year-old heritage brand, built on traditions such as strawberries & cream, grass courts and white uniforms, has launched an array of new digital experiences for 2023 including its ‘Race To Wimbledon’ game with online video gaming platform Fortnite and a rebrand of its gamified tennis experience, Wimbledon Smash, set on the virtual SW19 Grounds.

What is Wimbledon?

Founded in 1868, The All England Lawn Tennis Club is a private members’​ club and organises and stages The Championships, Wimbledon. Ever since the first Championships in 1877, it has worked to build a tournament that has become the pinnacle of the sport and one that every player wants to win.

So what’s new?

Entry into Fortnite is part of Wimbledon’s ongoing expansion into the digital sphere, evolving the heritage brand beyond traditional expectations as it looks to “reward its current fans and attract new ones.”

And it sets a clear example to other brands about the need to innovate in new environments, with new technologies. No matter how big you are.

In 2022, the All England Club launched WimbleWorld on metaverse platform Roblox, receiving more than 12 million visits. With more than 80% of users aged under 24, WimbleWorld remains one of the most visited official sports experiences on Roblox.

😱SCARY STAT: How AI saved one company $35bn

Payments giant Mastercard Inc which uses AI to help mitigate risk and secure payments, revealed that AI-powered solutions prevented $35 billion in fraud over the past three years, creating improved digital experiences.

The banking and payments industry had the highest discussions about AI after technology, during the second quarter (Q2) of 2023, revealed the Company Filings Analytics Database of GlobalData.

4 other ways the banking / payments sector are using AI…

  1. Bangkok Bank Public Co Ltd in partnership with Pand.ai developed a Thai-language chatbot to initially support the sales teams and later be improved to provide customer care services.

  2. Royal Bank of Canada entered a strategic partnership with Conquest Planning to use its AI platform to find financial strategies for clients.

  3. nCino Inc announced a strategic partnership with Zest AI in May 2023 to integrate its consumer banking solution to enable lenders with streamlined access to consumer credit lending insights.

  4. United Overseas Bank Ltd on the TMRW digital banking app launched Auto-Save in Indonesia, an AI-driven, automated, and self-adjustable savings option. It uses machine learning models to monitor and forecast consumer transactions and spending habits to find and automatically sweep extra cash into their savings accounts.

✂️ QUICK SNIPPETS

📈 IN THE NEWS: Marks & Spencer sparks shareholder anger

Marks and Spencer may have claimed this week that it is helping to lower the dreaded food inflation, but is almost certainly raising the blood pressure of its army of shareholders.

The high street retailer said this week it had made a good start to the year growing food sales by 8.7% over the last year, Reuters reported. The company also stressed it had taken a hit on food revenue by electing not to pass on rising costs to the shoppers.

Yet in the midst of this self-congratulation, there was confusion. Britain’s fastest growing food retailer told shareholders they must no longer attend annual meetings for face-to-face interactions with board members and instead log in on Zoom or a similar online platform.

“Any shareholders travelling to the venue against the board’s recommendations will be advised to join the meeting electronically and will be provided with assistance to do so, if needed,” the company said.

As anyone who has spent time in business will tell you, this is going to go down with shareholders like a lead balloon. It flies in the face of the overarching scrutiny that shareholders are meant to bring to the business.

“This is an outrageous development and should be opposed by all shareholders before it is embraced as an easy option by other boards,” John Lee wrote in the Financial Times. 

“Too often boards forget that we shareholders own the company…To cut out the opportunity for a relaxed dialogue with directors is totally unacceptable. Frankly, the board of M&S should be ashamed that they have gone along with this approach,” he added.

📑SPOTLIGHT: American Tycoons Rule The Football & Premier League

How Many US Owners Are There in UK Football?

Entering the 2023-24 season, a notable trend sweeps through English football. Over 30 clubs, spanning the top-tier Premier League to the lower leagues, now boast at least partial American ownership. U.S. investment is at its pinnacle in the Premier League, though the influence of Stateside businesspeople is growing rapidly in the lower echelons.

This summer, Kevin M. Nagle, owner of the USL Championship team Sacramento Republic and investor in NBA’s Sacramento Kings, took the reins of Championship club Huddersfield Town.

Leeds United, relegated from the Premier League last season, has agreed to come under majority ownership of the York Family. The NFL’s San Francisco 49ers investment arm, 49ers Enterprises, has been slowly growing its stake since 2018.

Birmingham City, another Championship club, is now under the control of American investor and hedge fund manager Tom Wagner, who interestingly also owns a Major League Pickleball team alongside retired sports stars Kim Clijsters and Tom Brady.

❝

In the landscape of American involvement in English football, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney stand as trailblazers.

Their successful takeover of Wrexham, a Welsh club playing in the fifth tier of English football just two years ago, has arguably catalyzed a surge in U.S. investment.

By elevating the profile of the sport Stateside and guiding Wrexham to promotion, they’ve laid a blueprint for American ownership in the English game.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND GET REWARDED

I love sharing things with friends, and if this newsletter has made you smile or has been helpful then please share it with your mates and wider connections. Even better, there will be something in it for you!

We are still finding our feet, and the full reward programme isn’t in place yet. But any referrals you do in the meantime will all count towards it when it is.

What rewards can you expect? One of the rewards will be a long weekend in Dubai with me for the ultimate business immersion experience and dinner with some of my network on my yacht. So get referring now!

GOODBYE FOR NOW


That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed reading! I always love to hear feedback so let me know what you liked and what you want to see more of. I’m all ears!

And if you want to talk to me about borrowing, investing, growing your business, or anything else I am good at, then get in touch!

I’m an entrepreneur, investor, funding expert and mentor who has been building and growing businesses for both myself and my clients for more than 20 years. There’s nothing I don’t know about finance!: future