To be truly successful, we must make ourselves replaceable.
Ari Meisel is a self described, “Overwhelmologist” who helps entrepreneurs who have opportunity in excess of what their infrastructure can handle, to optimize, automate, and outsource everything in their business, so they can make themselves replaceable and scale their business.
Ari is the Founder of Less Doing, author of the best-selling book, “The Art of Less Doing”, and its sequel, the forthcoming “The Replaceable Founder”, coming this September. He is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business, an Ironman, and a devoted husband to Anna and father to four children, Ben, 6, Sebastien and Lucas, 4 and Chloe, 2.
Where did the idea for Less Doing come from?
When I was battling Crohn’s disease, the doctors told me I could only work one hour a day. I had to learn how to do less. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
Well, I’m in the business of helping others become more productive, so first, I don’t give advice I’m not using myself. I know my peak times of productivity and use them to my best advantage. I have a core team I trust implicitly, a fireproof internal and external communication system, and a mastery over automations that has freed up enormous amounts of time, so I can dedicate myself to content creation and coaching (my two passions).
How do you bring ideas to life?
Funny you should ask. I use my proprietary Optimize, Automate, and Outsource Methodology, written in that order for very good reason.
What’s one trend that excites you?
AI and its ability to learn and predict behavior and preference.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Level 6 Delegation.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Just shave your head.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
To be truly successful, we must make ourselves replaceable.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Obsessively get ideas out of my head as fast as possible into an idea capture system of some kind.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Making everyone as replaceable as possible. It removes bottlenecks, shows us our weak points, and gives people the opportunity to grow…or leave.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I invested in a real estate development project when I was 20 that landed me in 3m in debt when I was 23. It took several years to sell out of that project and slowly reinvest in other projects.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
On Demand Project Managers (like virtual assistants but for big projects)
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I got a digital marketer subscription for one of my team members, she’s brought a lot of that learning back into our business.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Intercom.io which makes communication scalable.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
“Emergency” by Neil Strauss because it teaches all about self reliance.
What is your favorite quote?
“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”
Connect:
Twitter: @arimeisel
Facebook:
Linkedin:
Instagram: @arimeisel
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.