Stephen Sabo on Creating Work Life Harmony, Navigating Entrepreneurship with Your Passions
In this conversation between seasoned entrepreneur Stephen Sabo and Julian Hayes II, a myriad of insights emerged, shedding light on the intersection of entrepreneurship, personal growth, and holistic wellness. Stephen Sabo's reflections offer invaluable lessons for aspiring business leaders who aspire to maintain health and vitality.
Below is an episode recap with a transcript.
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Navigating the Entrepreneurial Landscape
Sabo's entrepreneurial journey is a testament to the resilience and adaptability required to thrive in today's fast-paced business environment. As the founder of Hamptons Tech Week, he has cultivated a platform for innovation and collaboration, bridging the gap between technology, entrepreneurship, and community engagement. Through strategic partnerships and a relentless pursuit of excellence, Sabo has positioned himself as a leader in event management and business development.
Embracing the Power of Mentorship
Central to Sabo's success has been his unwavering commitment to mentorship and continuous learning. By surrounding himself with seasoned professionals and industry experts, he has gained invaluable insights and guidance, propelling his entrepreneurial endeavors to new heights. Sabo's emphasis on mentorship underscores the importance of seeking advice and wisdom from those who have walked the path before us, illuminating the way forward with clarity and purpose.
Prioritizing Health and Wellness
Despite the demands of entrepreneurship, Sabo remains steadfast in his commitment to holistic wellness. Recognizing the interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit, he advocates for a balanced approach to health that encompasses physical fitness, mental resilience, and emotional well-being. From soccer matches with friends to mindful moments of gratitude, Sabo's holistic approach to wellness reminds us that success is not defined solely by professional achievements but by the quality of our lives and relationships.
Fostering Authentic Connections
At the heart of Sabo's philosophy is a deep appreciation for the power of authentic connections and meaningful relationships. Whether celebrating successes or navigating challenges, he emphasizes the importance of surrounding oneself with a supportive network of friends, family, and colleagues who share a common vision and values. Sabo's emphasis on community underscores the transformative impact of collaboration and camaraderie in fueling personal and professional growth.
Hamptons Tech Week: A Platform for Innovation and Inspiration
As the conversation draws to a close, Sabo extends an invitation to Hamptons Tech Week, an annual gathering of thought leaders, innovators, and changemakers. Scheduled for June 4th through 6th, the event promises to ignite inspiration, foster collaboration, and drive meaningful change in the tech and entrepreneurial landscape. With a diverse lineup of speakers, panels, and workshops, Hamptons Tech Week offers a unique opportunity to connect with industry trailblazers, explore emerging trends, and chart the course for future success.
Conclusion: Embracing a Holistic Approach to Success
In conclusion, Stephen Sabo's journey embodies the symbiotic relationship between entrepreneurship and wellness, illustrating the transformative power of holistic living in unlocking our full potential. From navigating the complexities of business to prioritizing health and fostering authentic connections, Sabo's insights offer a roadmap for aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to thrive in today's ever-evolving landscape. As we embark on our entrepreneurial endeavors, let us heed Sabo's wisdom, embracing a holistic approach to success that encompasses professional achievements, personal fulfillment, wellness, and community engagement.
Connect with Stephen Sabo
Website — https://hamptonstechweek.com/
Instagram— https://www.instagram.com/ss9pm/
Transcript
[Stephen Sabo] (0:00 - 0:39)
But really the other thing that I've noticed that's shifted is the amount of time that you spend on other things after you have kids. That for me has been a huge shift of, well now this time really matters in a different way. You know, this hour spent on this meeting that I would have just taken every single meeting, you know, financial advisory in my 20s just to get activity.
And that activity turns into something less important after kids because now I really qualify things a lot stricter and I have a better filter for what constitutes me taking my time away from kids or things that I would be able to do with my family.
[Julian Hayes II] (0:42 - 1:27)
Welcome to another episode of Executive Health and Life. I'm your host, Julian Hayes II, back yet again, as I always say, with another fascinating guest. And today's quote is from Richard Branson.
He says, I don't think of work as work and play as play. It's all living. And I bring this up today because as I was reading on my guest today and I was talking to him initially the first time we met, it seemed that he's done a fantastic job of integrating work and play together.
And so with that said, my guest today is someone who has his fingers in a lot of different things. It's not random, as at the core, there's a central theme at play, which I'm sure that we're going to get to. So my guest today is Stephen Sabo. He's the founder at a couple of companies, partners at others, and a ton of other different things that I'm really looking forward to. So without further ado, Stephen, how's it going, man?
[Stephen Sabo] (1:28 - 1:32)
Good. Thanks for having me. I appreciate you having me on the show.
And I'm excited to chat.
[Julian Hayes II] (1:33 - 1:49)
Yeah, well, I appreciate the first conversation we had. We just got to talking for a while. And I was like, man, this could have been a very good podcast episode.
So I really appreciate that. So first and foremost, I know that you are a soccer player, football for those international. How do you feel about the state of American football right now?
[Stephen Sabo] (1:50 - 3:10)
Oh, man, that's a great opening question. Preface that I just play an old man men's league on Saturday mornings. So I'm a washed up soccer player is what you can refer to me as.
But the state of the sport, I've never been more bullish on soccer in America. I mean, the World Cup helped that tremendously. But there's a lot of really cool things happening.
Fandom has grown internationally. A lot of people when I started playing, didn't really watch it or didn't really know much about the sport in Europe. And really nobody watched or played MLS from some of the bigger players.
I think we're getting more talent over here. I think people are watching more and I think people are showing more interest in the national team. And I will give a quick shout out to a friend of mine, Kyle Martino.
He started a social club around football, fandom support, and really growing that side of the industry. He was a player himself, obviously. So it kind of came from that side.
But he's growing something really cool, which I just don't think would have been a thing 10, 15 years ago in terms of people, you know, actively joining somewhere like that. But now the I mean, it's it's full almost every day. It's crazy to see, but it's a it's a really cool spot in New York.
[Julian Hayes II] (3:11 - 3:55)
Yeah, I agree with that. Because when I was coming up playing sports, I either decided to it was either going to be football, or it was going to be basketball. I mean, I tried baseball, but they threw me out in center field.
And there was no action. So I immediately left baseball. So you really only had two choices.
And you heard about soccer, but I only saw soccer every four years with the World Cup. Yeah, it wasn't really a thing. So I think that's pretty cool now.
And I actually think, I don't know, I think there's a chance that soccer could probably actually overtake American football with youth sports. Because probably in the next few decades, because I think more and more people are getting worried about the long term effects of football. So what do you think about that?
[Stephen Sabo] (3:56 - 5:07)
It's funny, I never I never thought before I had kids that I would be that parent. But I have two kids, a five year old boy who were having that conversation with around football. And it starts as flag.
So it's fine. You don't need to make that choice yet. But I'm pretty adamant that I don't I played football growing up.
The helmet, they gave it, they gave you a helmet and pads pretty early. I think they hold that off a little bit longer now. But yeah, I don't really think I'm gonna have my kid in, you know, in football and pads and a helmet, like maybe I'll do the flag football thing.
But he's very much into golf. He's very much into playing soccer, which makes me very happy. We let him do everything.
And he's still interested in a number of sports. But those are the two that I take, you know, a lot of pride in, you know, having him play. And that's what I enjoy playing myself.
So it kind of helps there. And he has, he has some uncles who helps him along the way. And that's a good thing, too, because it's the sport alongside hanging out with the uncles that he wants to hang out with that he thinks is cool.
That's not always cool. And he doesn't always listen to dad, but it's good to have that camaraderie outside there.
[Julian Hayes II] (5:08 - 5:48)
Yeah, I think it's amazing how we are. A lot of times kids tend to gravitate towards the sports that their parents played, even if they don't make them. So my dad played basketball.
And of course, I ended up just gravitating toward that. And I was actually much better naturally at that than any other sport. So I think that's interesting.
And my mom, ironically, she didn't know anything about CT or none of that. She just was like, No, I don't want him to get just like knocked around all the time. I don't think it's good for his brain.
And so I just find that funny. 20 something years later, this kind of research is coming out. So very interesting.
But, you know, speaking of childhood, I always like to go back in the past before I go with the present, even the future. If I met you at 11 years old, would there be clues to what you're doing right now?
[Stephen Sabo] (5:49 - 6:31)
Yeah, for sure. It's funny. We kind of mentioned the, the way to get trained by your uncle, I was I was just learning golf at like, nine, 10 years old.
My uncle was teaching me, for the most part, he was he was an avid golfer at the time. I was learning that way. But I was also I was, I guess a strange kid, because I always kind of knew, I liked being in business.
And I always knew from an early stage, that I was gonna, I was gonna be involved in some sort of business. I still, as you'll know, I have my hands in a few things. But it's always in that business world and that that entrepreneurial spirit.
[Julian Hayes II] (6:33 - 6:47)
What, what attracted you initially to business? Because for me, I think I was a late bloomer with that I didn't really think about business or anything until maybe late 20s, early 30s. So, so what initially attracted you with that?
[Stephen Sabo] (6:50 - 8:12)
It's funny, I don't, I don't recall, I always really liked more the stock market side of it in the beginning. And I think that I think that was a base of getting into finance and really understanding how money moved that way and how people became so wealthy in America and kind of the way that they use capital markets. That always fascinated me.
But then I think the the knowledge base is needed across all, you know, all businesses in general, you need to understand how the capital markets work just to save for retirement or do anything in business. It's, you know, it's just one of the things I think of the systems in America don't teach enough is the business side of it. And like even accounting, and taxes, a lot of that stuff is basic for business majors.
But, you know, somebody who's got a master's degree in something else and opens up their own practice, they're not learning that stuff as much in the practice, right? They're not running, learning how to run a business, they're learning how to be a master at their craft, which is good. But then you got to figure out once the money flows what you're doing with it.
And also just if you get your taxes wrong, you just go to jail. So you hire a hire an accountant to do it properly, or, you know, figure it out on your own.
[Julian Hayes II] (8:13 - 8:58)
Yeah, I can agree with that. And I think that's a lot of, you know, with with huge, like subject matter experts that are just not really exactly business majors. It's a it's a thing that, you know, they're very good at their craft.
But there's so many other aspects of business, where that you don't know. And so you could have all the knowledge in the world, you can be the most talented person, but if you have no business acumen, you're, you're going to be lost, you're gonna get a to eat alive out there. So I definitely agree with that.
So were you? So you played soccer. So in college, were you also a business major?
I was Yeah. Okay. Okay.
And so a little bit about your backstory, how did you start to get involved in some of your companies and other things that you're doing? Because I know there's three main ones that you are involved in.
[Stephen Sabo] (8:59 - 11:33)
Yeah, I could I didn't just run right through and give you a long winded response here. But while I was out at Hofstra, I interned and works for a financial advisor at UBS, who I learned a ton under, I mean, that really drove me into my the first part of my career, which was personal financial advisory. I saw how close he was with his clients, and they felt like family, you know, he would have the Christmas cards on the wall, they would have in person meetings all the time, he would know their kids, and it'd be a really good relationship.
So that that's the first step that I really got attracted to that business, bounce around at a few financial advisory firms, learned a lot, met a bunch of good friends. And then really started, I wanted to be more in the business development and relationship side than the actual behind the computer trading and being involved in, and the nuts and bolts of the business didn't, didn't really fall within what I wanted to do with later in life and kind of be that relationship manager. So I started an event series called Vin and Fin.
And this is, you know, the intent was to get people in the room and source business for other financial advisors. That's how it started. It was a it's a wine event.
That is four blocks of education, there's wine, and I would bring in a sommelier to teach about the wine. And then in between each flight of wine, there will be a CFP teaching about financial or insurance concepts. So I wanted it to be a palatable way to teach people 60 minutes about wine 30 minutes about finance, five to seven minute clips that people can really digest and won't be too overwhelming in terms of like content to throw it at you.
But it, you know, it was super successful. That was 2019. I did a ton of events in 2019.
And then the pandemic happened, turned into doing no events, obviously, nobody was meeting in person. That's kind of when I ventured into my new businesses, always with the intention of going back until I went off and did it on my own and did some other things and said, you know what, I think this is more for me. And we could always, you know, just just expand it from there.
I finally brought Vin and Finn back for the family office and VC world a little bit more for just networking and sharing business ideas and deal flow. But it's good to have it back. But yeah, I still haven't done a personal financial one since before the pandemic.
[Julian Hayes II] (11:34 - 11:57)
Wow, that's interesting. But you know, so I hear this, and you just, you can't help but hear relationships. And just, and also, you're very good at creating events, by now, because one of the things you do is the Hamptons Tech Week.
Right? Yeah. So I guess we'll start with that one.
So how did that one, I guess the first thing is like, what is that? And how'd you get started with it?
[Stephen Sabo] (11:57 - 14:11)
Well, it's funny, it always kind of meant to be a meetup. So it was just like, nothing, you know, on this side from I was going to a lot of conferences, and they were, you know, bigger conferences that I felt lost their value because of how many people were there, traveling a lot for it. But a lot of the value was meeting with people either I already knew or the people that they were with.
So in that, I was just like, Alright, let's do a smaller version, which now we call micro conference. And just make sure it's super curated. The content is great, and the people are better.
Right. So that that was the basis of it. I had a partner in the first couple years that helped me grow it.
You know, it started in the Hamptons, we are now in four locations. We were just in Lake Nona, which was great. Lake Nona is a really cool spot.
It's right next to Orlando for a lot of people who didn't know, but I was blown away. It's like a smart city. All the people who went, you know, really appreciated the city and the content and the people who are in the room.
The next one is in June, which is the Hamptons. And then we have London and Napa the rest of the year. So really what it is, it's it's more of a macro style conference talking about tech instead of like a developers conference where I feel like a lot of people would kind of be that you would have to be in the industry to understand the people on stage and what's going on on those panels.
This is meant to be more, you know, industry agnostic to where you can walk in the room and understand what's being discussed the whole time. You know that I usually try to curate many industries and have the business leaders speaking about it. But the intention for the conference is also be a meeting area for opportunity.
So we have a lot of investors in the room, we have opportunity in the room, which is usually the founders or people who are in leadership positions at companies who are raising. And then the rest of the crowd is usually advisors, some sports entertainment. Like we discussed a little bit, I get involved in the sports entertainment side from another business and agency that I work with.
But yeah, it's always it's always a fun crowd. You never get more than 350 people. That's the max for the Hamptons.
The other events are about 120 people.
[Julian Hayes II] (14:12 - 14:15)
Okay, so what was the reason for picking London?
[Stephen Sabo] (14:16 - 15:01)
I just have a decent network there now. You know, I just always wanted to, to leverage or have them come over. But it's much easier just from the connections.
Now we can have a small conference built from the people that I know over there. Again, nice little sports entertainment niche. Soccer is, you know, England is probably the best country in the world for that.
Some people argue that but definitely from the business side. I mean, they do it right. I have some really great connects over there and people I'm, you know, involved in their business as well as an advisor.
You know, it's just it's a home away from home from New York. It feels very similar. I like the nature of London and it'll hold the conference true to its name.
[Julian Hayes II] (15:02 - 15:40)
Yeah, it's a favorite city of mine. I really enjoyed my time in London. I need to go back actually thinking about that.
But when I hear this, I also hear this is kind of a good lesson for a business owners as well. Is that these you mentioned that these are small, you know, micro events, right? And not the not the large, huge stadium events.
And I think there's something to, you know, small events and over these large events. And I also kind of see this starting to play out in even in the world of content creation or business is that these small micro niche audiences are gaining more power and even more people are gravitating towards these things more than just the big ones. Is that what you're thinking as well?
[Stephen Sabo] (15:41 - 16:56)
Yeah, it's funny, even even on the sponsor conversations and the bigger companies of what they're willing to put budget behind and get involved in. It's sounding to be more like those micro conferences and, and truly be able to track more of the relationships and what comes out of it, right? It's very hard to track some of the bigger conferences if you, you know, throw money to be a title sponsor, and it's a kind of a logo slapping exercise, like you see logos everywhere.
And there's, you know, big conference rooms and multiple rooms going on at once. It's easy to get lost within there as a visitor to or as a guest. You know, then you're also meeting people at a higher clip to ensure that you're going to meet somebody valuable for what you were there for, you know, in a smaller conference, it's just easier to cover the room.
It's also easier for somebody like me, who brought you to the conference or is running the conference to introduce you to somebody that's valuable for your business. Right now, I take pride in that I like to walk people around and make sure that they meet each other, kind of a natural connector on that side. But that's where a lot of the value comes from, too.
I won't be effective doing that in a large room, but in a room, you know, sub 300. I feel like I can do that pretty effectively.
[Julian Hayes II] (16:57 - 17:07)
And you've probably heard this before from a lot of people that, oh, I'm not good at networking, I'm not good at relationship building and those kind of things. Well, how do you usually respond to that when you hear somebody say that?
[Stephen Sabo] (17:11 - 19:33)
It's just practice at that point, right? It's not it's not practice, but it's just being comfortable going to an event without an outcome needed, right? Like I there was a lot of times where it's I didn't have a direct purpose or where I did and that purpose didn't work out.
Right? A lot of the times I was at a conference and something else came up that I did not intend. And that ended up being a bigger connection or piece of business, purely by serendipity.
You know, the partners, Simon Bailey, who runs handbiz tech week now is our COO. He has this phrase called engineered serendipity. And I love that.
I like that. It's putting the room together in a very thoughtful way. And knowing, you know, what he does and knowing their business and their personality, and that they're gonna mesh.
But it feels serendipitous, because you were sat next to the person who you were meant to meet, you know, and Simon's very good at that. I've, I've done that, but I never had the phrase for it. He's very, he's good at the branding side of that.
But a good example is I was at his conference in, in Belfast, I sat next to a friend now, Andy Jarvis, he had me on his podcast, and he came and he was an emcee at the Lake Nona event. He killed it. But there was it was a very thoughtful way, because he's had sat me next to him.
We hit it off. And Simon knew that. But knowing more about the business and the people in the room just makes it so much more effective at networking.
So that preparation that goes into the event. If somebody says I'm bad at it, you probably didn't look up who's in the room, what they're there for and really understand their business. Because if you did, you're going to come with more thoughtful questions, more useful connections for them.
A lot of the times I approach things as always give, give, give. If you're, if you ask for something right, for something right away, people get turned off from that. So I usually ask and never ask for anything.
I give and never ask for anything back from a lot of people and they just naturally want to connect to you. That's, that's people's nature. They're always very willing to recoup on what you gave them.
So, you know, I would I would just say the preparation is a big part of being a good networker, even though that's not really like a thing.
[Julian Hayes II] (19:34 - 19:50)
Yeah, and I'm sure so I'm sure you hear a lot of different things, you know, at these events. But, you know, this is probably maybe a difficult question just to put with one or two things. But if you could, what are some of the things that you've heard recently in terms of the tech world and at these events that you're most excited about?
[Stephen Sabo] (19:53 - 21:11)
It's funny, I just posted this on Instagram like a couple minutes ago, right before our interview started. And it was from the founder of NVIDIA. And he was saying that a lot of the advice over the past 10 years of keynote speeches or tech conferences were that everybody should be a programmer, and that the shift in the industry is the complete opposite now with AI is that we are now creating computers that can listen to us as humans, right.
So we could just basically tell a computer what to do. And the AI is turning you into a programmer through human speech. So just natural language, you don't have to be a programmer.
And that'll really enhance the way that people interact and start using technology, I think it'll make it much broader, because not everybody can be a programmer. It's not something that's inherent into our natural way of interacting with things. And I think these language models are going to be something really impactful.
And we're going to see a huge boom once everybody understands that you can use the technology in this way. But yeah, I mean, that's going to be a huge run for the next number of years. I mean, obviously, all you hear about now is AI, but it's, it's a real thing.
It's going to become base business for a lot of people.
[Julian Hayes II] (21:11 - 21:27)
Yeah, I think I saw by, I think I saw a stat this morning, doing some reading that maybe by 2030, I think it was 2030, that maybe 75-80% of jobs and industries, or jobs in particular, are going to be severely impacted by AI.
[Stephen Sabo] (21:30 - 22:03)
Yeah. In that side, impacted, yes, but that could be a positive impact. A lot of people think that connotation is negative on some of the job market, but they're just making people's jobs either easier, or more impactful, that they can spend their time doing things that they want to be doing, or is helpful to the business or innovative, or more on the personal touch side of things, not, you know, monotonous activity that can be automated.
And it should be automated, to be honest, it's not, it's not good use of our time.
[Julian Hayes II] (22:03 - 22:20)
Yeah, I completely agree on that, that, you know, using AI strategically has been a enhancer, and it's made so many things easier, so many things easier. It's almost, it's almost laughable to kind of how you used to have to do things compared to now. I mean, it's, it's fascinating.
[Stephen Sabo] (22:20 - 22:58)
I would have never even thought of like, think about being back in school, and like, with this chat GPT version of things as a teacher, as a student, like, it's just a, we would never even think about that back in the day, right? Like, we had to write on our notes, and be able to, to kind of look things up that way. Now it's just a completely different world.
But I think that's such a useful tool now is to be able to learn how to, how to use what's available to you and make quick decisions and answers based on that. I think that's a, that's a skill that's going to be honed over the next couple years, and it should be in our educational system. It's just too new to be able to do that yet.
[Julian Hayes II] (22:58 - 23:18)
Yeah, I think the educational system probably, and it's going to have to evolve, or it's going to be very archaic, very quick. So last thing on this is, what do you have in the future? Have you thought about the future for the Hamptons Tech Week?
Do you think about different cities, or do you want to just, or keep it, keep it, you know, small like that?
[Stephen Sabo] (23:18 - 25:10)
I always want the events to be small. Like, I never want them to get over 300 and 350 people in one event, because I always, right, the curated nature of a micro conference, I really think is, is something you can't mess with from, at least from our conference. What I would want to change, I would want to add more cities.
I think each city or area has its own flavor, and we try to lean into that. Lake Nona was very strong in sports and in health care. So I wanted to lean into that a little bit.
I, you know, our attendees went to the USTA facilities. It was the headquarters in Lake Nona. And they, a lot of people learned a new sport, which is Padel.
Padel is a new sport that is very specific. And we had literally the, the president of the association nationally, this guy Marcos, he had infectious energy. He did a quick lesson, but it was brand new.
And it was like, All right, I always want that flavor locally to be involved in the conference in some way. And you can make a case for so many cities with that, like, like there's, you know, it's, it's endless of how many people have a specialty in the city, and now would have business interest to go there. You know, it might be smaller in terms of like a stopover.
Like we're saying, London, Napa, Lake Nona locations for 100, 120 people. But I always, I always wanted to just keep growing in that way. We expand our reach, expand our network.
You know, and most businesses are made to sell. So we'll have to get it to a place when, where it's sellable, where I can, I can kind of step away and do other business activities. But, you know, it's about building it and having a good product to be able to sell it regardless of what it is.
But that's, that's always the goal.
[Julian Hayes II] (25:11 - 25:16)
Yeah, well, I'll go ahead and throw another city in there. You can throw Nashville in there. I'll, I'll be a spokesperson for Nashville.
[Stephen Sabo] (25:17 - 25:31)
Yeah. Nashville has been brought up a number of times. So, you know, my other partners are music attorneys.
They love Nashville. A couple of my other partners love Nashville too. So I'm sure Nashville's on the calendar in the next year or two.
[Julian Hayes II] (25:31 - 25:56)
Cool. Good to hear. Good to hear.
Yeah, it's, that's even funny to hear that Nashville's on a calendar like that. Because growing up in Nashville, it was nothing but just country music, maybe entertainment. But other than that, you wouldn't really think of Nashville as a destination for anything.
And now it's, it's, it's probably going to be at least the second biggest, probably hub in the South after Atlanta, I think in the near future. Yeah. Yeah.
[Stephen Sabo] (25:56 - 25:57)
Yeah.
[Julian Hayes II] (25:57 - 26:13)
I'm, I would agree with that. So, you know, going to one of your other entities is the sports entertainment world. And so I'm very curious on that.
What drew you to that? Other than, I guess, playing sports yourself? Was there a business aspect of sports that you enjoyed as well?
[Stephen Sabo] (26:14 - 28:34)
Yeah, on that side, I'll focus a little bit more on the the broker dealer that I work with, which is a partner of mine, Rick Perna. He came in the industry of sports banking, which is basically the buying selling of sports franchises, providing debt where needed. Being involved in that world always fascinated me of, it's an alternative asset class that a lot of people couldn't really get involved with in, you know, in a big way, you had to be basically a family office or a big, big individual to be able to purchase a team.
Right. And learning that sports banking world from him has just become a really cool part of the offering of being able to say to somebody, Hey, we can have that conversation for you, do the due diligence, either reach out directly to teams or clubs, or, you know, sell it for you. Right.
So there's plenty of people who come to us now, I'd say, Hey, I have an XYZ piece of the team. Can you bring this to market for me? You know, and let's find, let's find a proper fit, because the current owners want it to be successful, too.
And that's, that's a big part of the ownership is making the team successful. And vice versa, they always want to be, you know, partners with somebody who's, you want to hand over teams now and liquidate. But they also have an affinity for the club still.
So they want that process to go smoothly and for it to be successful in the future, because that's their name, that's, you know, their passion. So that's another side of it, too, to where the sports world and the business side, there is passion involved, where it's not just business at the end of the day, right? There's a lot of other industries that really doesn't matter.
Once you leave a business, you don't think about it again. But in the sports world, that that will always be the case, right? It will live on beyond you.
So for me, that's, it's been a really cool world to work in. Working under Rick has just been an amazing learning experience. And, and to be able to offer that to people is, I think, a rare thing that you don't really see in the market as much.
It's, you know, a very narrow field. They all know each other at the, at the broker level and being able to speak directly to the leagues. So the world just gets smaller and smaller in those spaces.
[Julian Hayes II] (28:35 - 28:53)
Yeah, I was gonna ask that, is that, you know, somebody that's listening to this, and maybe they're interested in getting involved in sports from that kind of aspect. There were very few options. And, and even now, so there's still there's still not a huge options, right?
They get in terms of from the investment level, right? To my understanding.
[Stephen Sabo] (28:54 - 30:25)
And advisory to I mean, just recently, some of the bigger players, like Goldman have stepped into the business, start offering sports banking services. But yeah, the advisory side of that is growing, but it's still small, comparatively to other industries that are that big. And then also the assets that are coming to market, a lot of them have grown, right?
So now Europe is an option. Buying your way into a, you know, Series B team in Italy, or some of the lower leagues in Portugal or Spain is a thing now. I don't think people really were doing that at a wider level in America.
A lot of those clubs were family owned, right? A lot of the money that went into it was all family money. So paying for transfers, you know, raising players, this has now become much more business nature than it used to be at the academy levels.
But then all the other businesses too, it's like a royalty asset in the States. You know, that's, it's extremely hard to be an NFL owner. I mean, that's, that's the top of the top.
But you're starting to see some changes in the industry in terms of allowing crowdfunding on some of the leagues, you're allowing private equity to come in at certain levels. And I think that's because like, it's just there's only so many individuals that can buy multi-billion dollar assets by themselves. So they just need a way to filter in more capital and continue these, these areas to grow.
[Julian Hayes II] (30:26 - 30:54)
Yeah, now I saw something with our our MLS team here in Nashville, where I think I saw when I saw like the people involved when it was first trying to get it here, they got a stadium and everything now. It's always like a group of people, it seemed like they come together. So is that the difference between, I know there's partner groups in other sports that kind of get together, but here it seemed like there's a bunch of different individuals that kind of just contributed different amounts.
Is that one of the differences between different leagues?
[Stephen Sabo] (30:55 - 32:21)
Well, the rules are the differences. So there's, there's definitely different rules between every league. They kind of set their own rules and abide by them, which boils down to how many owners you can have, you know, what, what the interest levels are going to be, the business that you're allowed to do or assets you're allowed to own outside of that league.
We actually just had that come up recently with a potential buyer for, for a team, assets owned internationally. So it's funny, Rick actually has sold a number of the limited partners in the Nashville teams. So he has direct experience into that.
I wasn't on those deals, but obviously I've heard about them and talked about them. So it is, it's funny to, you know, work through all those with people directly. And, you know, some people have a very direct ask, and we can just dive into the nuts and bolts of the deal right away, right?
If they want to buy an MLS team or team in the Premier League and NFL team, very different approaches there. And very, very different ways that you can include people or not include people. The NFL always needs a singular person, essentially be the owner or the family name or whatever it is.
You know, it's not, it's not like that in other sports and leagues. So it's really about learning what the client's going to need, and what the league requires to make those transactions happen.
[Julian Hayes II] (32:21 - 32:51)
Okay. And so you got a lot of moving parts. A lot of people talk to different time zones, as we just heard you talking to people in Europe and stuff.
One thing that usually you hear people ask, and I have a curiosity with this as well, is like, how do you like juggle all this? You mentioned kids, wife, all that. Did you always have it together?
Or did you have to learn a hard way in terms of getting yourself settled in? Or is it always, or is it still a work in progress?
[Stephen Sabo] (32:52 - 35:23)
Having it together is a work in progress always, I think, especially with kids. I mean, it's, it's a new experience almost every day. But it's, it's been fun kind of navigating this, right?
My one, I was talking about pandemic. I was working in New York City, like every day, like, you know, six days a week, sometimes, definitely five days a week, and I was going in super early and coming home super late. So without pandemic, I don't think I would have changed my job or really had more of a balance with being at home.
And that's helped dramatically. I mean, I'm taking this, this call and podcast from my home office, right, and I'm going to go into the city after this. That balance has never really been there.
You know, I try to, every day that I'm not traveling, and I'm actually at home, I try to bring my son to school. It's very rewarding, and it builds that relationship. And I really, I don't think I would have had that possibility without the pandemic, because I would have been in that same role, and in the same way being in the city every single day, and missed out a lot on that.
So that was the positive side of this. The business building, it's, it's important to have a partner that supports you. My wife will appreciate this, but she has always supported my crazy ideas, like starting a conference in the Hamptons or, you know, going to London for work and doing sports banking felt like too much of an, too much to take on or, you know, like a lofty dream at one point.
And she's always been super supportive. So shout out to her. It was her birthday yesterday.
But yeah, that's always a huge part of it. But really, the, the other thing that I've noticed that's shifted is the amount of time that you spend on other things after you have kids. That, for me, has been a huge shift of, well, now this time really matters in a different way.
You know, this hour spent on this meeting that I would have just taken every single meeting, you know, financial advisory in my 20s just to get activity. And that activity turns into something less important after kids, because now I, I really qualify things a lot stricter, and I have a better filter for what constitutes me taking my time away from kids or things that I would be able to do with my family or, you know, other activities that, you know, you kind of learn what those things are. And those qualifying tools are going to be with people and business opportunities in the future.
[Julian Hayes II] (35:23 - 35:31)
So I can imagine you've also become much more efficient and, and overall productive with less time. No, yeah.
[Stephen Sabo] (35:31 - 36:03)
Not to say that you really work less. But yeah, done. Yeah, you get more done in that time frame.
I would definitely say that. I used to waste a lot more time and take meetings that, you know, you can kind of see that they could be a dead end, or like there wasn't as much there. But you would just take it to see, because you don't, you didn't have that ability to filter it before then.
But now I feel like I am getting much better at filtering out the meetings, the travel, and kind of what business opportunities are worth exploring.
[Julian Hayes II] (36:03 - 36:16)
Yeah. So if you had someone that's, that's new, and say, they're in the early stage, it's hard to have that because it sounds like to get to really sense that filtering. It's, you've had a lot of reps at this.
[Stephen Sabo] (36:16 - 36:53)
Yeah, right. I mean, that's, yeah, that's, reps is the only thing that I really have advice on is just going out and doing it, right? Putting in your hours, the faster you get to some more reps and more hours is how you learn.
I mean, you could have mentorship too, is the other thing that I would really press on. There's been a lot of mentors for me in business that have just extremely, I would never be able to get there quick, this quick on my own. From kind of understanding people in business and things to, to look at, you know, there's just a few of those guys who really take me under their wing and, and taught me that.
[Julian Hayes II] (36:54 - 37:32)
And did you ever, like a lot of times entrepreneurs and even entrepreneurs, they start to struggle a little bit mentally and emotionally. And I'm curious, like, did you ever, did you, did you have that issue at all in terms of because you're building something from the ground up with these events at one point, you're working on different deals. And there's a, there's a long, there's a, those deals are not going to happen instantaneously.
Like, they're probably, I imagine, they take months, maybe years, some of these, right? And so is there, did you ever have that issue of like mentally or emotionally you start questioning yourself or am I doing the right thing, etc, etc?
[Stephen Sabo] (37:35 - 38:52)
It's funny, not, not questioning myself to a standpoint of like, what, if you can do it, it's more of what you should be doing. And what you're spending time on. And is it, is it worth it at the end of the day to put so much effort into it?
You know, I've always felt like I could do it. But really qualifying what's worth doing and what fits with what you want to be doing, I think was a, was a huge step there. And then also, like, just, just getting over the hurdle of expectations, the better you are at setting expectations for business partners, family members, yourself, right?
Like how, how long realistically a deal takes instead of, you know, pressing it. If a business matter should take six weeks to get done, don't try to do it in four and try to rush it and look, you know, just, just do the process in the way that you know is efficient. Don't waste time, but also don't press unnecessarily.
And just setting those expectations and planning for that properly. I think it's been, you know, that's, that's been a huge learning curve in the last three years as different businesses kind of grow on to this. But yeah, that's true for every career or thing that I've done to this point.
[Julian Hayes II] (38:53 - 39:07)
You have advice on, on having business partners? Do you have like, maybe a few like, these are, these are the things that before I go in business with anyone, I have like these two to three filters or something.
[Stephen Sabo] (39:10 - 40:11)
I mean, in business, I mean, trust is number one. And having skills that complement one another, I think is very important. You don't need somebody that's just like you.
It doesn't add to the experience. You're basically just two solos that might share overhead, which it's, you know, I wouldn't consider that completely a business. That's just a partnership or something strategic that you do.
If you're truly building a business, you want somebody that doesn't think like you or have the same skill set as you. But also some, you know, has to be somebody you trust to really dive in. This is, you know, business is truly like a marriage.
So that that becomes something that you need to get super comfortable with quick. And then also just people you admire, like just personally, in business, like you just have to like that person and, and truly admire them to jump into business with them. And luckily, you know, my current business partners are people that speak or fit those molds in every category.
[Julian Hayes II] (40:12 - 40:27)
Yes. So if you had to, say, distill it down to maybe two to three principles, what would you say those two to three principles are in regarding like, that has been most instrumental to your overall career development?
[Stephen Sabo] (40:29 - 41:17)
Two, three principles. I mean, you have to put in the work, you have to put in the hours of just going out, there's going to be things that flop. It's just there's, it's like, like we said, the reps, but also you have to be comfortable with things not turning out the way you think they are.
You have to be, you have to be able to adjust fairly quickly, once you know things and then be kind of quick to choose those decisions that you know are right, right? Instead of letting things linger, you have to be quick on a decision and trust your gut. Because a lot of that is just, it's going to take time to understand what is good for you and what is good for your business and what you can handle.
But yeah, I just, you got to go all in on everything that you're doing.
[Julian Hayes II] (41:19 - 41:21)
And what does success mean to you?
[Stephen Sabo] (41:25 - 42:27)
Success is a moving target that I will probably never hit to keep myself motivated. You know, there's, there's, I've always kind of said, I won't retire. Life will look different.
But I, I really don't want to retire at any point. Like I just really like doing business and connecting people and, you know, making things, making things work and building new experiences and all these other businesses that I have passions in, right? Like I started working in the golf business a little bit and really working with people who are in the golf business and like sports banking, I'm around soccer and, and other sports that I just enjoy being around.
So, you know, success is kind of enjoying every day. I really, I really do enjoy meeting with all the people that I do, the business that I do. So like, that's the successful part of it is I will always add more on the plate because I enjoy doing it.
And also, you know, ultimately to provide as much as you possibly can for your family is always, is always the number one goal.
[Julian Hayes II] (42:29 - 42:44)
Random question. What am I missing with golf in terms of like, why am I not as like, yeah, what am I missing with golf? I, I, I'm not really like connected with it, but I, I, I recognize that it takes, it's, there's a lot of awesome things with it, but it's just like, I'm missing something there.
[Stephen Sabo] (42:46 - 45:58)
It's funny. It's, it's definitely a good business tool, right? There's no other thing to where you're spending four hours with somebody in a golf cart together or in that setting to where it's just a very natural way to, you know, have deeper conversations because you're forced into that environment together.
I actually do think that rounds of golf are too long. You know, I ventured into the par three side of golf and making, you know, smaller social interactions with golf and have it being a tighter experience, but still that, that typical round of golf, the 18 holes, you really do need to commit to, you know, you're, you'll catch the bug at some point, right? Like if you're going to play, you'll, you'll know right away when you're getting like addicted to golf, like people talk about it because it's one of those things you're never really gonna master, right?
Like there's, it's not a sport that you can eat, you know, it's just a constant improvement of yourself. So I think it's probably you haven't caught on to it yet because you've been focused on other businesses and it hasn't overlapped into business as much. For me, it was very natural to be in financial advisory and just take somebody out for a round of golf.
I was pairing it up with, you know, a good business meeting was a good day on the golf course sometimes. And that, that's a very fun way to experience a sport, which is not like, there's not that many sports you can do that with, to be honest, like, you know, that's definitely, and a sport you can play throughout your whole life, right? So that's one thing I even started later than I would have liked.
I had my son swinging a golf club when he was two years old. You know, that's really a lifelong experience and a skill that you'll hold. You know, and it does open doors.
I feel very strongly about getting golf to more people because it opened so many doors for me, gave me such good life experiences. But you can meet a business partner on the course, a client, like by chance, not even going there with them. And there's opportunities that come up, especially in business.
If you're a good golfer, you know, your, your partners will invite you to the golf outing because you're a good golfer and they know that. That's opportunities that don't just come up, like they don't have basketball tournaments like that as much. You know, it's not as typical to have that in corporate settings in a bigger way.
And I really do think, you know, job opportunities, partners that will come from a golf course that a lot of people have started to notice. I mean, the curving golf has really gone up and to the right. It's, it's a great sport.
Everybody's kind of learning it now or is at least still making the choice to play it or not. It's not like it's not accessible as much or as popular, right? Street clothes are a very hot topic in golf right now.
It's one of those things that people have been talking about and, you know, it causes, you know, it causes discussion, I would say, but at least people are actively choosing to play or not to play now because friends have asked them, like even, you know, 10, 15 years ago, I think it was more rare for somebody to ask you to go golfing just in a, you know, a casual setting.
[Julian Hayes II] (45:59 - 46:41)
You know, that's pretty, that's pretty convincing. That's, that's, that's some really good points, because none of the sports I play, like no one's going to say, hey, let's go on, let's go do this ultra together, right? Like, you're not going to do that stuff, right?
Or like, hey, let's go box together. So those are actually good points. And I guess that's, you hear this a lot, though, that it's a great business thing.
And it's a great thing for relationships. And that's really what business, a lot of times, ultimately comes down to is relationships. Sure, you got to have some skill, know what you're talking about, and all that.
But really, it's about relationships. Because it seems like the more I go along with things and learn things, it seems like the more and more people that are actually connected with each other, and they do business and do opportunities with people they know, like and trust.
[Stephen Sabo] (46:42 - 48:05)
Yeah, 1000%. I mean, there's relationships that have gone like, from my life insurance and financial advisory days, relationships that I still hold, and those people have left those jobs. I left that industry for the most part.
And you know, you still keep the friendship. So it's something that transcends, like we still play golf together, we still talk. And maybe there's still a business opportunity later, but it really doesn't matter.
You're still, you're just keeping lifelong friends. And that's initially how you got to that friendship is time spent on the golf course. And it doesn't have to be the golf course.
It's just taking your time out and really investing in relationships that, you know, in any industry that's, you know, it's important to some level, right? It's more important in more of a sales industry, because you have to meet people. But even at industries that you don't to move up and, you know, in the tech world, it's good to know a lot of people because opportunity comes up that way.
And they're always looking for, for new people to jump in and go do, you know, this next startup, which could be one of the next big startups, right? Like somebody could offer you that job at Uber before anybody knows the hell it is. And then you're a millionaire in a couple years.
It's, you know, it's an incredible journey, but you have to be open to it. If you just stay somewhere, you know, too long, you're comfortable that that's not going to happen.
[Julian Hayes II] (48:05 - 48:08)
Yeah. And I think that goes back to what you said earlier about engineered spontaneity.
[Stephen Sabo] (48:10 - 48:11)
Yeah, yeah.
[Julian Hayes II] (48:11 - 48:54)
You have to really put yourself out there at times. And so one of the last questions here is around the area of health and everything. And I'm actually experiencing this a little bit now.
And so I'm pretty sure yours is magnified. I caught myself probably for the last few weeks, there were times where I was like, was annoyed that I had my workout scheduled or something. And I missed a few days because I got so involved with work, or I didn't want to stop writing or something like that.
Right. And I was like, man, this must be how man if I'm feeling this, I'm pretty sure it's like steroids for people who have like three and four and five companies and entities and a family. So for yourself, what do you think are has been some of the biggest things for you when it comes to health and fitness in terms of like, still finding a way to integrate that in your life?
[Stephen Sabo] (48:55 - 49:58)
Well, I mean, I definitely have to be better at it. But it's really like the fun part of it is I look forward to soccer on Saturday mornings with my friends. Some of the best parts of the week, you know, you get to play soccer, something, you know, whatever that thing is that you used to love or still love, or played competitively to be able to do that and have that competitive nature.
You know, it's just it's just awesome to be able to, to change up your week and be able to do that every single week or, or actively to see your friends and have that social environment that's not that has to be engineered, right? You have to set something up to have that many people get together, you know, at a regular frequency. I think that's very important is for mental health, too.
I mean, I think that's almost just as important for mental health as it is physical health to, you know, be able to do things that, you know, you're interested in and that you truly enjoy. So I just think, you know, taking, taking time for yourself and having it be a conscious decision is probably the number one thing.
[Julian Hayes II] (49:59 - 50:35)
You know, more than anything now, it's I think it's, it's shifting, like you said, more as a pressure valve for me. Yeah. More than anything now, it's just like a pressure valve to relieve myself of stuff with work and all these things that are floating in your head.
And it's just a time to get away and get those things out. So I completely agree with that. And so as I get ready to wrap this up, the last question here is, so let's say if someone asked you, what's a one to five word philosophy that serves as your compass to how you want to approach life?
What would that be?
[Stephen Sabo] (50:38 - 50:44)
Man, that's a tough one. To serve as your compass on life.
[Julian Hayes II] (50:45 - 50:48)
You can say life and business if you want to include both of them.
[Stephen Sabo] (50:48 - 51:59)
Yeah, I mean, never, never settle for, for kind of where you're at, right? You can always get better. It's similar to that, that success, what I define success as, you know, it's one of those things, it's not really, it's always going to be in front of you, right?
You're never going to achieve it. And I think some people look at that as a negative way, because you can never achieve your goals. But I think that's the point of a goal.
You always want to keep it moving, you want to move forward, and you always want to be, you know, making yourself better at the end of the day. So that's, that's kind of mine. It's always, it's always in the back of my mind to start something new or get better at something.
And, you know, just be more thoughtful all the time. Gratitude is a newer thing that I've been, I've been trying to get better at and be, you know, thoughtful and kind of building that into my schedule in life a little bit more. I wasn't great at that in, you know, prior years.
But I do think even just thinking about it and being, having it be a conscious thought is a step. So I've been, I've been getting better at that as well. So I think it's a marriage of both of those things.
[Julian Hayes II] (52:00 - 52:39)
Yeah, I can attest to that with the gratitude. It's something that's often on and it feels so sometimes the things you come up with that you're grateful for is you're like, oh, that's just basic stuff. But I mean, a lot of times it's, it has, I noticed when I go a long time without trying to pause and just think about the basic things in life that I do have and opportunities that I have.
Because a lot of times when you're always chasing, like you said, or always building, always constantly evolving and growing, you're always thinking about this next thing to get to, right? And so you kind of forget everything that you do, that you've already accomplished and that you do have in your life.
[Stephen Sabo] (52:40 - 53:22)
Yeah, you got to celebrate the wins. You know, that's, that's something a couple of my friends have always, have always said and have stuck to and we do that great. We celebrate the wins great.
But you know, it's always good to keep that grind and keep your circle on both of the both sides of that, right? Your circle pushing you, but also keep your circle to celebrate when you do hit goals personally and as a group and all those things. So I, you know, I'm a very strong believer in the people you spend time with are just the most influential pieces of your life that will always kind of drive, you know, what your, what your life is going to look like.
[Julian Hayes II] (53:23 - 53:38)
And I think that's a great way to wrap this up. And the last question, or not the last question, but where can listeners keep up with you or check out, maybe even get tickets for the next event or anything like that? Where would you like to direct them to?
[Stephen Sabo] (53:38 - 54:21)
I mean, I would love for everybody to come out to Hamptons Tech Week or pick one of the events, but our flagship is in the Hamptons. It'll be June 4 through the 6. It's HamptonsTechWeek.com.
You know, it'll be 300 plus people, great speakers, it'll be over three days. You know, we'll have an opening party and then two full days of activations and panels. That's always the best showing of the conference.
And then we can get further into niches. But also just feel free to follow me on Instagram, just at SS9PM. That's my personal one.
And at Hamptons Tech Week is the business. And I'm always happy to take a call and dive in where people need.
[Julian Hayes II] (54:22 - 54:27)
Awesome to hear. And I will have those in the show notes and everything. And I'm sure the weather is fantastic in June in the Hamptons.
[Stephen Sabo] (54:28 - 55:00)
It's not bad at all. It's, it's funny. That was one of the first things that I, why we started it out there.
It was in July. And it was like, well, I know people are going to be here anyway. So I could just beg them to come to my conference.
And at the worst, worst case scenario, you leave the conference with nothing, and you're still in the Hamptons. So it's a win-win. So that was my pitch to everybody in the first year is like, check it out.
I hope it's good. But you know, worst case scenario, you're by the beach and you're in the Hamptons. So luckily it worked out.
But yeah, it's not a bad, not a bad place to be in June.
[Julian Hayes II] (55:02 - 55:10)
Exactly, exactly. And thank you so much for joining me. And for listeners out there, stay awesome.
Be Limitless. And as always, go be the CEO of your health and your life. Peace.
