[Podcast Episode #12] Forget Hustle — THIS Is How You 10X With Half the Effort

We live in a world that idolizes hustle. Scroll through your feed, and you’ll find no shortage of entrepreneurs boasting about 20-hour days, red-eye flights, and inboxes overflowing with unread emails—as if exhaustion were the highest badge of honor.

But let us tell you a truth we’ve learned the hard way: hustle without direction leads not to greatness, but to burnout. It’s a beautiful way to miss your life while trying to build it.

In the tradition of Cosimo de’ Medici, let’s set down the hammer for a moment and think. What truly moves the needle? What transforms hard work into lasting impact?

The answer is simple but seldom practiced: Force Multipliers.

These are the hidden engines behind exponential success—relationships, systems, and strategies that multiply your effectiveness without demanding more of your time. The military uses the term to describe tools or tactics that dramatically amplify combat power. In business, force multipliers are what separate those who are merely busy from those who are genuinely effective.

Here is an example from Cris’ own journey.

While others scrambled for real estate deals across Frankfurt, chasing bank managers and waiting in lines, Cris asked a different question: Who controls the room where decisions are made? That question led him not to the branch offices but to the boardrooms. He began building direct relationships with decision-makers at the top of major banks—not by accident, but by design.

Over time, those relationships became critical levers. They didn’t just open doors—they built new ones. They turned simple meetings into strategic alliances and helped us acquire assets with terms others could only dream of.

That’s the Medici way. You don’t just play harder—you position better.

So ask yourself: which rooms are you not yet in that could change everything for you? What relationships could multiply your efforts tenfold?

It’s the same principle that applies when you hire the right executive assistant. Not someone you half-delegate to, who becomes a bottleneck for your to-do list, but someone who runs entire functions for you—email, calendar, even internal communications—based on clearly written playbooks. When done right, it’s like adding a second version of you to your team.

Here’s a rule we live by: if your time is worth $300 an hour, anything that can be done for $100 or less should be outsourced or delegated. This isn’t about ego—it’s about stewardship. Your business needs your brain, not your bandwidth.

Cosimo never let work overpower him. He cultivated relationships, invested in knowledge, and withdrew to the Villa di Careggi to reflect and recharge. That rhythm is just as vital today. Growth isn’t found in the grind—it’s found in the strategy behind the scenes.

If you want to build something remarkable, stop trying to do it all yourself. Instead, build alliances, craft systems, and create leverage. Stop sprinting. Start multiplying.

Because the goal isn’t to hustle harder.

The goal is to build a house that lasts.