Mike Winnet29 August 2019

The Contrepreneur Formula Exposed: Behind The Scenes - Mike Winnet - #098

2Frameworks

10Insights

Frameworks in this episode

Sales8 steps

The Contrepreneur Formula

Spot the identical sales script get-rich-quick gurus run on stage

Read →

Entrepreneurship5 steps

The Sellable-Sector Checklist

Pick a sector, build a genuine USP, and backwards-plan the exit

Read →

Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Myth Buster· 1

Myth Buster17:00

Why get-rich-quick courses can't work: customers become competitors

Mike argues the whole model is logically broken because if everyone learns the same method, no one's offering can be unique. Teaching a thousand people how you make your money turns your customers into your competitors, which is why the real income comes from selling the course, not from the underlying activity.

If everyone learns the same thing, the offering cannot be unique by definition
Teaching your edge to a crowd turns customers into competitors
A property expert making money in one town would not teach a thousand rivals how to find the same deals
The tell: they make more from teaching the method than from doing it

“Logic would state you are turning your customers into competitors and it's the shittiest business model ever.”
Mike Winnet · 17:00

#business-logic#myth#usp

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take30:30

The hustle-and-grind myth is dangerous, and Gary V doesn't sleep enough

Mike and Chris push back on 'work till your eyes bleed' culture, arguing you cannot sustain 23-hour days for years without shortening your life. They reference research linking chronic sleep loss to earlier death and Alzheimer's, and note Jordan Peterson's more balanced advice to test both extreme work and near-zero work in your twenties.

You can work hard, but not sustain extreme hours for years without health costs
Chronic sleep deprivation is linked to earlier death and Alzheimer's
Idolising a figure does not require agreeing with everything they say
Peterson suggests experimenting with both 14-hour and 2-day work weeks in your twenties

“you can't sustain that for 23 hours a day for 3 years, 5 years, 10 years... you're shortening your life by 10 years, 15 years,…”
Mike Winnet · 31:00

#hustle-culture#sleep#health#productivity

Explainer· 1

Explainer18:00

What is a contrepreneur? Selling shovels to a gold rush

Mike defines a contrepreneur as someone who tells everyone there is a gold rush and sells them the shovels, while making no real money from the activity they teach. They sell theory with no evidence they earned money doing the thing themselves, targeting as many people as possible with a pitch that sounds as easy as possible.

A contrepreneur profits from selling the method, not from doing it
There is no evidence they made money from the activity they teach
The pitch is engineered to sound easy and reach the maximum number of people
Not all trainers are cons; a price ending in seven does not prove a scam

“a contrapreneur is someone that sells shovels to a gold rush”
Mike Winnet · 18:00

#definition#gurus#info-products

Story· 4

Story01:30

The £500k experiment: clicking every get-rich-quick ad on purpose

Mike Winnet describes his YouTube project of deliberately buying into the get-rich-quick schemes advertised on Facebook and Instagram, investing his own money, and publicly reporting the real results against the promises. After selling his business he funded a two-year experiment across property, crypto mining, affiliate sites and stocks. So far none of the schemes have worked.

He invests his own money into each advertised scheme and documents the outcome for free
Total spend so far is nearly £500,000 across property, crypto mining, an affiliate site and stocks
None of the schemes have produced the promised returns
The only people who seem to profit are those selling the course, not doing the thing

“none of them have worked so far. Not one. Which is weird because the only people that seem to get success from it are the…”
Mike Winnet · 02:00

“I'll put a little pot of money into these things, almost like a gamble... but to the tune of nearly 500,000”
Mike Winnet · 24:00

#experiment#get-rich-quick#youtube#passive-income

Story27:30

Why Mike refused to name names, even when Gary Vaynerchuk pushed him

Mike deliberately avoids naming individual gurus, reasoning that ninety-nine others use the same tactics, so exposing one solves nothing and risks a lawsuit. In a meeting with Gary Vaynerchuk, who urged him to name someone for a Netflix pitch, Mike cut the recording to share the name off camera rather than say it publicly.

Naming one guru lets the other ninety-nine off the hook
Teaching the tactics inoculates people against everyone using them
Fear of lawsuits from well-connected, high-earning figures also drives the choice
Gary V pushed him to name someone; Mike cut the tape instead

“If I just make people aware of the tactics used in the industry... they will then start to question whoever's trying to sell to them…”
Mike Winnet · 28:00

#strategy#gary-vaynerchuk#legal#media

Story51:30

The Streisand effect: a copyright strike over one second of footage

Russell Brunson of ClickFunnels filed a copyright claim over a one-second clip of the back of his head, pulling Mike's 200,000-view documentary. Mike notes the video had named no one, so the takedown backfired: coverage exploded, other YouTubers picked it up, and Brunson effectively named himself. Mike plans to re-upload with ClickFunnels references added.

The claim targeted a one-second shot of the back of Brunson's head
The original video named no individual at all
The takedown drew more attention and let others cover the story
Mike will re-upload and add the references the strike invited

“Russell Brunson's put a copyright claim in against the back of his own head.”
Chris Williamson · 52:30

#streisand-effect#clickfunnels#copyright#youtube

Story55:30

How a 44-page blank book hit number one on Amazon in 24 hours

To prove that 'establish authority' is easily gamed, Mike published a book of 44 blank pages and got it to number one on Amazon within 24 hours. Nothing screams authority like an Amazon bestseller, so he demonstrated how meaningless the credential can be. He later sold 49 copies of a 99p book, netting about 30p each.

A book of 44 blank pages reached Amazon number one in 24 hours
'Amazon bestseller' is a core authority signal contrepreneurs lean on
The stunt shows how easily that credential is manufactured
He earned roughly 30p per book on 49 sales of a 99p title

“Nothing screams authority like an Amazon best-seller. So, I thought, why don't I just prove it's [nonsense]... 44 blank pages, publish it and get it…”
Mike Winnet · 56:00

#authority#amazon#credentials#stunt

Takeaway· 3

Takeaway22:30

The one question that exposes an adviser: how much of your own money is in this?

Rather than asking about promised returns, Mike asks every financial adviser or guru how much of their own money they have invested in the asset they are pushing. Across fifteen advisers, not one would show real skin in the game, which told him they profit more from recommending the investment than from believing in it.

Ignore the promised return; ask how much of their own money is in the asset
Real conviction means they would put every penny in themselves
Fifteen financial advisers all declined to reveal their own stake
No personal stake suggests they earn from the recommendation, not the asset

“Don't tell me what returns I will get. If you believe in the asset you're trying to get me to invest in so much, how…”
Mike Winnet · 22:30

#due-diligence#skin-in-the-game#investing#heuristic

Takeaway21:30

Why a working-class windfall is easier to lose than you think

Mike reflects that working-class kids are never taught how to handle a large lump sum, which is why lottery winners blow millions. He explains that parking a million in the bank actually loses money once inflation outpaces interest, a concept many people never learn, and that this ignorance is a systemic gap, not a personal failing.

Working-class earners are rarely taught to manage large sums
Bank interest below inflation means idle cash loses real value
Sudden wealth is lost easily because people don't know what to do with it
This is a gap in financial education, not a character flaw

“You actually lose money putting a million pounds in the bank, but people don't understand this concept.”
Mike Winnet · 22:00

#personal-finance#sudden-wealth#financial-literacy

Takeaway1:13:30

The best things happen when there's no ulterior motive

Chris and Mike observe that their best outcomes, a fast-growing YouTube channel and a near-million-download podcast, came from working hard at something they found genuinely interesting, not from a 67-step growth formula. Both are struck by how many people assume every project must hide a monetisation scheme.

Their strongest results came from genuine interest, not a formula
None of the growth emerged from a step-by-step system
People reflexively assume every project hides an ulterior motive
Mike's YouTube channel jumped from 5,000 to 17,000 subscribers in two weeks

“all of the best things that I've done have been when I've worked fairly hard at something that I'm interested in”
Chris Williamson · 1:14:00

#passion#authenticity#content#motivation