Welcome to Mintedstory.com

Today, We,

                 Introducing you to the second connecting dot of our Why n What 10X? series.

In this series, We unravel the story & insights of the faces of the 10X program.

  Specifically, In each episode, you will experience a legit ladder step which ultimately became a pillar of 10x.

In FurtherTwo Episodes, you will meet one of the couples in the business world “Brandon Dawson & Natalie Dawson”.

    Again Love Birds? ha! ha!

Previously, Episode 1 , Episode 2 , Episode 3

With bracing yourself’s, Let’s begin Episode 3 of Why n What 10X? series.

Brandon Dawson

Brandon Dawson is a self-made serial entrepreneur, expert business strategist, leadership mentor, and scaling expert with years of experience in building, growing, and exiting businesses. Who helps business owners and their teams achieve their personal, professional, and financial goals through the growth of their businesses.

Currently, serves as

• Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman, and Managing Partner at Cardone Ventures.
• Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Cardone Equity Group.

Previously,

• Founder of self-funded Audigy Group
• Founder of Sonus

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Net worth?

Brandon Dawson Initially had a net worth of $10 million before experiencing a downturn with the loss of his first company. However, he rebounded impressively, achieving a net worth of $100 million+ through a “9-figure mindset” approach.

After making a remarkable exit for $151 million, and continues to expand his net worth to $500 million.

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Starting!

Brandon Dawson was born in 1969. (not officially confirmed)

Dawson grew up between his divorced parents’ homes in the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest United States. Growing up on the walnut orchard, when Dawson was 16 years old and he got grounded for doing something stupid. His parents punished him to pick the walnut orchard. Now picking walnuts is a nasty job, hands get all black, and stained for a month. Dawson used to hate the walnut season. The orchard was five and a half acres, so he knew there was a good week’s worth of work. He saw a note on the school locker that said “Senior Fund Drive for the Senior Trip – Raising $1,000.” So he went to the president of the senior class, and said, “Hey, why don’t you come help me pick up walnuts? Depending on how many we pick up, I’ll contribute towards your $1,000.” So that next morning, he was hoping someone would show up, all of a sudden, all these cars were pulling in. Trucks were coming in. Vans were pulling in. He had like 50 or 60 people show up. They went out and in like two and a half days, they picked that orchard clean and Dawson didn’t even touch a walnut. But now he had a new problem. he had to pay them the $1,000 bucks. Dawson calculated a fair price, and said, “Hey, this is how much I have to sell the walnuts for,” to his surprise, The parents said, “Well, what if we want to buy them?” It was an amazing thing because they didn’t just buy a few of them, they bought them all. It dawned on him that it wasn’t about the walnuts. It was about showing their kids they love them. And there’s where he learned the power of scale.

“As a teenager, every couple Saturdays I would spend all day on the tractor. And although I was cutting the grass, I was always thinking about the fantasy of being the CEO of a public company and doing big things.”

Brandon Dawson didn’t find enjoyment in school and was an average student. After graduating high school, he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, and continue to work for his stepfather’s company from the age of 18 to 27. He traveled across the Southeast United States selling hearing devices and was promoted to sales director by the age of 23. By this time, he had already built a successful career making six figures running the sales teams. When his mother and stepfather announced their separation, rather than get caught between them, he decided to move on.  When he decided to leave and start his own company, it was hard and scary but he knew he wanted to start a company, so that set the tone for his first transformation.

Dawson resettled in Portland, Oregon, and discovered a Canadian hearing aid company. He struck a deal to buy the business. At the age of 26, he became the CEO of Sonus Corporation which was a Warburg Pincus-backed consolidation company. Many of Dawson’s previous customers were retiring, and shutting their business down, leaving behind profitable hearing aid businesses that no one was buying. A new profession was emerging with people coming out of university to do that work. So he had the idea: “What if I bought those businesses? And what if I went in and found the kids from university to run it?” And that was his launch into entrepreneurism. So he went out and met with lots of different business owners, and all of a sudden, he was in New York City and presenting to potential investors, big institutions, Saloman Brothers, and Goldman Sachs. They said they were interested in investing but were nervous about my experience. And he said, “Well, I’m going to get one shot, because if I don’t make this work, no one will ever trust me again. So whereas you can bet on thousands of businesses, this is the only bet I have.” he was asking for $15 million. They called him up about a month later and said they wanted to give $18 million for the same valuation. From there, they said, we want you to list your company in the U.S. We want you to take it to the NYSE American Stock Exchange. Dawson was one of the youngest ever people to ring the opening bell on the American Stock Exchange at 29 years old in 1998. That thing he used to dream about, that everyone said he was crazy? he did it. Dawson started a franchise model, raised $38 million in private equity, acquired over 100 companies, and as CEO built a network of more than 1,000 locations.

In 2001 he was at the highest peak of success. he had all this cash, strategy, starting to make a lot of money, and he was crushing it. Then the investors called him and said, “Come to New York.” he thought, “These guys. They’re going to take him to dinner, they’re going to tell him you did an unbelievable job, pat his back. he was so excited.” So he walked into the boardroom, and the meeting went from me thinking that to get a pat on the back to being told that I needed to sell the company, immediately. He said, “I can’t sell the business. Seven years. This is my baby.” But they sold it so fast, And that taught him, what it’s like to be an entrepreneur to pursue your dream, to look your team in the face and tell them about where you’re going. To build systems, process, and build people, and then have someone else just make the decision instantly that you’re irrelevant. He left in the Fall of 2001, it was right after September 11, Dawson thinking that the whole world was coming to an end at this moment. My career is coming to an end. And he just sat there thinking, what’s next?

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EXIT?

After losing his own company to the hands of private equity, Brandon vowed to never build a business that wasn’t 100% controlled by him. Dawson launched Audigy Group in 2004 to help hearing care practices scale.

When the world was melting down in 2008 through 2011, every one of those years they were on the Inc 500 5,000 list of fastest-growing private companies. They never had a non-profitable month, and it was all self-funded. He gave 40 percent of the equity to his customers, and the value they created for those people was unparalleled anywhere in the industry.

In 12 years, from $500,000 in revenue in 2005 to ultimately growing annual revenue to over $35 million in 2016 through organic growth without borrowing or seeking outside capital. Audigy grew to 650 independent practices with more than 1,800 employees and $300 million in aggregate revenue.

In 2016, Brandon Dawson sold the company, Audigy Group, which he bootstrapped and exited for $151 million, 77x EBITA. With achieving the Inc. 500 and Inc. 5000. Fastest-Growing Companies five times, the Oregonian’s Top 100 Workplaces three times, and EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year finalists twice. Brandon worked with the public company who acquired Audigy Group and helped them grow from $18 a share to $94 a share within thirty-six months, adding $3.5 billion in market value.

“Best day of my life was sending out $45 million to my customers and every one of my employees, because they all shared in the value. When we started working with them, people that were grinding every single day never being able to leave their office, working 80 hours a week, taking those people and creating a life for them where they didn’t even have to go to the practice anymore because they got so big.” They created more multi-millionaires in the hearing care space than had ever existed before.

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Partnering 10x!

It was actually Natalie who first learned about Cardone and his 10X Approach to a successful business, and she encouraged Brandon to attend the conference. After attending the event for three days, they made it their mission to meet Grant and Elena Cardone to share with them the opportunity to create a new business.

In 2019, Dawson got in line to meet the real estate mogul at his 10X Growth Conference in Miami, Florida. Meeting Grant Cardone for the very first time he had only a minute to pitch his big idea: “If I could show you how we could add several billion dollars to our net worth, would you be interested?”Cardone said yes.

The result is Cardone Ventures, A management consulting, joint ventures, and private equity firm that helps business owners achieve their personal, professional, and financial goals through the growth of their business, also by using Dawson’s playbook from Audigy Group.

The Couple Brandon & Natalie Dawson Founded Cardone Ventures along with the couple Grant & Elena Cardone. In March 2019 Cardone Ventures launched at the 10X Business Boot Camp and has had upward momentum ever since. With no cost of capital, no outside investment, in just 3 years Cardone Ventures has generated $70 million in revenue and over 40 million in EBITDA. With $ 1 billion in management, not only Cardone Ventures has seen massive growth, but also their clients and partners have too. Dawson expects that Cardone Ventures will make $2.5 million in revenue this year and $100 million in five years. His overarching goal is an even loftier $5 billion in businesses under management within five years.

Since his partnership with Grant Cardone, Cardone Ventures now has over a billion dollars worth of companies under management while also creating new companies such as 10X Health, 10X Buy Sell, Cardone Equity Group and partnering with even more in up and coming booming industries such as HVAC, Cyber Security, Farms & Ranches, Dental, Insurance and so much more.

“My mission is to help business owners win together with their teams and customers without giving away too much of the business. Freedom isn’t measured by money, but by your ability to make your own choices.”

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Why not partner?

After 2 failed marriages, Brandon Dawson married his business partner Natalie Workman on October 10, 2021.

Brandon and Natalie Workman first met when they were both quite young. Brandon is originally from Oregon and Natalie was born in Ohio. When Brandon had just recently moved into her neighborhood, Natalie’s parents invited Brandon to a Super Bowl party at their home, At that time, Natalie was just 12 years old. Although they did not start dating at that time, this initial meeting laid the foundation for their future relationship. As they grew older, their paths crossed again, and they began dating, ultimately leading to a deep and committed partnership. Natalie has expressed that she felt from an early age that Brandon was meant to be her life partner, citing his motivation and support as significant influences in her life.

Originally, their wedding date was set for October 2020, but the COVID-19 outbreak forced them to postpone it. They had been together for seven years before getting married, but had known each other for over 19 years.

“Her mom was my doctor and I’ve known her for many years,” he explains. “She lived in London for a while, and when she came back, I hired her to work in a dental management company I owned.”

From there the pair hit it off—and found they had a knack at working well together. The Couple lived in Vancouver, Washington, traveled often, and Later, moved to North Miami Beach, Florida, United States.

Have query? if you need any guidance, pro tips, or mentorship, feel free to contact us!

We also gladly welcome your’s feedbacks!

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