Never Wrestle A Pig.

Imagine giving up control of your company to a slick business guy. He seems to be the perfect CEO. Everyone is happy with him, and the finances are strong. Until one day, a shadow of a doubt strikes you. Your CEO suggested bribing a building inspector. That’s an offense which could land you both in jail. The facade starts to peel away. That’s when you realize he appointed himself as CEO. He manipulated you into thinking it was your idea. The candidates he chose? He knew they weren’t qualified. It was a put-on. He was a self-proclaimed serial CEO, but that feeling strikes you like he’s a serial killer. 

You can find this week’s TL;DR here.

Key Lessons:

• Stay within your circle of competence.

• You’re not prepared enough.

• Don’t let your guard down.

• Stop doing what you hate.

• Someone will betray you.

• Gather solid evidence.

• Identify your target.

• Be ready for a fight.

• Invert the problem.

• Be relentless.

Methods of Prosperity newsletter is intended to share ideas and build relationships. To become a billionaire, one must first be conditioned to think like a billionaire. To that agenda, this newsletter studies remarkable people in history who demonstrated what to do (and what not to do). Let me know how I can help you out. For more information about the author, please visit seanallenfenn.com/faq.

Last week on Methods of Prosperity

Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian Renaissance political philosopher. He argued that deceit makes politicians more effective. This led to the concept of Machiavellianism. Which is a trait marked by manipulation and cynicism. Narcissism originated from the story of Narcissus. Which involves vanity and a sense of superiority. A lack of empathy and impulsivity, is Psychopathy. Which is often linked to criminal behavior. Together, these form the “Dark Triad” of personality traits found in archetypal villains.

Andrew Wilkinson encountered such traits in Brian. Brian acted like a successful entrepreneur. He helped sell Andrew’s companies. Brian used manipulative tactics. He convinced Andrew to pay him hourly. He appointed himself as interim CEO of Andrew’s company, MetaLab. Brian appeared successful. But he engaged in unethical practices and deceived Andrew about his wealth. Brian’s facade unraveled, and Andrew realized Brian's true nature. It was about to get ugly.

Do you know about my livestream podcast? It’s called Hidden Secrets Revealed Live (HSRL), and I record it live on 𝕏 every Wednesday. 

Now there’s a collectible version of this newsletter! Methods of Prosperity newsletter number 57 is available to collect as of March 28, 2025. If you’re so inclined you can permanently own it!

Part 94. Andrew Wilkinson (continued).

Andrew panicked. He had to do something. Brian was a liability. Andrew called Chris. They had to fire Brian. Chris agreed. But they couldn’t. Not yet. Brian was likely to sue them for millions of dollars if they weren’t careful. They had to document everything. They needed evidence.

Andrew went through every transaction. He uncovered thousands of charges each month. Brian had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on their expense account. Luxury travel, expensive dinners, champagne and caviar. It was the cost of doing business, right? That’s the argument Brian would have.

Andrew and Chris hired an employment lawyer. “Look,” the lawyer reassured them, “Situations like this are tough. But I think you have solid grounds to fire him. You can get rid of this guy, and you should do it as fast as you possibly can before he takes you for everything.”

Upon further advice from another entrepreneur whom Andrew trusted, he decided to wait. “Don’t be too hasty,” his friend advised, “There’s no way you can fire this guy right now. He’s too smart. And you’re not prepared enough. Sure, this crazy spending thing and bribery are clear to you, but he’s going to argue it was the cost of doing business. And then he’ll say the building inspector stuff is just a misunderstanding. He’s brought in clients, hasn’t he? Making you lots of money, right? He’s gonna sue you and take a percentage of the business with him. And then you’ll have to buy him out at a crazy valuation, or he’ll ruin your life.”

Andrew’s friend continued, “There’s a saying about people like this. Never wrestle a pig. You’ll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it. You need to catch him red handed.”

Andrew already had a meeting planned. Brian was on his way to Vancouver. Andrew and Chris planned to fire him. But now they had to wait. Instead of firing him at that meeting, they presented Brian with a bonus check for doing such a great job! It worked. Brian had no idea. He was too caught up in his own accolades to smell the fear.

After that meeting, they compiled all the evidence. They had to build a rock solid case so strong that they couldn’t lose. The process took 4 long and expensive months. They hired more lawyers. They made sure to account for every detail and shred of evidence.

Brian was a good liar, but he left a copious paper trail. He left behind incriminating emails which he failed to hide. It turns out he was trying to set up his own competing agency to MetaLab, attempting to steal their clients.

To halt any further action, Andrew and Chris made policy changes. From that point on, they prohibited first class travel, no 5 star hotels. All commitments over $10,000 required Andrew’s personal sign-off. That’s when Brian started deleting his emails, which Andrew and Chris had already backed up. They documented his attempts to get rid of them.

The walls were closing in on Brian. He used his corporate email to set up a meeting with one of their core clients. Then he deleted the email thread. He was trying to steal this client for his new agency. This appointment wasn’t on his MetaLab calendar. At the same time, he’d created a fake series of meetings in Vancouver as a decoy. Brian would be in San Francisco with the MetaLab client. That’s when they had him cornered.

Andrew and Chris and their team caught Brian red handed. Andrew called Brian and fired him over voicemail. Andrew backed it up via email. Brian called his co-conspirator in a rage. It was an executive who he included in his diabolical plan. That executive had turned against him and was on Andrew and Chris’ side. He was sitting in their office when Brian called. Brian shouted, dripping with anger over the phone, “What the f– happened?” They recorded the conversation for their lawyers. Team MetaLab celebrated Brian’s downfall.

A few months later, they received a letter from Brian’s law firm, suing MetaLab for $15 million. As predicted, they were in for a fight. The legal battle lasted for years before reaching a settlement. Brian attempted to refute their claims in front of his lawyer. With all the evidence stacked against him, it was over. His lawyer offered to settle for $100,000. Andrew agreed, wanting the saga to end. Andrew returned as CEO of MetaLab.

Leading up to this, and during the failed sale of MetaLab, Andrew and Chris leaned into investing. Andrew picked up the book, The Warren Buffett Way. Warren Buffett’s business partner was Charlie Munger. Charlie Munger believed that problems are easier solved in reverse. “Invert, always invert”, he said. Work backwards. Think about what you don’t want and reverse engineer the problem.

Andrew and Chris decided to avoid what they didn’t want. They made a list of their “anti-goals”. They designed their business model after Berkshire Hathaway. Hiring Brian as CEO made it possible to delegate all problems relating to MetaLab. Andrew and Chris’ job became easier. So, they’d hire leaders for each business. “It’s not enough to do what you love. You also have to stop doing what you hate”, says Andrew.

Since he’d returned as CEO, Andrew struggled to clean up Brian’s mess. Working 16 hours a day, he wanted to escape. He’d lay awake at night wondering how he could apply the Buffett and Munger strategy to his own industry. He didn’t know much about razor blades, insurance, or freight rail roads. His circle of competence is digital agencies and the creative community.

There was one business he wanted to acquire. It had a moat and a network effect, which fit his circle of competence. It’s a company named Dribbble. Dan Cederholm, Andrew’s design hero, was co-founder of Dribbble. He’d been reaching out to Dan for a year, but Dan wasn’t interested in selling. Until one day, the phone rang.

To be continued…

I like you,

– Sean Allen Fenn