Alex Hormozi's giveaway play to save a failing theme park in 90 days

Key points

1. 1

   Make one bet, and make it the season you are in

   The park needs about $550,000 a month to break even and brings in roughly $400,000, so Hormozi starts with cash. His first idea is a season pass sold to the email list. Fontinelli points out that parents book summer camp now and the slow season follows, so Hormozi switches to summer. With weeks of runway, there is no time for two plays.

   “we basically need to make one bet. The season pass was my original guess, but I think summer is going to make more sense.”

2. 2

   Give every offer a reason

   He writes out several framings of the same summer price: buy four weeks and get six, buy one month and get the whole summer, as low as $200 a week. Then he puts "early bird" on each one. His rule is that the buyer should always know why the deal exists.

   “why is he doing that? Because early bird. It's like we have to always answer the reason why we're making an offer.”

3. 3

   Advertise the big number, sell the smaller one

   The giveaway headline is a $5,000 full-summer pass. A second prize, $3,000 off, can go to many entrants and lands them at the $2,000 ticket. Everyone who enters gets a call. The ads already sold the big package, so the lower price feels small and the rep never has to talk anyone up.

   “when they get on the phone you don't have to sell them the big package. They already said they wanted it.”

4. 4

   Bet sizing when you can only play two hands

   Hormozi cites Jeff Bezos: take a 10% shot at a 100x return every time. Then he adds the catch for small operators. Most founders have cash for two tries, so the real odds are closer to 20%. He frames his whole plan as buying Fontinelli about three more months, if he executes.

   “you should take that bet every time, but most entrepreneurs go in with only enough money to to play two hands”

5. 5

   Hire salespeople once the leads exist

   At the 90-day check-in, the giveaway worked, but leads went uncalled for lack of staff. Hormozi's fix is to keep the offer and rerun the giveaway for birthdays all year on a smaller ad budget. Then add a couple of salespeople. With the leads already there, he calls that hire low-risk.

   “as long as you have lead flow, sales people will always make you more than the price for them.”