David Guttman is a serial entrepreneur who has built and scaled multiple 8–9 figure businesses without any industry-specific experience. Over his 30-year career, he has proven that success in business isn’t about knowing the industry; it’s about recognizing opportunities, leading with purpose, and building strong teams. Through his ventures and mentorship, David has inspired countless entrepreneurs to break free from conventional paths and achieve extraordinary growth.
As the founder of Guttman Media and the host of The David Guttman Podcast, David shares his insights on creating meaningful success by combining wealth-building with leadership and personal fulfillment. In this post, we dive into his journey and the principles that allowed him to thrive in industries where he had no prior expertise.
Episode Highlights Here:
Brett
Before we jump into this episode, I want to invite you to join our community to help you become a better steward scale to billions and ultimately give more or all of it away. All I want you to do is to click the subscribe button right now. I love your support. It’s incredible to see your comments, and we’re just getting started. I can’t wait to go on this journey with you. Thank you so much for subscribing. It means the world to me. Welcome to the build to billions podcast where we got successful entrepreneurs and investors on their journey from millions to billions. We believe that the key to scaling and compounding your wealth and life starts every single day with the mindset and practice of stewardship over ownership and applying billionaire biblical principles. Our ultimate goal is to help you scale compound your wealth and life, so you can give more, all of it away to help MVPs. My name is Brett Swarts, and today I’ll be your host. I’m excited about our next guest. We’re gonna be talking about entrepreneurship. We’re talking about leadership, life, scaling companies, maybe even dip into AI and a number of other types of interesting topics in today’s conversation. I’m excited our guest. He is a serial entrepreneur for over 30 years of experience of several eight and nine figure business exits and a passion for helping others create lives of financial independence, meaning and balance. Please welcome the show with me. Mr. David Gutman, David, how you doing? Brett, thanks for having me. Hey, you know, grateful to have you here today. Thank you for taking the trip from Miami to St Augustine, Florida, where we’re shooting today for our listen to get to know you for the first time. Would you give us a little bit more about your story and your current focus?
David
So yeah, I grew up in Long Island, New York. Went to Brown undergrad, was computer science major. We were talking about off camera before, but I was actually specialized in AI back when AI was not anything like it is now. And then I I had watched my dad start a software company. He effectively had written, kind of like the first AI. It was a computer programs that wrote other computer programs when he was in his late 20s. And it eventually iPod, and I saw him get ultimately, he still did fine, but he got pushed out of his company, lost control of his company, and so I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, so I did software development and managed software developers for a few years. Went back and got my MBA. And the reason I did that was I wanted to I wanted to learn from my father’s mistakes. What I’ve learned was it’s okay to be bad at things in business, but it’s the kiss of death to think you’re good at something you’re bad at. So, I wanted to make sure that I knew enough about every functional area of business that no one could ever bullshit me about anything. I didn’t have to necessarily be an expert in it, but I need to know enough about, whether it was HR, operations finance, accounting, you know, you know, strategy, whatever it might be, that I would know enough that I couldn’t be at least people should it.
Brett
Okay, this is good. Let’s, going back a little bit too when you were younger, growing up, like key strengths or gifts. You know, I believe we’ve all been given certain gifts, and they’re like, you know, they’re given to us to be a blessing, help to others, and they just kind of come naturally for you. What are you supposed to the one or two super strengths or superpowers you feel like you have? And how does that help? How you help and bless people today?
David
So I would say that. And we talked about this off camera. Also, you know, my parents were very young when they had my older brother. I think they were 18 and 19, and then very young when they had me, I think 22 and 23 so they were, they were kids themselves, practically. But with all that being said, they did a they did a terrific job in many areas, but one area in particular was I always, they always convinced me throughout my life that I could do anything I set my mind to it. So, I think having parents that were genuinely supportive of whatever I wanted to do and I was actually, I didn’t actually figure this out until seventh grade, but I was severely dyslexic. I was tested at a third grade reading level in
seventh grade. But again, my parents got it diagnosed, figured out what it was, got me some help, and I went from a third grade reading level to a ninth grade reading level in three months. So anyway, so having parents who were super supportive that, you know, even if I had, you know, and I think having to overcome shortcomings like that actually can be super helpful, but maybe the most impactful thing. AndI think, you know, my superpower, if I have one, was, you know, when I was you played college basketball. I was a college wrestler, and I joked that I had a t shirt that said I’d rather wrestle and lose and then play basketball, which was a complete lie. I desperately wanted to play basketball. Actually
wasn’t a bad basketball player, but I was about two and a half feet tall, and so in seventh grade, I wanted to go out for the basketball team. My dad’s like, absolutely not. You’re going out for the wrestling team. You don’t have a choice. Now, my father never said that to me. My parents never said that to me in my entire life. Up to that point, my dad had wrestled, my brother had wrestled, my older brother had wrestled, and so it wasn’t an option. And wrestling changed the entire course of my life and
what it taught me. Because what's unique about wrestling above any other sport, certainly through middle school and high school, is if you take give me a kid in seventh grade, and I don't care what'strue about that kid, dumb, smart, slow, fast, tall, short, skinny, fat, doesn’t matter.
Brett
So if you like this little short clip of the interview I just did, click over here to watch the full interview and. And please don't forget to subscribe. Thanks so much, everybody. You.
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About David Guttman
David Guttman is a seasoned entrepreneur, mentor, and speaker with over 30 years of experience building and scaling 8- to 9-figure businesses across various industries. Known for his ability to achieve extraordinary success without prior industry experience, David’s approach is centered around leadership, innovation, and empowering teams. As the founder of Guttman Media and host of The David Guttman Podcast, he shares his insights on entrepreneurship, personal growth, and achieving holistic success—combining financial achievement with purpose-driven leadership. David’s story proves that with the right mindset, anyone can thrive, regardless of their background.
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