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At $87.1 billion, Warren Buffett is currently the third richest person on the planet. Yet you wouldn't know it. He lives a frugal and humble lifestyle, doesn't own a smartphone, and spends 5–6 hours each day reading. He is, by all accounts, a simple man — yet he's as wealthy and powerful as they come.
How does he do it? He lives by certain principles. Like Rockefeller before him, these principles define his success.
Back in my trading days — my first business — I read all his books and followed his journey closely. I still learn from him today. But it was at a recent mastermind that I dove back into his world and started thinking deeply about how he's built his massive empire.
That mastermind connected me with other 7-figure entrepreneurs, where we dug into what comes next:
- What are we building at 2X?
- Where are we right now, and what do we need to do to scale to $10 million?
- What has worked up to now, but needs to change so we can scale up?
- And ultimately — what does long-term success in business actually look like?
I thought about powerful business leaders like John D. Rockefeller and Warren Buffett, and the lessons I've learned from them that apply directly to scaling 2X — and any business — toward $10 million and beyond. These 14 lessons are top of mind as we build toward that goal.
Warren Buffett is the third richest person on the planet, yet lives in the same house he bought for $31,500 in 1956. He can afford to live anywhere in the world and own any home he desires — yet he lives in one that accounts for just 0.001% of his wealth.
He even changes his breakfast budget — between $2.61 and $3.17 — depending on current market conditions. He can afford anything, yet knows there's a simple equation to wealth, and one of the key variables is expenses. He doesn't spend large amounts just because he can. He lives a frugal, humble life because it's one of purpose and intention.
The most dangerous trap for growing entrepreneurs is lifestyle inflation. As revenue goes up, expenses follow immediately — and then there's never enough margin to invest in what actually scales the business. Keep expenses intentional at every stage. Frugality isn't about being cheap; it's about being purposeful.
If you constantly change direction and start something new, you won't get the results that come from consistency and persistence. Warren has focused on what he is good at for a very long time. He's stayed consistent with his actions and strategies, building momentum for the long term.
If you pivot every time you get bored — or follow each new idea or opportunity that comes your way — you will never become a master of your craft. But it's the masters who own their industries and build massive wealth. That takes time. It takes massive commitment. You need focus, patience, and the discipline to stay the course.
At 2X, we love systems. We've built our entire business model around helping entrepreneurs systemize their business so they can scale and grow quickly. With a system, you can build an empire. Without one, you have nothing but a hustle.
Warren Buffett has a very systematic way of choosing investments — a methodology he follows at all times. He removes emotion from the equation, and trusts the system he's built and perfected over decades. If you study any successful mogul like Buffett or Rockefeller, you'll see this systematic approach shine through in everything they do. At 2X, we call it the 2X Formula — and it's essential for scaling your business while actually serving your customers at the highest level.
We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. Warren Buffett is no different. He's exceptional at some things, and he knows exactly where those things are.
Warren spends the majority of his time inside his zone of genius, only stepping away from it when there is a high likelihood of success. It's not to say you should close yourself off from all opportunity — but you need to be certain before you let anything new in.
- Shiny objects kill more entrepreneurs than just about anything else
- Successful businesses crumble because their owner chased some new idea
Learn to master saying "no" — so you can stay in your Zone of Genius at all times.
The entrepreneurs who chase the next "big" thing and constantly innovate may get the headlines — but most real success comes down to simple and consistent work.
When everyone around him on Wall Street is making risky investments, Warren Buffett keeps it simple, slow, and boring. Exciting and newsworthy? No. Does it make him a lot of money? Absolutely.
As they say — slow and steady wins the race. If all you're after is fame, keep innovating. But if you want lasting success, keep it boring.
You need to be in this for the long game. Most of your success won't happen today or tomorrow — and you shouldn't concern yourself with that. It's what happens over the long term that matters.
- Growth is NOT a straight line
- Steady growth precedes a massive spike
- And that spike can continue to compound upward
Compound interest is your best friend in wealth creation, business, and personal growth. It adds up faster than you think, and momentum builds on top of momentum. Warren generated 99% of his $87.1 billion fortune after he turned 50. Everything before that was just the journey that made him who he is today.
One of the biggest things Warren Buffett looks for before investing in a business is how protected it is from outside forces:
- Market changes
- New competition
- The economy as a whole
How big is the moat around your business? This question forces you to create a real vision and build something for the long term. At 2X, we call this the "Blue Ocean" — designing your business model so you don't have to worry about competition, and can instead dominate your niche and scale quickly.
For 5–6 hours each day — every single day — Warren Buffett sits down and reads. Just imagine how many people approach him daily. How many opportunities, pitches, and meetings are clamoring for his attention. Yet each day he blocks all of it out and reads.
This is only possible because he's built systems that allow him to work on his business instead of in it. If you're hustling and grinding every day, you will never have the time to read — or think. Books are a powerful tool. Warren appreciates the value in knowledge, so he makes it a cornerstone of his daily routine.
Reading 5–6 hours a day isn't the goal for most entrepreneurs — but carving out even 30 minutes of protected learning time is a game-changer. The leaders who keep investing in knowledge compound their edge over time. That's true in investing, and it's just as true in business.
You cannot read for 5–6 hours each day unless you are fiercely protective of your time. The more your business grows and the bigger your reputation becomes, the more people will come after your calendar: meetings, lunches, phone calls, pitches, and endless ideas.
Warren Buffett essentially has zero meetings. He keeps everything on his terms, taking charge of his time management so that others can't. You may think that "busy," successful moguls have no time — but the opposite is true. These people have all the time they want or need, precisely because they protect it relentlessly.
If all you ever do is protect your time and say no, you leave little room to grow and scale. So how do people like Buffett, Gates, and Musk achieve all they do? How did Rockefeller, Jobs, and Carnegie build such massive empires? Partnerships.
On your own, you can only achieve so much. Strategic partners help you fill gaps, explore new opportunities, enter bigger markets, and scale without having to do all the hard work yourself. Partnerships are very tough to master — and lots of people get them wrong because they don't have the right business model or a clear enough vision. But when done right, they're a massive form of leverage. The right partnership makes 1+1 = 3.
Reading for 5–6 hours each day does one more critically important thing: it makes you think. Warren Buffett thinks a lot. Some days, that may be all he does — new ideas, new investments, new ways of doing something better.
He thinks so he can see the 30,000-foot view of his empire, allowing him to be more strategic and intentional with his decisions than someone caught in the daily grind. As a CEO and business owner, you need to reserve regular time to think. It's the difference between a business owner and someone who's owned by their business.
If you don't have time to think about where your business is going, you're not a CEO — you're an employee with extra stress. The businesses that scale are the ones where the owner has stepped back far enough to actually see the board they're playing on.
— Austin Netzley, Founder · 2X
Warren Buffett once said it best:
Remember — this is a man who generated 99% of his fortune after turning 50. Success is not a straight line, and sometimes it genuinely feels like you aren't progressing as you should. Be patient. Trust your vision. Stay within your zone of genius.
I'm actively working on this myself — patience is something I continue to struggle with. But it truly is a virtue, and the compound payoff for those who master it is extraordinary.
This is the wealth equation every entrepreneur needs to live by:
- Make more money than you spend
- Then invest the difference wisely
That's it. Do this consistently and you'll find success in any industry. The key is having solid, predictable cash flow — so you always have the capital to invest in what your business needs, not just today, but to scale tomorrow.
Buffett uses the "float" from insurance companies to fund other business opportunities and investments — which in turn produces more cash, allowing him to repeat the cycle again and again. It's a perpetual reinvestment machine, and the same principle applies to your business.
If there's one thing a successful business owner needs to know above all else, it's their numbers. Warren goes deep into the numbers — far more so than most investors — and the results are huge. He spots opportunities nobody else can see. Numbers reveal the truth and remove bias and emotion from every decision.
The same applies to your business. If you go deep into your numbers, you'll spot bottlenecks and opportunities well in advance — and set yourself up for rapid, effective scaling. The challenge for most entrepreneurs is they have no idea which numbers to focus on. We recently created a comprehensive guide on the top KPIs every entrepreneur needs to track and master. Apply to work with us and make sure you know your numbers inside and out.
Most entrepreneurs are flying blind. They know their revenue, maybe their profit — but that's it. Buffett goes 10 layers deeper, and that depth is exactly why he spots what nobody else does. In your business, knowing your real numbers — conversion rates, LTV, acquisition cost, team utilization — is the difference between guessing and scaling with confidence.
There are many other lessons I've learned from Warren Buffett and the moguls who have built great empires before him, but these 14 are the ones at the top of my mind as we build 2X toward $10 million and beyond. My vision is to build something that Warren himself would want to invest in.
That's not about seeking investment or selling the business — it's about building the right way. Most business owners chase the quick buck, the easy win, the path of least resistance. Go beyond them. Think big. Build for the long term. Apply these 14 principles, and you'll separate yourself from the vast majority of entrepreneurs who never scale past where they are today.
This is the mission at 2X — to help ambitious business owners take charge of their business so they can work on it instead of being trapped inside it as a glorified employee. If you're ready to scale your business the right way, apply to the 2X Accelerator now.
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