How Robert Indries Built X27 and Owns 8 Businesses
Robert Indries left home at 14, became an engineer, and now owns eight businesses, including X27, the marketing agency he runs with Alex Berman. He and Michael talk about how X27 started as an experiment, why handwritten cold email worked so well in the early days, how X27 packages its work around revenue, and why Robert pays his team more than he pays himself.
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Topics covered
- Leaving home at 14 and getting into engineering
- How Robert met Alex Berman and became an equal partner in X27
- The early cold email test that booked 20 meetings from 40 emails
- Who X27 works with, and why it measures dollars, not likes
- Hiring for entrepreneurship and building SOPs
- Paying the team more than the owner
- Managing energy and attention instead of time
Key takeaways
- X27 got its name from "experiment 27". The team tested YouTube, email, LinkedIn and Facebook, and email worked best.
- In the early days, Robert says 40 handwritten emails booked 20 meetings, a 50% meeting rate.
- Clients pay X27 to make them money, so the agency measures dollars, not likes or engagement.
- Email doesn't work for every client. For some, cold calling worked where email didn't, so be ready to pivot.
- Robert hires for entrepreneurship as a skill, and his team builds its own SOPs.
- He paid himself nothing for three years, and he still isn't the top earner in his companies.
- Time is a constant. What you can manage is your attention and your energy.
Show notes
🌍 Leaving home at 14
Robert was born in Transylvania, Romania, and left home at 14 after an argument with his father. He took whatever work he could find, including jobs as a lumberjack, in furniture and on a production line. His first engineering job came around the same age: automating part of a manufacturing plant, which he delivered at 15.
He later started an engineering firm because he didn't feel cared for in corporate roles. He says he has worked on more than 200 projects, from drones for aerospace and defense to medical robots and sensors for dermatology.
🤝 Meeting Alex Berman and building X27
Robert met Alex Berman in a Facebook group for entrepreneurs, when Alex asked for help with content. About six months later Alex took a full-time role, and Robert kept X27 running. Alex gave him 30% of the business. When Alex came back, he made Robert CEO and gave him 50%. Today they are equal partners, including in the Alex Berman YouTube brand and courses.
Robert says he passed $1 million at 25 and $10 million at 31. He is 33 now, and X27 has had several buyout offers.
📧 Experiment 27 and handwritten cold email
The name X27 comes from "experiment 27". The team tried YouTube, email, LinkedIn and Facebook to find clients, and email came out on top. About nine years ago, Robert says, each email was handwritten and custom, and the results were remarkable. He says the agency grew to around $750,000 in revenue in about 10 to 11 months.
He also says X27 has put six figures, maybe multiple six figures, into YouTube.
“we would send 40 emails and I kid you not get 20 meetings booked”
Robert Indries, 21:11
💵 Measuring dollars, not likes
Robert says X27 clients pay $50,000 to $100,000, and the goal is to make them anywhere from a quarter of a million to more than $10 million a year. That is why the agency tracks revenue rather than vanity metrics.
He is also open about the fact that one channel doesn't fit everyone. For some clients email didn't work but cold calling did. He uses Kodak as an example of a company that failed to pivot when it needed to.
“we measure dollars not likes”
Robert Indries, 28:05
👥 An entrepreneurial team that out-earns the owner
Robert hires people who think like entrepreneurs. As an example, he says his admin team built their own SOPs and set up a C-corp in two weeks.
He paid himself $0 for his first three years at his engineering firm. After that he took $750 a month while his top earner made about $4,000. Later it was $2,000 for him and $12,000 for his top earner. He says that, of around 100 people who left his companies to go solo, none succeeded. He also shares the story of a former contractor who pitched them at four times the price.
⚡ Owning, not managing
Robert doesn't believe in time management. His focus is on energy and attention. He warns against chasing new things out of FOMO, doesn't drink, and keeps around 20 journals.
He sees himself as an owner, not a manager. Each business has its own leaders to run it day to day.
“time is a constant you cannot manage time only thing you can manage is your attention and your energy”
Robert Indries, 45:24
About Robert Indries
Robert Indries is an engineer by background and the owner of eight businesses. According to the video description, each generates seven figures. One of them is X27, the marketing agency he runs with Alex Berman. In the episode he says he has had 11 businesses and sold three of them, and that he has built AI tools for large US banks for about seven years.
He grew up in Transylvania, Romania, and left home at 14. His new book, Unshackled, is his second. He says it has a foreword by the president of Warner Brothers International and launched in more than 1,000 stores in 50 countries.
Episode links
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