You Cannot Build a Business From Home

Dana White, the longtime head of the UFC, was asked whether his years running businesses had changed him. He said definitely. He does not freak out the way he used to, he said, and he is way more calm now.

Then he turned to younger people who think they can build a business from home.

"This younger generation that think you can work from home and build a successful business, it's impossible," White said. "You can't do it."

By that, he said, he means being in the office with people is how the business works. White said, "I'm in the office from 8:30 in the morning, and I don't leave the office till 7, 8, 9, 10, sometimes still to this day." The schedule for the day can be planned, he said, but people will pop into his office and they start talking about things. With a good group like the one he has at the UFC, he said, "things pop up that you would never expect," and he said "a lot of good ideas come from everybody being at work."

White said he needs people around him who can keep up and handle the load of work, and said he went through a phase when he "ripped through, like, 10 secretaries in two years."

He said he watches other men ease up with age. "You do get weaker as you get older," White said. "There's a softer side to you than you had when you were in the early days of building your business." He added, "I don't ever wanna be that guy. I try not to be that guy."

This year, he said, is probably his busiest, running "Zuffa, Boxing, Power Slap, and the UFC," along with other projects. In the last two months, he said, he was home for about four days.