I'd Rather Test Myself: Sifu Edward & Sifu Julliana Armstrong Sit Down With Andrew Fox

Adapted from the recorded conversation; the guest's words are verbatim. The questions are reconstructed and voiced by Sifu Edward and Sifu Julliana Armstrong.

🎥 Video podcast coming soon. The complete interview will play here once published. The full conversation is transcribed below, and the audio edition will be available on sifuarmstrong.tv.

In a new Sifu Armstrong interview, the British-Irish entrepreneur known as Foxy explains why declaring an outcome out loud, long before there’s any evidence for it, is the whole trick.

Andrew Fox was washing cars for three pounds an hour when he started telling customers, to their faces, exactly what was coming. “I’m going to have a Ferrari in three or four years, you’ll see,” he told them, while a picture of a beach house and a yacht hung on his bedroom wall at his parents' house. Five years later, he told Sifu Edward and Sifu Julliana Armstrong, he owned more than one Ferrari and the house on the beach to go with it.

Fox is equally direct about what he considers the actual entry fee for anyone who wants help, connections, or a favor from someone further along. “What value are you going to bring to me first?” he said. “Everyone has a skill, whether you know it or not, so you’ve got to learn, you’ve got to evolve: create the skills, feed your mind, bring value to the world.” It’s a principle he’s applied to his own path from the beginning, teaching himself web design in the dial-up era not to become a designer, but because he understood value had to come before any ask.

That same value-first instinct produced one of his biggest paydays. A friendship with Russell Brunson, dating back to their early days as mutual affiliates, eventually connected Fox to a small software project called Easy Sketch Pro, a launch that did $113,000 in sales in roughly twelve minutes and has sold in the millions since. Fox is candid that it was the relationship, built over years with no immediate payoff, that made the opportunity possible at all.

Perhaps the most unusual moment in the conversation comes when the hosts ask why a man who could retire comfortably today refuses to. “I’d rather test myself,” Fox said. “Let’s see what I’m really capable of, rather than looking back thinking I took the foot off the gas too soon.” It’s a striking answer from someone with every excuse to coast, and the Armstrongs recognized it immediately as a mindset that has nothing to do with needing more money.

Fox closes with what he considers the two skills that will always keep someone employable (driving traffic and writing sales copy) paired with a warning against simply copying a formula without understanding why it works. Threaded through the whole conversation is a quieter discipline: consistent, unglamorous compounding, whether of money through index-fund investing or of relationships built years before they pay off. It’s the same law that governs a training mat. A single ordinary rep, drilled without fanfare, compounds into mastery no shortcut can match, and the warrior who’s already climbed one mountain keeps looking for a harder one, not because the first wasn’t enough, but because testing the edge was always the actual point.

In This Conversation

Declaring the Ferrari out loud years before there was any evidence it would happen
“What value are you going to bring to me first?” as the entry fee for any real opportunity
How a years-old friendship with Russell Brunson led to the Easy Sketch Pro launch
Why compound interest is “the wonder of the world,” on the mat and in the market
Refusing to retire at forty: “I’d rather test myself”
Where to find Andrew Fox and the Affiliate Millionaire course

The Full Conversation

Sifu Julliana Armstrong: Andrew Fox washed cars for three pounds an hour and told the customers, to their faces, that he'd own a Ferrari in a few years. He had a beach house, a yacht, the whole picture pinned to his bedroom wall. Five years later he owned two Ferraris and that beach house. I've watched athletes do exactly this, declare the outcome so clearly and so stubbornly that they become the person who achieves it. That's not fantasy. That's a trained mind.

Sifu Edward Armstrong: And here's what I most respect: he could retire right now, at forty, and he refuses. "I'd rather test myself," he says. "Let's see what I'm really capable of." A man with every reason to coast, choosing to keep climbing. That's the Ageless Warrior spirit exactly. He also gave us the single best filter for anyone who wants your help: what value are you going to bring first?

Our guest is Andrew Fox, British-Irish entrepreneur and internet marketing veteran, known to friends as Foxy. Andrew, welcome.

Andrew Fox: Hey, it's good to be here. Thanks for having me on.

Sifu Julliana Armstrong: Take us back to the car wash, and the wall in your bedroom.

Andrew Fox: I'm a bit of a dinosaur, been here too long. I started around 1990-ish, washing cars for about three pounds an hour, five dollars for my American friends. And what was funny is I'd tell the people whose cars I'm washing, "I'm going to have a Ferrari in three or four years, you'll see." A few probably thought this guy is absolutely bonkers, but there was always one or two who said, "Young man, I think you're going to do it." As I washed their cars, I had this beach-house picture on my wall back in my bedroom, living with my parents, the yachts, everything. And lo and behold, five years later I didn't have one Ferrari, I had a couple, and a beautiful house on the beach, and a lovely yacht. So things can come true if you really put your mind to it, or you're very pigheaded and just go for it.

Sifu Julliana Armstrong: "Very pigheaded and just go for it." I love that, because it's the unglamorous truth under all the vision-board talk. You didn't just picture the Ferrari. You announced it to strangers while your hands were in soapy water, and then you were too stubborn to let it not happen. That's exactly what a competitor does before a fight they have no business winning: they declare the outcome so completely that quitting stops being an option. The picture on the wall is only powerful when it's married to a will that won't bend.

Sifu Edward Armstrong: One of your biggest wins came straight out of a friendship. Tell our operators the Russell Brunson and Paul story.

Andrew Fox: Russell Brunson (co-founder of ClickFunnels) was an old friend from back in the day; we promoted each other's products, were affiliates for each other. He flew over to my house in Ireland for an event, we went to the yacht in Belfast with a DJ, and Russell told me he wanted to build something big. Then ClickFunnels was born. But he'd also introduced me to a guy named Paul, doing some SEO for him. Paul and I became friends, and a few years later he hit me up: he had this doodle-animation sketch software and asked if I'd promote it to my email list. A standard promotion for me might do $10,000 in 24 hours. This one did $30,000. I said, holy crap, this thing has legs; pour gasoline on it. I told Paul to do a proper launch, and he said, "Foxy, I can't be bothered with all that. Do you mind if I just give you an equal stake in the company and you launch it with us?" I get offered deals like that fairly often and usually say no because I'm busy, but I had a good relationship with Paul, so we launched it. We did $113,000 in sales in about 12 minutes, roughly $650,000 in the first seven days, that was Easy Sketch Pro, and it's sold millions and millions over the years. That's the power of networking: a connection through Russell, then a project two years later that did millions.

Sifu Edward Armstrong: For someone starting today, your first principle isn't a tool. It's about value. Explain.

Andrew Fox: I taught myself web design back in the dial-up days, not because I wanted to be a web designer, but because I've always believed you need to bring value to the world and develop a skillset. What drives me crazy is when people come online and whine, "promote this, I want that." I'm like, well, what value are you going to bring to me first? Everyone has a skill, whether you know it or not, so you've got to learn, you've got to evolve: create the skills, feed your mind, bring value to the world. That's step one. For me it started with building an email list and promoting a recurring product as an affiliate for about a thousand dollars a month in commissions. And while everyone else was asking for games at Christmas, I asked my parents for Corey Rudl's London seminar tapes (he was a pioneer of our industry), and I watched them and thought, I'm going to be rich, because I understand this. I was about 22, and I just got it.

Sifu Edward Armstrong: "What value are you going to bring to me first?" That is the line that separates a warrior from a beggar. So many people show up wanting to be given something (the promotion, the shortcut, the endorsement) before they've built anything worth trading. Develop a skill until it has real value, and doors open on their own; arrive empty-handed asking for favours, and they stay shut. And asking for the seminar tapes instead of games at twenty-two. That's a student who already knew that the investment goes into your head first.

Sifu Julliana Armstrong: Of everything you've achieved, what are you most proud of?

Andrew Fox: It's the fact that you can prove that when you put your mind to something and you just want to go for it, you can achieve it: whether it's personal, financial, or lifestyle goals. It shows the power of determination and willpower, that you can win in the end. And I've carried out a lot of charitable acts in my life that I don't really want to talk about publicly, but when you've had a successful business, it empowers you to help people around you. It's a great gateway into helping other people.

Sifu Julliana Armstrong: Two things there tell me who you are. First, what you're proudest of isn't the Ferraris. It's the proof that will and determination actually work, which is a gift to everyone watching. And second, the charity you won't discuss publicly. The quiet giving, the kind you don't broadcast, is the truest kind. It means you're doing it for the people, not the applause. Success that becomes a gateway to lifting others is success that means something.

Sifu Edward Armstrong: If you were starting again, you'd do one thing from day one, invest. Why?

Andrew Fox: I have a great passion for investing. I'd recommend everyone go to a service like Vanguard or Fidelity, look at index funds, and start investing at any age (18, 30, 40), even for as little as 25 pounds, 35 or 40 dollars a month. Just get in the habit, because compound interest really is the wonder of the world. Businesses can make money, you have your ups and downs, but investing consistently is one of the true ways to financial freedom. Once you start making money, start investing it as soon as possible, even $20 a month, just get in the habit, because investing in the long term is where you build your success.

Sifu Edward Armstrong: Compound interest is the wonder of the world, and it's the exact same law that governs the mat. A tiny deposit made every single month, left alone, becomes a fortune, and a single ordinary rep, drilled every single day, compounds into mastery no talent can match. Most people can't feel the growth early, so they quit before the curve turns steep. The warrior and the investor share one secret: small, consistent, boring deposits, made relentlessly, until compounding does the spectacular part.

Sifu Julliana Armstrong: You can retire at forty, and you flatly refuse. Why keep going?

Andrew Fox: Let's play it out, if I retire, what am I going to do? Sit on the couch and watch YouTube? Lie on the beach all day, drink coffee all day? It's nice to have a break, but the reason I got where I've got is that drive, that passion, figuring things out, creating new projects, turning $1 into $2. That never gets old. Anyone who knows me laughs that I'd retire for five minutes. I'll probably buy a new yacht soon and take a bit more chill time, but I don't want to take my foot off the gas too early, because I don't want to look back in ten years and think I coasted, I was a little bit lazy. I'd rather test myself. Let's see what I'm really capable of, rather than looking back thinking I took the foot off the gas too soon.

Sifu Julliana Armstrong: "I'd rather test myself. Let's see what I'm really capable of." That is the Ageless Warrior's entire creed. He's already climbed the mountain; he could plant a flag and rest. Instead he wants a bigger one, not for the money, but because coasting is a kind of slow death for someone built to strive. The trophy was never the point. The testing was. That's why the real ones never truly retire. They just find the next thing worthy of their edge.

Sifu Edward Armstrong: Your practical advice comes down to two skills and one habit of mind. Lay it out, and where do people find you?

Andrew Fox: If you can learn to drive traffic effectively and learn to write good sales copy (which doubles as email copy), you'll nearly always be able to write your own paycheck. But don't be lazy and just cut and paste. You need to understand why they wrote that headline, why the first line of the ad is that long, why they asked that question, what response they're trying to elicit. The formula can be simple, but it's all the little details along the line that trip people up. Affiliate marketing is a great gateway because you can get in without owning a product: just learn to drive traffic, set up a landing page, and collect commissions. That's what our Affiliate Millionaire course covers. And I've spent six years building a mobile-app company, Zapable, with my brother Chris. If you go to AffiliateMillionaire.app on your phone, it loads a free app where you can opt in and get a free case study on how we did $190,000 in six weeks.

Sifu Edward Armstrong: "Understand why they wrote it that way. Don't just copy." That's the difference between a student who imitates a form and one who understands it. Andrew, it's been a genuine pleasure.

Andrew Fox: It's been a pleasure. It's just about not giving up, and once you start making money, start investing it as soon as possible.

Sifu Julliana's closing word: Andrew declared his Ferrari to strangers while washing their cars, and was too pigheaded to let it not come true, the picture on the wall married to a will that won't bend. And he could coast on the mountain he's already climbed; instead he wants a bigger one. That refusal to rest on mastery is the Ageless Warrior's whole creed. The testing was always the point, not the trophy.

Sifu Edward's closing word: Andrew hands our operators three things. Bring value first, develop a skill worth trading, and stop arriving empty-handed asking for favours. Understand the why beneath the technique, don't just copy it. And make small, relentless deposits (of money, of reps), because compounding is the wonder of the world on the mat and in the market alike. Then, when you could rest, don't. Test yourself. We don't entertain warriors. We create them.

Andrew Fox ("Foxy"), British-Irish internet marketing veteran; co-creator of Easy Sketch Pro, founder of the Affiliate Millionaire course (AffiliateMillionaire.app), and co-founder of the mobile-app platform Zapable with his brother Chris.

ILLUSTRATIVE RESULTS. Any revenue, enrollment, margin or retention figure in this conversation is either a documented result from one of our own operations, a figure the guest reports about their own business, or an illustrative example, never a projection of your results.

Nothing here is financial, legal or tax advice.

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