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January 29, 2025 • 47min
We hosted a slumber party with 12 billionaires (our minds are blown)
My First Million
In this episode, Sam Parr and Shaan Puri recap their weekend spent with a group of 25 successful entrepreneurs and billionaires in Greenville, NC. The gathering included notable figures like MrBeast, Joe Gebbia (Airbnb co-founder), and other successful founders and investors. The format was casual - playing basketball, sharing meals, and having authentic conversations over 48 hours together.
We hosted a slumber party with 12 billionaires (our minds are blown)
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Key Takeaways
- Fish where the fish swim, not where the fishermen stand - The most successful entrepreneurs find opportunities in unexpected places and niches, not where everyone else is looking
- Intensity and obsession lead to success - The most successful people take normal business activities but dial up the intensity to extreme levels
- Confidence often matters more than raw intelligence when it comes to business success
- Health and wellness is the new status symbol among wealthy entrepreneurs, replacing fancy cars and watches
- Pick the right game to play - Success comes from choosing the right path for you, not just trying to win at someone else's game
Introduction
In this episode, Sam Parr and Shaan Puri recap their weekend spent with a group of 25 successful entrepreneurs and billionaires in Greenville, NC. The gathering included notable figures like MrBeast, Joe Gebbia (Airbnb co-founder), and other successful founders and investors. The format was casual - playing basketball, sharing meals, and having authentic conversations over 48 hours together.
Topics Discussed
Finding Unique Business Opportunities (4:49)
The hosts discuss how many of the successful entrepreneurs found opportunities in unexpected places:
- Jesse Itzler discovered Zico coconut water through ultra-marathon running and helped build it into a major brand
- One attendee built a nine-figure quilting business in Missouri, eventually buying an entire town to create a "Disneyland for quilting"
- Another participant found success in board games, a market many would overlook
- Someone else invested heavily in water rights and springs after becoming obsessed with water quality
The Power of Intensity and Obsession (12:45)
The discussion highlights how successful entrepreneurs take normal business activities to extreme levels:
- "When high intensity obsessive people want to win, they do the same things that the rest of us do with the knob dialed up to 12" - Shaan Puri
- MrBeast example:
- Personally restocks store shelves with his chocolate bars
- Has special access to Walmart backrooms to check inventory
- Turned a 3-hour drive into a 20-hour trip visiting every Walmart on the route
- A billion-dollar company CEO planning to work as a Walmart associate for three weeks to understand why their products weren't selling as well there
Confidence vs Intelligence (18:48)
The hosts observe that success often correlates more with confidence than pure intelligence:
- Many of the wealthiest attendees weren't necessarily the most technically skilled or educated
- Success often came from not limiting themselves rather than superior intelligence
- Several successful entrepreneurs were dyslexic but extremely charismatic
- "The percentage of intelligence greater than me or you versus impact or net worth was not totally correlated" - Sam Parr
The Power of Self-Belief (22:53)
Discussion of how self-perception shapes outcomes:
- The phrase "I am" represents the two most important words that define your life
- Your internal narrative determines:
- What risks you're willing to take
- How hard you'll work
- What you believe is possible
- "A lot of the downstream decisions start with the little voice in your head, the little director of your movie who's deciding what kind of movie is this" - Shaan Puri
Different Definitions of Success (24:51)
The hosts discuss various approaches to success and fulfillment:
- Some entrepreneurs focused on empire-building and domination
- Others prioritized family and lifestyle, working minimal hours
- One successful investor described himself as "CEO of my family" working 16 hours a day on family life
- "Picking the right game matters way more than figuring out how to win the wrong game" - Shaan Puri
Work Ethic Variations (30:20)
Discussion of different approaches to work:
- Some businesses required constant intense effort (like YouTube content creation)
- Others built defensible positions that required less ongoing work
- Example: Getting shelf space in major retailers provides ongoing revenue with less effort than constantly creating content
- Some successful entrepreneurs worked just 20 hours per week once their business was established
Health as the New Status Symbol (32:41)
Observations about health consciousness among wealthy entrepreneurs:
- Very few displays of traditional wealth symbols (fancy clothes, watches, cars)
- Strong focus on:
- Clean eating
- Exercise (basketball, running)
- Recovery (sauna, cold plunge)
- Wellness protocols
- 56-year-old Jesse Itzler running 100-mile races
- Multiple attendees in excellent physical condition despite being in their 50s
The Midwit Meme in Action (37:39)
Examples of overthinking and overcomplicating simple situations:
- Story of the basketball free throw competition where someone needed to statistically validate their success
- An entrepreneur creating an elaborate AI-powered dating system instead of meeting people naturally
- "What an intelligently stupid thing to do" - Shaan Puri describing these overcomplicated approaches
Conclusion
The episode provides unique insights into the mindsets and behaviors of highly successful entrepreneurs. Key themes include finding unexpected opportunities, the power of intensity and obsession, the importance of confidence over pure intelligence, and the rising focus on health and wellness among the wealthy. The hosts emphasize that success often comes from choosing the right path for yourself rather than trying to win at someone else's game.