My First Million
00:09:18 · Shaan Puri, Bill Perkins, Sam Parr
[00:09:18] S1: On how much money are we talking about? [00:09:20] S0: 100 and something million, 200,000,000, you know? So a 100,000,000 to 250,000,000. Yeah. But, you know, in a year and then we go through the winter, we build that up, we chop wood, and we go there. And that's why I like to, you know, we say... I said the name of the game is to stay in the game. You know, we're in a market that provides edge to people that really study it and keep their wits about them. And so if you are able to not completely blow up and get knocked out of the game, you will eventually have outsized returns. It's the same thing with insurance. Right, like you're saying like, oh, they're cowboys. These insurance insurance guys wrote these insurance policies against hurricanes, and then two hurricanes came, and they have a terrible year. Like, some almost get wiped out. Right? But then they keep writing insurance the next year. The insurance goes up, and they just print money and print money. And so unless you're in the arbitrage game, you will have a bad you will have a very bad year. [00:10:13] S2: Shaan, this seems like your style a little bit. How does it look? [00:10:17] S1: Do enjoy myself a little gamble. Now, let me ask you a question. You seem today like you're a pretty chill guy and you have all these hobbies and interests and friends and a kind of well rounded life. But everything I know about traders is that they... I asked one guy, Were you kind of a maniac back in the day? He's like, dude, we were pissing [00:10:36] S2: in Coke bottles on the floor.
00:10:36 · Sam Parr, Shaan Puri, Bill Perkins
[00:10:36] S2: in Coke bottles on the floor. [00:10:37] S1: You don't... You know, it was intense. Like, the intensity of trading is crazy. You know, you wake up at certain times to check what's going on in Tokyo and blah blah blah. [00:10:46] S0: Yeah. [00:10:46] S1: Were were you... Did you have a decade of your life where you had to be a bit of a maniac or no? [00:10:50] S0: Yeah, you become obsessed with the puzzle and that obsession helps you to have informational knowledge edge or to think about things that could happen that other people are not thinking about and scoop up the money. And so I think that happens to all traders to whatever they're trading, right? Like, it is a very, very difficult thing to do, it's complex, there's many variables moving around, and you have capital at risk, so you're always whenever you have a position, you're always working. You're never off, right? [00:11:22] S1: Knowing what you know now, would you have advised your younger self to go into that field or would you have said, Hey, just build a company that's gonna sell a product? [00:11:29] S0: Knowing what I know, I would've went into equities. It's just much bigger. And it's... You know, guys have $6,000,000,000 funds, $10,000,000,000 funds, right, with, like, what I would consider okay track records. You know what I mean? Or not that exciting track records, and you get positive drift on your side from the stock market. [00:11:47] S2: Does the skill set translate? So equities meaning you would you would evaluate different companies and figure out which ones are
00:11:47 · Sam Parr, Bill Perkins
[00:11:47] S2: Does the skill set translate? So equities meaning you would you would evaluate different companies and figure out which ones are [00:11:53] S0: bringing to stocks. There's just so much more capital available for people to invest in equities. It's kinda like, you know, there was a period where there's nowhere else to go type of mentality. Like, we have to be allocated equities. And so... And, you know, the fees they charge in equities are are are quite amazing on these giant funds. Right? Like, you have a $6,000,000,000 fund charging one, one and a half. I'm like, what fund costs that much money to run? You know I mean? Like, it doesn't. Right? So like your maintenance becomes a profit center, and then your upside is just amazing, just in terms of the notional dollar amounts. And so in terms of like personal wealth, like how could I have been much richer would have went into equities. [00:12:35] S2: Do you do that now with your personal money? [00:12:38] S0: Yeah, I do, but I'm 57. I'm not here trying to have a party at 85. You know what I'm saying? Like, my life is now, you know, like, if I were younger, that makes sense. But like for me, I'm at the back quarter of my life, and so it doesn't make sense for me to be wasting my current years to earn a bunch of capital for future years, given my age.
00:12:38 · Bill Perkins, Shaan Puri
[00:12:38] S0: Yeah, I do, but I'm 57. I'm not here trying to have a party at 85. You know what I'm saying? Like, my life is now, you know, like, if I were younger, that makes sense. But like for me, I'm at the back quarter of my life, and so it doesn't make sense for me to be wasting my current years to earn a bunch of capital for future years, given my age. [00:13:01] S1: When you were coming up, did you have like a number in mind, a goal? And then did you hit that number? Did you just simply like most people move the goalposts and say, No, no, no, that's not enough. Like describe to me kind of what your relationship was with the number.
00:13:01 · Shaan Puri, Bill Perkins
[00:13:01] S1: When you were coming up, did you have like a number in mind, a goal? And then did you hit that number? Did you just simply like most people move the goalposts and say, No, no, no, that's not enough. Like describe to me kind of what your relationship was with the number. [00:13:18] S0: Yeah. The number was I just wanted to be a millionaire before I was 30. It was kind of a thing. You know, I blew through it, but there was never like a cap number. Like, if I make x, I'm I'm going to quit. I didn't really think it through at that time about what it was. Like I was young, I wanted girls and a rock star life and all the bullshit that comes along with it, so I didn't have like a really thoughtful process about like what do I want out of life and what does that cost, right? I just knew that I wanted a lifestyle, I wanted to be rich, I wanted to be able to get the girls, that type of thing, right? And then everybody kind of parrots, like, I want be a millionaire before x date, right? It's almost like a Miss America cookie cutter answer type thing that people starting out do. They're not really thinking about it. It wasn't till later in life that I really was thinking about like, what does that mean, and what does the number mean? And is it even a number? Right? Is it really a date? [00:14:12] S1: When you're talking about later in life, is that like in the last five years or that was when you were 32?
00:14:12 · Shaan Puri, Bill Perkins, Sam Parr
[00:14:12] S1: When you're talking about later in life, is that like in the last five years or that was when you were 32? [00:14:17] S0: It was probably in thirties, started really starting cementing the ideas of like, the number doesn't matter, the age date matters. Like your net worth peak is actually a date, not not a number. Just given the fact that your body is a decaying asset and its ability to convert that money into fulfillment and useful experiences declines. That rate of decline starts approaching affinity as you get close to your deathbed. And so, more money means nothing a certain point in your life. And so that slope matters more. And so, that isn't when you're 20, that isn't when you're 30. So somewhere between 30 and 65, that slope starts to really pick up such that more money doesn't really mean anything to you. [00:15:04] S2: What was that moment that that changed that where you realized there's a different way to live? Like, did you read something? Did you experience something where you're like, where you got smacked in the face and you're like, there's a better way and this is where I'm gonna carve out this new path?