Hey, I'm Sam Parr. I'm known for My First Million and starting a few +$10m companies like Hampton and The Hustle.

I've started a newsletter.

That's what this thing is. I'll share what I'm reading and something I've learned in the past week.

Why should you care? Because my job is talking to people who are billionaires, or run massive companies, or are the world's best in their field.

And in this letter I'll tell you the good shit they've told me.

I care about living a rich life, which I define as having a big baller career, being fit, and having a family who loves me. That's the vibe you'll get here in this newsletter.

You're getting this email because you've signed up to copy that or on my blog, The Anti-MBA.

If you want to click unsubscribe now, do it. But it would be cool if you gave it a few weeks, so I'm not penalized with all the new unsubscribes who weren't expecting this email. It's called karma...get some by reading a few emails before unsubb-ing. It'll be our gentleman's agreement.

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Natural Moneymakers

Some entrepreneurs are so violently good at making money it looks like cheating.

I've noticed this in the 850 podcast episodes I've done, but no one talks about it.

I call these people natural moneymakers. Here are their attributes:

These people tend to be in roles that involve deal making, brokering, and inserting themselves into a situation. They rarely build in public. They’ve made $100m to $1b in different fields.

I’ve interviewed ~10 natural moneymakers. And I’ve met a few more in Hampton.

You can be successful and rich and still not be a natural money maker. Ted Turner founded CNN. He was a multi-billionaire. But he wasn’t a natural moneymaker. He had vision, took risks, and was charismatic.

But natural moneymakers are different.

They are unemotional about business.

Natural money makers have anxiety like everyone else. But they use emotions to make money. Being emotional and passionate helps founders succeed. Natural moneymakers are more cold about money. More logical.

Carl Icahn, a famous PE guy, once told a story on how bought a company and immediately fired 12 floors of people because he couldn’t figure out what all the employees did all day.

I have a friend who owns a few +$100m/year ecommerce brands and is likely a billionaire. He’s a natural moneymaker. Once a buddy suggested our billionaire friend delegate, work less, and focus on culture. “You just focus on the big picture,” my buddy told him. He coldly looked back at us: “cash-flow is the only picture to focus on.”.

They are maximizers.

Natural money makers think “diminishing returns are still returns.” More is more. The perfect amount of money is more. They scour for deals 24/7. There’s no off button. Most people settle for pretty good.

John Rockefeller called Jay Gould the greatest business mind in America. He was worth $150b today (adjusted for inflation).

In 1885 Gould was dying from tuberculosis at 54 years old. His wife died the year before. He had kids to care for. The Union Pacific, a railroad business, was in turmoil. Gould had to buy it. The deal was too good. His family begged him to let it go. Doesn't he have all the money he needs? A few days later a butler hands Gould a telegram. He reads it and turns to his family: "About the Union Pacific, I have decided to go ahead." Then said: "I have merely returned to my first love." He died soon after.

They’re comfortable with complexity.

Most people think simple is better. Natural moneymakers are ok with complexity. They typically have high IQs and learn quickly. They find hidden value. Points of a percent. And it adds up to huge gains.

John D. Rockefeller bought out rival refiners by opening his books, showing them his profits, and saying: "I have ways of making money that you know nothing of."

My aforementioned billionaire friend was like this. Once we were hanging out and he was on his phone. I asked what he was doing. He explained that he was buying defaulted credit card debt because he could hire an agency to get the money and he could earn 15% returns (tiny compared to his net worth).

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A great founder needs vision, recruiting skills, and understands product. Great moneymakers know that stuff too, but they have a “make money happen” gear that many great founders don’t.

I know you’re reading this list thinking, “well they must be unhappy, this sounds negative.” I don’t think there’s a correlation between being a shark and being a good, happy person.

My friend Val is a natural moneymaker and he’s happy, kind, ethical, and a family man. Syed Balki, an MFM guest, is another happy natural moneymaker.

Warren Buffet said to be a better founder you should learn to be a better investor.

Similarly, I think a lot of entrepreneurs (myself included, particularly the part about being less emotional) can learn a thing or two from the natural money makers.

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Cool stuff I’m consuming:

Inside Lenny Rachitsky’s Demandingly Chill Life (article): This is an article on a creator who, I estimate, also does +$10m (I'm just guessing. I don't have any info other than what is public).

The goal isn't to look shredded. It's just to look too inconvenient to fuck with (reel): Ha, I love good takes on how to be fit. One friend once told me: I workout to be able to kill and eat everyone in the room or be able to outrun them.

Who Is Really Rich in America? (Hint: Main Street Millionaires) (article): Cool data analysis on people who are worth, on average, $25m and how they got there.

This stretch has saved my lower back (reel): You can use a wall instead of a band

Boredom Is the Price We Pay for Meaning (article): Amazing headline. "Of course, much of what displays a pattern—lifelong friendships, enduring marriages, serious scholarship, the making of art, prayer, Sunday mornings in winter—is also pregnant with meaning. Boredom is the price we pay for a life rich with meaning. Recognizing this makes the feeling more endurable. Meaning and boredom. Boredom and meaning. Hand in hand."

Breakdown of Matt Paulson's $300 million net worth (article): My friend is shockingly transparent with money and broke down his entire portfolio. He takes out $25m/year from his biz. Has $90m outside it, split into $40m of real estate, $20m in private equity, $15m in stocks, and $15m in cash.

Elderly people say how they'd live life differently (tweet): Interesting that few of them mentioned career. There's a great book where a hospice worker talked to 2,000 people before they died. She categorized the things that they wished they would have done differently. The dying most often wish they’d had the courage to live true to themselves rather than to others’ expectations, hadn’t worked so hard, had expressed their feelings, had stayed in touch with friends, and had let themselves be happier.

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Inspiration and some tears

Three months ago, when she was six months pregnant, my 30-year-old sister-in-law found out she had breast cancer.

She's giving birth in a couple weeks. She still has breast cancer.

​She's been documenting her experience on Instagram, and it's pretty awesome.

Now, my wife is getting a preemptive surgery because she has the BRCA gene. I realize this is maybe TMI for a newsletter, but both my wife and her sister-in-law have decided to be public about the whole thing. Here's a blog post my wife wrote.​

I think it's pretty great that they're doing this because I hope it'll help a lot of people, but selfishly, they've had tons of inbound from people willing to help them: connections, doctors, whatever.

Same with my friend Ben, who also has cancer. He did a post on Twitter, and there's potential that this post will save his life because of the people he's met because of it (he also raised $400k).

So the very simple takeaway here is: if you're in sick, be loud. The squeaky wheel gets the most grease (Is that the phrase?).

I love you,

Sam