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The Undercover Billionaire: Building a $1m business in 90 days

Vigilante

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Vigilante

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I'm currently watching a show on Discovery Channel called "The Undercover Billionaire."

The premise is they drop a billionaire in a random city with a truck and 100 bucks and he bets he can build a million dollar business in 90 days.

I thought that was cool and I should share.

Watching now
 

Roli

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Since this is a billionaire I would presume it scales up.

Don't see how being a billionaire changes the nature of $100 (unless you use your billions to add to the $100), but hey-ho I guess we'll see. Looking forward to updates.
 

Fox

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Don't see how being a billionaire changes the nature of $100 (unless you use your billions to add to the $100), but hey-ho I guess we'll see. Looking forward to updates.

What if it was $10,000 or $100,000 - would a billionaire be able to use that money wiser than the average person on the street to create wealth? Of course.

$100 isn't any different - their whole mindset is optimized to make the most out of anything - money, time, interactions, opportunities.

Give a billionaire any amount of money and they will use that like a sushi chef master uses a knife. Give it to a regular person and they will blow it in 5 minutes.

An even simpler example would be giving the same amount of money to you and your 10-year-old self - your current self would use this money in a wiser way (I hope).

Being a billionaire means you got a billionaire mindset - you think, talk, and act in a certain way. You see things on that level.

Same goes for being a millionaire.

Same goes for being broke.

The $100 just represents choice and options. And a billionaire will make better decisions and use resources better than you will - that's why they are a billionaire.

One good choice will line up the opportunity for more good choices. It will compound.

One bad choice makes the next step even harder - it's a downward spiral.

Take anyone on this forum and put a billionaire in their exact life set up - they will make a million within a year easy.

Every day when you spend anything or use your time on anything you are making choices that will add up to a result.

$100 could be a domain bought and a business plan ready to go.
$100 could be a night out at Joeys Bar ad Grill.
$100 could be five books on marketing.
$100 could be your yearly Netflix subscription.
$100 could be some ads to gauge market demand.

All those $100s are going to add up to either wealth or poverty.

You won't ever get to start using $100k's wisely if you can't start with $100's.

99% of wealth creation is a mindset.
 
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ChrisV

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I think this show will do a lot for public perception of the wealthy. Your average joe literally believes that Bill Gates was 'lucky.'
 

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Just been reading about this guys background, seems the odds were against him being successful in life;

-raised in poverty
-dysfunctional family both parents alcoholics
- teenage pregnancy- became a dad at just 14 years old!!! his gf was 17!
-dyslexic, struggled at school.

He's just recently recovered from cancer which inspired him to do the show.
 

ChrisV

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Yeah. Very interesting. The first thing he thinks when he hits that city?
  • “What does this city need?”

It's interesting that that's the first thing both of them asked.

There's a guy that does that with real estate on YouTube. He was recently on Mike Winnet's podcast about whether he was a scam or not hehe

EDIT:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uWMbmwyj3g

The first thing he asked as well was "what does this city need?"

View: https://youtu.be/1uWMbmwyj3g?t=314


Essential lesson right there.
 
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ChrisV

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In my opinion, you don't have that kind of success without BOTH luck and skill.
Of course. But when people use the word 'luck' I translate that to 'random probability.'

By definition we all have roughly equal amounts of random probability, otherwise it's not random.

But also keep how he was able to capitalize on those random events. Bill Gates had a big dream. "A computer in every home" is a goal 95% of people will never have the balls to set. Similar story with Steve Jobs. Musk. How many people set goals that big? Of course without the random strokes things are harder, but with a goal set the brain is more likely to see on the random strokes of luck and jump on them.

It's like if your goal is to buy a new Honda Accord the brain starts looking for ways to accomplish that. You may pick up a Pennysaver, then see an advertisement. That ad being there was luck, but the brain picked up on it because it had a goal. Without the goal, the brain would have ignored the luck and failed to capitalize on it.

Would Bill Gates be Bill Gates if he was born before the industrial revolution? Of course not. It was partly the combination of his personality with the current technological climate. But on the same token, Elon Musk was born in South Africa and was still able to achieve success in the tech landscape.
 

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The messaging in the show was fantastic, regardless of how much of it is staged. Kind of hard to not know it is staged when a camera crew with a boom mic is following his journey. However, the cutaway camera shots where he talks into the camera and espouses some business strategy principles is excellent. His first idea was excellent, and the process of a few days worth of hustle. The previews at the end of the upcoming episodes foreshadow pieces of what he did. As KAK said, he isn't going to generate a million dollars in 90 days. He is working towards generating a million dollar valuation, significantly different.

People have commented that nobody here has done that. I beg to differ. I have one person here in mind that will remain nameless (not me) that damn near probably hit a million dollar valuation in 90-180 days, starting with more than $100 but way less than $50k.

My business scaled way slower, but it is because I didn't apply hyper growth initiatives to it. I think this is a fun show, and certainly a better diversion than watching some loser get thrown off of the bachelorette.

Thanks for the heads up @Kak
 

ChrisV

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The messaging in the show was fantastic, regardless of how much of it is staged. Kind of hard to not know it is staged when a camera crew with a boom mic is following his journey.
Well apparently they told people that they were doing a show about a homeless guy trying to build a business. They just left off the part about who he was.
 
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Roli

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Give a billionaire any amount of money and they will use that like a sushi chef master uses a knife.

Brilliant analogy!

An even simpler example would be giving the same amount of money to you and your 10-year-old self - your current self would use this money in a wiser way (I hope).

I hope so too, but I'm not so sure... Can I borrow your time machine? :-D

You won't ever get to start using $100k's wisely if you can't start with $100's.

99% of wealth creation is a mindset.

You know what? You've convinced me, you make several good points and to be honest I hadn't thought of it that way.

I was interested to see the program, now I'm that little bit more keen to see what happens.
 

AlexDep89

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I'm just reading the book "The 16 laws of success" by Napoleon Hill. (I am sceptical about Hill, but even if he didn't meet allot of the people he wrote about, I believe he was a keen student of successfull people)

The book starts with a discussion about the "Master Mind". And what people say here about Gates seems also that he couldn't have done it without a Master Mind (Him + Paul + Balmer + his mother + ...) .

In the first episode of this series, the guy makes the most money buying and selling st. patricksday gear, and he teams up with a local businessguy for that (for who he works first).
 

Roli

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But, perhaps the biggest piece of luck Gates had was Steve Ballmer. Without Ballmer, there's zero chance that Microsoft ever would have been been as big as it. Ballmer is one of those VERY RARE people who can sell anything to anyone and inspire a company to greatness (I've had several meetings with him over the years, and he was easily the most charismatic person I've ever met in my life).


You met Steve Ballmer!?!

Awesome! I used to play the "I love this company" speech to my sales team every morning to fire us up.

Excellent post re the Gates story, I didn't know a good deal about what you spoke of.

rep++ (if we still had it :))
 
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Kak

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I am willing to bet $100 in Bitcoin that they end the show with a million dollar business. Any takers?
 
Last edited:

Roli

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By definition we all have roughly equal amounts of random probability, otherwise it's not random.
Hmm, somebody born to paupers in Bangladesh, does not have the same amounts of probability as someone born to middle class parents in New York.

If of course we determine random probability to be that which pertains to business, education, networking. However I see your point.

But on the same token, Elon Musk was born in South Africa and was still able to achieve success in the tech landscape.

Yes but he's white and was born to a wealthy family who facilitated his move to Canada at age 17, which makes that fact a little less impressive. Why? Because his family did not have to go through apartheid whereby the ruling regime did its level best to make sure that you don't rise above the station of parking attendant/hotel worker. In fact if anything, his family benefited from apartheid.

However again, I get your point that S.A. is not as economically advanced as the United States, though this fact did not, nor could not hamper Musk's rise to the top.
 

MTEE1985

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Toward the end when he is selling the St. Patty’s swag he makes a comment that cannot be overstated: “there is no difference between negotiating a $500m credit line and a $5 piece of plastic.” I have heard countless people with enormous success echo this sentiment. The stress will always be there regardless of the number of zeros so add more. Put another way: GOLD! - Think big and then think bigger than that.


Also, when he’s trying to sell the dog toys he mentions how uncomfortable he is but he keeps trying. Again, I have heard countless people expound that getting out of your comfort zone is a necessity to both success and a more fulfilling life.
 
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ChrisV

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Hmm, somebody born to paupers in Bangladesh, does not have the same amounts of probability as someone born to middle class parents in New York.

If of course we determine random probability to be that which pertains to business, education, networking. However I see your point.
Well now we're getting into how to define 'luck' which can be an endless debate. For example, you can argue that since IQ is one of the best predictors of income, and IQ has a strong genetic component, that it was luck to have that IQ.

But just for this argument I'm defining 'luck' as random events. Ie a chance meeting with key technologists, being in the right place at the right time. The other things are better defined (in my opinion) as 'a positive upbringing,' 'intelligence,' etc. You could argue that those things had their roots in luck, but we'll be going back and forth all day like that. I just think it's helpful to clearly define what we mean as 'luck.'
 

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Also, when he’s trying to sell the dog toys he mentions how uncomfortable he is but he keeps trying. Again, I have heard countless people expound that getting out of your comfort zone is a necessity to both success and a more fulfilling life.

That really impressed me. I have always considered myself as a "nothing is beneath me" type of guy. That scene had me impressed. At the time I watched the show, no part of me would have even tried to sell those dog toys at a dollar profit per unit.

Thinking it through, it is the willingness to try, even something so small, that is a basic foundation of success.
 

MTEE1985

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That really impressed me. I have always considered myself as a "nothing is beneath me" type of guy. That scene had me impressed. At the time I watched the show, no part of me would have even tried to sell those dog toys at a dollar profit per unit.

Thinking it through, it is the willingness to try, even something so small, that is a basic foundation of success.

Exactly. On top of that, I’d guess that he was more interested in the connections and information he could gather by talking to the people of Erie vs. the $20 he stood to make if he sold every one of them a ball.

That’s why I’m a huge advocate of young people working at private golf clubs or high end restaurants. Some of them may not be the best paying jobs but the networking can be priceless.
 
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Dan_Cardone

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Just going to throw this out there as it relates to the current direction on the discussion....

As a business consultant who has worked with many self made millionaires I'll just say this: Whatever excuse you have, or have heard anyone else use, someone with a worse situation made the decision to be successful and succeeded.

I'm constantly amazed at some of the obstacles many of my clients have had to overcome. Amazing.

If you live in the USA or Europe and have an IQ of 95+, you really don't have many legitimate excuses for not living up to your potiental.
 

Dan_Cardone

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That really impressed me. I have always considered myself as a "nothing is beneath me" type of guy. That scene had me impressed. At the time I watched the show, no part of me would have even tried to sell those dog toys at a dollar profit per unit.

Thinking it through, it is the willingness to try, even something so small, that is a basic foundation of success.
I actually considered that the dumbest part of his strategy. Why not call up stores who sell pet products and sell them in bulk?

I suspect it was done more for entertainment value than practicality.
 

NewManRising

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These type of shows are scripted so I don't know if it's worth it. The producers help these people out behind the camera. It doesn't reflect reality.
 
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Kak

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These type of shows are scripted so I don't know if it's worth it. The producers help these people out behind the camera. It doesn't reflect reality.

So watch The Bachelorette instead. :rofl:

@Vigilante
 

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I enjoyed the first episode.

I noticed that they chose a pretty low cost of living area to start.

So far he's doing things that anyone can do. He's already doing things that I noticed I should probably be doing.

Talking with the T-shirt printing owner after his shift is one thing that i noticed, connecting with people on equal level. Maybe it was done for the show? Either way it stood out.

The choice of going all in on the St. Patricks day items stood out. Thinking if I only had $160 would I spend it all on those items. I'd probably spend $60. Seeing it play out I can see how he has a better idea of risk. If it didn't work he's out $160 which he can make again in couple days, if it does work he triples his money with the chance to do that not presenting itself every day. Something I think will be a recurring theme.

Maybe for the dog toys he figured lets see if people will actually buy it before he thought about trying to go to retailers. Would be easier to sell knowing people had a positive reaction to it.

The irony is there will be people that live there that say they can't find a job, so seeing him make some money in a couple days already puts him ahead of some people.

Of course he's a billionaire who can afford to do anything he wants. Looks like he is enjoying playing this game of starting with $100. Being in a world that no one knows him by his worth so he doesn't have to wonder if they are just kissing his a$$. He doesn't have the real stress of being broke, or of being a young father like he did when he first did it. So it seems that he is enjoying his "vacation" which comes across on screen.
 
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Roli

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I spent most of my corporate career at Microsoft. Ballmer is probably the business person I most respect in this world -- in real life, he's exactly as his persona would indicate. He's also probably the smartest person I've ever met. I never got to meet Paul Allen, but I've been in meetings with Ballmer and Gates, and there's no doubt in my mind that Ballmer is the biggest reason Microsoft ever got to where it was.

To give an example, each year, he'd spend one day with each of the company's business units (BU), putting together a strategy and proforma P&L for that unit for the following fiscal year. And when I say he'd spend a day, I don't mean 8 hours. Often times, these meetings would last for 14+ hours (and there were some classic 24+ hour meetings as well). We'd cycle in people for different parts of the strategy, but other than bathroom breaks, he didn't leave the room from the time he started until the strategy and budget were done.

In that one day, he'd build a BU strategy and complex P&L from scratch (these were often $500M to $5B P&Ls) in Excel right there, which would be used to fund the following year's budget. In other words, he was literally building a separate business plan for each MSFT business from scratch in a single session. From the minute it started until the minute it ended, he'd be bouncing off the walls excited to be there (and yes, lots of coffee helped).

And then he'd do it again the next day with the next BU... I've never seen anything like it and I've never met anyone else like him...

Wow, truly inspirational. He sounds like a one in a billion type person.
 

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Once someone has the right mindset they will see opportunities everywhere they go. To me that is the biggest takeaway from the show so far.

I recently took my family to an event that was geared towards kids in the local area. That event had thousands of people there... and had 3 venders besides food sellers... 3! and their variety consisted of 3 separate items!

I spent all day (while waiting in lines) writing down products that would sell, looking up prices on dhgate, aliexpress, etc. and compiling a list of workable items. 2 days later I contacted the person running the event and asked them about being a vender for next years event. I then went on Facebook... and found 20+ similar events that were niche specific and would lend themselves easily to carrying specific products.

This could literally be done by anyone who has a credit card and lives anywhere close to a city. Find niche events, get a location at that event, order items from China (or the dollar store like the guy on the show did) and profit.

Many people who watch this show will keep making excuses why they can’t do it just like they made excuses before they spent an hour watching the show.
 

maverick

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When a TFL member posts their process on setting up a new business:
"Where is the proof? I want to see your bank account!"

When a billionaire sets up a new successful business:
"Money makes money. He is only successful because he already has enough money!"

When a billionaire sets up a new business with only $100 in his pocket and no way to use his/her past experiences and network:
"It's staged!"

Is this you? Stop limiting yourself. Have a learning mindset: read, watch and interpret.
 
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MILIANARD134

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Anyone know when the next episode is broadcasted (i know it's today but don't know the time)
 

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