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My First Million

How to Get Rich (without luck, talent or a trust fund)

Published September 24, 2025
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About This Episode

The host lays out four "rules of money" that he used to go from being broke in his twenties to making his first million by 30 and later building a net worth of $30 million. He explains how to pick and master one of four core money-making skills, convert that skill into equity via code, content, or capital instead of renting out time, adopt a long-term perspective that is impatient with action but patient with results, and deliberately move closer to ambitious peers and industry hubs to accelerate progress. Throughout, he illustrates the rules with concrete examples from his own life and from figures like Mr. Biso, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Alex Ramosi, and Steve Martin.

Topics Covered

Entrepreneurship Financial independence Passive income Investing Habits Persistence Growth mindset Work ethic Lifestyle design

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Quick Takeaways

  • Wealth starts with mastering one of four money-making skills: selling, making, designing, or hunting.
  • Trading time for money, even at a high hourly rate, caps upside; building or owning equity is the way to get rich.
  • You can productize your skill through code, content, or capital so it earns while you sleep instead of only when you work.
  • Be "impatient with action and patient with results"-consistent effort over years makes getting rich inevitable, not instantaneous.
  • Physically moving closer to ambitious, like-minded people and industry hubs dramatically speeds up learning and opportunity.
  • Combining two above-average, uncommon skills (like engineering and marketing) can be more powerful than being world-class at one.
  • A handful of truly good decisions or deals can drive the vast majority of your financial success, as Warren Buffett emphasizes.
  • By stacking a few high-leverage behaviors and sticking with them for years, you can flip the odds of success heavily in your favor.

Podcast Notes

Introduction and purpose of the video

The black book and simple rules of money

Host introduces a small black book containing his rules of money[0:00]
• He says the rules are very simple and not complicated to learn, but once learned, they allow you to "stack cash".
Personal backstory of financial struggle in his twenties[0:44]
• In his twenties, he did not understand how to make money, even though he was trying and working hard.
• He felt he "wasn't getting anywhere" until he learned the rules of money.
Results after learning the rules of money[0:22]
• After learning the rules, he went from being broke to making his first million at age 30.
• A few years later, he became worth $30 million.
Learning through painful trial and error[0:34]
• He describes himself as an "idiot" who was metaphorically running around with a fork and sticking it into different outlets.
• He emphasizes he learned lessons the hard way and wants to save the listener years of pain by sharing what actually works.

Target audience and financial goal

Who this video is for[0:51]
• He speaks to people who do not love where they are at financially and who are not yet financially free.
• He specifically mentions people who want to reach a "magic number" of having a million dollars liquid in their bank account.
Promise for the next 15 minutes[0:20]
• He will explain the four rules of money and how he used them to go from broke to multimillionaire.

Rule 1: Develop one money-making skill

Definition and types of money-making skills

Definition of a money-making skill[1:08]
• He uses "money-making skill" as a specific term relating to building wealth.
Four categories of money-making skills[1:08]
• Selling: persuading people, marketing, and closing deals.
• Making: creating products, apps, websites, videos, or books.
• Designing: having great taste and understanding form and function, likened to a Steve Jobs type.
• Hunting: spotting opportunities such as great real estate deals, angel investments, or the right stocks to buy.
Need to choose and master one skill[1:34]
• He insists you must pick one of the four skills and master it, choosing the one that interests you most.

How to master a money-making skill through daily practice

Immersing yourself where the skill is core to the business[1:34]
• Example: if you want to learn selling, you must go to a place where selling is how they make their money.
• You get a job there, possibly at the bottom, and immerse yourself in that environment.
Find the top performer and double their input[2:06]
• He advises identifying the number one producer or salesperson in the organization.
• You sit next to them, study them, and double their input: if they make 100 calls, you make 200; if they knock on 50 doors, you knock on 100.
• He notes you will not be as good as they are initially, but the doubled input accelerates learning.
Daytime practice and nighttime study[2:28]
• Your "nine to five" is for getting practice reps in the skill.
• Your "five to nine" (5 p.m. to 9 p.m.) is for reading books, watching videos, and obsessing over how to get better at the craft.

Example: Mr. Biso and mastering making YouTube videos

Mr. Biso chooses making as his skill[2:44]
• The host says he became friends with Mr. Biso, described as the number one YouTuber in the world whose videos get hundreds of millions of views.
• At age 12, Mr. Biso decided his skill would be making YouTube videos.
Daily idea-generation exercise using a dictionary[3:00]
• Each day, he opened a dictionary to a random word and forced himself to think of 20 video ideas using that word.
• Not all ideas were good, but this exercise strengthened his "muscle" of idea generation.
Iterative improvement of videos over time[3:02]
• He would go make the videos and initially they had bad thumbnails, lighting, and audio.
• With each video, he tried to improve at least one element.
• It took over 100 videos before he even reached 10,000 subscribers and started making any money.

Example: Warren Buffett as a hunter

Buffett choosing hunting as his money-making skill[3:27]
• He describes Warren Buffett as someone who chose hunting, specifically investment hunting, as his money-making skill.
Buffett's practice of reading the Moody's Manual[3:32]
• Buffett read the entire 4,000-page Moody's Manual, which the host describes as pages of corporate financials.
• Buffett read it cover to cover looking for a single stock that was high value and low price (mispriced).
Concentration of success into a few decisions[3:51]
• Over his career, Buffett has looked at hundreds of thousands of businesses.
• In a recent shareholder letter, Buffett said he could boil all his success down to about 12 good investing decisions.

Value of mastering one vs. two skills

One skill as path to millions, two as path to billions[4:03]
• He claims mastering one of the four money-making skills is a path to millions.
• He adds that mastering two of them is a path to billions.
Example: Steve Jobs combining designing and selling[4:09]
• Steve Jobs is cited as having both designing (great taste in design) and selling (storytelling and marketing) skills.
Example: Elon Musk combining making and selling[4:19]
• Elon Musk is described as having making and selling, allowing him to both build and sell.
Power of being top 20% in two uncommon skills[4:26]
• He argues you do not need to be in the top 1% of anything, which takes a lifetime to achieve.
• Instead, becoming top 20% at two uncommon skills makes you extremely valuable.
• Example: an engineer who is pretty good at both engineering and marketing is rare and "super, super valuable".

Skills as a repeatable money button

Skills are the foundation of repeatable wealth creation[4:57]
• Your money-making skills are described as the foundation of your ability to make money not just once, but anytime you wish.
• He likens a strong money-making skill to a "money button" you can push at any time.
• He emphasizes focusing on skills before focusing on wealth.

Rule 2: Don't rent out your time - own equity

Why trading time for money is a trap

Common mistake of getting hired for your skill[4:49]
• People often take their learned skill, get hired, then get promoted and given raises, thinking they are getting rich.
• He argues this is actually moving in the wrong direction if the goal is to get rich.
Nassim Taleb's quote about salaries[5:14]
• He cites Nassim Taleb: "the two most addictive things in the world are heroin and a monthly salary."
• He uses this quote to emphasize the danger of becoming dependent on trading time for a steady paycheck.
Limits of high hourly rates[5:28]
• Even highly paid professionals like lawyers who charge $1,000 an hour eventually cap out.
• He notes the truly rich lawyers are partners who own equity and get a cut of other lawyers' work.

Two ways to own equity

Investing or starting a business[5:44]
• He says you either invest (which may require cash you don't yet have) or start a business to own equity.
Question of how to turn a skill into a business[5:51]
• He frames the next step as deciding what kind of business to start to leverage the money-making skill.

Three C's: Code, Content, Capital

Overview of the three C's[5:53]
• He lists three words starting with C: code, content, and capital as ways to build an equity-based business.
Code: turning design or making skills into products[6:43]
• Code includes making a website or an app.
• Example: His friend was a designer earning $200,000 a year at an agency, designing websites for clients as an employee.
• The friend realized he needed to turn his design skill into a product or business instead of selling individual projects.
• He quit and started making Shopify themes, a reusable product.
• He could sell the same theme to 2,000 different customers, and customers could buy while he was asleep.
• Customers would come to his site, choose from a library of themes, and purchase one without needing his direct, time-for-money involvement.
• According to the host, that friend now pulls in $2 billion a year of cash flow, lives half the year in Bali and half in Japan, and is living his dream life.
• The host attributes this lifestyle to understanding the rules of money: developing the design skill and turning it into an equity-based business.
Content: turning selling into media and products[6:51]
• He defines content as things like videos, books, and courses.
• Example: He cites Alex Ramosi as someone who took selling as his core money-making skill and turned it into YouTube videos, books, and courses.
• He says Alex Ramosi's last book launch sold 3 million copies.
• With add-on courses tied to that launch, Alex Ramosi made $100 million in a single weekend.
• He contrasts this with hourly consulting, noting Ramosi did not sell his time by the hour but created leveraged content products.
Capital: using hunting and investment to build equity[7:17]
• Capital is described as especially suited to the hunting skill but can be used with any of the money-making skills.
• Example: His cousin had a six-figure job but disliked reporting to an office, politics, and boring meetings.
• The cousin quit and decided to learn hunting in multifamily real estate (apartment buildings).
• He spent two years mastering this under someone with a decade of experience, mirroring the earlier advice to learn from the highest-output person.
• After learning, he left to do his own deals.
• In his first year doing his own deals, they bought about $40 million of real estate, using down payments or equity from other investors.
• Investors were happy to give him a cut because he was doing the hunting-finding deals that would perform above market with a margin of safety.

Key takeaway of Rule 2

Equity vs. endless treadmill of renting time[7:59]
• He warns that if you only rent out your time, you will never get off the treadmill.
• He concludes that owning equity is the way to get rich.

Rule 3: Wait - be patient with results

Metaphor of planting a seed

Why you can't rush growth[9:03]
• He says you cannot plant a seed and dig it up the next day yelling at it for not growing yet.
• Plants need water, sunlight, and time; similarly, wealth-building efforts need time to grow.

Inevitability vs. immediacy of getting rich

If rules 1 and 2 are followed, getting rich becomes inevitable[9:39]
• If you have developed one of the four money-making skills and spent two years mastering it, then turned it into a business you own equity in, he says getting rich is inevitable.
Inevitable does not mean instantaneous[9:40]
• He cautions that inevitable is not the same as instantaneous; it still takes trial and error and a couple of years to figure it all out.
You only need to get rich once[9:51]
• He notes you only need to get rich once in a lifetime.
• As long as you don't blow it all, you can let your wealth compound from there.

Naval's principle: impatient with action, patient with results

Combining urgency in effort with patience in outcome[9:56]
• He quotes Naval: "Be impatient with action and patient with results."
• He calls this an unbeatable combination and says he would never want to compete with someone who operates that way.
• He suggests this is a good test for whether you should become that kind of person.

Rule 4: Proximity is power

Using proximity to speed up results

Acknowledging the discomfort of waiting[10:41]
• He notes that even though you understand good things take time, you will still hate waiting; he did too.
Moving to accelerate growth[10:38]
• He says you can make the "plant" grow faster by literally moving.
• Examples: If you want to be a tech founder, move to San Francisco; if you want to make movies, go to LA.
• He clarifies it is not absolutely required to move, but moving increases odds of success and speed.

Being near the "white hot center" of action

Joining the relevant network[11:08]
• He advises getting as close as possible to the "white hot center of action" in your field.
• He suggests joining a network of people who are doing what you want to do and share the same dream.
• You want to be around people in the same game, some ahead of you and some at your level, to learn from their mistakes instead of making them all yourself.

Living with like-minded, ambitious people

Move not just cities but also houses[11:25]
• He says moving does not just mean changing cities; it also means moving into a house with as many like-minded, smart, ambitious, interesting people as you can.
Personal example of moving to San Francisco[11:32]
• When he moved to San Francisco, he moved into a house with six other tech founders he did not know.
• He notes they were not the best roommates and the bathrooms were "stinky", but the important part was being around smart, ambitious people.
• Those roommates became great friends, connections, and sources of warm introductions to investors.
Creating luck and learning by osmosis[11:53]
• He says you do not know exactly how proximity will play out, but by being there you create luck for yourself.
• Just being around such people will, by osmosis, change how you think and work.
Effect of your peer group[12:16]
• He warns that if you hang out with "broke complainers", you will become one.
• Conversely, if you hang out with "killers", you will level up too.
• He cites the cliché that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with and says it is true.
• He concludes that if you want to change your life, change your zip code.

Story of leaving Australia for San Francisco

Feeling like the smartest person in the room[12:42]
• At age 24, he was living in Australia trying to start a startup and attended a local founders meetup.
• The meetup organizers asked him to be the keynote speaker one week and give the talk on stage.
• He was horrified rather than flattered, feeling he had not done anything and describing himself as a "24-year-old dumb shit".
• He concluded that if he was the smartest person in that room, he was in the wrong room.
Decisive move to a more ambitious environment[12:52]
• The next week he packed his bags, bought a one-way ticket to San Francisco, and went with no plan and no place to stay.
• He did this because he knew he needed to get around smarter and more ambitious people who shared his dream.

Recap of the four rules and flipping the odds of success

Summary of the four rules

Restating the sequence for getting rich[14:06]
• First, pick one of the four money-making skills and spend two years mastering it.
• Second, avoid renting out your time and the career trap of simply getting hired and promoted; instead, start a business based on code, content, or capital.
• Third, wait-be impatient with action but patient with results.
• Fourth, leverage proximity as power by moving closer to the "white hot center" and surrounding yourself with like-minded people.

Concept of making failure unreasonable

Taking actions that make failure unlikely[14:00]
• He says the best advice is to take actions that make it "absolutely unreasonable" for you to fail.
Analogy: weight loss and stacking four behaviors[13:31]
• He references dieting and notes that dieting probably has a failure rate of 80-90%.
• He imagines deciding to do four things: eat clean whole foods, eat high protein, exercise daily, and sleep well.
• If you actually did those four things and allowed the process to unfold over time, it would be unreasonable not to lose weight and get into great shape.
• He says this flips the odds from a 90% failure rate to a 90% success rate.
Applying the same logic to business and getting rich[14:06]
• He notes the common statistic that 90% of new businesses fail.
• He distinguishes between startups (individual business ideas) failing and founders not necessarily failing if they keep going.
• If your rate of learning is high and you follow the four rules, he asserts you will not fail.

Steve Martin banjo story and long-term mindset

Initial struggle and lack of natural talent

Steve Martin's early frustration[14:21]
• Steve Martin wanted to learn the banjo when he was young.
• He could not tell the difference between a C chord and a G chord.
• His teacher told him that it did not seem like he had huge natural talent for the banjo.
• Martin was frustrated and impatient because he wanted to be great at something but was not seeing progress.

Mindset shift to a long time horizon

Decision to stick with the banjo for decades[15:17]
• He changed his mindset, deciding he would play the banjo for 40 years.
• He reasoned that he could not imagine someone who played the banjo for 40 years and still sucked at it.
• By adopting this long-term horizon, he flipped his odds from likely giving up to almost certain eventual success.

Outcome of long-term commitment

Success arriving sooner than expected[15:27]
• It did not actually take 40 years; within a decade, Steve Martin won multiple Grammys for songs where he plays the banjo.
• The host highlights that Martin changed his mindset and later won Grammys using that very skill.

Closing remarks and emphasis on the formula

Framing the four rules as "the formula"

Encouragement to apply the rules[15:38]
• He summarizes that the four money rules and the long-term mindset form "the formula" and "the way" to get rich.
• He expresses that he has "nothing but love" for the audience and is rooting for their success.

Lessons Learned

Actionable insights and wisdom you can apply to your business, career, and personal life.

1

Building wealth starts with deliberately mastering one rare, high-leverage money-making skill (selling, making, designing, or hunting) through intensive daily practice and study.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Which of the four money-making skills-selling, making, designing, or hunting-am I most naturally drawn to and willing to practice every day for years?
  • • How could I redesign my current workday and evenings so that I get real-world reps in my chosen skill and also study to improve it?
  • • What is one concrete step I can take this week to move closer to the top 20% in my chosen skill (e.g., finding a top performer to learn from or setting a daily practice quota)?
2

Trading time for money keeps your income capped, whereas turning your skills into equity-via products, media, or investments-creates scalable, compounding wealth.

Reflection Questions:

  • • In what ways am I currently renting out my time instead of building or owning assets that can earn without my direct presence?
  • • How could I translate my main skill into code, content, or capital so that I get paid multiple times for the same work instead of only once?
  • • What small experiment could I run in the next 30 days to create an equity-based asset (like a simple product, a repeatable service, or a tiny investment deal)?
3

Adopting the mindset of being impatient with action but patient with results allows you to persist long enough for compounding to work in your favor.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Where in my life do I quit too early because I'm expecting fast results instead of measuring myself on consistent action?
  • • How would my behavior change if I committed to a multi-year horizon for my current project or skill, like Steve Martin did with the banjo?
  • • What daily or weekly actions can I commit to for the next 12 months, regardless of short-term outcomes, to give compounding a chance to work?
4

Deliberately choosing your environment and peer group-by physically moving closer to ambitious, aligned people-dramatically increases learning speed and opportunity.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Who are the five people I currently spend the most time with, and how are they influencing my ambitions, habits, and standards?
  • • How might my trajectory change if I moved closer (physically or virtually) to the "white hot center" of my industry or craft?
  • • What is one practical step I can take in the next three months to upgrade my environment-such as joining a new community, co-working space, or city-that better matches my goals?
5

You can flip the odds of success in your favor by stacking a small set of high-impact behaviors and sticking with them long enough that failure becomes unreasonable.

Reflection Questions:

  • • In my current goal (money, health, or otherwise), what are the three to four behaviors that, if done consistently, would make success almost inevitable?
  • • How have I been relying on willpower or one-off efforts instead of designing a system that makes these key behaviors automatic and sustainable?
  • • What specific constraints, routines, or commitments can I put in place this week to ensure I execute my chosen high-impact behaviors even when motivation drops?

Episode Summary - Notes by Peyton

How to Get Rich (without luck, talent or a trust fund)
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