I chose to be broke for a year
About This Episode
In this special episode, Shaan Puri is interviewed by his former intern Walter about his early career decisions and his philosophy on 'strategic brokenness.' Shaan reflects on quitting a high-paying corporate job to live on a small budget while building a sushi startup, highlighting the lessons he learned about proximity, networks, and skill-building.
Episode Description
Show Notes
- 0:00Intro
- 1:56Quitting a $120k job to be broke and live with 3 friends (Don’t linger on bad decisions)
- 10:26Fear is what holds people back more so than anything else
- 13:17How to get what you (actually) want.
- 16:37Most people are not serious
- 28:21Who is the most important voice in your life?
- 34:05Why I decided to sell my company to Twitch & Amazon.
- 40:18The biggest waste of time is doing something that needn’t been done at all (Elon)
- 41:52“You can’t run an A/B test on life” (Act Accordingly)
- 52:37There are no bonus points for making things harder for yourself (location)
- 58:23The best people are 'down' (Buffett)
Check Out Shaan's Stuff
- Shaan's weekly email
- Visit
- Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies!
- Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC
Check Out Sam's Stuff
Key Takeaways
Apply the 'Rule of 100' by committing to 100 iterations of a task—improving one small thing each time—to achieve mastery and momentum that makes you self-sufficient.
Optimize for 'strategic brokenness' early in your career by calculating the minimum amount of money needed for maximum freedom, learning, and adventure.
Prioritize project selection over hard work, as the industry you choose and the partners you work with act as much larger multipliers for success than raw effort alone.