Ep 119Kicked Out at 13, Millionaire at 26, Miserable at 28
People really don't understand the misery money can bring
Tuvy Lemberg
Kicked Out at 13, Millionaire at 26, Miserable at 28
with Tuvy Lemberg
Happiness is on the other side of discipline, which is very simple, but you can't do what you want to be happy.
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Quotes
“So many people have these genius business ideas that sit in their notepad for years because they're afraid of failure. I could not care less. I was built for failure.”
“The real problems start to come in once you have something worth losing.”
“People have this idea in their head that money is like peacefulness. We are not here in this world to have a peaceful life. You'll have a peaceful life if you figure out the spiritual part of your life, if you build that relationship with God.”
“You should be jealous of someone who's genuinely happy, and you should ask them, how did you get there?”
“Just because someone isn't succeeding in one environment, doesn't mean they aren't capable of extraordinary things. Sometimes they simply haven't discovered where their strengths belong.”
Takeaways
- 1 Kids who do poorly in school have too much free time and feel like outcasts, so they look for other ways to feel good. Tuvy was kicked out in 7th grade and dropped out at 15.
- 2 Traits that hurt him in school, like impulsivity, became business strengths. Years of rejection taught him not to care when people say no.
- 3 At its peak, his photography products company did $3-5 million a year in revenue, but he was making a couple hundred thousand. Much of what he enjoyed was the image of money and the recognition. About two years in, he felt empty.
- 4 Before you have money, you can hope it will make you happy. Once you have it, that hope is gone. The thrill of a nice car lasts maybe two months.
- 5 Starting a business with nothing to lose was easy. The fear came once he had a lifestyle to protect. Most business owners he knows are tense.
- 6 At 28 he set out to rebuild the discipline he had thrown away at 15, with a therapist he calls his rebbe. Happiness is on the other side of discipline, not doing whatever you want.
- 7 Beis HaLevi's parable: a doctor gives two patients different medicine because they have different illnesses. Your money and your challenges are made for you. Wealthy homes have problems you wouldn't wish on anyone, and a happy family is something money can't buy.
- 8 He pulled back from the first business partly because its marketing clashed with his values. B&H Photo is his model of a huge, values-driven company.
- 9 At Primal Crisp, about 75% of sales come through the company's own website. Businesses that depend on Amazon or on one operator are hard to sell. Many aggregator-bought Amazon companies went bankrupt.
- 10 It's never too late. He started dating at 30, married a year ago and is about to have his first child at 34. Eli adds that people talk about the last 20 years as if the next 40 don't matter.