Ep 81I'm Headed to Prison Tomorrow Morning - My Honest Money Confession
Stay as far away from debt as possible, and if you can't explain it, don't borrow it
If you can't explain it, then you shouldn't be borrowing the money.
Eli Tilson
I'm Headed to Prison Tomorrow Morning - My Honest Money Confession
with Eli Tilson
If I would have said it out loud to the right people, it might have just saved me in the right moment.
More moments · 4
Try this · top 3
Quotes
“You hear a lot, I made a mistake, but it's not a mistake. Mistake is when you try to do the right thing and you you slipped and fell.”
“You just think that you're one deal away from it all being good again.”
“If you can't explain it, then you shouldn't be borrowing the money.”
“Owning up to things is important, otherwise you can't move on.”
“Don't be scared to be embarrassed.”
Takeaways
- 1 Eli Tilson, a former IDF combat commander turned real estate dealmaker, recorded this the night before reporting to federal prison for 15 months.
- 2 Money from one group of investors ($650,000) passed through his account and was used for dividends and other deals while he expected new money that never came. He then told the investors the money was 'on its way.'
- 3 He says the root problem was dishonesty, not bad luck: covering up for missing experience, then covering up the cover-up.
- 4 Constant deal pressure led to fast, poor decisions: forgetting overhead and burn rate, giving away terms, and chasing 'a deal' instead of good deals.
- 5 The 'one deal away' mindset keeps people digging deeper instead of stopping.
- 6 Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul made things worse. Many dealmakers can't explain their own debt, and that's a warning sign.
- 7 He waived indictment, pleaded guilty, has repaid about $350,000 and still owes about $300,000 in restitution.
- 8 Telling his children and community the truth, he says, keeps him accountable, and owning up is the only way to move on.
- 9 Delaying someone you owe causes real anguish, because not everyone relates to money the way you do. Both sides need to learn how to have the hard conversation.
- 10 He now works in construction because honest, physical work leaves no room to spin, and he avoids sales and finance like 'an alcoholic in a bar.'
- 11 Prison has turned his routine religious life into what he calls, for the first time, an honest relationship with God.