Episode
From the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
1:20:20
Published: Fri Jan 27 2023
Description
Episode 412: We re-run episode 1 of My First Million with Suleman Ali. ----- * Do you love MFM and want to see Sam and Shaan's smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. * Want more insights like MFM? Check out Shaan's newsletter. ------ Show Notes: We talk with tech founder & investor Suleman "Suli" Ali (@sulemanali) about his journey from making $76k a year at Microsoft to selling multiple companies for $100,000,000+. Highlights: Meeting Naval (19:00) getting grilled by Keith Rabois (22:00), & risking his life savings on TinyCo (57:00) ----- Past guests on My First Million include Rob Dyrdek, Hasan Minhaj, Balaji Srinivasan, Jake Paul, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Gary Vee, Lance Armstrong, Sophia Amoruso, Ariel Helwani, Ramit Sethi, Stanley Druckenmiller, Peter Diamandis, Dharmesh Shah, Brian Halligan, Marc Lore, Jason Calacanis, Andrew Wilkinson, Julian Shapiro, Kat Cole, Codie Sanchez, Nader Al-Naji, Steph Smith, Trung Phan, Nick Huber, Anthony Pompliano, Ben Askren, Ramon Van Meer, Brianne Kimmel, Andrew Gazdecki, Scott Belsky, Moiz Ali, Dan Held, Elaine Zelby, Michael Saylor, Ryan Begelman, Jack Butcher, Reed Duchscher, Tai Lopez, Harley Finkelstein, Alexa von Tobel, Noah Kagan, Nick Bare, Greg Isenberg, James Altucher, Randy Hetrick and more. ----- Additional episodes you might enjoy: • #224 Rob Dyrdek - How Tracking Every Second of His Life Took Rob Drydek from 0 to $405M in Exits • #209 Gary Vaynerchuk - Why NFTS Are the Future • #178 Balaji Srinivasan - Balaji on How to Fix the Media, Cloud Cities & Crypto * #169 - How One Man Started 5, Billion Dollar Companies, Dan Gilbert's Empire, & Talking With Warren Buffett • #218 - Why You Should Take a Think Week Like Bill Gates • Dave Portnoy vs The World, Extreme Body Monitoring, The Future of Apparel Retail, "How Much is Anthony Pompliano Worth?", and More • How Mr Beast Got 100M Views in Less Than 4 Days, The $25M Chrome Extension, and More We talk with tech founder & investor Suleman "Suli" Ali (@sulemanali) about his journey from making $76k a year at Microsoft to selling multiple companies for $100,000,000+. Highlights: Meeting Naval (19:00) getting grilled by Keith Rabois (22:00), & risking his life savings on TinyCo (57:00) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Chapters
This episode is a throwback to the very first episode of My First Million with longtime friend of the show, Suli Manali.
00:00 - 01:12 (01:12)
Summary
This episode is a throwback to the very first episode of My First Million with longtime friend of the show, Suli Manali. He shares the story of how he made his first million and how he got his start in entrepreneurship.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The host seeks to motivate listeners who dream of starting their own business by inviting entrepreneurs like the guest, who has started and sold multiple companies and invested in over 40 others.
01:12 - 04:32 (03:20)
Summary
The host seeks to motivate listeners who dream of starting their own business by inviting entrepreneurs like the guest, who has started and sold multiple companies and invested in over 40 others. However, towards the end of the transcript, an ad for an automated tracking software called Klaviyo appears.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
A young person talks about their first day at Microsoft and how their dad was pushing them to work there.
04:32 - 06:59 (02:26)
Summary
A young person talks about their first day at Microsoft and how their dad was pushing them to work there.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
A former Microsoft employee shares his journey from starting on one team and switching to another, to ultimately realizing that he needed to move on from the company to achieve his own success.
06:59 - 10:50 (03:51)
Summary
A former Microsoft employee shares his journey from starting on one team and switching to another, to ultimately realizing that he needed to move on from the company to achieve his own success.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The Silicon Valley community is built for those seeking a mindset of growth and development to maximize their potential.
10:50 - 15:38 (04:48)
Summary
The Silicon Valley community is built for those seeking a mindset of growth and development to maximize their potential. Corporations, such as Microsoft, even value the entrepreneurial experiences of those who seek to start their own ventures or create as part of their culture.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker contrasts the joy of creating a successful project and receiving peer or boss approval at a company with the joy of creating something unique and artistic that people use and enjoy.
15:38 - 18:30 (02:52)
Summary
The speaker contrasts the joy of creating a successful project and receiving peer or boss approval at a company with the joy of creating something unique and artistic that people use and enjoy.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The pressure to constantly impress someone else can often consume individuals in the workplace.
18:30 - 22:22 (03:51)
Summary
The pressure to constantly impress someone else can often consume individuals in the workplace. Naval Ravikant, founder of AngelList, encourages people to cut out the noise and focus on what truly matters for their own success.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker discusses an experience where it took engineers about 30 minutes to integrate their product with Top Friends, the largest Facebook app at the time.
22:22 - 26:36 (04:14)
Summary
The speaker discusses an experience where it took engineers about 30 minutes to integrate their product with Top Friends, the largest Facebook app at the time. They also mention reflecting on a term sheet and its entrepreneur-friendly set up.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker shares plans of using $15 million to buy the top five players in the tech space and combine them to create valuable output.
26:36 - 32:48 (06:12)
Summary
The speaker shares plans of using $15 million to buy the top five players in the tech space and combine them to create valuable output. He highlights the efforts being made to identify potential acquisitions and create a viral social product.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker shares their experience of their parents' cultural expectations around selling a business and how it differs from their own perspective on the success of a business.
32:48 - 36:32 (03:43)
Summary
The speaker shares their experience of their parents' cultural expectations around selling a business and how it differs from their own perspective on the success of a business.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
Confidence can fluctuate based on small things like investor confidence, but it's important for entrepreneurs to be skilled and determined to lead their team to success.
36:32 - 42:11 (05:39)
Summary
Confidence can fluctuate based on small things like investor confidence, but it's important for entrepreneurs to be skilled and determined to lead their team to success. A focus on the Facebook platform was chosen due to previous failures and the belief that it was more likely to succeed.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The CEO of TinyCo shares how venture capitalists were able to guide the company towards success and generate a substantial amount of revenue by launching another game, with the help of mobile ad network Tapjoy.
42:11 - 45:26 (03:14)
Summary
The CEO of TinyCo shares how venture capitalists were able to guide the company towards success and generate a substantial amount of revenue by launching another game, with the help of mobile ad network Tapjoy.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
It's easy for entrepreneurs to deceive themselves about the reality of their business, especially when they have investors and employees to please.
45:26 - 51:19 (05:52)
Summary
It's easy for entrepreneurs to deceive themselves about the reality of their business, especially when they have investors and employees to please. This can lead to detrimental decisions, such as continuing to spend on customer acquisition despite losing money.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
To prove your business's viability, create a deck or memo outlining why it will work and disprove all potential reasons why it won't.
51:19 - 56:53 (05:34)
Summary
To prove your business's viability, create a deck or memo outlining why it will work and disprove all potential reasons why it won't. Make a prioritized list of brands to market with to get downloads without breaking the bank.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker discusses the $10 million deal with Fox for the Family Guy license and how the company plans to focus on profitability while laying off a significant portion of the company once the deal is signed.
56:53 - 1:03:47 (06:53)
Summary
The speaker discusses the $10 million deal with Fox for the Family Guy license and how the company plans to focus on profitability while laying off a significant portion of the company once the deal is signed.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The founder of a struggling company shares how his unwavering conviction, even on days when it wavered, kept the business alive and employees motivated.
1:03:47 - 1:06:13 (02:25)
Summary
The founder of a struggling company shares how his unwavering conviction, even on days when it wavered, kept the business alive and employees motivated. He also discusses the challenges of managing cash flow during a crisis and how it led to the resignation of a key employee.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker discusses his experience with investing in his own business when facing financial trouble and how it affected both his personal and company finances.
1:06:13 - 1:09:57 (03:44)
Summary
The speaker discusses his experience with investing in his own business when facing financial trouble and how it affected both his personal and company finances.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The founder of Native discusses how much joy and pride he takes in other people's success from working at his companies and how it was not initially obvious that you could build a meaningful business selling $12 deodorant over the internet.
1:09:57 - 1:15:03 (05:06)
Summary
The founder of Native discusses how much joy and pride he takes in other people's success from working at his companies and how it was not initially obvious that you could build a meaningful business selling $12 deodorant over the internet.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker encourages listeners to focus on their strengths rather than weaknesses, as this will lead to greater success and happiness in life.
1:15:03 - 1:19:24 (04:21)
Summary
The speaker encourages listeners to focus on their strengths rather than weaknesses, as this will lead to greater success and happiness in life. By identifying what comes naturally to them, individuals can build a foundation of expertise from which they can excel.
EpisodeFrom the Vaults: How Suleman Ali Made His First Million
PodcastMy First Million
In the final moments of the podcast, Siliana Gaspard and Kai Greene discuss their next workout and wrap up their conversation.
1:19:24 - 1:19:46 (00:21)
Summary
In the final moments of the podcast, Siliana Gaspard and Kai Greene discuss their next workout and wrap up their conversation.