“What you work on is far more important than how hard you work.”
A serial entrepreneur, Investor and co-host of the widely popular ‘My FIrst Million’ podcast, Shaan Puri has come to be well-known for his quirky insights about businesses, startups and digital influence. The sharp, no-nonsense thinker, or the ‘idea dealer,’ as he likes to call himself, first began his career by founding a sushi restaurant. This was before he finally moved to the tech sector.
In 2019, he sold one of his companies, Bebo, a startup studio, to Twitch. Today, he is a sought-after figure in the startup community because of his skills in identifying market gaps and scaling businesses.
At the moment, he is building multiple $1 million businesses through his latest initiative, also known as “All Access Pass.” The initiative is some sort of an experiment that documents him building the businesses in real time.
What makes a business a success?
While the majority of entrepreneurs believe it’s the product and service that makes or breaks a business, Shaan believes it’s actually curiosity that serves as a fundamental driver of success. He also holds the opinion that the most lucrative businesses can be found in the overlooked niches.
Shaan also believes that a lot of the entrepreneurs often stray from the garden path by prioritising things that don’t move the needle. Instead, they need to shift their focus to something that’s lucrative. To do that, you have to focus on the main thing. As he says,
“There’s one problem with ‘over thinkers’. They are never over thinking about the right thing.”
Surrounding yourself with the right people.
There is a lot of power in being surrounded by the right people—high-caliber individuals. Back when he was in the initial phase of building his own venture, he created numerous mastermind groups and held networking dinners, which have positioned him today as one of the top entrepreneurs. Often, he is even known as the ‘glue guy,’ who brings important people together.
Shaan’s podcast, ‘My First Million,’ has reached millions of listeners due to its success in sharing valuable insights about entrepreneurship. He is highly active on the X platform (formerly Twitter), which has helped him in reaching even more people and has made him a resourceful mentor from whom entrepreneurs often seek advice and practical insights about business.
For entrepreneurs to take their game up a notch, there are 3 shifts that needed to succeed. He explains,
“3 shifts: Find what feels like play to you, and work for others. Find a way to hang out with people who either have what you want or are chasing it as hard as you. Take a simple strategy and turn up the intensity.”
He also believes that those who think that following what the crowd does is the easiest way out cannot be more wrong. He asserts,
“Most people do what ‘most people’ do. This is a huge mistake. In the US, 50% of marriages end in divorce or separation. 60%+ of the population is obese or overweight. 70% of people have less than $1k in savings. What most people are doing isn’t working.”
