Immigrants Accept Higher Risk
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Val Katayev and Sam Parr discuss how immigrant experiences and past hardships shape entrepreneurial mindset and risk tolerance. They share personal perspectives on money, success, and the psychological impact of their backgrounds.
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Immigrant Mindset and Risk Taking:
- Zero fear of looking foolish or failing small
- Past hardships create higher risk tolerance
- Willing to test multiple ideas quickly without fear
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Relationship with Money and Success:
- Money viewed as a "score" rather than wealth
- Not driven purely by money, but by winning
- Persistent fear of losing everything despite success
- Maintains contingency plans for worst-case scenarios
- Has detailed spreadsheets mapping financial thresholds
- Plans include backup options like getting jobs or driving Uber
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Parenting Philosophy:
- Intentionally limits children's resources
- Believes scarcity breeds resourcefulness
- Wants children to develop problem-solving skills naturally
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Business Approach:
- Tests multiple ideas rapidly
- Focuses on finding distribution channels quickly
- Looks for market inefficiencies and opportunities
- Values speed over perfection
- Would rather test 10 things while others perfect one
- Emphasizes quick market testing and iteration
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Psychological Impact:
- Constant sense of being "one step from losing it all"
- Mix of anxiety and excitement about starting over
- Views potential failure as an opportunity to rebuild
Sam Parr
Host of MFM and fitness influencer
Sam Parr is a serial entrepreneur and business media pioneer.
In 2016, he founded The Hustle, a business news media company that started in his kitchen with just $12 and grew to eight figures in revenue.
Sam led the charge in making newsletters popular when few believed in their potential.
After four successful years, he sold The Hustle to HubSpot, a publicly traded company. Now operating as HubSpot Media, The Hustle reaches 3 million readers daily, employs a team of nearly 100, and has been the launchpad for dozens of its staff to found their own media companies and newsletters.
Sam remains the host of the popular business podcast, My First Million, and continues to start and sell companies. He also co-founded Hampton, a highly vetted community for entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, and teaches people to write better through his platform, Copy That.