Million-Dollar Brokering Strategy

Shaan Puri believes the fastest way to make a million dollars is to broker deals for people already working with large sums of money, rather than building a business from scratch.

Key Points:

• The Core Strategy: Make someone else $20 million and take a 5% fee

  • Avoids product risk and market risk that comes with building your own business
  • Focus on brokering deals for people already doing big transactions

• Target Industries and People:

  • Real estate developers
  • Private equity professionals
  • Business owners looking to sell
  • Anyone doing $10-30 million deals

• Approach Method:

  • Offer a no-risk structure: "If I bring a buyer and you do the deal, would you cut me a commission?"
  • For real estate: "If I find property, underwrite the deal, do analysis, would you pay me a finder's fee?"
  • Research successful people in your area and meet with them
  • Learn what's in their "buy box" (what deals they're looking for)

• Practical Implementation:

  • Offer to work for free initially to learn the industry
  • Scout deals and only get paid if they close
  • Brokers/salespeople get substantial commissions on big ticket deals

• Success Probability and Benefits:

  • 10-20% chance of actually making a million dollars this way in a year
  • 100% chance of building valuable skills:
    • Learning how successful people think
    • Understanding deal evaluation
    • Developing research, sales, and hustle skills
    • Writing deal memos
    • Thinking in logical, structured formats
  • High likelihood of building a valuable network
  • Potential for mentorship from successful people

• Potential Outcomes:

  • Best case: Close a deal with a $250,000-$1 million commission
  • Worst case: Develop valuable skills and connections that benefit you long-term