Cricket Mentor Shows Wealth

Syed shares a story about how he first learned wealth creation was possible through meeting a successful Pakistani businessman at cricket.

"I used to play cricket and there are many leagues in the US. In South Florida, I met this Pakistani gentleman who was a sponsor for our team. He was a crazy cricket fanatic and became my mentor, now he's a family friend.

I would see this Pakistani guy driving an S-Class, super humble, super nice. I asked him 'Are you born into money? What's your spiel?' He said 'No, I have real estate. I came to the US with like $500 in my pocket' - those typical immigrant stories.

After we would win games, he would take us out to eat sometimes, invite us to his house which was like a big mega mansion, 15-18,000 square foot house. His kids were my age so we'd hang out, sometimes go over to watch cricket games. During breaks, I was the one who took interest in his business while his kids were roaming around. I'd ask 'Tell me how this works?' He would tell me stories like how he took over a Burger King for free or how he did different deals.

I absorbed a lot of the earlier lessons on business, finance, and hustle from him. He was always super encouraging, asking how things were going. I felt like I could talk to him about it. That was the early stage of me knowing this was possible, because nobody in my family had any wealth - they were just working at gas stations, or if you're really smart, working as a bank teller."