Asking Billionaires How They Got RICH! (Florida)

What this episode is about

The content focuses on an investigation into the wealth and success of two billionaires in Florida, emphasizing their unique journeys to financial prosperity, including significant high-stakes transactions and business ventures. The narrator also engages with local millionaires to uncover the hidden wealth in the area, highlighting the straightforward approach of setting ambitious financial goals as a common theme among the wealthy.

Key takeaways

• Billionaires’ insights: it’s all about setting big goals—don’t just aim for $100k, shoot for $1 billion!
• Homes aren't investments; they’re luxury items, often misjudged by those who've never seen a market dip.
• Financial education isn’t just neglected—it’s an outright casualty! Schools teach history, not how to balance a checkbook.
• Investing in commercial properties? Always the right time! Real estate is generational; don’t let market noise distract you.
• Doubters doubt not your capability, but their own potential—fear of accountability is a powerful motivator for skepticism.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Host (Host) · 12 min speaking
• Todd Napole (Guest) · 5 min speaking
• John Morgan (Guest) · 6 min speaking
• Mike Rapoli (Guest) · 6 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Investment, Mike Rapoli, Body Armor, Coca-Cola
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Real Estate Day, John Morgan, Entrepreneur Community, Wealth Building
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Coca-Cola, John Morgan, Mike Rapoli, Body Armor
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Body Armor, Failure, Man in the Glass

Notable quotes from "Asking Billionaires How They Got RICH! (Florida)"

• November 1st, 2021. That's the day we sold Body Armor to Coca-Cola for $8 billion. And that was the most money that ever came into my account in one time. And the craziest part, you guys, most people go their entire lives.

  about Body Armor · at 0:18

• Do you think a home is a good investment?

  about Investment · at 1:42

• Todd. The majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. What keeps people broke in today's world? Lack of financial education. I was never a great student in school…

  about Todd Napole · at 3:05

• Money, you can figure out how to buy real estate. They're also going to be breaking down the smartest strategies to build passive income through real estate investing so you…

  about Wealth Building · at 5:58

• I built the largest personal injury firm in North America.

  about John Morgan · at 7:57

• The most important person in my life was a guy named Bill Dmitri. He built things all over Florida. I gave the eulogy at his funeral. And the other thing he told me that I never forgot was this, John.

  about Bill Dmitri · at 9:02

• That's exactly what we're going to go do. We're about to head out right now to go meet up with and interview the multi-billionaire Mike Rapoli at his house. You guys, the time has now come.

  about Mike Rapoli · at 12:43

• Lose $2 million and have to find a way to survive. Yeah. So, what failing is good. If you don't fail in life, you're not trying hard enough. I fail more than anybody that's ever failed in the world.

  about Failure · at 16:55

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• John Morgan — Person · Main guest (interviewee) · 4 mentions · first at 7:04
  He is interviewed as a billionaire lawyer and shares principles on wealth, hiring, networking, and values beyond money.
• Mike Rapoli — Person · Main guest (interviewee; referenced/introduced) · 3 mentions · first at 0:20
  He is presented as a multi-billionaire who sold beverage companies (including BodyArmor) to Coca-Cola and discusses entrepreneurship, failure, and product focus.
• Todd Napole — Person · Interviewee (street interview; real estate entrepr · 1 mention · first at 3:03
  He provides detailed real estate and financial education advice, including critiques of homeownership and emphasis on responsibility.
• Bill Dmitri — Person · Referenced mentor/influence · 1 mention · first at 9:04
  John Morgan cites him as the most important person in his life and shares Dmitri's spiritual framing of money and priorities.

Books & papers

• Man in the Glass — Book · Referenced reading recommendation · 1 mention · first at 17:43
  Mike Rapoli recommends it as a guiding piece about self-judgment and internal competition ('me vs me').
  Head. you're just competing with yourself. There's a great poem out there. Everybody should read this called Man in the Glass. At the end of the day, if you're happy with…

Companies & orgs

• Coca-Cola — Company · Referenced company (acquirer) · 4 mentions · first at 0:20
  Presented as the buyer of Vitam and Body Armor in multi-billion-dollar deals, anchoring the wealth outcomes discussed.
  November 1st, 2021. That's the day we sold Body Armor to Coca-Cola for $8 billion. And that was the most money that ever came into my account in one time. And the craziest part, you guys, most people go their entire lives.
• Standard Oil Company — Company · Referenced company (historical example) · 1 mention · first at 9:45
  Appears in John Morgan's anecdote about Rockefeller hiring experts, reinforcing delegation and hiring.
  Smart. I read a book once called tight about Rockefeller. And in that book they said he built Standard Oil. And somebody asked him, How can you build this oil company? You're not a scientist. You're not a geologist. You're a bookkeeper.

Products & tech

• Body Armor — Product · Key product discussed · 4 mentions · first at 0:20
  Central example of building a billion-dollar consumer product; sold to Coca-Cola and positioned as competing with Gatorade.
• Vitam — Product · Referenced product/company brand · 1 mention · first at 13:47
  Cited as Mike Rapoli's earlier beverage business sold to Coca-Cola, establishing his track record before Body Armor.
  Yeah, I did it the consumer package goods way. small order vitam 98 to 2007, sold out to Coke for $4 billion.
• Gatorade — Product · Referenced competitor product · 1 mention · first at 13:54
  Mentioned as the incumbent sports drink that Body Armor competed against, highlighting competitive strategy.
  And then in 2011 started another sport called Body Armor. Competed against Gatorade. And we sold that in 2021 for 8 billion combined. Two companies to Coke for $8 billion.

Concepts & topics

• Wealth Building — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 6:01
  The episode repeatedly frames strategies for building wealth through real estate, entrepreneurship, and learning from successful mentors.
• Investment — Concept · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at 1:42
  Discussed via debates about homes vs commercial property, long-term holding, and the limits of market timing.
• Failure — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 16:47
  Mike Rapoli reframes failure as necessary feedback and a sign of pushing limits during entrepreneurial 'survival years.'
• Passive Income — Concept · Core topic (workshop theme) · 1 mention · first at 6:03
  Promoted as a key outcome of real estate investing and a workshop topic for Real Estate Day.
  Real estate. They're also going to be breaking down the smartest strategies to build passive income through real estate investing so you can learn how to make money while you…
• Financial Responsibility — Concept · Core principle · 1 mention · first at 3:42
  Todd Napole emphasizes personal responsibility over following the masses, tying to budgeting, debt, and self-reliance.
  Pay it off in 30 years and hope you get a job with possibly a pension and you're going to be okay. You won't. Take care of yourself. Be financially responsible.

Places & events

• Miami — Place · Referenced location · 1 mention · first at 4:27
  Used as an example of social-media wealth illusion (young people with supercars/penthouses), supporting the theme of comparison.
  Everybody's competing against a non-existent thing. What I mean by that is you guys are seeing guys, especially in Miami, and Lamborghinis at 20 years old and living in pen…

Sponsors

• Real Estate Day — Event · Promoted event · 3 mentions · first at 5:38
  The host promotes a free event with workshops on buying real estate, passive income, and flipping, tied to the entrepreneur community.
  Next week, on Monday, September 22nd, I'm doing something that I've never done before. I'm going to be hosting the first ever real estate day inside of my private entrepreneur…
• Entrepreneur Community — Company · Promoted organization/community · 2 mentions · first at 5:39
  The host references a 'private entrepreneur community' as the venue for Real Estate Day and ongoing mentorship access.
  I'm doing something that I've never done before. I'm going to be hosting the first ever real estate day inside of my private entrepreneur community. I'm hosting three…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 I'm about to interview two of the richest men in the entire world. And I'm not talking billionaires. No. No. No. No. Are you a millionaire?

0:05 I'm not a millionaire. But according to Forbes, I'm a billionaire. Does Forbes lie? I don't know.

0:10 But that's not all cuz like I said, I'm going to be interviewing not one billionaire, but two of them. So, you're a billionaire.

0:15 Yes. Multi-billionaire. What was the most amount of money that you made in a single year?

0:18 November 1st, 2021. That's the day we sold Body Armor to Coca-Cola for $8 billion. And that was the most money that ever came into my account in one time. And the craziest part, you guys, most people go their entire lives without ever speaking to a billionaire. And in this video, I'm going to be meeting up with and interviewing two of them in less than one hour. But before we do that, you guys, since I'm in a literal billionaire hub out here in Florida, I'm going to be hitting the streets to go and find the hidden wealth that is out here in one of the richest states in America.

0:46 Listen, the real billionaire's secret is there's no secret. You set out to make a 100 grand and then you make a billion. So, this video is about to be insane from start to finish. So, stay tuned until the end. With that being said, come with me to meet some billionaires.

1:12 Excuse me, sir. Sir, is this your Rolls-Royce? Yes. And how did you get a Rolls-Royce? What did you do to become wealthy?

1:18 See all these beautiful buildings around here with all these great retail tenants? That's what I do. I own and operate retail shopping centers throughout the state of Florida.

1:24 How long have you been in real estate for? 28 years. Over these 28 years, what was the most amount of money you made in a single year?

1:29 Not going to tell you that. Did you give me a raise? No. More than $10 million?

1:32 A lot more. More than 100. I'm not going to tell you. They're going to get me kidnapped.

1:35 Yeah. I go all over the world. I go all over the world and even millionaires are billionaires. Can I get one minute with you for our channel?

1:39 Absolutely. Let's do it. How much real estate do you own now? I own a lot of real estate.

1:42 Do you think a home is a good investment? The home is a terrible investment. The home is not an investment, too.

1:45 But a lot of people would disagree with that though. Right. I get that all the time. And I argue this point with people over and over and I actually own a home and I can tell you it's the stupidest investment you could make. It is not an investment. Neither is this car. It's not an investment. It's a luxury item you want to have. And I could take you back over time. Homes don't always go up in price. The problem is most people that are 40 years old and younger have never seen a bad real estate market. I've lived through them. And by the way, homes do go down in price.

2:06 So if somebody has $100,000 saved up right now, where would you put that money in today's world?

2:10 I'd go right into a commercial property. I'd find an asset class you like. The truth is multif family is the easiest one to get into. You could buy a duplex, a triplex, put a $100,000 down. You could easily buy a three- $400,000 property. You need to manage it yourself. You need to lease it yourself. You need to take care of it. Running all the books yourself. Learn the game. Fix it up. Keep it going. Then eventually can refinance it. Pull some cash out of that and go buy another.

2:29 What's the best time to buy real estate? Always the best time to buy real estate.

2:33 Always. Always the best time to buy real estate. What about in a bad market? Always the best time. If it's a bad market, it's a good time to buy. And if it's a good good market, it's a good time to buy. You always want to be buying real estate because it's generational. And if you're not going in with the flip, this is not like wholesaling and trying to get in and out. If you're going in and saying, "I'm going to buy this property and I'm going to keep it for 10, 20, 30 years." It's always a good time to buy. And by the way, nobody could time a market so you could watch all the stuff you want on the news, all the stuff you want in the newspapers. None of it's right. If anybody really knew, they'd be the richest man on earth. And one of them, Warren Buffett, will tell you all the time, he can't time anything.

3:03 What's your name? Todd Napole. Todd. The majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. What keeps people broke in today's world? Lack of financial education. You know, I was never a great student in school, but the schools simply do not teach you what to do when you get out of school. They teach you how to be good at history, math, science, and so on and so forth. They teach you how to get into college, but they don't teach you how to get a mortgage, how to balance a checkbook, what to do with credit card debt, what's good debt, what's bad debt, why you should be buying a business, not buying a damn jet ski. That's what they don't teach you.

3:27 So, let me ask you this. If you can instill one money lesson in every person watching this video right now, what would that be?

3:32 Don't listen to the masses. The masses are entirely wrong. The masses are going to tell you the right thing to do is to save in your 401k and your IRA account. is going to tell you to buy a house and pay it off in 30 years and hope you get a job with possibly a pension and you're going to be okay. You won't. Take care of yourself. Be financially responsible.

3:45 Did you ever have anybody that doubted you in business? Oh yeah. You're going to have a lot of doubters. But doubters don't necessarily doubt you cuz they don't think you could do it. They're just afraid you might do something that they're not doing. And then they got to hold themselves accountable. And that's a big problem for people. So don't worry about what people tell you no. Do your own thing. Stay in your own game and keep chugging forward.

4:00 What did you learn about entrepreneurship that surprised you? It's way better to be an entrepreneur. Most people think it's scary, but it's way better to be an entrepreneur than to work for someone else. Do you think everybody's built for entrepreneurship?

4:08 Oh, no. I think a lot of people think they are, but when you find out what it's like to be the boss, it's not always that much fun.

4:13 How old are you now? 52. And if me and you died tomorrow and you could leave one more guiding principle to the younger generation, what would that be?

4:19 What worries me for your generation specifically, I have two daughters your age, is this image that's out there and everybody's competing against a non-existent thing. What I mean by that is you guys are seeing guys, especially in Miami, and Lamborghinis at 20 years old and living in pen houses. Everybody has a penthouse in Miami. There's not that many, but everybody seems to live in one. And there's an illusion that it's so easy and everybody has it and they give themselves stress. And you know, I'm going to tell you, I have a guy in my office who I let borrow one of my cars cuz he won bet with me as a joke. And he literally took pictures of the car and he posted a picture of himself on Instagram and the other day he was down and I'm like, "What's wrong?" He's like, "Everybody's doing better than me. I see it all over Instagram." And I said, "You're that guy. You didn't put in your post that's

4:54 my car. You're doing the same thing. It's just an illusion. Nobody gets there quick. Yes, there's going to be some rich kids, but whether you're going to be the best lawyer, the best architect, the best real estate guy, whatever is, it's going to take a lot of time. So, don't count other people's money. Don't compare against them because remember, comparison is the thief of joy. As long as you're making forward progress and having fun, it's going to be great. You got amazing advice, my friend. Thank you so much for your

5:16 It's been a lot of fun, guys. I just interviewed one of the richest real estate entrepreneurs in the country. And I want you all to understand something right now. Look, I've interviewed over 25 billionaires, the richest people on the planet. And you know what they all have in common? Every single one of them, they all invest in real estate. But here's the crazy thing, you guys. Next week, on Monday, September 22nd, I'm doing something that I've never done before. I'm going to be hosting the first ever real estate day inside of my private entrepreneur community. I'm hosting three back-to-back workshops covering the topics that you need to know to create and build wealth in real estate. The three workshops are going to be taught from some of the richest real estate entrepreneurs on the planet. And they're going to be covering how to buy real estate with little to no money down. So that way, even if you have no

5:58 money, you can figure out how to buy real estate. They're also going to be breaking down the smartest strategies to build passive income through real estate investing so you can learn how to make money while you sleep. And lastly, they're going to be breaking down how to find, fund, and flip properties, even if you're starting from scratch. But do you guys want to know the craziest part about Real Estate Day? Do you know how much it's going to cost you to come learn from three of the most dominant real estate investors in the entire world? It is completely free to join.

6:23 You are literally going to be able to learn from and ask your specific questions directly to some of the richest real estate tycoons in the entire world. They're going to be mentoring you directly and for free. Understand this you guys. The way to get rich in today's world is to learn directly from the people who've already built empires and do exactly what they tell you to do. Implement those strategies to build wealth in real estate. So, to get access to Real Estate Day this next week and access to the number one most powerful entrepreneur community in the entire world, all you have to do is go down, click the link in the description of this video to join the community for free and get access to Real Estate Day this next week. I can't wait to see you there. With that being said, let's get back to the video. All right, you guys. So, we're right now actually going to be linking up with John Morgan, billionaire lawyer, the

7:06 richest lawyer in America, you guys. He built one of the largest law firms in the entire world, and we're going to be meeting up with him again. You guys saw our interview that we did with him the first time, but it's time to run it back. We're in his city. We're going to be getting the blueprint from him on what it takes to become a billionaire in one of the hardest industries in today's world.

7:23 There he is. What's going on? Send like some rum dum to do the questions and you be coming from Austin.

7:30 Absolutely, man. It's you yourself. Yes, sir. It's good to see you. I know since last time our our video got like 60 billion views because of

7:37 Is that why you're back? That's why I'm back. and and and they need some more billionaire secrets today.

7:41 Listen, the real billionaire secret is there's no secret. You set out to make a h 100red grand and then you make a billion.

7:48 Who am I here with today? I'm John Morgan. Are you a millionaire? I'm not a millionaire, but according to Forbes, I'm a billionaire. Does Forbes lie? I don't know.

7:55 They don't lie. I don't know. How did you make your billions? I built the largest personal injury firm in North America.

8:00 So, was the sacrifice worth it to become a billionaire? It wasn't a sacrifice. Why not?

8:04 The journey is the reward. It's It was It was all fun. I wasn't looking to get rich. I was just looking to build a business. And then you wake up one day and you're an old man and here you are.

8:13 I asked you in our last interview, have you ever been [ __ ] over before? And I told you, yes, I have, but I [ __ ] back. I know you like that.

8:22 Now, there's over 8 billion people on planet Earth. There's only like 3,000 billionaires. What's the one thing that you did differently from 99.999% of other people?

8:32 Look, I don't know. And people who say they do are lying. It works like this. It's a bunch of left turns, right turns, U-turns, backing up, and all of a sudden it ends up here. One bad turn, one wrong turn. It's all different. So, I don't pat myself on the back. I don't say, "Hey, John, you're great. Drop me in a city and I'll be a billionaire in a month." No, I go, "Thank you, God, for letting me have this great life."

8:56 Now, take me back to the most life-changing conversation you ever had. What is the greatest advice you ever received throughout your career?

9:02 The most important person in my life was a guy named Bill Dmitri. He built things all over Florida. I gave the eulogy at his funeral. And the other thing he told me that I never forgot was this, John. The money does not belong to you. The money belongs to God. And if you remember this, this world's going to end like this. And on our last day, we're not going to be talking about money or what deal we didn't do. We're going to be talking about and thinking about the time we didn't spend with the people we love. Money is important, but at a certain point, it's not that important.

9:29 As a billionaire, would you consider yourself to be smart? I am not smart, and I know I'm not smart, which is very good. But I'm smart enough to know I'm not smart and I'm smart enough to hire people who are smart. I read a book once called tight about Rockefeller. And in that book they said he built Standard Oil. And somebody asked him, "How can you build this oil company? You're not a scientist. You're not a geologist. You're a bookkeeper." And here's the line I underlined. I hire scientist. I'm not a smart guy, but I'm smart enough to go find smart guys and girls.

10:00 So the richest people in the world, they bring other people in to do the task for them. Look, Steve Jobs, he didn't build Apple. W built it. You know who the billionaire is? Who?

10:08 Jobs. You know who the billionaire is not? Was the genius of Apple, not Steve Jobs. How many people watching this even know who I'm talking about when I say was? Nobody. But everybody knows who Jobs is.

10:20 How important is it to surround yourself with the right people? Look, one time a guy named Bill McBride was running for governor. He was head of Holland a night, big law firm. And he told me this, "Your children are one friend away from total disaster." And if you don't separate it when you see it, you could lose your kid. And twice during my children's lives, I cut off two different children from coming to our house or going to their house. It's hard to do cuz your kids are like, "What are you talking about? That's my friend." But we know better than our kids at that age. And it's hard to do.

10:49 But what's harder to do is to let your kid go down that road and end up like that kid.

10:54 And they completely [ __ ] up their lives. And they completely [ __ ] up their lives. Listen, when you lay and sleep with pigs, you get pig [ __ ] on you. You cannot sleep with pigs and get up without pig [ __ ] That's from my brother Tim.

11:06 How can somebody connect with a billionaire? Read a book called Never Eat Alone. If you're just going to sit at your desk and not get out your comfort zone, if you're not going to have lunch, if you're not going to go to a convention, if you're not going to network, you're not going to do [ __ ] Luck doesn't just come. Luck comes when you're looking for opportunity. If you're not looking for opportunity, you're going nowhere fast. There's a lot of people like a gerbble on a spin wheel. They're running the [ __ ] all day long.

11:30 At the end of the day, oh my god, I'm exhausted. Hey, you went no [ __ ] where. You got to leave the cage. You got to get outside. You got to come around. Hey, I'm at this convention. I'll speak here. I'll go there. I'll go to the happy hour. I'll network. You're not going to make money or find opportunity or luck or blessings or whatever you want to call it in the cage running on a spin wheel.

11:48 If I took everything away from you and all you could keep is one trait, one skill set, one mindset to become a billionaire, make it back, what would that be?

11:55 Keep your word and hire great people and share. Listen, the great circuses are built. The Ringling Brothers, Barnaman Bailey. You see these little [ __ ] circuses around with a seal limping around. The reason that Ringling Brothers, the greatest circus ever was this, the people came to see the lion and the tiger eat the man in the middle. You know why they don't eat the man in the middle? Because he loves them and feeds them. If you're building a business, think about the guy in the ring and why the lions don't eat him.

12:22 Cuz he loves them and feeds them. And when you see the great Wenda up on the wire walking without a net, you know why he didn't fall. Focus. Focus. Love him and feed him.

12:31 You got amazing advice, man. This is awesome. Thank you, John. Guys, we just interviewed the billionaire lawyer, John Morgan, once again, and he just gave us a master class. But as promised you guys, I told you I was going to be interviewing two billionaires in less than an hour. And that's exactly what we're going to go do. We're about to head out right now to go meet up with and interview the multi-billionaire Mike Rapoli at his house. You guys, the time has now come. We just got to Michael Vapolei's house. or should I say one of his houses out here in Orlando, Florida. And he lives, as you can see, at an absolute compound out here, you guys. But it's as expected, guys. He's one of the richest men in the entire world. He sold not one but two companies to Coca-Cola, one of the biggest companies in the world, for billions of dollars, you guys. So, I'm calling it right now. This is going to

13:11 be one of the craziest interviews that I've ever done. I guarantee you he's got the likelihood to give me more game than just about any billionaire or anybody that I've ever interviewed for that matter, you guys. So, let's go meet Michael right now and go see what he has to say for you guys. Come on. What's up, man?

13:28 Michael, what's going on, my friend? How you doing? Hey, come here. It's great to meet you. Thank you for having us out.

13:32 Yeah, I appreciate it. First of all, you got a nice compound out here, man. This place is incredible.

13:36 Yeah, this is my guest home. We were letting them know, right? Some billionaires make their fortune off of oil or tech, but you built two billion dollar companies out of drinks that most people have had in their fridge at one point or another.

13:45 Yeah, I did it the consumer package goods way. Uh, small order vitam 98 to 2007, sold out to Coke for $4 billion. And then in 2011 started another sport called Body Armor. Competed against Gatorade. And we sold that in 2021 for 8 billion combined. Two companies to Coke for $8 billion.

14:00 Did you think growing up all this was possible? You know, I I always said think big, dream bigger. If you're hitting your dreams, you're not dreaming big enough. My dreams are bigger now than they were when I was 15.

14:08 Now, I got one rule for today's interview. There's no holding back. You give them the secrets and the blueprint on what it takes to become a billionaire in today's world. Can we make that happen?

14:15 Can they handle it? We're going to have to find out. Let's [ __ ] go then. What's more important, product or distribution?

14:20 Always the product. The product. the consumer. The distribution to me is the least important. The least important. I'll tell you why.

14:25 But but Warren Buffet says distribution is the key to everything. Well, that's Warren Buffett's 95 years old. Micropoli is 55 years old. There's a big difference. And that's why he's an investor in Coca-Cola. His company buy my companies. So, I thank Warren for approving two deals of my companies too, but Warren Buffett. So,

14:38 do do you think it's better to be an investor or to start businesses? Because investor, it's not as intensive. Entrepreneurship is hard, man. You got to eat [ __ ] for a long time.

14:45 Well, but being an investor, you don't control anything. You control that guy's decisions. I want to bet on myself. If you're a real entrepreneur, you don't bet on other people. You bet on yourself.

14:52 Did you ever doubt yourself? I never doubted myself, but I knew I was going to lose.

14:56 Did you have people that doubted you? Everybody. And by the way, not always in a negative way. My mom and dad told me to be careful. You know, they were immigrants coming from France. My dad was a waiter. My mom was a seamstress. So, when I was making big money just having a job, you know, at at a water company, and I said, "At 20 years old, I want to go partners with this guy Darius Bikeoff and holy, I want to do this." They said, "Oh my god, be careful." I took a pay cut to start my own company. I took a pay cut to be president and I was president of a $100,000 company, but it grew to 750 million. and we sold co Coke for 4.1 billion. Let's go back to distribution one. At the end of the day, distribution is just a delivery agent or way to get product out there. If you build a product that consumers demand, you don't have to worry about distribution. Those accounts are going to call you for your product. My

15:33 customers are asking you for your body armor sport, then you know you created the demand and they come to you.

15:37 Let me ask you this. Did you come from a lot of money? Yeah, I was my my my parents were worth about $5,000. I lived in a a two-bedroom apartment with six people. I slept in the same room with my brother for 28 years who became a New York City cop which you couldn't pay me 20 million a year to do do that. My mom and dad were in the next room and my grandmother and my aunt slept in a pullout couch and we had one bathroom and a beautiful shower curtain and uh and that was it.

15:58 So you didn't come from money. How did you get the money to start your business?

16:00 At the end of the day when you're only a $100,000 company, you're looking at 10,000. I took money from friends, family, my partner had money. We put it all together and at the end of the day we didn't try to grow quick. That's the other thing. We did 100,000 the first year. Second year we did 500,000 at item order. Then we did a million. Then we did three million. Then we did 9 million, then 32 million, then 50 million, all the way to 750 million. Body Armor was the same thing. It went from 1 million to a billion dollars and sold for 8 billion. So it's starting slow. If you want to build a billion dollar company, you have to build a $100 company first, then a $1,000 company, then a $100,000 company, then a million dollar company, then a $10 million company. So it's not going to happen overnight. And that's the biggest thing.

16:34 Everybody says, "Oh, I want to be an entrepreneur. I want to be successful. I want to be rich." But I spend more time talking people out of being an entrepreneur because this is what I say. First five years for an entrepreneur, I call the survival years. every single day you could go bankrupt. There are days that I I didn't think we could make payroll.

16:47 Did you almost fail? No, I failed. I failed every time. But what is the definition of failure? Going bankrupt? No, we didn't do that. But having a bad sales month or bad day or lose $2 million and have to find a way to survive. Yeah. So, what failing is good. If you don't fail in life, you're not trying hard enough. I fail more than anybody that's ever failed in the world. I love failing. Failing means I've taken to as far as I can and now I got to figure out another [ __ ] way to get to the next level. If you're not failing, that means you got a lot more in the tank. I'm finding out at 55 years old, I still have a lot more at the tank. I'm happy. I'm not content. Once you get content, you might as well just give it up.

17:18 But you've already sold two businesses for billions of dollars and you're not you're not satisfied. Why not?

17:24 Because there's a lot more to do. There's things to do with your family, there's things to do to your friends, there's things we're businesses. At the end of the day, what you find out is that whether you're a great basketball player or a great coach or a great musician or a great athlete or a great entrepreneur, at the end of the day, you think you're competing against the outside or you're competing against people. That's really just noise in your head. you're just competing with yourself. There's a great poem out there. Everybody should uh read this called Man in the Glass. At the end of the day, if you're happy with yourself, you're gonna have a great life. If you're miserable with yourself and everybody loves you, you're gonna have a miserable life. So, to me, it's me versus me. I'm competing against myself.

17:55 So, Micropoli at 55 is competing with Micropoli at 45 and 35. My goal is to be better every day or or even worse sometimes, suck less every day, and push myself. The guy that pushes me the most is Micropoli. The guy who pushes Tom Brady the most is Tom Brady. The guy who pushes Kobe Bryant the most is Kobe Bryant. not as teammates, not as coaches. People who are great have to live up to their expectations. They're tougher on themselves than they are their teammates. So, at the end of the day, it's your level. As long as you know that you're competing against yourself and you want to be great, you should never be content. Happy is great.

18:23 Content is boring. Most billionaires I've met have lost their minds. Are you a little crazy?

18:27 No, I started crazy. So, it's not lost your minds. First of all, I think everybody's crazy. I talk about mental illness way different. Okay? It's got this stigma. Everybody has something. Everybody gets a little anxiety. Everybody has a little stress. Everybody has a little ADHD. It's okay. Everybody has it. So if everybody just goes out there and says, "Hey, I have it and you have it." Now there are people who have it at different levels and a lot of people that try to hide their mental illness is why it gets out of control because the harder it becomes to hide, the worse it can get internally. But I am crazy. I mean, if you ask my wife of 25 years, I'm crazy. If you ask my family and my friends, I'm crazy. If you ask me, I'm crazy. But there's nothing wrong because crazy people change the world and crazy people have big dreams.

19:01 I don't want anybody to be as crazy as me. Trust me. But I do want people to take chances and get a little crazier in life and be a little bit more adventurous and take chances and don't be afraid to fail.

19:09 How old are you now? I'm 55. Mike, if me and you died tomorrow and you had one more message for the younger generation, what would that be?

19:14 Oh, man. Live life to the fullest. Live every day like it's your last and one day you'll be right.

19:18 You got amazing advice, my friend. Thank you, man. Thank you so much for your time.

19:21 Guys, that's a wrap on today's video. I need you all to like and subscribe for amazing content coming every week cuz nobody's doing this, you guys. We just brought you guys several multi-billionaires back to back for you all. And guys, if you have not already done so, go down, click the link in the description of this video to join the School of Mentors. It's the number one, the most powerful entrepreneur network in the entire world where I give you guys direct access to the multi-millionaires and billionaires I interview on this channel every single week where you ask your questions directly to them and they mentor you directly. Guys, I literally give you access to my millionaire and billionaire friends every week. All you have to do is go down, click the link in the description to join. I can't wait to see you on the inside. With that being said, we'll see you in the next

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Asking Billionaires How They Got RICH! (Florida)"?

Host (Host), Todd Napole (Guest), John Morgan (Guest), Mike Rapoli (Guest).

What is "Asking Billionaires How They Got RICH! (Florida)" about?

The content focuses on an investigation into the wealth and success of two billionaires in Florida, emphasizing their unique journeys to financial prosperity, including significant high-stakes transactions and business ventures. The narrator also engages with local millionaires to uncover the hidden wealth in the area, highlighting the straightforward approach of setting ambitious financial…

What is mentioned in this School of Hard Knocks episode?

18 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including John Morgan, Mike Rapoli, Body Armor, Coca-Cola, Wealth Building, Investment. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Asking Billionaires How They Got RICH! (Florida)"?

The episode runs 20 min; the transcript is about 5,443 words in 87 timestamped sections.

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