Quote · My First Million

I put 80% of my money in the S&P

Explore episode May 11, 2026

You like solo player competitive number games. It's like things that had a lot of, like, a math or or number thing to it... and here you were, you were running this company. So now you're playing this multiplayer, competitive, non numbers based game.

Shaan Puri

Where this was said

Your Personality Is Your Business

At 6:13 · chapter starts 5:07

Business

Solo numbers games vs. team sports

I put 80% of my money in the S&P · May 11, 2026

After undergoing a deep personality test, Pabrai transitioned from a burnout-inducing corporate management role to single-player investing where his performance skyrocketed.

Business

Matching Your Business to Your Personality Type

I put 80% of my money in the S&P · May 11, 2026 Business

Mohnish Pabrai was burned out running an IT business until a personality test revealed he was genetically optimized for solo, competitive, numbers-based games. Once he embraced this, he found massive success in both blackjack and value investing.

Business

Your business is your psychology

I put 80% of my money in the S&P · May 11, 2026

Issues such as trust boundaries, commitment issues, and micromanaging habits mirror the founder's real-life psychology.

Business

Your Company is an Extension of Your Personality

I put 80% of my money in the S&P · May 11, 2026 Business

If you have trust issues, your organization will suffer from micromanagement. If you struggle with commitment, your team will see you as absent-minded. A startup's operational failures are almost always direct extensions of the founder's mental blindspots.

The business that you're controlling, if you are controlling, it's just an extension of your personality. So if you have trust issues, then your coworkers are probably gonna think that you're micromanaging them. If you have trouble committing, then they're gonna think that you're absent minded.

Sam Parr

I put 80% of my money in the S&P

Change requires pain, not words. Because according to the study, what they found is once they normalize for education... person number two went and read a bunch of business books, they wouldn't necessarily be a better investor. What they found was that the only thing that made a meaningful difference other than genetics was people who worked in finance. Meaning, you have to experience a loss.

Sam Parr

I put 80% of my money in the S&P

Business

Experience vs. theory in finance

I put 80% of my money in the S&P · May 11, 2026

The Swedish twin study found that once normalized for education, only individuals with direct experience working in finance successfully adapted their behaviors.