School of Hard Knocks Podcast
They’re Lying To You About Debt... Heres How To Get Rich | Robert Kiyosaki
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Peter Tuchman is known around the world as the “Einstein of Wall Street.”
But before the fame, the cameras, and the billion-dollar trading days, he was a $47-a-week runner on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
In 1987, he stood inside Black Monday as panic ripped through the market and traders watched fortunes disappear in real time.
He saw greed destroy men, watched crashes break portfolios, and lived through every major financial storm of the modern era.
Today, he trades between $500 million and $1 billion a day and works alongside his son as one of the last father-son teams on the NYSE floor.
In this episode, Peter breaks down market crashes, retail trading, greed, investing young, Jordan Belfort, SpaceX, AI, and why “buy stocks, not stuff” may be the simplest wealth lesson of all.
00:00 Intro
00:56 Peter Tuchman’s Start on Wall Street
03:30 Market Crashes and Black Monday
08:00 Staying Level-Headed Through Chaos
16:23 Customers, Retail Trading, and Beating the S&P 500
26:20 Long-Term Investing and Finding Component Stocks
34:13 Market Information, Social Media, and Trusted Voices
40:43 Doing the Homework and Avoiding FOMO
47:09 Greed, Profit Taking, and Risk Management
50:44 Elon Musk’s Space IPO and Market Hype
56:50 Becoming a Broker and the Changing NYSE Floor
01:01:48 Modern Finance Careers and the Role of Human Brokers
01:05:07 Final Advice, Legacy, and Closing
Find Peter Tuchman here
Instagram: instagram.com/einsteinofwallst
Join his Wall Street Global Trading Academy here!
wsgta.com
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Greg LaVecchia is the founder of Bloom, one of the fastest-growing supplement and energy drink brands in America.
Before Bloom was doing $23 million in weekly net sales, Greg had a 2.5 GPA, no investors, no mentors, and no real business playbook.
He started by selling fitness PDFs through PayPal links, moving booty bands out of an attic, and building alongside his wife from the ground up.
For years, they skipped holidays, worked out of a one-bedroom Airbnb, and bootstrapped Bloom to $180 million.
Then came the bet that changed everything: Greg put $1 million on the line to get Bloom into every Target nationwide.
That move helped turn Bloom into a retail powerhouse now sold in 70,000 stores.
In this episode, Greg breaks down how Bloom built a billion-dollar brand, why most beverage companies fail, how influencer marketing really works, what it takes to win in retail, and why success means nothing if you lose your freedom.
00:00 Intro
01:10 Bloom’s Growth, Origins, and Early Entrepreneurship
16:29 Black Friday, Branding, Retail, and Strategic Partners
25:33 Conversation Break and Networking
27:20 Why Beverage Brands Fail and How Bloom Competes
34:32 Bloom’s Social Reach and Product Tasting
35:35 Changing Direction, Cultural Trends, and Influencer Marketing
44:13 Brand Building Through Personal Brand and Community
47:15 Separating Bloom from Mari’s Personal Brand
49:48 Burnout, Cash Flow, Fragility, and Freedom
54:49 Fatherhood, Balance, and Lessons for the Next Generation
58:23 Legacy, Closing Remarks, and Outro
Find Greg LaVecchia here
Instagram: instagram.com/greglav
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Patrick Terry didn’t build P. Terry’s by chasing trends, franchising fast, or playing the fast food game like everyone else.
He started in his late 40s with a 527-square-foot burger stand in Austin, Texas.
Across the street were McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Jack in the Box, Taco Bell, Taco Cabana, and more.
Today, they’re gone. P. Terry’s is still standing.
In this episode, Patrick breaks down how he built 38 locations, protected the culture, refused private equity, and kept quality alive in an industry built on shortcuts.
He talks about working 7 a.m. to midnight, nearly selling the company, building with his wife Kathy, and why ego destroys businesses.
This is a conversation about discipline, fairness, loyalty, and what it really costs to build something that lasts.
Patrick Terry didn’t just build a burger chain. He built a brand people love.
00:00 Intro
06:28 Growth Strategy, Texas Focus, and Early Competition
10:49 Fresh Ingredients, Customer Insight, and Simple Menus
15:28 Pricing, Fair Profit, and Customer Loyalty
18:53 Employee Care, Community Giving, and Sponsor Break
23:06 Restaurant Culture, Accountability, and Leadership Changes
28:46 Marriage, Partnership, and Starting Later in Life
34:44 Franchising, Selling the Business, and Staying Independent
39:13 Work Ethic, Humility, and Respecting Employees
48:55 Social Media, Branding, Architecture, and Milkshakes
Checkout P. Terry's here
Instagram: instagram.com/p_terrys
🍔 P. Terry's Burger Stand: pterrys.com
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Andy Frisella is the founder of 1st Phorm, creator of 75 Hard, and one of the most respected entrepreneurs in the fitness industry.
Before he built a personal portfolio worth over $1 billion, he spent ten years barely surviving in business.
His first store made $7 on opening day, $0 the next day, and only $58,380 total across the first decade.
He worked bars at night, slept in the store, lived on $695 a month, and came within inches of quitting everything to clean carpets.
But Andy’s breakthrough came when he stopped asking, “How do I make money?” and started asking, “How do I solve a real problem for the customer?”
That shift turned a struggling supplement store into one of the most recognized fitness brands in America.
In this episode, Andy breaks down the truth about discipline, why 75 Hard exploded without ads, how to build a brutal company culture, why customer experience beats marketing, and what it actually takes to build something valuable enough to last.
00:00 Intro
05:51 Lessons From His Parents
09:13 The First Ten Years in Business
13:56 Online Entrepreneurship and Long-Term Value
18:45 Customer Experience and the Start of First Phorm
28:05 Product Quality, Value, and Company Culture
34:37 Culture, Relationships, and Staying in St. Louis
43:02 Extreme Standards and Vertical Integration
49:24 Cash Flow, Discipline, and 75 Hard
58:13 Execution, Influencers, and Patriotism
01:04:54 Final Message, Legacy, and Closing
Find Andy Frisella here
Instagram: instagram.com/andyfrisella
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Eric Spofford didn’t think he’d live past 21.
Addicted to heroin, carrying clothes in a trash bag, sleeping on his mother’s couch, and facing criminal warrants, he had nothing left.
Then he got sober, built his state’s first sober living house, and turned years of pain into a business that sold for $115 million.
This is a raw conversation about addiction, execution, wealth, relationships, death, and becoming hard to kill.
00:00 Intro
00:58 Background and Early Addiction
04:42 Choosing the Right Circle and Early Entrepreneurship
07:16 Starting Sober Living and Learning to Figure It Out
13:46 Macro Patience, Micro Urgency, and Staying in the Game
21:55 Education, Wealth, and the Limits of College
24:28 Preparing to Sell the Company
31:58 Private Equity Process and Deal Leverage
38:12 Building a Leadership Team and Removing Key Man Risk
44:26 Life After the Exit and Finding Purpose Again
48:18 Building Relationships Through Value
54:32 Authentic Connections With Successful People
57:30 Mortality, Risk, and Living Without Regret
Find Eric Spofford here
Instagram: instagram.com/ericspofford
Enjoyed this video? Please leave a like and subscribe! - @TheSchoolofHardKnocksPodcast
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Lucy Guo is the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world.
Before Scale AI became a $26 billion force in artificial intelligence, she was a college dropout whose parents thought she had thrown her future away.
But Lucy saw risk differently. She knew college was slowing her down, and she knew the people around her were building the future.
What started as a failed healthcare idea became Scale AI, the company selling the “picks and shovels” behind the AI gold rush.
In this episode, Lucy breaks down why founders must pivot fast, move without permission, hire killers, build around talent density, and use AI before the rest of the world catches up.
00:00 Intro
01:04 Dropping Out and the Teal Fellowship
04:39 Family Reaction and Early Entrepreneurship
07:33 Starting Scale AI and Pivoting Into Data Labeling
10:11 Finding Product-Market Fit and Early Customers
13:24 Asking Forgiveness Instead of Permission
16:07 AI Infrastructure and Y Combinator Advice
18:39 Hiring Talent and Building Early Teams
21:20 Creator Economy Opportunities and AI Tools
24:31 Sponsor Segment and AI Content Creation
26:15 AI Efficiency, Legal Tools, and Vibe Coding
29:19 Work-Life Balance and Daily Routine
32:32 Wealth, Relationships, and Billionaire Mindset
35:01 Building Ambitious Teams and Startup Cities
37:17 AI Creators and the Future of Creator Likeness
38:37 Failure, Investors, and Cap Table Decisions
39:59 College Networks and Advice to Young Entrepreneurs
Find Lucy Guo here
Instagram: instagram.com/guoforit
Enjoyed this video? Please leave a like and subscribe! - @TheSchoolofHardKnocksPodcast
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RJ Jain came to America from India with no plan to build empires. He grew up in a traditional family, took the safe path, and still felt pulled toward something bigger.
After working at Zynga on legendary games like FarmVille, he walked away from stability to build. That bet turned into a startup exit to Google for nine figures.
Most people would have stopped there. He started over.
This time, alone. Sleepless nights, brutal pressure, constant risk, and the weight of building a consumer company from the ground up.
Now he’s the founder of Price.com, an AI-powered shopping platform valued at around $200M.
In this episode, RJ breaks down risk, resilience, distribution, investor psychology, and what it really takes to survive as a founder. This is a story about leaving comfort, embracing uncertainty, and building at a level most people never reach.
If you want to understand what real ambition looks like, watch this one closely.
00:00 Intro
00:51 RJ Jain’s Background and Move from India to the United States
02:22 Early Interest in Building Products and First Startup Lessons
07:55 Networking, Curiosity, and Learning Through Conversations
10:44 Building Price.com, Shopping Automation, and Growth Strategy
24:10 Investor Perspective, Fundraising, Partnerships, and Acquisition Experience
34:05 Global Expansion, Marketing Challenges, and Advice for Founders
42:54 Gaming Industry Reflections, Final Advice, and Legacy
Find RJ Jain here
Instagram: instagram.com/rjjainofficial
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He knew at 4 years old he’d never work for anyone.
What followed wasn’t success, it was failure, pressure, and near collapse.He poured his life savings into a business that didn’t work…Watched money disappear…And stood face-to-face with bailiffs ready to shut it all down.
£10,000 saved him—but it wasn’t luck that changed everything.It was a decision. A pivot. A model that finally worked.
From losing £50K a month… to scaling across 10 countries…To building a company that sold for £4.1 billion.
This is the raw truth about entrepreneurship! Not innovation, but execution.Not ideas, but survival.
And the mindset it takes to turn failure into a legacy.
00:00 Intro
00:45 Early Life and First Entrepreneurial Ventures
10:00 Failed Plumbing Business and Key Pivot to Insurance Model
18:00 Scaling HomeServe and Nine Steps to Building a Billion-Pound Business
27:21 Branding, Hedgehog Strategy, and Final Advice for Entrepreneurs
Find Richard Harpin here
Instagram: instagram.com/richard_harpin
Buy his book here! amazon.co.uk/Make-Billion-Nine-Steps-High-Performing/dp/034944644X
Enjoyed this video? Please leave a like and subscribe! - @TheSchoolofHardKnocksPodcast
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