By playing, you agree to uListen's Terms and Privacy Policy and YouTube's Terms of Service.
Lewis Howes"How I Went From BROKE To MILLIONAIRE In 90 Days!" | Grant Cardone & Lewis Howes
Summaries, chapters, transcripts, and FAQs on this page are made by uListen, not YouTube.
Great conversations run long. Their best ideas don't have to.
uListen is free on iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome, and Claude.
See howCHAPTERS
Chapter summaries
What Rich People Do Differently: Invest, Don't Spend
Lewis Howes asks for three things rich people do differently from poor people. Grant Cardone says they invest rather than spend, know that money isn't required to make money, and focus on long-term appreciation of assets.
- •Even a bad investment beats a smart spend, since an investment can at least be a write-off
- •The belief that it takes money to make money is a myth and was a main reason he did the Discovery show
- •Wealthy people favor long-term asset appreciation over get-rich-quick
- •Cardone distinguishes the rich from the super wealthy, who aim to create wealth for many people
Undercover Billionaire: Contacts and Equity Instead of Cash
Asked how he made money from zero in Pueblo, Cardone says he never looked for money, only opportunity and contacts. In the first ten days he accumulated assets and picked up a 15% partnership instead of a cash advance.
- •He never touched the $100 he was given during the 90 days
- •He needed the right people already in play who want to do more with their money
- •In ten days he held vehicles, an RV and a 15% equity partnership
- •He urges going for equity rather than an advance, citing Kevin Hart owning his platform
How He Landed the Mattress Store Partnership
Cardone explains how he pitched a mattress store owner to drive traffic, refused payment, and ran a promotion that produced $91,000 in sales. The owner offered 15% of the upside, and Cardone asked for an advance on that partnership. He adds that production told him to slow down because he kept winning, and that the show cut out much of his struggle.
- •He offered to drive traffic and asked the owner only to authorize the print shop spend
- •The promotion produced $91,000 in mattress sales
- •He asked for 15% of the upside, not of what the business already did
- •Discovery told him to slow down because he kept winning
- •Dead Benjamins are the past while equity is the future
Why Buy a Going Concern Instead of Starting a Business
Cardone describes Pueblo's economic condition and why he went there to find a business already banking rather than start a new one. He argues America has too many businesses and that it is smarter to add value to an existing one.
- •Pueblo has 112,000 people, a $24,000 average household income and high unemployment
- •He deliberately set out to find an existing business with money
- •Two-thirds of American businesses break even or lose money
- •He looked for about 50 people with money, credit and credibility
Rejection, Ego, and Treating Everyone Well
Howes asks how Cardone handled rejection after being used to saying yes. Cardone recalls a man flexing on him in a meeting the same day he had written a $45 million check, and draws a lesson about not knowing who you're dealing with.
- •A local man boasted about raising $30 million while treating Cardone like a nobody
- •Cardone had written a $45 million check the same day and bit his tongue
- •You don't know who someone is or who they will become
- •Every accredited investor was once non-accredited and every whale was a minnow
Enrollment, Honesty, and Integrity in Selling
Howes asks how Cardone built confidence and learned enrollment without his usual sales tools. Cardone says he was committed, tells people the truth and his story, and only spends time with qualified people. He ties his ability to sell hard to never having financially damaged anyone in 35 years.
- •He rejected sales tricks like NLP, mirroring and matching and chose to just be himself
- •He told his Pueblo story honestly to the right audience
- •He left a meeting where he saw no opportunity because he was on a clock
- •His integrity, with no one claiming he owes them money, lets him sell hard
- •He can sell $20,000 tickets because he spends millions on the events
Overcoming Drug Addiction and Rebuilding at 25
Howes asks how Cardone built courage given his past drug use. Cardone says he first had to quit what was destroying his self-esteem, and describes entering treatment at 25 and filling his time with meetings and studying sales.
- •Self-talk doesn't matter if you destroy yourself the rest of the day
- •He used drugs for nearly ten years, always promising to quit the next day
- •A 28-day treatment stay in a drug-free environment gave him his first day clean
- •He went to a 12-step meeting morning and night for 15 or 16 years
- •He spent ages 25 to 30 studying sales, doing sales or attending meetings
Information Assisted Selling and the Five Steps
Cardone explains how he learned from a master before building his own style, which he calls information assisted selling. He lays out his steps: state your intention, present your offer, qualify the lead, explain the product, trial close and follow up.
- •He duplicated a master exactly before challenging anything
- •Information assisted selling leads with price and information up front
- •The buyer must convince himself; the seller only helps him make sense of it
- •The steps include intention, offer, qualifying, explaining, trial close and follow-up
- •He calls it a customer experience rather than a sales process
Negotiation: Face, Motivation, and Everyone Winning
Howes asks what Cardone has learned about negotiating multimillion-dollar deals. Cardone says deals are often lost over face rather than money, and that everyone needs to win and every party has a motivation he tries to uncover with direct questions.
- •Large deals involve massive egos and a feeding frenzy
- •Deals are often lost when someone feels they'd lose face
- •He would rather pay a bit more so the other side feels good and future deals stay possible
- •He asks direct questions about motivation, such as why a seller would pick him
- •Learning he can't win a deal lets him move on and stay by the board for a rebound
Resentment Means You Have Too Few Customers
Cardone argues that resenting a customer signals dependence on too few of them, and the fix is to go wide and get more customers. He extends the idea to platforms like Facebook and to family, using a nanny as an example.
- •Resentment of customers is a sign you rely on too few
- •He says it's about you, not them, and recommends widening the customer base
- •Being angry at Facebook signals over-reliance on one platform
- •He applies it to parenting, suggesting a nanny so a parent isn't with a child constantly
Money, Happiness, and Accomplishment
Howes asks whether people with money are happy. Cardone says money won't make you happy and he never pursued it for that reason. His happiness comes from accomplishing things he's proud of, his kids, and friendships.
- •Money brings a brief giddiness, then you return to your baseline happiness
- •He gave $25 million to a trust and $8 million to charity without it making him happy
- •Happiness comes from accomplishing things and being proud of who he is
- •He is proud of his daughter's stage speech and his friendship with Howes
- •Finishing Pueblo made him proud, though he wasn't happy while doing it
Reinventing After 50 and Lessons from 2008
Howes asks what mindset Cardone would share with people over 40 or 50. Cardone says he didn't expect to contribute until 50 and that the 2008 collapse shaped him, leading to 10X thinking and a strong 2020.
- •He says age has nothing to do with the game and people either decay or reboot
- •In 2008 he was too small and too reliant on too few verticals
- •He blamed himself rather than the crisis, which led to 10X
- •In 2020 his company had its best year, buying more assets and raising more money
- •He had $1.2 billion of debt when COVID hit
Good Debt vs. Bad Debt and the Six Billion Goal
Cardone explains that consumer debt is terrible while debt on investments paid by tenants is good. He then discusses wanting to reach $6 billion in assets from $2.3 billion, which would require buying portfolios or a company.
- •Consumer debt is suicide debt; buying a Lamborghini on credit is a bad idea
- •Good debt is an investment where tenants or customers pay the debt
- •Debt on real estate comes with tax advantages he contrasts with spending on Santa
- •He has about $2.3 billion in assets and would love to reach six
- •Reaching it would require buying portfolios or a company with thousands of units
Self-Improvement, Marriage, and the COVID Layoff Decision
Cardone says he wants to improve his communication, collaboration and relationships, admitting the show strained his marriage. He describes the loneliness of decisions, including shutting down a 42-person department, which he calls a mistake he'd repeat.
- •He consumes, produces and invests, and is greedy about self-improvement
- •He wants to improve communication, collaboration and being a better husband
- •The show caused friction with his wife Elena
- •He shut a department against everyone's advice and laid off 42 people
- •He calls it a mistake but would do it again, and the company had its best year
Closing Thoughts and Where to Watch
Howes points viewers to Undercover Billionaire and Clubhouse. Cardone expresses appreciation for their friendship, says his intentions are good, and describes the show as a chance to prove the American dream is alive without money or credit.
- •Undercover Billionaire airs on Discovery with back episodes on streaming services
- •Cardone says he was a poor communicator in the past but his intentions are good
- •He describes himself in the show as an everyday guy with just hustle
- •Howes acknowledges him for reinventing and taking on the challenge
