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$500B PE titan: Stop fooling yourself with big plans

*Sam's database on how long it takes to become a millionaire:* https://clickhubspot.com/738i Episode 861: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) sits down with David Rubenstein ( https://x.com/DM_Rubenstein ) to talk about turning Carlyle into $500B, his $14B miss, and the greatest business lessons in history. — Show Notes: (0:00) Turning $5M into $500B (5:13) Scrappy private equity (11:58) Don’t fool yourself (14:14) Turning down 20% of Amazon (16:23) Recruiting big shots (20:40) Finding the right partner (22:02) Trade-offs (27:39) Witnessing ascents to power (31:40) The Greatest Sentence Ever Written (33:37) History that repeats itself (35:49) Recommended Reading — Links: • Carlyl - https://www.carlyle.com/ • David’s books - https://www.davidrubenstein.com/books/ — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: • Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com • Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents. • Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/ Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., Members FDIC • I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /

David RubensteinguestSam Parrhost

Sep 14, 202644mWatch on YouTube ↗

Summaries, chapters, transcripts, and FAQs on this page are made by uListen, not YouTube.

EPISODE INFO

Released: September 14, 2026
Duration: 44m
Channel: My First Million
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

*Sam's database on how long it takes to become a millionaire:* https://clickhubspot.com/738i Episode 861: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) sits down with David Rubenstein ( https://x.com/DM_Rubenstein ) to talk about turning Carlyle into $500B, his $14B miss, and the greatest business lessons in history. — Show Notes: (0:00) Turning $5M into $500B (5:13) Scrappy private equity (11:58) Don’t fool yourself (14:14) Turning down 20% of Amazon (16:23) Recruiting big shots (20:40) Finding the right partner (22:02) Trade-offs (27:39) Witnessing ascents to power (31:40) The Greatest Sentence Ever Written (33:37) History that repeats itself (35:49) Recommended Reading — Links:
Carlyl - https://www.carlyle.com/
David’s books - https://www.davidrubenstein.com/books/
— Check Out Sam's Stuff:
• Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm — Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/
Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., Members FDIC
• I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /

SPEAKERS

David Rubenstein
guest
Co-founder of The Carlyle Group and billionaire private equity executive; owner of the Baltimore Orioles and philanthropist (Giving Pledge).
Sam Parr
host
Entrepreneur and podcast host of My First Million; associated with the Hampton community/network.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of My First Million, featuring David Rubenstein and Sam Parr, $500B PE titan: Stop fooling yourself with big plans explores david Rubenstein on building Carlyle without grand plans or comfort David Rubenstein recounts starting Carlyle in 1987 by raising $5 million from four investors and later growing it into a firm managing $500 billion.

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