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My First MillionBehind The Scenes of Selling My Company For Millions | Suli Ali (#410)
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CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 6:13
Suli's Background and the Deal Doula Role
Shaan introduces Suli, recounting his path from Microsoft to Facebook apps, TinyCo and the Family Guy game license. They also joke about the Tony Robbins event they never ran, and Suli describes wanting to work for his banker Dick Filippini.
- •Suli's path from Microsoft to Facebook apps, TinyCo and licensed mobile games
- •The never-launched Tony Robbins-style event idea
- •Suli has served as Shaan's 'deal doula' on company sales
- •Shaan credits banker Dick Filippini for talking him through the Bebo deal
- 6:13 – 7:42
The AppLovin Deal That Fell Through
Suli tells the story of Dick's AppLovin sale to a Chinese company that was blocked and became a $100 million investment. Shaan explains how the founders ended up with the best of both outcomes.
- •The $1 billion sale was blocked and turned into a $100 million investment
- •AppLovin later went public and was worth about $30 billion at one point
- •Shaan describes how the investor ended up owning a much smaller stake
- •The failed deal turned out as well as it could have
- 7:42 – 12:59
Lessons from Selling Milk Road: Transparency and Deal Structure
Shaan asks for Suli's takeaways from watching the Milk Road acquisition. They discuss the cash-plus-equity structure, and how telling buyers about the company's flaws up front built trust, as Sam advised Shaan.
- •Suli likes the structure of cash up front plus equity in the new company
- •Buyers care less about the nuance of wording than sellers do
- •Sam advised disclosing the 'skeletons in the closet' early
- •Shaan says the buyers later told him that disclosure built trust
- 12:59 – 17:51
Signaling You're Open to Sell and Spotting Charlatans
Suli explains that saying 'we're not for sale' can get you dropped by buyers. They discuss how to signal interest without seeming desperate, and how Suli sniffed out a puffed-up buyer.
- •Buyers cross off companies that say they aren't for sale
- •Getting a first offer lets you approach other buyers
- •Shaan suggests saying you like your business but are open to talking
- •Charlatans lead with flattery rather than numbers or substance
- 17:51 – 26:59
Business Ideas: Robinhood for Real Estate and Niche Agencies
Suli pitches a one-click, subscription-style real estate investing app aimed at people in their 20s, modeled on the gold app Jar. Shaan then lays out the easiest route to a million dollars, a specialized agency built on before-and-after case studies, and playbook-based services for niche industries.
- •Suli's idea is a one-click, monthly-subscription real estate investment app
- •Existing real estate platforms target sophisticated investors who review individual deals
- •Shaan suggests a specialized agency, such as email marketing or conversion optimization, backed by case studies
- •Shaan notes a service business can be sold, unlike a job
- •Niche playbooks, such as Nick Huber's self-storage and Hormozi's gyms, can be sold to owners
- 26:59 – 31:32
Niche Content Creators and Business-Facing Content
Suli asks about building a business through niche content. Shaan says consumer-facing creator businesses rarely pay off, while content for business owners works better, and Suli cites a realtor whose YouTube walkthroughs grew into a business.
- •Shaan is skeptical of consumer-facing creator businesses because the numbers are poor and competition is intense
- •Content aimed at business owners, like Nick Sharma's newsletter, is easier to monetize
- •Suli's example is an LA realtor whose mansion walkthroughs became his main business
- •Content works best when tied to a profession you already have
- 31:32 – 36:08
The Graveyard, Success Over Category, and Finding a Blueprint
Shaan describes how he now studies the graveyard of failed attempts before starting something. Suli says he cares about success more than category and credits Shaan with cloning proven businesses, which Shaan calls looking for a blueprint.
- •In his 20s Shaan ignored the graveyard and built social networks
- •Suli says success matters more to him than the specific product
- •Suli says Shaan clones successful friends' businesses in new categories
- •Shaan looks for a replicable blueprint, and breaks his rules only knowingly
- 36:08 – 41:45
Rapid Fire: Mental Models, Waves, and Startup Investing
Shaan runs a set of quick questions on mental models, current tech waves, billion-dollar companies and what Suli would do as MrBeast. Suli then explains why he has pulled back from startup investing in favor of buying stakes in profitable businesses.
- •Suli gave up on mental models and solves problems from scratch
- •He would look at genetics or AI if he were 22 today
- •He believes billion-dollar companies need a different code than $100 million ones
- •He dislikes competing for deals, long waits, high valuations and rising competition in startup investing
- •He now prefers buying 30-40% or majority stakes in businesses with revenue
- 41:45 – 50:00
Investment Misses: Coinbase, Facebook Stock, and Waiting on the Sidelines
Suli recounts missing Coinbase's Series A and botching a Facebook stock purchase in 2008. He and Shaan then discuss hesitating to buy in downturns, with Suli sitting on T-bills, and Suli's father buying houses through the 2008 crash.
- •Suli didn't ask to invest $25K in Coinbase because he didn't believe in crypto
- •He signed a contract for $150K of Facebook stock, then paid $75K to avoid buying it
- •A friend he connected to a Facebook share seller turned $50K into about $8 million
- •Suli is holding $40-50 million in T-bills while waiting for a good entry point
- •His father kept buying Florida houses as prices fell and now owns about 100 rentals
- 50:00 – 57:26
Honest LinkedIn Bios and the CSC Generation Furniture Roll-Up
Shaan reads out the self-deprecating LinkedIn bio of Justin Yoshimura, who is building a roll-up of furniture retailers modeled on Constellation Software. Suli reacts with admiration for the focus, the public offers and the humble tone.
- •The LinkedIn bio mocks 'unicorn' status and lists investments by round
- •CSC Generation buys old furniture companies like Z Gallerie and Sur la Table
- •The plan is to unlock old customer data and modernize e-commerce
- •He made public offers on public companies after private ones were ignored
- •Suli likes the vertical focus and the simple tone
- 57:26 – 1:02:29
The One-Line Email and the Story of the 50 Reasons
Shaan recalls Suli's email asking what one thing would make his e-commerce business work. Suli responds with a story about his first co-founder's email listing 50 reasons the company succeeded despite him, and how it nearly derailed the Andreessen Horowitz round.
- •Shaan kept the 'one thing' question on his great-questions list
- •Suli's former co-founder emailed him 50 reasons the company succeeded despite him
- •Suli reread the email regularly to find the truth in it
- •The co-founder also called Andreessen Horowitz and almost killed the Series A
- •They later reconciled and Suli was best man at his wedding
- 1:02:29 – 1:09:41
Buying a Public Company: Squarespace and Cutting Costs
Suli explains his plan to acquire a public company instead of starting from scratch, naming Squarespace as his top target. He describes where he sees fat to cut, shares Carl Icahn's story of firing a New York team, and explains how a public offer works.
- •Suli wants to skip the zero-to-one phase by buying an established company
- •Squarespace is down 50% and run at break-even
- •He sees excess marketing spend and headcount, including a New York headquarters
- •The Carl Icahn story shows how a headquarters team can be unnecessary
- •A public offer at a premium forces the board to respond
- 1:09:41 – 1:17:56
Helping a Friend Sell His Dental Practice
Suli describes helping a friend sell his dental practice to a private equity roll-up. The deal showed the EBITDA multiple arbitrage and upsell tactics, and a seller who ended up the richest person he knows.
- •The friend earned seven-figure EBITDA at a 50% margin while working three days a week
- •The PE firm bought at 7x EBITDA and plans to sell the bundle at 15x
- •The buyers use a good cop CEO and a bad cop COO
- •They plan to add a dentist and hygiene chair and increase insurance billing and referrals
- •The seller kept the real estate and now collects rent
- 1:17:56 – 1:31:47
Seasons of Life, Opting Out, and a Chief Fun Officer
Shaan compares the mindsets of different age groups at a recent weekend getaway, and Suli says he wants to work less and have more fun. They discuss a Solo Stove founder who opted out, and Suli's realization that his life is limited by imagination, which has him looking for a chief fun officer.
- •Shaan observed different attitudes toward business and life across age groups
- •Suli aims to stay off his laptop on weekends
- •A Solo Stove founder told him serial entrepreneurs keep building bigger prisons
- •Suli realized his life is limited by his imagination, not by money
- •He wants to hire a chief fun officer and tells a Vegas trip story as an example
