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- [00:01]
Scott Galloway
Support for the show comes from the new season of Crucible Moments, a podcast from Sequoia Capital. What is a Crucible Moment? It's a turning point where we face a tough decision and our response can shape the rest of our lives. These decisions happen in business too, and Sequoia Capital's podcast Crucible Moments gives you a behind the scenes look asking founders of some of the world's most important tech companies like YouTube, DoorDash, Reddit and more to reflect on those critical junctures that defined who they are today. Tune into Season two of Crucible Moments today. You can also catch up on season one at cruciblemoments.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. Support for the show comes from the new season of Crucible Moments, a podcast from Sequoia Capital. What is a Crucible Moment? It's a turning point where we face a tough decision and our response can shape the rest of our lives. These decisions happen in business too, and Sequoia Capital's podcast Crucible Moments gives you a behind the scenes look asking founders of some of the world's most important tech companies like YouTube, DoorDash, Reddit and more, to reflect on those critical junctures that defined who they are today. Tune into season two of Crucible Moments today. You can also catch up on season one at cruciblemoments.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [01:27]
Ed Mylett
Support for this show comes from the aclu. The ACLU knows exactly what threats a second Donald Trump term presents and they are ready with a battle tested playbook. The ACLU took legal action against the first Trump administration 434 times and they will do it again to protect immigrants rights, defend reproductive freedom, safeguard free speech, and fight for all of our fundamental rights and freedoms. Join the ACLU today to help stop The Extreme Project 2025 agenda.
- [01:59]
Claire Miller
Learn more@ ACLU.org today's number $91 million. That's how much King Charles III's coronation cost British taxpayers last year. Ed what does burger King and vaginas have in common?
- [02:15]
Benjamin Spencer
What's that?
- [02:15]
Claire Miller
It's generally considered bad form to eat them in the middle of a McDonald's. Have it your way. Have your way. Have it your way at Burger King. That wasn't easy to bring Burger King and the King into something this profane. Ed and you're pretending not to laugh for fear that you'll be named in the lawsuit? I don't get you can laugh out loud. That's right. Even Claire is laughing. And Claire is literally the general consulate.
- [02:59]
Ed Mylett
Of wokestan I always laugh at your pussy jokes.
- [03:02]
Benjamin Spencer
Come on.
- [03:02]
Claire Miller
She does. She does. Claire's down with me. We're both. We're both looking for the same thing, if you know what I mean.
- [03:08]
Ed Mylett
That's right.
- [03:09]
Claire Miller
That's right. We're both. We're both. We're both on the same team. We both point out the same accoutrement. We're looking at the same. We're seeing the same sights together on the road. All right, I need to get out of this. Ed. What are we talking about today? We're talking about. What are we doing today? We're doing something different today. Here, you take this.
- [03:29]
Benjamin Spencer
Gladly. Well, we've got a special episode today, Scott. We are diving into one of our favorite topics. We're not going to be talking about saving money or even investing money. We're going to be talking about spending money. We're going to be answering questions like, what are the best ways to spend money? How should we think about spending? And most importantly, how do you spend your money? So I'll walk us through a series of questions about spending. You'll give me your honest answers, I hope, and then hopefully we'll learn something along the way.
- [04:00]
Claire Miller
This doesn't, like, fit my opening joke. I think we might have to rerecord. This sounds very thoughtful and responsible anyways, but, yes, please continue.
- [04:08]
Benjamin Spencer
It is going to be very thoughtful. It's practically going to be a therapy session.
- [04:13]
Claire Miller
Yeah, I'm in. Amen.
- [04:15]
Benjamin Spencer
All right, well, we'll start with a pretty easy question. And that is, what is the worst purchase you have ever made?
- [04:20]
Claire Miller
Oh, when I was, I grew up in California, and I grew up in this era that you don't relate to. It was kind of California dreaming, American Graffiti. The only thing you had to express any sort of coolness or wealth or aspiration or macho was your car. In addition, living in Los Angeles, you had literally no aspect of a social life unless you had a car. There was no public transportation. There was the rtd, but it wasn't really efficient.
- [04:49]
Scott Galloway
So.
- [04:49]
Claire Miller
So if you wanted to go to Friday, you know, on a Friday night, go and crash a party that someone was having, you were invited to see above Scott Galloway, you needed a car. And so from the age of about 13, I saved pretty much everything for a car. And I got. My dad gave me an old Volkswagen Rabbit from his old home in Phoenix. On the way back from Arizona with a friend, the tire blew up and there was no spare tire. Gives you a bit of a sense for the protective instincts my father did not have bought a Renault Le car. And finally, I think the Renault got towed my freshman year in the fraternity and I didn't even go get it. I think I just let it be sold for scrap. So buying a car, My first cars were the worst purchases, hands down, I ever made. They literally took all of my disposable income and more. It was like $2,500 to buy insurance when you were 16, which on a inflation adjusted basis probably meant $10,000 a year. I did not have that kind of money, and yet I found it. So hands down, the worst purchase I ever made was a car.
- [05:49]
Benjamin Spencer
What about the BMW? You go after you got your bonus from Morgan Stanley. I'm always kind of blown away by the fact that that's how you spent your bonus. I respect it, to be clear, but.
- [06:00]
Claire Miller
Oh, yeah, and not only that, I think I told you. I think I bought a 325i, navy blue. I bought it out of the recycler. I think I spent. Man, I forget what it's. My first bonus was like 25 grand. I spent 28 grand on a car, but I think of that. I mean, this sounds dumb, but a bad car that you don't need in college and high school, I kind of needed it, but I just couldn't afford it. You know, that's a dumb purchase. I would argue that when you're 23, working a Morgan Stanley and you're in your mating years, that buying a BMW and hanging swim goggles from the rearview mirror makes a lot of sense. You're trying to say. You're trying to signal to women that if you have kids with me, your kids are more likely to survive than if you date someone who is driving a Hyundai and does water aerobics. So I sort of. I empathize with what I'll call smart signaling purchases. I think it's difficult to lecture someone your age on to not occasionally buy cool shit and do cool things. Your 20s come and go. You want to signal attractiveness. I get sort of the irrational purchases. To me, the BMW kind of made sense. And also I sold it and I paid for my European trip, so it was worth it. And I don't think I lost that much value on it.
- [07:09]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah, my follow up was going to be, was there ever an item that you splurged on that seemed pretty irresponsible at the time, but ultimately, as you reflect, turned out to be completely worth it? Perhaps the BMW, perhaps something else.
- [07:22]
Claire Miller
No. And I'll turn this back to you, but I wish I'd learned earlier, and I did learn it accidentally, but it was more organic than anything I read. You remember experiences. You don't remember stuff. People overestimate the joy they're going to get from things, and they underestimate the joy they're going to get from experiences. When I left Morgan Stanley, I initially, towards the end of Morgan Stanley, I thought about trying to do a third year and maybe making the jump to associate or interviewing with another firm. Because everyone had convinced me that if you have your foot in the door in investment banking, you never want to leave because you'll never get a job that good. Even this. Even though, despite the fact I hated it and they hated me, I wasn't very good at it. I was trying to figure out a way to maybe stay in it. And then the only time I've ever been in the hospital was I got an arrhythmia towards the end of my second year in a what? An arrhythmia. I had something called ventricular tachycardia, which is an irregular heartbeat.
- [08:10]
Benjamin Spencer
Okay.
- [08:11]
Claire Miller
And the timing was really unfortunate because the week before, this guy named. Was it Hank Gathers, the best high school or the best college basketball player, got a rebound, went down for a monster jam in front of a national audience, and then turned back to run up the court and drop dead on the court. And he was diagnosed with V tach and an enlarged heart, which is quite regular for people who. Your heart is a muscle. And if you work out a lot, which I was doing in crew, your heart actually can get too big for your chest cavity and it can create an electrical imbalance. I was overinsured. I was having this irregular heartbeat. Hank Gathers, the week before they stuck me in the hospital. So while I was in the hospital, this woman. I was at St. John's I think it was, and she said, why are you. She looked at me, you know, I'm 23. She said, you're in the ICU unit of the cardiology unit. She just looked at me, not a doctor, and said, you shouldn't be here. What's going on with your life? And it hit me so hard. I was. I was. I became very emotional because I'd obviously tried to pushed down all these emotions about how fucking freaked out I was that I was in the, you know, ICU unit of the cardiology unit at St. John's and basically, net. Net. That afternoon, I decided I was going to leave investment banking and do something different. I moved back in with my mom, and I sold my car and I went to Europe with that money with my friend Lee Lotus, and we got a backpack, a Eurail Pass. And that still remains, as evidenced by anyone who watches this podcast. I do amazing travel. I travel to the best places. I have an extraordinary life with respect to travel. The best trip I've ever taken was when I was 24. Ride out at Morgan Stanley with Eurail Pass, sleeping in hostels with my good friends Lee Lotus. And then David Kingsdale joined us, and I connected with a woman I was dating at the time. And to be in Mykonos on no money, but with someone you were into, that was just the best expenditure I've ever made. And I spent everything and more. I think I had to call my mom and ask her to wire me some money, but it was hands down the best expenditure I've ever made. So I'll put it back to you, the dumbest and best purchases you've made today, other than, like, a Big Wheel and that glass dildo I saw you had on your shelf. Turn off the camera. Jesus Christ. I'm sorry. Go ahead, Ed.
- [10:29]
Benjamin Spencer
No, that one was worth it. Yeah, I think it's experiences for me, too. It's funny, the first thing that comes to mind for me is also Mykonos. There was one night in Mykonos I went last summer with a bunch of friends, and there was one night was probably the most amount I've ever spent in a single night, and it was ridiculous. We decided that, you know, we had picked out what the best club on the island was, and that club is Ala Magoo. And we decided, okay. Me and my boys got together, said, okay, we're going to pay for this whole thing. We're going to. We're going to get all the girls, and they're not going to pay a penny, and we're going to just spend like crazy on this one night on Thursday night. We're going really, really hard. And so we got the best table at the club. We got one of the biggest bottles that they have on offer. And we kind of just decided, like, this is. This is our big night. And, you know, I turned. We're having a great time. I turned to my left, and we're in the VIP section, sitting next to the table that is occupied by Paul George, Carl Anthony Towns, and basically just all of the biggest NBA stores in the world right now. And that was a moment where it's like, okay, this is the amount of money that I don't have, clearly. But I've made a very intentional choice and an intentional Decision like, this is something that I know I'm going to enjoy. I know it's going to be special. We stayed up till sunrise. It was like the greatest night ever. And that, to me, is like, a moment where it was very irresponsible when you think about it numerically, but in terms of, like, the intention and the purpose behind it, where I was like, I know that I'm spending a lot right now, and I'm going to be very, you know, responsible when I get home to New York. That was probably my number one.
- [12:17]
Claire Miller
It's funny, it reminds me, my dad occasionally would say something that, you know, was close to insight. And he always said to me, doing nothing is fine as long as it's planned. And I remember another saying that anger is. Anger is actually a productive emotion as long as it's planned. And I think what you're saying is you made a responsible decision to be irresponsible. And I think that's okay. You know, occasionally it's fun to splurge. And, you know, when I would argue the splurges when you're young are. I think you remember them more, especially if they're around experiences. Anyways, my advice to young people, you know, Andrew Huberman and Peter Attia will say, you know, don't drink alcohol. I don't see drunkenness. I see togetherness. And I just love the image of you and your homies and Mykonos doing your thing and then late at night getting shut down by every woman in the club. But still, it was worth it.
- [13:09]
Benjamin Spencer
That was definitely worth it. Okay, what about the best purchase you've ever made?
- [13:15]
Claire Miller
Probably the best purchases, both financially and emotionally for me were homes. And that is right out of business school. I was very much in love, and we bought a home together. And it just represented, like, a commitment to each other. And we got a dog. And it just. At the age of 27, it just felt really nice to have some of that, like, feeling that domestic bliss, to be committed to someone, to be making a mortgage payment and owning a home. And the home was just a vehicle, I think, for kind of that commitment to each other. And it felt really. It was emotionally very rewarding. And then going back to the. Probably the last house purchase I made when I sold L2, I had a big windfall. And my partner said, we should buy this beautiful home. It is a beautiful home on the beach. And one of my flaws, many flaws as investors. I think nothing is ever cheap enough. And the home was. They were asking 15 million. She said, trust Me, we can get it for a lot less. I'm like, she offered, ended up getting it for nine and a half. And I'm like, I didn't want to buy it. I'm like, no, It'll be worth six in two years. We're going into recession. This is 2019. I'm sorry, 2017. And it took three years to renovate a shit ton of money. And then Covid comes and we have a really nice home on the beach. And then again, see above. Better to be lucky than good. This mass migration of people to Florida from COVID all these masters of the universe who all want to live in the same area and be on the sand. And that home has probably doubled or tripled in value. And more important than that, in an environment where people had to sequester and isolate with their families, I was in a beautiful home. More time with Netflix, more time with my boys. And my stocks were skyrocketing. And Covid was, in my opinion, the most unfair, pornographic, gross transfer of wealth and health from the already wealthy and the incumbents from people who are unhealthy or poor. And I was on the right side of that. And it just strikes me, it just feels so uncomfortable to say Covid was the best two years of my life. But this is a long winded way of saying the best purchases I have made. And I'm not suggesting that it's right for everybody, because a lot of it is timing. But emotionally and financially, the best purchases I have made were my first and my last home.
- [15:50]
Benjamin Spencer
Are there any categories of spending that you kind of refuse to skimp on or that you pretty consistently go all out on something where you look at the price tag and you say, doesn't matter, I'm going to buy this no matter what.
- [16:05]
Claire Miller
I'm sitting in a room that costs $5,000 a night. I mean, enough said. I don't own a car. I don't spend a lot of money on clothes. I spend a crazy amount of money on travel. And next door, in the next room is my friend Augusto. And Augusto is like this greatest guy. Easy going, super nice. And when I'm doing a lot of traveling and I'm lonely and my partner can't come with me or my kids can't be with me, I call one of many friends and I say, come join me. And if it's not easy for them, logistically or financially, I make it easy for them. And we go out and we go to the best place. I mean, and I feel self conscious. It's so funny. I've always, I've had this weird shame around money. Up until the age of 30 or 35, I was ashamed that I didn't have more money. I was always, I was broke because I was in school. I had student loans. I was really self conscious about how much, how little money my mom and I had. It made me feel very insecure. And then student loans, starting businesses, never had enough money. Even when my friends were starting to make money. So I didn't have enough money. I was embarrassed by that. I think from about the age of 30 to kind of 45, I had just the right amount of money. I had enough money to do nice things, but I wasn't self conscious. Then I got exceptionally lucky. And by the way, I'm not humble. I think I'm a fucking monster. I think I'm exceptionally talented, but I also got really lucky. There are a lot of exceptionally talented people out there. And now I'm not embarrassed, but a little self conscious by how much money I do have. And you're not supposed to talk about it. And I think that is nothing but a bullshit construct to keep poor people poor. Because when you speak a different language, rich people talk to rich people about money all the time. They talk about taxes, they talk about investments and they get more literate. And then we're told not to talk about money in case you decide to share your salary with someone else or you figure out how much money I have and decide to fucking, you know, show up with a guillotine or actually vote for people who have a progressive tax structure or maybe demand more compensation because you realize the person down the deaths from you is making 30% more because they've been there 10 years or they're a different sexual orientation. I mean, basically the asymmetry of information and this inclination that you're not supposed to talk about money keeps the financially illiterate illiterate and also keeps rich people richer. So other than bragging, it is, I think important to talk about money even when you have it. But hands down, where I go apeshit with money now that I have it and spend more than I should is on travel. I'm going to Africa. I'm taking my sister and her family and they didn't want to go. They have responsibilities. Their kids inquire, they're working hard. And I called her and I'm like, you're going to be dead soon. When are you next going to Africa? Like you're going to go with me. When are you going to roll into Africa? Like you're going to roll with me. What the fuck are you thinking? And that was the right lecture for me to give my sister these experiences. If there's anything the research shows you around spending money, it's the following. Drive a Hyundai and take your husband to Africa. I don't really buy a lot of things. I'm just not into that. I don't buy stuff.
- [19:17]
Benjamin Spencer
Do you look at the price tag much when you buy things? So if you, I don't know, you walk into a nice clothing store, are you thinking about how much it costs?
- [19:26]
Claire Miller
I do, because I can't get out of that habit I was in. I forget where I was, but there was just an insane price on something and I'm just like, this is offensive. I can't, I can't bring myself to spend money on this thing. It's just, you know, like that's just ridiculous that you would even try and charge this amount of money. I can't buy it. I really need it. I really like it. It doesn't make any difference to me. But there's that part of you, you just can't do it. You just, you remember back when you didn't have enough money and you establish a value system and you're like, I just can't do it. I can't, I can't, you know, I can't spend this kind of money.
- [20:02]
Benjamin Spencer
What do you think is the difference then? What do you think makes justifies like a good purchase versus a bad purchase?
- [20:08]
Claire Miller
Look, this is the majority of people. 99.9% of the planet doesn't have these problems. They have a much bigger problem and that is they're constantly trading off needs versus wants. And that is the majority of our planet. I think only about one third of the planet are consumers. What does that mean? It means that they have enough money to buy things beyond basic food, shelter and education. So only a third of us even get to make these decisions. So do I want a scarf or do I want to go to Mykonos or do I want to take my spouse out for a nice dinner?
- [20:41]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah, it's, I think you're in a unique position because you have experienced pretty much every economic class there is to experience in a way. I mean, you haven't experienced real poverty, but you did not grow up wealthy and now you're extremely wealthy. And the way I kind of think about like, you know, you talked about there are certain people that, that can't make those trade offs that we're describing, it feels like there's A progression when it comes to spending. It's like in a certain economic weight loss, you can't make trade offs because you have to survive and you have to get by. And then you. There's another class which is you start being able to make trade offs. And then there's another one where I feel like you are. Where it's like you don't even really need to be making trade offs that much. I mean, it sounds like you can, generally speaking, have your cake and eat it too in most situations, I would say so. What I would be interested to know is like, how has the psychology of spending money changed for you as you have breached each of those economic weight classes? Like, did spending money take on a different gravitas to you as you got richer or as you got poorer?
- [21:58]
Claire Miller
So I think it's important that everyone have a certain code or values that they want on their tombstone and then try and live their life across those two or three values. And one of my values is I pride myself on being generous, and I'm generous with everything but my time. I like spending money on. I like treating people, I like buying things for people. I know that's virtue signaling, but anyone who knows me knows that is true. And the reason why is not because I'm. I have this inner nobility. It was because I was deeply traumatized by my father's relationship with money. My father was born and raised in depression era Scotland, where you could literally starve if you didn't have enough money. And so he was painfully cheap. He was the guy when my parents were divorced and he came and took me and my friend, best friend Adam, to see Grease, amazing movie in 1976. After the movie, he collected two bucks from my friend Adam because he had bought the tickets and I had to sit there and watch this go down. I went to Hawaii once with him on a big golf vacation, or he was the Crown Circle ITT salesman of the year. And he got to go on this golf trip and take his family. And we went to Baskin and Robins, they got ice cream. I ordered a shake. And then for two days my dad didn't speak to me. And you're 13 years old and you're a guy and you're looking up to your father and you're like, why is my dad not speaking to me? Like, just ignoring me. And finally I asked Linda, his third wife, my stepmother, a wonderful woman. I'm like, what's going on? Why is dad mad at me? She's like, he's upset. You ordered a Shake at Baskin and robins. It cost $3. And you didn't ask him? My dad didn't speak to me for two days. And so when my parents got divorced, he immediately went to the upper middle class. We immediately went to the lower middle class. He was so awful to us financially. He could have made our lives so much easier with just a little bit of money. I really struggled in college and I like to think, oh, Bill, gr. It was really fucking stressful not knowing if you were going back to college every summer. And he could have made my life so much easier. And so I remember just explicitly and implicitly deciding, if I ever have money, I am not going to be this guy. I mean, and I can't stand it now. I can't stand. I have friends who are really wealthy who always find reasons not to pick up the bill or. And I just find it such a grotesque attribute. And some of it is under responsible. They were just raised that way. I find being cheap one of the grossest attributes, especially for men. I'm sexist this way. I can't even be around these people. If every one of my friends isn't fighting over the bill. We're not friends. But my spending right now, in large part or some of it is. I'm just. God, I just don't want to be. My dad, he was awful with money, just awful. And I always thought if I ever have money, I'm not only going to enjoy it, I'm going to share it.
- [24:52]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah. I feel like people don't seem to understand how good it feels to be generous. I think I started only sort of to realize this recently, that it does actually feel really, really good to get the check and give someone a nice experience. I mean, I did that recently with my dad for the first time and it was kind of like a. It felt like this sort of exciting, important moment where it's like, no, I can get this. Like, I can give to you. And yeah, I mean, it sounds so trite when you say it, but the reality is just as you say, it's like it actually just makes you feel really good. And it's almost the same as getting something for yourself. It's all, as you say, it's all. It's selfishly motivated. It makes you feel good. But it seems like I've just found. I'm surprised by how many people don't realize that that, like, it really enhances your life and your own personal experience. To be generous, there's all sorts of.
- [25:58]
Claire Miller
Different ways to garner emotional reward from Money, if you handle it well, you know, money is. Money is nothing but the transfer of time and work. And there's few things you can do that are more generous than give someone time and work. I was a services. I used to park cars. I was a waiter. I remember I was a waiter at the Mondriano Hotel. And this lovely old lady was a character actress. I forget her name every time she was there. Every time I would walk by, she'd put five or ten bucks in my pocket. Like, literally every time I walked by her table, she'd come over and she'd like, slip five or ten bucks in my pocket. And you're going to UCLA and you can barely afford your books. It, like changes your fucking day. This like, nice old lady gives you 30 or 40 bucks. I mean, it's the difference between being able to go on a date or buy lecture notes or whatever it is. It is wealthy people who do not tip big that makes just abso fucking lutely no sense. It is so easy to give, in a liquid economy, time and work to people by giving them money. And it has nothing to do with nobility or ethics. It just, like you said, it just feels really good. The other thing that you inspired is that I think even more I love spending money. I am really good at it. It's one of my core competence. I'm outstanding at spending money. I always say I'm spending money like a gangster in the 50s, just diagnosed with ass cancer. I am just going large and I'm loving every minute of it. I'm really good at it. And it creates a lot of joy and happiness for people near me and around me and for me myself. I do think though, that even more rewarding than spending it or having it was making it, specifically making it with someone else, both professional and personal partners. My ex wife and I, we were working so hard, we were trying so hard, we were making good money. We had setbacks. And then, you know, I had businesses fail. I had businesses work. She got promoted. She didn't get promoted. But we were saving money and we bought a house together and we started saving money together. And we really built economic security together. And it was just so rewarding to do it with someone. And then where you also get a lot of that reward is, let me be clear. The businesses I've started and sold, my first obligation was for me to make the most money. And I always have. That felt better than anything, but it also just felt fucking awesome to bring in really good people who'd worked really hard with you alongside of you and go, hey, I know you're 27, but you're going to make $550,000 next week when this transaction closes. And them just looking at you like they couldn't believe it. You know, like I get huge reward out of underpaying you. No, but look, no one ever feels overcompensated. But for the last 10 or 15 years of my life, since I've gotten wealthy, I've made it objective to say, okay, what is this person's market rate and how do I pay them? 20, 30, 50% more than market. And it just feels good. So building, spending it is great. But I found actually the making it, specifically the making it with other people was actually the most rewarding part.
- [29:08]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah, wow. I 100% agree with that. I think that's one of the things that makes relationships so fun, is that you're building something together. It's just so much more exciting than doing it on your own.
- [29:20]
Claire Miller
Well, by the way, it just dawned on me that it's no accident that you've asked me to do all this virtue signaling around generosity right before bonus season. It's clear that everyone has figured this out and there's like eight people on this line taking notes that, yeah, reviews are about to come out. You know, it's so gritty.
- [29:38]
Benjamin Spencer
I think I give money away, isn't it?
- [29:40]
Claire Miller
I find it's all about grit and helping people realize their inner child and save by not by underpaying them. That's how you build character. I'm planning to build everyone's character here.
- [29:50]
Benjamin Spencer
We've got more after the break and by the way, will be recording an ask me anything episode very soon. So please send in your questions for me and Scott to office hoursrofgmedia.com or leave a comment on our YouTube channel. We'll be right back.
- [30:13]
Claire Miller
Support for profit markets comes from Fundrise. Venture capital is widely seen as one of the most lucrative asset classes in the world. Go look at the S&P 500. Nearly every major tech company on that list was once funded by venture capital capital firms producing billions of dollars in profits in the process. The hard truth, however, is that the biggest venture funds are almost entirely funded by institutional investors like endowments and sovereign wealth funds. So unless you knew a guy who knew a guy, you and 99.9% of individual investors did not get to participate in the pre IPO growth of any of those blue chip companies. The Fundrise Innovation Fund is finally changing that. It's a more than $125 million fund. It holds some of the most exciting pre IPO companies in the world, and it's designed specifically for individual investors. This time you can get in early@fundrise.com markets. Carefully consider the investment material before investing, including objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information can be found in the Innovation Funds prospectus@fundrise.com Innovation this is a paid advertisement. Support for the show comes from ZBiotics. Nothing like cocktails with friends to help you unwind, but now you don't have to choose between a great night or a great day after, thanks to ZBiotics pre alcohol probiotic Drink Pre Alcohol is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by PHE scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. And according to ZBiotics, here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. It's this byproduct, not dehydration, that's to blame for your rough next day. Pre Alcohol produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down. Just Remember to take ZBiotics before your first drink of the night. Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow. So I tried this because Daddy loves to drink. I like Winston Churchill, believe I've gotten more out of alcohol than it's gotten out of meat. Anyways, took this thing, I had two, maybe three drinks and the next day I did feel fine. And I think the key here is that I'm no longer drinking 6 to 8, 2 to 3. But I also think ZBiotics is likely helping. Go to zbiotics.com profg to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use profg at checkout. ZBiotics is backed with a 100% money back guarantee, so if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they'll refund your money, no questions asked. Again, that's zbiotics.com profg and use the code profg at checkout for 15% off.
- [32:30]
Scott Galloway
Support for the show comes from the new season of Crucible Moments, a podcast from Sequoia Capital. What is a Crucible Moment? It's a turning point where we face a tough decision and our response can shape the rest of our lives. These decisions happen in business too, and Sequoia Capital's podcast Crucible Moments gives you a behind the scenes look, asking founders of some of the world's most important tech companies like YouTube, DoorDash, Reddit, and more to reflect on those critical junctures that defined who they are today. Tune into season two of Crucible Moments today. You can also catch up on season one at cruciblemoments.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [33:19]
Benjamin Spencer
We're back with Profgue Markets. I'm going to go through some individual situations where spending is very important, and I just want to get your reaction on how you would deal with these little situations I've come up with. So the first one is restaurants. You're out to dinner with friends, and let's imagine you're not as wealthy as you are right now. For these, one of your friends orders a really expensive bottle of wine. They order, like, a bunch of plates for the table, and then when the check arrives, it's way more expensive than you thought. It's one of those checks where you see it and you start to feel kind of anxious and uncomfortable. You don't really know what to do. So what would you do? Would you still offer to get the check? Would you split it equally? How would you handle that?
- [34:04]
Claire Miller
Is this a group of guys or just friends?
- [34:06]
Benjamin Spencer
Group of guys. Friends.
- [34:08]
Claire Miller
I mean, I roll with a different crew. I just don't. We were. I never had friends that were into fancy wine until I got rich. And now I have friends who are trying to, like, inject class or some air of prestige into their life by ordering stupidly expensive bottles of wine and buying art. If you want to talk about, you know, if you want to signal for someone with a little dick, find someone who's all of a sudden really into art and. Or, you know, orders, orders. Anything above 100 bucks a bottle. A bottle of wine. Unless you're really. I mean, if you're really into art and you're really into wine, fine. My friend Adam is really into cars. He buys expensive cars because he's always been really into cars. Fine, fine, I get it. But if someone ordered an expensive bottle of wine and I was with a group of guys and we didn't have a lot of money, I mean, okay, if he's a baller and he's paying for it. General form is the following. General in general, like, manners. If you order an expensive bottle of wine, it means you're paying for dinner. You're basically signaling, I am going to pay for dinner. You can't be generous with other people's money. And then when the check comes, if it's a group of guys your age, you're all friends. You all split the bill. Unless someone went crazy in. What about.
- [35:12]
Benjamin Spencer
What about if you're, like, in your 30s, like it's not as absurd to be in your late 30s. Everyone's making good money. Maybe everyone's with their partners. What do you do in that situation?
- [35:24]
Claire Miller
I personally feel like with friends, I mean, young people, split the check or whatever that is, vend me or send me a request. I get it, right? I think if you're in your 30s and you're blessed with some reasonable economic security, general format should be the following. We get this one, oh, the next one, they get it. And if people aren't. If things aren't kind of evening out over time, you have to decide whether you want to stay friends with these people. Because, you know, generally what I have found is that you're out with couples. I can't stand splitting the check. I'm at a point now where people say, oh, you did this. I'm like, boss, either pay for it or I'm paying for it. We're not splitting the check. We're fucking grown men. And I'll get this one, you get the next one. Whatever it is. And especially when you're out with couples, I think you're mindful of each other, but for the most part, I think one couple gets the check and then the other couple gets the next one. I don't. I think the moment. I think it's always that strange moment when the bill comes. I think it's awkward. It's very awkward, but it should all come out in the wash. If you have good friends, they're not going to be stupid in terms of over ordering. And you'll realize that you trade off two or three couples, two or friends, and if their turn never seems to come around, you call them out on their bullshit and be like, hey, how come you never see? How come you always seem to find a way not to pay?
- [36:50]
Benjamin Spencer
Okay, this one's particularly relevant right now. Christmas is around the corner. Let's say again, you're in your late 30s, you've got like two children, a partner, two parents, you got aunts, you got uncles, you got friends, God, children, et cetera. Who gets presents and how much do you think you should be spending on those presents? And do you spend more on one person? Do you spend less on another person? How do you think about presents and Christmas as it relates to spending?
- [37:19]
Claire Miller
I think about Hanukkah. You antisemite.
- [37:21]
Benjamin Spencer
Hanukkah. Sorry. Okay. Actually, that's the holidays.
- [37:25]
Claire Miller
That's not true. I think about Christmas. I don't even know what the. I don't know what Hanukkah is. This is Personal, how your approach is spending the holidays. When the kids were little, it was fun to just buy them a ton of shit and have this consumer orgy that morning where they're rapping shit and then playing with it for two minutes. And that was fun. As we've gotten older, what I do with my boys is they make a list of stuff. We try and connect it to chords or something. Or something. And we pull stuff off their list. And maybe we wrap one or two gifts. We just don't. I don't want that kind of consumer Lollapalooza in the morning. And then with my partner, I ask her to. Occasionally, we don't buy each other stuff around the holidays or for birthdays. I buy her stuff randomly because I think it's just more fun that I think she'll love. And she drops hints every once in a while that she wants something.
- [38:17]
Benjamin Spencer
Oh, yeah, as in, I've been looking at this. Or it's like, you haven't given me a present in a while.
- [38:23]
Claire Miller
No, she'll send me a photo of a Birkin bag with the exact color and be like, hey, what do you think of this? I'm like, okay, message received. And what I try and do is wait just long enough such that she forgets about it and it's a surprise. But, yeah, I'm not a big gift giver. I don't want gifts. The gifts I like for me. I want meaningful gifts. I want. My sons will write me a note or they'll get me a book that was meaningful for me or they'll get a picture of us framed. That's the shit I want. I can buy anything I want personally. And I'm not into stuff. The gifts that. I mean, it sounds like a Hallmark commercial, but I don't want stuff. I don't want an automatic tie rack or a cream shave heater. That's what we got my dad. Ooh, was he thrilled. Back in the 70s, you put shaving cream in a heater.
- [39:09]
Benjamin Spencer
I love that.
- [39:09]
Claire Miller
And you'd have. You'd have the delight and the supple feeling of warm lather on your beard.
- [39:14]
Benjamin Spencer
That's a great idea. I'm probably going to get a rotating tie rack.
- [39:17]
Claire Miller
I have so many ties and I need. I need to see them electronically. Whiz by me.
- [39:22]
Benjamin Spencer
I love that, too.
- [39:24]
Claire Miller
Yeah, no, we're not big. We're not big gifters.
- [39:26]
Benjamin Spencer
So who gets presents then? This is a question I've been thinking about. I can't tell. Or it's not totally clear to Me, who I'm supposed to be getting presents for during the holidays, and also how much we're supposed to be spending.
- [39:39]
Claire Miller
First and foremost, your boss.
- [39:40]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah, okay. Cause I will say, by the way, you get presents for us at the end of the holidays. I don't know if you know what you're getting us, but we have received Christmas gifts from you. And I would assume that that's sort of part of, you know, you build that into the budget. Okay. Over the holidays, I need to put aside this amount of money to get my employees some gifts and to get these people gifts. Like, I feel like it's an important part of the income statement, if you will.
- [40:07]
Claire Miller
But it's strategic and it's selfish. So employee gifts. And it's the following. First off, I don't buy anything. I don't know what it's gonna be in that fucking bag. Mj, who has much better taste than me, she does a great job. She'll say, I'm gonna spend 500 or 1000 bucks on employee gifts per person. Like, fine. And she'll figure out the latest cool thing and she'll do a great job and merchandise it. And I just give her my credit card number. And the reason it's strategic is that If I spend $1,000 on a gift or gifts for employees, it's worth more than $1,000. If I gave them $1,000 in compensation, one, they'd have to pay 30, 34% taxes on it. Whereas if I give you $1,000 worth of whatever, airpods and a scarf or something, it's pre tax income. And also it's more meaningful it, the psychological benefit is greater than if I'd just given you a thousand dollars cash. My first business partnership would always be like, he was totally gruff and like, just give them cash. And I'm like, no, they like gifts. The kids like gifts. You know, for me, the holidays, I don't, I can't stand the holidays. They were not an enjoyable time for me growing up. So I literally loathe them. It's so personal, though, you might find. I mean. So, for example, I think gifts are more important for women. Cocaine, jewelry. Cocaine and jewelry. Women have a special relationship with Ed. And maybe you don't like cocaine, maybe you don't like jewelry. But if you don't in your 20s offer that to women, and in your 30s and 40s offer jewelry to women, you are not a good person. And mostly the jewelry, like, I can't ever imagine spending, oh, I guess I buy watches now. I never used to buy watches, but I can't imagine people spending this money on jewelry. But you've got to determine what's important to the people in your life. That's what it means to be generous, is you're doing something for someone else you wouldn't do for yourself. It makes no sense to you, but it's important to them, so you do it for them.
- [42:01]
Benjamin Spencer
Do you think that people don't value gifts enough?
- [42:04]
Claire Miller
What I have found is that, and I wish I'd figured this out earlier, writing somebody and complimenting them and recognizing them, or telling them you were thinking about them, or telling them how impressive you are with them, or taking the time to say, you know, you handled this situation so well, or congratulations, this is just such a. This is such a nice achievement for you. Or taking the time just to recognize their achievement in a very thoughtful, explicit way. Especially men to men. I think that's the best gift you can give another man. My best friend Lee, on a regular basis, he will text me when he. I get choked up thinking about it. He'll literally. He'll literally text me. He'll say, me and my parents saw you on, on Bill Maher and we're just so proud of you.
- [43:05]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah, that is so nice.
- [43:07]
Claire Miller
Those are the gifts like, and everyone's different. Maybe people like stuff like, that's the, you know, that's the shit I remember. And wouldn't you know, my friend Lee is gay. And I think gay men have an easier time expressing their emotions than straight men. And just registering how important and meaningful that stuff has been for me has helped me be much more generous with my emotions. But that, in my opinion, that's true giving.
- [43:41]
Benjamin Spencer
We'll be right back after the break. If you're enjoying the show so far, hit follow and leave us a review on Profg Markets. Wherever you get your podcasts.
- [44:01]
Ed Mylett
Support for.
- [44:01]
Claire Miller
This episode comes from aws.
- [44:04]
Scott Galloway
AWS Generative AI gives you the tools.
- [44:07]
Claire Miller
To power your business forward with the security and speed of the world's most experienced cloud. Support for the show comes from Alex Partners. In business, disruption brings not only challenges, but opportunities. As artificial intelligence powers pivotal moments of change, Alex Partners is the consulting firm chief executives can rely on. Alex Partners is dedicated to making sure your company knows what really matters when it comes to AI. As part of their 2024 Tech Sector Report, Alex Partners spoke with nearly 350 tech executives from across North America and Europe to dig deeper into how tech companies are responding to these changing headwinds. And in their 2024 Digital Disruption Report, Alex Partners found that 88% of executives report seeing potential for growth from digital disruption, with 37% seeing significant or even extremely high positive impact on revenue growth. You can read both reports and learn how to convert digital disruption into revenue growth at www.alexpartners.com box that's www.alixpartners.com Vox in the face of disruption, businesses trust Alex Partners to get straight to the point and deliver results when it really matters.
- [45:24]
Ed Mylett
Support for this episode comes from AT and T what does it feel like to get the new iPhone 16 Pro with AT&T? Next up Anytime it's like when you first pick up those tongs and you're now the one running the grill. It's indescribable, like something you've never felt before. All the mouthwatering anticipation of new possibilities, whether that's making a perfect cheeseburger or treating your family to a grilled baked potato, which you know will forever change the way they look at potatoes with att. Next up Anytime you can feel this way again and again. Learn how to get the new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple Intelligence on AT&T and the latest iPhone every year with AT&T. Next up anytime ATT connecting changes everything. Apple Intelligence coming fall 2024 with Siri and device language set to US English. Some features and languages will be coming over the next year. $0 offer may not be available on future iPhones. Next up Anytime feature may be discontinued at any time, subject to change additional fees. Terms and restrictions apply. See att.com iPhone for details.
- [46:33]
Benjamin Spencer
We're back with Profg Markets. I want to move on to some things around what is essential to spending. Like what what kind of things in your life you find essential? I mean, we, we talk a lot about like discretionary versus non discretionary. And the the technical definition of non discretionary is like the stuff you can't live without. So, you know, food and housing costs and health insurance, et cetera. But I can imagine that as you get richer, that category sort of starts to expand. Like, you know, I sort of feel like I can't live without an iPhone at this point. Like that's sort of the way I think about it. So I guess my question for you is like, what stuff can you not live without at this point? What do you have to spend on and what is your approach to spending on those items?
- [47:28]
Claire Miller
This is gonna sound under the under the title of Infinite Douchebag. It would be really hard to lose my plane. I've gotten very used to having A plane. So, I mean, there's something around ramping your spending behind, making sure your spending lags your economics, because it's the joy you get from having something isn't as great as a disappointment if you lose it and can no longer do it, you get used to this shit really fast. So when I bought a plane seven years ago, the best piece of advice I got was a friend of mine who said, just make sure you have way more money than you need for this because you do not want to give it back. He's like, don't buy it until you know you can keep it. And that was what's been so rattling about being rich and then poor and then 2000 being rich and then poorer again in 2007-2008. Because to kind of step backwards. And I didn't really. Actually, I didn't step back materially because I'd never. I always lived below my means. But you step back from an emotional security standpoint, that is really frightening.
- [48:39]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah. I was going to ask, like, have you ever sort of downsized your lifestyle because you just couldn't afford it anymore?
- [48:45]
Claire Miller
Yeah, I did. And after the great financial recession hit in 2008, I had a loft in New York. I had to sell that. I just didn't have any money. I wasn't making any money. And all of a sudden I was. Had negative net worth, so I had to sell my loft. That was very disappointing. I loved. It was kind of just humiliating to be whatever. I was 43 and have to sell my house to pay my bills. You know, I was never in debt, you know.
- [49:09]
Benjamin Spencer
But were you with a partner at that point?
- [49:11]
Claire Miller
No, I was single at that point, but it still felt really fucking humiliating. So, yeah, I've had to step back, and I think most people have to step back at some point maybe. I mean, if you're really responsible. Hopefully not. But I got crushed.
- [49:25]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah, I feel like that's a really. That's a big one for me, just the prospect of downsizing. The way I have it in my head right now is like, you know, I have. I'm doing forced savings, so I'm good. I'm being responsible.
- [49:41]
Claire Miller
How are you doing that? How are you doing for savings?
- [49:43]
Benjamin Spencer
I have the automatic 5% that goes into the 401k and then you match that. And then I'm also just immediately when I get at the beginning of the year, I just take a chunk of cash and just put it in the IRA and that's the end of it.
- [49:56]
Claire Miller
I just want to say you're, like, light years ahead of where I was when I was 25. I wasn't even thinking that way.
- [50:02]
Benjamin Spencer
And part of the reason I do that is I want to spend a lot. And this might sound dumb, but I like nice things and I like nice restaurants, and I like going out to cool places, and I spend a lot of money on all of those experiences. And part of it for me is that I want to kind of surround myself in that world and get myself deep in that position, such that I have no choice but to go on and make a lot of money. And I think the scary thing for me is the idea that at some point, you know, this podcast stops being successful, and I sort of find myself at a crossroads, and suddenly I can't do all of this anymore. I can't live this cool life in New York. And that's the. That's the thing that I'm gambling with. I need to make sure that I'm working so hard that I can keep up, and I can sort of see how this is going to be a potential slippery slope in the future when it gets bigger and bigger, when you start dealing with kids and, you know, I'm going to start thinking, oh, they need to go to the best school, and, you know, I need to have a house in this area where all the cool people are. And I can feel that sort of like treadmill feeling, but I almost don't want to get off because I don't want to give myself permission to stop working really hard.
- [51:28]
Claire Miller
In a way, I wouldn't look at it that way. I mean, you go to the playbook you played. When I was your age, I didn't appreciate nor had access to nice things and nice restaurants. I just didn't. You know, you're at a point, Ed, where you shouldn't be saving 5%, you should be saving 10% and then the 5%, you know, 15%. Because if you just do the math, it's like what Brian Chesky from Airbnb says. You can have it all. You just can't have it all at once. And the reason why I have so much balance in my life and so much opulence was because I had a lack of it when I was your age. And that is, I was very disciplined. I worked a lot. I didn't spend a lot of money. You know, occasionally went out to dinner or whatever took, you know, went to Club Med in Mexico. That was my big vacation when I was your age. But you just gotta recognize that some of the. That indulgence now. And I'm not gonna tell you not to do it. It's just a trade off if you can find a way. I mean my, my out of control opulence now is a function of the fact I didn't have it when I was young. I could have had more of it, but I wouldn't have been able to. For the most part, I was constantly investing, reinvesting in startups, reinvesting in the stock market. And then sometimes I'd lose it all, which hurt. But I was always putting myself in a position that if the wins kicked up and my sales were up, I was going to make a lot of money because I was constantly reinvesting in my own companies, constantly reinvesting in the markets and not consuming a lot. I think it is very difficult when you're a guy your age especially. I know you have a girlfriend, but you guys don't live together, right?
- [53:02]
Benjamin Spencer
Oh, we do.
- [53:03]
Claire Miller
You do live together. Jesus Christ.
- [53:05]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah.
- [53:05]
Claire Miller
Okay, so you're on your way by the way.
- [53:07]
Benjamin Spencer
That's been a big. That's helpful in terms of just creating a more responsible lifestyle. For sure. Yeah.
- [53:13]
Claire Miller
You know, we always say greatness in the agency of others. Wealth is in the agency of others. One, your ability to attract and retain really talented people, especially if you're an entrepreneur or just find them. Go to a place where you're working with other talented people you want to be able to. Where you, if you look left and right and think these people are talented, you're going to make more money.
- [53:30]
Benjamin Spencer
That's sort of what I mean. Right. Like I kind of, I, I feel like I need to spend to be there. You know, I need to go out with my friends and go to these social events. Like one of the questions I had on this list here of like situations. I'm not going to be specific about who this is, but you know, here's a situation. Your friend is getting married and has planned a very big bachelor party and you look at the agenda and you realize you're going to have to spend a lot of money on flights, a lot of money on meals, on alcohol and going out. And it's all beginning to get a very pretty uncomfortable. But this is a really good friend and you don't want to just not show up and let them down. So in a way it's sort of like you need to be spending in order to maintain relationships at a certain point in life, I feel like. So I guess. How do you think about that?
- [54:25]
Claire Miller
If he's a really close friend, you should be able to say to him, boss, this is a strain for us. I make really good money and it's a strain for me. I can't imagine what it's like for some of the other guys. And quite frankly, you're being a little bit selfish here. You're putting us in a difficult position because nobody wants to say no. Is there any way you can ratchet this back a bit? So I don't think that's unreasonable. You're at that age where you're just going to spend a disproportionate amount of money on the wedding industrial complex.
- [54:48]
Benjamin Spencer
It's ridiculous.
- [54:49]
Claire Miller
That's just going to happen. And it's going to be worse for your partner because she's going to have to buy bridesmaid dresses and wait.
- [54:56]
Benjamin Spencer
Way worse for women, for sure.
- [54:58]
Claire Miller
And then go to hotels that are overpriced because, you know, unless they bought out the hotel. But yeah, that's just part of. That's just the tax that you pay to William Sonoma.
- [55:07]
Benjamin Spencer
Sonoma tax. I love that. That's right.
- [55:09]
Claire Miller
Just part of it.
- [55:10]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah, it's. I guess it's just. I bring it up because I find it interesting how as you age, it's like just the. The financial burdens just accumulate in ways that you didn't really expect. Like, the wedding tax that you just described is a very real tax and planning for those things, I'd like to do it as best I can, but I think it is very difficult because costs just sort of come up out of nowhere. And the one I'm going to bring up now, which is probably the biggest one, is children. Like, children are a huge cost. So my question for you is, were you surprised by how much kids cost? And two, do you. To what extent do you sort of budget in the cost of your children? Like, how do you think of your kids as that line item on your income statement?
- [56:08]
Claire Miller
Well, this is not financial advice, but my experience with kids was that when I had them later in life, so I was a little bit more economically secure. You know, I had my son when I was 41, 42. And for me, it was actually. I think part of the reason I'm as wealthy as I am now is because I had kids. And the reason why is because I just scared the shit out of me and it got me very focused. I think having kids when you're younger, if you don't have dual income, would be really financially stressful. Also, something I did once I had kids was. And what I would recommend is ask yourself can you make a lifestyle arbitrage? And this was my partner's idea. She said, let's move to Florida. We're going to be able to cut our rent in half, if not by 60%. We're going to cut our private school tuition for our two boys by 2/3. Grace Church wanted $58,000 a year and for me to bring that lady muffins. And then they ask you, are you philanthropic? Like, are you going to give us more money Anyways, So we immediately cut our burn. And. And that was her idea. And she was smart. She's like, no, we're gonna love Florida. It's nice. Stop being such a snob. I'm like, I'm not going to Florida. They're all yeehaws down there driving F150s and shooting at each other and their guns and everything. And she's like, don't be an idiot.
- [57:24]
Benjamin Spencer
You love that stuff anyway.
- [57:25]
Claire Miller
Yeah. All those better things, life. But what I did do that was smart. I took all of the money that we saved and I put it into the market. And so immediately, I think, combined, we were probably making, you know, I was probably making between, I don't know, 400,000 and 700,000 a year between the two of us. And then we took that 14% swing in savings and all the other savings. We took about 150, 200 grand a year, and we put it into stocks for 10 years, from 2010 to 2020.
- [57:53]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah. I mean, the thing that really shocks me is that, I mean, just how crazy it's gotten.400 to $700,000 a year, and you got priced out of New York. Like, it's unbelievable. That's the part that I can't really wrap my head around in, especially living in New York. And that's sort of what this treadmill feeling is. It's like, in order to just get some basics done in New York, you need crazy amounts.
- [58:21]
Claire Miller
There's a reason why people are moving into Texas.
- [58:23]
Benjamin Spencer
Right.
- [58:24]
Claire Miller
And there's a reason why the south is economically booming. A lifestyle arbitrage is. You should always be thinking about a lifestyle arbitrage, especially in a world of remote work. Where could I move? Don't be a snob. A lot of people are really happy in Atlanta, and economic security is an enormous ointment for stress and anxiety. And if you are blessed with mobility, you want to take advantage of it.
- [58:47]
Benjamin Spencer
I'm just going to start wrapping us up here. I know you've gotten a lot into philanthropy recently. We were talking about what is Essential in life. Is philanthropy essential to you at this point? Is it something that you budget for and, you know, are you trying to make more room for giving?
- [59:08]
Claire Miller
You know, I've always said that my. One of my biggest unlocks is my atheism, because I really think having a strong sense of the finite nature of life creates a lot of courage and a lot of boldness to share your emotions, to take risks, to tell people you care about them, to seize the moment, to embrace now. And one of the things I decided when I sold my company in 2017, I sold it for 160 million bucks. I was worth somewhere between 50 and 100 million, depending on how you would calculate my private investments. And I thought, all right, I'm going to put in $25 million. I'm going to go raise another 250 or 300, start a private equity fund, because I thought, I need to be a billionaire by the time I'm 65. That was my goal. And I thought, the only way I'm going to do that is through a private equity fund. I have the credibility, the contacts. I'm going to raise a fund. I got the first. I think I got about $50 million in commitments just from three calls. I was going to start a consumer private equity fund right after I sold L2. And then I thought a friend of mine got sick, passed away. And I thought, okay, this is going really fast. I have enough money to live really well. I didn't have enough money for a plane, but I had enough money for everything else. At that point, I thought, okay, why do I need to be a billionaire? I thought, well, all right, would I have more influence? Maybe not much more. Would I be able to do anything else? No. I can pretty much do anything I want right now. So I made a conscious decision that I would change my approach to money. And it was the following. Once I hit my number, which I was about to, anything above that, I would do one of two things. I would either spend it or I would give it away. I love spending money. I'm selfish. I like nice things, nice experiences. But every year I look at my net worth, and if it's up $7 million and I've spent four, I'll give three away. I do not need to increase my net worth. Hoarding is a disease that infects a lot of Americans. There's just no re. I don't begrudge billionaires. I don't think they're as happy as me. I don't think there's any reason to Hoard money, spend it in a capitalist society. There's so many amazing things to spend it on. And then if you still have more money than what you need to spend to have an amazing life, for God's sakes, why wouldn't you find, if you believe young men are struggling and it freaks you out that four and five people in a morgue have died from suicide are men. Why wouldn't you give money to an amazing charity with really talented people focusing on mental health, you know, the JET Foundation. Why wouldn't you, if you are constantly lecturing at people about the misgivings or the moral corruption of the university system and how we need more vocational training? Well, if you have the money to start a vocational problem, why the fuck wouldn't you? And you know what? It feels really good. It makes me feel strong. It makes me feel nice. It's not even an ethical thing. It makes me feel like a baller. And also, just some of it is an overdue nod to California taxpayers. I give a lot of money back to UCLA and Berkeley because they spent so much money on me. Despite the fact I was such a fuck up, California taxpayers kept giving me another chance. So this is a great position to be in. But once you hit your number, why on earth would you not do one of two things, Spend it or give it away?
- [62:23]
Benjamin Spencer
Well, this has been great final thought for me. So I feel like spending is kind of like the truest, most accurate reflection of ourselves. Like, you know, we tell ourselves these stories about, oh, this is who I am and, and this is what I like. And then we take these personality tests to sort of like figure out, oh yeah, I'm kind of like a EQZ or whatever the fuck that test is. But it's like if you just look at how you spend, it's like this data set testimony that says with no biases, like, this is who you are, this is what you care about, this is what you want to achieve, and these are the people who you want to impress. Like, I feel like if you want to understand who you are, you just look at, look at your bank statement. So we've been talking about your spending. We've been discussing it on this podcast. So I'm wondering, what do you think your spending says about who you are as a person?
- [63:21]
Claire Miller
I'm an atheist. I'm generous and I'm a father. I recognize the finite nature of life. I'm spending a lot of money on experiences. I think I'm a generous person. I give away a lot of money. I'M generous with my friends, and I'm very focused on being a really generous provider for my kids and my partner. Those are the things I aspire to. It also says, quite frankly, I'm indulgent. I'm selfish. I spend a lot of money on my own comfort and my own joy and my own. I do frivolous things that make me feel important and good. I spend money on things. I spend money on dumb shit because I'm a bit of a narcissist. I mean, that's an interesting way to look at things. So there's some very good things about my spending. There's some things I'm also probably not that proud of in terms of how I equip. I spend too much money on nightlife and alcohol. That's not good at my age. I have nice things, quite frankly, to probably impress other people that I shouldn't need to impress. How do you know? I'm building a house in Aspen. I tell you, that's sort of fucking pathetic, isn't it? So you're right. It does say a lot of things about me. It says a lot of good things and a lot of bad things. You know, I'm human.
- [64:45]
Benjamin Spencer
This episode was produced by Claire Miller and engineered by Benjamin Spencer. Our associate producer is Alison Weiss. Mia Silverio is our research lead. Jessica Lang is our research associate. Drew Burrows is our technical director, and Catherine Dillon is our executive producer. Thank you for listening to Profg Markets from the Vox Media podcast network. Join us on Thursday for our conversation with Michael Saylor, only on the Prof. G Markets feed.
- [65:52]
Claire Miller
What you're saying is you were irresponsible, but it was planned. You made a conscious decision to be irresponsible. That's my room service. It's. Speaking of irresponsible, I just ordered a shit ton of beef. It probably cost a little bit. Yeah, yeah. Hold on. I'll be back in a second. You can leave it there. Cause I'm on a podcast, so you can leave it in there. I'll bring it out. Thank you, sir. Thank you. So what you're saying is you made a responsible decision to be irresponsible, and I think that's okay. You know, occasionally it's fun to splurge. And, you know, when I would argue, the splurges when you're young are. I think you remember them more. It is clearly bonus time. You guys plan this. You guys so plan this. Scottish. Scott, do you think it's important to be generous with your employees who don't have as much money as you.
- [66:53]
Benjamin Spencer
Where does that rank in your priorities?
- [66:56]
Claire Miller
Scott how do you think your employees get by and what could you do to make their lives easier?
- [67:01]
Benjamin Spencer
Yeah, yeah, something. Something to think on.
- [67:07]
Claire Miller
Support for this episode comes from aws.
- [67:10]
Scott Galloway
AWS Generative AI gives you the tools.
- [67:13]
Claire Miller
To power your business forward with the security and speed of the world's most experienced cloud. Support for this podcast comes from Stripe. Stripe is a payments and billing platform supporting millions of businesses around the world, including companies like uber, BMW and DoorDash. Stripe has helped countless startups and established companies alike reach their growth targets, make progress on their missions and reach more customers globally. The platform offers a suite of specialized features and tools to fast track growth.
- [67:43]
Scott Galloway
Like Stripe Billing, which makes it easy.
- [67:44]
Claire Miller
To handle subscription based charges, invoicing and all recurring revenue management needs. You can learn how Stripe helps companies of all sizes make progress@swepe.com that's stripe.com to learn more.
- [67:56]
Ed Mylett
Stripe Make Progress.