Ryan Begelman

Drop servicing: drop shipping but for a service

Shaan explains 'drop servicing' (a term from Ryan Beagleman): instead of shipping a product you don't hold, you fulfill an on-demand service through contractors, marketing it yourself and only paying when an order comes in. It's a low-capital way to start.

“So people have heard of drop shipping, which is basically like You market on Facebook or wherever else, you sell a product to a customer, but it's a product that you don't hold in inventory. As soon as you get the order from a customer, you place an order with your manufacturer, the manufacturer ships it directly to the person. So it's a way to do e-commerce without having to buy and hold inventory because you're just directly shipping to customers straight from the factory.”

Steal thisSell an on-demand service you fulfill with contractors, marketing on Facebook and only paying once an order lands.

The investing Ikigai: curiosity, network, fundamentals

Ryan Begelman says his best returns over ~60 angel/real estate deals came at the intersection of what he's genuinely curious about, where he's well networked, and where fundamentals are strong. His healthcare bets (good fundamentals, no curiosity or network) underperformed his Coinbase, Warby Parker, and Uber bets.

“the ones that generally perform well are the ones that are at the intersection of what I'm naturally curious about, where I'm well networked, and where there's good fundamentals. So it's a similar like Ikigai concept where— and so my main, my main filter for, for making investments now is is this something I'm actually sincerely fascinated by? I'm regularly reading about and I'm well networked in.”

Steal thisOnly make investments that sit at the intersection of genuine curiosity, an unfair network advantage, and strong fundamentals.

Your network gets you IN, not value-add after

Both Shaan and Ryan argue the investor 'value-add' after a deal is mostly a load of shit. Ryan reframes network as access: he got into Uber early because of his network, and missed early SpaceX because he wasn't networked there yet.

“I'm saying I got in early to say Uber because of the network. Because of my network. Yeah. And I can't get in early. Like I tried getting in early, you know, to say like, uh, SpaceX, like I wasn't well networked then. Now I became better networked around SpaceX later and I ended up investing later, but like there's certain areas where I have an unfair advantage to getting investments.”

Steal thisUse your network to get into great deals early, not to add value afterward.

Ryan's friends put a quarter of their net worth into BitClout and 5-10x'd

Ryan describes friends from his Summit days staying up all night trading creator coins like Chuck Norris and Gwyneth Paltrow. Some with only ~$50K saved put in a quarter of their net worth and 5-10x'd in 4-5 days, though none could withdraw.

“we're all texting all night. Hey, who's buying Chuck Norris? Has anyone figured out— like, oh, I just 10x'd on Gwyneth Paltrow. Like, a number of my friends, like guys who worked for me at Summit who have like maybe $50,000 saved, have put in like a quarter of their net worth, and in the last like 4 or 5 days have 5 to 10x their money.”

The world's smallest family office: low 8 figures, two hedge fund hires

Ryan's friend made low eight figures selling a company and, instead of a wealth manager, hired two ex-hedge-fund pros (an analyst and a senior associate) for ~$500K/year plus carry to manage his money. Ryan thought it was insane in 2016, but the friend is now up a lot, with returns ~100x Ryan's.

“my friend instead hired two hedge fund guys, an analyst and like a full, like a real like associate vice president, like a senior guy at like a hedge fund. And is paying them like, you know, I don't know, like half a million collectively in salary a year, which is like a very high percentage of his money and, and giving them as well carried interest and upside. And I, at the time, this was in 2016, I thought that's the craziest thing I've ever heard for the world's smallest family office.”

Steal thisIf you have strong deal flow but no time to underwrite, hire the analyst muscle to chase it down rather than letting deals slip.

Concentrate to get rich, diversify to stay rich

Ryan argues that when you don't have much money, you should pour it into building yourself, your learning, and your network (coaching, courses, deals you learn from) rather than chasing index returns. Diversification is for once you're already rich.

“somebody said to me, you know, concentrate to get rich, diversify to stay rich. Like, when you don't have that much money, like, put your money into building yourself up, building up your learning, building up your network. And then later when you're, when you're much richer, then diversify and have a, you know, an allocation and a portfolio like that.”

Steal thisWhen you're not rich yet, concentrate your money into learning and network; save diversification for after you've made it.

Turn a country house into a $2.5M chef's-kitchen cooking-class business

Ryan Begelman pitches buying a house in a destination town, renovating it into a chef's kitchen, and running high-end cooking classes. He runs the math: 2 classes/day at $500/head, 10 people each, 5 days a week, 50 weeks = ~$2.5M revenue at ~30% margin.

“you buy a house outside of a major city. In a destination people want to go, like Hudson Valley, New York, and then you renovate the kitchen, you make it a chef's kitchen, and you give high-end cooking class experiences. I've done a bunch of these myself, but I was doing the math on it, and if you do 2 classes a day, $500 a person, and you have 10 people per class, and you do that 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year, it's about $2.5 million of revenue, and you could generate probably at least 30% margin.”

Steal thisBuy a destination-town house, build a chef's kitchen, and sell $500 high-end cooking-class experiences run by hired chefs.

BizNow: $20M sales, $6M profit, sold for $50M

Shaan recaps Begelman's BizNow Media—a newsletter and events business covering commercial real estate—which did $20M in sales and ~$6M in profit and sold for $50M.

“Ryan started or helped start BizNow Media, a company that did a newsletter and events business, did $20 million in sales and about $6 million in profit, sold it for $50 million.”

Summit started by cold-calling 19 people

Begelman recounts that Summit Series began with just 19 people they cold-called. Those 19 invited their friends, who invited their friends, snowballing into a few thousand attendees.

“Summit started with just 19 people. You know, we cold-called them, and those 19 then invited their friends, and then they invited their friends, and, and it just snowballed until it was, you know, a few thousand people getting together.”

Tony Hsieh's 'meet your parents' guest filter for Summit

At a White House event, Tony Hsieh told the Summit founders to ban anyone they wouldn't invite into their home to meet their parents, no matter how impressive. That 'kind-hearted, participatory people' test became Summit's second guest criterion.

“is there anyone here who like you wouldn't invite over to your house, like meet your parents. And we were like, yeah, of course, like there's some really incredible venture capitalists and people here that we think are kind of dicks, but you know, they're here because everyone wants to meet them. And he was like, nope, they can't come back. He's like, if you want to build serious culture and you want to have people that, you know, like hold the values of this, then you need to only have, you know, a certain kind, like you need to have kind-hearted participatory people.”

The Virgin model: license your brand and take 7% on every leg

Begelman explains licensing a media brand instead of selling it: e.g. Barstool could license to Penn, take ~7% of the betting app, get paid for advertising it, and even run a venture fund investing in the JV—taking a piece on every leg. Barry Sternlicht runs this stack across Starwood Capital, brands, and hotels.

“Instead of them being bought by Penn Gaming, I think it was, they could have licensed their brand to Penn. Penn could have spun up an app for sports betting and Barstool maybe takes 7% of it. And in addition to that, Barstool maybe gets paid for advertising so that they advertise the new app. And in addition to that, if they want to take it a step further, they could even raise like a venture fund. And invest in the new joint venture so that they're basically taking a piece of the pie on every leg.”

Steal thisLicense your brand to an operator for ~7%, get paid to market the JV, and run a fund that invests in it—take a cut on every leg.

Sternlicht stacked Baccarat: crystal factory, hotel brand, and the fund behind it

Begelman marvels at Barry Sternlicht buying the old Baccarat Crystal company, spinning a hotel brand off it, licensing that brand to a Manhattan skyscraper developer, filling the hotel with crystal from his own factory, and backing it all with his own private equity fund.

“He buys the Baccarat Crystal company. It's been around forever. He then takes that brand and he creates a hotel company off of it and he licenses the hotel brand to a development company that builds a skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan called the Baccarat Hotel. He fills the hotel with Baccarat Crystal, which he buys from his own factory. And then his private equity fund is the equity behind all these operations.”

A $3B PE fund's carry: splitting $600M among ~10 partners

Begelman lays out PE economics: a $3B real estate fund returning 2x over 5 years produces $3B profit; the firm keeps 20% carry = $600M, split among the partners (with Carlyle's holdco taking roughly half).

“we had a $3 billion real estate fund that I was in. There's like 10 people in the acquisitions group, but a bunch of people in asset management. $3 billion, if we return 2 times, which is like kind of the bare minimum for success over 5 years, then we keep 20% of the upside. So we basically, we turn $3 billion into $6 billion. That's $3 billion of profit. So 20% of that is $600 million. We split $600 million.”

Pick your business by its exit multiple before you start

Begelman's top framework: know exit multiples before starting. Trade expos sell for ~12x, newsletters for less, conferences in the middle. High multiples signal durability, barriers to entry, and supplier/customer diversity—so reverse-engineer toward high-multiple business models.

“Before starting a business, think about the exit multiples of that business. I wish I had done this when we started, when we got involved in BizNow. If I had known that trade associate, like trade expos sell for 12 times, but newsletters sell for less and conferences sell for somewhere in the middle, unless you— caveat there, newsletters at scale can sell for more. But I just didn't realize that. And so it's not so much that you're trying to sell your company, it's that high exit multiples mean something. They mean that the company is probably more enduring.”

Steal thisBefore starting, research exit multiples across the industry and build the highest-multiple, hardest-to-disrupt version.

Take many shots on goal—but only at the same target

Begelman's second framework: take multiple shots, but not at wildly different ideas (that spreads you thin). At BizNow they ran 12 newsletter flavors—same editor, processes, and best practices—then cut the losers and doubled down on the winner.

“take multiple shots on goal because most ideas don't succeed, but you don't want to take multiple shots on goal that are very different because now you're having the stress and you're spreading yourself too thin. So like, I'm not saying start the boring company and start, you know, Tesla at the same time. What I'm saying is with BizNow, we launched a newsletter business and we tried 12 different flavors of that business.”

Steal thisRun many permutations of ONE concept on shared infrastructure, then kill losers and double down on the winner.

The contingent-yes spreadsheet that filled a $5,000 event

To launch BizNow's $5,000 Escape event, Begelman got 3 impressive CEOs to commit only if others on a 40-name spreadsheet came. He handed each person the list, collected contingent yeses from everyone, then took deposits before ever booking the hotel.

“I went to the most impressive first 3 people that I could get a meeting with, and I got them to say yes, but they'd only say, they said only yes if the other people on my list came. I actually handed them a spreadsheet. I was like, here's, here's 40 crazy names. If I can get, you know, half of these people to come, will you come? And they said yes, contingent on that. Then I went to those crazy people and I said, hey, these amazing people said they would come if you'll come. Will you come if they come? And then they all said yes.”

Steal thisCollect contingent commitments from a named guest list, then close everyone by showing the list is filling—book the venue last.

The contingent-yes spreadsheet that filled a $5,000 event

To launch BizNow's $5,000 Escape event, Begelman got 3 impressive CEOs to commit only if others on a 40-name spreadsheet came. He handed each person the list, collected contingent yeses from everyone, then took deposits before ever booking the hotel.

“I went to the most impressive first 3 people that I could get a meeting with, and I got them to say yes, but they'd only say, they said only yes if the other people on my list came. I actually handed them a spreadsheet. I was like, here's, here's 40 crazy names. If I can get, you know, half of these people to come, will you come? And they said yes, contingent on that. Then I went to those crazy people and I said, hey, these amazing people said they would come if you'll come. Will you come if they come? And then they all said yes.”

Steal thisCollect contingent commitments from a named guest list, then close everyone by showing the list is filling—book the venue last.

Sell on value, never email the price—walk them through it

Begelman's high-ticket sales advice: corporations value time over dollars, so sell on value not price. Never email a proposal; always schedule a call, walk the buyer through the price, and be proud of it. First ask what's valuable to them so the price lands as a rounding error.

“Always schedule the next call and walk the person through the proposal and walk them through price and be proud of your price. If you think you really have, you know, real value to offer, then, you know, lean into that and be willing to ask. And one thing I'll do is before I ask, that I will ask people how— what is valuable to them.”

Steal thisNever email a price. Schedule a call, surface what the buyer values first, then walk them through the price with pride.

$50K each turned into $1B in distributions, fully bootstrapped

Ryan Begelman and partner Elliott each put roughly $50,000 into BizNow Media in 2008, then over 7.5 years generated over $1 billion in distributions from profits and the eventual sale — with no venture capital, lenders, or syndicate.

“Like, you know, Elliot and I each put in about $50,000 at the end of 2008. So a little over $50,000 total. And, you know, and over the course of 7.5 years generated over $1 billion of, of distributions either from profits or from selling the company.”

Powder Mountain is the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the US

Bought by Summit in 2012 for $40-50M, Powder Mountain spans 10,000 acres and is the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the United States — bigger than Vail — yet runs on just 7 lifts. Its first chairlift was built by a sheepherder in 1972.

“It's actually the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the United States. And I think now Canada as well with Whistler. So it's huge. It's bigger than Vail, but it's got 7 lifts.”

Powder Mountain is the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the US

Bought by Summit in 2012 for $40-50M, Powder Mountain spans 10,000 acres and is the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the United States — bigger than Vail — yet runs on just 7 lifts. Its first chairlift was built by a sheepherder in 1972.

“It's actually the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the United States. And I think now Canada as well with Whistler. So it's huge. It's bigger than Vail, but it's got 7 lifts.”

The chartered-Boeing pitch: fly 50 people to a mountaintop and ask for $1M each

To raise money for Powder Mountain, Summit gave 50 hand-picked attendees a card telling them to cancel their flights, then chartered a Boeing with a comedian onboard, bused them to the mountaintop overlooking four states, and pitched them on putting in $1M each for the future home of Summit.

“And on that final day, we chartered a, a big Boeing aircraft and we had a bus ready and we took everyone onto this plane where we had like a comedian perform on the plane. We did this whole fun kind of experience and we brought everyone to this crazy place, Powder Mountain, drove up to the top of the mountain.”

Find businesses to start by copying what PE firms are buying

Begelman's heuristic for sourcing profitable business ideas: look at the companies private equity firms acquire (they buy profitable ones), then build a smaller version of that business to start.

“Well, you know, one, you can look at who private equity firms are buying because they're generally buying profitable businesses and then figure out a smaller version of that business to start.”

Steal thisStudy what PE firms acquire, then start a smaller version of one of those profitable businesses.

Find businesses to start by copying what PE firms are buying

Begelman's heuristic for sourcing profitable business ideas: look at the companies private equity firms acquire (they buy profitable ones), then build a smaller version of that business to start.

“Well, you know, one, you can look at who private equity firms are buying because they're generally buying profitable businesses and then figure out a smaller version of that business to start.”

Steal thisStudy what PE firms acquire, then start a smaller version of one of those profitable businesses.

The 3-column idea machine: marketing x monetization x markets

Begelman generates ideas with three columns — marketing tactics (PPC, SEO), monetization methods (tickets, courses), and markets/audiences — then cross-pollinates them into permutations. Applied to acquisitions, he buys a company missing two of these levers and adds them.

“You've got all your marketing tactics in one column that you could study, like pay-per-click advertising, SEO, et cetera. And then you've got another column for like monetization methods, right? You could like sell tickets to an event, you could sell courses, like there's all these ways to monetize an audience. And then third are markets and like, you know, go study a bunch of markets. And once you've studied all these 3 columns, then you just cross-pollinate them a bunch and you come up with just different permutations.”

Steal thisList marketing tactics, monetization methods, and markets in three columns, then cross-pollinate them to generate business permutations.

MasterClass for doctors, pre-sold to 20 doctors for $80K

Build a subscription video service where top doctors teach others how to build successful practices. Avoid raising venture like MasterClass did by first selling 20 doctors a $4-5K seat in a live Zoom interview series, using that initial $80K to build the product.

“But the way to get that off the ground initially without having to raise venture, like Masterclass raised a lot of money, is you go around and you persuade 20 doctors to pay, you know, $4,000 or $5,000 to be a part of a live Zoom meeting interview with other doctors that have built more successful practices than them. And you use that initial $80,000 from those first 20 doctors to start to build your service or start to build your offering.”

Steal thisPre-sell a high-ticket live cohort before building the product, and fund the build with that cash instead of raising venture.

Drop servicing: be the marketing funnel, fulfill via Fiverr

Productized services applied dropshipping-style: build a slick brand (e.g. best logos in the world), market on Facebook, and fulfill every order by hiring Fiverr contractors abroad. The buyer thinks you have in-house designers in Manhattan; they're really contractors in Ukraine, and you keep the margin.

“So I built a website that's like, we make the best logos in the world. I go on Facebook and market my website, and then I go on Fiverr and I hire contractors around the world to actually fulfill the orders and provide that service., and I'm essentially this like middleman. But you know, the buyer doesn't know that. The buyer thinks that I've got, you know, my designers working in my office, you know, in Manhattan, but they're really in Ukraine and they're really just contractors.”

Steal thisBrand and market a productized service, then fulfill every order through Fiverr agencies abroad and pocket the spread.

Harvest Hosts: one guy, low 7-figure profit, run from Vail

Joel Holland bought Harvest Hosts, a $60-80/yr membership letting RVers park free at 1,400 wineries, improved the website and marketing, and grew it to low 7 figures in profit — running it from Vail with one full-time employee and a few contractors. Begelman holds him up as the entrepreneur we should idolize over Musk and Bezos.

“And, uh, yeah, it's a membership company with low churn and super happy customers. And, you know, Joel runs it with one full-time employee and a handful of contractors, and he lives in Vail, Colorado. And like this, by the way, this is the kind of entrepreneur that I feel like should be our heroes.”

Entrepreneurship as a vehicle for freedom, then a separate LLC for moonshots

Begelman frames entrepreneurship as buying freedom first: get one business to profitability and self-sufficiency, hire management so you're not working it full-time, and only then spin up a separate LLC for the crazy moonshot — go buy a mountain or launch a WeWork.

“And then if you still want to do your crazy fun project or moonshot, set up a separate LLC, hire better management for your existing company so that you're not working full-time on your company that makes you your living. And then, you know, go buy a mountain, go launch WeWork, you know, whatever that is.”

Steal thisGet one business to profitability and hire it out, then ring-fence your moonshot in a separate LLC so it can't sink your livelihood.

Refinery29's 29Rooms: lit so every photo is your best, sponsors fund the marketing

Begelman breaks down the new event model: lease a cheap empty warehouse for a few weekends, sell $50 tickets that move fast, get 29 local artists to build branded immersive rooms (one per sponsor), and light every room like a studio so attendees' photos become free Instagram marketing — then sell alcohol on top.

“Oh, and here's the genius part. They light it like it's like, like you're on a studio. Like they light it with like, so that every picture you take is the best picture you've ever taken, which is really genius. It costs a bunch of money to rent all the lighting equipment, but that's what creates a lot of the free marketing for them.”

Steal thisLight a physical experience like a photo studio so every attendee's photo is their best ever — they'll post it and market you for free.

The McDonald's structure: hold the brand, raise capital per location

To build a multi-location concept without venture, own a holding company 100% that owns all the IP, brand, and systems; spin up each new location as its own LLC that raises its own capital and licenses the brand for ~5% of revenue. Investors bet on a single location while you compound value in the holdco — like McDonald's or Marriott.

“And so you make, make each location its own LLC with its own investors, but, but you ultimately own 100% of the holding company and you're making a percentage of revenue off of every single location.”

Steal thisPut brand and IP in a holdco you own 100%, then fund each location as a separate LLC that licenses the brand for ~5% of revenue.

Virgin-style: license your audience's brand to operators who build the business

Like Virgin licensing its brand to a cruise CEO, an audience business (e.g. The Hustle) could raise a fund, find operators who know hotels or experiential agencies, and joint-venture: supply the brand, audience, and capital in exchange for ~5% of revenue and ~30% equity while the operator builds and runs it.

“We will give you the capital and we will market and we will give you our brand. And we want 5% of revenue and we also want to own, you know, 30% of the equity. And you guys build the hotels.”

Steal thisMonetize an audience by licensing your brand plus capital to expert operators for ~5% of revenue and ~30% equity, and let them build the business.

Trade shows are 50-60% margin businesses with huge moats

Begelman pitches a rescue-dog Westminster as a trade show, noting trade shows typically run 50-60% margins, scale well, and carry huge barriers to entry. The attraction (the dogs) draws crowds while a surrounding exhibit hall sells booths to brands like Chewy.

“I mean, it's basically like building a giant trade show because not only could you— and I love trade shows, they're, they're like usually like 50, 60% margin businesses and scale and have huge barriers to entry”

Buy trade shows from sleepy nonprofit trade associations and run them better

Trade associations (nonprofits) have been known to sell their trade shows to for-profits. Because the nonprofit doesn't run the show efficiently or creatively, a for-profit operator can acquire it from an association with a large captive membership and grow it.

“And because they're a nonprofit, you know, they don't really run it as efficiently or as well or as creatively as they could. And they would buy that trade show and just be be a lot more creative with it and grow it.”

Steal thisAcquire an under-run trade show from a nonprofit trade association with a captive membership, then operate it for profit and grow it.

BizNow sold for $60M cash on $20M revenue, $7M profit

At the time of sale, BizNow was doing roughly $20M in revenue and $7M in profit, and sold for $60M in cash — all bootstrapped.

“And he grew it and eventually sold it for $60 million in cash. And at the time of the sale, it was doing like $20 million in revenue, $7 million in profit.”

BizNow sold for $60M cash on $20M revenue, $7M profit

At the time of sale, BizNow was doing roughly $20M in revenue and $7M in profit, and sold for $60M in cash — all bootstrapped.

“And he grew it and eventually sold it for $60 million in cash. And at the time of the sale, it was doing like $20 million in revenue, $7 million in profit.”

Summit Series raised $50M to buy a mountain by pre-selling land

After building Summit Series into an elite conference, Begelman convinced attendees to pre-buy land, collecting $50M to buy Powder Mountain so the community could continue year-round.

“And so he somehow convinced all these people to pre-buy land and he collected $50 million and went out and bought a mountain in which he turned into a— this thing called Powder Mountain.”

Document everything so you can sub people in fast

Begelman documented his entire hiring process and gave employees a handbook covering everything at the business — hard to build, but essential for onboarding talented people quickly and swapping roles.

“And at the company, the employees had a handbook that documented everything at the business. And it's really hard to do that, but it's so important to be able to sub people in and find talented people and get them onboarded really quickly.”

Steal thisMaintain a company handbook documenting every process so new hires can be subbed in and onboarded fast.

One operator, four ventures: BizNow, Summit, Powder Mountain, and a $30M fund

In the same week he sold BizNow, Begelman co-founded Summit (which became a ~$20M revenue business), bought Powder Mountain, and built a $30M venture fund plus a nonprofit — all run as an operator without outside capital.

“we, uh, co-founded Summit, which became also like a $20 million revenue business with, you know, thousands of customers. And, um, and as you mentioned, we bought Powder Mountain, which is the largest ski resort by acreage, 10,000 acres of skiable terrain in Utah with 7 lifts and hundreds of employees in the winter and a development team. And, and we've sold, you know, I think, uh, like $160 million worth of real estate at the project. We also built a $30 million venture fund called Summit Action”

One operator, four ventures: BizNow, Summit, Powder Mountain, and a $30M fund

In the same week he sold BizNow, Begelman co-founded Summit (which became a ~$20M revenue business), bought Powder Mountain, and built a $30M venture fund plus a nonprofit — all run as an operator without outside capital.

“we, uh, co-founded Summit, which became also like a $20 million revenue business with, you know, thousands of customers. And, um, and as you mentioned, we bought Powder Mountain, which is the largest ski resort by acreage, 10,000 acres of skiable terrain in Utah with 7 lifts and hundreds of employees in the winter and a development team. And, and we've sold, you know, I think, uh, like $160 million worth of real estate at the project. We also built a $30 million venture fund called Summit Action”

Hire an internal recruiter early — a talent pipeline pressures everyone to level up

Begelman argues companies wait far too long to hire a dedicated internal recruiter. A constant inflow of fresh talent both improves hires and pressures existing employees to perform, since they could be replaced.

“I'm always amazed by how large companies get before they hire a recruiter, because with the recruiter, you're just constantly seeing more candidates. You're going to get better people into your company. The people make a huge difference. And on top of it, when you have a pipeline of new fresh talent coming into your company constantly, it puts some pressure on everyone else who's already inside inside the company to level up because, you know, of course they could get replaced by like the new talent that's coming up through the ranks.”

Steal thisHire a full-time internal recruiter far earlier than feels necessary — a constant candidate pipeline raises both hiring quality and internal performance.

Hire an internal recruiter early — a talent pipeline pressures everyone to level up

Begelman argues companies wait far too long to hire a dedicated internal recruiter. A constant inflow of fresh talent both improves hires and pressures existing employees to perform, since they could be replaced.

“I'm always amazed by how large companies get before they hire a recruiter, because with the recruiter, you're just constantly seeing more candidates. You're going to get better people into your company. The people make a huge difference. And on top of it, when you have a pipeline of new fresh talent coming into your company constantly, it puts some pressure on everyone else who's already inside inside the company to level up because, you know, of course they could get replaced by like the new talent that's coming up through the ranks.”

Steal thisHire a full-time internal recruiter far earlier than feels necessary — a constant candidate pipeline raises both hiring quality and internal performance.

Filter hires for intelligence (top-30 school) AND hustle (drug dealers, bookies, promoters)

Begelman screens for high intelligence via top-30 university backgrounds, then layers a separate filter for hustle, favoring former party promoters, bookies, and drug dealers because smart-but-lazy people are common.

“I love hiring people who are, you know, drug dealers, bookies, you know, people who have hustle, people who are— I love party promoters, you know, I don't know what they're doing now during COVID but if you filter for high intelligence and you filter for— and the one way to filter for high intelligence is just look at people who are at top 30 universities. They've already done the job for you.”

Steal thisScreen separately for intelligence (top-30 school) and hustle (promoters, bookies, side-hustlers) — high intelligence alone often comes with laziness.

Filter hires for intelligence (top-30 school) AND hustle (drug dealers, bookies, promoters)

Begelman screens for high intelligence via top-30 university backgrounds, then layers a separate filter for hustle, favoring former party promoters, bookies, and drug dealers because smart-but-lazy people are common.

“I love hiring people who are, you know, drug dealers, bookies, you know, people who have hustle, people who are— I love party promoters, you know, I don't know what they're doing now during COVID but if you filter for high intelligence and you filter for— and the one way to filter for high intelligence is just look at people who are at top 30 universities. They've already done the job for you.”

Steal thisScreen separately for intelligence (top-30 school) and hustle (promoters, bookies, side-hustlers) — high intelligence alone often comes with laziness.

Sales test: get business cards from strangers in Times Square

Begelman built hiring tests tied to the actual job: writers had to write a profile and pitch story ideas, and salespeople were sent into Times Square to collect business cards from strangers off the street.

“I definitely had, you know, I had tests for writers where they would have to write a profile and write ideas for stories. That they would pitch us. I have, you know, I would give tests for salespeople. You know, if part of being a good salesperson was going to networking events, I'd have people go out in Times Square and get business cards from people off the street while we're serving them.”

Steal thisBuild a hiring test from the literal job — make sales candidates collect business cards from strangers, make writers pitch real story ideas.

Poach software sales reps to sell media — they run circles around media reps

Begelman hires across industries deliberately: he likes recruiting software sales reps into media companies because software reps, operating in a harder sales environment, outperform native media salespeople.

“Like, I love hiring salespeople for media companies who work in software because software sales reps can run circles around media sales reps, like, in general.”

Steal thisRecruit salespeople from a tougher adjacent industry (e.g. software into media) — they out-sell the natives.

LinkedIn poaching script: 'I thought you might know someone' — never 'we want you'

Begelman's outreach playbook: message prospects saying you're hiring and 'thought you might know someone' rather than expressing interest in them directly, to avoid their boss getting wind. He also cold-calls offices, hits the sales extension, and pitches.

“I would write like, hey, can we jump on a call? You know, we're interested. We're hiring for a position. I thought you might know someone. I learned my lesson the hard way. You don't say we're interested in you or you might get a call from like their boss pissed off. I would also cold call people at their office. I would literally Google Map them. Call their office and hit like, you know, hit 4 for sales”

Steal thisWhen poaching, frame it as 'thought you might know someone' — never say you want them directly, or their boss may find out.

The test as a filter: senior candidates who refuse it self-select out

Begelman runs a brief excitement screen, then requires a test as the next step. Candidates who balk at the test ('I'm too senior') get escalated to the CEO, who decides whether to persuade them — the resistance itself is signal.

“And then I would tell them that there's going to be, there's the first, the next step is a test. And if they said to me or my recruiter, like, that's ridiculous, you know, I'm too senior to take it, you know, or it just felt awkward, then they usually, if I had a recruiter, they would elevate it to me as the CEO. I would call and persuade them of like why this role is worth taking the test for.”