David Rubenstein: We took $5M and turned it into $500B
My First Million | 14 sep 2026 | 00:46:53
Sam's database on how long it takes to become a millionaire: https://clickhubspot.com/pnlv
Episode 861: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) sits down with David Rubenstein ( https://x.com/DM_Rubenstein ) to talk about turning Carlyle into $500B, his $14B miss, and the greatest business lessons in history.
—
Show Notes:
(0:00) Turning $5M into $500B
(5:13) Scrappy private equity
(11:58) Don’t fool yourself
(14:14) Turning down 20% of Amazon
(16:23) Recruiting big shots
(20:40) Finding the right partner
(22:02) Trade-offs
(27:39) Witnessing ascents to power
(31:40) The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
(33:37) History that repeats itself
(35:49) Recommended Reading
—
Links:
• Carlyl - https://www.carlyle.com/
• David’s books - https://www.davidrubenstein.com/books/
—
Check Out Sam's Stuff:
• Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm
—
Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
• Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/
Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., Members FDIC
• I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out:
beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge
My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /
Episode 861: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) sits down with David Rubenstein ( https://x.com/DM_Rubenstein ) to talk about turning Carlyle into $500B, his $14B miss, and the greatest business lessons in history.
—
Show Notes:
(0:00) Turning $5M into $500B
(5:13) Scrappy private equity
(11:58) Don’t fool yourself
(14:14) Turning down 20% of Amazon
(16:23) Recruiting big shots
(20:40) Finding the right partner
(22:02) Trade-offs
(27:39) Witnessing ascents to power
(31:40) The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
(33:37) History that repeats itself
(35:49) Recommended Reading
—
Links:
• Carlyl - https://www.carlyle.com/
• David’s books - https://www.davidrubenstein.com/books/
—
Check Out Sam's Stuff:
• Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm
—
Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
• Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/
Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., Members FDIC
• I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out:
beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge
My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /