Dean Graziosi—he knows how to create success. From extremely humble beginnings, he started with a firewood business in high school to a collision repair shop and his first real estate deal before he turned 20. From there, he created a multi-million dollar real estate business, became a New York Times best-selling author multiple times,  and is one of the most watched real estate and success trainers of our generation. He maximizes his success and profits on each of his endeavors along his evolution and his businesses have generated nearly one billion dollars in revenue. He’s obsessed with sharing his success along this journey with the world. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Untethered Soul and The Surrender Experiment What CEO do you follow? – Ernest Shackleton Favorite online tool? — N/A How many hours of sleep do you get?— 6-8 If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “Don’t believe your thoughts, they lie to you most of the time. If you could just observe your thoughts and throw away the shit that doesn’t serve you, man, you could just go a lot faster”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:22 – Nathan introduces Dean to the show 02:28 – Dean skipped college 02:42 – When Dean was 16, he would buy wrecked cars and flip them in his garage 03:00 – He has bought some of the cars for $500 to $5000 03:11 – Dean got his first real estate deal at 18 with no money down 03:17 – Mrs. Laprezzti gave him a deal with no money down 03:20 – Dean paid Mrs. Laprezzti monthly and he renovated the place 03:49 – Dean’s social studies teacher who was also a real estate agent gave Dean leads of people who had houses that were not selling 04:45 – Dean gave Mrs. Laprezzti $2500 a month for a 4-unit apartment, for 3 years 05:05 – Mrs. Laprezzti needed $2K for her expenses for the condo 05:31 – Dean didn’t care that he may be paying more 05:48 – Dean promised that he’d pay her in 3 years 05:55 – At the end of 3 years, Dean had the room fully rented and he was able to get a bank loan and pay Mrs. Laprezzti off 06:10 – Dean was making $4200 when he rented out the place, then he sold it 06:24 – Dean still owns around 400 houses, right now 06:56 – Dean’s dad was born during the Depression 07:20 – His dad was a mechanic and a collision repair shop guy 07:26 – Dean evolved by maxing out on the equity he could gain from each of his houses 07:38 – After the condo, Dean got an old, rundown mansion and turned it into 10 apartment units 07:53 – Dean refinanced the apartments and bought more apartments 08:00 – It was the late 80s and early 90s when Dean transferred to upstate New York 08:09 – Dean bought some land and went into the process of subdividing 09:10 – Back then, Dean was just hustling for the next property, taking the cash, and making a creative deal 09:30 – “There’s always a creative deal” 09:45 – It’s about buying off-market deals 10:21 – Average revenue from all of Dean’s properties is $380K 10:45 – The market value for 380 units is around $20M 10:54 – Dean is half leveraged in all of the units 11:45 – Dean authored a couple of books because he is obsessed with marketing and sales 12:10 – Dean’s last 2 books are self-published 12:21 – Dean’s first book was with a publisher 12:24 – Dean didn’t want an advance deal from his first book 12:31 – Dean used to get 35-40% of gross sales 12:43 – Dean’s first book is Totally Fulfilled 12:46 – Dean’s latest book is Millionaire’s Success Habits 13:01 – Most of the publishers don’t market your book and rely on you to market your own book 13:07 – Dean sold a million copies of his second book 13:10 – Dean had an infomercial running everyday, offering the book on TV 13:25 – “You definitely need a marketing mechanism if you need to write a book” 13:38 – Dean’s most effective marketing strategy is giving away free books 13:42 – Dean has an incoming infomercial with Larry King, who has impacted Dean’s life 13:56 – Dean met Larry King through mutual friends 14