Tony Robbins Once Lost $125M: 4 Lessons It Taught Him
Written by
Jacob Wade
Edited by
Rebekah Evans
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In an interview on the Patrick Bet-David podcast, wealthy entrepreneur Tony Robbins shared a story about losing $125 million in a business deal gone bad. In true Tony Robbins form, instead of being upset about the deal, he decided to learn from the mistake and find lessons in the loss.
We’ll review four key lessons Robbins learned after losing millions.
4 Lessons From Robbins — After Losing $125M
Robbins made a bad business deal with someone he thought he could trust. This person was connected with a billion-dollar business (Amway), but mis-represented his position and influence within that company.
Robbins went into business with the child of the Amway founder who represented himself as a billionaire and signed a “Joint and Several” business deal that put Robbins on the line for all the business liabilities.
Robbins (along with business partners) purchased several companies and realized this business partner actually had no influence in the Amway company and only had $5 million to his name.
This meant Robbins was on the hook for $125 million in liability from opening the business partnership. But Robbins decided to not blame anyone, but to take on the problem and learn a few lessons along the way.
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
The first lesson Robbins mentioned is that he was able to grow quickly because this business mistake pushed him out of his comfort zone. “The way you become great in life and in business is by crossing the threshold of your comfort zones,” Robbins said.
Robbins had grown his influence and business acumen to solve million-dollar problems, but was now forced to face a $125 million mistake. He said he was able to handle this because he continued to push himself outside his comfort zone, learning how to solve larger and larger problems, until eventually he was faced with his largest problem he’d ever had to deal with.
Robbins explained that you’ll make mistakes, but it’s pushing yourself into growth by getting uncomfortable that will prepare you to deal with bigger and bigger problems.
Know Your Partners
Bet-David went on to question how he vets potential partners now. “What is the filtering process now that’s different than before?” Bet-David said.
Robbins shocked him with his answer. “Private investigation on every single person I go do business with if I am going to do partnership. With every aspect of their life. And I offer them to do the same with me so it’s clear who we are and who we’re dealing with — that’s number one,” Robbins said.
Bet-David was shocked, saying “Are you serious?” — to which Robbins responded “I’m dead serious.”
This lesson is great for entrepreneurs that are looking to grow a business through partnership. When you put your time, money and reputation on the line to build a business, it’s important to thoroughly vet your partner so you can truly trust them in every aspect of their lives.
Robbins’ Interview Process
Earlier in the interview, Robbins talked about his stringent interview process, born out of the lessons he has learned in business (and definitely from this failed partnership).
When vetting new talent, Robbins has a standard process he puts every potential job candidate through. It starts with putting out a job ad that requires all applicants to consider themselves “world class” to be interviewed.
When someone reached out to the company, the interview was abrupt, requiring the applicant to tell the company why they consider themselves world class. In most cases, the company ends the call quickly and only the candidates that reach out repeatedly and stand out for how they handle rejection, are considered for an interview.
This might sound harsh, but when building a truly great company, it’s important to set high standards for how you do business.
Good People Are Found, Not Just Trained
Robbins also mentioned that he is of the belief that the best employees and talent are found, not just trained to perform a specific function. He broke down how it’s important to find a person of the right character for a specific role in his companies and then train them to do the position correctly.
This is a great lesson for anyone that is considering hiring for their company. Finding talent that can help you scale and grow a company is difficult, so focus more on the character of the person you’re hiring, versus their resume. Skills can be taught, but character and attitude cannot.
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