My First Million I chose to be broke for a year
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Jan 9, 2026 
Shaan Puri, an entrepreneur who sold his company to Twitch/Amazon, shares his path from a $120K job to living strategically broke for a year. He explains how this choice maximized his learning and adaptability. Shaan discusses the importance of fear in holding people back, the value of quickly reversing bad decisions, and the power of surrounding yourself with the right people. He also emphasizes pursuing genuine interests and treating work as a rewarding experience, not just a means to an end.
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Use Others To Spot Your Strengths
- Ask others what your superpower is and notice what you do for fun that looks like work to others.
- Lean into those recurring curiosities and practice them until they become valuable skills.
Dad's 'Paddle Into The Fog' Advice
- Shaan's father advised motion over waiting for perfect direction using a fog-and-boat metaphor.
- That counsel validated Shaan's decision to try the sushi business to gain momentum and learn.
Using Inertia Test To Decide To Sell
- A friend told Shaan his project had inertia and he wasn't working on something he'd pick if starting fresh.
- Shaan used that test, decided to sell, and closed an acquisition within about 45 days.
