So @theSamParr and @ShaanVP just hosted @tailopez on their @myfirstmilpod podcast...

Here is a long form breakdown of their entire conversation, where Tai shines, and where he's crooked.

THREAD

Shaan begins by addressing Tai as the most controversial guest they've had thus far and asks Tai why he thinks much of Silicon Valley hates him.

Tai's opinion:

1. Tai believes he and silicon valley are not so different from eachother. Both want to accumulate mass wealth.

He believes much of the hate he receives are from people virtue signaling how they're different from Tai even though their goals are the same.

2. Tai addresses the "get rich quick schemes" and claims he's only sold 2 'large' products, the "67 steps" and his SMMA program.

67 steps was $67 dollars for a 67 hour info course.

SMMA was between $500 and $1000.

Tai again talks about SV's love to virtue signal, justifying their own wealth by attacking how he flaunts his.

(Quick side note, with every one of these justifications Tai Lopez points towards historical figures like Buffett or Rockefeller as a comparison. He does this a lot).

There's already some red flags, here's a couple examples.

1. "Nothing I did was fake, the house that I was I I moved out of a couple years ago."

He doesn't explicitly say he owns his cars and house, he just states a vague statement and moves on.

2. Won't admit his age, he has a lot of experiences for his comparatively young experience, Sam wanted a more detailed timeline.

Shaan: "What are some fair criticisms people have of you?"

He does admit that people have a point when they talk about his flaunting of cars and that influence it has on teenagers.

He brings up an example that all companies do controversial things, talks about Apple using child labor from China.

Tai already seems like an expert in redirecting the conversation, he constantly brings up other people and their actions rather than directly defending his own.

Sam takes a new route and they move into Tai Lopez's Retail E-commerce Ventures where Tai and @DrAlexTweets buy well known retail stores and turn them into e-commerce stores.

This dialogue goes well, Tai gives some insight into his holdings and strategy.

Tai seems thrown off by Sam and Shaan's direct questions, he answers what he can but does a lot of redirecting to other examples and soft answers.

That being said, he does have some gems when he talks about debt/equity and buying businesses to gain wealth.

Tai's redirection is starting to get really annoying. Example...

Sam: "What was your cash cow to fund all this?"

Tai: "I've always had multiple streams of income, this is actually something I learned from the Amish... I was making money before I started YouTube."

Shaan: "How did you make your first million?"

After a few minutes Tai basically says he got into selling life insurance online and using Google AdWords to source leads before anybody else, sources $60,000 - $80,000 worth of leads per month.

Afterwards Shaan asked Tai about how he came up with the "KNAWLEDGE" ad and Tai tells the story very well, definitely worth a listen.

Spent upper 7 figures on advertising which Sam think is reasonable given the results he got.

Finally, about 50 minutes in we get to tried and true MFM material, various businesses Tai has been in and made money like dating and consulting, and Shaan opening up Tai's mind asking what open opportunities Tai is seeing currently.

This is where Tai shined, besides talking about his classic SMMA, he is really bullish on a common 20 year olds ability to help mom and pop shops transfer into e-commerce stores and charging a monthly fee.

Tai sees opportunity in local fresh produce delivered D2C.

Tai generally like staples like food, water, shelter, clothing, real estate. Things that people will always need, even things like beef jerky and carbonated water.

Minutes 40 to 70 are really solid and don't include much controversy. By far the most entertaining part of the podcast.

Finally, right at minute 72 we get into the juicy battle of the giants between @garrytan, @awilkinson and Tai.

Shaan brings a very balanced perspective to this SV vs. Tai debacle.

Silicon Valley respects builders who make something, and it's easy to see Tai as a person who...

Teaches rather than makes, but you do have to acknowledge that Tai is doing some cool things buying big businesses and creating mentorbox.

Tai addresses Andrew and Garry's criticisms, primarily through turning the tables on how they operate their businesses rather than defending

His own operations.

Perhaps Tai's response is reasonable and Andrew really is no different, but seeing him defend himself exclusively by going on the offensive and attacking others rather than categorically defending his actions is exhausting.

Around 84 minutes Shaan and Sam bring up 3 main criticisms of Tai,

1. His dating companies were scammy

2. He's a classic course salesman using rented lambos and a fancy house to sell.

3. Tai being able to buy big businesses for pennies on the dollar does not add up properly.

Shaan presses Tai on 3, and Tai mostly answers his Pier 1 deal due to him being the only bidder during Covid-19.

Gives classic investment advice, "when the world gets scared, you should be greedy, when the world gets greedy, you should be scared."

I tried to be as objective as I could, but Tai is with out a doubt a master communicator and some of his persuasion tactics need a bright light shined on his diversions.

He is entertaining to listen to, and even if his past is sketchy, these large businesses he has been buying for the last 6 months are evidence he's a great business man.

Or one of the best con artists of our generation.

Only time will tell.