The #1 Investing Habit That Made Me a Billionaire | David Adelman

**David Adelman** (0:01)
Ouch, this knee is killing me.

**Codie Sanchez** (0:03)
I can't stop training.

**David Adelman** (0:05)
The marathon is in two weeks. Let's get on ZocDoc and find a doctor to take a look at that for you.

**Codie Sanchez** (0:09)
Okay. Here's a review.

**David Adelman** (0:12)
Dr. Craddock really takes his time.

**Codie Sanchez** (0:14)
No, I don't have time.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:16)
What about Dr. Charles?

**David Adelman** (0:17)
His patients say he can help find a quick fix, and he's in network.

**Codie Sanchez** (0:20)
Great, now we're talking. Book it.

**David Adelman** (0:22)
Booked.

**Codie Sanchez** (0:23)
One mile down, 19 to go.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:25)
Bring it on.

**David Adelman** (0:27)
You've got options. Download the ZocDoc app today. You can be an entrepreneur in somebody else's business.

**Codie Sanchez** (0:32)
Really?

**David Adelman** (0:33)
There's this weird stigma out there that everyone has to either have a start-up or their own venture capital fund. The world doesn't need another fucking venture capital fund. Let's get people who are willing to work hard in business and learn from other business, and then maybe you want to go out and do your own thing.

**Codie Sanchez** (0:46)
My guest, David Adelman, is the billionaire co-owner of the 76ers, an investor in more than 90 companies. You're gonna learn his exact frameworks to spot great opportunities. If you are building wealth from scratch, this episode is for you.

**David Adelman** (0:58)
If you could go in as an entrepreneur into someone's old line business, they're all ripe for succession. Go work at a person who has an HVAC company that only has three trucks. AI is not gonna replace the heater in my house. This is what people need to go to.

**Codie Sanchez** (1:11)
As someone who owns 90 companies, if you were 25 again, what would you do to get your first million dollars?

**David Adelman** (1:16)
I think what you're looking for is...

**Codie Sanchez** (1:23)
Philadelphia 76ers. You are a co-owner of this, and I hear you just signed LeBron James.

**David Adelman** (1:29)
You heard about that.

**Codie Sanchez** (1:30)
Yeah.
Just a few people. I'm not even involved in basketball, but what does it look like in the room to close a deal like LeBron James or bring a big name to a sports team?

**David Adelman** (1:42)
It was a wild process because LeBron in his camp kept it quiet, and rightfully so, he wanted to run his process. I know his agent Rich Paul very well, his business partner Maverick Carter and I are very close friends, we're in some deals together, but that doesn't mean shit, right? I mean, you're just up for grabs along with everyone else. And the real excitement around this was about, we got a text on that Friday morning from Rich Paul to my partners, myself and the guys I just mentioned saying, this is it, Sixers it is.

**Codie Sanchez** (2:16)
That's how you knew?

**David Adelman** (2:17)
That's how we found out five minutes before they announced it publicly.

**SPEAKER_3** (2:20)
Whoa.

**Codie Sanchez** (2:21)
I have a mentor back in the day who kind of taught me how to do some of my first deals. And back then, I used to think that it was always the price you paid for something, right? You're like, okay, if I go to buy something, I got it for this price, that's a deal, right? And he sort of famously said to me, well, that's sort of how amateurs do it. It's always about terms. I could pay you a billion dollars a dollar a day, you're not gonna love that deal, right? As much as a hundred million dollars in a week. So when you do a deal, you've done, you know, you invested in 90 companies. I'm sure you've done hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of deals across your lifetime.
What is like your number one philosophy or secret or tool to doing a great deal?

**David Adelman** (3:02)
For me, the way I think about it is if it's gonna be a great deal for me, it's gotta be a good to great deal for the other person.
Very rarely do you get to a place where it's great for one side and poor for the other and everyone's happy, right? And so for me, I come at it and I'm like, what do I think I need to do this deal? And will I do the deal under these terms? And what I always do is I kind of make a note, I'm a kind of a pencil and paper guy.
What won't I do the deal at? And because what happens is emotion gets you very engaged. You know, the heat of the moment, the bidding stuff like that, that becomes a problem, right? And so for me, I try to think about what am I willing to pay? And to your point, the terms, well, what's more important price or terms, duration? If it's a real estate deal, you name it. And then more importantly, who's the counter-party? Can I trust them to deliver the deal that they might say they're going to do? So to me, all of those things come into play. Your mentor is right.