Ep.474 ~ The Story of Summit Series & Buying a $40 Million Mountain ~ Ryan Begelman

~ Current Series ~

100 Interviews with 100 Major Influencers

Ryan Begelman is the cofounder of Summit Series and the former CEO and co-owner of Bisnow Media. In 2008, Ryan bought into Bisnow Media, became CEO, and bootstrapped it with its founders, Mark and Elliott from $1,000,000 to $20,000,000 in revenue with $7,000,000 annual profit. In 2016, he led the sale of BisNow to a private equity firm for $50,000,000 and today, Bisnow is the largest producer of commercial real estate news, conferences, and webinars. Bisnow's now has 80 employees operating in 28 metro markets and hosts over 300 annual conferences attracting more than 70,000 attendees.

I first learned about Ryan when I read Steven Kotler’s book Stealing Fire. In the book they tell the story of 3 young guys that want to rub shoulders with giants and how they got there. Ryan and his buddies came up with an idea to host a ski trip for some of the world's top entrepreneurs and thought leaders. Nineteen people showed up and thus started what is now called Summit Series.

Summit Series began as an event series with a mission to unite world leaders through events designed to catalyze positive personal and collective growth.They gather leaders and feature icons like Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Jessica Alba, and Al Gore.

I thought that idea was really creative and smart, but then as when I learned the next part of the story was one of the boldest, smartest, most genius moves I had ever heard of. After creating Summit, Ryan and his friends decided they wanted to take their ‘community building’ to the next level and buy a mountain….yes a mountain...where thought leaders and entrepreneurs could live, work, visit and enjoy. So they acquired America’s largest ski resort for $40,000,000 Powder Mountain, where they created an actual town of entrepreneurs and successful people that go to the mountain for conferences, vacation, visiting, and living. Current to date, they have sold over $160,000,000 in homesites.

02:08: Who is Ryan Begelman?

11:28: Getting Involved with Bisnow Media

14:57: How Ryan and His Partners Got Connected w/ Some of the World’s Top Entrepreneurs and Creating Summit Series

23:33: Creating an Entrepreneur Event at The White House

30:23: What Ryan & His Team Did When They Were Worried No One Important in Washington D.C. Would Come to Their Event at the White House

38:01: Ryan & His Team Decide to Buy a $40,000,000 Mountain

48:17: How Ryan Balances Running Multiple Businesses and a Mountain

48:25: Why Ryan Always Have Multiple Apprentices

55:35: The Most Fulling Aspect of Creating a Community of Successful People

56:44: The Most Impressive People Ryan Has Met From Summit Series

1:00:15: Ryan on Mental Fitness

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