The Personal Finances of a $200M/year Ecom Business Owner (and why he’s giving away his money)

70 snips

May 7, 2024

Mike Beckham, Founder and CEO of Simple Modern, reveals his extraordinary journey from nonprofit work to leading a $300 million e-commerce company. He discusses his ambitious goal to donate 50% of his income and the joys of giving back. Mike connects philanthropy to personal happiness, explaining how generous acts enhance relationships and business success. He shares insights on effective charitable strategies, the explosive growth of his company, and why prioritizing meaningful connections over wealth leads to a richer life.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Early Generosity

Mike Beckham built a habit of generosity early on, even when he had little money.
He bought $7 lunches for college guys, recognizing the value of each opportunity to give.

ANECDOTE

Parental Influence

Mike's parents, both in mental health, instilled in him the importance of helping people over making money.
This value shaped his perspective on success and his desire to use his skills for a greater purpose.

ANECDOTE

Netflix Stock Story

Before his business success, Mike invested $20,000 in Netflix stock, which tripled in nine months.
He sold the stock, now worth millions in hindsight, to buy his first house due to a poor credit profile.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Last year, Mike Beckham donated 1 million dollars.

This year, he's setting his sights even higher.

He wants to give away 50% of his annual income. And that's not all—his company, Simple Modern, with a valuation of around 350 million dollars, also allocates 10% of its profits each year to charitable causes.

Mike's journey to philanthropy has been shaped by a deep-rooted commitment to making a difference. Despite starting his career in the nonprofit sector, he discovered his knack for business growth and decided to leverage his skills to amplify his impact. So he left the nonprofit world and built Simple Modern.

For Mike, donating his money is about more than just creating a positive impact in the world (although that is a big part). Mike has found that donating his money helps him refrain from spending that doesn’t bring happiness to his life, and allows him to have more success in the most important part of his life: his relationships with others.

In this episode of Moneywise, Mike will explain all of the benefits of donating. He’ll make the personal and financial cases, including how it’s helped his business succeed. He’ll also give tips on donating effectively, especially if you’re just starting. And as usual, Mike will explain how he made all his money, how he spends it, and give us all the dollar details.

This is Moneywise, a podcast where host Sam Parr is joined by high-net-worth guests to explore exclusive insights into personal finance and lifestyle tailored for other high-net-worth people, or those on their way. They'll get radically transparent about the numbers, revealing things like their burn rates, portfolios, and spending habits.

Who is Sam Parr?

Sam is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of The Hustle, which he sold to HubSpot in 2021. He's also the co-host of one of the world's top podcasts for entrepreneurs, My First Million. Known for his insightful business acumen and candid communication style, Sam Parr continues to be a prominent figure in the world of media and entrepreneurship. Sam's newest and biggest venture yet is Hampton, which he co-founded in 2022.

This podcast was made for the Hampton community, a private, highly-vetted, peer membership community for founders and CEOs of fast-growing, tech-enabled startups.

Chapters:

His start in the profit world (3:41)

When and why he switched to business (6:46)

Why he’s not interested in spending on himself (14:13)

Why he gives so much (18:03)

How much he donates (22:18)

The benefits of giving (24:043)

Advice on how to start (35:24)

This podcast was produced in partnership with Lower Street and distributed by Morning Brew.