The remarkable story of Patrick Bet-David.
Blog: Valley View
SAN FRANCISCO: BY the age of 34, California-based Patrick Bet-David has already lived through what most us have only experienced in Hollywood blockbusters.
He was born and raised, and eventually escaped revolutionary Iran. Spent his formative years in a German refugee camp, landed in America as an immigrant, proudly served in the US army, authored two books, married his sweetheart, and launched a company. In the course of this momentous journey, Bet-David donned many roles; a successful entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author and financial literacy crusader.
After immigrating to America in 1990, Bet-David relied on his life experiences rather than a formal education to chart his course in life. Having grown up watching American movies to get a feel of the land of his dreams, he wanted to emulate Rocky, vanquish the odds and get to the top. His first myth buster when he arrived here was that Ghostbusters wasn’t real!
Life in the German refugee camp impacted Bet-David’s inimitable perspective on life, politics, humor, and opportunity.
“While I was in the refugee camp in Germany I learned how to deal with different cultures and different types of people, everyone who had their own story and perspective,” reminisces Bet-David.
“Like it or not, you have to play with the cards you’ve been dealt and inevitably I had to learn to be the man of the house at 11 years old. My father wasn’t there, so I had to protect my sister and my mom. He learned the value about making money by collecting beer bottles and getting paid for every beer bottle I turned in. Once I collected 5000 beer bottles so I could buy myself a Super Nintendo,” he said.
Bet-David believes his life would have taken a different turn if he had followed the traditional route of college and student loans.
“The university system is designed to educate you on what individual professors will teach. This is fine and well, but as a person who’s interviewed thousands of college graduates, I can tell you that too often this means they have too limited perspective on bigger life lessons. Many times I see a lack of independence and free thinking that can limit a person’s potential,” he opines.
Bet-David’s formula for economic success is based on balancing financial success and financial freedom.
“As someone who grew up in a low-income family, a lot of the similar bad habits with money were passed down to me and I had to break out of that mentality. At 24 years old, I was $49,000 in debt with 26 credit cards and a credit score of 495. At that point, I had one of two choices: Continue with the bad habits or learn how money works. I chose to learn how money works,” he said.
This quest of financial wisdom led to empowerment, and this proved to be the inspiration behind Bet-David’s crusade called ‘Saving America’.
He campaigns through websites, weekly blogs and features in news channels and radio shows to educate families about the importance of fiscal responsibility. His website GoAskNewton.com focuses on financial basics, such as getting out of debt and planning for retirement. Some of the luminaries interviewed by Bet-David include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, former U.S. Comptroller David Walker and Senator Rick Santorum.
Bet-David has also authored two books to further the cause of financial literacy. ‘The Next Perfect Storm’ explores past business booms, and the current economic climate as an indicator of which industry is poised to experience the next big boom.
Bet-David’s economic judgment questions the traditional rhetoric doled out by the mainstream industries.
Bet-David, who comes across cases where people overspent on homes and suffer mortgage crisis on a daily basis, believes that the real estate industry has sold us a great lie by persuading us that the American dream starts with home ownership.
“In regards to home ownership, the question people should be asking is, why are you buying it? Is it because the system tells you it’s a good idea, or is it because you really understand why it’s a good idea,’ asks Bet-David. He still lives in a rented house.
With the vision of revving the Great American economic engine back to life, Bet-David launched People Helping People (PHP) financial services in 2009.
The critical thinking, crisis management and conflict of running the business is a creative outlet for Bet-David who feels that being an entrepreneur also provides the freedom to be creative in my day-to-day business decisions.
A golden rule that Bet-David abides by is: “anyone with an aspiring startup should know that there will be times when you will doubt yourself or your ideas. At that point, the key is to charge forward and stay focused by reminding yourself everyday as to why you chose to start a business in the first place. Set short-term goals so you can always strive to beat your prior best.”
Sound advice from someone who consistently trumps against the odds.
(Zenobia Khaleel has donned a lot of hats; writer, photographer, travel enthusiast, troop leader, amateur actor, event coordinator, community volunteer, but predominantly go by the title Mom.)
To contact the author, email to zenobiakhaleel@americanbazaaronline.com