Original subtitles

Hi, I'm Ryan.

I'm 26.

I'm from Highland, New York, and I like going fast.

That's my Harley.

I got a 700 horsepower Cummins turbo diesel outside.

I have a 2017 Prius Prime, and I keep

forgetting that I have a boat.

I've had a bunch of jobs.

I lost count at about 30.

I worked for a newspaper, I've been a bartender,

and I have my own contracting business.

I do decks.

If you need a pergola, or a bathroom remodel, I'm your guy.

I decided to move back home.

My mom was diagnosed with cancer.

Honestly, I put her through a lot growing up.

I owe this to her to step up to the plate

and take care of things.

I want to be a serial entrepreneur

with multiple successful business ventures.

The only thing stopping me from doing all these things

is I'm broke.

NARRATOR: Here are the facts.

The numbers are massive.

Over 45 million people have borrowed over $1.7 trillion

in student loan debt, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only

made the situation more dire.

My name is Dan Rosensweig, and I'm

the CEO of the multibillion dollar company Chegg.

This is my mission.

And with the help of my financial expert Tonya Rapley,

we're going to help people who are drowning in extreme debt

build a life of financial independence.

This is the year!

DAN ROSENSWEIG: It's not going to be easy.

I can't do this!

DAN ROSENSWEIG: But if they do the work,

they're going to go from being in the red to becoming

the CEOs of their own lives.

This is Going From Broke.

TONYA RAPLEY: Hey Dan, how you doing?

DAN ROSENSWEIG: I am well, Tonya.

How are you?

You're looking mighty springlike today.

You know, Spring has sprung.

Thank you, I'm doing pretty good.

And I'm excited about who we have coming up today.

We have Ryan, right?

We do, you are correct.

Ryan actually left his job at the start of the pandemic

to become a aspiring entrepreneur and handyman,

and he's been doing rather well.

So that's a good thing.

But-- and there's a big but--

Ryan doesn't necessarily understand

the difference between an investment and a liability.

That's up, and then back down.

He's also spending money on vehicles

that need significant repairs--

automotives, boats, anything that kind of has an engine,

he thinks that he can buy it, fix it, and get a profit.

The problem is they're just sitting there.

He's not fixing them.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: And he's buying it with borrowed money,

so they're collecting interest and dust at the same time

instead of a return.

And his savings is zero.

Last month, Ryan brought in about $6,700,

but spent over $8,400, putting him about $1,700 in the red.

Ryan has many kinds of debt--

student loans, credit cards, and especially his massive truck,

car, and motorcycle notes.

His total debt is over $135,000.

Did I get this right?

He bought a brand new Harley Davidson

on credit during the pandemic?

So at 26, three cars, owns none of them.

Owes on every one of them.

He's headed for a multicar crash, if you will.

[laughter] It'll be one of those big hugs, big kicks kind

of conversations, I sense.

I think we should meet Ryan.

Let's go meet him.

We have to.

RYAN BLAKELY: So I just finished setting up my cameras

and lights, getting internet hooked up and hard wired,

and the reality is really setting in.

Like, this is happening.

I'm going to meet Dan really soon.

And this is a serious opportunity,

and I need to be prepared so he can take me seriously.

Hi Dan, Tanya, nice to meet you.

It's an absolute pleasure.

Nice to meet you too, Ryan.

Nice to meet you.

You look very well groomed for this versus the picture

we originally got.

RYAN BLAKELY: Thank you very much.

Tell us about Ryan.

Who is Ryan, and why did you make this phone call?

I'm a serial entrepreneur.

I have a property maintenance business.

I mainly focus on residential home contracting right now,

and I'm currently looking to break into the tech industry,

specifically into blockchain.

But I feel like what you're saying

isn't matching what you're doing.

So Ryan, you're spending a fortune on your vehicles.

The monthly payments, the monthly insurance,

the monthly gas prices.

There's an old adage, when you're in a hole, stop digging.

I would just like to throw in this point here.

I have something called the Ryan method.

Instead of getting a five year note on a vehicle,

I'll get a seven at a higher interest rate but a lower

payment, because I know with the amortization schedule I plan

to pay it off earlier anyway.

But that allows me to have more spendable dollars each month.

That's what most people plan to do,

but that's not happening.

We're going to come back to the Ryan method,

because let me tell you where the Ryan method got you.

The Ryan method got you calling the Tonya and Dan method.

[laughter] That's where the Ryan method got you.

TONYA RAPLEY: In a recommended spending plan,

transportation would take up no more than 15% of a budget.

But Ryan's transportation expenses

are over 40% of his spending, putting him

deeper into debt every month.

This is my 2018 rAM 3500 Cummins.

This is the centerpiece for my whole business operation.

This is my 2017 Prius Prime.

It is partially electric.

Prius, 52 miles to the gallon.

Truck, 10 miles to the gallon.

I spend a lot of money on gas for the truck.

TONYA RAPLEY: Your Prius.

What was your thought process buying a car that could cut

down on gas, and then buying a gas guzzler

and driving the gas guzzler more than the car that

is actually saving you money?

Appearance value.

I believe that at least on the initial estimate

walk through for a particular job,

I am not going to be taken seriously

if I pull up in a Prius.

But if I pull up in a truck, it looks the part.

I've never tried actually going there in a Prius,

but I close a lot.

I've had so many sales jobs.

I've had about 40 plus jobs in my life, but I'm the sales guy.

That's what I do.

I'm walking charisma, and the truck closes deals.

The Prius, I'm willing to try it,

but I'm not confident that it will deliver fungible results.

So you have two cars, not like you needed anything else,

but you decide to buy something else.

This is my baby.

There's nothing like riding on this thing.

It sounds great.

This is therapy.

When he brought the Harley home, I wasn't too happy.

TONYA RAPLEY: So can you let us know why that

was such a necessary purchase?

I'd recently broken up with my girlfriend,

and I wanted to quit smoking.

So I used it as an incentive to do that

and to get over the breakup.

How was it an incentive?

The $200 some odd a month that I was spending on smoking

would then be used for the Harley.

But you didn't quit smoking.

So now we have the cost of the loan

and we have cigarettes still.

[sigh]

DAN ROSENSWEIG: And when I look at what

you're spending your money on, it's cigarettes,

Tito's, and fast food.

Is that correct?

RYAN BLAKELY: Yes.

It's Friday night.

I'm out with my friends for this lavish dinner which

I probably shouldn't be doing.

Money.

What do you do when you have a bad day financially?

You get some good food, yeah.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: You know what the biggest

obstacle to your success is?

You, excuses.

Entrepreneurs can't have them.

That's what makes the great entrepreneurs

that you want to be.

And if you get your act together here,

I'll even introduce you to a few of them.

So my first impression of Ryan was

that this is going to be really difficult because we don't have

a lot of time to break through that armor

and get him to really embrace dealing

with the problem as opposed to thinking he can

always talk his way out of it.

I would like to just say, and this isn't necessarily

a justification, but the Harley, my Prius, and the truck

I'm all underwater on.

So I would have to take a significant loss to get out

from underneath those payments.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Better to take a loss on the principal.

You're paying more in interest collectively in a year

than these vehicles are going to be worth.

They only go down in value.

The Ryan method is actually impossible for me

to understand because it's bad math.

All right, Tonya, close us out, man, because I need a break.

[laughter]

TONYA RAPLEY: So Ryan, what we're

going to need you to do is take a tally of the investments

that you've purchased or things that you have laying around

in your yard, the things you have bought expecting

a return on what your purchase was,

and we are going to sell it.

We're going to sell everything you don't need

to either eat, shelter, or make money on in terms

of working day to day.

Yes, you with your hand up in the back.

Do you have a question?

[laughter]

I just wanted to ask, when you were talking about offloading,

were you talking about the bike, motorcycle, the Harley?

We're going to see what the best outcome is.

Everything ranging from selling it, to parking it,

to selling it for parts.

Hearing you just say that, you know,

I honestly started tearing up a little bit.

I did agree to this, so there's probably got to be

another way, though, right?

Right?

We're also going to cut our cost significantly.

So we're cutting back on gas.

We're cutting back on dining out.

I would like you to quit smoking,

and let's close a deal in the Prius.

Honestly, let's not stop until we close a deal in the Prius.

Because they don't care about what kind of car you drive.

You care about what kind of car you drive.

And I want a picture.

I want-- I want video.

I just closed a deal in the Prius.

Like, I want to see this.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: So you ready to do the homework?

Because if the homework isn't done,

if I see like caveats, and footnotes, and excuses,

and corner cutting, I'm done.

But if you do the work, I'm going to be right

there standing next to you.

Absolutely, 100%.

Yesterday was incredibly eye opening for me.

Speaking with Dan and Tonya for the first time

really made me think about a lot,

and they suggested that I get rid of all of my vehicles,

all three.

But I'm a bit apprehensive about that.

You know, I'm down, I'm going to do it.

I just think that there's a right way

and a wrong way to do it.

Dan and Tonya wanted me to compile

an inventory of everything I have

and determine if I have a use for it.

Is it going to make me money, or is it just costing me money

by sitting here?

Sticky notes, let's go.

SARAH BRENNIE: The yard used to be very nice.

I had it all pruned.

I've always done all the work here.

But right now, you could see there's trucks, and equipment,

and everything in my yard.

I am the Jack of all trades.

Any handyman task, I take on and I

complete with full efficiency.

SARAH BRENNIE: He's got to pay off his debt.

Before he can make anything, he's got to pay off his debt.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Ryan, how are you?

Hi, Dan.

I'm doing well.

How about yourself?

Good.

Ryan, I thought I would just jump right in.

So of the things that you were assigned to do,

have you actually done and completed any of them?

Dan, so I definitely I think I did all of them

to the extent that would satisfy what you're asking.

The inventory isn't complete.

That's something that's going to take much more meticulous

approach which, unfortunately, I just didn't have time to do

because of my busy schedule.

So the answer is no, you haven't done any of them yet?

This is probably a good time to mention, just

full frontal honesty all cards on the table,

I made an agreement with my mechanic

to purchase a second set of wheels

for the truck actually including tires for $2,500.

Well, why do you--

first of all, why would--

you're broke, and you agreed to buy

tires you don't need with rims you don't need for $2,500?

Why?

Sex appeal.

I think that it's going to help with marketability,

advertising, selling, and closing.

It's a write-off, and I can make my money back.

The product new is worth about $5k.

I could probably sell it after using it

for a few months for more than what I paid for it.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Every single thing

you bought depreciated in tremendous value,

so you never should have bought it.

That's the Ryan method.

So every single thing you bought was a mistake.

You bought things that you got ripped off for,

because every single thing you bought is brand new

and you can't even get back your money for it.

You didn't need it.

You didn't need three vehicles.

You bought one after you knew all this.

You bought a $10,000 Harley, and now you're trying

to justify your decisions.

We had lined up today one of the world's premier entrepreneurs

to talk to today--

a true serial entrepreneur.

He's world renowned for inspiring real entrepreneurs,

and now I'm reluctant to bring him on because you're

not a real entrepreneur.

You're a serial excuse maker, not a serial entrepreneur.

I've got Gary V waiting.

Tell me why when I talk to him privately

next that I should tell him it's actually OK to talk to you.

So tell me why.

I'm the guy.

No evidence of that.

So I had a private conversation with Gary,

and I said, look, if you want to meet with him, I'll let you,

but just don't hold me responsible

for the conversation not going the way you

would hope that it might go.

And I don't want to put friends into a situation

that is unnecessarily explosive and a waste of their time.

I'm going to leave it up to Gary.

The famous Gary V, thank you for being willing to help

a young entrepreneur.

What made you say, you know what?

I'm going to do this.

I'm gonna-- I'm gonna talk to this kid today.

I think when you love a game so much,

you always want to give back to the game.

Entrepreneurship is my game.

I didn't get into entrepreneurship because it

was the cool thing of the day.

Entrepreneurship got into me, and I think that more people

need to understand that truth.

I just want to say no BS here, and I am literally the Leonardo

da Vinci of BS, but [laughter] I was that kid in second grade

where, like, they're going around the room,

like, I want to be a firefighter,

I want to be an astronaut.

Like, I want to own a business.

So Gary, just as an example, Ryan

bought a $10,000 motorcycle--

GARY VAYNERCHUK: Sell it.

--during the pandemic despite already--

GARY VAYNERCHUK: Sell it. DAN ROSENSWEIG: --having about--

Sell it.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: --$70,000.

Sell it. DAN ROSENSWEIG: Yeah, exactly.

Sell it.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: So what his do--

Yeah, yeah, sell everything.

Have nothing.

Walk.

I see a strategy mistake because you've

got to stop the bleeding.

It's almost like you're bleeding to death over here,

you're like, but I've got a toothache, Gary.

I'm like, you're bleeding to death.

The other thing you've got to pay attention to

is that people are scared to list the thing because telling

us and everybody else that you're

going to sell it makes it seem optically

like you're successful.

But when you actually list it, now you're in the real game.

You're not on the practice field anymore.

You've got to list it, my man.

How many years have you been doing business?

10

GARY VAYNERCHUK: Have you ever stopped and said,

why don't I ever make money?

No.

No, I make-- I make money, I just spend it on stupid things

and frivolously.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: No, you don't make money.

You generate revenue, but you don't make money.

There's a difference.

GARY VAYNERCHUK: Correct.

There's a word called profit.

Have you googled it?

[laughter]

I'm familiar with the terminology.

I understand the optics of it really is, you know, one

of the critical factors here.

No, real-- real quick.

Real quick.

Real quick, I'm sorry to interrupt you.

The optics are the only thing in the world

that you should not care about.

There's been sodas thrown at the screen at this point.

Not because they're mad at you or they hate you,

but because they're desperately trying to figure out how to get

you out of this perspective tunnel

you're in because it's broken, my good friend,

and I don't want that to be the case for you.

Making sales is not making money.

You need net profit.

What does your dream entrepreneurship life

look like?

I don't even know if I want to tell you guys right now.

This is-- you guys are hammering me.

Yeah no, I want to be like an angel investor.

I-- I want to help people start their own companies.

What I'd really like to be doing in the next two to five years

is what I like to call the New York blockchain project, where

I just pair startup companies that

are focused on this tech sector with people

that'll invest in them.

And then 10, 20 years from now, I want to get into biotech

and create--

[gary laughs] a sustainable technology that will help

re-aerate the atmosphere to reverse

the effects of global warming.

[laughter] So yeah, but I can't do any of that

right now because I fix decks.

I actually have career advice.

I think he should become the greatest entertainer comedian

of all time by your incredible gift to put together

an unbelievable amount of buzzwords

to deliver sentences of dramatic delusion.

There's a big difference between practical optimism and

straight and utter delusion.

RYAN BLAKELY: So what just happened was crazy.

That was not what I was expecting at all.

I'm feeling a mixture of different emotions.

Still feeling a bit of shell shock.

I have to go home and sell stuff because I am not getting

roasted again this week.

That one-- that one really hit home for me.

You know, getting-- getting an abrasive pep talk from Gary V

was really eye opening.

So not letting that happen again.

I'm selling everything.

Selling it all.

Literally digging myself out of a hole right now.

So I just finished a walk through.

Took the Prius there and crushed it.

I guess it doesn't really matter if I take the Prius.

I could have showed up on a bicycle,

it wouldn't have mattered.

So I'm actually sitting in my Prius right now,

and I just closed the deal, and I broke the contract

right here in the car.

I can do this in my Prius.

I'm going to save so much money on fuel alone.

Good morning.

TONYA RAPLEY: Hey, Ryan.

How are you?

Hey, Tonya.

How are you?

I'm doing good.

I'm doing good.

So what's been going on?

So I actually brought the Prius on two walkthroughs,

ready to close.

Oh, did we?

Yeah.

That was a big step.

So I know that you have entrepreneurial endeavors,

and so I brought in a special guest, Kim Perell

from Entrepreneur Magazine to get you started

on your entrepreneurial journey as you

dig yourself out of debt.

Kim, thank you so much for joining us.

I'm so happy to be here, and great to meet you, Ryan.

Hey, Kim.

It's great to meet you, as well.

How do you define yourself as an entrepreneur

since you're in debt today, and what is your goal today?

First and foremost, I need to get out of debt.

Let's go get a piece of paper!

I see there-- what's in behind you?

I can write it down for you and send it to you.

Yes, let's write it down.

What are we going to put?

What's our vision?

Let's write it!

Get out of debt.

KIM PERELL: So get out of debt by when?

I believe anything's achievable with one year.

So can you do it by one year from today?

RYAN BLAKELY: I mean, absolutely I can.

KIM PERELL: Yes!

I wrote this book, The Execution Factor.

It really tracks what separates the good from the great,

like what makes those entrepreneurs successful.

And I believe it is execution.

I sold my last company in 2014 for $235 million.

[whistles]

Wow.

If you want to be an entrepreneur so badly,

what would you suffer for to do that?

You're going to have to do things you don't want to do.

You're going to have to sell things you don't want to sell,

but do you want it bad enough?

Take action.

It's easy to dream.

It's hard to do.

It's hard, I know.

I've been bankrupt.

I've been broke.

I've been laid off, sued, served.

You name it, it's happened to me,

and I'm relentless in the pursuit of what I want.

And I can see you have the similar passion.

Like, you can see it.

You know what you want.

Ryan, what are you hearing here?

Because what I'm hearing is that your dreams have

to be more valuable than these toys you're accumulating--

the boats you're putting in your backyard, the car

that you're driving.

You have a boat in your backyard?

Yeah.

Do you have a lake in your backyard?

We got to get rid of the boat!

I have a lot of stuff.

Oh my gosh, you should hold the biggest

sale in your front yard and just sell everything.

Sell everything but what you need

to create that business and that dream that you deserve.

Ryan, I believe in you.

I'm excited to see what you can do when you quit all

the excuses and you execute.

Thank you so much.

I-- that means a lot.

It really does.

TONYA RAPLEY: Between your boat and the other things back

there, I think that we can get $6k.

More, even better.

You want to make this as successful as possible

so that we can get you closer to being debt free.

So you can actually focus on what you want to focus on.

RYAN BLAKELY: So there's this local band called Yard Sale.

They like to play at yard sales, and they just

randomly pulled up today and asked

if they could start playing.

[music playing]

SINGER: She took my money and she ran off to the beach--

Hey, how much for these comics?

$5 for the whole lot.

All right, that's a good deal.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

You looking to get all of them?

No, just a couple.

$15.

- Thank you very much. - You're very welcome.

Have a good day, sir.

You, too.

Holy cow, a microwave.

How much?

RYAN BLAKELY: $30.

$20.

RYAN BLAKELY: All right, yeah.

[laughter]

God bless everybody.

So yeah, this is her.

How much are you looking for?

So this is for $2,750

$40 for everything.

How about $30?

RYAN BLAKELY: $35.

OK.

Here you go.

Appreciate it.

Absolutely.

SINGER: I had a little bit of trouble.

Your daddy's gonna be--

Hey, how much for this toaster oven?

RYAN BLAKELY: $5.

All right, sold.

Here's an extra buck for those coasters there.

Hey, thank you.

Thanks, everybody.

Great yard sale.

WOMAN: Oh my God, he's a hoarder!

RYAN BLAKELY: It's been quite a day,

so I didn't make six grand.

But on a positive note, I received genuine interest

in both of the trailers.

Someone wants to buy the CRV for their kid,

and I have a guy that does want the boat.

So I just finished loading off the bike in the trailer,

and then ratchet strapping it down.

Getting it ready for its trip in the morning

to Dutchess Rec across the river in Poughkeepsie.

We're going to assess and appraise it,

I have to do a job in Millbrook, and then I'm coming back later

on in the day to get the news.

If it's something I can afford, and by that I mean

fit in the available balance on my credit card

and pay my way out of it, then I am going to hand the keys

over and get rid of my bike.

It's going to be a very emotional moment.

I don't know if I'm ready for it, but I've got to do it.

So there it is.

Hey, Steve.

STEVE: How you doing?

RYAN BLAKELY: Pretty good.

STEVE: So the original offer was for $8,000.

There is some cosmetic damage that

will need to be taken care of.

So ultimately, $7,000 for purchasing it

outright from you.

RYAN BLAKELY: If I had to describe my feeling,

it would be like somber and melancholy.

Now I don't have a bike, but I also don't have $3,000.

TONYA RAPLEY: According to the Ryan method,

he lost $3,000 today because he had to pay

off the balance of his loan.

But in the math method, we calculate the yearly cost

of the motorcycle including payments and interest,

insurance, and gas and repairs, which add up to around $4,200

a year.

Multiply that by the life of the loan,

and we can see that this $3,000 decision

will save Ryan almost $30,000 in the next seven years.

It's a big key turning in the lock moment for me

when now I realize that, yes, I spent money to get out

of the motorcycle, but I'm saving

that money by not making the payment,

not making the insurance payment.

If anything, I'm making money.

When I came into this, I knew that the technical definition

of buying a vehicle is a depreciating asset,

but nonetheless an asset.

And now I don't even look at it as that.

It's just a liability.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: We have Ryan now.

Hey, Dan.

TONYA RAPLEY: Looks like you got dressed for us today.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: The beard's gone.

The hair's shorter.

You're wearing a jacket.

I know you're dressing the part now.

The question is, did you actually do the part?

TONYA RAPLEY: Thanks to Ryan's garage sale

and landing a big new project at work,

his income went up to over $10,000.

By reducing spending on his vehicle,

his expenses came down to $7,700,

putting him almost $2,500 in the black.

Turns out the math method worked.

I'm net positive, so that's a huge thing.

Thank you very much.

And tell us about the Harley, sir.

So I was able to actually sell my Harley.

That was a bit of an emotional day.

[clapping] Thank you very much.

I have to say this call is going a lot better than I--

I was nervous last night.

Ryan, what happened to the boat?

So that was the whole experience in and of itself.

I actually brought it down to the river

and it started sinking.

Oh my gosh.

Ryan, this is a great metaphor for where we started.

[laughter]

TONYA RAPLEY: By selling his motorcycle and later

one of his trailers, an extra car, and even the boat,

Ryan was able to reduce his debt by $24,000.

Let's hope the truck is next.

There was a point before I started

doing this where I was seriously considering

buying an Aston Martin.

Like you can get a used Aston Martin for like $40k.

I can get approved for that.

I was legitimately, like, making that my summer goal.

But it dawned on me today how worse off I

would have been if I had not signed up for this,

and had met you both, and been given

such an insightful experience.

So Ryan, if somebody gave you money right now,

would you pay down debt with it?

Yeah.

You've done the work, so we're going

to give you $1,000 that you can use

towards paying off that debt.

All right, my friend.

I am going to leave this call feeling a level of confidence

that I wasn't sure I was going to feel.

I have learned so much from this experience, and I have--

have really taken everything and-- everything

that you've said.

You just spoke for the first time

like a real entrepreneurial CEO.

So now we know it's in you.

Yeah, we're proud of you.

All right, Ryan.

Good luck, my friend.

Very grateful over here, as well.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Don't buy stuff.

Do not buy stuff.

Let's spice these mushrooms up a little bit.

Cactus dust barbecue rub.

Just a dash of the Everglades heat, my favorite seasoning.

Umami seasoning blend.

Now I feel more motivated than anything.

I want to be debt free under a year,

and I want to go out and make millions.

Oh my God, Ryan, this is so delicious.

If you're looking to build or rebuild your financial life,

we've got tools and resources to help.

For more on debt, student loans, earning more, spending less,

and dozens of other money topics,

go to chegg.com/goingfrombroke.

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