EP1 Undercover Billionaire

for the first time in decades the next generation of Americans may be poorer than their parents seems like it work
harder or make less money 72% of Americans think the American Dream is beyond our reach is the American Dream
dead this dream is going to decline for decades this billionaire is betting it's
alive you my friend were labeled a loser at least likely to succeed no one
thought I would ever make I went from rags to riches but it wasn't luck 30 years ago
Glenn Stearns started with nothing and built a billion-dollar lending company one of the largest in the country but
have the times changed business principles that got me rich or how I'm gonna get rich again but talk is cheap
right I'm gonna prove it Glenn is betting a million dollars of his own
money but he can take a hundred bucks and grow it into a million dollar business in just 90 days but I
understand that I get treated differently because I'm wealthy well for most people the deck is stacked against
them so to keep this experiment fair I'm gonna do it all undercover I won't use
my name my money or my connections I'll go to a city where I don't know a soul
and I'll start from the bottom with only a hundred bucks a self oh and no contacts and an old pickup truck
I'm gonna work with locals to build this company because I know I can't do it alone get in or out it sounds like a
beautiful idea man I know it's not gonna be easy but I've never been afraid of
hard work my way at the end of the 90 days Glen's
business will be independently evaluated if it's up any short of a million I'll put 1 million dollars into it win or
lose the people who helped me get there will be rewarded but they don't know it
with a million dollars of his own money on the line Glen Stearns will see once and for all
if the dream is still possible in America
[Music] my name is Glenn Stearns and with hard
work I'm worth loading money you just
did addicted if you had told me when I was growing up that this would be my
life I would have never believed you I was born two alcoholic parents diagnosed
dyslexic and failed the fourth grade I fathered a child at 14 and graduated at
the bottom 10% of my class the cards were stacked against me ever succeeded
but I moved West with a dream of doing better than my parents and making something to myself I saw an opportunity
in the loan business and I struck out on my own with my first company when I was 25
I busted my ass to grow that company into one of the largest lenders in the country now I have a jet a yacht and
houses around the world for richer for poorer for richer for poorer that's hard
to say is that what I'm most proud of is my beautiful family and I have six
amazing kids ranging in age from 10 to 40
nondescript blended he's important and never blended I know this is gonna be
such a challenge for you Linda's been talking honestly about doing this for ten years
as long as I've known him he loves to be challenged that's about it I know you
can do it I'm excited for you cuz you've been wanting to do this for a long time
we may have talked about it for a long time in the 16 years we have been together I can't tell you how many
people have said I don't know how you're gonna do it and then he does let it go I guess okay after you say goodbye say
goodbye of all the shirts love you baby
okay hey I'm gonna miss you guys thank you thank you my daddy
the American Dream is so alive there are a lot of people that think you have to
be of means to ever be able to climb that ladder because you have to have a good head start I hope what this does is
it shows people that no you don't have to have a big bundle of cash or you know
Daddy Warbucks behind you that you can do this yourself Glen has begun the
journey but he has no idea where he's going he's wagering he can start a million dollar business anywhere in America take
him wherever they want to go yes sir
it still hasn't really sunk it to be honest because I'm still in the middle of a lot of fancy things night oh right
cleared for takeoff all right here we go
getting a little nervous now if you're going to start a company it could take anywhere from six months to a year or
more but since I only have 90 days I need to identify a need in the market
and then scale the company up incredibly fast I don't know where I'm going but there's an opportunity everywhere sure
there's a cold out there let us know it looks like we're landing in Pennsylvania
that'll be an adventure welcome to remain original airborne servicing Pennsylvania the temperature is 25
degrees Fahrenheit Erie Pennsylvania okay I haven't never been to Erie Pennsylvania Thank You sis here we go
the clock is now started and Glenn has 90 days to build a million dollar business in Erie Pennsylvania
you can't build a business when survival is your full-time job you've got to cover the basics first before you can
build anything bigger so I need to look around Erie and figure out what it costs to survive here
a city of ninety seven thousand people located in the northwestern part of
Pennsylvania Erie is in between Cleveland Buffalo and Pittsburgh for the
first time what strikes me is the seeing the power of what used to be right the remnants of an industrial city that had
so much life it won the All American City award in 1972 but with the
outsourcing of American manufacturing it's seen a steady decline in population as job providers and families scattered
to make do elsewhere downtown area as rebuilding Erie will be
a marathon and not a sprint I didn't
want to pull over and figure out what they're gonna take for me to live you
know all the surrounding cities are a lot more expensive than Erie what it looks like is I'm gonna need about
eleven hundred dollars to cover my rent gas and food per month and I've got
three months so really my total is $3,300 so that's gonna be the goal for
my first week I have to grow this hundred dollars into $3,300 now I
realize that this is more than most people make in a month but I'm gonna do it in seven days without knowing anyone
I'm hungry and I gotta go pee okay so
expensive a goldmine three for $2 you
can't beat that 11:26 not bad you don't have to have a
bathroom you give water hot water I
would appreciate it yeah and then I'm gonna ask the weirdest question of the mom you don't have a little fork plastic
fork I do you do success [Music]
this might be my bed for the night I have a hundred bucks I can find a
hotel but I'm gonna use up half my money probably at least I got a nice bed right here so speak I don't have any time to
waste here so I'll place an ad right now for anything that I can do with my truck
I mean from scrap metal removal to clean-out services you know shoot I mean
I'll clean houses anything it doesn't matter to me it's just like fishing the
more lines you have in the water the better chance you have of getting a hit
89 more days
I've reached the bottom quickly and I'm gonna claw my way back up
I'm gonna miss you guys less than 24 hours ago billionaire Glenn Stearns went
undercover in Erie Pennsylvania to prove the American dream is still alive Stearns has bet himself that he can
build a brand new business worth a million dollars in just 90 days starting with an old pickup truck a hundred
dollars and a phone with no contacts with just under 89 bucks in his pocket he's doing everything he can to save his
money
[Music] sleeping in the car son
so I've gotta figure it out today because it can't do this forever I'm
gonna focus this week on coming up with 3,300 dollars so that I can cover my
living expenses for the next three months every minute that I'm focused on survival is really a minute that I'm not
focused on the business recognize your strengths and weaknesses there are a lot
of high paying hourly jobs here in Erie and I'm not even remotely qualified for manufacturing jobs require some real
skill that I don't have when I am a Salesman I've been my whole life
it would be great to get any job at this point but if I'm gonna get out of survival mode fast my best bet is to
find something to sell look at all these abandoned buildings I mean they're just great materials left on the side of the
road or even in scrap yards and some of them are still worth money so if I could
find these discarded items I can potentially flip them hopefully a lot of money [Music]
we've got to find my buyer it's one of the principles of my whole life is find
your buyer first and the rest will fall in place so there's people out there they're looking for wrought iron fencing
military-grade tires some buyers they'll pay four to five hundred dollars a pop
for them find your buyer first and work backwards based on what they want most
people do it wrong they create a product and then they go looking for someone to sell it to lining up the sale first is
often the difference between hot commodities and junk one man's trash is
another man's treasure looking honest see me
fencing I'm looking for authentic wrought iron fencing has not been commercially produced in the US since
the 60s modern wrought iron is actually forged steel or aluminum so the
heavy-duty real deal can be worth up to three dollars per pound industrial tires out here loggers miners
and farmers use industrial and military grade vehicles to get their jobs done but new wheels can be expensive so use
tires with good tread sell for several hundred dollars apiece most of these are our automobile tires
that doesn't work for me and then these see this is what I'm looking for but they cut in half
I don't work so close a lot harder and I
thought you know people like to dump at these abandoned buildings because they
don't have to pay anything there's an old freight line that runs through the center of town here that the bunch of
closed industrial buildings on either side these old manufacturing plants used to
load directly onto the freight trains so I'm gonna start at one end of the city
and I'm gonna work my way across following these tracks I'm not looking
for car tires I can't sell those there's so many times that people throw away things of value they just have to find a
buyer to connect to another thing this is not what I'm looking for these are
worthless I am getting seriously low on
cash and if I don't figure something out ain't and I just got to stay at it
plenty in more places to try I had beat from sifting through all this
junk all day feel pretty filthy that's admit I'm not used to sleeping in my truck so you know a nice shower with a
real bed could really do me some good I've been looking online for the
cheapest motel where I'm hoping that the owner will let me do some work and I
won't have to pay for the room what I do for you yep room tonight it's fifty one
fifty one dollars okay were you taking care of this now yeah I will
is there um do any work to do like could I work and and help you or is
there anything like that right now I I don't have I'm more like a one-man crew
you know I have another gentleman that helps me and I got my son here right that's 50 180 when it's 45 plus tax it
was 51 all right what's every dollar counts
well I had to pay full price for the room but at least it's the cheapest room in town I don't really have any time to
go out and try to negotiate with anyone else you got a hundred dollars in your pocket while I thought that was very
little having $38 in your pocket is a
lot less okay I still haven't gotten any
responses for my posts offering myself up for cleaning hauling out garbage I feel like I could make a lot of money
relatively easy by trying to make a hundred bucks or a thousand dollars is nearly impossible two days in and I
haven't made any money to cover my living expenses however this is not the time to give up people miss out on a lot
of opportunities when they panic and quit too early I'm gonna continue applying for every job I can find and
look for things to sell
very very hot shower finally first time in one or two days I spent two thirds my
money just on food and shelter here but I found a listing for a commission based gig I did the head there now and
check it out and see what it's all about we're going to see the hairy rubber
factory they have a sales job so maybe I can take that I'm excited
John's the owner of the company so I'm gonna go in and meet him and see what he needs hello are you going yeah I'm John hey
Jeff how are you very nice to meet you too why don't you come on back
this is actually our latest project we're developing a dog toy so we want to
expand into a pet brand and our brand is one leg up so one thing that we mout
available for you is helping us sell the dog toy you can make Commission on that it's kind of a part-time thing
hey that that might work you know that sounds good [Music]
emissions only a dollar a ball but I can play to my strengths and sales all these
dogs yeah yeah are you guys this ball
that just made it's made here in Erie of you guys do you guys buy ila yeah I
think you do the dog toys oh look at these guys I got a customer all right
let's go go will I get it back what do you think huh so this ball this is and the URI
rubber company's made this right everything he'll let you feel it yeah I would say good luck
it's cringing this is this is out of my element okay I really am you know I mean
you know I haven't done something like this since I was probably 12 years old selling newspapers so we've got a local
gentleman in town is making these balls I wish you guys the best of luck I didn't sell one ball all these dogs not
one ball I went against my own principle of find your buyer first take care all
right take care this ticking clock is putting the pressure on but going forward I need to stick to the ideas that made me
successful or I'll never get off the ground
billionaire Glenn Stearns is undercover in Erie Pennsylvania trying to make a million dollar business in just 90 days
he plans to cover his survival costs in the first week this is not what I'm looking for but three days in his
attempts to sell dog toys and flipped salvaged materials haven't paid off if
he doesn't start making money soon he risks going broke
how are you have $8 on number one thank you do you have a restroom I can't even
afford to fill up my truck I got about three gallons out of it to get me around
the block I'm still looking for those salvageable
items like industrial tires wrought iron fencing I see a bunch of tires
it could be promising
yeah what I'm looking for they're just too worn clothes
[Music] clothes and I came at this so confident
that I could take $100 to turn it into a million dollar business and you know I just didn't expect to lose everything
and I've got to get creative here because I don't have any more money so I volunteer at a soup kitchen that
way you know I could work for a meal instead of just take one I don't feel right take though I reached out to one
of them online and they said they'd be happy to have me just come on in and ask for Laura is Laura here hi how are you
how are you good nice a lot are you plan and okay nicely check come on Steve
thanks for coming so this is our regular crew that is this is Glenn oh yeah you
could actually go along with her and start the placemats and then we'll come back and do salt and pepper on every table so people made these that's great
it's st. Patty's Day I guess that's coming up soon
[Music]
[Music] I've given my camera crew a cover story
since they need to follow me they're doing a documentary on Glenn Bryant who quit his corporate job to start a
business later in life how you doing how
are you doing how are you let's go more there you go going out and
living the American Dream trying to make it on my own as a business owner and
starting it at 55 versus most people started when they're your age you know I
felt good for helping and then I felt bad because I'm kind of living under
this false pretense you're hungry all right let's give me a plate there you go
I get it more and more why there's this big divide between those rich SOPs these
people are just thankful to have one meal how are you how we doing we're
doing terrific all right you're doing a good job we might hire you good I'm hired there you go hey isn't
good but the benefits benefits are gross and then after they eat we perfect I go
in for a hot meal thank you dear and I come out really realizing that
I've got my life so good and I don't know I just don't know why we got it so
good you know it makes me feel hopeful in the world you came don't feel guilt
no but I appreciate everything thank you thank you thank you too it's a reminder that starting a business
here isn't just about proving something it could positively impact a lot of people if I do it right it's just rock
hard [Music]
I'm working my way along these rail lines trying to find tires and wrought iron that have been dumped I'm starting
to run out of rail and gas it's uncomfortable to have less than thirty dollars to my name but I know that I can
find this stuff so these abandoned buildings are perfect places for people to throw away what they consider junk
and I'll take whatever I can get right now you know hello this is how are you
I'm excellent you wanna stop in today
disgusting signal carotid yeah no absolutely I appreciate that
yeah I'm I'll come by immediately okay wonderful
take care all right bye-bye and my first job is it first of many I hope
just to warn halfway through his first week undercover an earring billionaire
Glenn Stearns hasn't earned anything towards its $3,300 goal to cover his living expenses but this is Stearns has
just landed his first paying job I'll come by immediately I've got the
opportunity to make some quick bucks that's the one thing is you can't have
people thinking you're sleeping in your truck if you do then you're beyond desperate you got to look confident
[Music]
[Applause] hey yo Jay Len hey Jay how are you nice
to meet you yeah and I see you too thanks for coming in oh thank you appreciate it allow me to bring a couple
friends alone yeah yeah no no worries as long as you know they they don't get in
the way I was ready to turn around and run you know because it comes off as just a scary guy that's gonna kick your
ass we have a big st. Patrick's Day order coming up you know I'm a little short-staffed right now so you know
you'll be helping out with those cool so give you a quick tour show you around first and then maybe even have you wash
some screens today perfect so have you ever seen screen printing done or I have not and you got your press this spins
around this way you put your search or whatever you're printing on then that thing over there was the conveyer dryer put the shirt through and that's what
cures the incan of the shirt I'll get you changed show you how to do that and I'm gonna kind of let you go for a little bit early so no pressure
these are polyester material these are obviously little bit more expensive and it's for a customer so you messed it up
it comes out of your pay day it worked
pretty good getting the hang of it looks good you got that
yeah yeah there we go that's it that works that works you just made me about eight dollars and 73 cents there we go
$8 73 cents I like it first step you said was get wet spray down a little bit
say hello to my little friends
[Music]
what's good to me you're good so how
long you had the store so we've been in this location for a little over two years now you know long story short I
worked full-time for the city for seven seven years and a couple years part-time before that and start a hobby clothing
line right out of the house camp with the name in the logo made a couple shirts with 300 bucks and and just got
to flip in it and flipping it and one more you look at him and you get this dichotomy don't judge a book by it's
cover and he's a great example of that took a big leap of faith and I retired from the city to pull my pension gave up
everything that and all that security and took this on full-time I've been doing ever since I love it it fits my
life exactly as well yeah and we grew up in a little apartment mm-hmm I ended up
failing fourth grade I make it to eighth grade you know and all of a sudden I get a girl pregnant everything I'm telling
people is real right I mean it makes it so that I don't have to think about this very hard the only thing that's not
exactly accurate is my last name or how much I'm worth six hours that's $60
thank you very much RJ have really appreciated making $60 has never felt so
good but more than that I feel that I made my first real contact in the Erie which is so important all you need both
one break finally my strategy is to
continue making local contacts and getting to know Erie while also finding salvaged goods that I can sell for a
profit before I go back to salvaging I think I'm gonna check my posts to see if
anybody's responded whoa looks like someone's off for me $80 to
clean their house let's do this I've got
another opportunity to make some money here in Erie I'm going to clean somebody's house girl for me 80 bucks
and I'm not sneezing at 80 dollars that's for sure no job is beneath you working hard at a
job any job builds confidence and gives you self-worth that confidence will help
catapult you to the next level okay I
know it's stupid but like if there's one little spot I'm gonna get it and chillage gone I haven't picked up a mop
and probably 20 years to be honest with you but it's like riding a bike okay hey
mom always says start in the corner that way you don't have to go back over it
wanna make mama proud growing up my mom cleaned homes all I
could think about was my mom did this every day for years and years and years oh man this is gonna sting where is a
bag or something somebody's got to clean the kitty box she sacrificed a lot and
you know cleaning houses wasn't above her you know I mean there was nothing there wasn't a job above my mom or my
dad for that matter you know they did whatever it took [Music]
you know it's humbling but I got paid and you do what you need to do yes
I cannot believe I'm sleeping in my
truck again you know I've been noticing
a lot of signs around town for the st. Patty's Day celebrations this may be a great opportunity for me to diversify my
efforts st. Patrick's Day is a chance to diversify my efforts I know there'll be a lot of drunk people that are gonna
want some green sweat if I buy a bunch of merchandise on st. Patty's Day at a discounted price there'll be a huge
margin on the retail but I need someone who knows this city
RJ hey how you doing I see the big st. Patty's Day Parade is coming up there
are so many people out there that need green in their life on that day so I was
thinking you know why not go out and take a run at selling it you you you get
your t-shirts I'll get some st. Patty's Day swag we'll make a team and go out
and see what we can do I would appreciate having somebody that's real
local and knows everybody and all right
looking forward to it thanks see you bye bye I mean I can go out on my own and try to do this but I
don't know people I don't have the ability to connect with people of Erie since I'm brand new but RJ we're gonna
end up making a killing tomorrow is my day
[Music]
so I just went and picked up a bunch of Irish swag the best thing to do is buy
st. Patty's Day stuff on st. Patty's Day it was slashed so cheap I got the big
mylar balloons for 60 cents I can sell this for $5 a piece investing 101 buy
low and sell high but the reality is that I've spent all my money I'm putting it all on the line but look at the Arish
I'm completely screwed if this fails [Music]
paty six you need anything green I've had jobs I was eight years old I've delivered newspapers for a couple
years I can still remember exactly what I would say every time I would knock on
the door had my bundle of papers someone went open the door and I'll go hi I put my foot in the door so they couldn't
shut the door and then I say hi my name is Glenn Stearns I work for the Montgomery County Journal you can help me win prizes and cash bonuses for
getting more readers for a paper covers all your local news like sports editorials classified ads wining and dining other and snorkels and you can
have the win a brand new 10-speed bike I would do that a thousand times a night nothing happy st. Patty's Day it taught
me to read people write what are they doing when they're looking at me and in their eyes are they upset are they
trying to close the door are they interested a relationship is what sales is all about
billionaire Glenn Stearns now Undercovers Glen Brian has spent nearly every penny in his pocket on st.
Patrick's Day merchandise he plans to sell the green swag at a three to four
hundred percent market we see any competitors let me handle it I'm stealing everything they have I bombed
at the dog park I mean it was embarrassing I need to step it up at this parade I've built my whole career
on this selling little green trinkets to be easy we're selling some swag anyone
want anything cheap stuff necklaces you know when Glen told me that do you want to go down there and sell st. Patrick's
Day swag I thought he was kind of crazy but at the same time that's exactly what people told me when I want to first
start anything green it's gonna be a learning experience either way you either whenever you learn you don't lose
you have to buy some stuff you look like maybe you might be one of these they
light up doing them that'll be good that lights lights on you later these are 5 bucks I got 40 bucks oh yeah all right
hey appreciate it start it's a start what's up what's up what's up and how
much other shirts go I tell you what kit you make it or not we'll give you this shirt you definitely need this
I see that there is no difference between negotiating a 500 million dollar credit line or negotiating a $5 trinket
the key is knowing how to read people and convincing them that they need what you're selling you know what you are
you're 100 percent thyroid says a buck
what are you thinking we got to get to the drunk people so there's more going on down there maybe we can go to a bar
will stall everything at a bar yeah let's go tap into that herd mentality
get in front of a group and sell them if you can get just two people in that group to buy what you're selling odds
are the whole earth is gonna follow
this is what so RJ and I walk into the Bourbon Barrel and it just immediately
it just hit right people are down there
they're in the festive mood what do you got we had a lot of bling a lot of lights
it fits you that darn right it does you know it was just awesome you know and we
sold out so quickly I'm trying to get
rich I'm trying to get there I mean this
guy RJ is so dedicated he's so focused they literally sold the shirt off his
back I mean oh my god he sold his shirt off his back can you believe that -
start with 40 bucks that's that bag I say that's a pretty successful night
[Music] st. Patty's Day I earned some money but
the goal for the week was $3,300 and I've got about four hundred dollars in my pocket I mean this is much harder
than I ever thought it was gonna be this is gonna actually change my entire plan for the next 83 days I mean I'm here to
start a business and I can't even afford a bed to sleep in I think I was just cocky coming into this I mean just cocky
you know I forgot how much struggle it is to get ahead however I have a goal
I'm not backing down this season on undercover billionaire
what are you looking to get out of it I need to flip bigger it runs beautiful and bigger to start my new business I'd
like to try to flip a home I think I'm interested you're killing me and find the right business he's the right place
in the right time now for Carper here but I can scale up fast hey I'm not in the position to pay
anybody right now time is my worst enemy here's to the future yeah difficult I'm
so screwed the mold is a huge issue this
is all my liability now this path is fairly impossible something feels off
why couldn't you be Glenn Stearns when you came the whole thing caught on fire
RJ I don't feel you're prepared right now this is our life in this dress that
we deal with get up and be an impressive
I don't know how I'm gonna be able to succeed I'm struggling
much bigger than a bet this is real life this is our town in yeah I want to make it work the most important thing that we
can do is make this about the hard-working people of Erie its reenergized me to stop seeing just the
bad there's one thing that I've kept from you guys you've earned this I would
probably put a value on this business at [Music]