Decoding Tony Hawk’s mindset in 72 minutes

Fourth game just got released. It got to be in the top 10, uh, sales right away. And he said, "The first three are still in the top 10." And I said, "What does that even mean?" And he's like, "This is what it means," and he slid a check across the table-

[laughs]

... for $4.5 million. That's how I made my first million.

[laughs]

[upbeat music] I feel like I could rule the world. I know I could be what I want to. Uh, I put my all in it, like no days off. On the road less traveled, never looking back.

Tony, can we show you something really quick, just so you understand how real this is all about to be?

Uh, sure.

So we're business nerds, but at least one of us, uh, has grown up watching you, and I'm gonna show you why I like talking to you. This is me skating. Can you see this video?

Wow.

[laughs]

That's awesome.

So I'm 30-

Is that a 360 flip recent?

Yeah, I'm 37 years old.

Damn.

So look, there's a six stair, there's a-

I'm jealous. That's amazing. Was that, was that the Riverside Park right there?

Riverside Skate Park. I move-

Yeah

... right by it, just, and I go every Saturday and Sunday.

Sick. I'll meet you there so you can teach me how to relearn 360 flips.

[laughs] Yeah, right. Have you skated there a bunch?

I can't do them on flat anymore. I, I, uh, I can only do them on banks.

Well, that's more impressive. But I grew up watching you forever, and so it's pretty cool that we've, we've intersected at this strange place called My First Million, where we talk about business and stuff. But I'm so excited to talk to you. I know Sean is, too.

Yeah. Actually, Sam, I have a funny story. So I met Tony once, many years ago now, like 10 years ago. We went on a trip to Ethiopia with Charity Water. And so-

Yeah, that's true. I was like, "I know that face."

Yeah, so we're in the middle of nowhere. It's like there's no, there's no service, there's no nothing. There's no water, right? That's why we're there. There's no water in these-

Yeah

... these villages, and we're on the side of a mountain. We're kind of doing a hike, and this guy's like, "Tony Hawk." And he recognized Tony Hawk on the middle, on the side of a mountain in Ethiopia, a place where they didn't, you know, they didn't even have anything. It was incredible. And, and the funny thing was the whole trip was, like, a bunch of who's ... It's like, "Oh, this guy created Spotify. This guy created this." Nobody knew anyone, except for Tony Hawk.

[laughs]

He got recognized on the side of a mountain. I thought that was unbelievable.

That was a fun trip. I had never experienced anything so remote, for sure, but also how, like, you know, with the whole mission of it, life-changing water. Like, it was, it was, uh, insane. We got to fix wells. That was wild.

Yeah. We got to see the water come out for the first time in a, in a village-

Yeah

... like when the geyser, like, blasts and stuff like that. It was, it was amazing.

How'd you get looped into that, Tony?

I was a, a big donor to Charity Water, and I had actually sponsored a well in the name of my daughter, who was very young at the time. She's now in college. But we got to go visit the actual well, and-

That's awesome

... people were, were thanking me on my daughter's behalf, and it