Acquisition.com CEO Sharran Srivatsaa shared his journey from working as a janitor to building three billion-dollar ventures. Despite being told his thick Indian accent would prevent him from getting a job in the USA, he persevered. He said, “Not giving up is the most heroic thing you could do.”
Synopsis
Setbacks are inevitable. The best thing you can do for yourself is not giving up. Taking to Instagram, Acquisition.com CEO and managing partner Sharran Srivatsaa shared his incredible journey from being a janitor to making it as a tennis coach and later as an entrepreneur through a viral video.
Where there is a will, there is a way. Taking to Instagram, Acquisition.com CEO Sharran Srivatsaa shared his journey on Instagram through a viral video. He revealed he had been practising tennis for six years, starting at age 4:00 am and sleeping 16 hours a day on a cardboard box to get a visa once upon a time. He became a semi-pro at tennis at the age of 17, got into college, and worked as a janitor to pay bills.
Goldman Sachs Stint
Later, he sold his first startup and went back to playing tennis. At age 23, he coached billionaires like Richard Branson and Bill Gates in tennis. Eventually, he decided to get his MBA. He appeared for 39 interviews before landing a job at the coveted Goldman Sachs after his MBA. In 2011, he left Goldman to build his very first billion-dollar business. He revealed he lived on his wife’s salary for two years.
Serial Billion Dollar Business Builder
By 2017, he had increased the revenue of his company, Teles Properties, from $300 million to $3.4 billion in just five years. It was acquired by Douglas Elliman. It was the largest real estate acquisition in US history at that time. He then joined Real, a brokerage firm, as president and grew its revenue from $200 million to $1.2 billion. In 2021, he joined entrepreneur Alex Hormozi and his wife, Leila, in 2025 at Acquisition.com and grew his third billion-dollar business.
The entrepreneur who was once mocked for his Indian accent emphasised the power of perseverance. “Not giving up is the most heroic thing you could do,” he wrote.
Some months back, Sharran wrote on X that he had arrived in the US with limited resources, and his thick accent was often berated, and he was told he would never get employed anywhere due to that accent.
During that period, Srivatsaa earned his living as a janitor and lacked the financial means to hire a professional speaking coach. Determined to improve himself, he turned to a public library, where he borrowed audio recordings of motivational speaker Tony Robbins. He made listening to these tapes part of his nightly routine, playing them while mopping floors and carrying out cleaning duties.
Srivatsaa later explained that this self-directed learning experience served as his informal training ground, gradually strengthening his self-confidence and communication abilities.
As per his LinkedIn profile, Srivatsaa has an MBA from Vanderbilt University. He also dropped out of his master's course in electrical and electronics engineering at Stanford University.
(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)
Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.
...moreless
(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)
Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.
...moreless
Can new data protection law guard against SBI-like data breaches?
KYB and KYC: Quick commerce, the Damani premium and what DMart must deliver – 3rd and concluding part
The tough business behind the walls
KYC and KYB: Inside Damani’s DMart, the retail chain for the middle class. And stock for the long term? – Part 2 of 3
Will it be a regulatory nightmare if an exchange lists on its own platform?
KYC and KYB: Inside Damani’s Avenue Supermarts that refuses to charge more – Part 1 of 3