In 2013, this Nigerian billionaire set out to build Africa's largest oil refinery.

Cost: $23 billion
Deadline: 3 years
Critics: "Impossible"

10 years later, he pulled off one of the most impressive infrastructure plays in history.

How it all happened blew my mind: 🧵 By 2013, Aliko Dangote had already conquered cement.

His Dangote Cement dominated 15 African countries, worth $20 billion alone.

But Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer was importing 90% of its refined fuel.

Dangote saw what others missed:

There is a mental model I can't stop thinking about…

Asymmetric Opportunity.

What it is and how billionaires use it to spot the next Google, Tesla, Nvidia and Bitcoin decades early: 🧵 Asymmetric opportunity = Small input but exponential output.

It's driven ALL human progress from planting seeds instead of hunting, to the printing press, to the internet.

To truly understand this concept, let's rewind to 2020 and meet this US Military Vet:

Pablo Escobar controlled 80% of the world's crack market by age 35.

Not through violence or corruption alone.

But through 7 strategies so revolutionary, top executives still study them today.

Here's the playbook that built a $30 billion empire from nothing:🧵 First, understand the scale of what Escobar built.

At his peak in 1989, he was smuggling 15 tons of cocaine daily and making $420 million per week.

He spent $2,500 monthly just on rubber bands to wrap cash. But here's what nobody talks about...

These 3 kids sold their app to Google for $1.65 billion in 2006.

- Then vanished overnight
- Today, YouTube is worth $455 billion
- Everyone thought they made the worst decision in history

But here's why they might be the smartest entrepreneurs ever lived: 🧵 Picture this: February 14, 2005. Valentine's Day.

3 friends huddled in a garage in Menlo Park.

- Steve Chen coded through the night
- Chad Hurley sketched logos on napkins
- Jawed Karim obsessed over server architecture

Their problem? They couldn't share a dinner party video.

In the 90s, Donald Trump was on the brink with $990 MILLION of debt.

The New York Post called him "UH-OWE!" and banks seized his yachts, towers, and helicopters...

But what he did next rewrote the wealth playbook forever.

Every entrepreneur should understand this...🧵
October 1987: Trump seemed untouchable.

"The Art of the Deal" hit #1 on bestseller lists.

Forbes valued him at $1.7 billion.
Fortune called him a business genius.

But behind the glamour, a disaster was brewing...

He is the youngest billionaire you never heard of...

Ben Francis

He was a pizza boy who built a $1.3B company with only $500.

His strategy was so simple yet effective, Nike, Puma and Adidas envy his success.

Now, he's worth $1.4 Billion—at 32. Here's his full story: 🧵 At 19, Ben Francis earned £4.90/hour delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut.

Today, he runs a fitness empire with offices on 3 continents.

But his journey started with a humbling reality that most founders never talk about...

Ryan Reynolds Is the new Steve Jobs.

In 2020, Ryan Reynolds bought a struggling 5th-tier Welsh football club for $2.5M.

Everyone called him a Hollywood dreamer.

But what he did next changed sports & business forever... Here's the story: 🧵 By 2016, Ryan Reynolds was just another Hollywood star.

He'd gotten Deadpool produced ($780M box office), but he was still just an actor.

Behind the scenes, he was plotting a masterplan to become a business mogul.

I spent hours studying the greatest Shark Tank deals in history.

The smartest founders follow 3 counterintuitive patterns no one is talking about...

Once you see it. You can't unsee it.

Here are 10 examples and their secret to creating generational wealth: 🧵 The biggest billion-dollar Shark Tank deals follow a pattern most people miss...

• Not flashy tech
• Not luxury brands
• Not complex products

I'll first list the deals. Read to the end for the unexpected patterns I've found between them...

This VC firm can see the future.

They invested in Apple, Google, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Airbnb when they were NOTHING.

Their portfolio is now worth $3.3 TRILLION—20% of the entire NASDAQ.

Here's how Sequoia Capital spot the next billion-dollar companies:🧵 The secret isn't luck or genius...

Sequoia doesn't just throw money at startups.

They have a PLAYBOOK refined over 49 years that lets them see unicorns that will change the world.

Let me break it down for you:

He lost $70 BILLION in a single day.

Then secured $45 billion in funding after a 45-minute meeting.

And turned a $20M bet into $70 BILLION—the greatest VC investment ever made.

Here's how Masayoshi Son spots billion-dollar opportunities decades early (and so can you): 🧵
Masayoshi Son childhood was far from easy...

His grandparents fled Korea to Japan on a small fishing boat with nothing.

In Japan, young Masa faced brutal discrimination for his Korean heritage.

Classmates threw rocks at him daily.

Henry Royce created the world's most luxurious car from scratch with almost nothing.

He had one year of schooling and $20 to his name.

So how did Rolls-Royce become a $64 billion empire?

The exact opposite of what every automotive "experts" recommend:🧵 By 4, Henry Royce was already working - scaring birds on a farm for pennies a week after his family went bankrupt.

At 9, his father died. His mother couldn't support him, so she sent him to live with an elderly couple.

Some days, all he had to eat was bread soaked in milk.