Certain childhood obsessions, from poker to board games to throwing parties, train the exact skills that win the money game later. It starts with a business phrase: a high-level skill pointed at a low-level opportunity. Some people have what it takes to get rich faster than most, but nobody has shown them where to aim it.
It calls these obsessions success filters, because people good at them have a disproportionate likelihood of winning at money. Here are 15, with what each one teaches and where it tends to lead.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 15 obsessions at a glance
- Poker (0:39)
- Strategy games (1:56)
- eBay flipping (2:47)
- Board games (3:32)
- Card trading and collecting (4:21)
- Individual sports (7:17)
- Growing up in an impoverished country and getting out (8:08)
- Math or physics olympiads (8:57)
- Forum mods (9:59)
- Avid readers (10:46)
- Student council (13:03)
- Design (13:39)
- People who can throw a party (14:51)
- Opinionated or funny people (15:31)
- People with street smarts and a feel for street culture (16:22)
1. Poker
Risk assessment and calculated risk are a cornerstone of business. Poker trains you to decide under pressure, manage a bankroll, suppress emotion and read people and the situation.
The usual path: someone teaches you, you win a poker night and get hooked. The best treat it like a business, running 20 to 30 tables with their own rule book and optimization tools. Then they notice the effort does not match the reward and drift into trading, peer to peer lending or financing other players. Poker players become millionaires but rarely reach uber wealth, the video says, because they lack hard skills. They cannot build things themselves, so they hold minority positions while someone else creates the value.
2. Strategy games
Think Civilization, Age of Empires, StarCraft and any game built on farming and managing resources. Unlike poker players, strategy gamers think long term. They do not mind the grind. They start small, repeat the loop and expand, avoid unnecessary battles and adapt as the environment shifts.
Those who love the puzzle will love business, because the fundamentals are the same. The rewards are houses, travel and cool toys.
3. eBay flipping
Some people always have commerce in them, like the kid who sold things to classmates in middle school. They spot arbitrage from a mile away, whether in lemonade, sneakers, thrift clothes or smartphones.
The skill is judging value against cost. When value is higher than what you can pay right now, the trade makes money. With a little capital, the flipper moves from small items to cars, then apartments, then higher margin plays.
4. Board games
You can go from Monopoly as a kid to real estate as an adult. Chance plays a role, but over a longer horizon skill usually prevails. The negotiation around the table, the planning and the forecasting all carry over.
Everyone should play, it says, because boards offer a safe place to fail, learn and try again. The more complex the games, the better you get over time.
5. Card trading and collecting
Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and baseball cards share one thread: seeing value that others miss. A shiny piece of cardboard can be worth hundreds of thousands or millions to a select group, and the script cites one card sold for 12.6 million in August 2022.
Collectors learn that a complete set is worth more than the sum of its parts, and how scarcity affects price and how desire shifts over time. The same instinct carries into cars, watches and art. The video argues that wealthy buyers use art as a store of value against inflation and as an investment, because there will never be another Picasso and everyone with money is fighting over the same limited supply.
6. Individual sports
Team sports do not teach the entrepreneurial lessons people assume, the video says. In a team you stay in your lane and help teammates. In individual sports it is all on you.
That means resilience, goal setting, discipline, performance management and self motivation. Martial arts, swimming, tennis, golf and running, especially marathons, build a mind that learns to win internally. Apply that to business and you are hard to stop.
7. Growing up in an impoverished country and getting out
Some people never liked the hand they were dealt. Since childhood they knew they had to leave for a bigger city or another country, because the future they pictured was not available where they were. The video ties this to the American Dream and to why so many immigrants have a leg up.
That hunger comes with a self-awareness that people born into comfort lack. The hungrier person always fights harder for food. If you left your small town, got educated or learned a valuable skill you can monetize, you have this.
8. Math or physics olympiads
If your math has more letters than numbers, wait until you discover business. It is universally a numbers game. Once you see that money is numbers on a screen and small changes push them up, you are hooked.
The writers competed in both subjects when young, and the people they knew who wanted to get rich got there through big tech or by being recruited into venture funds or private equity. STEM teaches you to solve problems systematically, which is the base for writing code, valuing a business or becoming profitable.
9. Forum mods
This one is the least expected and, to the video, makes the most sense. Moderators build and keep a community together, and those who can grow communities can monetize them.
It takes clear communication, keeping people in check, knowing what works, solving conflicts and natural leadership, all to keep a Facebook group alive past six months. Per a LinkedIn study it cites, people with community management experience show a 30% higher rate of moving into successful entrepreneurial ventures.
10. Avid readers
Money is a learning game, and if you keep learning you perform better. Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. The video says the average CEO reads 60 books a year, while the average person barely reads one.
It suggests swapping fiction for business titles such as The E-Myth Revisited and The Millionaire Fastlane. Rich Dad Poor Dad changed the authors’ lives at 15, because the idea of properties paying for your life was revolutionary then. They add that those books no longer hold up the same way, and that podcasts often give only a couple of loosely explained insights per three hours.
11. Student council
Most high level work depends on getting people to trust you and give you power. Class president or student council gives a first taste of that.
You build leadership and learn to manage a project. More important, you learn that success is not about who is smartest or most capable, but about who is best at playing the game at hand. That serves you in business or corporate life, and the video jokes that there is always politics.
12. Design
Good design is good business. The most valuable early skill gained was using Photoshop: a banner, a logo, anything with transparency, they did themselves. Being able to prototype and iterate sets you apart from people who only wish to do something.
The controversial point: if your marketing is good enough, the product can be mediocre and people still buy. Supreme sold for 2 billion dollars after putting a word on t-shirts and building marketing around it, and Airbnb’s Brian Chesky is a designer who cannot code. The video also cites a 2021 survey saying design-focused companies outperformed the S&P index by 228% over ten years.
13. People who can throw a party
These people create hype, bring others together and charge for experiences. Even hosting friends at home takes skill, because you must get people to show up and craft the experience.
That is how relationships form, and you can build fortunes simply by connecting people. The line is that you can learn more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. Your network is your net worth, and it is a matter of time before the right pieces fall into place.
14. Opinionated or funny people
The take here is that truth and information are commodities. What people want are opinions and hot takes. Many bands write love songs, but you have a favorite because it speaks to you and you vibe with their perspective.
That is personality: the ability to be recognizable in a crowd. Funny people have an unfair advantage in business, since most business folks have a stick up their behinds and few are fun company. Your voice, writing and personality are your competitive advantage.
15. People with street smarts and a feel for street culture
Every generation is different, and older creators age out. Even the 90s references date the speakers: Jay-Z is 54, Jeremy Clarkson is 64, Charlie Munger died of old age, and both VICE and BuzzFeed are shutting down for failing to stay relevant to the new generation.
The gold is that every generation has its stars. You can be the Clarkson or the Marques Brownlee of yours just because you get it. Street smarts means taking what you have and making it profitable.
Found your obsession?
The bonus is an invitation: if you are extremely good at any of these but have not found money yet, write to the team and describe your obsession, passion or hobby. They say they will try to point you in the right direction, and ask only for a chance to invest a little early if you turn it into a business.
The team is also hunting for five more success filters, so it asks what you would add to the list.
FAQ
What hobbies help you get rich?
There are 15, including poker, strategy games, flipping, board games, card collecting, individual sports, design and throwing parties. Each trains a skill that carries into business.
What is a success filter?
It is the video’s name for an obsession or trait that gives you a disproportionate likelihood of winning the money game.
Why does poker rarely lead to uber wealth?
According to the video, poker players are strong at risk assessment but lack hard skills. They tend to partner with builders and hold minority positions instead of creating the value themselves.
Why are individual sports better than team sports for business?
In individual sports everything depends on you, so they build resilience, discipline, goal setting and self motivation, which the video says carry directly into business.
How much do top CEOs read?
The video says the average CEO reads 60 books a year, while the average person barely reads one.
Keep reading
- 15 Mistakes Rich People Make That Make Them Miserable
- 10 Habits That Help Rich People Make More Money Than You
- These are the 15 SKILLS You Need To Develop If You Want to be RICH
