Shaahin Cheyene is the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Accelerated Intelligence. His story is unbelievable. Shaahin’s family had to escape Tehran during the Iranian revolution in the 1970s. So at 15 years old, he left his home with nothing but the clothes on his back. Since moving to LA, he’s created a company that’s made over a billion in revenue. Hear his fascinating story in this episode of Negotiations Ninja!
Outline of This Episode
- [2:07] Shaahin Cheyene’s unbelievable story
- [8:08] Shaahin’s experience working with Chris Voss
- [9:53] Negotiating with the Yakuza
- [14:06] Can someone still have a rags to riches story?
- [22:58] From herbal ecstasy to Amazon guru
- [26:53] How to learn more from Shaahin Cheyene
EDM & ecstasy: Shaahin Cheyene’s Rags to Riches Story
Shaahin was a 15-year-old basically homeless kid in LA that realized he could frequent clubs late at night and sleep behind the speakers. The drone of the EDM helped him crash. The parties would start at midnight and go into the morning hours. It was the perfect situation for someone with nowhere to live.
But Shaahin noticed something interesting. The promoters didn’t make money in these clubs. The DJs didn’t make money. The owners of the buildings weren’t making money. Shaahin realized it was the drug dealers making money. Shaahin also knew that he was far too neurotic and wouldn’t make a good drug dealer. So what did he do?
Becoming the king of herbal ecstasy
Most of the dealers primarily sold ecstasy. But the supply was being dried out. It was a difficult drug to synthesize, and drug dealers were getting desperate. So Shaahin set out to create a natural version of the drug with legal ingredients so no one could go to jail.
He managed to produce his first batch in a girlfriend’s kitchen. He took it to a dealer at the club and said, “Sell this.” After being told to “F$%k off,” the dealer agreed to try it. An hour later, the drug dealer said, “How soon can you get me more?” And it was on.
Soon Shaahin was manufacturing and selling herbal ecstasy, with tens of thousands of people buying it. Shaahin had made $1 billion in revenue. They were making these pills for 25 cents and selling them for $20. This was before the internet, social media, Google, etc. It was a wild ride. Shaahin built one of the most successful supplement empires of its time.
To learn more about Shaahin’s story, check out the book about his experience, “Billion: How I Became King Of The Thrill Pill Cult.”
From herbal ecstasy to Amazon guru
In 2009, Shaahin found out that third-party sellers would be allowed to sell on Amazon. Allegedly, Jeff Bezos recruited some of Walmart’s top fulfillment people, gave them a blank check, and told them to create the best distribution system in the world. Amazon revolutionized the industry.
At the time, Shaahin was developing a brain supplement and thought Amazon would make the perfect distribution channel. He set it up on the platform, and the next morning he woke to thousands of orders. So Shaahin decided to learn everything he could about selling on Amazon. People wanted to hire him as a coach, so he developed a course that covers starting a business, launching a product, and creating recurring revenue streams.
Resources & People Mentioned
- Shaahin’s book: “Billion: How I Became King Of The Thrill Pill Cult.”
Connect with Shaahin Cheyene
- Get a FREE one-hour FBA Seller course by mentioning “ninja”
- Accelerated Intelligence Inc.
- Shaahin’s personal website
- The Hack and Grow Rich Podcast
- Shaahin’s Podcast: Billion
- Follow Shaahin on Twitter
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