The High School Dropout Who Made $2B & Bought an NBA Team

November 5, 2025·49 min·9-min readinterviewbusiness

Podzilla Summary (9 min)

TLDR
Ryan Smith went from a 1.9 GPA high school dropout to building Qualtrics in his family’s basement, turning down a $500 million acquisition offer, scaling it to an $8 billion sale, and eventually becoming co-owner of the Utah Jazz — all through relentless focus, extreme personal ownership,

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Guest

Ryan Smith

interview on My First Million

Mentions

Books, people, and resources mentioned in this episode.

People

Ryan SmithShaan PuriJared SmithDuff ThompsonDave GoldbergJulie Bort

Books

To Sell is Humanby Daniel Pink

Companies

QualtricsSurveyMonkeySequoiaAccelUtah Jazz

Topics

Business ModelsEntrepreneurshipFundraisingLeadershipScalingStartupsVenture Capital

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