5 Powerful Lessons From A Penniless Immigrant Who Fought The Odds To Successfully Set Up A $100M Business In Under 5 Years

Perry Srey's early days are likely to move even the most hard-hearted. Troubles, hardships and adversities continued to chase him even after he fled the communist dictatorship regime of Cambodia and immigrated to U.S., often called a land of opportunity and freedom.

Rags To Riches: Srey lost his mother when he was 16 years and his father deserted him immediately after. His travails during those tough times are best summarized in this one sentence. "It's a miracle I didn't end up in the gutter," he said in a tweet thread.

So, it was up to him to ensure that he finishes school, goes to college and figures out what to do with his life.

At least he was a fighter, not cowed down by the surrounding gloom and doom. As he navigated through all these, life – very often an effective teacher, left him with valuable lessons.

Testifying to his resilience and mental fortitude, Srey says 20 years later, he is now a successful businessman and a father to a little boy.

Srey is the founder and CEO of Thirtyone Labs, which rose to be a $100 million+ business in less than five years.

Sharing something of the lessons he learned along the way, he said, these are "powerful lessons" you won't learn from Harvard Business School.

1. Surviving: Srey said he just got through the tough times by being in survival mode. He did telemarketing while at school and this fetched him $8 per hour. He did have this weakness of drinking and partying with the money.

Although he missed classes, he could graduate. Surviving through tough times is a powerful business skill that can eventually help one succeed, he said.

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2. Building Relationships: Srey was all along good at relationships, having been the class president, class favorite etc., etc. The good relationship he shared with the lady who kept attendance at college helped him as she did not report him. When in college, his people skills helped him rub shoulders with the high-and-mightly of the corporate world.

"If had a ‘superpower,' it's my ability to develop strong rapport and build mutually beneficial relationships with powerful people," Srey said.

And more importantly, his advice is not to build relationships with selfish intent.

"My fundamental belief is that if you treat others well, they will look out for you."

3. Good Mentors: The CEO of a startup where Srey started his career became his first mentor. He noted that this person has grown his net worth from $100 million when he met him first to $5 billion now.

Srey noted that he fell on the radar of his first boss because he managed to oudo all his colleagues who were from top 10% Ivy league institutions.

"If you want to get mentored by the best, outwork the rest," Srey said.

4. Sense of Purpose: The promise he made to his mother before her death drove him to success. "I told her I'd go to college and finish because neither of my brothers did," he said.

"So, I crushed everything. Every presentation. Every exam," he said, adding that discipline is a natural side effect of purpose.

5. Striving For Excellence: Srey said he started a construction business with no experience whatsoever and yet began making $30,000 per month in the first few months. He credits his desire to strive for excellence for this.

He had an inner burning desire to excel at everything he did, be it learning his timetables or building a $100 million per year business.

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