
Stephen Schwarzman’s Grit, Rejections, And The Birth Of Blackstone | Ep. 22
From Funds on Fire by Devin Robinson
October 27, 2025 · 1h 8m
About this episode
The episode explores Stephen Schwarzman's journey from numerous rejections to the founding of Blackstone, highlighting key lessons in grit and investment strategies.
Send us Fan Mail A tuna sandwich, a casual “Put me down for 100,” and the dam finally breaks. We follow Stephen Schwarzman from 488 rejections to the $100M anchor commitment that unlocked Blackstone’s first fund and set the stage for one of the most dominant investing platforms on earth. This is a story about grit, but it’s also a playbook: secure social proof, solve LP problems, and build processes that turn momentum into durable scale. We dive into the early Wall Street lessons that shaped...
People in this episode
Host: Devin Robinson
Topics covered
- grit
- investing
- entrepreneurship
- Wall Street
- fundraising
- social proof
Keywords
- Stephen Schwarzman
- Blackstone
- investing
- entrepreneurship
- fundraising
- rejections
- Wall Street
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Blackstone
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