9x Founder Kim Perell: How I Turned a $10K Loan Into a $235M Company | E154

9x Founder Kim Perell: How I Turned a $10K Loan Into a $235M Company | E154

From Leap Academy with Ilana Golan by Ilana Golan

April 14, 2026 · 56 min

About this episode

Kim Perell shares her journey from being fired to building a $235 million company, emphasizing resilience and business success strategies.

When Kim Perell was fired, she had to fire all her friends on the same day. The company she thought would make her a millionaire had just gone bankrupt, leaving her with no income or backup plan. Instead of giving up, she took a $10,000 loan from her grandmother to start her first company from her kitchen table. That bet led to a $20 million exit and eventually, a $235 million company. In this episode, Kim joins Ilana to share how to turn setbacks and mistakes into million-dollar breakthroughs and how to overcome the limiting beliefs holding you back. She also reveals the four pillars that helped her achieve success without burning out. Kim Perell is a 9x founder, 3x bestselling author, and investor in 100+ companies. Kim became a multi-millionaire by the time she was 30, and sold her last company for $235 million to Singtel, while simultaneously running multi-million-dollar companies. In this episode, Ilana and Kim will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (04:08) Growing Up in the Shadow of Her Twin Sister (07:07) Learning Risk and Failure from Entrepreneur Parents (09:46) How Getting Fired Led to a Career Pivot (13:31) Her Grandma’s Life-Changing $10K Loan (16:37) Using The 70% Rule…

People in this episode

Host: Ilana Golan

Guest: Kim Perell

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Singtel

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