Founder and CEO of the Financial Services Company PHP Agency Inc.,

Patrick Bet-David | Biography 2021

His YouTube Channel Valuetainment has 3.05 million subscribers

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Update : November 28, 2021

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Patrick Bet-David is the founder and CEO of financial services company PHP Agency and the acclaimed YouTube channel Valuetainment.

Who is Patrick Bet-David?

Patrick Bet-David is an Iranian-American entrepreneur, author, and YouTube content creator. He worked in a couple of financial services companies, such as Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Transamerica Agency Network, before launching his own company PHP Agency in 2009. 

Through his YouTube channel Valuetainment, Bet-David educates and encourages aspiring entrepreneurs. He is popular for creating a viral video titled The Life of an Entrepreneur in 90 Seconds, which led him to publish a book titled ‘The Life of Entrepreneur in 90 Pages’ in June 2016. He has also authored/co-authored several books such as ‘Doing the Impossible’ (2012), ‘The Next Perfect Storm’ (2012), ‘Drop Out and Get Schooled’ (2017), and ‘Your Next Five Moves’ (2020).

Early Life and Education

Patrick Bet-David was born on 18 October 1978 in Tehran, Iran. In 1989, when he was ten years old, his family fled Iran during the Iranian revolution and spent more than a year at a refugee camp in Erlangen, Germany. They moved to the United States in 1990. Then they were eventually granted US citizenship. Bet-David had an entrepreneurial mindset from a very young age. When he was 12 years old, he negotiated with a local swimming pool owner to pay 10 Pfennig for each beer bottle he collected. During that time, he tried to earn money to help his parents get him a computer for playing video games called Nintendo.

After graduating from high school, Bet-David joined the United States Army in March 1997. He served in the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army for more than two-and-a-half years before pursuing a professional career in the financial services industry.

Career

After being discharged from the United States Army, Bet-David started working as a financial advisor for the financial services company Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in 2001. He then joined Transamerica Agency Network in April 2002. At Transamerica Agency Network, he worked as a field vice-chairman. After working in traditional financial services companies for several years, Bet-David established his own company PHP Agency Inc., in October 2009. The company aimed at bringing life insurance to middle-class American communities while also providing entrepreneurial opportunities to individuals living in such communities. With the unique marketing approach, PHP Agency grew from 66 life insurance agents from one office in Northridge, California, to more than 17,000 agents in 49 states.

YouTube Channel ‘Valuetainment’

In 2013, Bet-David launched a YouTube channel, Valuetainment, to educate and encourage aspiring entrepreneurs and share business advice. Over the years, the YouTube channel became one of the best channels for entrepreneurs online. He rose to fame in the entrepreneurial community when his video The Life of an Entrepreneur in 90 Seconds went viral, attracting more than 30 million views. He hosts an annual three-day conference called Vault, where business leaders from around the world share their next 15 moves. He had also hosted interviews with famous personalities and billionaires, such as Ray Dalio, Mark Cuban, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, NBA Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson, and many more. As of July 2021, his YouTube channel has 3.05 million subscribers.

Books

A successful entrepreneur and YouTube content creator, Bet-David is also an author. He published his first book titled ‘Doing the Impossible: The 25 Laws for Doing the Impossible’ on 16 January 2012. The same year, on 19 July, he published another book, ‘The Next Perfect Storm,’ in which he illustrated the possible consequences of the current state of the financial industry. He then co-authored ‘The Life of an Entrepreneur in 90 Pages: There’s An Amazing Story Behind Every Story’ to motivate young aspiring entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams. The book co-authored with Thomas N Ellsworth was published on 11 July 2016. The duo published another book titled ‘Drop Out and Get Schooled: The Case For Thinking Twice About College’ on 23 January 2017. Bet-David, a college dropout by himself, shared numerous other ways to get educated and achieve success in life in the 2017 book. He then published ‘Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy’ on 18 August 2020, in which he teaches entrepreneurs the importance of every step taken in a business and strategies on how to take a crucial one.

Your Next Five Moves

The book focuses on both entrepreneurs' and chess masters' points of view. Both want to know what their next five moves should be. In the book, Bet-David makes an effort to help entrepreneurs to figure out their next step. The book focuses on providing clarity, strategic ideas, growth tactics, skills, and insights to entrepreneurs. 

The book has a 4.23-star rating on GoodReads. The book has been well received by the readers who have mostly said good things. They have also mentioned how it is more effective for someone who is an entrepreneur rather than an intrapreneur. According to Bet-David, Intrapreneur is someone who thrives in someone else's organization and are not running their own business. 

Doing the Impossible: The 25 Laws for Doing the Impossible

"Doing the Impossible: The 25 Laws for Doing the Impossible" focuses on the people who have a desire to achieve greatness. It is a highly recommended book for people who want to turn their dreams into a reality. The book can spark many reactions from the readers including excitement, curiosity, joy, laughter and also tears. The main goal is that in the end, readers will be encouraged and will be willing to challenge themselves to make a decision to do the impossible. 

The book has a 4.27-star rating on Goodreads. This book too was well received by the readers with many positive feedbacks. Many readers mentioned how the book is made for inspiring and encouraging oneself on a daily. It also seemed to be a book about recreating oneself and one's identity in order to make history for the rest.

Drop Out and Get Schooled: The Case for Thinking Twice about College

The book is mainly a conversation starter to talk about college education. The book focuses on the education system and the faith people put in it. Bet-David focuses on many questions in the book such as "Why do we go to college in the first place?" " Can I Succeed and do great things without college?" "Why do tuition and textbooks cost as much as they do?" The book does not talk about how higher education is terrible but rather about whether it is the right choice for people. Bet-David talks about how education can take place in many forms and whether higher education or a college degree is the right option for everyone. 

The book has a 4.07-star rating on Goodreads. This book was quite controversial and started many debates. Many reviews mentioned how the author gives valid analysis on who should and should not go to college as the conventional way of learning is not for everyone. However, where many reviewers found the book lacked was in regards to the evidence. 

The Life of an Entrepreneur in 90 Pages

"The Life of an Entrepreneur in 90 Pages" works to help readers to lay a foundation to achieve their dreams. The book tries to help people find direction and assistance to focus their energy on working towards their passion. The book focuses on six main key points; The Truth- Accepting Reality, Vision – Looking Forward, Commitment – Staying with Your Vision, Resiliency – Recovering from Setbacks, Validation – Experiencing Confirmation, and  Drifting or Driving – The Challenge!

The book has a 4.28-star rating on Goodreads. The book was liked by many readers. While the basic idea of the book is the same as any other book on the same subject, the book is more well-received due to its length of only 90 pages. 

The Next Perfect Storm

"The Next Perfect Storm" is a book which talks about investment and selling. Bet-David focuses on the next boom and takes examples from many previous financial years. In the book, he explains the five different current conditions that are combined to make the next economic boom. 

The book has a 3.95-star rating on Goodreads. Many readers reviewed the book as a great book that reveals opportunities in the life insurance industry and mentioned how helpful it is for future investors. However, many people have made claims that the book is a waste of time and works as a sales pitch. 

Life of an Entrepreneur in 90 Seconds

"Life of an Entrepreneur in 90 Seconds" is a video content made by Patrick Bet-David to show what the life of an entrepreneur is like. Entrepreneurs experience many trials and errors in their line of work and have to be constantly innovative. There is always a possibility of failure in entrepreneurship and this video focuses on just that. 

Good Voice, Bad Voice Film

"Good Voice, Bad Voice" is another video content made by Bet-David. The short film highlights the mental battle that an entrepreneur has on a daily basis. According to him, there is a good voice and a bad voice that an entrepreneur has on a daily basis and they have to make a decision to choose one. 

Net Worth 

Patrick Bet-David has had a successful career as an author and is the founder of PHP agency Inc alongside his work as a creator of Valueetainment. According to celebrity net worth, he has a net worth of $150 million. 

Personal Life

Bet-David met Jennifer Bet-David in June 2002 as a colleague. After five-and-a-half years of friendship at the workplace, they went on a date for the first time on 29 December 2007. They dated for one-and-a-half years and finally married on 26 June 2009. The couple has four children, Patrick, Dylan, Senna, and Brooklyn.

House

In June 2021, the Bet-David couple paid $20.4 million for a waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale. The house has six bedrooms and is 10,436 square feet at 141Bay Colony Drive according to property records shown in 2021.