When Sharran Srivatsaa arrived in the US from India in 1997, he was not carrying a business empire, a powerful network or a high-paying job. He was a college freshman trying to pay his bills, working as a janitor and struggling with something that would follow him into job interviews- his thick Indian accent. At one point, he was told that he would never get employed unless he learned how to speak differently.More than two decades later, he has worked at Goldman Sachs, built and sold businesses, helped scale two companies to billion-dollar valuations and, in 2026, took over as CEO of Acquisition.com, the investment firm founded by Alex and Leila Hormozi.Here’s what it took for Sharran to fulfil his American dream.
1997: Arriving in America and cleaning floors
Srivatsaa has described his arrival in the US as a period when he was simply trying to get by. In the account shared by him on his Instagram page, he recalled arriving from India as a freshman with a “super thick accent”. He worked as a custodian, scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets to support himself through college. When the head custodian suggested that he find English tapes at the library to improve his accent, the library did not have what he was looking for.Instead, the librarian handed him Tony Robbins’ “Personal Power”. So, night after night, while working, Srivatsaa listened.What began as an attempt to improve his spoken English eventually became something much bigger: an early lesson in communication, confidence and self-education. He has since described the Sony Walkman he used at the time as his “English teacher”.
He once used Tony Robbins tapes while cleaning floors to improve his English.
There were other difficult moments too. In another account of his freshman year, Srivatsaa recalled struggling to afford food after an international tuition cheque delayed the activation of his college meal plan. At one point, he says, he even searched through a dumpster for leftover food.Years later, he would return to the same college as its commencement speaker.From India to an American collegeSrivatsaa has said that he came to America on a tennis scholarship. His early years, however, were far removed from the image of an aspiring business executive.In a post recounting his freshman year, he said his international tuition cheque took two weeks to clear after he arrived at college, leaving his meal plan inactive. He initially managed with food from pizza parties organised by student clubs and fraternities. When those parties ended, he said he began looking for food elsewhere- including in dumpsters.In another account, he recalled that he was working as a custodian at the same time, cleaning floors and toilets to pay his way through college.More than two decades later, he returned to his alma mater, Luther College, as its commencement speaker.
At 20, his first startup
Srivatsaa’s career did not follow a straight line. According to a timeline he shared, he joined his first startup as an early engineer while still in college at 20. The company was sold when he was 21. He has described the experience as his first real exposure to the value of ownership and equity.He has also recalled a later conversation with Elon Musk that influenced his decision-making. At the time, Srivatsaa was juggling his startup work with a dream of studying at Stanford. He asked Musk what he should do. Srivatsaa says Musk advised him to pursue the startup because Stanford would still be there later, while the startup opportunity would not.Srivatsaa subsequently dropped out of Stanford’s School of Engineering and built the startup. The startup was eventually sold.
His first startup was sold when he was just 21, according to his career timeline.
He then spent years teaching tennis
The next phase was about as far removed from investment banking as possible. At 22, Srivatsaa became a tennis professional in the Caribbean. He has said that after selling his first business, he spent about five years teaching tennis at resorts in the Caribbean, Dubai and Maui.He later recalled that a mentor challenged him to become one of the best teaching professionals he could be. His assignment was simple: teach 100 free lessons while receiving feedback on every one.Among the people he says he eventually taught were Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Alan Alda. The tennis years also brought another unexpected lesson. In his account, Srivatsaa recalled asking Branson how he made decisions while running multiple companies. He says the conversation prompted him to develop his own framework for making decisions.
Then came an unlikely Wall Street breakthrough
By his late 20s, Srivatsaa had moved towards finance. He enrolled in an MBA programme at Vanderbilt and later joined Goldman Sachs during the 2008 financial crisis. But getting there took considerably more effort than a typical job application.Srivatsaa has repeatedly said he went through 39 one-on-one interviews to get the Goldman Sachs job. In one account, he said he was the only student from his MBA class to make it through that process and get hired by Goldman that year.He has since described those interviews in detail, including one encounter with a managing partner who handed him a list of prospects and asked him to arrange a meeting. Srivatsaa did not know what to say and instead asked the managing partner for a script so that he could represent him properly. He says the response was positive and the interview ultimately became an important moment in his hiring process.At Goldman, he worked with wealthy clients and later said he managed more than $3 billion. His professional biography also lists Credit Suisse among his previous employers. But Wall Street was not where the story ended.
He bet on a small real estate company
Srivatsaa’s biggest business gamble came when he became involved with Teles Properties, a small Beverly Hills real estate brokerage.According to his account and a Forbes profile, he initially encountered the company while helping a Goldman Sachs client. He discovered serious problems in the business, including alleged financial misconduct by the then-CEO.Srivatsaa took a leave from Goldman to help address the situation. He eventually decided to take majority control of the company. To finance the move, he says he reverse-mortgaged his house. Forbes also reported that he did so without initially telling his wife.At the time, Teles was a small operation. In a timeline of his career, Srivatsaa described it as having one office and 28 agents in Beverly Hills. What happened next transformed his career.
Teles went from $300 million to $3.4 billion in sales
Srivatsaa says Teles Properties grew roughly 10 times in five years, from about $300 million in sales to $3.4 billion. The company was eventually acquired by Douglas Elliman. Srivatsaa has described the transaction as the largest acquisition between two independent real estate brands in the US at the time. Forbes also reports that Teles was scaled to $3.4 billion in sales before its acquisition by Douglas Elliman.The transformation became one of the defining achievements of his career. He later described those years as difficult as well as rewarding, saying that the business consumed a significant amount of his time while he and his wife were raising their young family.
From Teles to another billion-dollar valuation
After the Teles sale and a period that included building another private-equity business, Srivatsaa joined Real Brokerage. According to his own account, when he joined Real, the company had around 6,800 agents across 21 states. He says the number of agents grew to roughly 27,000 and the company’s valuation rose from about $200 million to $1.2 billion.Acquisition.com’s current biography describes Real as the fastest-growing publicly traded real estate brokerage and says Srivatsaa served as its president before joining Acquisition.com.He also became a member of Real’s board after stepping down from his operating role. During his time there, he rang the Nasdaq closing bell.
2026: A new role with Alex and Leila Hormozi
By 2026, Srivatsaa had moved into yet another chapter. He joined Acquisition.com, the investment firm founded by Alex and Leila Hormozi. The company’s own material lists him as a Managing Partner, while his recent posts identify him as CEO and Managing Partner.Forbes reported in March 2026 that Srivatsaa was becoming CEO as Leila Hormozi moved into the role of chairwoman. The publication described him as having already built two billion-dollar companies and highlighted his previous Goldman Sachs and Teles Properties experience.For Srivatsaa, the move was not simply another job. He had known Alex and Leila Hormozi for years, and has described the decision to join them as the next stage of his career.Srivatsaa’s journey has taken him through several very different worlds- from working as a college custodian and teaching himself English with a Sony Walkman to working at Goldman Sachs, building Teles Properties and helping scale Real Brokerage.Today, he is leading another chapter as CEO and Managing Partner of Acquisition.com alongside Alex and Leila Hormozi.The contrast with where he started is striking. The student who once worried that his accent could keep him from getting a job went on to build businesses worth billions of dollars in sales and valuation. His story, ultimately, is a reminder that a difficult beginning does not necessarily determine where a career can lead.
