NFL Star & Penn Professor Brandon Copeland — Tackling Financial Education Through “Life 101”
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Today I sit down with NFL Player, business mogul, Penn Professor, financial literacy advocate, and proud Penn alum Brandon Copeland. Let’s list out what Brandon’s been up to the last few years:
- Penn Professor where he teaches “Life 101” each spring to educate students on the financial basics of adulthood. Think stocks & bonds, buying a home, credit 101, car payments, and more
- He has since made this course available to the public, where he hosts lectures and guest speakers every Tuesday. You can learn more about the course here: life101.io (more on this later)
- He’s a serial private and public investor, real estate developer, and motivational speaker
- He’s a frequent columnist at Kiplinger, CNBC, and is a member of CNBC’s Invest in You Wellness Council with Acorns
- He is a recipient of the Forbes 30 under 30 designation, runs his own foundation, and is a noted brand consultant
Brandon, as he explains in the episode, is hyper-focused on building the “Business of Me,” and has dedicated his life to helping others do the same. Let’s break down the episode:
His Long Path to NFL Stardom
For Brandon, football ran in his blood. His grandfather, Roy Hilton, was an NFL player and Brandon grew up loving the sport. However, his grandfather also served as his biggest inspiration for excellence in the classroom, in Brandon’s words making it “cool to be the smart kid,” which set him on his journey to success.
It wasn’t until 4th grade when his family finally let him step on the field. He had to cut 15+ pounds to make weight for the team and explains how this experience laid a foundation in discipline, commitment, and sacrifice. He did endless cardio, dieting, and even ran around his house wearing trash bags to drop weight…not bad for 10 years old.
“It’s crazy to look back and think what I did at that age.”
After a strong career at UPenn where he was 3x All-Ivy and Second Team All-American, Brandon began a 5-year odyssey from undrafted rookie to starting linebacker, overcoming injuries, multiple teams, practice squads, and more. How did he survive? He offers this advice to anyone chasing their goal:
“I always told myself if I don’t believe in me, who will? And why should anyone else need to?”
And with so many people in his ear telling him to go use his degree, how did he stay focused?
“I think unfortunately in society we become pinballs and take other people’s opinions of us way too seriously. There’s a difference between that and getting advice from people, getting mentorship and guidance, and taking it in so you can make the best product ever…we need to understand that “I have my vision…and my life is not necessarily yours.”
A Resume Closer to Goldman Banker Than Gridiron Backer
Brandon’s interest in finance started from a young age. He kicked off his business career by interning at a hedge fund in high school(!), then went on to work at UBS and Weiss Multi-Strategy in college. I had to ask him, how did he get into these fields? I didn’t even know what a hedge fund was when I was 16, let alone work at one. His thoughts:
“Listen, I love football…but I also understood that there were people making money who don’t have to put their bodies through the stress, the surgeries…I learned that there’s somebody paying my salary…So I’ve always just been interested in learning the business and putting my money to work for me.”
Brandon has taken this passion for knowledge, and has spent his life honing his craft to help optimize “The Business of Me”:
“I’m different in that I’m willing to put in the time, energy and effort to actually understand different industries and companies, how they earn money and lose money, so I can ultimately do that same thing for myself. I was going in [these internships] to learn what you do, so I can apply it to my own life someday…so that the entity of Brandon Copeland is solid.”
Brandon has backed it all up, having invested in 40+ real estate projects, getting allocations in Lyft, SKLZ, and AirBNB pre-IPO, saving 90%+ of his paycheck every year, and building an incredible brand around himself all while helping others.
“Life 101”
At Penn, Brandon teaches a class called “Life 101” in his offseason. Brandon is teaching that class that we all wish we had in college, covering:
- Credit 101
- Debt management strategies
- “The Business of Me” (choosing your circle carefully, networking and reputation management, understanding your tendencies, negotiating, etc.)
- Investing and Retirement
- Income and Expense Management
- Taxes
- Real estate purchases, rent vs. buying, mortgages, and tenant rights
- And so much more
“All of the decisions you have to make in life, we’re gonna talk about it…you shouldn’t be learning about these things at the closing table.”
There’s somebody today spending on their credit card incorrectly. And not because they have to…but from a lack of understanding. And there’s no reason for that! We’re trying to build that community where people come together…These things actually matter and can determine your entire life”
He has built off Life 101’s success at Penn, now starting a public version at Life101.io.
Let me tell you, this not a PR move. Brandon knows his stuff and this class is the real deal.
Brandon was generous enough to invite me to one of his classes, and I was blown away. Their platform has budgeting resources, in-depth videos, and explainers of high-level concepts down to detailed personal wealth strategies. The material is very useful, but the weekly Zoom + Telegram community is really where it’s worth it.
He hosts a Zoom class every Tuesday at 7pm for the public (with a small paywall). I joined the meeting and had a 1-hour open, transparent conversation with Brandon, a large group of everyday people, and an expert on credit scores. We talked all about credit scoring, the credit bureaus, credit cards, and strategies for timing your credit events around purchases. I’m a fintech and personal finance geek and still learned a ton. I would strongly encourage anyone reading to check out his class.
In addition, the community has a Telegram chat where Brandon and the community engage each day to talk about market events, crypto, tax strategies, the news, and most importantly, help each other with Q&A. I’ve had a lot of fun chiming in where I can and helping some folks out in the community.
“You need to think about yourself as a Fortune 500 company. Are you the smartest person in the room? If so, get out of the room…you have to keep growing yourself”
Money, The NFL, & Superman’s Cape
Lastly, we cover Money & the NFL. Athletes going broke is something the media has covered extensively, but in the past decade, there have been amazing successes that have gone unnoticed. Brandon and I touch on the amazing business work of people like Derrick Morgan, Kelvin Beachum, Russel Okung, and others, then talk about where the NFL goes right and wrong. His thoughts?
- The NFLPA does a solid job, connecting players with advisors and resources, but there’s more work to be done, including bringing in more real stakeholders to the table early on
- One important concept he stressed was that timing is everything:
“You’re getting guys in their first year in the league, and they are barely 21! And the hardest thing in the world is to tell Superman that one day he wont have that cape.”
- He said sees his teammates get more serious at around age 26 (sounds like the rest of us!), but tries to show the younger players how powerful it is to be making good financial decisions from age 21
- He also thinks athletes should keep pushing each other to learn and share knowledge. Brandon himself has group chats with tons of teammates where they compare notes, source deals, and help support each other
“You need to hear these things at the right time to accept them, understand them and then apply them…it’s also the delivery. I’ve had success there because I’m in the locker room.”
Brandon was fantastic in today’s episode, also covering his key pieces of financial advice to everyday people, his favorite fintech apps, the unique way he structures his Life 1010 final exam, and of course a rapid-fire round including the best QB he’s ever faced.
Enjoy the show!
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Ryan Zauk
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Ryan Zauk is an MBA Candidate at The Wharton School, where he runs the Wharton FinTech Podcast. He currently works with the US International Development Finance Corp looking at technology impact investments in developing markets. He has a passion for music, media, and all things FinTech.
You can reach him at rzauk@wharton.upenn.edu or on Twitter.
