He Escaped Iran at 16 With No Idea What Came Next
Episode 122: Payam Zamani
In this episode of the Matthews Mentality Podcast, Kyle Matthews sits down with Payam Zamani, founder and CEO of One Planet Group, CEO of Buyerlink, entrepreneur, investor, and author of Crossing the Desert.
Payam shares his incredible journey from fleeing religious persecution in Iran as a teenager to arriving in the United States as a refugee with just $75 in his pocket. Less than 11 years later, he and his brother had built an early online automotive marketplace and taken the company public at a $1.2 billion valuation.
But Payam's story goes far beyond financial success. After navigating the dot-com crash, divorce, family illness, and the loss of much of his wealth, he began rethinking the relationship between business, purpose, faith, and fulfillment. Those experiences ultimately shaped his philosophy of "spiritual capitalism," the belief that companies can pursue profitability while creating meaningful value for employees, customers, communities, and society.
Topics covered in this episode:
Payam Zamani's escape from religious persecution in Iran
Being smuggled out of the country at 16 years old
Arriving in America as a refugee with $75
Starting over and building his first technology company
Taking an early online automotive marketplace public at a $1.2 billion valuation
The dot-com crash and losing much of his wealth
Why money alone failed to create fulfillment
The philosophy behind spiritual capitalism
Building One Planet Group without outside capital
How Buyerlink connects consumers with automotive dealers and service providers
Turning around Inspirato by cutting roughly $45 million in expenses and reaching profitability
Leadership, humility, and putting people ahead of short-term profits
Work-life balance and the sacrifices behind entrepreneurship
Gratitude for America and the opportunities it gave his family
Concerns about social media, young people, and the loss of spiritual grounding
Writing his memoir, Crossing the Desert
Payam also shares why he believes business can be a powerful force for good, why leaders should think beyond maximizing shareholder value, and how some of the most difficult periods of his life ultimately reshaped his definition of success.
Whether you're an entrepreneur, investor, executive, or someone navigating adversity in your own life, this conversation offers powerful lessons on resilience, leadership, faith, gratitude, and building businesses with purpose.
Show Notes:
00:00 America as Hope
00:39 Meet Payam Zamani
02:32 Life and One Planet
04:02 Buyerlink Explained
06:30 Growing Up in Iran
08:38 Persecution and Survival
14:57 Decision to Escape
16:26 Smuggled Through the Desert
19:56 U.S. Embassy Breakthrough
22:42 Landing in America
27:56 Starting Over in California
30:03 First Tech Venture
32:23 Dot-Com IPO Reality Check
36:25 Crash, Divorce, and Faith
38:57 Work-Life Balance
42:17 Spiritual Capitalism Begins
43:13 Greed Versus Community
43:47 Spiritual Capitalism
45:09 One Planet Breakthrough
47:04 Unicorn Doubts
48:43 Writing Crossing the Desert
52:24 Memoir Truths Revealed
57:49 Inspirato Turnaround Playbook
01:04:20 Rapid Fire Reflections
01:07:26 Youth, Screens, and Faith
01:13:35 Closing and Daughter's Music
