From Refugee to Real Estate Leader: Mike Zlotnik on Wealth, Investing & the Big Mike Fund
The Mike Litton Experience
Mike Litton
5.0 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 7 April 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this powerful episode of The Mike Litton Experience, host Mike Litton sits down with real estate investor, fund manager, and entrepreneur Mike Zlotnik—widely known as “Big Mike.” From his early life as a political refugee from Moldova to becoming a successful real estate fund manager in the United States, Mike shares an inspiring journey of resilience, discipline, and strategic thinking.
Discover how Mike transitioned from a career in technology to building a thriving real estate investment business, including the creation of the Big Mike Fund and Tempo Funding. He dives deep into real estate strategies, including short-sale investing, cash flow vs. appreciation markets, and how investors can build predictable wealth over time.
Mike also reveals how his background in chess shaped his investment mindset, offering valuable lessons on decision-making, risk management, and continuous learning. Whether you’re a seasoned investor or just getting started, this episode is packed with insights you can apply today.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- How Mike Zlotnik built wealth through real estate investing
- The difference between cash flow and appreciation strategies
- Lessons from the 2008 financial crisis and short-sale opportunities
- Why mindset and discipline are key to long-term success
- How chess principles translate into smarter investing
Don’t miss this engaging conversation filled with real-world experience, actionable advice, and inspiring perspectives.
Subscribe to The Mike Litton Experience for more interviews with top entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders sharing their stories and strategies for success!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Yeah. |
| 0:01.0 | And then Moldova is on the west side of Ukraine and east side of Romania. |
| 0:07.0 | Gotcha. |
| 0:08.0 | So you left Moldova in 1999. |
| 0:12.0 | What made you leave? |
| 0:14.0 | I'm a political refugee from the former Soviet Union. |
| 0:18.0 | It's a long story, but we were discriminated against in the former Soviet Union. It's a long story, but, you know, we were discriminated |
| 0:22.3 | against in the former Soviet Union, and we basically kind of left it as fast as we could. |
| 0:28.7 | My whole life revolved around chess. My father was a chess master, and I was a chess, kind of, |
| 0:35.4 | a grom playing chess. It's all I did. After school school every day kind of I hit my 10,000 |
| 0:41.7 | hours by the probably age of I don't know 12 so I did a lot of chess and math as crazy as it sounds later |
| 0:49.4 | yeah but I had an opportunity to basically be involved with a regional tempo funding that comes. |
| 0:55.7 | So my friend who was also intact for many years, kind of started the regional tempo funding, but he said, I want to run it. |
| 1:03.4 | But I have an idea what to do. |
| 1:04.7 | And this was right after the GFC, great financial crisis. |
| 1:08.2 | The markets crashed. |
| 1:09.7 | And he moved to California with Boston. |
| 1:12.4 | It feels like it, doesn't it? |
| 1:15.5 | Yeah. |
| 1:15.8 | And I let this one comment, and I may be completely wrong. |
| 1:20.0 | I don't know the future any better than you. |
| 1:23.1 | My crystal ball, I had a wonderful crystal ball, but it broke. |
... |
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