#113 - From Furniture Store to Water Delivery: The Millions in Boring Businesses

In this episode Shaan (@ShaanVP) and Sam (@theSamParr) break down a 30-year-old infomercial and they discuss the modern day approach that can make you millions. They also talk about businesses built around trust, professional certifications, and what investors Shaan would call first if he was raising. You'll also meet a serial entrepreneur who is this weeks' Internet Founder of the Week. --------- * Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/ * Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million * Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas. --------- Show notes: * (0:57) Meet a future guest * (4:34) Building a business around trust * (9:17) The problem with content businesses * (12:25) Subscription opportunities for content based businesses * (18:30) Trust as a service businesses * (23:01) Someone got a little blue checkmark * (25:16) The health department score is BS * (28:34) Klout reimagined * (32:14) Thoughts on professional certifications * (34:24) Meet Matt Mickiewicz * (42:12) Guthy-Renker - direct marketing masters * (53:07) The modern day infomercial * (59:19) The first five investors Shaan would call

22 Syys 20211h 7min

This a special release of the 3-part Thomas Edison series from the How to Take Over the World podcast with Ben Wilson. Description - All of my Edison notes that didn't make it into Part 1 & Part 2, including: Edison vs. Tesla Edison vs. Elon Musk Puritanism and Edison How Edison Went Deaf (Maybe) --------- * How to Take Over the World - https://www.httotw.com/ * Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/ * Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million * Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.

18 Syys 202141min

This is a special release of the 3-part Thomas Edison series from the How to Take Over the World podcast with Ben Wilson. Description - How did Thomas Edison rise from obscure origins in a frontier town in Michigan to become the most famous man of his age and one of the greatest inventors of all time? In part 2, we cover Edison's life from his invention of the light bulb to his death. --------- * How to Take Over the World - https://www.httotw.com/ * Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/ * Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million * Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.

18 Syys 202139min

This is a special release of the 3-part Thomas Edison series from the How to Take Over the World podcast with Ben Wilson. Description - How did Thomas Edison rise from obscure origins in a frontier town in Michigan to become the most famous man of his age and one of the greatest inventors of all time? In part 1, we cover Edison's life from his birth up through his invention of the phonograph. --------- * How to Take Over the World - https://www.httotw.com/ * Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/ * Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million * Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.

18 Syys 202146min

We're excited to announce that tomorrow we are releasing a 3-part series from one of Sam's favorite history podcasts, How to Take Over the World. In this episode Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan (@ShaanVP) talk with Ben Wilson (@BenWilsonTweets), the creator of the How to Take Over the World Podcast (@HTTOTW), about his research process and they all share favorite moments from the series. --------- * How to Take Over the World - https://www.httotw.com/ * Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/ * Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million * Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.

17 Syys 202123min

In this episode Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan (@ShaanVP) update "Sara's List". This was a list of companies Sam and his wife created 5 years ago when she was looking for a job. What was the criteria? They had to be established startups who had the potential to 5-10x over the next 5 years. She went with Airbnb. If you are looking for a new job, check out these 12. --------- * Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/ * Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million * Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas. --------- Show notes: * (1:01) Sara's List 2.0 * (6:59) Flexport * (9:30) Zapier * (13:16) Uniswap * (18:07) Anduril * (21:45) Replit * (27:39) Airtable * (31:01) Figma * (33:38) Rippling * (36:35) OpenStore * (40:23) Faire * (41:33) NexHealth * (43:31) OneTrust

17 Syys 202147min

In this episode Shaan (@ShaanVP) reveals the creation of the first My First Million NFT. Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan also talk about Laird Hamilton's Superfood company, whether people should lie more, and they share their reactions to an recent twitter thread. They close out the episode with ideas around other niches Figs could work for, opportunities with crypto conferences, and in creating retreats. --------- * The MFM NFT - https://bit.ly/MFM-NFT * Stripe for Vice - https://twitter.com/mrskylor/status/1437182707675504640 * Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/ * Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million * Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas. --------- Show notes: * (1:53) Laird Hamilton's publicly traded company * (6:04) The battery theory * (10:17) The MFM NFT * (14:08) The Stripe for vice story * (20:00) Should people lie more? * (23:32) Figs for construction * (35:40) Meet George Barber * (37:12) Meow Wolf for immersive experiences * (41:11) Two bit circus * (44:15) The big opportunities with crypto conferences * (47:29) Event & retreat opportunities * (51:36) What success can look like in VC

15 Syys 202159min

[Updated] In this episode Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan (@ShaanVP) talk about what Shaan has learned over the last week by taking a Bill Gates-inspired week off to dive deep into crypto. They also talk about Wilbur Wright, identifying stories from your work experiences, and who they follow in real estate Twitter. They close it out talking about a Twitter thread with a different take on levels of wealth and then potential solutions to Sam's occasional panic attack. --------- * Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/ * Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million * Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas. --------- Show notes: * (1:53) The backstory of Wilbur Wright * (9:26) First, last, best, worst, weirdest * (12:44) Sell the story * (17:02) Real estate Twitter * (29:17) Opportunities for niche content creators * (33:42) Shaan's think week is crypto week * (37:53) Meet Andre * (40:19) Observations from crypto week * (43:46) #1 - crypto dev tools * (45:23) #2 - NFT research tools * (48:42) Shaan's take on NFTs * (59:09) Levels of wealth thread * (1:07:16) Parallels to Naval and financial freedom * (1:15:39) Panic attacks

10 Syys 20211h 24min