#131 - The Companies We Would Buy and Fix and A Multi-Million Dollar Rapper Snack Business

In this episode Shaan (@ShaanVP) is joined by startup growth expert Julian Shapiro (@julian). Julian shares the 3 growth trends he noticed successful startups were implementing to grow at astonishing rates. The pair also discuss different publishing schedule approaches and how to write an effective Twitter bio. They end the episode talking about what each of them would do if they were to do something different. --------- * Follow Julian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/julian * 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: * (1:03) Julian on Podcasting * (4:45) The 3 cheat codes * (5:44) #1 - Give your customer a no-brainer decision * (6:15) #1A - Give them money (in a sustainable way) * (13:02) #1B - Make it super low friction * (19:48) #2 - Billboarding & naturally encourage sharing * (30:13) #3 - Self-liquidating funnels * (40:58) Why publishing erratically works for some * (45:58) Julian on Twitter bios * (50:44) What Julian would do if he was doing something different * (54:20) What Shaan would do * (57:55) On stand up comedy and what makes a good joke * (1:02:13) What the best storytellers have in common * (1:04:27) Where to find Julian

20 Aug 20211h 5min

In this episode Shaan (@ShaanVP) and Sam (@theSamParr) dive into a few industries and talk about the players behind them. They start off talking about car dealerships and the handful of politicians who make major coin through them. They then transition to celebrities and how some have leveraged their name to make even more money. They finish the episode with a few anecdotes on how some people started to accumulate wealth and a snippet on anti-aging and scientific discovery. --------- * 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: * (0:59) Intro * (2:47) The Skip Barber racing school * (6:48) Digitizing the gun range * (10:57) The politicians making money with car dealerships * (23:06) The cool growth hack used by Spoonflower * (28:48) Celebrities making bank of their celebrity * (35:26) George Clooney hooking up his friends with $1M cash * (39:51) A feel good story about Shaan's trainer * (41:58) The Bar & Bat Mitzvah hack to wealth * (44:57) A unique twist on Universal Basic Income - the birth dividend * (47:35) Aubrey de Grey and how scientific breakthroughs work

18 Aug 20211h 1min

In this episode Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) joins Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan (@ShaanVP) to give a master class on NFTs. Gary shares his predictions on the future of NFTs and how they'll be (eventually) used by everyone. He also talks about the growth of VaynerX, his love of garage sales, and the launch of VeeFriends & VeeCon. At the end, he shares the biggest lesson he learned from passing on investing in Uber (twice). --------- * 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: * (0:58) Intro * (5:14) The headcount growth of VaynerX * (11:44) On Shaan's Clubhouse prediction * (13:39) Gary's conviction to the game * (17:44) Shaan's first foray into NFTs * (19:53) Gary's prediction on the future of NFTs * (23:24) Revisiting the purchase of Michael Jordan's house * (28:03) The story of the Spirits of St. Louis * (29:21) The what, not the how, for NFTs * (32:53) VeeFriends and VeeCon * (39:24) On Gary's master plan to buy and grow existing brands * (43:28) How Gary thinks about creating content * (45:52) Putting wins on the board * (47:28) Missing on Uber

13 Aug 202152min

In this episode Shaan (@ShaanVP) is joined by Steph Smith (@stephsmithio) for an idea packed episode. They start off talking about opportunities around spending your FSA dollars and on swag packs. They transition to talk about the role of automation at companies and Steph shares how she would go about automating repetitive parts of her role. The end the episode talking about Steph's new course, approaches to building a company, and Fidelity allowing trading accounts for teenagers. --------- * Want Steph's course? You can find it at https://doingtimeright.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. --------- Show notes: * (1:06) Intro * (2:20) Ideas around spending your FSA dollars * (15:58) Ideas around giving out awesome swag * (21:52) The role of chief automation officer * (27:37) Building a company around automation * (35:03) Giving away free alcohol as marketing * (41:22) How Steph invests her time & money * (43:50) Steph's new course - doingtimeright.com * (47:44) Approaches to building a company * (51:39) Fidelity allowing teenagers on the platform * (56:52) How to find Steph online

11 Aug 202158min

In this episode Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan (@ShaanVP) break down a multi-million dollar opportunity to unbundle Etsy ($24B market cap). Shaan also shares how he would approach it if he were doing it himself. The guys also talk about the multi-billion dollar elevator industry, a training program to become an MMA fighter, and whether tax incentives make Canada an attractive place to run a startup. --------- * 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: * (1:10) Intro * (3:30) The elevator industry * (11:08) Unbundling Etsy * (22:43) A crash course to become an MMA fighter * (28:02) Mental Fitness * (39:01) Moving to Canada + SRED credits * (45:53) Reese Witherspoon's massive exit * (51:45) Delta airlines meet Delta variant

6 Aug 202155min

In this episode Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan (@ShaanVP) are joined by solo capitalist Brianne Kimmel (@briannekimmel). They talk about how Bri got started in investing, the pros and cons of her busy schedule, and discuss some of the unicorns she's invested in. They also discuss a cool use of deepfakes, how VCs make money, and whether or not college is worth the price of admission. --------- * 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: * (1:00) Intro * (2:25) The Shake Up - a new podcast on the HubSpot Podcast Network * (6:52) GPT-3 and Anthony Bourdain * (11:40) A cool use of deepfakes * (13:31) Meet Brianne Kimmel * (16:14) Bri's crazy schedule * (21:39) How VCs make money * (37:33) Hot spaces Bri sees * (40:54) Is higher education worth it? * (50:31) Winners Bri sees in her portfolio

4 Aug 20211h 2min

Do you like these mini episodes? Tweet your feedback to Shaan (@ShaanVP) & get more short stories like this on his newsletter www.shaanpuri.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.

1 Aug 202118min

In this episode Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan (@ShaanVP) revisit the NCAA rule changes about college athletes making money and Shaan shares his prediction about who the next big sports agent will be. They also talk about buying lotto tickets via an app, the mugshot industry, & how to fight tech and porn addiction. They end the episode with Shaan sharing a Chrome extension idea. --------- * 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: * (:53) Intro * (2:24) Buying lottery tickets online * (8:46) Making money around NIL - name, image, likeness * (14:21) The college sports agent * (18:59) The origin story of Scooter Braun * (23:01) Shaan's one regret from college * (24:37) The AngelList scout program * (28:43) The mugshot posting & removal industry * (35:29) An app to fight tech & porn addiction * (39:02) Story sidebar - Earl Nightingale & who's serving who * (42:12) Back to fighting tech addiction * (46:32) An idea for a Chrome extension

30 Jul 202155min