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

Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. Episode summary: (0:03) Discounted Uber credits hack (4:06) Scam talk: Chamath bitcoin giveaway, Nigerian PPP, Super Pac (12:05) Baseball card storage idea (15:20) Self-storage company, Public Storage, is wildly profitable (16:12) Real estate talk (20:01) Why it’s important to have enemies when marketing (27:42) Private Twitter idea (30:08) Chris D’Elia and Wikipedia for creeps idea (37:42) Should Wikipedia be government owned? (39:50) Cheaper backend brokerage  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

26 Jun 202044min

Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. Episode summary: Privacy Based Businesses (14:20) Opportunities “Hidden in Plain Sight” (18:29) Unclaimed Baggage unclaimedbaggage.com (22:50) “Costco for services” idea (28:55), Income Share Agreements (37:00) Simple websites doing $100k/mo (39:10) Sam and Shaan get a little philosophical about if you should spend time investing or building (44:40)  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

24 Jun 202052min

Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. Sam Parr (@theSamParr) and Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) catch up with Noah Kagan (@noahkagan), founder of AppSumo and OkDork.com. Before that, he was employee #30 at Facebook, #4 at Mint, and worked at Intel. In today’s episode we hear about Noah’s background (1:05), Noah talks about the different between needing to do things and choosing to do things (5:58), how Noah thinks about finding customers (12:30), Sam asks for Noah’s framework for knowing how and when to build a new product (16:10, Noah talks about how our greatest strengths are also our greatest weaknesses (18:12), Shaan joins the podcast (27:00), Shaan asks Noah how he would build a company now if he was 21 with no name recognition (33:50), Noah leaves the podcast and Sam and Shaan talk through Sam’s upcoming road trip and future ideas (50:30).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

19 Jun 20201h

Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@theSamParr) catch up and talk through a variety of topics on the show today. Everything from content engines serving only employees of specific companies (internal podcasts, for example), to the Koch brothers and SnapKit. In today’s episode we cover ways companies are publishing content directly to their employees (8:00), Sam briefly summarizes how the Koch brothers made a billion dollars (15:30), Shaan riffs business ideas based on Snapchat Mini’s (22:45), Shaan explains Moonshot and how online escape rooms just might work (30:30), Sam asks for Shaans honest opinion on the Liquid Death founder (33:47), Sam and Shaan talk about humanIPO.app and the merits of humans having an IPO (39:35), Shaan and Sam discuss correct posture and the need for someone to tell them how to exercise “correctly” (43:00).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

12 Jun 202047min

Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) breaks down the way he thinks about angel investing. He talks through his experiences, what you should look for in a founder, how to be an angel investor with someone else’s money, and how to evaluate your returns.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

10 Jun 202025min

Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@theSamParr) sit down with Mike Cessario (@Cessario) Co-Founder and CEO of Liquid Death (@LiquidDeath). Mike gives the backstory on Liquid Death and together they talk through the importance of marketing and making boring market segments more exciting. Today's topic include: Mike gives the backstory on Liquid Death (2:30), Shaan asks Mike “where does this idea come from?” (7:30), Mike talks about how big the business is (10:20), Mike explains how to inject humor into stale brands (18:30), Mike talks about the difference between mineral waters in the United States and abroad (26:00) Mike compares businesses started by “business people” to businesses started by “creative people.” (39:40), Mike illustrates how he views Liquid Death as a pop-culture factory (44:00), Mike explains that “it’s all about speed” if you want to win when going from idea to product (54:48).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

5 Jun 202055min

Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@theSamParr) kick around a several new business models, and then they break down frameworks for how the best founders develop and source startup ideas.. The second half of the show is also Shaan and Sam talking through current events. Today's topic include: Shaan and Sam talk about gaming credit card points (0:16), Shaan brainstorms on a service for creating tax-advantaged foundations for athletes or other high earners (4:00), Sam and Shaan talk about how to come up with ideas (9:00), Shaan describes the “old and new” framework of idea generation (22:00), Sam talks about why he hates courses as a business model (27:00), Sam and Shaan talk through current events.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

3 Jun 202053min

Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion. Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@theSamParr) interview Alexa von Tobel (@alexavontobel), founder and former CEO of LearnVest, a fintech company that sold to Northwestern Mutual for $375M five years after launch. Today's topic include: Alexa talks about her background (0:20), Alexa talks about studying happiness at Harvard (3:40), Alexa breaks down the business plan and evolution of LearnVest (9:00), Alexa describes what it was like to be a classmate at Harvard with Mark Zuckerberg and the advent of Facebook (16:02), Sam asks Alexa, “why sell the business?” (23:08), Alexa explains the strategy behind her VC firm, Inspired Capital, and what’s interesting to her today (30:06), Shaan asks Alexa to explain her contrarian views about the future of work (32:52), Alexa explains how her roots give her an advantage in the fintech space (36:24), Sam asks Alexa what a “self-driving wallet” is (40:10), Shaan talks with Alexa about crypto projects that are streaming money (42:10), Alexa explains how friction is making it more difficult for people to grow their wealth (52:10).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

29 Mai 202055min