Author: My First Million

  • MFM x Trends – The Fundamentals of a ~$60m Newsletter Exit With Ryan Begelman

    Sam interviews Ryan Begelman about exactly how he has operationalized multiple successful businesses, including BizNow (which sold for $60m in cash, doing $20m in revenue and $6m in profit) and Summit Series (where they literally bought a mountain). Sam and Ryan talk about everything from hiring and onboarding talent, how to filter people for high intelligence, how to structure tests, how much to pay recruiters, and more. To listen to the full episode, head over to trends.co for your $1 trial. You’ll get access to future bonus episodes plus our weekly Trends reports, access to a community of entrepreneurs and a lot more! 

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  • #128 – Open Startups, A Mysterious Bag Lady, and Gamifying Facebook Ads

    Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@TheSamParr) host the podcast together today with no guest. In today’s episode you’ll hear: An update on Sam’s whereabouts and how he ended up buying a house in Austin (0:30), Shaan pitches an idea about “Class Pass for Billionaire’s Houses” (5:30), the best ad read in the history of MFM and how to growth hack your ads (11:00), Sam and Shaan talk about the pros and cons of a business like Baremetrics (14:25), Shaan contemplates publishing his total financial snapshot over the past year (20:35), Shaan pitches an idea on a Shopify app that connects all DTC brands (26:40), how Italic made smart deals with luxury Chinese suppliers (37:45), Sam and Shaan think someone should gamify a Facebook Ad learning program (42:37), Why Mario Level One is genius (51:27). Thank you to Lemon.io for sponsoring today’s episode! They are offering a 15% discount for the first 6 weeks of work for all MFM fans. Go to Lemon.io/mfm to claim the offer! Companies mentioned: – Simon’s Escapes: https://www.simonescapes.com/ – Inspirato: https://www.inspirato.com/ – Sponstayneous: https://www.sponstayneous.com/ – List of open startups: https://openstartuplist.com/ – Coop Commerce: https://www.coopcommerce.com/ – The Fascination: https://thefascination.com/ – B8ta: https://b8ta.com/ – Italic: https://italic.com/ – The genius of the first level of Mario: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRGRJRUWafY Have you 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. 

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  • #127 with Nick Huber – Building a $10m Self-Storage Business and the Opportunities in “Sweaty Startups”

    Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@TheSamParr) host the podcast today with special guest Nick Huber (@sweatystartup), self-storage investor. In today’s episode you’ll hear: Nick’s background and how he started his real estate empire (1:25), Shaan asks Nick to summarize how someone makes money in real estate (6:55), Nick explains how he gets deals (13:00), Nick shares how he bootstrapped his business from his dorm room (17:30), Nick tells the story of telling his dad he was starting a moving company when graduating from an Ivey League school (27:00), Sam makes an observations about people from India owning a lot of hotels (36:00), Nick gives some other “low tech” personal services ripe for innovation (43:00). Thank you to our sponsor this episode, EPOS! EPOS are fantastic headsets that make it easy to work flexibly across situations and locations, with portable headsets including hassle-free device compatibility. If you are an IT manager running a big department or a head of a growing company looking to give your employees the best headset solution to work from home, check out eposaudio.com/millions for a free trial! Have you 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. 

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  • MFM x Trends – How Jack Butcher Used Twitter to Generate $1m in 18 months (From Scratch)

    Jack Butcher talks about how he’s built up Visualize Value and “Build Once, Sell Twice”, where he’s productized his services. Sam and Jack talk about scaling to $1m in revenue in 18 months, plus other opportunities that Jack sees for content creators, how he runs his course, the economics of agencies, and more. To listen to the full episode, head over to trends.co for your $1 trial. You’ll get access to future bonus episodes plus our weekly Trends reports, access to a community of entrepreneurs and a lot more! 

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  • #126 – A Nonexistant Influencer Pulling in Over $10m and The Big Opportunities With Hyperlocal Franchises

    Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@TheSamParr) discuss: – How do you make podcast ads better? – Shaan and Sam discuss the election and the myths around it. – Ideas around improving live consumption of events. – Sam shares his excitement around Replika (https://replika.ai/) and its implications for the future of relationships. – Shaan brings up Lil Miquela, a non-existing influencer pulling in over $11m. – Can other industries piggyback off the success of RigUp? – The guys discuss the creation of local service franchises that require little upfront capital: Nana and the new Geeksquad. Thank you to our partners this episode: Podium! Podium is an all-in-one SaaS tool that helps your business get reviews. Go to podium.com/mfm for 20% off and a $150 Amazon gift card. Have you 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. 

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  • #125 – What is the Buy, Borrow, Die Process?

    Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@TheSamParr) host the podcast today with a special guest Aaron, Shaan’s brother-in-law. Shaan’s brother-in-law Aaron joins the podcast and gives some hot takes on “tech-bros” (1:13), Aaron breaks down the “Buy, Borrow, Die” method to avoid paying taxes (3:20), Sam breaks down how he lived in San Francisco when he had no money (17:45), Shaan and Sam talk about the “buy nothing” lifestyle and Buy Nothing Project, a big player in that space (29:32), Sam and Shaan go deep on recycling and how little is actually put back to use (34:35), Shaan explains an AI product that replaces mundane medical care tasks and how boring businesses can make a ton of cash (37:20), the guys kick around important people and how to create a vision for your own life (43:30). Thank you to our partners this episode: Podium! Podium is an all-in-one SaaS tool that helps your business get reviews. Go to podium.com/mfm for 20% off and a $150 Amazon gift card. Have you 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. 

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  • #124 – From Fantasy Stock Betting to Milk Bombs: Generating Ideas with Elaine Zelby

    Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) hosts the pod solo with special guest Elaine Zelby (@ezelby). Elaine has a background in mechanical engineering but also worked at Slack and is now part of a VC group. On today’s episode you’ll hear: Elaine gives her background and how she came into the VC space (1:45), Elaine breaks down a new twist on cowering. Something she calls “Coworking 2.0” (3:35), Shaan pitches a new way to use nightclubs during their ofttimes (9:20), Elaine has a fresh take on credit cards for fans (12:20), Elaine explains why she is bullish on continuous cortisol monitoring (20:35), Elaine and Shaan brainstorm a fun take on “stock betting” (26:20), Elaine and Shaan go really deep on functional milks (32:50), How to automate re-zoning and permitting for real estate (40:14), Shaan breaks down a recent pitch he received of app-dating with only audio (47:40). Thank you to our partners this episode: Podium! Podium is an all-in-one SaaS tool that helps your business get reviews. Go to podium.com/mfm for 20% off and a $150 Amazon gift card. Have you 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. 

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  • #123 – The Big Business of Buying Amazon Routes, and a COVID-proof Franchise

    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 (@theSamPar) are back on the today without a guest. On today’s episode you’ll hear: How Card my Yard just might one of the best COVID-related franchises (2:10) Why Amazon logistics franchises and delivery routes are slowly becoming franchise powerhouses (5:20), Sam tells the story of his mother-in-law turned entrepreneur (11:45), Shaan and Sam talk about @visualizevalue and weigh the merits of being a solo-preneur vs. starting a world-changing technology (17:22) Shaan describes the “Zone of Genuis” and how to find it (30:30), the guys guess what their monthly burn should be to live the way they want (38:00), Shaan tells a story of how he accidentally convinced his wife to quit her consulting job to follow her passion (44:00), Sam talks about how to build an audience in-person (48:20), Sam pulls up his list of companies that he was looking to apply at 8 years ago (53:45), the two guys talk about the genius and wisdom of MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov (59:00). Big thank you to Azoras for sponsoring this episode! Follow them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/azoras. 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. 

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  • #122 – Not Getting These Jobs Cost Us Millions

    Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@theSamPar) are back on the today without a guest. On today’s episode you’ll hear: Escape your city with new modular homes (4:20), Cerro Gordo was a ghost town in California sold for $1.2M (10:45) how to make channel/market fit by learning from TikTok (14:45), Shaan introduces an new twist on the stock market (17:00), Sam and Shaan reminisce on missed opportunities and how much money they would’ve made if things didn’t fall through (25:10), Shaan explains limited details on a very interesting opportunity that came to him in the past few days (38:37). Big thank you to Azoras for sponsoring this episode! Follow them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/azoras. 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. 

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  • #121 – So You Made $100m…Now What?

    Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@theSamPar) are back on the today without a guest. On today’s episode you’ll hear: Sam and Shaan debate the merits and opportunities with Hopin and other digital event apps (7:25) How to make trade shows better with a lesson from Alibaba (14:10), Shaan explores a few different companies that are doing financial services for creators (31:00), Shaan and Sam riff on a hypothetical chrome extension to see what influencers are buying (34:25), how to “diverge and converge” for better brainstorming and design thinking (42:35), the guys try to come with answers for the existential question, if you already had all the money you’re working for, what would you do? (51:35). Big thank you to Azoras for sponsoring this episode! Follow them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/azoras. 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. 

    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.