By playing, you agree to uListen's Terms and Privacy Policy and YouTube's Terms of Service.
My First Million7 Creators Who Make Over $50 Million/Year From YouTube (#408)
Summaries, chapters, transcripts, and FAQs on this page are made by uListen, not YouTube.
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 1:55
Cold Open Teaser and Sam's Skateboarding Hospital Story
The episode opens on a short Daily Wire teaser before Sam Parr explains his rough day. A friend who came skateboarding with him got a concussion, and the hospital scan coincided with a ruptured appendix.
- •Teaser mentions The Daily Wire's subscription revenue
- •A friend fell while skateboarding and was taken to the hospital
- •The appendix ruptured separately while he was there, leading to emergency surgery
- •Sam jokes about his new leather jacket and being the token cool guy
- 1:55 – 5:40
Seed Oil Banter and Shaan's Secret D2C Idea
The hosts joke about Sam doing research and about the seed oil scare. Shaan then teases a direct-to-consumer product idea that needs someone with aesthetic and short-form video skills, and refuses to reveal it on air.
- •Seed oils are everywhere online, and Shaan put down a pretzel bag because of the canola oil
- •Sam says he believes anything on Twitter that rhymes or is cute
- •Shaan wants a partner for a beautifully done D2C product and will share the playbook for a share
- •He won't reveal the idea on air, and Sam calls it the lamest segment
- •Sam reminds listeners of the gentleman's agreement to subscribe on YouTube
- 5:40 – 9:36
Creators Who Built $50M Empires: More Plates More Dates
Shaan explains his tweet asking for creators who built $50 million-plus businesses off YouTube. He says he wants to be a fast follower, not a pioneer. The first example is Derek of More Plates More Dates and his Gorilla Mind and Marek Health brands.
- •Shaan wants to build a $50M+ business off YouTube and asked for examples
- •Joe Rogan and MrBeast were banned as answers
- •Gorilla Mind is a supplements brand, estimated at roughly $12M or more in annual revenue
- •Marek Health is a TRT and hormone clinic, and Sam thinks Derek is an equity owner
- •Sam notes the creatine is marked up because it's Derek
- 9:36 – 12:43
Kayla Itsines, Mark Rober and Ben Shapiro's Daily Wire
Shaan runs through more creators who turned an audience into a business. Kayla Itsines built the Sweat app and Mark Rober sells a science subscription box. Ben Shapiro's Daily Wire is a subscription media company doing over $100 million a year.
- •Kayla Itsines built the Sweat app, which Shaan believes sold for $400 million
- •Mark Rober, a former NASA engineer, sells a $25-30 science subscription box
- •Both hosts like Ben Shapiro's fast, rap-battle style even where they disagree with him
- •Daily Wire is a subscription media company, only a few years old, with over $100M in annual subscription revenue
- 12:43 – 15:44
Jeremy's Razors: Turning a Cancellation into a Product
Sam explains that Harry's Razors dropped The Daily Wire as an advertiser, so the company launched Jeremy's Razors as a direct response. Shaan calls the launch video and positioning genius and speculates it could extend into other product categories.
- •Harry's Razors was a big advertiser that bailed on The Daily Wire
- •Jeremy's Razors copies the Harry's site and has an us-versus-them About page
- •The launch video reportedly has 22 million views and is selling millions of dollars
- •Shaan describes the video, in which a man blowtorches Harry's merchandise
- •Shaan thinks the Jeremy brand could be written onto deodorant, toothpaste and more
- 15:44 – 23:02
Pat McAfee, Divi, Cute Girl Hair and Alphaland
Shaan lists further creator-led businesses, including Pat McAfee's FanDuel deal, Dani Austin's Divi, Mindy McKnight's Cute Girl Hair and Guzman's Alphaland gym. The hosts then joke about who consumes more content, with Sam watching music videos while Shaan hunts for stories.
- •Pat McAfee reportedly signed a four-year, $120M deal with FanDuel
- •Dani Austin shared her hair loss struggle, then sold a scalp care solution and did $20M in about 10 months
- •Mindy McKnight's Cute Girl Hair launch with Walmart reportedly led to over $100M in sales
- •Guzman built a family-centered fitness brand with a 50,000 sq ft gym called Alphaland and a clothing line
- •Shaan says creator-product alignment makes launches huge, while Sam knows more because he consumes more content
- 23:02 – 26:43
Bring a Trailer, Doug DeMuro and Cars & Bids
Sam returns to a prediction he made earlier about Bring a Trailer, a basic-looking auction site for enthusiast cars. He ties it to YouTuber Doug DeMuro, who launched a similar site, Cars & Bids, and predicts a multi-hundred-million-dollar exit.
- •Bring a Trailer sold about $1.2 billion in cars in a trailing year with roughly 80 employees
- •Sam says it earned about $100M in net revenue and its site looks like a basic blog
- •Doug DeMuro reviews everything from a $2M Ferrari to a $30,000 Honda Pilot with a casual style
- •DeMuro launched Cars & Bids, and Sam predicts a multi-$100M exit
- •Sam says curated auctions beat overwhelming marketplaces like eBay
- 26:43 – 31:33
Curated Auctions: Golf Equipment, Homes and Livestock
Sam explores what other big-ticket categories could work as beautifully curated online marketplaces, mentioning Hodinkee and Airbnb's photography. Shaan suggests golf equipment, and Sam suggests livestock, telling a story about his cousins and bull riding.
- •eBay is overwhelming, whereas curation makes buying feel delightful
- •Sam invested in a company doing this for homes, and cites Hodinkee's editorial approach to $40,000 watches
- •Shaan says golf equipment has enthusiasts, a knowledge gap and high price points
- •Sam pitches livestock, describing his cousins who buck bulls and his parents' $50,000 bull stake
- •They joke about going halfsies on a bull
- 31:33 – 35:32
Billy of the Week: Sam Altman and the $375M Check
After a sponsor break, Shaan names Sam Altman his new Billy of the Week and gives background on his career. He is surprised to learn Altman personally wrote a $375 million check into Helion, and starts digging into how Altman got so wealthy.
- •Altman founded Loopt, sold it for about $40M, became president of Y Combinator, then helped create OpenAI
- •The hosts cite a valuation for OpenAI between $20 billion and $40 billion
- •Shaan learned of the $375M investment in fusion company Helion
- •He found Altman donated $10M to a research project only a few years after his roughly $5M Loopt payout
- 35:32 – 38:53
Early Investing Hits and the Peter Thiel-Backed Fund
Shaan explains how Altman's early investments, including Stripe, helped build his wealth, comparing it to the golden cohort in D2C brands. He also finds that Peter Thiel backed Altman with a $21 million fund, and Sam agrees that elite prodigy clubs exist.
- •Stripe was Altman's second investment
- •Shaan compares early investors' best hits to a D2C brand's golden cohort, citing Chris Sacca
- •Five of Altman's first 40 deals reportedly returned over 100X
- •Altman raised a $21M fund from Peter Thiel after selling his first company
- •Sam says elite prodigy clubs are real and he and Shaan aren't in them
- 38:53 – 43:15
Altman's Personality: Paul Graham, School Assembly and Sibling Rivalry
Shaan shares anecdotes showing Altman's character. These include Paul Graham's early praise, his coming-out speech at a school assembly, his pink-and-green collars and a fight with his brother over mission statement wording that ended in a speed chess challenge.
- •Paul Graham's blog post listed Altman alongside Jobs and the Google founders
- •At his St. Louis prep school, Altman announced he was gay and challenged the school to be open
- •A counselor said his action changed the school
- •Altman invested in Asana using language similar to his brother Jack's company's mission, causing a spat
- •He answered with a speed chess challenge, as Jack recalled him always winning board games
- 43:15 – 46:44
Altman's Minimalism and Survival Prepping
Shaan describes how Altman reportedly pared his life down to essentials, keeping a house, cars, a Big Sur property and a $10 million reserve. He also describes Altman's survival prepping, motivated by the risk of a synthetic virus, and the hosts riff on phrases like orders of magnitude.
- •Altman kept a four-bedroom house, his cars, a Big Sur property and a $10M reserve to fund living expenses
- •Shaan sees this as unusual in a Valley with a never-ending appetite for more
- •Altman said he preps because a lethal synthetic virus release in 20 years is non-zero
- •His supplies include guns, gold, potassium iodide, antibiotics and a gas mask
- •The hosts joke about naming gangs Orders of Magnitude and The Exponentials
- 46:44 – 48:23
Change Your M's to B's: Altman and Brian Chesky
Sam tells a story about Altman asking Airbnb's Brian Chesky to add a zero to every number in his YC pitch deck. Shaan adds Altman's three-option explanation for why such a change is needed. They love it as an expression of their no small boy stuff ethos.
- •Chesky projected $100M a year, and Altman told him to show a billion
- •Shaan quotes it as change all your M's to B's
- •Altman's framing was that either you don't believe your numbers, he's dumb, or he can't do math
- •The hosts connect it to their no small boy stuff phrase
- •Sam recalls an office exit sign altered to read IPO
- 48:23 – 52:37
The Midwit Meme and Suli's Jedi Simplicity
Shaan introduces the midwit meme, in which the beginner and the Jedi master think alike and the overanalyzer in the middle struggles. He uses his mentor Suli as an example of Jedi simplicity, and shares several quotes from Altman that fit the same idea.
- •Shaan wants to live like either the dumb beginner or the Jedi master, not the stressed type A overanalyzer
- •He says he started as the dumb troll, for example in how he applied for a job with a billionaire
- •Suli dismisses frameworks and tells him to focus on Facebook ads until the business hits $500K a month
- •Altman's advice includes just telling investors, asking customers, and picking one thing and doing it relentlessly
- •Altman said to think about adding one zero each year but not beyond that
- 52:37 – 58:11
Altman on AI Expectations, Non-Obvious Bets and Wrap-Up
Sam and Shaan discuss Altman's balanced view of AI hype and disappointment, then his investing record. Altman said four of his five biggest winners were ideas nobody wanted to fund. The episode closes with Sam rating it 10 out of 10 and Shaan promoting the YouTube channel.
- •Altman warned people are setting themselves up for disappointment on GPT-4 and said both AI hype and dismissal are wrong
- •His first fund reportedly was up 10X in four years
- •He made large concentrated bets like $3M in Cruise and the $375M check
- •He said four of his five biggest early winners were ideas people thought were bad
- •Sam rates the episode 10 out of 10 and Shaan pitches the YouTube channel
