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My First MillionData Backed Businesses Guaranteed To Make +$1M From Day 1
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CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 5:46
Building businesses around people with audiences
Shaan frames the episode around how Jeremy would pursue opportunities today. Jeremy's idea is to find creators and buy or build a business for them, with the creator as audience co-founder. Shaan cites examples like Mateína with Huberman and Prime with Logan Paul and KSI.
- •Creators mostly monetize through ad reads, but equity in a business they own could dwarf that income
- •Most creators don't want to buy or run a business, which leaves room for a CEO partner who splits equity
- •Joe Rogan with Onnit and Doug DeMuro with Cars & Bids are examples
- •Jeremy thinks audiences are still underpriced, and niche YouTubers work too
- •Shaan adds Tiny's work with Huberman and James Clear, and Congo Brands' Prime
- 5:46 – 10:30
A Wirecutter for products that won't kill you
Jeremy describes a trend around everything in the modern world seeming toxic, and wishes for a Wirecutter-style guide to non-toxic products. The hosts trade stories about water quality and filtration.
- •Jeremy worries about air, water, seed oils and sprayed wheat, and uses filters
- •A Wirecutter-style site could cover clothes, bedding and cleaning products
- •He wants the shampoo Huberman, Attia and Rhonda Patrick all agree on
- •Sam shows a site ranking water brands, and Shaan describes a billionaire carrying his own glass-bottled water
- •Jeremy says Examine did this well for supplements
- 10:30 – 15:00
Regulation and compliance as a one-chart business
After a sponsor break, Jeremy explains why he loves regulation and compliance businesses. Shaan ties it to his one-chart business idea that regulation only goes up.
- •Compliance software is cheap but mission critical, like the Italian banking regulation example
- •Examples include KYC/AML, tenant vetting and car rental license checks
- •Every country has its own rules, so there are many versions of the software
- •These businesses are relatively AI-resilient because the downside is so high
- •Jeremy says you can front-run new rules, and he prefers allocating capital to operating
- 15:00 – 19:23
The Boy vs. The Guy: becoming a protégé
Jeremy explains the lieutenant versus protégé archetype, especially in Silicon Valley. He treats apprenticeship as the one exception to his advice to just start a company.
- •Young proteges float around billionaires for two to three years in exchange for backing and open doors
- •He notes a 20-year age gap usually exists between the principal and the protege
- •Examples include Ben Casnocha, Blake Masters and Sam Altman
- •Shaan mentions Joe Lonsdale as Peter Thiel's protege and says he has hired four young people who became millionaires
- •Jeremy says apprenticing is underrated as a way to learn
- 19:23 – 22:05
Why philosophy majors do well in business
Sam asks Jeremy what studying philosophy at Columbia taught him. Jeremy points to the many notable philosophy majors and says the draw is thinking about fundamental questions.
- •Notable names include Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel and Stewart Butterfield
- •Philosophy majors rank highest among top-decile earners
- •Fundamental questions are relevant to every field, even though a visa process treats philosophy as irrelevant
- •Studying philosophy in undergrad differs from studying it for a whole life
- 22:05 – 26:17
Why holding companies are overrated
Shaan asks about the holdco trend. Jeremy calls bragging about number of businesses a contra signal and argues the hold-forever premise is flawed.
- •Buffett and venture capitalists are the models for holding forever, but most companies aren't 50-year companies
- •Selling at a great price often maximizes returns
- •A holding company is also a large operating business, such as Tiny's 1,200 employees, which pulls investors away from investing
- •Harvard-type buyers of a plumbing business should just start one instead
- 26:17 – 28:21
Pre-fall versus post-fall people
Jeremy defines the 'fall' as a period that truly humbles someone, such as a death, breakup, health scare or bankruptcy. He says you can see in people's eyes whether they are post-fall.
- •The fall brings someone to their knees and humbles them in a true way
- •It can happen at any time, and many entrepreneurs have theirs while building a business
- •Post-fall people are harder to shake
- •Someone who is successful but pre-fall may be a liability as a partner
- 28:21 – 32:17
Special situations: distressed venture
Jeremy lays out the opportunity in venture-backed companies that raised too much money in 2020 and 2021. Their cap tables are broken even though the businesses are fine.
- •A company with $10M revenue growing 30% may carry a $40-50M pref stack, so neither founder nor investor gains much
- •Jeremy wants to restructure so founders own more and run profitably
- •It also relieves VCs of board and audit burdens for companies that won't drive returns
- •Shaan says the cap table is broken rather than the business
- •Jeremy likes specialization so people come to him
- 32:17 – 40:18
Lazy winning versus grinding
Shaan says he and Jeremy share a preference for winning with elegant moves rather than sweat. They compare the Schwarzenegger type with the Altman type, and Sam pushes back.
- •Jeremy contrasts Schwarzenegger's grinding with Altman's early, clever moves
- •Shaan defines laziness as not doing things you don't want to do
- •Sam says hard work has value and works about 40 hours a week
- •Shaan compares Isaiah Photo's grind-style YouTube career with Mohnish Pabrai's nap-and-read investing
- •Jeremy calls value investors with nap rooms the nap room guys
- 40:18 – 45:16
Moving fast and hanging around the hoop
Shaan describes Andrew's speed and persistence in pursuing acquisitions. Jeremy adds that top people respond instantly and shares the Dennis the Menace approach to following up.
- •Shaan describes Andrew emailing founders for years and hanging around the hoop after a deal fell through
- •Jeremy says the most successful people respond instantly and he uses a Gmail script that archives email every 24 hours
- •Andrew sends intro emails mid-lunch, and movement creates information
- •Being Dennis the Menace pays off, and cold email has mostly upside
- 45:16 – 47:52
Hot take: MrBeast shouldn't be selling chocolate
In the spicy hot take segment, Jeremy argues creator brands are in low-quality businesses like chocolate, supplements and merch. He says a better business would endure without the creator.
- •Chocolate bars have low margins, aren't repeat purchases and aren't necessary products
- •He suggests bank, insurance, Visa or software-type businesses instead
- •A business should have enterprise value without the person
- •He sees it as bullish that creators succeed on hard mode
- 47:52 – 54:45
Billionaire is a state of mind: cash flow over net worth
Jeremy argues net worth is a silly metric and that cash flow is more telling. The group discusses liquidity, hedge fund pay and the psychology of living off fixed money versus income.
- •Billionaire status is often a class marker, and private valuations are a matter of taste
- •Many billionaires can't wire $100,000 quickly
- •Sam and Shaan recall a lunch where annual cash flow made the difference
- •Jeremy says Silicon Valley people envy New York hedge fund guys, citing analyst pay of $3-5M in good years
- •A friend who sold for $60M felt broke without cash flow
