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My First Million

The Market Is Crashing. Here’s What We’re Doing About It…

Get the trend-spotting guide to craft your own business ideas 👉 Episode 616: Sam Parr and Shaan Puri talk about what they are doing in response to the market dip, plus The Olympics biggest winners and losers of the week.

Sam ParrhostShaan Purihost

Aug 9, 202450mWatch on YouTube

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CHAPTERS

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Chapter summaries

Market dip anxiety: group chats, partners, and the urge to panic
Sam and Shaan react to a rough week in the markets and how their social circles amplify fear or euphoria. Sam describes getting pulled into stress after others urge him to “do something,” even though he sees short-term drops as expected.
- •Sam describes the market dropping around 5% and how their circle acts like it’s the end of the world
- •Shaan notes tech names falling more than the broader market and how that hits their bubble-adjacent world
- •Their group chat swings between doom and overconfidence, and Shaan admits it affects his mood
- •Sam recounts a partner calling to ask if they should sell everything, which frustrates him
React vs respond: Shaan’s rules for not making emotional decisions
Shaan explains his framework for avoiding impulsive moves during scary moments. He outlines how he chooses a few “shifts” to focus on, and why he tries not to change plans just because markets are volatile.
- •Shaan describes focusing on a few key “shifts” and filtering daily actions through them
- •He challenges the idea of tossing the plan “unless the stock market crashes”
- •He asks himself whether there’s a true existential issue (“wolf at the door”) or not
- •If there’s no existential crisis, his rule is to do nothing for 30–90 days before changing course
Costly lessons from past market timing and hot-tip thinking
Shaan shares how he previously made expensive mistakes by acting on narratives and tips rather than sound reasoning. He talks through going to cash after a hedge-fund cousin’s advice and reacting to pandemic-era prognostication.
- •He describes treating a hedge-fund cousin as the family’s “stock market guy” and following his suggestions
- •He recalls being swayed by jargon and headlines (like “dead cat bounce” and various recovery shapes)
- •He says the mistake wasn’t trying to understand concepts—it was taking poorly informed action
- •He defines “reaction” as emotion-driven action and “response” as cooled-off, reasoned decision-making
Why ‘set it and forget it’ wins: missing the best days and timing fantasies
Sam argues for staying invested by describing a chart showing how missing a small number of top market days dramatically hurts returns. They joke about the impossibility of perfectly avoiding the worst days and land on a simple, non-hero approach.
- •Sam references a chart comparing staying invested vs missing the market’s best days
- •He notes critics say missing worst days would help, but mocks the idea that anyone can time it reliably
- •Sam says he’s “Team set it and forget it” and points out the market being up year-to-date despite the dip
- •Shaan adds he prefers an 80/20 approach: avoid big mistakes rather than trying to beat everyone
Olympics as storylines: turning ‘random events’ into must-watch drama
The conversation pivots to the Olympics, with Shaan saying Sam’s suggested storylines made the games far more compelling. They set up a standout men’s 1,500-meter race and why it felt like a sports movie.
- •Shaan calls Sam his “Olympics guy” and says the storylines made the Olympics dramatically more interesting
- •They tee up the men’s 1,500m as an unexpectedly gripping event
- •Sam frames the race around rival favorites and trash talk in a typically polite sport
- •Shaan emphasizes how context changes whether a viewer cares about an event
Men’s 1,500m thriller: rivalry, tactics, and a surprise American win
Sam gives a detailed recap of the 1,500m final, building the rivalry between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr before the upset. Shaan adds observations about Jakob’s cocky qualifying strategy and how the final unfolded differently than expected.
- •Sam describes Jakob as the dominant, cocky favorite and Josh as the likable rival with strong tactics
- •They discuss how championship racing can reward tactics over pure speed
- •Sam recounts Cole Hocker’s late surge, getting momentarily boxed in, then slipping through to win
- •Shaan notes Jakob’s earlier habit of hanging back in qualifiers and contrasts it with his aggressive pace in the final
Mixed relay chaos and Femke Bol’s anchor-leg takeover
Shaan brings up the mixed relay as another unexpected highlight, including a near-disaster moment for the U.S. They celebrate Femke Bol’s closing leg and Sam previews her upcoming matchup in the hurdles.
- •Sam explains the mixed relay format and calls it a relatively new Olympic event
- •Shaan describes the U.S. runner nearly getting disqualified by lining up in the wrong place
- •They praise Femke Bol’s effortless-looking finish for the Netherlands
- •Sam predicts Femke will face Sydney McLaughlin and expects Femke to finish second
Winner: the refugee athletes and why the team matters to Sam
Sam shares an emotional favorite part of the Olympics: the refugee team marching under the Olympic flag and competing in unified uniforms. He highlights a boxer from Cameroon who is guaranteed at least a bronze medal, calling it a defining Olympic story.
- •Sam describes the refugee team concept and says it reliably makes him emotional
- •He notes athletes who can’t compete for their countries and instead compete under the Olympic flag
- •He highlights a refugee boxer from Cameroon who is guaranteed at least third place
- •Shaan reflects on how many Olympians have unusually tough upbringings and how that can forge grit
Loser talk: gymnastics unease, judging, and ‘joyless’ vibes
Shaan argues that gymnastics feels stressful and uncanny, and he struggles to enjoy a sport where he can’t tell what’s harder. Sam agrees that judging based on appearance and smiles is strange, and both express a preference for clearer, less subjective competition.
- •Shaan says gymnastics creeps him out and feels high-stress and joyless to watch
- •He points to the pressure of tiny mistakes costing years of preparation and the forced-smile presentation
- •Sam says it’s weird that athletes can be judged on appearance and smiling
- •Both criticize heavily judged sports as hard to follow because difficulty is tough to evaluate
From viral memes to photo finishes: pole vault jokes and Noah Lyles’ win
They rib the pole vault viral moment and complain about repetitive memes. Then they discuss Noah Lyles winning a razor-thin 100m final, including Sam’s take on Lyles’ “cringe” persona and surprise at other sprinters’ physiques.
- •They describe the pole vault moment that spawned a flood of similar jokes and call the meme cycle the real annoyance
- •Shaan calls Noah Lyles a winner after a finish so close it required detailed review
- •Sam says Lyles is great but “cringe,” and expects the 200m to be his stronger event
- •Sam is surprised by the Jamaican runner’s performance and notes sprinters’ body sizes can be misleading on TV
What to watch next—and why Olympic viewing is hard to program
Shaan complains that Olympic programming is difficult to follow without curated storylines. Sam suggests upcoming events to track, explains why sprinting is physically taxing across multiple rounds, and answers Shaan’s skepticism about recovery from short races.
- •Shaan calls the Olympics hard to enjoy without guidance on what’s important and when to tune in
- •Sam recommends the men’s 200m and highlights Quincy Hall plus a 16-year-old Quincy to watch in relay prelims
- •They discuss whether elite sprinters are clean; Sam says he’s optimistic but admits past naivety (Lance Armstrong)
- •Sam explains sprint recovery: athletes run multiple rounds and sprints tax the central nervous system
The $75B uniform rental empire: Cintas’ origin story and recurring revenue
Sam tells the story of a company that began laundering circus uniforms and evolved into Cintas, a massive uniform rental and services business. They discuss how the rental model creates recurring revenue and how the company expanded its offering once embedded with customers.
- •Sam recounts the business starting as ACME Industrial Laundry and shifting into uniform laundering
- •He describes the son taking over young, growing revenue dramatically, and scaling for decades
- •They react to Cintas’ $75B market cap and discuss uniform rental as a subscription-like model
- •Sam notes Cintas cross-sells additional supplies and services once it’s inside a customer’s operations
Family succession: should your kids inherit the business—or is that a myth?
Sam asks whether Shaan wants to build a multi-generational company with family involvement. Shaan gives a nuanced view: it would be a bonus if kids are interested, but he rejects the idea of overworking under the justification of “doing it for the kids.”
- •Sam is fascinated by families that retain ownership and influence across generations and asks if Shaan aspires to that
- •Shaan says he’s not planning for it, though he’d enjoy it if it happened organically
- •He warns that “I’m doing it for my kids” can be a self-serving justification for grinding too long
- •He argues kids often want presence more than incremental wealth, and extra money can even be a disservice
Doing life with people you love: parenting moments, partnerships, and ‘deadbeat dad’ companies
Shaan shares a water-park moment that inspired him to be more intentional with his kids, then expands into a philosophy of building with people you love. They connect this to operating companies with autonomy, including a quote about avoiding over-centralization in a holdco.
- •Shaan describes a dad teaching his kid a small soccer lesson and how it changed Shaan’s mindset for the day
- •He shares a personal parenting moment letting his son ‘drive’ briefly and the family joke that followed
- •Shaan cites a philosophy he adopted: find the people you love and do life with them, even in business
- •He recounts a holdco lesson: centralizing too much can weaken CEO ownership, plus the quote about “children of deadbeat dads” growing independent

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