The oldest trick in the book to make your first million

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

July 23, 2026

Duration

51m

Channel

My First Million

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

*Unsexy Business Ideas Database:* https://clickhubspot.com/8an4 Episode 844: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk about how one of the richest families in America makes its money. Shout out to Hank Green for his video on Jevon's Paradox - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6sYYrLTOjQ — Show Notes: (0:00) The Cargill family (13:15) projects vs empires (15:00) family meetings create family dynasties (22:55) Jevon's paradox (29:00) the story of Luddites (39:19) Where's the opportunity (49:00) the phrases we tell ourselves (52:00) The ice king — Links:

• The Medici effect - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591391865
• Hank Greene's video on Jevon's Paradox, which heavily inspired ours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6sYYrLTOjQ.

— Check Out Sam's Stuff:

• Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm — Check Out Shaan's Stuff:

• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
• Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/

Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., Members FDIC

• I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Shaan Puri

  host

  Co-host of My First Million and entrepreneur/investor focused on startups and business ideas.

• Sam Parr

  host

  Co-host of My First Million and entrepreneur known for building and scaling internet businesses and media brands.

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of My First Million, featuring Shaan Puri and Sam Parr, The oldest trick in the book to make your first million explores How hidden infrastructure empires, family systems, and AI reshape wealth Shaan Puri spotlights Cargill as a largely unknown-to-consumers but massive, family-dominated company that became a “middleman at planetary scale” by controlling critical infrastructure in the agricultural supply chain.

🔗 RELATED EPISODES

How he turned his dad’s bakery into a $20B chocolate empire

I made $80M. Now I’m putting 70% of my portfolio in ONE stock - Chris Camillo

Rory Sutherland: completely legal marketing hacks that always work

A $3.6B founder's honest take on the software market right now

3 strangers reveal how they make $10M, $20M, and $30M/year

This guy made billions from just 3 stocks (Here's how)