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My First MillionThe Simple Newsletter Making $20M+ A Year With 1 Employee
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CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 3:13
How Sam Met Kevin and the $18M Newsletter Math
Sam recounts meeting Kevin at a conference and doing the math on a 30,000-subscriber, $600-a-year newsletter. Shaan describes his bewildered first visit to Farmcon, where the talks were about corn futures and options rather than farming.
- •Sam met Kevin at a conference in Scottsdale and was stunned by the subscriber and pricing numbers
- •The newsletter covers farming and agriculture
- •Shaan had never met a farmer and found Farmcon was really about investing
- •Shaan went to get out of his tech bubble
- 3:13 – 6:25
Seeking Different Perspectives and the Birth of Milk Road
Kevin explains why he deliberately attends unrelated conferences and likes being around younger people, citing the 'old bear and young bull' idea. Shaan says Farmcon led him to create Milk Road, inspired by Kevin still writing his own newsletter.
- •Kevin and his son chose to attend conferences that made them uncomfortable
- •In trading, perspective keeps you from being blindsided
- •Older traders tend to turn bearish because they don't understand newer things
- •Shaan and Ben started Milk Road in the hotel lobby and sold it a year later
- 6:25 – 8:14
Running The Van Trump Report: Team, Revenue, and Subscribers
Kevin describes how the report is produced by a tiny team and the readership it has. Sam lays out the revenue math of roughly $18M a year.
- •The staff is about four people, with help from Stacy on content
- •Readers include congressmen, senators, and hedge fund people
- •Paid subscribers are in the 30 to 40,000 range
- •The newsletter mixes market commentary with memes in an informal voice
- 8:14 – 13:49
From Rural Missouri to the Trading Floor to a Newsletter
Kevin tells how a rural farm kid with an NFL-adjacent job landed on the Chicago trading floor, where his size was an asset. He describes starting the newsletter as a personal journal in 2007 and charging $40 a month, and it grew without advertising.
- •Kevin was hired partly for his size and started as a phone clerk
- •He traded currencies, treasuries, and e-minis before focusing on grains
- •Energy traders asked him about the Midwest, so he translated for them
- •The newsletter began as a journal and grew organically to about 45 countries
- 13:49 – 16:18
Farmcon and AgSwag: Building the Empire
Kevin explains how Farmcon grew from a gathering of friends into sold-out events, then covers the pricing history of the report. He describes how a friend's hint about the promotional products industry led to AgSwag, his son's merch company.
- •Farmcon began with 30 or 40 traders and investors in Kansas City
- •Subscription pricing moved from $40 a month to $660
- •A friend's success at American Identity inspired AgSwag
- •Jordan runs AgSwag, which Kevin says is projected at $25 to 30 million this year
- 16:18 – 20:42
The Value vs. Uniqueness Framework and the Customer Continuum
Kevin walks through a slide plotting uniqueness against value to categorize business deals. He explains why people buy value rather than price and why AgSwag avoids giant low-margin accounts.
- •High value and low uniqueness, like tires, means a low-cost, high-volume business
- •Low value and high uniqueness, like Google's glasses, is costly to bring to market
- •High value and high uniqueness, like the iPod, allows high margins
- •Heavy users pull you to the right toward lower gross
- •AgSwag targets smaller accounts rather than John Deere or ADM
- 20:42 – 25:04
Poker vs. Chess and the Power of Doing Nothing
Shaan asks about Kevin's poker-versus-chess slide, and Kevin says life has hidden cards and luck. They discuss passing on average opportunities, waiting for the fat pitch, and why fewer trades have meant better years.
- •Life is more like poker because cards are face down and luck matters
- •Pros play fewer hands, and Buffett's fat pitch and Ted Williams' sweet spot make the same point
- •Kevin says the more trades he made, the worse the year
- •The decision to do nothing is a decision
- •Kevin warns against beating yourself up over missed trades like Amazon
- 25:04 – 28:21
Trader vs. Investor and How Kevin Built Wealth
Shaan asks about the case for trading versus investing. Kevin says he leans toward Buffett's passive approach for most people and describes his own wealth coming from real estate and investments in other businesses.
- •Kevin has swing traded but advises his kids against timing markets unless full-time
- •Passive long-term holding is how most people build wealth, he says
- •His wealth-building has come largely from real estate, including land, commercial properties, and Airbnbs
- •He reinvested newsletter income into other ventures, including ag tech startups through a private equity partner
- 28:21 – 33:55
State of Agriculture: Gluts, China, and New Land Uses
Kevin describes a dark mood in the ag world due to higher rates, large corn and bean supplies, and uncertainty over China and tariffs. He points to new demand from aviation fuel, solar, wind, and data centers, and Sam reflects on agriculture's importance.
- •Higher rates hurt ag tech startups and farmers
- •Corn and bean supplies are burdensome and China has not booked new-crop beans
- •Soybeans are being used for sustainable aviation fuel
- •Data centers are taking farm ground in the Midwest
- •Wealthy investors and direct-to-consumer ranch sales are growing
- 33:55 – 44:32
Farm Succession, Bull Riding, and Buying a Farm
Kevin discusses the aging farm-owner demographic and bidding competition for land, then Sam tells stories about his family's ranch and bucking bulls. The conversation turns to FarmersOnly and how to buy a farm, including Acre Trader and per-acre pricing.
- •About 80% of farms are owned by people over 60, and succession planning is often lacking
- •Neighbors and pension funds bid against buyers for land
- •Sam describes bucking bulls worth anywhere from $50,000 to a million dollars
- •Farmland is priced per acre and bids can reach $20,000
- •Kevin likes C and B grade ground, betting on technology for poor soil
- 44:32 – 50:00
Ag Tech: Livestock Wearables, Blockchaining Farms, and Lab-Grown Meat
Shaan asks about wearable tech for cows, and Kevin explains health tagging to catch fevers early. They discuss traceability and 'blockchaining the farm,' then Kevin shares his view that lab-grown meat will gain share as costs fall.
- •Tags can detect fever early and reduce antibiotic use
- •Kevin says the farm will be blockchained, with input companies reporting what was applied
- •Kevin says farmers are more tech-savvy than people assume and that he has never seen animal abuse on a farm
- •Alternative protein will keep gaining share as cost falls and flavor improves
- 50:00 – 55:44
Opportunities: Natural Resources, Trades, and Roll-Ups
Asked what a 24-year-old should pursue, Kevin points to air, water, carbon, and natural resources, and to buying and rolling up blue-collar businesses. The hosts discuss young people's growing interest in trades on TikTok, and Kevin describes a friend's crane roll-up.
- •Kevin sees opportunity in air quality, carbon, water, and natural resources
- •He likes rolling up trade businesses because fewer kids entered the trades
- •Sam notes trades are popular on TikTok and AI won't replace plumbers or electricians soon
- •Kevin hasn't done a roll-up himself, but a friend built wealth buying small crane companies
- 55:44 – 1:02:14
Gaining New Perspectives On Purpose: Windows vs. Doors
Shaan asks how Kevin practically puts himself in new situations. Kevin says to steal something from everyone and push yourself to go, and Shaan shares a windows-and-doors analogy. The show closes with a memorable Farmcon dinner story and details about the next Farmcon.
- •Kevin has his kids find odd conferences and forces himself to attend
- •Each trip yielded small ideas that paid off in his businesses
- •The windows-and-doors analogy: take opaque opportunities, not only visible ones
- •Shaan recounts a charismatic private equity guest at a Farmcon dinner
- •Next Farmcon is January 8th and 9th, with tickets around $1,200
