My First Million

Hubspot Media

Sam Parr and Shaan Puri brainstorm new business ideas based on trends & opportunities they see in the market. Sometimes they bring on famous guests to brainstorm with them. read less

Our Editor's Take

Who doesn't want a million dollars? Everyone gets asked what they'd do with a million dollars, but few get asked how they'd earn it. In the My First Million podcast, Sam Parr and Shaan Puri present the latest big ideas in the business world. They discuss more than side hustles and avoiding scams. Leaders of industries share their knowledge on the podcast. Listeners will hear current economic and business news and what's coming next.

Entrepreneurship can take many forms. It might be starting a blog or a real estate company or recognizing what buyers will want next. Or it might be starting in Silicon Valley as an employee and then making $100,000,000 a year selling companies. Host Sam Parr shares his experience creating The Hustle. This email newsletter started with a few subscribers but grew to more than one million. How did he do it? He gives all the details on the My First Million podcast.

Suleman Ali tells his own story in one My First Million podcast episode. He talks about risking all his savings and investing in businesses he believed in. Listeners can hear from self-made millionaires like Ali on many episodes.

While interviewing the biggest names in business, Sam and Shaan reveal how to be an entrepreneur and salesperson. Everyone is always selling something, and knowing how and when to sell is vital. In one episode of the My First Million podcast, Shaan unveils the secrets of a successful sales pitch.

Someone might think there's no reason to stop at a million dollars. Why not a billion? Billionaire Dharmesh Shah joins in one episode to tell his story. Shah, the cofounder of Hubspot, discusses what has more money-making potential than the creation of the internet. He's talking about artificial intelligence. Should investors start buying stocks from AI companies? Shah thinks so.

My First Million provides insight into the US business world? Listeners can learn here how others made their money.

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BusinessBusiness
EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship
InvestingInvesting

Episodes

Die, Workwear: "This is how to look better in your 20s and 30s"
13-11-2024
Die, Workwear: "This is how to look better in your 20s and 30s"
Episode 649: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) talks to Derek Guy ( https://x.com/dieworkwear ) about how to dress better, have more confidence, and where and how to build a wardrobe that lasts decades.  — Show Notes:  (0:00) Why it matters (3:17) Sprezzatura (6:01) Ralph Lauren (9:33) Advice for the American male (15:16) How to find a tailor (17:21) Why we dress worse now (20:15) How to build a wardrobe (24:54) Budgeting (28:23) Ready-to-wear, made-to-measure, and bespoke (34:21) Personal style nirvana (39:18) Buying for the decade — Links: • Die, Workwear! - https://dieworkwear.com/  • Inside the Mirrortocracy - https://carlos.bueno.org/2014/06/mirrortocracy.html  • The Paradox of Choice - https://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choice-Why-More-Less/dp/0060005696  • How to Judge Quality in Clothing - https://www.putthison.com/how-to-judge-quality-in-clothing/  — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth • Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/ My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano
Unicorn Founder on Unseen Arbitrages, the Paradox of Wealth + Charlie Munger Wisdom  ft. Ryan Petersen
11-11-2024
Unicorn Founder on Unseen Arbitrages, the Paradox of Wealth + Charlie Munger Wisdom ft. Ryan Petersen
Episode 648: Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talks to Flexport founder Ryan Petersen ( https://x.com/typesfast ) about playing both games: bootstrapping a startup to millions and raising venture capital to build a multi-billion dollar company.  — Show Notes:  (0:00) Import Genius (5:36) Paul Graham's superpower (9:34) Data-as-a-service framework (13:51) Charlie Munger's worldly wisdom (19:45) Prioritizing adventure (24:09) The paradox of wealth (28:51) Charlie Munger's student experiment (31:00) Negotiation masterclass (37:23) Inside Founders Fund (43:16) Being in a crowd v following a crowd (46:29) Highs and lows (48:52) "You can just do things" (50:16) Unseen arbitrages (53:00) $50M Phone booths — Links: • Flexport - https://www.flexport.com/  • Flexport on X - https://x.com/flexport • ImportGenius - https://www.importgenius.com/  • Schlep Blindness - https://paulgraham.com/schlep.html • Poor Charlie’s Almanack - https://www.stripe.press/poor-charlies-almanack  • Founders Fund - https://foundersfund.com/  — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth • Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/ My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano
6 College Students Pitch Us Their Startups | MFM Shark Tank
08-11-2024
6 College Students Pitch Us Their Startups | MFM Shark Tank
Episode 647: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) invite 6 college students to pitch their startup ideas.  — Show Notes:  (0:00) Intro (3:58) Meet Your Class (16:32) Metafrazo (30:21) Milieu (42:47) Brother Nuts (54:14) Tour (1:08:38) Pathlit — Links: • Meet Your Class - http://meetyourclass.com • Jonah Liss -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonahliss/  • Blake Mischley - https://www.linkedin.com/in/blake-mischley/  • Metafrazo - http://metafrazo.ai • Shrikar Lekkala - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shrikar-lekkala/  • Milieu - http://milieubio.com • Nathan Shatz - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-shatz/  • Brother Nuts - http://brothersnuts.com • Austin Majors - https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-majors-6b3275195/  • Tour - http://usetour.com • Amulya Parmar - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amulya-agape/  • Pathlit - http://pathlit.com • Advay Gupta - https://www.linkedin.com/in/advaygupta/  — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth • Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/ My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano
Inside The Marketing Machine Of Billion-Dollar Presidential Campaigns
02-11-2024
Inside The Marketing Machine Of Billion-Dollar Presidential Campaigns
Episode 644: Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talks to author and political campaign expert Sasha Issenberg ( https://x.com/sissenberg ) about the marketing machine behind presidential elections.   — Show Notes:  (0:00) The malarky factory and The Harm Index (18:55) Trump's 2016 playbook (28:18)Kamala's viral clip factory (32:35) Who’s running a better 2024 campaign? (35:04) What is Elon's role in Trump's campaign (38:31) The lopsided downside of doorknocks (42:25) Deepfakes and new tools in campaigning (45:58) "The podcast election" (50:00) The new playbook for winning in the age of meme wars (54:15) Most mis-priced opportunity in elections — Links: • Sasha Issenberg - https://www.sashaissenberg.com/ • The Victory Lap - https://www.amazon.com/Victory-Lab-Science-Winning-Campaigns/dp/0307954803  • The Lie Detectives - https://www.amazon.com/Lie-Detectives-Playbook-Elections-Disinformation/dp/B0CFN6WM3Y  — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth • Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/ My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano
Y Combinator CEO Shares How They Pick Winners, Advice For Founders + Lessons From Paul Graham | Garry Tan Interview
28-10-2024
Y Combinator CEO Shares How They Pick Winners, Advice For Founders + Lessons From Paul Graham | Garry Tan Interview
Episode 642: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to Garry Tan ( https://x.com/garrytan ), CEO of Y Combinator, about the sauce that makes YC outperform the rest of Silicon Valley plus lessons from Paul Graham, Peter Thiel and Garry’s first million.  — Show Notes:  (0:00) Winning the game (3:16) Being the Harvard of startups (7:31) How YC outperforms most Silicon Valley investors (9:36) Spotting extreme winners (14:14) Capital-as-a-service (16:34) How Garry hustled at 14 to get his into financial security (23:04) Turning down Peter Thiel's offer to start Palantir (32:20) Garry's first million (44:57) Early days at YC (51:31) The edge of startups with a 2-pizza team (54:36) Advice for founders in AI (1:05:57) The spoon-bending story — Links: • YC - https://www.ycombinator.com/ • Founding Sales - https://www.foundingsales.com/ — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth • Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/ My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano
The $600M Protein Bar Founder is Back Again | Peter Rahal Interview
18-10-2024
The $600M Protein Bar Founder is Back Again | Peter Rahal Interview
Episode 639: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to Peter Rahal ( https://x.com/peterrahal ) about starting RXBAR with $10K and selling it for $600M, business ideas he would chase today, plus why he’s back with another bar.   — Show Notes:  (0:00) RX Bar's path to $600M (8:32) Branding to solve a problem (14:03) David Protein (16:22) Idea 1: Differentiated vasodilator (27:53) Idea 2: The coffee of sleep (32:28) Idea 3: Continuous Testosterone meter (36:58)Idea 4: New religion  (42:03) Why do this again? (45:28) How to survive the first year after exiting (53:03) How big is David going to get? (56:18) Remote v in-office — Links: • RXBAR - https://www.rxbar.com/ • SCOTT & VICTOR - https://scottandvictor.com/  • David’s Protein - https://davidprotein.com/ • Lucy - https://lucy.co/  • Moonbrew - https://moonbrew.co/  • Levels - https://www.levels.com/  — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth • Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/ My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano
How Silicon Valley’s Most Prolific Investor Picks Unicorns | Elad Gil Interview
08-10-2024
How Silicon Valley’s Most Prolific Investor Picks Unicorns | Elad Gil Interview
Episode 635: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to Elad Gil ( https://x.com/eladgil ) about the three things he looks for when betting on startups, how he became an early investor in Anduril, plus 3 business ideas he thinks someone should go after.  — Show Notes:  (0:00) How to be successful in angel investing (3:00) How to create a bankroll  (5:00) Making the great works of history available to anyone anywhere (7:21) The 1 thing that matters in a business (10:21) How to master a new topic like defense tech (12:15) Investing in Anduril in the first round (15:47) $1b dollar 1 person companies (18:51) Missionary vs mercenary (22:12) Idea: new schools inspired by Ancient Greece (25:49) Idea: A drug that makes you live longer (34:56) Idea: Large scale monuments to flex (44:25) Gil's Guide to Intensive Travel — Links: • Elad’s blog - https://eladgil.com/  • Proof School - https://www.proofschool.org/ • BioAge Labs - https://bioagelabs.com/  — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth • Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/ My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano
The guy who gets paid $80K/yr to do nothing
02-10-2024
The guy who gets paid $80K/yr to do nothing
Episode 634: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk  about Shoji Morimoto, the Japanese guy who’s making $80k/yr renting himself out to friendless people, Autopilot’s viral marketing stunt, PLUS how to make $1M in 8 weeks. — Show Notes:  (0:00) The Do Nothing Man: $80K/yr for doing nothing (4:23) The new male situationship (11:24) Setting long term intentions (14:06) Non-sexual companionship-as-a-service (21:52) Professional grievers (24:18) Autopilot’s badass marketing stunt (32:37) Blue Collar Side Hustle: Porch Pumpkins ($1M in 8 weeks) — Links: • Rent a Friend - https://rentafriend.com/ • Papa - https://www.papa.com/ • Sugar Daddy - https://www.sugardaddy.com/ • Autopilot - https://www.joinautopilot.com/ • Porch Pumpkins - https://porchpumpkins.com/ — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth • Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/ My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano
Steph Smith: “This opportunity is totally overlooked”
30-09-2024
Steph Smith: “This opportunity is totally overlooked”
Episode 633: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) talks to Steph Smith ( https://x.com/stephsmithio ) about the mega trend called the Silver Tsunami. — Show Notes:  (0:00) Silver tsunami (7:10) Perimenopause = 6k new customers a day (10:57) One chart opportunity: Nursing homes and assisted living (18:28) Why entrepreneurs are sleeping on this space (20:11) Opportunity: Measuring and tracking (27:36) Idea: Stava for CGMs (39:41) Idea: Solutions for nerd neck (44:19) Idea: Niche paddle sports leagues (56:18) The smile curve — Links: • Our World In Data - https://ourworldindata.org/ • The Longevity Imperative - https://tinyurl.com/mr2m46vk • Bonafide Health - https://hellobonafide.com/ • Gennev - https://www.gennev.com/ • All Akiyas - https://www.allakiyas.com/ • Numlock News - https://www.numlock.com/ • Outlive - https://tinyurl.com/ybewhrw4 • Levels - https://www.levels.com/ • Dexcom - https://www.dexcom.com/ • Stelo - https://www.stelo.com/ • Q Bio - https://www.q.bio/ • Internet Pipes - http://internetpipes.com/ — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/ • Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/ • Copy That - https://copythat.com • Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth • Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/ — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano