In this episode Shaan (@ShaanVP) is joined by Steph Smith (@stephsmithio) for an idea packed episode. They start off talking about opportunities around spending your FSA dollars and on swag packs. They transition to talk about the role of automation at companies and Steph shares how she would go about automating repetitive parts of her role. The end the episode talking about Steph's new course, approaches to building a company, and Fidelity allowing trading accounts for teenagers.---------* Want Steph's course? You can find it at https://doingtimeright.com* Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/* Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million* Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.---------Show notes:* (1:06) Intro* (2:20) Ideas around spending your FSA dollars* (15:58) Ideas around giving out awesome swag* (21:52) The role of chief automation officer* (27:37) Building a company around automation* (35:03) Giving away free alcohol as marketing* (41:22) How Steph invests her time & money* (43:50) Steph's new course - doingtimeright.com* (47:44) Approaches to building a company* (51:39) Fidelity allowing teenagers on the platform* (56:52) How to find Steph online

In this episode Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan (@ShaanVP) break down a multi-million dollar opportunity to unbundle Etsy ($24B market cap). Shaan also shares how he would approach it if he were doing it himself. The guys also talk about the multi-billion dollar elevator industry, a training program to become an MMA fighter, and whether tax incentives make Canada an attractive place to run a startup.---------* Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/* Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million* Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.---------Show notes:* (1:10) Intro* (3:30) The elevator industry* (11:08) Unbundling Etsy* (22:43) A crash course to become an MMA fighter* (28:02) Mental Fitness* (39:01) Moving to Canada + SRED credits* (45:53) Reese Witherspoon's massive exit* (51:45) Delta airlines meet Delta variant

In this episode Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan (@ShaanVP) are joined by solo capitalist Brianne Kimmel (@briannekimmel). They talk about how Bri got started in investing, the pros and cons of her busy schedule, and discuss some of the unicorns she's invested in. They also discuss a cool use of deepfakes, how VCs make money, and whether or not college is worth the price of admission.---------* Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/* Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million* Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.---------Show notes:* (1:00) Intro* (2:25) The Shake Up - a new podcast on the HubSpot Podcast Network* (6:52) GPT-3 and Anthony Bourdain* (11:40) A cool use of deepfakes* (13:31) Meet Brianne Kimmel* (16:14) Bri's crazy schedule* (21:39) How VCs make money* (37:33) Hot spaces Bri sees* (40:54) Is higher education worth it?* (50:31) Winners Bri sees in her portfolio

Do you like these mini episodes? Tweet your feedback to Shaan (@ShaanVP) & get more short stories like this on his newsletter www.shaanpuri.com.---------* Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/* Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million* Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.

In this episode Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan (@ShaanVP) revisit the NCAA rule changes about college athletes making money and Shaan shares his prediction about who the next big sports agent will be. They also talk about buying lotto tickets via an app, the mugshot industry, & how to fight tech and porn addiction. They end the episode with Shaan sharing a Chrome extension idea.---------* Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/* Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million* Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.---------Show notes:* (:53) Intro* (2:24) Buying lottery tickets online* (8:46) Making money around NIL - name, image, likeness* (14:21) The college sports agent* (18:59) The origin story of Scooter Braun* (23:01) Shaan's one regret from college* (24:37) The AngelList scout program* (28:43) The mugshot posting & removal industry* (35:29) An app to fight tech & porn addiction* (39:02) Story sidebar - Earl Nightingale & who's serving who* (42:12) Back to fighting tech addiction* (46:32) An idea for a Chrome extension

In this episode Shaan (@ShaanVP) breaks down all the numbers behind his Power Writing course (course link --> https://hi.switchy.io/5Cir) and gives Sam (@theSamParr) a walkthrough on how short squeezes work. The two of them later discuss the unbundling of YC, on-demand rental companies, and the future of gas stations.---------* Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/* Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million* Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.---------Show notes:* (:47) Intro* (1:49) Sam's bullish on America* (5:52) A beginner's guide to short squeezes* (8:35) The programming language behind Ethereum smart contracts* (16:09) Meet Greg16676935420* (19:27) The unbundling of YC* (22:37) A breakdown of Shaan's Power Writing course* (32:55) Swimply and other rent-on-demand companies* (43:17) The future of gas stations

In this episode Sam (@theSamParr) shares what he's learned from one of his favorite subreddits, FatFIRE. FatFIRE is about the pursuit of financial independence/early retirement with an upper-middle class lifestyle.Do you like these special episodes? Tweet your feedback to Sam (@theSamParr) & let him know what you think.---------* Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/* Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million* Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.---------Show notes:* (1:07) Meet FatFIRE* (6:53) What Sam has learned from FatFIRE* (7:15) 1 - The safety withdrawal rate* (8:36) 2 - Asset backed loans* (10:38) 3 - They keep working after they retire* (11:50) 4 - It's easy to spend a lot of money* (13:05) 5 - But you don't have to* (13:50) 6 - You have a number* (15:04) 7 - On wealth advisors* (16:05) 8 - You don't have to start a business* (18:25) 9 - Live your life* (20:23) A redditor on different levels of wealth---------Links:https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/https://fatfireindex.com/

Do you like these mini episodes? Tweet your feedback to Shaan (@ShaanVP) & get more short stories like this on his newsletter www.shaanpuri.com.---------* Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/* Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million* Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.

In this two-part episode, Sam (@theSamParr) and Shaan (@ShaanVP) start off with ideas on building brands around pop culture, discuss the drama around the private space race, and talk about a few business-in-a-box concepts. In the second part they interview Andrew Gazdecki (@agazdecki) from MicroAcquire. They talk about how Andrew raised $3.5M this week, discuss MicroAcquire's role as a market network, and successful niches to build in.---------* Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/* Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million* Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.---------Show notes:* (:49) Intro* (2:41) Building brands around pop culture* (10:59) The private race into space* (21:48) Bill's lemonade stand* (24:57) Service based businesses-in-a-box* (30:34) Meet Andrew Gazdecki* (34:17) The buy & build MBA - Soldstock.io* (37:19) Market networks* (40:04) Andrew's first company* (47:30) What Andrew did after selling his first company* (59:05) Successful niches to build in

In this episode Shaan (@ShaanVP) and Sam (@theSamParr) discuss upcoming trends they are seeing along with old school businesses making hundreds of millions of dollars. Sam also talks about how he wants to grow the podcast, and Shaan shares a new writing goal he has. They end the episode talking about businesses that set of their spidey sense and may be scams.---------* Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/* Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million* Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas.---------Show notes:* (:55) Intro* (1:56) Sam's YouTube push* (5:11) Shaan's 30 day writing challenge* (15:33) Trendspotting - Stretching gyms* (25:52) Trendspotting - Semi-permanent tattoos* (32:24) The billion dollar class ring business* (45:49) The Pantone color book* (49:43) The trend makers - WGSN.com* (55:04) Scammy businesses - recovering items from TSA checkpoints