Our Future Podcast

In #23, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) talk about Kenan Saleh who built a rooftop advertising startup for rideshare fleets and sold it to Lyft within 7 months of starting it at age 21. Kenan spent the next few years turning Lyft Media into a meaningful revenue division and if its any indicator, Uber aims for its rideshare ads business to do $1B next year. The boys also explore a number of other fascinating adtech startups that carved their slice of the attention economy, one example is an in-game ads platform for Roblox that a 25-year-old sold for $18m! Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepodFollow the show on IG: @ourfuturepodMessage Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand.Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #22, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) talk about Rory and Kieran O'Reily, the sibling duo behind several massive internet projects and now co-founders of a new fintech backed by American Express. The brothers dropped out of Harvard and became Thiel Fellows to pursue the mania around GIFs by building a GIF creator website called Gifs.com. Despite being used by huge companies like Netflix, the brothers struggled to monetize it, and pivoted into crypto. Their Ethereum-based coin project was one of the most successful crypto communities until its value plummeted 99.9% in 2018, wiping out $80M in value. Now the brothers are focused on problems in traditional finance, primarily the pain of updating card information across disparate websites. Their new startup Knot API has raised $13M from investors like American Express and Plaid to help people seamlessly update payment information.0:00 Intro2:55 Gifs.com Story & Breakdown08:52 Success and Failure in Crypto16:32 New Fintech Startup: Knot APICheck out their company: https://knotapi.com/Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepodFollow the show on IG: @ourfuturepodMessage Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand.Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #21, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) talk about Jack Settleman, the 27-year-old founder of Snapback Sports, a sports media brand and community generating seven figures a year in revenue. For this episode, the boys play around with a new format and focus on tactical takeaways for building in media and beyond. 0:00 Intro1:55 What is Jack's Company?2:31 How Jack Makes Money3:57 Discussion: Quality of Revenue6:37 Jack's Origin Story7:41 Do Things That Don't Scale11:42 Challenges in Platform Dependence 15:25 How To Think About Partnerships21:17 Finding Your AngleFollow Jack on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacksettleman/Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Sam Rattner shares his journey from running a snow removal company to selling his sports betting app for $40M. He discusses the transition, challenges of early success, identifying opportunities in sports betting, value of senior players in gaming, building a new company, finding the right partner, and creating a fashion search engine.

Mike Fata, Founder of Manitoba Harvest, talks about his journey from dropping 100 lbs on a no fat diet to selling his hemp seed company for $420M. He shares startup advice, reflects on creating a category from scratch, and discusses the potential impact of health trends on the food and beverage sector.

In #17, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu chop it up with 30-year-old millionaire Daniel Snow. He's sold 7+ multi-million dollar businesses in his twenties, spanning agencies, media brands, and ecommerce products. Daniel's most prolific business is RapTV, one of Instagram's biggest media companies (and the launching ground for new rap talent) with 45M+ combined followers across its properties. Last year, RapTV brought in over $4.5M through partnerships with top artists and companies like Spotify. Daniel breaks down his various ventures and discusses how he's been able to build and sell so many businesses without focusing on just one at a time.Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people!Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepodFollow the show on IG: @ourfuturepodMessage Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand.Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #16, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu discuss the story of Jake Karls from Mid-Day Squares and David Riggs from Pneuma. Now age 30, Jake has spent the past 6 years building a retail-first chocolate square company with his sister and brother-in-law that aims to disrupt industry giants like Mondelez and Hershey's with functional, nutritious ingredients. It has surpassed $28M in sales and sells its products in over 20,000 retailers. Next up is 25-year-old David Riggs, whose agency, Pneuma, tops $6M a year in revenue, and resembles more of a private equity style roll-up operation than just an SEO and website shop. The secret to his success? Acqui-hiring smaller agencies and using culture as the main draw. 0:00 Intro1:15 Story of Jake Karls and Mid-Day Squares16:00 Story of David Riggs and Pneuma 28:37 Outro Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people! Check out Mid-Day Squares: https://www.middaysquares.comCheck out Pneuma: https://www.pneumallc.coFollow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepod Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand. Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_ Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In #15, Simran Sandhu and Michael Sikand dive into the story of Anirudh Singla, the 24-year-old co-founder and CEO of Pepper. Singla's software platform is productizing the world of content marketing and has notched $10M/yr in revenue helping big companies produce written content at scale. Next up is Sheridan Clayborne, the 24-year-old co-founder of LendTable, a fintech company helping Americans take advantage of their 401K plans. The startup has already helped its users save over $10M and has attracted $35 in funding.0:00 Intro0:45 Story of Anirudh Singla (Pepper)18:50 Story of Sheridan Clayborne (LendTable)34:30 OutroMake sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people!Check out Pepper: https://www.peppercontent.io/Check out LendTable: https://www.lendtable.com/Follow the show on TikTok: @ourfuturepodFollow the show on IG: @ourfuturepodMessage Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand.Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake Lewin, 21-year-old co-founder of Tabs, a sex chocolate brand, shares his journey in UGC TikTok marketing. Allan Maman, CEO of Bloom, discusses his app that gamifies financial education. They also delve into the changing landscape of the fintech industry and the challenges of pricing strategy.

Griffin Spolansky, owner of Mezcla, a snack bar brand, shares the success story of his business. Taylor Hersom discusses the growth of his cybersecurity consulting firm. The podcast explores America's love for crunchy snacks, the importance of retail in the food industry, making millions on gig economy platforms, connecting revenue and pricing, and building cyber security solutions for new technologies.