This AI Startup Idea Has 500 Million Customers Waiting For It

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Episode 554: Shaan Puri ( / shaanvp ) and Sam Parr ( / thesamparr ) brainstorming unicorn startup ideas with $1B founder Jason Cohen.
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Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(3:00) AI improved presentations
(11:30) Automated Twitter hacking
(14:00) Being a billionaire tinkerer
(18:30) Rich vs. King
(23:30) All startups are screwed up--including the ones that work
(31:30) Be so good you can't fail
(33:30) Consumers don't value their time
(36:30) Will WP Engine go public?
(38:00) Lessons from Silver Lake Capital elites
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Links:
• Smart Bear - smartbear.com/
• Jason Cohen on Twitter - / asmartbear
• Zeck - www.zeck.app/
• Rich v. King - longform.asmartbear.com/rich-...
• Box.com - box.com/
• Silver Lake - www.silverlake.com
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Check Out Sam's Stuff:
• Hampton - www.joinhampton.com/
• Ideation Bootcamp - www.ideationbootcamp.co/
• Copy That - copythat.com
• Hampton Wealth Survey - joinhampton.com/wealth
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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): 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

[@swiftzy3653]

Mark my words: one day I will be on this podcast. I’m a junior in high school interning inside a startup VC. I’m learning loads and will one day create my own startup. Sam and Shann, I start my morning listening to you guys on my way to school. There is no better channel!!! Much love - Jaden

[@AbCd-jl9jq]

Where are you interning?

[@bstancel12]

That is the right attitude and mentality. Keep it up, stay focused and maintain self control in all aspects of your life and over time you will make it happen. Good job on having a goal that early in life and best of luck in making it happen!

[@bossgd100]

What is wrong with you 😂

[@AbCd-jl9jq]

@@bossgd100 because I'm also in VC

[@metal_mo]

Good luck bro!

[@alatona26]

That was the fastest 40 min ever! Great pod. Time flies when you’re learning and being entertained. Never miss an episode.

[@leandrewdixon3521]

Wow! Soo cool to see! I worked under Jason in the early days of WP Engine. I will always treasure getting to learn from this man first hand. Absolutely brilliant dude and a great leader. Big love if you see this Jason!

[@asmartbear]

Hey! Great to hear from you as well! Hope all as well.

[@guitarzack]

The consistency of your upload schedule is incredible and inspiring!!! Been listening/watching for a couple months now and been telling my friends! I was a fan/subscriber prior to the 400k subs mark!!! Keep it going!!

[@u2b83]

Unlike YC, which just repeats "product-market fit" over and over again (which IS important), these guys have a constant stream of viable, original ideas, which are not so abstract, to the point of having no muscle.

[@cheesetoochalk]

Listening to this Cohen guy is so refreshing. Finally an intellectual person that’s ethical but still a real ninja

[@VincentFulco]

Jason is the GOAT, listen to everything he pops up on. Kudos!

[@mehtasdeepak]

Great pod, love Jason and his wisdom around start up. His approach seems very systematic

[@richhands5269]

My three favorite channels: My First Million, Stock Brotha, & How Money Works. Make my week complete! 🔥 🔥 🔥

[@aliwardheere4378]

sam, you are really generous of your compliments of the way Shaan thinks of certain things some times. By the way i love Shaan's take on ideas and the way he paraphrases every idea to make it sound more appealing.

[@seabass_1]

I felt like this was cut shorter than ideal. Tho maybe the pace was slower and ideal wouldve been letting him go 2 hours and trimming it down

[@ericlamideas]

Every once in a while you guys have on a next level thinker. This guy is one of them. More like this guy.

[@TheDiceroni]

This was too good not to be longer

[@steiz]

Some time ago I wanted to recommend you an amazing person to invite. Today I see you interviewing him: the one and only Jason Cohen! 🤩

[@BasicFolders]

15:19 So this guy uses social media for fun and a hobby- but remember, not only is he rich enough to be able to afford throwing away time on something silly that he finds fun, he's probably working with a different level of brain where he's also many times more productive than most of us (especially me) and can afford the time and distraction in a way that I can't. I personally think that if it's not used to keep your mind in the right motivated space, and for information (talks, podcasts, etc) that social media is a poison to success.

[@josemelo_97]

Im stealing the “double your leads” technique. Awesome content as usual. 🙌

[@AlexMacGregor]

Big fan of Jason's blog!

[@baileyrobinson1476]

One of the best pods

[@chan90s]

Prezi was super popular back in 2014. Everyone in my college were using it.

[@gfgdfgdable]

@ 35 mins is where the gold is at It’s double their leads relative to what they are paying someone else currently Once you acquire a customer and it matures how do you keep providing value to keep them around? Just have a better product and customer support relative to competitors?

[@neelbhula5467]

10/10 sweater, Sam, where is it from?

[@luketritton5066]

Where was the bit about 500m users??

[@DavieHennessy]

I did not here the 500m users either but I was working in the background! Might have been clickbait title!

[@DivineMisterAdVentures]

9:00 most interesting take on slide / pitchdeck. Slide Bean style.

[@BASKIN1318]

If anyone liked this episode, watch his talk about bootstrapping a business. Love Jason Cohen and his philosophy behind bootstrapping is worth following

[@adama9418]

Which one? He seems to have done so many

[@u2b83]

You guys need to turn up the thermostats in your rooms! Looks like 55-60F with all those sweaters lol

[@gabebell1933]

Anyone else notice how Sams wardrobe has slipped into full DAD mode since having his daughter? 🤣

[@JacobSucksAtCode]

Love this epoisode

[@leadgenjay]

The brainstorming session on unicorn startup ideas was super insightful. A key tactic for entrepreneurs is to validate ideas quickly by using micro-tests in the market, which can save time and resources before going all-in. Remember, data beats opinions when it comes to scaling a viable business.

[@JonathanDrake]

the fastest 30 minute podcast (10 more of ads). Why not go for an hour plus when you have someone like Jason on? Seems like you have a hard limit on time.

[@Minc-sq6mh]

7:11 asking gpt to ask nice questions very important trick

[@user-pk9ft5re9m]

What cameras and microphones do you use for your podcast? The are very nice quality video.

[@TheEamonKeane]

A legend in the bootstrapping world

[@rosszeiger]

Love the “don’t deny that you got in it for money.” There’s too many taboos and euphemisms around money in our culture. It’s refreshing to be transparent like that.

[@whoami1980]

killer cardigan man. seriously kinda cool

[@AdamOakleyportland]

Wish this one went longer. Felt like Sam was in a hurry to wrap it up. It would have been great to hear Cohen riff on more ideas. Bring him back for another round.

[@alokjoshi334]

"Optionality is power"

[@williemckenzie]

Sean’s sweater game is to be celebrated 🎉

[@readPodBites]

Sam, your sweater game lately has been on point. That's all I came to say :)

[@randyotterbridge]

Wait, I thought dude was Steven Wolfram with a hat... Still going to listen though.

[@faisalislam9840]

Sheesh, is Sam getting super jacked?

[@michaelslifecycle]

500 million!? No way. Stop the 🧢

[@jakobbourne6381]

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[@CoconutPete]

meanwhile none of these companies are hiring

[@chan90s]

Maybe there should be Bereal version for these companies

[@Loveinboy]

Nice 👍🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@CryptoGrit]

for failing companies FTX was saying few days before the collapse how they are doing well :)

[@chhinergy]

Lately, you guys have been putting out bangers.

[@justinfleagle]

9:20

[@whiteazn93]

Finally the guest I've been waiting for!!!!

[@russford1271]

Where can I get Sam's sweater?

[@workmix5246]

At the five minute mark 😮when they finally let the guest actually speak 😮first thing out of his mouth is something about having his time wasted lol

[@AJ.AlwaysJacked-vt7ok]

How do I pitch my business to you guys? I’m currently working with my college entrepreneur center to develop my pitch for investors. ID LOVE TO PITCH TO YOU GUYS.

[@noorkimutai]

For a second. For just one second I thought that was Stephen Wolfram

[@festaazul]

Jason COHEN, is a major get. Chris aker! Get the linode founder !!!

[@thedesk.9997]

You mean goat.

[@AvalonResearch]

You mean guest.

[@DaveEllis.]

You mean genius.

[@georgelee9278]

My buddy told me today that he got a pay rise 1 week before the company he work for went bust.

[@wick9462]

This one was weird

[@Alice8000]

What is this... the All Out Podcast?

[@djcardwell]

everyone watching this vid needs to go eat some shrooms and just chill.

[@ray-mc-l]

jason cohen is the michael jordan of indie hackers

[@bstancel12]

Well said

[@Mr.Q-Tip]

OMGosh! I thought everybody nixed saying "Pod" on here... this is so annoying.

[@cxa011500]

Customers "waiting" doesn't count. Only customers "buying" matters.

[@moneymakingsim4314]

Never heard of Jason Cohen, but we are ALL IN!!! Been using WP engine for years! My entrepreneurship group followed him on social and did more research on him and his companies. Thank you guys yet again!! Also Ed Norton is a Baltimore/Maryland native!!! Put some respect on his name!😂😂😂… Love you guys. ☮️✌🏽

[@asmartbear]

Thanks for the kind words, and for being a customer! 😃

[@moneymakingsim4314]

@@asmartbear My pleasure! Thankyou!

[@marvelousnxele3724]

Great conversation, 500m waiting list that insane ..power of influence

[@ankursolanki6204]

Sam is looking like a celebrity

[@evan_ry]

Why is he swinging?

[@aendoh]

The hubspot ads are so annoying every time 😮

[@livegrowtruth]

They own the pod and paid millions for it

[@terrylennon]

Another Dharmesh/Andrew Wilkinson - level guest! Great episode guys

[@ItsJdwill]

Sam bro the fit! Can yall start dressing high end fashion for more views?

[@bstancel12]

Anyone who does not know who this guest is before this podcast - you should absolutely check out other earlier videos of him speaking, especially his story about starting WPEngine and all that entailed.

[@Yuri-nc9vl]

AI for hacking wen? I always wanted to be a hacker but I'm to dumb 😂

[@As1fAhmad]

.

[@mykilfremn26]

one big F to in video adds you poor person

[@maximizedmedia]

No clue what the first 10 minutes of the episode was about. Too distracted by Sam’s cardigan.

[@mjphayes]

This edit is bizarre. Super jarring, and terrible continuity. Feels rearranged and heavily reduced. Normally MFM is relatively linear so I found this unexpected.

[@faisalislam9840]

1st again, hell yeah

[@deveugene7]

Why does Shaan always have his shoulders hunched up like Stephen Hawking?

[@MG-kt1ck]

I am Jack's AI startup

[@greenpomadoro3425]

Was this a paid episode? Not sure why but it felt like you didn't want him there

[@bossgd100]

Can someone give me the idea ? I dont have 40 min to spend on the video for the moment. Pls , thank you in advance

[@Ferrari7]

LOL! with an attitude like that, even if someone gave you a treasure map, I wouldn't expect you to succeed. 😂

[@user-wc8lh4yp3g]

Why? Time is valuable.

[@leedsdrumacademy]

Sure thing. The idea: invest in your knowledge and listen to others who have succeeded at what you wish to do.

[@bossgd100]

Ok I will watch it...

[@ptr3Vdol]

BS! I'm blocking this channel!

[@manavgolecha]

Hey Team MFM, I've been a regular listener for the past three years and have some thoughts to share with you: - Consider extending the length of your interviews. The current format of a 1-hour episode, where the guest speaks for only about 15 minutes amidst 3-4 ad breaks, feels too constrained. Tim Ferriss’s podcast is a great example of embracing diverse topics and discussions. I believe MFM could successfully release 2-hour episodes, especially with unique guests who rarely appear elsewhere. - The scriptwriting for Hubspot's advertisements could use some improvement. The heavy use of technical jargon tends to lose my attention, and it sounds like it's not enjoyable for you to present them either. - The intro music and animation for MFM could be enhanced. Striving for something even more engaging than what the "All In" podcast offers would set a fantastic tone for each episode. - It would be refreshing to see a reduction in the number of guests promoting their books. - Featuring international entrepreneurs could bring a wealth of new and interesting perspectives to the show. - Setting a target to reach one million subscribers by 2024 and reflecting this goal in your channel banner might be ambitious, but achievable with the right strategy. This could include producing engaging shorts and clips that align with current editing trends, which seems to be an area for improvement based on your recent outputs. - Shaan should consider providing the writing course for free, it could generate an immense amount of goodwill, mirroring the impact of Hormozi’s approach. I'm rooting for you guys to hit a million subs this year, Thanks for all the great content so far!