My First Million

Get our CEO lessons in one guide: https://clickhubspot.com/rmfk Episode 813: Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talks to Jon McNeill about his time running Tesla and working side-by-side with Elon Musk.  — Show Notes:  (0:00) Intro (1:18) a job interview with Elon Musk (5:07) Being a sniper for talent (8:20) solve a real problem, right now.  (11:23) solving Tesla's sales problem (23:41) One size fits all opportunities (26:50) the power of noticing (31:45) order of magnitude goals (38:34) 3 sentence emails (43:24) identifying $50B industry (49:05) AI — Links: • The Algorithm - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/799958/the-algorithm-by-jon-mcneill/  — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: • Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com  • Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents. • Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies! Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC • I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /

Graham Weaver, Alpine Investors founder and Stanford GSB lecturer, dives into why AI app moats may be weaker than they look. He gets into service-business roll-ups, ruthless but disciplined private equity, and the plumbing deal that scaled from $8M to $500M. Plus: ambition, asymmetric career bets, fear-setting, and why money alone does not create peace.

Chris Koerner, entrepreneur and side-hustle idea creator, shares overlooked ways to make money with simple businesses. He gets into liquidation reselling, AI services for local companies, creator-led snail mail clubs, meal delivery for Amazon workers, tote rentals, wall-printing services, and why RV rentals beat vending machines.

Oz Pearlman, a mentalist and magician known for mind-reading performances, dives into engineered influence, reading people, and staying unforgettable in a room. He shares how restaurant magic helped him beat rejection, how pressure sharpens performance, and why emotion, presence, and reveal-driven moments can sway powerful people.

A deep dive into why taste may be the ultimate advantage in the AI era. Steve Jobs, Apple, Bauhaus, and Dieter Rams all show up in a story about how great judgment gets built. There’s also a practical path for training your eye through copying, studying rules, and exploring design history, plus examples from fashion, web design, and music.

Guy Spier, value investor and author, joins Howard Marks, Oaktree co-founder, and Mohnish Pabrai, Buffett-inspired fund manager, for a fast-moving investing roundup. They talk compounding, market cycles, investor psychology, buying when fear is highest, holding for the long run, and why avoiding big mistakes can matter more than chasing huge wins.

Get Sam's exact system/playbook for ChatGPT: https://clickhubspot.com/jdeb Episode 807: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk about the wildest stories in AI right now.  — Show Notes:  (0:00) Intro (5:08) Story 1: Anthropic did $6B in revenue last month (10:34) Story 2: Man uses AI to treat his dog's cancer (17:06) Story 3: New high school for entrepreneurs  (29:12) Story 4: Pokemon Go is an AI mapping company now (35:18) Story 5: Karpathy's job thing — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: • Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com  • Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents. • Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies! Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC • I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge — 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 HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /

David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Ruby on Rails and co-owner of 37signals, dives into why constraints spark originality. He gets into being confidently wrong in public, choosing taste over endless data, and why business advice depends on context. Plus, his surprising shift on AI, admiration for Shopify, and his fight with Apple over app store control.

A branding expert breaks down how names like BlackBerry and Swiffer went from risky ideas to massive hits. There’s a live naming exercise for a fiber company, a fast critique of tech brands, and a look at why bold, strange-sounding names often win. They also dig into rebrands, power letters, slogans, and how AI fits into creative naming.

Jordi Hays, TBPN co-host and media/brand storyteller, and John Coogan, TBPN co-host and company-picker, join to debate high-upside companies. They talk fast about factory-first ZURU, space-manufacturing Varda, AI music Suno, legal AI Harvey, niche research SemiAnalysis, reindustrialization SendCutSend, SaaS plays like HubSpot, and fintech banking layer Column.