Our Future Podcast

#53: 9-Figure CEO Talks Building The Next Berkshire Hathaway Aug 30, 2024

In #53, Michael and Simmy talk to Sieva Kozinsky, the founder and CEO of holding company Enduring Ventures. Sieva built two startups before reading a book about Warren Buffet and focusing his efforts on buying businesses to hold forever. In this episode, Sieva talks about his early ventures, why he doesn't believe in the venture capital model, the kinds of businesses he buys and looks to buy, competition, and learnings from Warren Buffet and more.

#businesspodcast #podcast #entrepreneurship

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#52: $540M Founder Shares His Repeatable Software Playbook Aug 14, 2024

In this episode of Our Future Podcast, hosts Simran Sandhu and Michael Sikands interview special guest Stan Garber, the co-founder of ScoutRFP (Acquired by Workday) and Levelpath. Stan shares insights into his entrepreneurial journey, highlighting his past successes like selling ScoutRFP for $540M and building a stealthy but huge restaurant tech business, as well as his current AI + procurement venture, LevelPath. Stan emphasizes the importance of long-term partnerships in business, referencing his enduring collaboration with his high school friend and co-founder, Alex. Join the conversation to learn from Stan's experiences and gain valuable advice for aspiring young entrepreneurs.

01:23 Early ventures.

04:54] Scaling a Successful SaaS Company.

08:15] Painless RFPs.

10:15] Evolution of business scalability.

15:06] Building a sustainable company.

19:29] Scaling a successful business.

21:40] Maximizing existing customer value.

25:29] Fragmented supplier record data.

27:36] Delightful procurement vision.

31:12] Building expertise in different industries.

36:57] Building successful software companies.

39:47] MVPs and fully baked products.

43:22] Building a successful enterprise company.

45:23] Young entrepreneurs and inspiration.

#podcast #startups #entrepreneurship

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#51: Whoop's Genius Business Model, Robotic Shoes, and Lucid Dream Wearables Aug 01, 2024

In #51, Michael and Simmy aggregate exciting business case studies in the world of consumer hardware. The boys analyze hot new products hitting the market like robotic shoes, VR desktops, and bio-hacking wearables. They also peel back the hardware-as-a-service business model that's made it easier to succeed with physical products and the marketing advantage hardware startups have on software. Tune in for a banger this week!

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#50: Cybersecurity riches, Wiz's $23B offer, and the "Apple Pay of Identity" Jul 24, 2024

In #50, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@simmy) dive into the booming cybersecurity market, highlighting recent incidents and opportunities. They discuss the CrowdStrike internal error that impacted major companies and the potential $23 billion acquisition of Wiz by Google. The hosts emphasize the financial potential in cybersecurity, noting the industry's growth from $182 billion in 2023 to an expected $314 billion by 2028. They explore various business ideas, including incident response services, consumer-focused cyber products, and identity verification solutions like Footprint. The episode also touches on the rapid growth of companies like Drada and Vanta, and the potential for ClEAR to have an "Nvidia moment" in the future. The hosts conclude by encouraging listeners to consider opportunities in cybersecurity, a field they believe is as lucrative as AI.

05:30 - CrowdStrike Incident and Market Impact

10:00 - Rise in Cyber Attacks and Ransomware

15:00 - Potential in Cybersecurity Services and Insurance

20:00 - Ashley Madison Hack Documentary

25:00 - Identity Verification and Biometric Security

30:00 - Footprint: Apple Pay for Identity

35:00 - Wiz Acquisition by Google

40:00 - Clear's Potential in Identity Verification

45:00 - Consumer-Based Cybersecurity Products

#Cybersecurity #TechTrends #StartupStories

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#49: This 20-year-old makes $650K/mo bootstrapping AI tools?! Jul 17, 2024

In this episode of Our Future Podcast, Michael and Simmy dive into the journeys of young entrepreneurs like Arib Khan and Dhruv Bindra discussing their unique distribution strategies that enable them to be bootstrapped. We explore the importance of founder-led marketing, the value of investing in distribution, and the evolving landscape of startup success. We also touch on the need for modern content strategies in startup accelerators like Y Combinator. Tune in for insights on building and scaling businesses.

00:00 - Introduction and Podcast Anniversary

00:29 - Convo with Denise Hazime and ProdoScore

02:21 - Private Equity and SaaS Companies

08:28 - Dhruv Bindra and Styl App

16:02 - Arib Khan and Crayo's Success

22:15 - Y Combinator and Startup Strategies

25:48 - Importance of Distribution and Marketing

32:45 - Challenges in Hiring for Marketing Roles

34:28 - Closing Remarks and Podcast Wrap-Up

#business #startups #podcast

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#48: These Childhood Friends Are Sam Altman's Worst Nightmare Jun 26, 2024

In #48, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu discuss mid-twenties founders Edward Tian and Alex Cui, the co-founders of AI detection startup GPTZERO which has raised $13.5M and is already profitable. They explore the dynamics of shows like Shark Tank and the success of startups that didn't secure deals. The conversation shifts to the importance of distribution in the success of AI tools. They also touch on the potential of AI in education, citing examples like RapStudy and StudyBuddy. The episode concludes with a debate on the merits of building cashflow businesses versus pursuing big, impactful ventures, emphasizing the diverse paths to success in entrepreneurship.

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#47: How We Sold Our Bootstrapped Startup In 2 Years Jun 19, 2024

After nearly 50 episodes, in #47 Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu share their own entrepreneurial journey, from starting their media company Our Future to getting acquired by Morning Brew. They discuss the lessons they've learned, the strategies they employed, and challenges faced along the way.

0:00 Intro & Cold Open

2:07 Michael and Simmy's first idea: Jet Coffee

03:16 Being scrappy and lessons learned in scaling the business

5:13 Importance of starting a podcast and building a network

6:07 Strategy of leveraging podcasts for networking and opportunities

8:01 Discussion on the accessibility of media as a starting point for entrepreneurs

9:17 Importance of building relationships with potential co-founders

10:09 Emphasis on having a clear goal and being open to pivoting

12:37 Importance of being delusional and confident in pitching oneself

17:48 Transition to discussing the acquisition by Morning Brew

23:55 Importance of being cautious with potential acquirers and their agendas

26:02 Advice on handling acquisition discussions and maintaining focus on business growth

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#46: This 23-Year-Old Is Worth $100M From Police Drones Jun 12, 2024

Inn #46, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu delve into the stories of two young founders, Blake Resnick and Mohak Nahta. Blake Resnick, a 23-year-old entrepreneur, has built a police drone startup called Brinc. He's raised $80M from investors like Sam Altman and Peter Thiel and the company is now valued at over $300M. Next up is Mohak, the founder of Atlys, who has created a platform to expedite the visa application process, allowing users to complete the process in minutes by simply taking a selfie, scanning their passport, and answering a few questions. He's raised over $16M from investors like a16z.

00:00 - Introduction and Podcast Overview

00:11 - Episode Preview: Young Founders and Their Ventures

00:35 - Michael's Sales Pitch Anecdote

01:06 - Daily Office Rentals Business Idea

02:05 - Blake Resnick's $300M Police Drone Startup

05:31 - Public Perception and Privacy Concerns

08:01 - Surveillance Technology and Public Backlash

10:49 - Challenges in Selling to Public Service Departments

17:28 - Second Story: Atlys - Expediting Travel Visas

24:47 - Pay for Passport Programs and Government Revenue Strategies

#business #podcast #startups

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#45: How This 28-Year-Old Built A $1M Lead Gen Business for Real Estate Jun 05, 2024

In #45, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@simmy) discuss the founders of Folk and ConvertWire. First up is Simo Lemhandez, a late-twenties entrepreneur from France, who is building Folk, a next-gen CRM designed to manage all types of relationships—sales, recruiting, partnerships, and investors. With a sleek, Notion-like UI, Folk has raised millions from top investment firms like Accel and has even won product of the year on Product Hunt. Next is Jack Sory, a 28-year-old entrepreneur who runs ConvertWire, a lead generation business for real estate. Jack's business model focuses on providing high-quality leads through a team of cold callers based in the Philippines. By emphasizing quality over quantity, Jack has built a subscription-based service that generates between half a million and a million dollars annually.

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#44: This NYU Grad Raised Millions To Make TV Shows Shoppable May 29, 2024

In #44, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Diddo and Fina. Founded by NYU grads, Diddo has raised $2.8M to let you shop for products featured in your favorite TV shows and movies. Using AI, Diddo identifies the clothing worn on screen and allows viewers to purchase exact items or lookalike products. Next up is Clay Ratterman, the co-founder of Fina, which is best described as Notion for personal finance. The platform is bootstrapped and has already amassed 10,000 users, filling a void in the market for a highly customizable personal finance application.

0:00: Intro

1:00: Story of Diddo

19:10 Story of Fina

#startups #podcast #entrepreneurship

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#43: He Made Millions Predicting Your Grocery Order May 22, 2024

In #43, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Halla and DeepScribe. Founded by mid-twenties entrepreneurs Henry Michaelson, Spencer Price, and Gabriel Nipote, Halla is the only human preference engine built for groceries. In other words, the trio raised $10M to build a white-labelled recommendation algorithm that powers the e-commerce storefronts of some of the world's largest grocery chains. A few months ago, Halla was acquired by Wynshop for an undisclosed amount. Next up is DeepScribe, an AI-powered clinical documentation platform started by Akilesh Bapu and Matthew Ko which has saved doctors millions of minutes taking notes when treating patients. The company has raised over $35M from investors like Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and Figma CEO Dylan Field.

0:00 Intro

01:14 Story of Halla

18:04 Story of DeepScribe

#podcast #entrepreneurship #startups

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#42: He Built A $25M/Year Business By Age 25 May 15, 2024

In #42, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Swimply and Distribute. Founded by 25-year-old Bunim Laskin, Swimply has raised $50M to be the "Airbnb for Pools". So far the platform has served over 1M bookings across three countries and is now expanding into other categories like pickleball courts. Next up is Andy Mewborn, who built and sold a Linkedin SaaS tool called Taplio within 9 months of launching and has now raised millions for Distribute, a software platform best described as Canva for GTM teams. Andy has raised millions to shrink the GTM tech stack and mash multiple different products into one killer platform.

00:00 Intro

0:42 Story of Swimply

16:14 Story of Distribute

#podcast #entrepreneurship #startups

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#41: He Built No-Code Software Making $2M By Age 23 May 01, 2024

In #41, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of LANDED and Krepling. Founded by Vivian Wang, Landed is a recruitment platform helping fast food and retail establishments hire top-notch hourly workers faster and cheaper. So far, the platform has raised over $7M and counts 700K+ users as well as clients like Taco Bell and Chick-Fil-A. Next up is Krepling, which was started by two brothers in their early 20's, Liam (23) and Travis Gerada (20). The duo is behind no-code e-commerce software which solves for the increasing engineering complexities sellers face past the $5M revenue mark. So far they've raised $3.3M and were doing $1.7M ARR in August 2023.

0:00 Intro

0:40 Story of LANDED

19:20 Story of Krepling

#podcast #entrepreneurship #startups

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#40: He Built Design Software Worth $100M By Age 28 Apr 24, 2024

In #40, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Zette and Vizcom. Founded by 28-year-old Yehong Zhu, Zette is best described as "Netflix for News". By installing the Zette chrome extension and paying a monthly subscription, users can bypass the article paywall on over 100+ publisher sites including Forbes. So far, Yehong has raised $2.7M+ for the company, including a recent 7-figure crowdfunding round. Next up is Vizcom, which was started by 28-year-old co-founders Jordan Taylor and Kaelan Richards. Best described as Figma for industrial designers, Vizcom is an AI-powered software that helps industrial designers at companies like Ford and New Balance use a mixture of drawing and generative AI to make the process of creating innovative mock-ups and product designs more efficient. The company recently raised a $20M Series A which included investors like Index Ventures and Figma co-founder Dylan Field.

0:00 Intro

01:27 Story of Zette

19:07 Story of Vizcom

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

#business #startups #podcasts

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#39: He Raised $12M To Make Your Dream Home Cheap Apr 17, 2024

In #39, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Atmos and Reframe. Backed by Sam Altman, YC, and Khosla Ventures with a recent $12.5M Series A, Atmos's young co-founders (led by 25-year-old CEO Nick Donahue) are helping Americans build a custom home from scratch without spending millions. The next company discussed was started by Vedant Pradeep, the 27-year-old co-founder behind Reframe, an app valued at over $300M. 91% of Reframe's 3M users reduced their alcohol intake within their first 3 months of subscribing.

0:00 Intro

02:18 Story of Atmos

19:28 Story of Reframe

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

#business #startups #podcasts

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#38 She Raised $7M From Porsche and Ford At Age 25 Apr 10, 2024

In #37, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Sweetspot and Bluedot. YC-backed Sweetspot is bringing AI to the complex and outdated world of government contract discovery and bidding. Last year, the U.S. allocated over $765B to government contracts and Sweetspot is helping businesses earn more work from Uncle Sam. Next up is Bluedot, an EV charging app and fintech company backed with $7M from investors like Ford and Porsche that offers EV owners a flat rate at charging stations if they pay through Bluedot's debit card. Other features include discounts and rewards to restaurants and shops located near the charging station.

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

#business #startups #podcasts

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#37: This $4M Software Founder Is Now Hauling Trash Apr 03, 2024

In #37, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Spencer Scott (@AKASpencerScott). Getting his start working his way up sales at a telecom company, Spencer quit the corporate grind to become a 7-figure, non-technical bootstrapped SaaS founder, building sales software platform Loup and scaling screen-sharing tool Median after purchasing it on MicroAcquire. More recently, Spencer has made waves as the founder of Lone Star Trash, a waste management service he started after witnessing private equity ruin the service quality of his Dallas neighborhood’s trash collection operator. Applying the same scrappy tactics that helped him grow his software startups, Spencer bought a trash truck and bootstrapped a profitable waste management operation from day one.

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

#business #startups #podcast

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#36: Peter Thiel Backed Their $300M Software Marketplace Mar 28, 2024

In #36, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Whop and EasyA. Started by 25-year-olds Jack Sharkey, Steven Schwartz, and Cameron Zoub - Whop is "Etsy for Digital Products" - and has raised $17M from investors like Peter Thiel and James Harden. The platform has facilitated $300M of transactions for software tools, community memberships, and courses developed by an army of young hustlers pushing internet products. Next up is EasyA, a mobile app built by brothers Phil and Dom Kwok who are in their mid-twenties, that is best described as "Duolingo for Web3". The app has over 750K users who use it to learn how to build applications on various blockchain platforms like Solana and Polkadot. The startup's unique B2B2C model and hackathon strategy generates millions a year in revenue.

0:00 Intro

1:00 Story Of Whop

19:47 Story of EasyA

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

#business #startups #podcast

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#35: 27-Year-Old Twins Raised $50,000,000 To Insure Rental Cars Mar 20, 2024

In #35, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Myko AI and Lula. Started by Trevor Lee and Zheng Li, Myko has raised $2.7M from investors like Khosla Ventures to create conversational AI for sales teams. Myko syncs across all the software in a revenue organization and can surface key metrics and insights via text prompts with the ability to then execute actions based off those data points. Next up is Lula, an insurtech startup founded by two 27-year-old twins, Matthew and Michael Vega-Sanz. They built a car sharing startup for college campuses before pivoting to build "stripe for insurance," with their first market being rental car companies and trucking fleets. The co-founders claim they're on the path to $100M in revenue in the next year and recently raised a $35.5M Series B.

0:00 Intro

1:00 Story of Myko AI

22:30 Story of Lula

28:50 Michael and Simmy Brainstorm An Insurance Business

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#business #startups #podcast

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#34: She Raised $187,000,000 From Sam Altman At Age 26 Mar 13, 2024

In #34, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Slope Pay and Rogo. Slope has raised a whopping $187M in funding led by Sam Altman to digitize B2B payments with a focus on bringing buy-now-pay-later mechanics to invoicing and was started by late twenties co-founders Alice Deng and Lawrence Lin Murata. Next up is Rogo, a fintech software setting its sights on beating Bloomberg with a platform best described as “ChatGPT for Finance”. Led by 25-year-old CEO Gabriel Stengel, the company has raised $7M from investors like Kevin Ryan’s AlleyCorp and has signed numerous deals with PE firms, hedge funds, and banks.

0:00 Intro

1:17 Story of Slope Pay

14:30 Story of Rogo

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

#business #startups #podcast

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#33: Jeff Bezos Thinks This Kid’s Startup Could Control The Weather Mar 06, 2024

In #33, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss

Antimetal and Rainmaker. Antimetal was started by now 25-year-old HS dropout Matthew Prakhurst, who has seemingly sold everything under the sun in his career. Now he’s built a huge tech company saving 1000+ startups millions on their cloud hosting costs via AWS. Next up is deep-tech startup Rainmaker, led by 23-year-old Berkeley dropout Augustus Doricko. Rainmaker uses a fleet of drones that dispense chemicals into the atmosphere which artificially trigger rainfall. Jeff Bezos is a noted fan of the technology.

0:00 Intro

01:35 Story of Antimetal

21:09 Story of Rainmaker

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#business #startups #podcast

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#32: This 24-Year-Old Dropout Raised $60M To Build Shopify For Restaurants Feb 28, 2024

In #32, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Owner.com and Pipedream Labs. Led by 24-year-old high school dropout Adam Guild, Owner.com has raised $60M+ from investors like Naval Ravikant and Jack Altman to empower restaurant owners with technology to grow revenue and cut dependence on delivery giants. Next up is Pipedream Labs, led by twenty-something CEO Garret McCurrach, which has raised $11M to revolutionize food delivery with an underground pipe network soling for the expensive “last mile problem”.

0:00 Intro

01:30 Story of Owner.com

19:20 Story of Pipedream Labs

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#business #startups #podcast

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#31 Sam Altman Gave These Kids Millions To Reinvent Credit Cards Feb 21, 2024

In #31, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Hypercard and Integral. Backed with $15M in funding led by Sam Altman and a blockbuster partnership with American Express, Hypercard is building the first credit card backed by your employer. The company was started by two Gen Z business prodigies–Niko Ioannou and Marc Baghadjian–who've already had tremendous success. Next up is Integral, a data certification startup in the healthcare industry. Founded by young guns Shubh Sinha and John Kuhn, Integral removes the need for teams of consultants to properly anonymize the sensitive patient data healthcare firms need to run their businesses. They have raised $6M for their software platform that complies with industry's regulations and removes the middleman providing better data to an industry more reliant on it than others.

0:00 Intro

01:25 Story of Hypercard

21:54 Story of Integral

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#30 He Made Tens of Millions at Age 25 Feb 14, 2024

In #30, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) interview Morning Brew Co-Founder and CEO Austin Rief (@austin_rief). At age 25, Austin sold Morning Brew to Insider at a $75M valuation and has continued to lead the company since. Morning Brew no doubt continues to be the dominant player in the email newsletter space and now increasingly across formats like podcasts and social media. Austin touches on how he would make $1M starting from scratch, his content diet, his ownership stakes in various businesses, and the advantages of focus as well as being young.

0:00 Intro

01:13 Millions At Age 25

03:00 Older People Working For You

4:05 How Austin Would Make Money From Scratch

10:35 Copying U.S. Businesses In Other Countries

16:00 Austin's Content Diet

21:00 How To Join Someone Else's Idea

23:35 Co-Founder Relationships

27:57 Taking Advice As A Young Founder

38:08 How Austin Approaches New Opportunities

40:48 Austin's Views on Competition

42:30 Austin's VC Investing Criteria

49:47 Can Media Companies Do Tech?

51:00 What Excites Austin Now

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

#business #startups #entrepreneurship #podcast

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#29: How A Tech Salesman Became America's New Steel King Feb 07, 2024

In #29, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Felux and Tulu. Started by former tech sales exec Dallas Hogensen, Felux is the new way the world buys and sells steel. It's a digital marketplace that facilitates steel transactions from A-Z, from discovery to negotiation to financing to transportation. So far, Felux has raised over $20M and now processes $500M+ in GMV. Next up is Tulu, founded by Yishai Lehavi and Yael Shemer, which has raised over $20M. It's branded as the "usage economy platform" - but in laymen's terms - Tulu offers a tech-enabled vending machine that allows apartment residents to rent a suite of shared products - like vacuum cleaners and video game consoles.

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

#business #startups #entrepreneurship #podcast

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#28: Stanford Dropout Raises Millions To Make Job Hunting Suck Less Jan 31, 2024

In #28, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss two startups built by young guns: Simplify and Default. Simplify is best described as the "Honey for Job Search" - and was founded by Berkeley and Stanford dropouts Michael Yan, Rushil Srivastava, and Ethan Horoschak. Using Simplify's chrome extension, applicants can breeze through vast numbers of job apps by instantly populating form fields and tailoring their experience to each role of interest. So far the platform has raised $3M from investors like David Sachs, amassed 400K users, and facilitated 25M job applications. Next up is Nico Ferreya and Victor Papyshev, co-founders of Default: the ultimate inbound GTM platform helping modern revenue teams increase pipeline conversions with automated qualification, scheduling, & routing workflows. So far the duo has raised millions from top investors including, coincidentally, David Sachs's Craft Ventures.

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#27: He Raised $23M To Disrupt Manafactured Home Insurance Jan 24, 2024

In #27, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the co-founders of Covertree: Adarsh Rachmale (25), Divyansh Sharma (25), and Rishie Modi (37). After the guys graduated college, they decided they wanted a startup idea that targeted Middle America and that tech was completely ignoring. They found it in the insurance tech space with their company CoverTree, which specializes in insuring manafactured homes (also known as pre-fab houses). So far they've raised $23M in total, notched partnerships with Blackstone and Rocket Mortgage for distribution, and now help insure hundreds of millions worth of property.

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#26: This 23-Year-Old Makes Millions Managing Startup Cash Jan 17, 2024

In #26, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Grant Roscoe, founder of Crescent. Grant grew up in Nebraska and didn't attend college, yet he's managed to spend the past 5 years turning his company into a key player in how startups manage their capital. He's raised $6M so far to turn Crescent into an integral part of startup management by helping young companies monetize their idle cash.

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#25: College Dropouts Raise $25M To Clone Founders Jan 10, 2024

The boys are back from a two week holiday hiatus! In #25, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Hasan Raza and Quinn Favret, the co-founders of Tavus. Tavus is a generative AI startup that clones your face and voice to create virtually infinite personalized videos for use in sales outreach. They've raised over $25M from top VC firms like Sequoia and signed on blue-chip clients like HubSpot and Meta. But the big question still looms: is this a flash in the pan or the future of selling?

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#24: How His Link In Bio Startup Makes $5M Dec 20, 2023

In #24, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) talk about John Hu, the co-founder of Stan, a link in bio startup that might best be described as "Shopify for content creators". John's journey is made all the more fascinating by his mastery of building in public. No venture backed founder does a better job of documenting their journey and bringing viewers full transparency than John. He's racked up 40K+ subs on his YouTube channel and has proven that building in public is a formula for success.

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#23 He Sold His Adtech Startup To Lyft At Age 21 Dec 13, 2023

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!

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#22: Are These Harvard Dropouts The Next Billionaire Siblings? Dec 06, 2023

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 Intro

2:55 Gifs.com Story & Breakdown

08:52 Success and Failure in Crypto

16:32 New Fintech Startup: Knot API

Check out their company: https://knotapi.com/

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#21: I Make $1.5M/Year With Sports Videos Nov 29, 2023

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 Intro

1:55 What is Jack's Company?

2:31 How Jack Makes Money

3:57 Discussion: Quality of Revenue

6:37 Jack's Origin Story

7:41 Do Things That Don't Scale

11:42 Challenges in Platform Dependence

15:25 How To Think About Partnerships

21:17 Finding Your Angle

Follow Jack on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacksettleman/

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#19 He Used Sports Betting To Make $40M By Age 23 Nov 15, 2023

In #19, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) chat with Sam Rattner (@samrattner), Co-Founder of Vigtory, a sports betting app he sold for $40M to FuboTV in 2021 at age 23. Sam is a college dropout who built a snow removal empire as a Chicago teenager before he pivoted to capitalize on the legalization of U.S. sports betting. More recently, Sam became the Co-Founder and CEO of Showroom, a B2C fashion search engine startup that he thinks can beat Google at its own game.

01:00 Sam's Snow Removal Biz

02:28 Don't Build For Silicon Valley People

08:42 Pros and Cons of Service Businesses

11:30 Why Sam Pivoted Into Tech

14:00 Being a Second-Time Founder

24:54 How/Why Sam Started Vigtory

31:30 The Guy Who Made Vigtory Work

45:00 Sam's Golden Rules on Partnerships and Fundraising

56:40 Sam's New AI Company

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#18 This High School Dropout Sold His Company for $420M Nov 08, 2023

In #18, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) chat with Mike Fata (@themikefata), Founder of Manitoba Harvest. Mike dropped 100 lbs while sticking to a no fat diet, but it was his discovery of hemp seeds, that prompted him to realize that healthy fat diets were the future. It took him 20 years, but Mike scaled Manitoba's signature hemp heart packets (seeds) into a popular food supplement embraced by mindful eaters across the U.S. and Canada. By 2019, Manitoba had achieved $100M in annual sales and Canadian weed giant Tilray stepped in to buy it for $419M. From reflecting on creating a category from scratch to providing startup advice to young people, Mike brings listeners and viewers into his sharp, tactical mind. His role as an investor and advisor in up and coming CPG brands like Mid-Day Squares and Dream Pops makes him an excellent judge of what young people are bringing to market and if they have a chance at cracking a real market.

Follow Mike on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themikefata/

Follow Mike on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themikefata/?hl=en

Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people!

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.businesses without focusing on just one at a time.

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#17 He Sold 7+ Multimillion Dollar Companies By Age 30 Nov 01, 2023

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!

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew,

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#16: The Real Willy Wonka Makes $28M From Healthy Chocolate Oct 25, 2023

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 Intro

1:15 Story of Jake Karls and Mid-Day Squares

16:00 Story of David Riggs and Pneuma

28:37 Outro

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Check out Mid-Day Squares: https://www.middaysquares.com

Check out Pneuma: https://www.pneumallc.co

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#15 How a kid from India became the $10M king of content marketing Oct 18, 2023

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 Intro

0:45 Story of Anirudh Singla (Pepper)

18:50 Story of Sheridan Clayborne (LendTable)

34:30 Outro

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Check out Pepper: https://www.peppercontent.io/

Check out LendTable: https://www.lendtable.com/

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew,

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#14 The unknown student behind 8-figure sex chocolate company Oct 04, 2023

In #14, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu unpack the stories of Jake Lewin and Allan Maman. Aged 21-year-old, Jake co-founded Tabs with Oliver Brocato, a sex chocolate brand that pioneered UGC TikTok marketing and has many millions of sales to show for it. Now he's dabbling in more vices–finding niche opportunties in retail environments–like liquor stores and cannabis dispensaries. Next, the guys discuss Allan Maman, the 24-year-old CEO and co-founder of Bloom, an app that lets teens invest in the stock market and helps them do by gamifying financial education. Even in the competitive consumer fintech sector, Bloom has racked up 1M+ users in the span of a year. The ironic part? He got his start making memes for Vlad Tenev, co-founder and CEO of Robinhood.

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Check out Tabs: https://tabschocolate.com/

Check out Bloom: https://www.bloomapp.com/

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew

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#13 America's love for crunchy snacks is making this 26-year-old rich Sep 27, 2023

In #13, Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu discuss the stories of Griffin Spolansky and Taylor Hersom. Griffin got his start peddling his grandma's salad dressing to local stores as a teenager. Now he's 26 and owns a snack bar brand called Mezcla that's in Whole Foods stores nationwide and generating $5M/yr in revenue because Americans love "the crunch". Next up is Taylor Hersom, the founder of Eden Data, who turned his small UpWork hustle into a bustling cybersecurity consulting firm that will do $6M in revenue this year. His big realization for starting it? Small companies can't sell to big companies without complying with a long list of security standards.

Check out Mezcla: https://eatmezcla.com/

Check out Eden Data: https://www.edendata.com/about

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#12 College kids build $50M "Uber for Tutoring" app Sep 20, 2023

In #12, Simmy and Michael unpack the stories of Kadama and Crossnet. Founded by University of Washington students who originally hoped to connect students with tutors on campus, Amin and Dani Shaykho, and Marwan El-Rukby pivoted that idea into app-based service when COVID hit. Using a genius TikTok marketing strategy that has produced billions of views and recruited over 2M users, Kadama will do $5M in revenue this year. The next company covered is Crossnet, a new sport invented by brothers Greg and Chris Meade, and Mike Delpapa, that combines four square with volleyball. Marketing strategies in the early days involved playing non-stop on the tourist-packed beaches of Miami, as well as focusing on Australia in the American winter season. Crossnet has generated well into the 8-figures of sales and has a masterplan to launch more games, like Smashnet, in collaboration YouTube star Danny Duncan.

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Check out Kadama: https://www.kadama.com/

Check out Crossnet: https://www.crossnetgame.com/

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#11: This "Credit Card for Creators" Startup is Worth $100M+ Sep 13, 2023

In #11, the boys are in a fintech frenzy, breaking down the strategies and tactics young founders used to break in to the most regulated industry. The first company discussed is Karat Financial, a buzzy fintech startup that's raised $100M+ to create the American Express of the creator economy. Karat offers a credit card for content creators with limits calculated by a proprietary algorithm that factors in non-conventional data like social following and revenue streams. Co-founders Will Kim and Eric Wei, who are in their late twenties, left their lucrative tech jobs at Palantir and Meta to create access to capital for an emerging class of business owners misunderstood by legacy institutions. Continuing on the fintech note, the boys also cover Yacine Sibous, the 28-year-old co-founder of Parker, a credit card startup focused on the specific needs of e-commerce businesses. Alike Will and Eric, Yacine saw larger banks and lenders misunderstanding the needs of bootstrapped, middle-market DTC companies, so he's raised $157M to solve the problem.

0:00 Intro

01:15 Story of Karat

15:20 Story of Parker

37:05 Conclusion + Outro

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Check out Karat: https://www.trykarat.com/

Check out Parker https://www.getparker.com/

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#10: These NYU DJs built a Ticketmaster rival with 1M+ users Sep 06, 2023

In #10, Michael and Simmy unpack two fascinating businesses: POSH and Upswing Sports. Started by two NYU college students, Avante Price (22) and Eli Taylor-Lemire (22), POSH is a next-gen events management platform that allows event hosts to organize paid events. If legacy ticketers like Eventbrite and Ticketmaster weren't paying attention, they are now–POSH has registered over 1M+ users and amassed a sizeable war chest of $5M in venture capital. Next up on the episode is Thomas Shields, Founder of Upswing Sports, a sports media holding company that controls The Dink, which Thomas built to be the leading media brand for pickleball. The Dink has amassed hundreds of thousands of newsletter subscribers and social media followers, but according to Thomas it's just ground zero for a diversified enterprise staked in all the commercial opportunties being created by America's fastest growing sport.

0:00 Intro

0:49 Story of POSH

16:10 Story of The Dink

36:18 Conclusion

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Check out POSH: https://posh.vip/

Check out The Dink: https://www.thedinkpickleball.com/

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#9: 25-Year-Old Exits $50M Weighted Blanket Company Aug 30, 2023

In #9, Michael and Simmy dissect the stories of Aaron Spivak and Ritwik Pavan. Aaron is the co-founder of Hush Blankets, a sleep brand he started when capitalizing on the weighted blanket trend and sold a majority stake of in 2021 at a $50M valuation when he was 25. Ritwik is the 25-year-old founder and CEO of Krava, a company he hopes can help solve the affordable housing crisis. It's a a pre-fabricated construction startup that sells $30K ADU's (accessory dwelling units) to customers looking for an extra space - whether it's a golf simulator, gym, podcast studio, or additional bedroom.

0:00 Intro

0:49 Story of Aaron Spivak (Hush Blankets)

16:10 Story of Ritwik Pavan (Krava)

32:30 Conclusion + Outro

Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people!

Check out Hush: https://hushblankets.com/

Check out Krava: https://www.getkrava.com/

Follow Aaron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-spivak-hushblankets/

Follow Ritwik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritwikpavan/

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#8: Young Centi-Millionaire Shares $250M Startup and Tax Secrets Aug 23, 2023

In #8, Simmy and Mike sit down with Ankur Nagpal who sold his course platform, Teachable, for $250M in 2020 at the age of 31. Prior to starting that business at age 24, Ankur made millions building Facebook apps. Now, he's building Ocho, a platform for business owners where personalized advice helps them optimize their taxes and save money with tools like their solo 401k product.

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Check out Ocho: https://ocho.com/

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#7: Students sell Patreon rival for $65M in < 10 months Aug 16, 2023

In #7, Mike and Simmy are chopping it up from Morning Brew's NYC HQ and dive into the stories of FanFix and Social Snowball. FanFix, founded by Harry Gestetner, Simon Pompan, and social media star Cameron Dallas, is the leading monetization platform for Gen Z Creators. Think of it like OnlyFans with no nudity or Patreon but mobile-first. The company was acquired for $65M in 2022, less than 10 months after it launched, in a deal the co-founders say was the largest acquisition ever for college students. Social Snowball is the seven-figure-a-year SaaS brainchild of 24-year-old entrepreneur Noah Tucker. It's become the operating system of word of mouth marketing for dozens of the world's leading e-commerce bran. Long gone are the days of clunky email generated codes. Social Snowball provides brands with the tools to implement, manage, and scale an affiliate program to leverage the goodwill of people already in love with their products.

Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people!

Check out FanFix: https://www.fanfix.io/

Check out Social Snowball: https://socialsnowball.io/

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#6: 25-yr-old makes $6M/yr with bootstrapped SaaS tool Aug 09, 2023

In Ep. 6, Mike and Simmy dive into the story of Stephen Hakami, a 25-year-old college dropout who built Wiza: a SaaS tool that enriches Linkedin prospect lists with high-quality contact info so they can be targeted off-platform. He started the company only 3 years ago and today it's generating over $6M/yr in revenue! Then the guys put on their lab coats for a discussion about Kathryn Cross, the 24-year-old founder of Anja Health. Kathryn has created a DTC startup in the nascent industry of stem cell banking, raising millions from investors like Balaji and Alexis Ohanian. Anja helps new parents save the placenta and umbilical cord at birth and store it for decades so the valuable, unique-to-you stem cells it contains could be used at some point in the future to treat a life-threatening disease for you or a loved one.

0:00 Intro

1:20 Story of Stephen Hakami (Wiza)

18:20 Story of Kathryn Cross (Anja Health)

Make sure to like, subscribe, or leave a review for Our Future Podcast, the entrepreneurship podcast for young people!

Check out Wiza: https://wiza.co/

Check our Factored Quality: https://www.anjahealth.com/

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#5: Newsletter millionaire Sam Parr's CEO community on track for $1B?! Aug 02, 2023

In Ep. 5, Michael and Simmy sit down with their long-time mentor Sam Parr. Sam founded daily email newsletter company, The Hustle, and sold it to HubSpot in 2020 for tens of millions of dollars. Part of that deal meant he'd continue co-hosting his acclaimed business podcast, "My First Million", which has recently exploded in popularity and has transformed Sam into something of a B-List celebrity. Recently, Sam announced his newest company, Hampton, a private membership community for high-growth founders which is already making millions per year with hundreds of members and a waitlist in the thousands of people. This conversation spans several topics:

0:00 Intro

01:12 From hot dog stand to hanging with billionaires within months

8:20 Story of how Michael and Sam became friends

13:49 How to get Sam's attention as an outsider

20:30 Wild newsletter growth hacks: kindle scammers, romance novels, and lawsuits

26:20 VICE acquisition talks at The Hustle and Our Future

29:31 Why it's so hard to make a media company a tech company

39:26 Why Sam's personal brand mismatches his success

42:35 Sam's ethos on building his second company

50:20 Mindset on competition (Morning Brew example)

52:33 Challenging Sam on what people are joining Hampton for + deep dive on the business

1:03 How to come up with the idea for your second company

1:07 Sam's celebrity lookalikes

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Check out Hampton: https://www.joinhampton.com

Follow Sam on Twitter: @thesamparr

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#4: College bros build $10M "Disney FastPass for Bars" Jul 26, 2023

In Episode 4, Mike and Simmy study the success of two fascinating startups built by young founders. The first is LineLeap. 25-year-olds Max Schauf, Patrick Skelly, and Nick Becker built an eight-figure business that digitizes America's nightlife industry with "line skipping passes", mobile payments, and drink ordering. Company #2 is Factored Quality. 25-year-old CEO Prince Ghosh raised $7M building a software platform in quality inspection, helping American DTC companies work with their overseas factories more effectively.

0:43 Story of LineLeap

16:00 Business Ideas similar to LineLeap

20:44 Story of Factored Quality (Prince Ghosh)

32:14 Business Ideas similar to Factored Quality

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Check out LineLeap: https://www.lineleap.com/

Check our Factored Quality: https://www.factoredquality.com

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Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.

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#3: 23-yr-old Stanford dropout is disrupting $9B market Jul 19, 2023

In Ep. 3, Michael and Simmy explore two exciting martech companies built by Gen Z founders and discuss a few interesting business ideas after each segment. The first comes from 23-year-old Stanford dropout and Thiel Fellow: Akshaya Dinesh. Her startup Spellbound, a no-code SAAS platform, has partnered with the likes of Mr. Beast's Feastables and Ollipop. It's revolutionizing email newsletter engagement by allowing readers to purchase products, recover abandoned carts, and play interactive games all within email. The boys also cover Foreplay. Started by 27-year-old Zachary Murray, it's "Pinterest for ad creative" and offers marketers a software platform to aggregate ads that catch their eye and then collaborate with team members to create their own campaigns. Foreplay is generating well into the seven figures per year as the first step in the modern marketer's journey.

0:00 Intro

1:05 Story of Akshaya Dinesh/Spellbound

10:30 New business ideas inspired by Spellbound

14:45 Story of Zachary Murray/Foreplay

26:48 New business ideas inspired by Foreplay

Check out Spellbound: https://www.spellbound.io/

Check out Foreplay: https://www.foreplay.co/

We're a YouTube-focused pod, go watch us there: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtrwNtR3_ilqa2nS6GEKL7w

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#2: Millionaire at 23 from software implementation Jul 12, 2023

In Ep. 2, the boys first cover Seamus Ruiz-Earle, who has built a multi-million dollar business in software implementation at age 23 and stumbled into his startup idea after cold-calling an investment bank at age 16 and getting a strange reply. Then they dive into the story of Bolun Li, a Chinese immigrant who arrived in America at age 13 unable to speak English. He overcame the odds to build a gamified financial literacy app which he sold for tens of millions at age 22.

Our Future Podcast is the entrepreneurship show for young people. We highlight scrappy founders on the rise and the bold tactics underdogs need to win in business. Hosts Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu don't just talk the hustle–they live it. They sold their bootstrapped media company to Morning Brew in their early twenties.

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#1: 15-yr-old raises $21M+ from his high school's bathroom Jul 05, 2023

Episode 1: Our Future Podcast is here! In the entrepreneurship podcast for young people, we highlight scrappy founders on the rise and the bold tactics underdogs need to win in business. Hosts Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu don’t just talk about the hustle, they live it – they sold their bootstrapped media startup to Morning Brew shortly after graduating college.

Today, Michael and Simmy dive into the stories of 3 young entrepreneurs. Eric Zhu, who has raised $21M+ at 15-years-old from the strangest of locations. Casey Adams, a man who built and sold his startup MediaKits in just 18 months at the age of 21. And finally Shreya Murthy/Joy Tao, co-founders of a16z backed startup Partiful, Gen Z's preferred RSVP app branded as "Facebook events for hot people".

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