LIVE AMA

Sam Parr

Alright, you want to do a little intro? Here are some behind-the-scenes tips. As you can see, I can't talk that well, so I asked Sean to do all the intros.

Shaan Puri

Yeah, today when we're live is a bold choice to do the intro yourself this time.

Sam Parr

Yeah, I'm not the intro guy. I've got, I say, I have a thick tongue. I can't say certain words.

Shaan Puri

Alright, what's up? Let's say what's up to the people in the chat. We got RJ O'Dowd, Boy Azam, and Ryan Hoover. What's up, dude? Ryan Hoover, my guy! Always supporting us. I really appreciate that, Ryan.

Sam Parr

I was with Ryan the night before he launched Product Hunt, and I thought it was a horrible idea.

Shaan Puri

And I

Sam Parr

Was like a social network for products. It sounds so lame, and he launched it. He totally proved me wrong.

Shaan Puri

Not only that, a few weeks before, he had been interviewing at our company. I wanted to hire him, but it didn't end up working out. He launches, and he tells me he's launching Product Hunt. After it launches, I call him two weeks later and I was like, "Hey, you know, I don't know how you're feeling about that whole thing, but I got this new idea for a role." I tried to recruit him again, and he was like, "No, I think I'm gonna see this thing out." Then it exploded and became the coolest thing in Silicon Valley for like...

Sam Parr

Two years to see firsthand. Alright, someone just said, "You're a smoke show."

Shaan Puri

This is why we don't... this is why.

Arie Desormeaux

We don't.

Shaan Puri

We don't let Ari on camera; she shows us up. Alright, so what are we doing? We're doing a live AMA. People have been tweeting us questions, and there are people in the chat. We never do this live, but we're going to do it today. Let's see how it goes. So, Ari, you're going to read the questions. Sam and I are going to answer. Let's pop!

Sam Parr

This is so distracting, by the way. With all this chat in here, it's going to be really challenging to look at.

Shaan Puri

So distracting that I just said, "Let's pop." That's not even a fix! Like, I'm the Pringles man: "Let's pop!"

Arie Desormeaux

Alright, first we're going to do some role play. This comes from Paolo. He said, "Hey guys, so I'm 16. I rejected a $600K offer for my $25K a month agency and launched an AI B2B SaaS, which hit about $6.5K MRR in the first thirty-one days. I'm curious, how would you guys go about reducing churn for an AI SaaS?" This is where we're starting off.

Sam Parr

Did you start it with the worst?

Arie Desormeaux

Question on... alright.

Shaan Puri

First of all...

Sam Parr

Alright.

Arie Desormeaux

You said you're ready.

Shaan Puri

Alright, there's a document where we said "yes" to questions. Those are the ones you're supposed to read.

Arie Desormeaux

Sean, you under that? You said, "I'm ready for this one." No? Oh wait, no, that was the one. Okay, scratch that. We're gonna say...

Sam Parr

Okay, yeah, we gotta start with the new one.

Shaan Puri

Okay, so that question, by the way, that's like at these conferences where somebody raises their hand to ask a question, but actually there's no question. It's a statement and it's a brag. He's like, "I'm 16 years old, I'm already rich. I just rejected an acquisition offer. Oh, my side project's MRR is up. My question is, what's up?"

Arie Desormeaux

Okay, we're going to dumb it down. If coding is no longer a skill to master, what would you advise an 18-year-old to focus on learning?

Shaan Puri

And this question comes from Dinesh Pupala, which is a hell of a name. Alright, so Sam, do you want to go first or do you want me to go first?

Sam Parr

My... I gotta think of a non-stereotypical answer. What would yours be?

Shaan Puri

Okay, so the question is basically, if coding is no longer a skill to master, what would you advise an 18-year-old to focus on learning? To me, here's how I think about it: first, I would zig when everyone else is zagging because I reject the premise of the question. I don't think it's true that coding is no longer a valuable thing to do. If that's what smart people think, I would be really excited right now.

Sam Parr

Have you guys tried to use, like, in all this stuff? You need to know how to code.

Shaan Puri

Yeah, exactly. You go on there and you could kind of half-make something that doesn't work right. Go open a cursor and see what happens. It's not like you just magically one-shot your dream app; that's not how it works. Even if you project five years down the road, let's say it's true that you can basically command the AI to build things. It's not going to be perfect. What that actually says is if you know how to code, maybe it's not about typing all of the syntax, but it's about understanding how to think in programming terms and how to build things. You're going to have an army of robots, a fleet of robots at your command. It made you 10 or a hundred times more productive. So I think that's the first thing I would do. I would also say, look, if you're 18 years old, it's not about picking the right thing. If you're 18 years old, all this is about is figuring out what you're interested in, going at it really hard, and learning how to learn. The world is moving way too fast for any one thing to just stay king. Coding might be automated in the future, or it might be partially automated. You just gotta get obsessed with being adaptable. You need to master the mental models that run the world. I would focus on the things that don't change. If technology is changing really fast, humans and the human brain don't change very fast. So if you understand human psychology, behavioral economics, and how to sell to people, how to persuade, those are the things that are not going to change. If you're 18 years old, I think that's where you want to sharpen up your skills.

Sam Parr

That's exactly what I was thinking of saying. There's a book called *Influence* by Robert Cialdini. Sean, have you read that book?

Shaan Puri

I have, and it's a classic.

Sam Parr

I read that book when I was around 18 or 19, something like that, and it honestly changed my life. Like a lot of 16, 17, and 18-year-olds, I was trying to just meet girls. I was like, "How do I persuade them into going on a date with me?" But I read that book, and I've used it more for business than anything else. That got me into copywriting and things like that. I would read that book, and then a hard skill that I wish I knew all the time, that I struggle with, is web page design. I wish I knew how to design landing pages—like, literally make the pages look great. I know how to persuade people with my words, but I always regretted that I didn't know how to do at least some type of front-end code and some type of light design work. Were you ever in that boat?

Shaan Puri

Oh, and I taught myself Photoshop, Sketch, and Figma just enough to be able to annoy the designers. But now, if I was doing that again, you know, you don't need those anymore. You could basically skip to Lovable or one of these AI tools. In fact, if you're 18 years old and you said, "How do I spend the next four years of my time best preparing me to be successful in life?"—which arguably is what college should be doing, right?—I think you would get way better bang for your buck if you just spent two years obsessively playing with all the AI tools, trying to build little prototypes and solve little problems for people. You would get way further ahead. It's just that you don't get the fancy degree, and you don't get a stamp on your resume, but you would actually learn some pretty ridiculous things.

Sam Parr

So, let's go to this next question, Sean. It says, "Let's imagine your kids are hitting college in the next couple of years. Forget degrees. What set of experiences would you encourage them to collect to be the most AI resilient when they graduate?" And yes, for our mere mortals, do not say starting an AI company or winning a Thiel Fellowship. Can I tell you something that I realized? You did an interview with Joe Lonsdale that was really, really great, and I loved it. I've noticed a pattern among my favorite guests on here: they're not just thoughtful, but many of them have a philosophy background. I used to think that getting a philosophy degree was kind of silly. I thought, "What, are you just going to teach philosophy?" But looking back, I was trying to connect the dots the other day of all the people I like. Dude, they're really fascinated in philosophy. Have you noticed that?

Shaan Puri

Who comes to mind? So, Joe's one.

Sam Parr

So, I was listing out people who I think are unique thinkers and who are really thoughtful. I made a list, and Peter Thiel, Joe Lonsdale, and Karp are all on the same crew, which makes sense. The way that they're thoughtful, but also the way that they go against the grain, is important. They are very logical about things, which is crucial because I think as humans, we're emotional beings. We should lean into the emotion sometimes, but in order to get past certain fears, you have to be very logical. It's no big deal if I'm made fun of or if I'm mocked for doing this. If you look at it, you can logic your way into starting something. Do you know what I mean?

Shaan Puri

Yeah, I think that you can't just go into something saying, "Oh, I think this is what successful people do" or "This will make me successful because it's what other people did." I think what other people actually did was follow their interests and not care what others thought. I believe the job of the individual is to first dabble and date to figure out what they are actually into. You might think you're into something, but you need to dabble and date. Do you like broads? Do you like people who are wired this way? Do you like people who are on this side? Do you like this type of video game? Do you like that type of video game? The only way you know is by first going in and actually trying out a bunch of things and being really broad with that. Then, the second job after you dabble and date is to double down, regardless of what it looks like to the outside. So, you know, if your thing is that you love League of Legends and you really want to get great at it, great! Let yourself get obsessed with something for a while.

Shaan Puri

Of time, and of course, there are some healthier obsessions than others, right? Like, fitness is a really healthy obsession people can get into. But I think more than anything, just become the type of person who figures out what they're interested in. Figure out your taste palette and then double down on them. Let things play out as they naturally would. I think if you're trying to do what Peter Thiel did, that worked for Peter Thiel. I don't think that's necessarily what you should do for yourself.

Sam Parr

Did you? I think you just created something. You said "dabble" and "double down." Now we need one more "D," and then if we're going to have your whole philosophy completely lined up.

Shaan Puri

Sean's double D philosophy. Yeah, that sounds right.

Sam Parr

So, you met Logan Yuri, our good friend. She's my wife's best buddy, and so she's like family to me. She did a podcast, "The Diary of the CEO," and she was talking about dating. You know, I'm not going to brag or anything, but she explicitly named me as a good example of how to date a successful person and, you know, marry above your league. So, I'm just stating the facts that I was this dating expert's example of how all the nerds can effectively do this.

Shaan Puri

Should I go endorse you on LinkedIn right now? Is that what this is?

Sam Parr

Yeah, I told you to read Robert Cialdini's book, *Influence*, so like it worked. Okay, what about another one, Ari?

Arie Desormeaux

Alright, this one Sean said he was ready for. So here we go. This is from Ruta: **If you had to make a million dollars in twelve months starting from zero, but here's the catch: you're only allowed to use your phone. No laptop, no network, no investing. What steps would you take?**

Sam Parr

Sean, how many of your followers are Indian?

Shaan Puri

I mean, that's a tough question.

Sam Parr

Have you ever looked at Twitter demographics?

Shaan Puri

No, do you? Let's just say 20%. Why? Where do you get that?

Sam Parr

20%. That's it.

Shaan Puri

I don't know.

Sam Parr

I think you're...

Shaan Puri

Is there a Twitter analytic that shows how many of your viewers are Indian? Because that would be amazing if there is.

Sam Parr

I think there used to be... yeah, there was. Which country are they in? Because I think you're incredibly popular in India. I think you're the type of guy that many young Indian boys want to be like when they grow up.

Shaan Puri

I can't tell if you're complimenting or insulting me, but I'll take it either way.

Sam Parr

It's a huge compliment. People look up to you.

Shaan Puri

Okay, so then what is that? Just...

Sam Parr

I just noticed.

Shaan Puri

That the question.

Sam Parr

All the best! All these questions are from Indian guys.

Shaan Puri

Alright, so Ruta's asked, "What is he asking?" He said basically, "You want to make a million dollars in a year, and you have no existing network, no connections. You can't just invest the money to get there, and you're only starting with a cell phone. Is that right, Sam?" You hate this type of question. Do you even have an answer? Otherwise, I'll give you the answer.

Sam Parr

Dude, I hate these questions. It's just...

Shaan Puri

Nobody wants to hear you whine about it. I... I, dude.

Sam Parr

Do you like these questions?

Shaan Puri

Yeah, because I also would have asked this question when I was younger. So, like, I get it. People want the... you know, it's like called "My First Million," and we talk about everything except for how to make a million dollars. So, I understand the frustration there.

Sam Parr

It's... I'm frustrated because your Sean's interest and skill set is so different than Ruta's. You know what I mean? So, how are you supposed to do the same thing?

Shaan Puri

Sure, sure, that's true. I think there are many ways to do it. Okay, so here's how I would do it. Let's just put it that way. The question is: how do you make a million dollars in one year using just one cell phone? You don't. You can't use your existing network or reputation. I think this is one of those riddles where the cell phone is a red herring. Right? It's like, you know, you think about, "Oh, I have a phone, so I have social media." I guess I should try to do things on TikTok, and you suddenly end up in some corner of the world you don't want to be in. You're suddenly doing dance routines on TikTok. Have you ever done that, by the way? Have you ever secretly tried to do a dance turn but not uploaded it?

Sam Parr

No, man. Do I seem like I would do that?

Shaan Puri

Yeah, you do like...

Sam Parr

I do a lot of really lame things. I mean, I collect denim, but I will not dance in front of a camera.

Shaan Puri

Bro, you've privately texted me your skateboarding trick videos, so you know... let's.

Sam Parr

I will do.

Shaan Puri

That only one step away.

Sam Parr

But I'm not... I am not there. But yes, I have my flaws, but dancing in front of a camera is not one of them.

Shaan Puri

<FormattedTranscription> Alright, so I'm saying ignore the phone. The fastest way to make a million dollars is to make somebody else $20,000,000 and then try to take a 5% fee. You're not going to be able to build a business, or listen, you could build a business, but you're taking a lot of product risk, market risk, etc. along the way. What I would try to do is target people who are doing big deals and broker a deal with them. So, what I'm thinking about here are people who are doing real estate, people who are in private equity, or business owners trying to sell their business. Somebody who's doing a $10, $20, or $30 million deal. I would go to them and offer them a no-risk structure. For example, "Hey, I know you're trying to sell your business. If I can bring a buyer to the table and you actually end up doing the deal with them, would you cut me a commission on the sale?" The same thing applies to real estate. "Hey, if I was able to find your property, underwrite the deal, and do an analysis, and it's a deal you actually end up doing, would you pay me a finder's fee for doing the deal?" It's pretty shocking how much a broker or salesperson will get as a commission for big-ticket deals. So, I would spend a year hustling my ass off trying to broker a deal for someone. I would try to find out what that person is looking for—somebody who's already playing in big dollar amounts. You could do this very easily, by the way. You could look up in your area who the most successful real estate developers are, meet with them, and find out what's in their buy box. What do they look for? You could say, "Hey, you don't have to pay me anything. I would love to learn this industry. I'd love to bring you deals, and if you do a deal, I would love it if you would cut me a commission. Would that be something you'd be open to?" By the way, somebody did this for me. A 15-year-old did this for me back in the day. He said, "I'll go scout for venture deals, and if I find a deal that you do, would you cut me a finder's fee?" I said, "Yeah, sure. If I end up doing a deal because I really like it, fantastic. And you're going to work for free? No problem." Look, I think your odds of actually doing this and pulling this off are still pretty low. I think you have a 10% to 20% chance—one in ten or one in five—of actually making a million dollars this way in a year. But that's better than most. The good thing about this is that you might have only a 10% or 20% chance of making a million dollars, but you have a high percentage chance of building a really good network. You'll learn how really smart and successful people think, what deals they like, what deals they don't like, and what they're looking for. You'll learn how to hustle, how to do research, how to do sales, how to write deal memos, and how to think in a logical, structured format. You're going to find some rich guy who ends up liking you and looking at you and thinking, "I wish my son was as motivated." They're going to take you under their wing. So, I think you have a good chance of good things happening in your life, and you have a small but possible chance of actually cutting a deal and getting a fee—maybe it's $250,000, $500,000, or even a million dollars. </FormattedTranscription>

Sam Parr

<FormattedTranscription> So, go to **modernize.com**. It used to be called something else; I forget what it was. But basically, it's a website for, as they say, **empowering professionals and homeowners from inquiry to install**. Meaning, if you need an HVAC company, they have reviews for them. As a homeowner, you submit your information, and the company pays Modernize $200 for providing that information. So, listen to this. This is the payoff of what you were saying about making someone money. Do you remember that time I told you about having this 20-year-old over to my house to set up my camera? He was charging companies, I think, $500 a month or $1,000 a month in a retainer. Then, he would get a portion of all the sales he sent to a company. It was for someone who would repair driveways. My buddy built websites that said something like, "We’ll repair your driveway" or "We’ll send a contractor your way." He bought an ad on Google, so if you Google "San Jose driveway repair," he would contact the driveway company he had reached out to, and they would pay him $100 per lead. He was at my house when this woman named Rosie called. He goes, "Hi, I’m Gabe. How can I help you?" She said, "Hi, this is Rosie. I need a driveway repair." He replied, "Alright, hold on, let me patch you into the other person." He dialed it on his iPhone, merged the calls, and then put his phone on mute, placing it in his pocket. He was making **$20,000 a month** doing this. There was also a company called Modernize. I knew a guy named Gabe who did this exact same thing in San Francisco. He went door to door, found out what type of services each person needed, and spent eight hours a day doing this. Eventually, they made something like **$500,000** doing this manually. They used that money to turn it into this website called Modernize, which makes millions of dollars a year. This is exactly what you were talking about: taking a small cut of the business that you create. You don’t even have to create a service or a product; you can just grind your ass off and make it happen. </FormattedTranscription>

Shaan Puri

<FormattedTranscription> Yeah, I like that. You can even just go on Craigslist. You can farm Craigslist for services, gigs, and interesting businesses, and then go and try to solve their problems if you really wanted to. So, alright, I think that's a good one. Here's a fun one. This is kind of a hard one, maybe to answer, or maybe it's a little bit of a longer one. Actually, here, let's do this. I said Jay Yang asked, "What is your worst self-sabotaging behavior?" </FormattedTranscription>

Sam Parr

Oh man, mine's easy. I make... sometimes.

Shaan Puri

To choose from.

Sam Parr

Yeah, I mean, like how much time do you have? I would say that I tend to make decisions quickly in emotional states. I should probably take twenty-four hours to think about things. Something will happen, and it will either piss me off or make me happy, and I make the decision right there. I call it "getting dug in." I say, "I am dug in; I will not change my opinion any further."

Shaan Puri

It's not a figurative speech. You've literally told me that phrase. Yeah, you've literally said those words out loud.

Sam Parr

I go, I've dug in, and so I struggle to change my opinion once I've already made it. I tend to make my opinion quickly when I'm being emotional.

Shaan Puri

What’s an example? Give us an example. Let’s be real here. People showed up live, so let’s give the people what they want.

Sam Parr

For example, if a candidate interviews to work at my company and they recently had bad facial hair and looked sloppy in the interview, and they told me they just moved, I was like, "I don't care." In my head, I just thought this person was sloppy when they showed up; they are dead to me. I can never work with them. My team was like... I just make these really fast decisions. It's really hard for me to get past a certain impression, and I just will not change. So we didn't hire the person. That's a really specific example.

Shaan Puri

Is this self-sabotaging?

Sam Parr

Yeah, or here's an example where it hurts me. It helps me a lot of times, but it also hurts me. An employee will make one screw-up, and I'll be like, "They're done. It's over." I'd be... I'm pissed off at them. They are done.

Shaan Puri

Quick to judgment... Do you think that being super fast costs you? Because that judgment, that quick judgment, is not correct.

Sam Parr

Yeah, or you don't make certain decisions when you're... you know, you don't go to the grocery store when you're hungry. So when you're pissed off, you don't make decisions.

Shaan Puri

That's good, I like that, Jay. I think it also gives you a lens, right? Like, let's say somebody starts off on the wrong foot. Then you have this filter over everything that they're doing, where you're sort of scanning for that evidence and you try to confirm that bias. Alright, my most self-sabotaging behavior would be... I mean, I have simple ones, dude. I have a private chef, I have a personal trainer who comes to my house, I have a food coach, and then I'll DoorDash Taco Bell. So, like, come on! You know there's something deeply wrong with me when these things happen, right? That's a self-sabotaging behavior. But the real ones that I would say—because that's not that often, and it's not that common—it's just as silly when it happens. The big ones, I think, are really your most self-sabotaging behavior. I think it's always the shadow of something that's your real strength. So, I think a real strength of mine is that I'm a good salesman. I'm a good storyteller, and that's great when I...

Shaan Puri

It outwardly, but when I use it on myself, I could talk myself into all kinds of **bullshit**. Right? So I have to be really, really careful that I'm not just **waiting**.

Sam Parr

You sell yourself.

Shaan Puri

Yeah, I persuade myself all the time because I'm a persuasive guy. But, like, yeah, of course, it's kind of like I actually just really want to quit doing something because it's hard. Then I'll talk myself into why this is not the right thing to be doing rather than just being honest and saying, "It's really hard right now, and I don't really know the answer." I'm not comfortable in the discomfort, and therefore I just want to stop. Actually, that's just an impulse, but I'll make it sound great and I'll convince myself.

Sam Parr

That's so funny.

Shaan Puri

This can happen for simple things. Like, you know, last night I was thinking, "I want to stay up late." I was talking myself into why this is the perfect time. I should strike while I have inspiration. I should do this. But then I realized, "Actually, just go to bed. Just get it. You could do this tomorrow, no problem." So, I could talk myself into bad habits. I could talk myself into doing deals where I know I could make it happen, but that's not really what I should do. Really, it's all around... the most costly version of this is project selection. If I talk myself into or out of a project, it can have a really long lifespan—like, you know, a year, two years, three years, five years. I have to be really careful that I'm not going to convince myself to do something that I don't actually know is the right move for me.

Sam Parr

Have you used ChatGPT to combat this? Because I have, and it's amazing. I'll be cynical and point out all the holes in my thinking.

Shaan Puri

Exactly! I do that. I say, "You are my friend who has my best interest at heart. You understand me, and you are ruthlessly honest with me." I'll say, "Force me." So I don't ask chachibidi questions; I force it to ask me a question. I'll say, "Force me to structure a logical argument as to why I should do this." If I have any logical flaws or logical fallacies, you can push back on it or simply ask me, "Is that true?" By the end of it, I keep having it play back the logical argument, so it's saying like, "1, 2, 3," and then I can read that and be like, "Alright, do I agree with this or not?"

Sam Parr

You tweeted out something that was funny. You said, "The reason I love ChatGPT as a therapist is because it doesn't judge," which is like one of the very...

Shaan Puri

Few things clowned on for saying that.

Sam Parr

It's one of the cringiest things you've said, but it's also incredibly true. I do that.

Shaan Puri

Part is, I'd... you know, so usually when you're doing something cringe, right? It's like when someone's about to poke you in the stomach, you could flex real quick. So you'd know something's about to happen; you could just tighten up. Yeah, I wasn't aware. Dude, this is a blind spot. I had to question myself: why did I not see that this would read as lame? I thought I was being just honest.

Sam Parr

Look, I thought it was useful. It was just a little bit **naïve**, you know what I mean? That it was like a naïve thing and you are not... wait.

Shaan Puri

Nival's cringe. Oh no, I'm way off now.

Sam Parr

Well, you aren't cringe because you're funny. That was a non-funny thing, but you also, in your five-tweet email, shared about how research is showing that cognitive in-person therapy and having an AI therapist are... I don't know if it was that they're having similar results or if the AI therapist has been proven to help people. I completely agree, man. I've been using ChatGPT this way, and it feels embarrassing to admit this, but it's incredibly helpful for solving these problems.

Shaan Puri

Yeah, I don't know why that's embarrassing. Oh, I mean, dude, it's just to me, it's obvious. Would you ask out loud everything that you Google search? No, of course not. So why is that? Well, partly because it's faster than other methods. The other part is because you can ask a dumb question and Google doesn't judge you. ChatGPT is the same thing. But I guess what I was pointing out was that people think AI is so useful because it's super intelligent. But actually, that's great. IQ is great, but there's an EQ benefit also. You could be comfortable being a little bit stupid or asking really honest questions, and you don't feel judged. Or at least, I don't feel judged.

Sam Parr

Alright, what's the second question or the third question?

Shaan Puri

Okay, let's do another one. Oh, here's a fun one. So it says, "Max, who's at Couch Money." Max, great handle! Max asked, "You can only connect the dots looking backwards." He's talking about the Steve Jobs philosophy that you can only connect the dots in your life looking backwards. He says, "What dots led to the positions that you and Sam are in today?" I like this question. I don't know if this is going to be interesting to anybody else, but I honestly felt thankful that he asked this question because, like, what a great question to reflect on.

Sam Parr

This is actually a really good ChatGPT prompt. Like, this is like a whole hour-long session.

Shaan Puri

Exactly! This is like therapeutic in a way. I think I did the exercise, and I actually believe everybody should do this interesting exercise. You take the things that you're most happy about in your life today, and you sort of trace the creative lineage, the roots of where you are today, to the key decisions, events, or lucky breaks in your life that got you there. I think that's just a great thing people should do. Did you do this?

Sam Parr

Yes, I did. I was trying to boil it down to what it was. So basically, there have only been a handful of decisions that I've ever made. You know how Warren Buffett has a seventy-year career, but he says most of the value has come from like six or eight decisions? I kind of feel the same way with my life, and probably most people's lives, where it's like there are probably just three or four good decisions. I think the trait that has helped me the most—and it's not for the reason that people think—is that I've always been pretty good about focusing on something for a while and getting that one thing right. That unlocks so many other things versus having a wide focus. For example, when I started my first company, The Hustle, I didn't have income from other sources. It was like, "This thing must work," and I was all in. When I was dating my wife, right after meeting her, I was like, "I'm all in on this." Within three weeks, we were very serious and we were going to get married. Versus having a certain business partner, my most successful business partner relationship is with my partner Joe. We were very thoughtful about it, and then we made the decision: "I am all in. I will do everything with you from now on." So, just not having a bunch of different options and choosing one thing, and only doing that, and saying no to a variety of other options.

Shaan Puri

That's great! Here's how I would answer this. If I think about the five best things in my life right now and look back at them, I would say the five are: my family, which includes my wife, my three kids, and my dog; my household; and...

Sam Parr

By the way, you never talk about your dog. Is your dog like a rodent or like a family member?

Shaan Puri

**Shame on me. No, dude, our dog is the queen.**

Sam Parr

He's like your family member.

Shaan Puri

Oh my god, dude! I will take... you know, I'll ignore a lot of people. I'll ignore your text message. But if I walk by and my dog is laying on the side, she just flaps her tail without getting up. That means, "Get your ass over here and give me a little three-minute belly rub!" I will go there. You know, I'll crawl up to her and just hang with her. She's amazing, as all dogs are. Dogs are incredible. Alright, so my family... this podcast, I would put there. I would actually say this podcast is very different from my career in general. I think this podcast is like an outlier of a cool thing. I get to talk to my buddy for two hours a week. We get to be rich and famous because of it. It opens up all these other opportunities and lets me just kind of be interested in life because my job is just to talk about what's interesting to me. That's such a life win. Three is health, which I couldn't figure out if there are really any decisions I made that connect the dots. It feels like a lot of it was God-given. Then maybe the decision to find a trainer who I really like to work out with.

Sam Parr

What was the God-given... what did God give you?

Shaan Puri

Oh, just like I don't have any health problems inside, right? I'm good. I don't have cancers or anything in my body that I couldn't control. That would obviously be like kind of nuking my life right now. Then I would say, by fourth or fifth, I got family, podcast, health, and outlook on life. I think that's actually one of my best attributes: I have a very good outlook on life, which lets me deal with any situation that comes my way with kind of just a laugh and roll with it. And then the last thing I wrote, just to get a little romantic on you guys, you can light up a couple of candles in the chat here. Ben is one of the best things in my life. And then I looked back and I was like...

Sam Parr

Well, kisser.

Shaan Puri

There's a question on here: "Have you and Sam kissed?" I think we need to finish with that one, so we'll save that for the end. That's a cliffhanger. Alright, so I took each one of them and I just couldn't look backwards. You know, family... it's like I remember how I met my wife. I was helping somebody move their apartment, so I just said yes to that. Saying yes to being helpful let me meet her. I had the courage in the meetup to ask her on a second date, basically. Then, you know, we broke up at a certain point. So the decision to give it a second chance and actually believe that people can change... like, oh, yeah, we were fighting a lot. We were arguing a bunch. Honestly, I was probably kind of skeptical that that wouldn't continue to be the case. But then it totally changed. It was actually like, "Oh wow, so you can give people the benefit of the doubt that they'll actually change their behavior," which I think a cynical version of me wouldn't have believed.

Sam Parr

Dude, I have a phrase that I say to my team: "People don't change." That's it.

Shaan Puri

I know, but that behavior, that belief, will get you some places in life. It'll defend you from a bunch of traps, but it'll cost you some really great opportunities. You know, having kids, going on with them, or like, you know, your outlook on life. I think the decision to just pick up and buy a ticket to a Tony Robbins seminar in New Jersey, when I really didn't know anything about Tony Robbins and I thought self-help was a little bit corny, was a pretty huge moment in shaping my philosophy for how to do life. Health-wise, I would say a decision to hire a trainer who does functional patterns and mobility is significant. I think me in twenty years will look back on that and be like, "Oh, thank you." You know, me in twenty years in some deep squat position that feels comfortable will be like, "Oh, thank God you started doing that then," when that wasn't in vogue, when everybody was doing weightlifting and just running. Then there's the podcast. I think that's a useful one. I decided to do this podcast the day after our deal closed to sell to Twitch. So, we sold the company, they signed the paperwork, it was officially closed, diligence was done, and I knew I had a life-changing amount of money coming my way. I went on a four-hour walk with my buddy Sully through the Mission in San Francisco. We just walked up and down the street, almost like walking ourselves into a frenzy. We were just like, "I'm feeling good, you're feeling good, let's walk." We didn't sit down; we didn't do it when I was tired. I think making a decision when your gas tank is low leads you to make certain types of decisions. But I got into an energized state where I felt super optimistic. I was walking around with my best friend, and I really just felt enthusiastic about the future. In that moment, I committed to being like, "I'm gonna do a podcast. I should go for it." I'd wanted to do it for years, but I had never really gone for it. The reason I told myself at the time was, "Oh, it's because I'm busy," or "Oh, it's because I don't have the time or the money to do whatever." The truth was, I was scared to just do a podcast, yet another podcast that nobody listens to. On that walk, the key thing was it didn't change to suddenly thinking, "Oh, everybody's gonna listen to us." No, on the walk, I decided, "You know what? F it, I'm gonna do it because I want to do it, and I don't care if nobody listens to it. It's still worth doing." I got comfortable with doing it, even in the scenario where it was embarrassing that nobody was gonna end up listening to my podcast. And that's how this podcast started.

Sam Parr

What month was that? And what year was that? June of nineteen...

Shaan Puri

2019

Sam Parr

Yeah, so that was... it's coming up at six years. Isn't that crazy?

Shaan Puri

Yeah, that's wild. I really haven't done much for six years. You know, six years is a long time for me.

Sam Parr

That's insane! That was six years ago, and the first episode featured you and Sully. That launched... I forget when, I think either September or June, but late summer. It got 64,000 downloads, which, looking back, that's a home run! Then it peaked really fast. The next one got like 50,000, and then it went down to like 10,000. It's been a slow, very slow climb, and that's been six... that was six years. That's amazing how long it's been.

Shaan Puri

Yeah, by the way, the whole chat is just talking about how cute Ari is. This is amazing! Why are we even here? Let's just put Ari on the camera for an hour a week. What are we doing?

Sam Parr

Ari, how does that make you feel?

Shaan Puri

I'm pouring my heart and soul into the start of the story—the decisions that changed my life. And then everyone is like, "Can Ari see us? I wonder if she smiles. She's cute. Why don't they show her more?"

Sam Parr

Someone... they're using words, like they're using phrases that I'm not sure exactly what they mean. Like, yeah, talking about the listener could be a compliment. Yeah, like she's locked in it.

Shaan Puri

She said.

Sam Parr

Is the mogger? Bro, what is mogger? What does mogger mean?

Arie Desormeaux

Oh, I have no idea.

Sam Parr

Yeah, you do. You have a lot.

Shaan Puri

Of ideas, that's so funny. Let's find out, chat, what does "mogger" mean? Well, I Googled it: "one who mogs." Okay, that didn't help. What's going on?

Sam Parr

Yeah, people are saying they've fallen in love with you, Ari.

Arie Desormeaux

Never doing this again.

Sam Parr

Or we're going to do it all the time.

Shaan Puri

Yeah, don't make Ari uncomfortable, okay?

Arie Desormeaux

Where do you want to access it? Do you want to do the retirement, or do you want to use a productivity tool?

Shaan Puri

Let's do the productivity tool. What's the question there?

Sam Parr

Oh, that's a great one, Ari. We could bring that thing up. But here's the question: what tool? Sorry, Ari, go ahead.

Shaan Puri

Say, say.

Arie Desormeaux

No, you go ahead.

Sam Parr

Alright, so it says, "What tools do you use to stay productive from one task to the next, as well as day to day, week by week, etcetera?" And how do these keep you on task and moving forward? I got a very...

Shaan Puri

Kind from Zach Lee at Zach Lee Music's asset.

Sam Parr

Yeah, Zach, you have a great mustache! Do you want me to show you what I started doing? Sean, I've been doing this since like December.

Shaan Puri

We got an answer on "magger." Magger is when somebody is drastically more beautiful than the others around them. Ah, that's why I've never heard this word before. It totally explains it.

Sam Parr

You're usually the one, Magger.

Shaan Puri

Nobody's ever said that to me. Life is about either being the mogger or getting mogged, and I've been getting mogged my whole life.

Sam Parr

What’s the root of that word? I’ve never... who?

Shaan Puri

That's... is this like the spelling bee? Like, can you tell me the root language of the word?

Sam Parr

But what I mean is, I don't even understand like Riz's charisma. Where does it come from?

Shaan Puri

I think it's like a noun. I think you are the **magr**.

Sam Parr

Meaning you're the...

Shaan Puri

She doesn't need to do it; she just is.

Sam Parr

So, when you are the mogul, you are the one that is way ahead of the others.

Shaan Puri

I mean, if Mister Mysteries in the YouTube chat is to be believed, then yeah, that's true.

Sam Parr

Okay.

Shaan Puri

Alright, sorry. So, productivity tool. Zach wants...

Sam Parr

To know what do you...

Shaan Puri

Do you have anything that's non-obvious that you use to stay productive from one task to the next?

Sam Parr

<FormattedTranscription> Yeah, alright. You wanna share the screen or no? I basically have this... it's very simple, dude, and this works. I've always done this. I just use notebooks most of the time; I always have a notebook with me. But now, I do it in a Google Doc, and it's very simple. I say what my Q1 goals are, I say what my strengths are, and what my weaknesses are. Hold on. </FormattedTranscription>

Shaan Puri

Can we zoom in on this? I'd try to read.

Sam Parr

So, this is an old one.

Shaan Puri

Can I read this out loud? Yeah, alright. So, question one: focus. It says, "Get myself out of Moneywise and transition it to video to grow Hampton." [It's scratched out, assuming you did it.]

Sam Parr

We get it.

Shaan Puri

<FormattedTranscription> Perfect! This weekly routine is designed to stay focused and avoid distractions. - Run a twenty-one minute 5K. - Bench press 300 pounds. [Crossed out] No big deal. - Tell Sarah how much I appreciate her every day. [Not crossed out] Yeah, man will bench 300 before he tells his wife how much he appreciates her. - Don't use my phone at dinner. [Also not crossed out] - And my essay on menswear. I don't think you intended for this to be as funny as it is. The difference between the goals you did and the goals you didn't do is so funny. </FormattedTranscription>

Sam Parr

I wasn't always on top of crossing out the things that I accomplished, you know?

Shaan Puri

You use EOS at Hampton? [crossed out] Did that implement a whole $25,000 productivity system? Have fun and less stress about unnecessary things? Nope, didn't do it. That's amazing! And then it says, "Remember your strengths and weaknesses, Sam." Oh, fuck, it's going crazy! You're a big thinker, great at creating bold, visionary ideas. You have energy and drive for starting new projects. Once committed, you move fast and decisively. **Weaknesses:** You could be easily distracted by notifications that pull your focus. You dislike routine details and prefer strategic work. You sometimes feel restless with too much free time or lack of structure. And then it looks like there are some maybe just to-dos.

Sam Parr

On every week, every Sunday, I make a list of the important things that I need to get done throughout the week. I'm always referring back to this: "Is this helping me achieve my goals?" You know, like, "Am I using my strengths and weaknesses?" Things like that. It's so simple, but this honestly is game-changing for me. Just really simple stuff. Then what I'll do is, on my calendar, I map out the time when I want to accomplish those things the week before. Very simple stuff.

Shaan Puri

So, you've been doing this for a while, or what?

Sam Parr

Yeah, a long time. I mean, previously it was just on my notebook, but it would be every Sunday that I would write it out.

Shaan Puri

What's the most useful part of this that I wouldn't appreciate at first glance of hearing how it works?

Sam Parr

Planning your week is essential. It's not just about doing things; it's about setting aside time on your calendar to actually get it done. If you don't set the times, for example, I've noticed that if I ever take a flight or something happens where I can't get my workout done, or I have a lot of free time throughout the day, I will not get up early to get my workout done. However, when I say, "Oh, I have to catch a flight at noon," it means I need to be at the gym by 6:30 AM and home by 7:30 AM. Because that 6:30 to 7:30 AM time is scheduled, I know exactly that I need to get after it. When I have too much time, it just will never happen.

Shaan Puri

Gotcha. I would say this word might be getting into that cringe zone that I'm not aware of, but I love you said "planning." No, no, you said "planning." I would say being intentional. So, right, it's not even that you planned it, but just being like, "Alright, I have only so much focus and time. I'm either going to just improvise and shoot at whatever thing pops up, or I'm going to focus my laser beam at the thing I want. I'm going to choose." The tip I would give is not a tool for productivity; it's not a system. I'll just give like the one new thing I've been doing. That's going to sound very stupid, very simple, a little bit hippie-dippy, but honestly, it has been paying pretty big dividends for me. That is working on the transition between things. So, I have a crazy day, right? I'll wake up, and I get my kids on a bike, and I bike them to school at that time.

Sam Parr

After you wake up.

Shaan Puri

<I wake up at seven, usually, and I get the kids ready for school by eight. I kind of get them ready, get myself ready, and drop them off at school by around 7:40. I bike back home and I'm usually back by eight. Then, I do the podcast. After the podcast, I switch to my one big thing, which is usually a new creative project that I'm working on. I'm doing that totally differently than the podcast. After that, I might have a call, maybe about taxes or one of the companies we're working on a deal with. I'll do something like CEO stuff for one of the different companies. Alright, cool. Then, I'll switch back to the kids, and then I'll switch again to work out. I have all these switches in my day. What's helped me has been literally taking five to ten seconds in between activities to transition in a more thoughtful way. I used to blend them together. For example, if I was working and it was time for lunch, I would still be thinking about work while shoving food in my mouth, which led to stress eating. Or, if I was going from work mode to kids mode, I would still have one eye on my phone, thinking about work while my kid was excited for me to play with them. My food coach suggested a little practice: in between transitioning between things, literally take ten seconds, take a deep breath, and give yourself permission to go into the next mode. Just leave one and go to the next, mentally. That simple thing, which might sound kind of stupid, has been really, really helpful for me. I realized how much of my life was blurring together, partially because of my phone and partially because of the way my mind was working. My brain was just full of stuff. Doing this is a hundred times easier than meditation, and it makes a significant impact in the moment itself.

Sam Parr

Have you ever done a chore or even walked from the grocery store parking lot into the grocery store, and you're zoned in on your phone? Then you look up and you're like, "Wait, how did I get here?" Yeah, has that ever happened to you? It feels crazy how that is.

Shaan Puri

I don't know what that show *Severance* is about. I'm pretty sure it's about me walking to the grocery store and being like, "Wait, how the hell did I get here?" That's what that show *Severance* is. That's season two.

Sam Parr

I hate that feeling. Whenever I feel that, I get so guilty, where I'm like, "Three minutes of my life literally just did not exist." I don't remember how I got here, and that's insane. What else am I missing?

Shaan Puri

Isn't that such a weird feeling? Yeah, and by the way, the trick to this is that you're not just about... it's not just about being present, which is obviously a superpower. The core of most philosophy is just "be here now." So, it's not even just about the presence, but you can kind of choose how you're going to walk into that situation. You could choose your mood, basically. So you're like, "Alright, I'm about to go play with my kids. Let me bring them a bunch of energy." Or, "Oh, I'm about to see my wife. Let me have that 'honey, I'm home' energy right now." You just sort of get to choose how you're going to do it, not just what you're about to do. Little life hack! So I'm practicing that right now. That's my new... that's my current practice.

Sam Parr

Alright, you want to do one or two more?

Shaan Puri

Yeah, let's do another one. So, let's do... which one's a fun one? If you could pick one person to have 10% of their future earnings, who would you pick and why? **Elon Musk.** Easy. Next.

Sam Parr

How about one of your friends, though?

Shaan Puri

I think I picked my buddy Sully. I think he rolls out of bed and makes money like it's just in his blood. It's in his zone of genius; he can't help but make money, and he's demonstrated it over and over again. You know, the test here is when I have a business challenge, he's the guy I go to. I trust his judgment and his generosity, meaning I know he has my best interest at heart. I think his judgment is the highest single judgment of anybody I know. So, if that's how he helps me with my business stuff, then having that judgment every day on his own business stuff is obviously a winner. The only trick there is that I think he's past caring about money. At some point, he's just not as hungry for money. So, if I'm only getting their future earnings, I'm basically compounding... you know, I'm banking on their compounding of what they are.

Sam Parr

What, which is obviously pretty good. I've tried to figure out his attributes, and it's really hard because it's sort of like watching a professional MMA fighter. You're like, "This looks easy." Or if you watch a professional runner running a 5K, they're flying, right? But because they're so smooth, it looks really easy, and you're like, "Oh, that's all you're doing? This seems really simple." That's a little bit of my problem with him. He makes decisions seem like no big deal and obvious, and things like that. But there's definitely mastery behind it. There's something behind it. What attributes?

Shaan Puri

It's super hard, dude. I was at dinner with our buddy Ramon, and Ramon is probably his best friend. I think Ramon spends the most time with him.

Sam Parr

Ramon can't even tell.

Shaan Puri

We were both laughing, like, "God, how does this guy do it? What is his secret?" I was like, "Ramon, you know him better than me." Because when he tells me sometimes, he makes it sound like, "I don't know, I just did the thing." I was like, "I can't tell, is he withholding? Is he like kind of sandbagging and withholding information?" I was like, "Ramon, I know he doesn't withhold anything from you. I know he doesn't sandbag. He's totally honest with you, and you spend five times more time with him. So what's the answer?" He also couldn't do it. It's a very frustrating thing. But I think, you know, at the end of the day, it's like, alright, the thing he's great at is **judgment**. I think his judgment on people is really good. Like, you know, we were hiring an executive for my company. I did all these interviews, and I was like, "I think this is the guy." He talked to him for fifteen minutes and sort of identified, "This guy's full of shit about this thing." Then I verified it, and he was full of shit about that thing. So I think his judgment on people is very good. His judgment on what products are going to hit and succeed or fail, he just kind of zeroes in on a business really quickly and sees its business potential. Also, like deals, doing investments and deals, he has just a very good judgment on those. So how do you develop that judgment? That, I wish I had a great answer for.

Sam Parr

He's one of the few people that I've met where, on the reps with him, I truly felt that money-making was a talent. You know what I mean? Like Usain Bolt was built this way and he refined it. There are some people I think who are built to earn, and he had that skill set. It was one of the few times where I met someone and thought, "Oh, this is just natural." And also, you work, but it's natural.

Shaan Puri

Yeah, yeah. Alright.

Sam Parr

Let's do this one.

Shaan Puri

Amazing on him.

Sam Parr

You guys, you're 36. I don't think you can... I don't think you're too old to use that phrase, but we could try.

Shaan Puri

I'm just mogging right now. Yeah, by the way, they gave us the root. Somebody actually looked up the root word. You want to know what it is?

Sam Parr

Yeah.

Shaan Puri

So, "mogger," which refers to the "mog" of the group, is based on a mog alpha male of the group. So if you're "moggen," you're just being the alpha of the group. Yeah, and you're just "moggen" on everybody. So we're the betas and she's the alpha.

Sam Parr

Alright, now I understand. We're...

Shaan Puri

I'm not doing any live streams anymore, right?

Sam Parr

You guys meet a lot of people. Out of all these interactions, what's the sentence or phrase that has never left your brain? It doesn't need to be motivational. Mine is Amjad from Replit. He was telling a story—I forget exactly what the story was—but the crux of it was that there was some illogical thing, like moving to America and trying to apply to Y Combinator (YC) or something like that, where the odds were small. He just asked himself, "What would be the best story?" and he decided to do it. There were many other examples where there was an illogical thing, but he was like, "Yeah, but this is just the best story. I should do that." I have thought about that oftentimes.

Shaan Puri

This is a really hard one. There are so many options. Alright, I'll tell the one that was most useful for me at that moment in time, and this actually came from my dad. I was at a crossroads where I didn't know what to do. Should I go down the left path or the right path? Should I do this thing or that thing? One of them was the one I was doing at the moment, which was fun and interesting, but I had no idea where it would lead. It kind of looked, on the surface, like it wouldn't really lead anywhere. The other path was way more well-defined, but I was just less excited about it. My dad made it very easy. He said, "Motion, not direction." He explained that there are many times in your life where, if you have direction, fantastic! It's an easy no-brainer—it's like you have checkmate. But there are many times in your life where you don't know the direction to go. In those moments, don't get stuck with analysis paralysis. Don't get stuck overthinking the situation. Focus on motion because motion can actually create direction or reveal the direction. Imagine you're on an island and you want to get to paradise. You know it's out there somewhere, but you're standing on the beach and can't see it. It's foggy. You could just sit there waiting for the fog to clear, but guess what? The fog is not magically going to clear for you. The better bet is to get in your boat and start rowing, even if you're kind of rowing in the wrong direction. Once you're in motion, it's actually not that hard, if you're intentional about it, to shift directions if you get more clarity. So, this idea of "motion, not direction" was just a very valuable lesson for me at a key moment.

Shaan Puri

In my life, I've since used this many times because I'm someone who loves having clarity and I seek it out. However, there's a reality that sometimes you're just not going to have it upfront. It can look too hazy and too foggy for you. The mistake I make in those situations is that I wish for things to be clear. In actuality, I just have to get moving. Once I start moving, the clouds begin to part, and I can figure out my way.

Sam Parr

There's been about three to five stories about your parents that have actually stuck with me. That one's a good one. The story that you told about your mom coming from India to America—I've repeated that story, and I think that I've changed the...

Shaan Puri

Embellished it.

Sam Parr

Yeah, but like, because I like you, when you told it, you made jokes, but I was like, I don't know if he's joking or not. Like, for example, you said that she was unfamiliar with forks, or you're like, she said that the airplane, she called it a "bus in the sky." Like, you just told these... like, use it.

Shaan Puri

I know these are true, but let's not let the facts get in the way.

Sam Parr

But you like story? Yeah, but you were telling... I think that the way that you're telling that... yeah, where you were like...

Shaan Puri

The truth was, she got on the plane and didn't know how to buckle the seatbelt. If you've never been on an airplane, you've never seen that object before, and it's not obvious how those two things actually connect. So, she was very confused by that. She happened to smash it in, and then the person next to her said, "Ah, you must fly a lot." She was like, "What?" She stayed awake on a fourteen-hour flight because she didn't want to miss her stop. She thought that the airplane was a train and that she was going to miss her stop if she blinked. So, she stayed awake for fourteen hours.

Sam Parr

Well, you just told this story about your mother where it was like going from the opposite of America to America. It made me admire her, but also like all immigrants, where I'm like, "I cannot believe this person did this." Now her son, and now your kids, or her grandkids, are going to grow up as these yuppie suburban California wealthy privileged kids. It's pretty crazy, just that transition, you know what I mean? She should be very proud, and that made me proud. I took this photo of my wife's grandmother, who is from Haiti. I don't know exactly how she grew up, but it was not nice, you know, like it is here. I took a photo of my daughter with her great-grandmother. My great-grandmother was this dark black woman, and my little girl was not that. Also, my little girl is like a Connecticut suburban person. Can you imagine telling this Haitian woman, "Your grandkids are going to be like that"? I don't know, it's kind of a proud moment, I think. Imagine telling Obama's grandparents, "Your kid is in Kenya."

Shaan Puri

Run the free world.

Sam Parr

Your kid, your grandkid, is going to run the free world. This little baby is going to be the most powerful person in the world, and they're living in Kenya, you know what I mean? Anyway, that transition, I find very inspiring. So, I loved hearing that story about your mother.

Shaan Puri

You know that movie, was it called *Phone Booth*? The whole movie just takes place with the guy in the phone booth.

Sam Parr

Love it.

Shaan Puri

Yeah, Colin Farrell. Somebody needs to do that, just of my mom's plane ride trip to America. There are like 15 parts in it that are just so funny. It's just following this one person. I'm not saying it's going to be a hit, but I would love to see that movie.

Sam Parr

No, I love that story. That's one of my favorite stories. That stuck with me, and I joke about it, but in reality, I left incredibly inspired.

Shaan Puri

Alright, somebody says, "You gotta answer your YouTube question, not a Twitter question," because you guys are on.

Sam Parr

Hey, someone said, "Hey Ari, could you please mute Sean?"

Shaan Puri

Tell me how you really feel.

Sam Parr

That's so good.

Shaan Puri

Alright, let's get a question here from you too before we jump. Alright, ask your questions.

Sam Parr

I think there's like a... yeah, a little delay. Someone's also like, "Sean is just disrespecting Twitch so much by streaming here."

Shaan Puri

Do people think I make these decisions? I show up, it already does everything. I don't... we don't decide a lot of this stuff.

Sam Parr

Sam laughed at Sam and said that people laughed at him when he mentioned that newsletters could be a big business ten years ago. What do you think people are laughing at today? I'll give you a very concrete example. I'm building a company with Hampton that I think people are going to be really surprised about in terms of size in ten to twenty years. That's one business example. What do you think?

Shaan Puri

And why would people underestimate it? Because it sounds just like a community.

Sam Parr

Because typically, both newsletters and communities are side projects within a large company, not the main thing. You know, it's sort of like laughing at someone for saying they're going to create a restaurant that just sells fondue. It's like, "Dude, this... the side can't be the main." I think that the math does not suggest that that is true.

Shaan Puri

I think one that fits this bill today, and might sound silly or unserious, is learning how to make short-form User Generated Content (UGC) to sell products. There are people today on TikTok who do this. They create products and make little TikToks. They could spend their whole day making a TikTok, and I don't know if anything sounds less serious than that. It sounds like a waste of time, like you spent your whole day working on a thirty-second or one-minute TikTok video that might not even become anything. I personally know people who make $10,000 a month, $30,000 a month, or even $100,000 a month as TikTok sellers. They don't even own the brand. They don't have an official status; they're not influencers. They're just really good at creating little content that convinces people to buy stuff. I think that more and more, that's how people are going to learn to buy things: through little videos that quickly show off the product. In thirty seconds, you can do what previously people used to spend millions of dollars on TV commercials doing. Now, a person with their cell phone can make a more convincing and effective ad than what the best ad agencies in the world did with TV commercials.

Sam Parr

Dude, listen to this.

Shaan Puri

And I think that sounds pretty unserious today, but I think a lot of people are doing great with it.

Sam Parr

What I'm going to do is tell you a story that, had I told you three years ago, you would have laughed at. So, Ramon came and visited me the other day in Connecticut because he was in New York City. One of the reasons why he was in New York City was for his company. He hired a 20-year-old who I think is now a college dropout. But this 20-year-old now has employees. He hired this guy and paid him thousands of dollars to basically go to Washington Square Park and interview... you know those videos that you guys see in New York City where it's like...

Shaan Puri

Man on the street.

Sam Parr

Man on the street, where it's like, "What's your opinion on this topic?" He paid someone to make videos so Ramon can post them not only on his Twitter or whatever, his Instagram, but on other people's Instagram as well. Basically, he was giving him the creative assets. I think this kid might also have owned a bunch of popular Instagram accounts. He paid this kid thousands and thousands of dollars to go and make like 20 of these interviews that he would then chop up. This kid had employees, and I think he was only 20 years old. I believe he had just dropped out of Syracuse University because he was making like $30,000 or $40,000 a month doing this. Isn't that insane?

Shaan Puri

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. I think that doesn't even sound like a job today, you know, to the average person. I think it's a very lucrative job, actually, and it's a very valuable skill set that will serve people well in the future. Alright, do we want to do more, or are we done?

Sam Parr

Is there one that sticks out? A fast one?

Shaan Puri

<FormattedTranscription> There's a parenting question: with everything you've learned from business, which lessons are you applying to your parenting methods and why? I have a simple answer to this. My kids are currently going through a phase of just not listening to anything. When you tell them to do something, they just don't do it. What worked six months ago isn't really working anymore. For example, I used to threaten to take away a toy, but that doesn't work anymore. I feel like I'm constantly bribing or threatening my kids, and I'm just kind of frustrated with that for the last, I don't know, month. I didn't really know what to do with it, and I thought, "Alright, if this was my business and I had a business problem like this, what would I do to solve it?" The main thing was I would go read from thought leaders; I'd go read what the smartest people do. I know that no problem I have is unique to me. No matter how much I feel like a victim in the moment, no problem I have is unique. Everybody's had this problem before; it's been solved before. There are people who are amazing at solving this—there are coaches that are great at solving this. So, I went and I YouTubed this problem. I searched for "Doctor Becky kids won't listen," and I watched this video yesterday while my kid was not listening. I just kind of tuned out and watched this video for a second. She basically brought up several points, and I was sitting there taking notes as if this was a study session for me, as if I was watching some growth hack video. She explained the situation: you're basically telling your kid to stop doing something fun to do something less fun in the moment. How would you feel if you were doing something fun and somebody tells you to do something less fun that you also don't really like? She had this little framework of three things you could do in order to help your kids listen better, and it was very useful. I thought, "Why don't I, the same way I'm willing to invest in reading books, going to coaching seminars, or hiring an executive coach to be a better CEO, why does it feel like I'm an abject failure or a loser to do that in the parenting realm?" That's a little dramatic, but the reality is I wasn't doing it. So, I'm now applying that more to the parenting realm to get better when I need it. </FormattedTranscription>

Sam Parr

You know, she's got a company called **Good Inside**. You can pay a small amount of money and use their app.

Shaan Puri

Where it's all like AI.

Sam Parr

And you could ask Doctor Becky a bunch of questions. It's pretty awesome.

Shaan Puri

That business crushes. Do you know how?

Sam Parr

Long the business does, I've talked to her. Yeah, it does. You know who the co-founder is? Scott Belsky's wife. It's a very dynamic and good co-founder team. They're going to kill it.

Shaan Puri

Yeah, that's amazing.

Sam Parr

Do a quick one. Let me do a quick one, really quick. Mine is about having my energy and knowing that energy is contagious. I used to get yelled at at my company for being frantic sometimes when I was in a bad mood. I could tell that it made other people anxious, so I had to change my energy because it was contagious. You know what really taught me more about this? Raising kids... and raising a damn dog! Dude, like, you know what Cesar Millan says? There are different types of assertiveness. There's hectic assertiveness, which is not cool to use, and then there's calm assertiveness, which is what you need when you're with your dog. I had an 80-pound pit bull who was not well-behaved when I first got him, so I had to learn how to train a dog. Learning how to train a dog was so helpful for learning how to raise a child. So far, I've just been making sure my energy is on, making sure I'm being calm assertive, not anxious assertive, and things like that. That's probably the biggest change, the biggest thing I've implemented from learning how to run a business and raising a dog for my children.

Shaan Puri

That's it, Ari. You want to mug us one last time for the road?

Arie Desormeaux

Great! Have you guys kissed? I mean, we didn't get to that one.

Shaan Puri

**Cliffhanger for next time.**

Sam Parr

Yeah, I think one time we made a deal that if we got to a certain amount of followers, we were going to do it. There’s this one YouTuber that did it, and it was hilarious. But I don't think any of the subscribers that that person had stuck around. I couldn't even tell you what it was called, so I don't know.

Shaan Puri

The fact that we don't remember what their name is means it's absolutely not worth it.

Sam Parr

Yeah, so I don't...

Shaan Puri

I don't have enough context to provide a meaningful transcription. Could you please provide more information or a longer segment?

Sam Parr

It's worth it. Alright, that's it. That's a pod.