My First Million
00:05:25 · Shaan Puri, Sam Parr
[00:05:25] S1: And so explain what they do. So they bring together folks with different jobs. So you'll get, like, the the local accountant with the HVAC guy with whatever. And it's like a... It's kinda like, hey. We're all local business owners. We have some shared problems, but we also have shared opportunity, which is we can share leads with each other. Oh, you're... You could be my guy I refer people to when it's landscaping, and I'll refer you people when it's about, you know, whatever, legal services. [00:05:49] S0: Yeah. Basically. And I I used to go to the YMCA, and I would see them have their BNI meeting. And there'd be like 30 people in the room, and everyone has to go through and say some type of, like, lead. [00:05:59] S1: Like, for example at the YMCA. Where do they meet? Like, in the yoga room? Like, what what do they do? Yeah. YMCA is not a coworking space. You're right. Like, what's going on? [00:06:08] S0: They just, like, figured it out. Because it's like a community based thing. And so it'd be like a realtor with a garage door service with a lawyer with a landscape business. So things that are not competitive and they share leads and they just go in a room and you have to say like, this person just moved here. We're doing the garage doors. You know, who wants that? And they just sold. I think they have 800,000 members, and it costs low digit thousands of dollars a year to join. I hung out with the CEO of it, really nice lady from Texas, and they they just got acquired.
00:06:08 · Sam Parr, Shaan Puri
[00:06:08] S0: They just, like, figured it out. Because it's like a community based thing. And so it'd be like a realtor with a garage door service with a lawyer with a landscape business. So things that are not competitive and they share leads and they just go in a room and you have to say like, this person just moved here. We're doing the garage doors. You know, who wants that? And they just sold. I think they have 800,000 members, and it costs low digit thousands of dollars a year to join. I hung out with the CEO of it, really nice lady from Texas, and they they just got acquired. [00:06:38] S1: So are you gonna do just Hampton for every vertical, or are you just keeping Hampton as what it is? You're saying, you know, that's not the move for you, but but, basically, there is some version of peer group for for most professions where people have enough disposable income and, you know, you get the dynamics right where either it's... They can share because it's it's fundamentally not competitive, or you match people, like you said, from other geographies where it's not gonna be competitive. [00:07:01] S0: So the reason why I've been learning about investing is because I think that over the next handful of years, no time soon are we gonna do this, but I think that what we'll eventually do is buy other communities, because I think we know how to operate them well. And I think that the way, like my goal is to build a multi 100,000,000, or sorry, multibillion dollar company, and I think that we can get there by owning a variety of communities.
00:07:01 · Sam Parr, Shaan Puri
[00:07:01] S0: So the reason why I've been learning about investing is because I think that over the next handful of years, no time soon are we gonna do this, but I think that what we'll eventually do is buy other communities, because I think we know how to operate them well. And I think that the way, like my goal is to build a multi 100,000,000, or sorry, multibillion dollar company, and I think that we can get there by owning a variety of communities. [00:07:20] S1: Was that a Freudian ambition slip right there? Being like, my goal is to lose five pounds. No. No. 50 pounds. 50 pounds. You know what I mean? [00:07:27] S0: Well, hundreds of millions a year in profit. [00:07:30] S1: Steve Jobs didn't get on stage and say a 100 songs in your pocket. No. He said a thousand, Sam. You can't do that. Can't vest that out. [00:07:37] S0: We we wanna do... When I say hundreds of millions, that's the profit, and billions is the revenue. [00:07:42] S1: Gotcha. [00:07:43] S0: Gotcha. So we do say, like, we think we could do, like, hundreds of millions in profit. Is that a classic slip? But because there's a few businesses in our space, and like the threshold of like, you're killing it, is do you cross 9 figures a year in free cash flow? And so yes, I think that there's a bunch of these businesses that can be combined and be awesome. And so I'm interested in it. Do wanna hear another one? [00:08:03] S1: Yeah. Okay, Same this industry or different, different thing? [00:08:06] S0: Totally different. Okay, so type this in.
00:08:06 · Sam Parr, Shaan Puri
[00:08:06] S0: Totally different. Okay, so type this in. [00:08:09] S1: Hey, I wanna tell you about something pretty cool. We have a database of all of the business ideas that have been discussed on this podcast. So hundreds of episodes, the team at HubSpot went through, They pulled out all the simple, relatable, interesting, profitable ideas that we have brainstormed, and they're all available for download for free. Just click the link in the description below. Thank you to our friends at HubSpot for sponsoring this podcast and putting together this free resource for you guys. Back to the show. [00:08:34] S0: So it's called MODA Communities. [00:08:37] S1: K. [00:08:37] S0: So the story is basically this. There's this guy... Well, tell me what you see first. [00:08:41] S1: Buy right, sell better. MODA runs 23 Facebook communities where a bunch of people buy, sell watches, cars, gold, and jewelry. [00:08:49] S0: So I was talking to this guy. He's based out of Sioux Falls. Is that North Dakota or South Dakota? [00:08:54] S1: I'm gonna plead the fifth on that question. Not not strong in my Dakotas.
00:08:54 · Shaan Puri, Sam Parr
[00:08:54] S1: I'm gonna plead the fifth on that question. Not not strong in my Dakotas. [00:08:57] S0: Yeah. I'm sorry, guys. South Dakota. Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Okay? And he, in 2018, he was like buying a watch or selling a watch. He was doing both and he thought, I don't really have a good place to do this. And so he created a Facebook group of buyers and sellers of watches, basically like a community of watch enthusiasts. And at this point he has grown it to where he told me, messaged him and asked him, he has over a dozen full time employees and they have 600,000 members across like 20 or 25 different communities. They have communities for watches and they have it broken down into watches under $10, watches above $10. And then there's also a community for like the super fans, which is above like a 100,000, I believe. Then he has groups for collectible cars. He has groups for gold and a bunch of stuff. And in order to get in, it's all trust based. Meaning you have to talk with him if you're a dealer and you have to like do like a vetting interview and then another person in the community has to vet you. And then you pay 1 to 5 to $10,000 a year in order to be a dealer on there, and then you could list the watches that you have for sale, and people love it. And what's interesting is I think that they probably do somewhere between 5 and $10,000,000 a year in revenue. [00:10:10] S1: How do they make money? You pay to be a member [00:10:12] S0: or you A dealer pays to be a member. [00:10:14] S1: Okay. Because they're accessing this buyer pool of
00:10:14 · Shaan Puri, Sam Parr
[00:10:14] S1: Okay. Because they're accessing this buyer pool of [00:10:17] S0: A super dealer pays to post there. And in order to post there, you have to do a vet check. And I think it's awesome, A, because Facebook communities, Facebook groups have built this guy a huge business, and this can be applied to so many different ways of selling stuff on the internet. And I think that when it comes to moats, Peter Levels been talking about like what moats are gonna go away with AI, and previously technology was a moat, that's not a moat anymore. And I think communities, networks, and marketplaces are still a really good moat. And this is a really interesting business that this guy started on Facebook groups.