3 weird businesses doing $10M, $20M, $30M

Key takeaways

Opportunity is abundant and diverse—successful business ideas exist in many niches beyond the typical tech or high-profile ventures.
Building a community or network of like-minded entrepreneurs is a powerful growth tool, fostering accountability, inspiration, and new ideas.
Unconventional businesses can generate significant revenue by focusing on niche markets, operational excellence, and innovative marketing strategies.
Creative branding, unique product offerings, and authentic customer relationships are crucial for scaling niche markets.
Technological innovations like AI, data analytics, and online platforms are transforming traditional industries, making formerly niche ideas scalable and profitable.
Persistence and focus, especially on customer retention and community building, are key drivers of long-term success.
Diverse business models—such as mailing magazines, managing recreational spaces, or following online traders—demonstrate that success can come from unexpected sectors.

Summary

The Evolution of Business Ventures and Mindset Shifts

The hosts discuss how their perceptions of opportunity and success have shifted from scarcity to abundance over the years. They highlight how exposure to different entrepreneurs and ideas, especially through this podcast and community, reveals that there are thousands of ways to build a successful business. They emphasize learning from various business models, appreciating their unique lifestyles, and selectively adopting habits or traits like calmness or creativity from others to improve their own approach.

Showcasing Unique and Offbeat Businesses

The core of the episode revolves around three entrepreneurs with unconventional businesses making $10M, $20M, and $30M in revenue. Each shares their story, how they came up with their idea, and what makes their business special. For instance, Alex Daniels runs a real estate magazine that serves realtors across the U.S. and Canada, Josh Weissenstein manages a campground business that also incorporates amenities and community aspects, and Shaan Puri talks about a revolutionary app that clones politicians and hedge fund managers to provide trading signals—all illustrating innovative ways to monetize niche markets.

Business Models and Growth Strategies of Niche Companies

The entrepreneurs detail their strategies, such as Alex's mailing of magazines tailored to local real estate markets, Josh's focus on acquiring and modernizing campgrounds with unique features, and Shaan's platform allowing users to follow successful traders online. They discuss the importance of customer relationships, community-building, and operational excellence. They also explore their plans for scaling—like breaking down markets into smaller segments or expanding into related verticals—and how they maintain company culture during rapid growth. Insights include the value of persistence, leveraging underutilized assets (like the postal system), and how creative marketing and branding play vital roles.

Innovative Approaches to Investment and Market Disruption

The episode features Shaan's platform autopilot, which allows everyday investors to follow top traders, and discusses its impressive growth and revenue potential. They delve into the future of retail asset management, the importance of transparency and track records, and how new technology like AI is transforming traditional finance. The discussion highlights how such platforms democratize access to high-level trading insights and compete with large institutional players, emphasizing the power of community, data analysis, and innovative distribution models. The entrepreneurs reflect on how their businesses challenge established industries through creativity, community engagement, and leveraging technology.

Show notes

Business Idea Database: https://clickhubspot.com/ecat

Episode 837: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) bring in 3 founders with weird businesses making $10M, $20M, and $30M.

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Show Notes:

(0:00) Intro

(3:32) Alex Daniels, $10M real estate magazine

(20:31) Josh Weissenstein, $20M camp ground business

(38:36) The $1.8B App Copying Politicians & Hedge Funds

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Links:

• Haven Lifestyles - https://www.havenlifestyles.com/

• Team Outsider - https://www.teamoutsider.com/

• Autopilot - https://www.joinautopilot.com/

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Check Out Sam's Stuff:

• Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm

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Check Out Shaan's Stuff:

• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com

• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.

• Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury for banking across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/

Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC

• I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out:

beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge

My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /