My First Million

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

My First Million·June 30, 2026

OVERVIEW

This episode showcases three diverse businesses that generate substantial revenue in seemingly unconventional industries. The hosts interview the founders of a real estate magazine publisher, a campground acquisition and management company, and a social trading platform, exploring their unique operational strategies, growth trajectories, and entrepreneurial challenges.

KEY TOPICS

  • Real estate advertising magazines
  • Campground ownership and management
  • Social trading platforms
  • Scaling strategies for unique businesses
  • Importance of hiring and company culture
  • Marketing unconventional products
  • Leveraging AI in business operations
  • Financial models and profitability in different sectors
  • Entrepreneurial mindset and goal setting

MAIN TAKEAWAYS

  • Opportunities abound in fragmented, often overlooked industries where traditional business practices can be modernized for significant growth.
  • Building a successful company requires a blend of operational excellence, strategic capital raising, and a deep understanding of customer needs.
  • Creating a strong company culture and hiring the right people, even if it means unconventional recruiting, is crucial for long-term scaling and success.
  • Founders should actively seek out insights from both competitors and non-obvious adjacent industries to find new growth vectors and improve existing models.
  • Setting clear, ambitious financial goals and implementing systems to track and achieve them is vital, even if the primary motivation is personal fulfillment.
  • Effective marketing can transform even an "unsexy" product or service into a highly visible and profitable venture.
  • Strategic use of technology, like AI for sales or online platforms for investment, can create significant leverage and differentiate a business.

NOTABLE QUOTES

"I didn't even know that people do businesses like that."
"It's the best. I'm friends with so many bodega owners."
"I think so is like not what you want to hear from the guy who's setting up the audio."
"The biggest thing for me since I started My First Million till today was I remember pre-My First Million, and like 10 years before that, the full 10 years, I felt like opportunity, like success was this this needle in this haystack, or it was this narrow thing, this thing I had to search for in this room. And it was so hard to find. And I needed this brilliant idea."
"I think the new slogan should be we can we can we get, you know, high, high and low, low because I get like equal joy. Like, we'll go to the, we'll like pop into a Bodega. I'll love that shit. And now we're going to go hang out with like the 80 of the richest person in the world. I'm going to love that equally."

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