How To Get Billion Dollar Business Ideas From Investment Bankers

About this video

Sam and Shaan discuss live entertainment businesses built on existing IP (like Blippi and PAW Patrol shows run by VSTar Entertainment, which was acquired by Cirque du Soleil), explore the economics of peer group communities like Vistage, and debate whether founders should optimize for “building to sell,” “building to win,” or “building for mission.” Sam also shares his strategy of interviewing investment bankers to learn about successful acquisitions in spaces he’s considering.

Key takeaways

• Sam discovered that licensing kids’ YouTube and TV IP and touring live shows is highly profitable—VSTar Entertainment reportedly sold $40M in PAW Patrol tickets alone, and was acquired by Cirque du Soleil (which does ~$1B annually) along with Blue Man Group.
• Sam and Shaan agree that in-person experiences and peer communities are booming as the world becomes more digital; Shaan notes one peer group business doing over $100M in annual profit from simple twice-yearly meetups where executives pay $50K/year to join.
• Sam’s tactic of cold-calling investment bankers with the pitch “I might start a company in your space—tell me why past acquisitions succeeded and what buyers wanted” has yielded valuable free learning about market opportunities and buyer preferences.
• Shaan argues that bigger, more ambitious ideas often attract better talent and capital at better valuations, but he personally optimizes for enjoyment and reasonable work hours (~40/week) rather than maximal scale, while acknowledging the trade-offs.

Episode details: published April 22, 2022 · 27K views · 30:29 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The business ideas, figures and results discussed are the hosts’ and guests’ own claims, shared as brainstorming and entertainment — not verified facts and not investment advice.

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