MFM #168 - How to Reverse Engineer Businesses, The Indonesian King of Coal & the Story of Adidas

About this video

Sam and Shaan discuss a range of business ideas and stories, including drop servicing companies like Turned Yellow (custom illustrations), the importance of studying first versions of successful companies and competitors, a rejected idea for AI robot pets (though robo pets do exist commercially), and the founding story of Adidas by two brothers who spun out from their father’s leather shoe factory.

Key takeaways

• Turned Yellow operates a drop servicing business creating custom cartoon illustrations; the founders brought on a licensing expert to legitimize the business by obtaining IP rights from major franchises rather than operating in a legal gray area like competitors
• Studying the early versions and evolution of successful companies and competitors—via tools like the Wayback Machine, TechCrunch archives, and competitor tracking—is a fast way to download experience and identify what works without decades of personal trial and error
• A service tracking flagged companies and people with automated news alerts and competitor intelligence could be a viable six-figure business, similar to existing tools like Shopify sales data trackers
• Robo pets and AI companion devices have found real commercial success and legitimate use cases, particularly for elderly populations with dementia and Alzheimer’s who benefit from weighted robotic pets

Episode details: published April 7, 2021 · 12K views · 1:02:17 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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