The Most Ridiculous Ways to Make $1M (That Actually Work)

About this video

Sam and Shaan explore creative business opportunities in the “butts and guts” space, from twerking classes and fecal microbiota transplants to Brazilian butt lifts and recovery products. They discuss the Grindr turnaround by Rick Marini and investors, examine trend-surfing auxiliary businesses like Ozempic tracking apps, and highlight unexpected successes like Dude Wipes’ $220M revenue, illustrating how opportunities exist everywhere for those willing to spot trends and solve problems.

Key takeaways

• Shaan recounts how Lexi, a twerking instructor, built a multi-million dollar touring business in the early 2010s by replicating the Zumba model with twerking classes, eventually pivoting to music after the trend fizzled
• Shaan shares research on fecal microbiota transplants (FMT), claiming 90% effectiveness for conditions like Crohn’s and colitis, and describes a startup idea to replicate elite athletes’ microbiomes for performance enhancement—a trend-surfing opportunity in the wellness space
• Shaan details how Rick Marini and investors (including Ray Zage and James Lou) acquired Grindr for $600M from a Chinese company, rebuilt it by replacing 90% of staff, improved app ratings from 2.5 to 4.6 stars, and grew it to a $4.6B market cap within 2.5 years—outperforming competitors like Bumble despite serving a smaller demographic
• Sam and Shaan discuss auxiliary businesses built around health trends: Dude Wipes ($220M revenue in 2024), BBL recovery pillows and cushions, Ozempic tracking apps like Shots (a multi-million SaaS business), and gut spa franchises—showing how solving adjacent problems creates significant revenue
• Sam reflects on how listening to podcasts and reading books about successful people (mentioning Jesse Itzler, Warren Buffett’s Snowball, Seneca’s letters) influences his approach to business and life, emphasizing that wisdom and inspiration from high-performers shapes strategy more than pure knowledge

Episode details: published June 13, 2025 · 46K views · 1:06:32 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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