Meet The Data Nerd Who Made Billions from Batman, Dune & The Hangover

Summary

In diesem umfassenden Skript wird die bewegliche Karriere eines steinigen Milliardärs, der seine Karriere von自助洗衣店 bis hin zu einer führenden Rolle in der Filmindustrie führt, nachgezeichnet. Der Milliardär, Thomas Tull, nutzt ein data-driven Moneyball-ähnliches Konzept, um erfolgreiche Filmproduktionen zu identifizieren und zu finanzieren, was zu einer bemerkenswerten Bilanz von Hits wie 'The Dark Knight' und 'Dune' führt. Er betont dabei die Notwendigkeit von größeren Budgets, Markenkennzeichen und internationaler Reichweite, um den Filmen kommerzielle Chancen zu geben. Darüber hinaus setzt er auf innovative Marketingstrategien, einschließlich der Verwendung von Datenanalysen und Biofeedback-Techniken, um die Reaktionen von Zuschauern auf Trailer zu messen und so die effektivsten Marketingkampagnen zu entwickeln. Der Skripteinsatz beleuchtet nicht nur Tulls unternehmerisches Genie und seine unkonventionellen Geschäftsmodelle, sondern auch die Macht von Datenanalysen und die Bedeutung des Zuhörens und Reagierens auf das Publikum, um ein erfolgreiches Unternehmen zu führen.

Takeaways

• 💡 Einnehmerisches Denken: Der Unternehmer nutzte seine Fähigkeit, Daten zu analysieren und Trends zu erkennen, um erfolgreiche Geschäftsmodelle in verschiedenen Branchen zu erschaffen.
• 📈 Datengetriebene Entscheidungen: Durch die Anwendung von 'Moneyball'-Strategien in der Filmindustrie und anderen Bereichen konnte er potenzielle Gewinnmaschinen identifizieren und investieren.
• 🎥 Filmindustrie-Innovation: Er gründete Legendary Entertainment und revolutionierte die Finanzierung von Filmen durch die Nutzung von Datenanalysen, um die Chancen auf kommerzielle Erfolge zu erhöhen.
• 💰 Verkäufe und Erträge: Er verkaufte Legendary Entertainment an den reichsten Mann Chinas für 3,5 Milliarden Dollar, was auf seine Fähigkeit hinweist, Unternehmen zu einem hohen Wert zu bringen.
• 🚀 Wachstum durch Akquisitionen: Er begann mit kleinen Geschäftsmodellen wie Waschsalons und Autowerkstätten und wuchs durch das Akquirieren und Zusammenlegen von Unternehmen in verschiedenen Branchen weiter.
• 🤝 Partnerschaften und Deals: Durch kluge Partnerschaften, wie die mit Warner Brothers, konnte er Ressourcen bündeln und sein Unternehmen schnell wachsen lassen.
• 🌐 Internationale Ausrichtung: Er konzentrierte sich darauf, Filme mit internationalem Appell zu erzeugen, insbesondere für den chinesischen Markt, um die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines großen Erfolgs zu erhöhen.
• 📊 Marketing und Analyse: Er investierte in die Analyse von Marketingdaten, um die Effektivität von Werbekampagnen zu optimieren und sicherzustellen, dass jede ausgegebene Dollar den größtmöglichen Rück-pay-out brachte.
• 🎉 Unterhaltungswert schaffen: Max Holloway's Kampf und seine Entscheidung, im letzten Moment des Kampfes mutig zu agieren, unterstreichen, wie Unterhaltung und Emotionalität die Zuschauer binden können.
• 📘 Wissenswerte Einblicke: Diskussionen über das Potenzial des 'Moneyball für X'-Ansatzes in verschiedenen Branchen zeigen, wie Datenanalysen dazu beitragen können, Neues zu schaffen und Traditionen zu umkehren.

Q & A

Was ist das Konzept hinter 'Billy of the Week'?

Billy of the Week ist ein Konzept, bei dem ein erfolgreicher Geschäftsmann oder eine erfolgreiche Geschäftsidee jeden Monat gezeigt wird. Es ist ein Anlaufpunkt für Diskussionen über Innovationen und strategisches Denken in der Geschäftswelt.

Wie hat sich der in der Diskussion erwähnte Milliardär zu einem Legendenstatus entwickelt?

Der Milliardär begann seine Karriere in Lomaten, wandte sich dann Auto-Reparaturwerkstätten zu, kaufte kleine Buchhaltungspraktiken auf und rollte sie zusammen, um schließlich 500 Standorte weltweit zu haben. Er nutzte Datenanalyse, um erfolgreiche Geschäftsmodelle zu entwickeln, ähnlich der 'Moneyball'-Strategie in der Baseballindustrie.

Was ist die 'Moneyball'-Strategie und wie wurde sie auf die Filmindustrie angewandt?

Die 'Moneyball'-Strategie ist ein Ansatz, der auf der Verwendung von Datenanalyse zur Identifizierung unterbewerteter Vermögenswerte basiert. In der Filmindustrie wurde diese Strategie angewendet, indem man auf quantitative Datenanalysen setzte, um Entscheidungen über die Finanzierung und Produktion von Filmen zu treffen, anstatt auf die traditionellen Scouts und ihre Einschätzungen.

Wie wichtig ist die internationale Attraktivität von Filmen für die Filmfinanzierung?

Die internationale Attraktivität ist sehr wichtig, insbesondere für den chinesischen Markt, der einen großen Teil des globalen Kinopublikums und -einnahmen ausmacht. Filme, die über einfache, universelle Appelle verfügen, die die Sprachbarrieren überwinden können, haben bessere Chancen, erfolgreich zu sein.

Was ist das 'Flywheel'-Modell, das im Zusammenhang mit der Verteidigungstechnologie erwähnt wurde?

Das 'Flywheel'-Modell bezieht sich auf ein geschäftliches Konzept, bei dem ein Unternehmen in einer bestimmten Aktivität investiert, um eine positive Rückkopplung zu erzeugen und so die Wachstumsdynamik des Unternehmens zu erhöhen. Im Kontext der Verteidigungstechnologie kann dies bedeuten, dass das Unternehmen Lobbyarbeit leistet für höhere Verteidigungsausgaben, die dann die Verteidigungsunternehmen unterstützen, an denen das Unternehmen beteiligt ist.

Wie wichtig ist die persönliche Überzeugung und der Mut für Unternehmer, wenn es darum geht, neue Geschäftsmodelle zu erschaffen oder bestehende Branchen zu revolutionieren?

Persönliche Überzeugung und Mut sind entscheidend für Unternehmer, da sie sie dazu bringen, an ihrer Vision zu glauben, selbst wenn sie von anderen als unrealistisch oder riskant angesehen werden. Dies ist besonders wichtig, wenn es darum geht, neue Wege zu ebnen oder traditionelle Branchen zu transformieren.

Was ist der Unterschied zwischen dem Verkauf eines Produkts, einer Lösung, eines Lebensstils, eines Gefühls und einer Identität?

Der Verkauf eines Produkts konzentriert sich auf die Funktionalität. Eine Lösung befasst sich mit dem Lösen eines Problems. Ein Lebensstil richtet sich an die wünschenswerte Art und Weise, wie jemand leben möchte. Ein Gefühl bezieht sich auf die emotionale Reaktion oder das Erlebnis, das ein Produkt oder eine Marke auslöst. Schließlich verkauft man eine Identität, indem man jemandem etwas größeres als sich selbst anbietet – eine Zugehörigkeit zu einer Gruppe oder ein Sinngefühl.

Wie wichtig ist es für Unternehmen, ihre Kunden nicht nur als Konsumenten, sondern als Teil einer größeren Gemeinschaft oder Familie zu behandeln?

Es ist sehr wichtig, da es zur Bildung von Loyalität, positiver Markenbotschaft und Kundenbindung beiträgt. Kunden, die sich als Teil einer Gemeinschaft fühlen, sind wahrscheinlicher, längerfristig treu zu bleiben und Empfehlungen an ihre eigenen Netzwerke weiterzugeben.

Was ist der Hauptunterschied zwischen traditioneller Marketing-Strategie und dem Ansatz, Gefühle und Identitäten zu verkaufen?

Traditionelle Marketing-Strategien konzentrieren sich oft auf das Produkt oder die Lösung eines Problems. Im Gegensatz dazu betont der Ansatz, Gefühle und Identitäten zu verkaufen, die emotionale Verbindung zwischen der Marke und dem Kunden und wie diese das Selbstbild und die Wertschätzung des Kunden erhöht.

Wie kann das Konzept der 'holy [__] moment' von Dana White auf die Welt des Marketings übertragen werden?

Das Konzept kann auf Marketing übertragen werden, indem Unternehmen darauf abzielen, ihre Kunden nicht nur mit Produkten oder Dienstleistungen, sondern mit unvergesslichen, emotionalen Erfahrungen zufriedenzustellen, die über die rein funktionalen Aspekte hinausgehen.

Was ist der Hauptfokus von 'Sam's List' und warum wurde es ins Leben gerufen?

'Sam's List' ist ein Projekt, das darauf abzielt, eine Plattform für die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Personen, die einen Buchhalter suchen, und empfohlenen Buchhaltern zu schaffen. Es wurde ins Leben gerufen, nachdem Sam einen Bedarf an einer solchen Ressource identifiziert hatte, nachdem er selbst und andere auf Twitter nach einem guten Buchhalter gefragt hatten.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Entdeckung des versteckten Milliardärs

Der Sprecher erzählt von seiner Neugier, die durch einen Artikel in 'The Information' geweckt wurde, der über einen versteckten Milliardär aus Idaho berichtet. Dieser Mann begann seine Karriere in der Autoreparatur und wandelte sich schließlich in einen legendären Milliardär um, der die Filmbranche mit seiner 'Moneyball'-Strategie revolutionierte, indem er Datenanalyse einsetzte, um erfolgreiche Filmprojekte zu identifizieren und zu finanzieren.

05:02

📈 Die 'Moneyball'-Strategie im Filmgeschäft

Der Milliardär nutzte seine Data-Analyse-Fähigkeiten, um erfolgreiche Filme zu identifizieren und zu finanzieren, ähnlich der 'Moneyball'-Strategie in der Baseball-Branche. Er fokusierte auf kommerzielle Filme mit großem Publikum und graviertem Markenpotential. Er gründete Legendary Entertainment, die Filme wie 'The Dark Knight' und 'Dune' produzierte, und verkaufte das Unternehmen schließlich für 3,5 Milliarden Dollar an den reichsten Mann Chinas.

10:03

💰 Kapital und Partnerschaften für den Filmerfolg

Der Milliardär sammelte 500 Millionen Dollar und schloss eine Partnerschaft mit Warner Brothers ein, um 30 Filme gemeinsam zu finanzieren. Er baute ein Data-Team auf, das entscheiden sollte, welche Filme gefördert und betont werden sollten. Sein Ansatz war es, auf quantitative Datenanalyse zu setzen, anstatt auf die traditionellen, qualitativ-orientierten Scouts der Filmbranche.

15:04

🎬 Internationaler Erfolg durch vereinfachte Geschichten

Der Milliardär konzentrierte sich darauf, Filme mit internationalem Appell zu erschaffen, insbesondere für den chinesischen Markt. Er strebte danach, vereinfachte, aber gut ausgeführte Handlungsstränge zu haben, die die Sprachbarrieren überwinden konnten. Er schloss eine Partnerschaft mit China Film ab, um die Vermarktung seiner Filme in China zu sichern.

20:06

📊 Datengetriebene Marketingstrategien für Filme

Die Firma setzte auf eine data-getriebene Marketingstrategie, ähnlich der 'Moneyball'-Methode. Sie investierten erhebliche Mittel in Marketing und führten A/B-Tests durch, um die besten Trailerversionen zu finden. Sie nutzten biometrische Daten und Herzfrequenzmonitore, um die Reaktionen von Zuschauern auf Trailer zu messen und zu optimieren.

25:06

🌟 Persönliche Hinterlassenschaft und zukünftige Investitionen

Der Milliardär verriet sein Interesse an nachhaltiger Landwirtschaft und Technologie. Er kaufte Land, um fortgeschrittene Landwirtschaftsroboter auszuprobieren, und investierte in Defense-Tech-Unternehmen, nachdem er erkannt hatte, dass es nach modernster Ausrüstung für die Militärs ist. Er suchte nach Unternehmen, die nicht nur finanziellen Gewinn versprachen, sondern auch ethische Richtlinien, die seiner Überzeugung entsprachen, vertraten.

30:07

🚀 Überzeugung und Mut als Schlüssel zum Erfolg

Der Sprecher preist die Überzeugung und den Mut des Milliardärs, der trotz seiner Außenseiter-Position und mangelnden Erfahrung in der Filmbranche erfolgreich war. Er betont, wie wichtig es ist, an eigene Entscheidungen zu glauben, auch wenn andere dagegen sind, und wie rührend es ist, solchen Mut und Selbstvertrauen zu sehen.

35:10

🤓 'Moneyball für X'-Ansatz in verschiedenen Branchen

Der Sprecher reflektiert über die Anwendbarkeit der 'Moneyball für X'-Strategie in verschiedenen Branchen, die noch nicht datengetrieben sind. Er erwähnt, wie diese Methode bereits in Politik, Baseball, Finanzen und sogar im HVAC-Sektor erfolgreich eingesetzt wurde, um bessere Entscheidungen zu treffen.

40:11

🥊 Der Heldenmut von Max Holloway im UFC

Der Sprecher erzählt von einem atemberaubenden Moment in UFC 300, in dem Max Holloway gegen alle Wahrscheinlichkeiten ankämpfte und seinen Gegner mit einem Knockout in der letzten Sekunde besiegte. Dies führte zu einer Diskussion über die Bedeutung von Mut und Unterhaltungswert in Sport und Business.

45:13

💼 Verkauf von 'holy [__] moments' im Business

Der Sprecher zieht Parallelen zwischen dem Verkauf von 'holy [__] moments' in UFC und anderen Geschäftsbereichen. Er stellt fest, dass es nicht nur um das Verkaufen eines Produkts oder einer Lösung geht, sondern um das Verkaufen von Gefühlen, Lebensstil, Identität und Inspiration, was für die Kunden einen größeren Wert bietet.

50:14

📝 Sam's List - Ein neues Unterfangen im Bereich Buchhaltung

Der Sprecher teilt mit, dass er eine neue Plattform namens Sam's List lanciert hat, die es Menschen helfen soll, einen guten Buchhalter zu finden. Er beschreibt die Idee hinter dem Projekt, die Umsetzung und die ersten Erfahrungen mit Nutzern und Buchhaltern. Er diskutiert auch die Herausforderungen und die Pläne für die Zukunft.

55:17

🔍 Überlegungen zur Lead-Generierung und -Vermarktung

Der Sprecher reflektiert über das Potenzial und die Schwierigkeiten des Lead-Generierungs, insbesondere im Bereich der Buchhaltung. Er diskutiert verschiedene Ansätze und Strategien, wie zum Beispiel die Verwendung von Mikrosozialen Medien und die Bedeutung von Transparenz und Empfehlungen, um das Vertrauen von Nutzern zu gewinnen.

Keywords

💡Moneyball

Moneyball ist ein Begriff, der ursprünglich aus der Baseball-Branche stammt und bezeichnet die Strategie, Datenanalyse zur Identifizierung von unterbewerteten Spielern zu verwenden. Im Video wird diese Strategie als Metapher für eine neue, datengetriebene Herangehensweise an verschiedenen Branchen verwendet, wie zum Beispiel der Filmindustrie.

💡Filmfinanzierung

Filmfinanzierung bezieht sich auf die Prozesse und Methoden, die zum Aufbau von Kapital für die Herstellung von Filmen verwendet werden. Im Video wird dies thematisiert, indem der Sprecher darüber spricht, wie ein erfolgreicher Geschäftsmann, Thomas Tull, ein neues Modell zur Finanzierung von Filmen entwickelt hat.

💡Datenanalyse

Datenanalyse ist der Prozess der Untersuchung von Daten, um Informationen und Erkenntnisse zu gewinnen. Im Video wird die Datenanalyse als Schlüsselinstrument für die Erfolgsgeschichte von Thomas Tull in verschiedenen Unternehmen genutzt, einschließlich der Filmindustrie.

💡IP (Intellectual Property)

Intellectual Property, im Deutschen geistiges Eigentum, bezeichnet Erschaffungen des Geistes, wie Bücher, Kunstwerke, Musikstücke und Filmideen, die rechtlich geschützt sind. Im Video wird die Nutzung von bekannten IP für die Filmproduktion als ein Element des Erfolgsrezeptes von Thomas Tulls Filmproduktionsgesellschaft betont.

💡Internationale Märkte

Internationale Märkte beziehen sich auf den Handel und die Expansion von Geschäftsaktivitäten über nationale Grenzen hinweg. Im Video wird besprochen, wie Thomas Tull seine Filme für den internationalen Markt, insbesondere für China, anpasste, um einen größeren Erfolg zu erzielen.

💡Privatunternehmen

Ein Privatunternehmen ist ein Unternehmen, das nicht auf einer Börse notiert ist und in privater Hand ist. Im Video wird die Rolle von Privatunternehmen, wie der von Thomas Tull gegründeten Legendary Entertainment, für Innovationen und neue Geschäftsmodelle in der Filmindustrie hervorgehoben.

💡Verteidigungstechnologie

Verteidigungstechnologie bezieht sich auf die Technologien, die für militärische Zwecke entwickelt und eingesetzt werden. Im Video wird erwähnt, dass Thomas Tull nach dem Verkauf seines Filmunternehmens in den Bereich der Verteidigungstechnologie investierte, was auf seine Fähigkeit hinweist, verschiedene Branchen zu erschließen.

💡Stealth-Milliardär

Ein Stealth-Milliardär ist jemand, der seine Reichen sehr diskret verwaltet und nicht öffentlich in der Öffentlichkeit aktiv ist. Thomas Tull, der im Video thematisiert wird, wird als legendärer, heimlicher Milliardär beschrieben, der seine Karriere von kleinen Unternehmen wie Waschsalons zu einem Imperium ausdehnt.

💡Blue Collar

Blue Collar bezieht sich auf Arbeitnehmer, die manuelle, oft mühselige Arbeit leisten. Im Video wird die Herkunft von Thomas Tull als Blue Collar beschrieben, was seine Ursprünge in einfachen Verhältnissen und seinen Weg von handwerklichen Jobs zu erstaunlichem Geschäftserfolg betont.

💡Schnäppchenjäger

Ein Schnäppchenjäger ist jemand, der auf der Suche nach Angeboten oder Investments ist, die einen großen Wert bieten. Im Video wird dieser Begriff verwendet, um die Fähigkeit von Thomas Tull zu beschreiben, potenzielle Gewinnchancen in unterschiedlichen Branchen zu erkennen und erfolgreich zu nutzen.

Highlights

The concept of 'Moneyball for movies' where data analysis is applied to the film industry to identify undervalued assets and construct a successful film portfolio.

The founder's transition from blue-collar jobs to private equity and his innovative approach to business, such as surge pricing in laundromats.

The creation of Legendary Entertainment and its focus on high-budget films with strong intellectual property, mainstream actors, and directors.

Partnering with Warner Brothers and co-financing movies with a data-driven approach to determine which films to bet on and how to market them.

The importance of international appeal, specifically in China, and creating content that transcends language barriers.

The use of biometric data and heart rate monitors to test audience reactions to different trailers and marketing materials.

The challenge of marketing movies as each film's campaign is akin to running a significant company with substantial budgets allocated for promotion.

The founder's shift into defense technology investments after recognizing a need for advanced weaponry and technology in the military through film production consultations.

The strategic approach of starting a defense company, lobbying for increased defense spending, and then benefiting from the contracts awarded to one's own companies.

The account of the founder's low-profile lifestyle and his preference for making great movies without succumbing to Hollywood's status symbols.

The intriguing story of how the founder accidentally entered the auto repair shop business based on the needs of his local community in Pittsburgh.

The founder's hands-on approach to learning about advanced farming robotics by buying farmland to test and implement new technologies.

The investment in gene-editing technology and the founder's pragmatic view on the public relations value of resurrecting the woolly mammoth.

The founder's commitment to backing smart scientists with good ethics in their pursuit of innovative technologies, even if it's for headline-grabbing projects.

The anecdote about the founder's cameo appearance in a Batman film and his partial ownership of the Pittsburgh Steelers, reflecting his diverse interests.

The discussion on the 'Moneyball for X' concept and its potential applications across various industries that are not data-driven.

The idea of creating an 'idea database' from the podcast for listeners to explore business concepts they are passionate about.

Transcripts

uh really here's here's the the hook

okay so this is my Billy of the week we

used to have a billy of the week theme

song I don't know if we still have we

should dig one up or get AI to make a

bil of the week jingle for

[Applause]

[Music]

us million dollars isn't cool you know

what's cool a billion

dollar okay so I let me tell you how I

got hooked on this I read this story in

the information and I don't really read

the information normally in fact I can't

read I don't buy the I don't pay for the

information but you like it gives you

the the preview and then it starts to

fade you're saying by the way the

information.com yeah and it and it fades

and it totally gets you hooked it gets

me hooked but I'm reading the fading

part and the as it's fading away there's

a line that just caught my attention it

goes it's like residents of the small

town in Idaho were complaining because

suddenly dozens if know like you know

dozens of private jets were suddenly

flying into this private airport and you

know like basically like armored

vehicles were showing up and they're

wondering what is going on they called

the mayor and like did something happen

and they're like oh it's just Thomas tll

who's that exactly who's that and then

it faded out I was like oh I have to ask

my friend who's got an information

account to Bootleg me a copy of this

story and so he did so this guy is I

think kind of a legend he is a stealthy

billionaire he starts off his career in

lrom mats shout out to Cody

Sanchez then shifts to auto repair shops

then shifts to uh buying small

accounting practices and does basically

a rollup and ends up with 500 worldwide

locations for his accounting thing that

he put He put it all under one Banner

like American Financial Services or some

[ __ ] like that and no like private

Equity background just like a blue

collar he had he had worked he he first

was Blue Collar then at some point he

gets I don't know he he did have a like

a stint in private Equity he learned a

little bit about the private Equity

business either as an internship or

something else um but I'm pretty sure he

quit college or just like was

Moonlighting while he's at College doing

the laundromat thing uh you know grows

up single mom uh you know doesn't have a

lot of money so he's he's basically like

I need to fill a need so he's like okay

I'll start with launder mats okay this

is not a very good business but like

gets me going and he's the whole time

he's kind of a data nerd so even with

the lrat business he um start starts

buying these washing machines that can

do surge pricing so it's like when

there's more demand the cost goes up

he's like why wouldn't it do that uh all

the rush comes in at one period of a

time that's why I need to make money and

so you know he's a little bit of a data

nerd and he ends up becoming famous

because he takes that same data

philosophy and he applies it to a

business that never had it which is the

movie business and so he does what's

called Moneyball for movies so the

Moneyball strategy that was famous for

uh in baseball to find undervalued

assets and to build a team construct a

team with like you know sort of the

using data as an edge rather than these

old school Scouts that are you know

spitting sunflower seeds and looking at

a prospect and being like I like his ass

you know like let's he's going to he's

got something

I always trust a guy with a big ass you

know like it's like what what are you

talking about

um you see he gets on base a lot like no

he's too fat never they'll never make it

they're like I don't know seems like got

some strong loins yeah or be like he's

got a strong jaw I think he's got star

potential it's like okay he'll be a

leader in the

clubhouse all right great and so

Moneyball was basically like forget that

side of thing the qualitative let's

focus on the quantitative so this guy

does that for movies and he creates

legendary ENT M which is the movie

production company the movie financing

company that financed and produced

movies like The Batman series so the

Dark Knight all that stuff Batman Begins

300 The Hangover on and on and on now

recently Dune um and so he builds this

thing up sells it for $3.5 billion do to

the richest man in China and um this

guy's just like fascinating so like the

whole journey from laundr mats auto

repair shops tax firms then has a dinner

with a guy who's like I think he's a

movie exec and he's complaining about

film financing and he's like how does it

work there and it was basically like the

old um you know the baseball scouting

thing like oh this actor um you know we

like this plot blah blah blah and he's

like do you guys do any like data

analysis and he's he realized like they

don't have the money ball side but they

also don't have just private equity and

he's like move the movie business is the

largest industry that doesn't really

have like a private Equity focused firm

and that's what I'm going to do I'm just

going to bring the capital I'm not going

to be the I'm not going to have the full

production system I'm not going to have

the distribution rights I'll just bring

the capital and so what he did was he

partnered with Warner Brothers so he he

to start this business he raises $500

million which he's like this is the

hardest thing I ever done was Raising

$500 million for this thing wow and he's

he goes in and he partners with Warner

Brothers he cuts a deal like we're gonna

co-finance 30 movies with you but here's

the deal we're gonna basically build up

a data team that's going to figure out

which movies we should bet on and which

ones we shouldn't um and more

importantly how we promote them so I

thought this was interesting because in

most of the articles I read about this

guy they're just like it's like the

handwavy thing it's like and then he

started legendary entertainment and

sells it for $4 billion like what how

did this guy with no background in the

movie business create this company how

did they produce these hits and like

what was he doing differently and do you

know what he was doing differently no no

keep going so so there was two or three

insights so the first Insight he had was

bigger is actually better so there's

this romantic idea in the movie business

about like Indie indie films and like

let's go back to Quality just like real

just genuine scripts and all this stuff

and he's like most of the movies that

fail are these like mid-market movies

that kind of cost like a medium amount

of money but they don't have like

guaranteed slam dunk people will watch

for this one reason like it's got this

superhero it's got this A-list actor

whatever and he's like they're making

the plot too complicated that it only

appeals to like an intellectual person

he's like we need to have movies that

have like Commercial Appeal it should

still be elevated like he did Inception

and he did Dark Knight like they're

still great movies but like Dark Knight

is still like Batman and Inception still

has Leonardo DiCaprio right so he's like

he's like yeah I'm gonna have some

things that I could take to the bank to

actually underwrite these films better

so that was the first thing was like

they need I need to go for bigger budget

films that um have like a headline

reason that people will have to go and

pay for to to go watch this movie so he

leaned heavily into IP so like license

IP um he also leaned heavily into like

mainstream actors and directors and he

did a a ton of great stuff Straight Out

of Compton the but Dune one and two

Inception uh The Hangover which was huge

Watchman Dark Knight just by the way

great movies still a hard business I

think they they only they've only ever

had two consecutive years of

profitability or something like that

like in the like 10-year run it's not

like every year just year after year

they were heading bangers but the movie

business it's a hit business so when

they hit they hit really big in those

years that they hit and other years they

might lose 50 or100 million but then

when they hit they hit 500 million or or

billion dollars of of net gain and so

you know anyway sells the business one

of his first movies was uh was Beerfest

you're telling me that wasn't a

hit yeah so uh you know the big thing

was they they they found Christopher

Nolan pretty ear like he turned out to

be like one of the best directors period

and like he was kind of unproven at the

time so you know it's not all not all

easy second thing he did though was he's

like China how do we make movies that

have international appeal specifically

appeal in China and he's like China's a

big market and there's like a lack

there's like a lot of demand there's not

a lot of supply of American films that

can cross over and so he's like we're

going to be International and that's

going to be one of our edges so he's

like all right I'm gonna I need a

simple-minded plot so I need a a it

could be well done but the plot needs to

be simple good guy bad guy right um he's

like for most of these I need something

that will transfer into China past the

language barrier and just have like

simple appeal like Batman uh has simple

appeal and so and then he partnered with

a Chinese company he did a joint venture

with China film which is like a

government own public State company for

films and he's like we're goingon to

bring the movies and we'll do a 50-50 JV

with you over there and so he cuts the

right deal there and it has the right

distribution there then so that was the

second good thing it did the third is

the data analysis the Moneyball side of

things so I didn't fully realize this

but in both video games and

movies you might if it says like you

know this movie had a $200 million

budget that's the that's the amount they

might have spent on um making the film

but then guess how much they'll spend on

marketing the film I have no idea

another 30%

more another 100% more 150% more so if

they spend 150 million on the movie

they'll spend another 150 million or 200

million on the marketing of the movie so

each movie each movie is like a like a

meaningful size company that lasts for 3

years well sometimes longer right if it

gets syndicated if it has like longterm

like gets going I mean the actual work

the the work of making it and marketing

I mean it's almost it's it's like a

presidential election same thing with

Grand Theft Auto they'll spend like $500

million marketing Grand Theft Grand

Theft Auto that's insane it's crazy

that's insane big video games the triaa

like video games they'll spend hundreds

of Millions on their Market um so

they'll usually like double the the

amount they spent on making the thing

and so you know what else spends that

much money on marketing every DDC brand

and what he realized in the same way

that like what DC Brands did was they

took the Moneyball approach and said hm

if uh practor and gambles just like

doing these like random like just

sponsor the Super Bowl and like let's

just take tide and then or let's take

you know um whatever Old Spice and we'll

just run funny TV commercials and like

is it working I don't know right the old

adage with TV commercials was um half my

budget does nothing and half performs

problem is I don't I don't know which

half and um you know that's how brand

adver in worked and then what happened

is that guys like Moyes came in and

built native deodorant and they're like

[ __ ] the Old Spice model I don't have

enough money to do TV anyways I have to

do the Moneyball approach I need

Performance Marketing where I can

measure every dollar and attribute every

single purchase to which ad I ran and

how much I spent on that ad and that

will tell me if I should do more of that

ad or less of that ad or tweak it and

then that's how he builds you know a

really fast growing deodorant company on

the back of Facebook and so what Thomas

did was the same thing with movie

marketing what's a direct response

version for a movie that's what these

guys do they run Facebook ads they run

YouTube ads they run to buy a ticket to

the movie to get yeah to get you to not

exactly like go online and buy the

ticket right away but to get you to be

like oh yeah I heard that movie's coming

out oh it looked good so they'll do [ __ ]

let me just tell you some of the [ __ ]

that they do so I thought this was

pretty cool they'll take trailers so

they're like the trailer is the ad

creative right the trailer is the thing

that needs to get you to say oh I want

to see that that movie looks really good

and so they'll do like AB test they'll

do like 50 versions of a trailer and

they'll do they'll take an audience of

you know they'll take a hundred people

they'll put them in a movie theater

they'll play the trailer and they have a

scanner on the seat in front of you

that'll take like a facial biometric

reading of you and they have they have

you wearing a a heart rate monitor and

they're trying to see like in a movie or

a trailer or or whatever yeah like

they're trying to see like do you react

and what part do you react to does your

heart rate Elevate does it Quicken now I

don't know if this is just PR by because

the guy who was talking about this was

their head of analytics um and they

basically poach this guy

so there's some guy that was he built a

sports analytics company in the

Moneyball era sold it and then he gets a

call from Thomas and says hey do you

want to do Moneyball for movies he's

like I'm in and so he became the head of

analytics and he's like we have a 50

person applied analytics team like

applied sciences team he goes that's 49

more than every other movie producer

he's like he's like we have like 50

Engineers data scientists like the all

of these people are like hardcore data

computer science engineering type folks

and he's like nobody else even has this

department he's like or at least they

didn't when when we started do you think

they make movies dep like you know how

sometimes when we create content we

think headline first or thumbnail first

or whatever do you think they think of

the trailer as what's a good movie that

could be an awesome trailer I think 100%

they do in fact one of the films that

flopped was this thing called The Great

Wall or something like that I I don't

know I never saw it but it's like they

did the joint venture with the CH uh the

Chinese company and they're like oh

let's let's make a American movie but

it's about the Great Wall it's like

imagine if the Great Wall was actually

built to keep aliens out and that's what

they discovered the purpose was

something like that Matt Damon's in it

and uh movie flops China didn't love it

America didn't love it it was like kind

of neither it was they tried to make

something for everybody it didn't work

it was something for nobody and what he

the analytics guy is like gonna die on

this hill he's like he's like I don't

know man the data showed that Matt Damon

was he's like we we were under indexed

on Matt Damon in China I was like I

don't even know what that means but he's

basically like the price for Matt Damon

versus the cache Matt Damon has with

that audience it was a good trade and

he's like no that was a good trade and

people like the movie flopped dude he's

like all right but that was right that

one part was right which insane and so

why does he have why is he showing up to

Idaho with armored vehicles so now he's

shifted into so he sells legendary uh to

the richest man in China and then he he

still owns I think like 10 or 20% um but

like you can't own 10 or 20% of a

Chinese company as an American like that

that's a big Chinese company and so he

they give him like Phantom stock so he

gets like only a profit share uh he

can't like own any equity in the thing

but now what he does is he took that

money and he's investing heavily in

defense Tech so he invested in anduril

he invested in some Shield AI like a

bunch of Defense Tech so that meeting

was basically a meeting of the minds of

entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley who

are building defense tech people from

Washington who are like you know the

lobbyist the the people that they Lobby

they know the whoever the Senators

Congressman whoever those people are and

um the generals and the defense

contractor like a meeting on the minds

of all those people and they were just

like you know probably get together and

be like China we got to we got to stop

these guys you know like and he's got

this flywheel right because the flywheel

is so amazing the flywheel is you start

a defense company you then Lobby and

Lobby for increased defense spending so

they increase defense spending which

goes to your companies right and so like

that flywheel of like whining and dining

Washington while then funding the

companies that will win the contracts is

just a very very lucrative model I'm not

saying he's doing it in any any

malicious or nefarious way not I don't

mean that at all I just mean it's very

it's interesting how that can work right

it's smart if that's your model which is

you you can actually influence the spend

through PR through whatnot so you'll see

like a guy like Joe Lonsdale and I think

he believes this by the way he's got

defense tech companies right he started

paler um he also started a company

called epis he's starting some like you

know underwater drone company like he's

starting a bunch of deep Tech defense

tech companies but then he also spends a

lot of time building relationships with

you know public officials and and those

folks and he'll go on CNBC and he'll be

like we got to stop Tik Tock and like I

I don't think he's doing it you know

just for his dollar I don't think that's

why he's doing it I think he's doing

them all from a sense of purpose like he

genuinely thinks that we shouldn't have

Tik Tock kind of brainwashing the

American like population while being

owned or controlled or the data siphoned

off to you know the CCP so like I think

he genuinely believes that but it also

happens to be a very strong flywheel

where if you could shift the public

perception or the government the

government's perception to increase the

funding in this that will also benefit

the companies that you started to serve

that that need dude and Thomas tol looks

like a movie villain if you Google and

and look at he has a cameo in Batman he

is actually uh like in the owner's box

you know that scene where Bane like

blows up the football stadium he's in

he's because he he owns a piece of the

pittsbur Steelers too so the team the

team playing in the movie is the

Steelers he's in the owner box he is a

partial owner and he gives himself a

little Cameo this guy looks like a

Steeler he he's huge he's like a big guy

a former college football player I think

this guy's impressive hey real quick you

know one of the cool Parts about what

we're doing is that people have reached

out and told me that they've built

actual million-dollar businesses made

their first million off an idea they

heard on the show that is crazy that's

wild that's why we want to do the show

and we want to see more of that one of

the questions we get asked over and over

again is is there some kind of idea

database or spreadsheet where we list

out all the different business ideas

that we've talked about well the answer

is finally yes to find Folks at HubSpot

have dug through the archive and pulled

out 50 plus business ideas and put them

into a business idea database it's

totally free you can click the link in

the description below and get the

database for you all right now back to

the show let me tell you a couple other

random things one he's like I don't live

in LA so he built a Hollywood company

without living in La he's like he's like

I he had a great line he's like I just

want to make great movies uh that people

love I don't want to figure out you know

like I don't want to make sure I have a

dinner table at spago tonight like he's

like I don't want the Hollywood status

stuff like I just want to make great

movies and so that's why I don't live

there I I just do my thing from far away

where's he based is is it Pittsburgh is

he based I'm not sure so at one point he

bought like 150 acres of farmland and

was like I'm gonna live off this land

he's like and what he did was he's like

I want to use this to learn all of the

advanced farming robotics companies and

we'll use this land to to try those and

he's like I want to learn the tech

and try to see if are rebuilding the

future of food and I want to be living

in a self- sustainable way and like I'm

going to try I'm going to try that for a

period I don't know how long he lives

there or if he does it full-time but

this guy's pretty fascinating man he um

I don't know he's just done a lot of

things in a lot of different places and

the through line for all of it was this

Like Money Ball for X which I thought

was pretty fascinating great fine this

was that was really good this guy's so

fascinating we should get this guy on

does he do interviews or is he really

he's pretty stealthy but he went on Lex

and he also went on far Street back in

the day and so I'd love to have him on

to talk CU you could tell he's like a

you know like he's a business guy he's

very like practical like he's just I

don't know he comes across very real I

watch some of his interviews he comes

across very very real very

straightforward he's like well I just I

just thought you know like I just

thought X like he like that's it like

and and then I just did it and he's like

well you know for example he invested in

the some company doing Gene Tech editing

and these guys like are trying to bring

back the woolly mammoth have you heard

about this yeah I mean I've read about

in headlines they're St there stated

mission is to bring back the willly

mammoth but I loved how we talked about

him because it was very real and he was

like which company what's that called I

don't remember their name like Colossus

I think colossal or Colossus something

like that okay and so he's like they're

like you invest in this company that's

bringing back the woolly mammoth right

it's like a very Buzzy thing to talk

about yeah and he's like well like he's

like look I thought they were doing

really interesting things with like

studying you know the genome and Gene

editing crisper he's like I think the

willly mammoth thing makes for great PR

like he's like he was basically just

like I don't give a [ __ ] about bringing

back the woolly mammoth I'm not doing

this as some like weird billionaire like

fetish thing that billionaires do and

they're just like oh I need to like you

know resurrect you know I need to summon

a god he's like the will thing is

interesting but it's like it's like a

headline he's like you know what I like

is that he's like I met these sign these

guys and they're really smart scientists

and I just thought these guys are so

smart I need to be around them and

they're going to do really interesting

things so I'll back them and if they

want to work on this will M thing okay

great he's like but I just think the

science they're doing is really

fascinating and he goes also I like

their ethics because he goes when I the

more I met with them it was clear that

okay these guys are in the top 0.1% of

intelligence but there's people like

that in China and all around the world

he's like but they don't all have the

same ethical code that these guys do

we're like they're going to use this for

good and they're not just going to like

be cloning random [ __ ] or editing things

like in a Pretty Reckless way and he's

like so I just thought it was good these

guys needed the backing because like I I

I [ __ ] with their moral code basically

and so I don't know I like this guy I

always find it almost romantic but like

very intoxicating when I read about

people who don't have uh a ton of

education but dominate a certain area so

for him the fact that I don't know what

entirely what his back around is so I

could be off here but it seems like he's

sort of a blue cery guy who kind of

kicked ass at at finance and deal making

and but he doesn't have that traditional

New York City you know big Bank

background he didn't buy auto repair

shops because he's like oh I can do a PE

roll up and get leverage and raise

prices and he was just like he's like

well I live in Pittsburgh and I lived in

a part of Pittsburgh a lot of money

people aren't buying new cars so it's

like you got a car if your car breaks

you don't you can't really buy a new car

so the auto shops were a good bet

because they were goingon to try to fix

it it's like uh if I can get like

another year out of this beater I'm

gonna do it so he's like I just realized

like Auto Repair is gonna like be a

thing here because that's what the

community needs that's how we discovered

the defense Tech stuff so he was like he

was doing movies and he's like oh dude I

want the like the fight scenes in the

military scenes to be realistic so he's

like let's bring in advisers from the

actual military to tell us like what is

the Weaponry what would what would be

cool what would be the The Cutting Ed

stuff that if we put in the movie that

would be interesting and he's talking to

them and he's kind of like damn they

really don't have like as much Cutting

Edge Tech as I thought like the Navy and

the Marines like they kind of wished

that they could do XYZ but they couldn't

and that's when he started funding more

defense Tech he's like sounds like

there's actually just a need for this um

and so like you know obviously you don't

know how much of this is like reverse PR

where you go back and you make up a nice

wholesome sounding story but I don't

know I I bought it which I I usually I'm

pretty skeptical about that stuff but I

bought it here I also like people so and

this is really easy to read about and to

think about but basically all right so

you explained his idea I'm going to do

Moneyball for movies and you think about

it and you go okay cool that I guess

that makes sense even at the time you

could be like that's neat that's

interesting but to have the courage to

in confidence to believe that you are

right even though you don't really know

too much about something you're a total

Outsider to have the courage to do it

and to go that big I find incredibly

intoxicating and inspirational because

you I mean how many people do you think

have told him like you have no idea

about this industry we've done it this

way for a hundred years what are you

talking about that's not how it's done

but just to be like look it makes sense

that it's this this and this and this

like Warren Buffett has that a lot of

great I mean anyone who's great

typically has that where it's like they

they believe in their own logic and

their own reasoning and they believe

that their decision is the right

decision even though most everyone is

like that's insane I have so much love

for people who are that courageous and

confident in their own decisions I think

that's very MB yeah conviction is

attractive um you know one of the things

that they talked about with the the

Moneyball thing it's like cool like you

can set you can read you can have an

analogy like Moneyball for movies and

then you sit down you're like cool so

what are we going to Moneyball like in

sports all of the data is public it's

all there everyone's stats are there

every is filmed on TV so even if you

didn't have a stat you could go back and

create it like what are you going to do

for the movies it's like not the same

thing and so what do you what are you

actually going to do and so one of the

things they did they were like the

analytics guy had a great statement he

goes I take this population of people

he's like on the left side of the bell

curve there's people who are never going

to watch the movie no matter what we do

we don't want to spend a dollar

marketing to them that's my goal with

that population is don't spend $1 dollar

on one impression for those people who

are never going to watch it's like then

you have the people that are going to

watch no matter what I also don't want

to spend a dollar on them like they just

they are Dune Fanatics they got a dune

poster in their in their in their

bedroom they grew up watching the

reading the books they're going to watch

doe no matter what I do so then there's

the people in the middle and the people

in the middle they're like our swing

voters

and they might watch it and I need to

figure out then I start slicing and

dicing that audience and I figure out

this mom is going to watch because she

loves that actor and this guy's going to

watch because he loves a badass action

scene so we need two different trailers

that we're going to run in Social ads at

each of those he's like and then we need

a data set that tells us who actually

goes to the movies and like basically

need a map between the the email

addresses that we're advertising to and

the email addresses that are used that

to buy tickets and we need to create

these clusters and try to figure out

like what's actually converting movie

folks weren't doing this I guess not not

in a serious way I don't know maybe

maybe there's other producers that are

like you know like kicking the wall

right now being like God damn it we all

do this like that's not special I don't

know I don't know the business well

enough these guys told the story best

better than anybody else so seems to

have

worked this is awesome I mean the track

record's also there too right like they

had they just like I mean they built a

really big thing in a really small

amount of time coming in as a complete

Outsider so you know that's pretty

pretty impressive this guy's fascinating

I want to learn more about this guy yeah

he's cool one one other point on this

it's interesting to think about where

else Moneyball for X could be

implemented so I don't know if you've

read about Obama's data team or well

I've read about Trump's uh Trump's i'

I've read a lot about trumps and it is

getting into election season coming up

uh and I hate it because they they get I

get so many texts and emails I mean they

are intense about their marketing and I

know that Jared Kushner kind of hired a

bunch of tech guys and they crushed it

even before Trump Obama raised something

like a billion and a half dollars and

they spent most of that I would imagine

on marketing uh I mean what these what

the politicians do in basically a year

and a half it's pretty phenomenal in

terms of like deploying money for

marketing and they're Savage about it

dude the presidential election is a

marketing contest between two agencies

and they each get to pick their their

front man and then they run a marketing

Blitz and they spend 500 million to a

billion dollars marketing over the

course mons and and like that's it so it

got two pres the last two presidents

elected was the money ball for X they

used it in politics it helped the Red

Sox win the World Series uh you know

worked in baseball it built tons of DC

Brands the Moneyball approach also is

you know in finance with all the quants

Quant funds or hedge funds that are

using using this or Renaissance um so

it's pretty interesting to see how you

can use Moneyball in a in a IND any

industry that is still like not data

first so not data driven and if you

asked you know how do you guys make

decisions and it's basically some

version of gut uh gut eyeball you know

taste uh there's probably a Moneyball

like variant there I know a guy who uh

is doing it in with HVAC he has an HVAC

business doing like 150 million a year

in revenue and he tells me constantly

all the data stuff that they're doing

and he's like no one people don't do

this uh in our industry no one is doing

this where uh it's as simple as you know

we're looking at the data of what can we

send and how many emails can we send to

get more Google reviews but they just

like Chang their their data is it's like

they're running it like a tech company a

little bit where they have a small data

analytics team and he says that very

rarely is anyone else in the HVAC

industry doing something like

this dude uh Sam I gotta ask you I

already know the answer to this question

but I gotta ask you did you watch UFC

300 on Saturday the full five hours or

six hours yeah set the whole time it was

amazing did you make like a seven layer

nacho dip and just sit there for seven

hours watching it I I watched the entire

thing I think it started at 6 o'clock

and it ended at 1 o'cl my time so I want

to talk about it because a we're both

UFC fans uh and it was amazing but B

there's actually a great business CEO

lesson in it that I want to I want to go

to but first can we just explain for for

anybody what Max Holloway did because I

think the max Holloway thing alone if

you don't even watch the fights you need

to know that this happened well let's

explain UFC 300 so UFC's been around

since the '90s uh they've done thousands

of events but the major events they

number them UFC 1 2 3 4 5 this past

weekend was UFC 300 typically what they

do is a card has five main fights and

then before the five main fights there's

10 prelims which are no-name fights that

up are up up incomers this time they

didn't have they had 15 fights but all

of them were famous great people and so

it created like 5 hours of epic fight

cards right yeah it was crazy and um one

of the fights was for a madeup title

called the bad mother effer belt the BMF

title and it was two guys who are

popular but they're currently not at the

tippy top of their thing so one guy this

guy's name is Max Holloway and he's

fighting this guy Justin gatei and

they're fighting and Justin G is a big

favorite coming into the fight people

think he's going to win Max Holloway has

kind of gotten he's he's kind of looks

like he's on the back end of his prime

or maybe on the decline a little bit and

um so two things happen One Max H starts

to win okay that itself was cool

remarkable but nothing compared to what

happened at the end so the guy the way

UFC fight works is five rounds let's say

and basically what happens is if you're

winning you each round gets scored if

you're winning each of the rounds you

have it locked up so what happens is

let's say you are winning three rounds

to two or four rounds to one your corner

tells you hey you're way ahead just play

it safe just the only way this other guy

can win is if he knocks you out don't

you just play it smart right that's n

times out of 10 however this is fighting

entertainment and some Fighters

understand that and some Fighters don't

Max Holloway understands that so what he

did was he wins all five rounds so he's

not even up 32 four one he wins all five

rounds and at the end of the fifth round

he's basically broken this guy's nose

he's got this guy kind of uh batter and

bruis the only thing this one guy can do

and this guy's a power puncher the only

thing this guy can do is knock him out

Max Holloway decides in the last 10

seconds where most guys kind of just

circle around raise their hands try to

tell the judges they won he points to

the middle of the Ring it points down

and he's like stand right here neither

one of us backs down and just let's

swing as hard as we can and try to knock

each other out for the last 10 seconds

now this sounds very Savage what this

actually just say is incredibly

courageous and brave and entertaining

and Reckless and stupid all at the same

time rolled into one and they both start

just swinging absolute Haymakers at each

other and then he and the last second of

the fight knocks the other guy out cold

I feel like I can't even do it justice

if you if you watch the fight you

already know what happened if you don't

want you probably don't care about this

but it was remarkable to watch it was

probably the best UFC moment I've ever

seen maybe for sure top for sure top

three probably number one and I would

actually say it was one of the best

moments in sports that I've ever

seen exactly it was like I felt so much

adrenaline watching this I was like it

was in the middle of the night my baby

was sleeping and I yelled like as loud

as I could I was in awe it was so

adrenaline inducing it was amazing it

would be like in basketball if LeBron

James was about to win the NBA finals

and normally they're just trying to hold

the ball you know stall let the clock

run out and instead he handed the ball

to his opponent said no come here you

have the ball come to the middle of the

Court everybody get off the court

oneon-one right now for the game for the

championship for the glory and uh and

then somehow also if he risked getting

knocked out in the process uh so pretty

insane moment Mark Zer by the way was

sitting Ringside at every fighter would

run up to him and start pointing at him

and talking to him it was awesome it was

so exciting by the way don't you think

that Zuck should lean in more to this I

feel like this is the best PR that Mark

zucker's ever had is his own his own um

you know heel turn into becoming a

fighter being at the UFC Court uh

ringside hanging out there and all the

fighters really loving going into the

tough man sport right basically and he

looked cool he looked cool he had like a

little afro and he had a white T-shirt

on like baggy white he looked like a

cool guy he did yeah he has like the

oversized tea now he got like he like

went on Tik Tok shops and bought like

the oversized tea from some like

18-year-old who was doing a dance video

and his wife looked cool too this it's

called mob Chic what she was wearing it

was like all black she looked cool they

both looked cool Google that I I Google

it I read a Business Insider article I

learned that word mob Chic so you know

what he should do by the way this is a

little PR lesson for him I think think

that um he should create his own

Zuckerberg bonus so he should have the

Zuck like idea the Zuck 500 and he just

gives 500,000 to whoever had the most

badass performance so it should have

just been like Max Hollow it's like

whoever just really put it all on the

line win or lose doesn't matter somebody

who showed the most heart like the

underdog bonus and because these guys

don't get paid and Zuck has all of the

money so if he just did that for every

pay-per-view I feel like that would be

its own storyline he'd get so much good

that you literally real Gladiator stuff

you couldn't buy it yeah um by the way

the singer Saia CIA she does this for

Survivor so the winner of Survivor wins

a million dollars and C is a super fan

of Survivor and she just called into the

reunion one time and was like Hey I just

love that guy he didn't even come close

to winning but I want to give him 50

Grand and so it became the the sea bonus

of like whoever won her heart gets like

extra money at the end it's it's pretty

genius dude that's so funny that's

awesome um all right and so Max Max

knocks out the guy what happens what

what what's the business angle here the

press conference at the end is is always

entertaining Dana White is a very

unfiltered guy Dana please come on the

Pod he goes on the press conference and

somebody asks him they were like Dana

you know on a night like this UFC 300

you try to build a car but after that

it's out of your hands you know then

it's up to the fighters and like how

happy are you that it just turned out

that way like such a moment um and such

a great great overall night and Dana

goes you know people ask me what I do

for a living I don't he's like I don't

organize fights I sell holy [ __ ] moments

and tonight I sold a I sold millions of

holy [ __ ] moments basically he's like I

sold a holy [ __ ] moment to millions of

people and I thought it's a great little

lesson which is what are you really

selling what are you really selling in

your business is he selling a mixed

martial arts contests is he selling an

event is he sell he says I'm selling

holy [ __ ] moments and I thought about

this and I you know marketers for a long

time have known this which is there's

levels to marketing and I want to give

you my five levels to marketing based on

the Dana White principle of selling holy

[ __ ] moments okay you ready for

this level one you sell a product and

this is every shitty startup website you

go to it and it just says we are a um

Healthcare CRM using AI they're just

describing some product and it's not

compelling because I don't give a [ __ ]

about your product I give a [ __ ] about

myself and uh your product is some

abstract you know we're a

blockchainbased um you know web 3 arcade

sidescroller it's like what uh you know

and if you go to most product websites

to be honest they're just selling a

product that's level one this is what

failing companies do okay um level two

level two is you don't sell a product

you sell a

solution and this is effective but it's

competitive this is um like Head and

Shoulders Head and Shoulders says hey

you're retire having that dandruff on

your shoulder use Head and Shoulders it

gets rid of the dandruff okay so selling

a solution to a paino and this is where

I would say okay if 50% of companies

just do sell a product another 45% are

going to sell the solution to a pain

Point okay now we get into the

championship rounds where we're going to

have more interesting ways of doing

things so the next one level three you

sell a

lifestyle this is Lululemon this is

slack so if you've ever if you don't

believe me go read the Stuart

Butterfield who's the CEO of slack go

read his post called we don't sell

Saddles here and I'll spoil it for you

which is he says imagine you're a saddle

company you make saddles we could just

describe the product the Saddles we

could describe some solution like oh

your butt won't be sore on our saddle or

we could sell the lifestyle the joy of

horseback riding and get people to want

to be on Horseback to feel free to have

the wind blowing through their hair you

make that lifestyle aspirational and

then when they're like I got to do that

now they're super motivated and they say

well what do I need you're like well you

need a saddle and ours are the best and

so he says that this is how the yoga

companies Lululemon and whatnot this is

how they got popular too is they didn't

say here we have the best yoga pants

which was a small Market of people

looking for yoga pants they got people

into the idea of doing yoga and once you

get into doing yoga and the benefits of

yoga you're going to want to invest in

buying better gear as you go and L lemon

will say well we have the best gear and

so you this is how you create a category

or you just want to make your your ass

look dope but the lifestyle of being a

big booty queen and if that's a

lifestyle you want to be a part

of we are the pants for you yeah yeah

the MFM merch store will soon have uh

soon have fat margin bottoms and the

real bottom

lines that's pretty good all right and

four and five four is where I thought we

stop there's actually five but four is

where I thought we stopped this is the

Dana White level you sell a feeling and

I'll tell you that that line that

somebody told me once I hired this

consultant and I was talking about my

content I did the lamest thing I hired a

consultant for my personal brand just to

know what do these guys know I didn't

ever end up implementing really anything

but I did take away this one thing he

said he goes I go you've worked with all

the big names you've worked with uh you

know who I don't want to out him I guess

but he he's works with a bunch of big

names I said what do they do differently

than what I'm doing and he goes you make

content they give out a feeling I said

what he goes as any content creator you

are The Merchant of feelings you g if

you give someone a feeling more

consistently and more powerfully than

anybody else that's What Makes You box

office and I was like man I love using

the word box office that's great and um

this is what Dana White was saying right

we sell holy [ __ ] moments we give you

that feeling that you can't really get

anywhere else like in your life can you

really get like there's a reason you

love UFC my buddy Julian Shapiro loves

the UFC like none other like and he's

like I can't watch other sports he's

like I can't watch TV or movies if UFC

has ruined it for me well Dana White

said something amazing he goes he goes

think about this you're at the you're at

the Super Bowl It's the final down it's

the greatest moment in in Sp in NFL

history and a fight breaks out a few

rows down from you what are you GNA do

you're gonna stop you're gonna stop

watching football and you're going to go

and pay attention to the fight that's

what people do and that's the business

that I'm in that's why I knew this was

going to be the greatest sport ever

exactly and so the greatest Brands let's

say uh Disney Disney's amazing at this

Disney doesn't say come to our theme

park um we have the fastest rides or we

have the shortest Lines no they they

tell you about the magical family

experience right this is going to be a

lifetime memory for you um this is going

to give your kids a magical feeling a

magical moment all of their movies are

the same way right you watch a Pixar

movie because it's going to give you

this feel-good moment right that's the

and they give you feel-good moments more

consistently than anybody else um so the

breast bar do this Louis vuon Louis

Vuitton gives you a feeling of status of

importance UFC gives you the holy [ __ ]

feeling Nike gives you a feeling that

you know uh of the feeling of greatness

when they advertise their shoes they

don't advertise the rubber shoes they

basically show you someone's striving

for greatness and it's that inspiration

that motivation that they sell okay so

now level five level five I realized is

the highest one you didn't sell a

product you didn't sell a solution you

didn't sell a lifestyle you didn't sell

a you sell an identity and this is what

the religions do this is what political

parties do they basically give you a a

tribe they give you a label they give

you a purpose uh they give you a sense

of belonging it's almost like buying a a

Subway franchise they're like here wear

this uniform put this logo up here's the

packaging here's a here's a portrait of

bread put that on your wall you now have

an identity we gave you a brand for you

to have because you didn't have one on

your own we gave you a purpose we gave

you something to do it's an identity in

a box

I think that is the highest level of

what um of what you can do is you you

sell an identity to people first of all

very good I'm this you've you this was a

really good monologue you tied in some

of my favorite stuff congratulations

second of all were you just watching the

UFC taking notes on this stuff and just

like no I heard him say that in the I

heard him say that in the press

conference and I go that's exactly what

he does that's why I watch because I

can't get that holy [ __ ] feeling from

anything what else is as real as that

and once you know the the stories of the

fighters right that's really what works

right if you're personally invested and

you understand the stakes you understand

what's in it for each

guy there's like you know it's it's

pretty hard to compare that to really

any of sport maybe boxing is is the

other one uh no boxing doesn't even come

close to what these guys do like they're

they're in A League of Their Own in

terms of giving me a feeling like I wore

I wore a heart rate monitor one time to

see what would happen cuz I I noticed

going into the fight I was so anxious

because I was so emotional invested my

heart rate went up like 20 beats per

minute like before this fight like it it

was insane I get so into this that I

find myself like tired the next day it's

one of the very few times that I felt

this in sports it's the best I feel a

little bit in the Olympics because I get

into that but no I mean what he has done

and what the UFC has done in terms of uh

what did you say selling emotions it's

the best I mean if you go go look at the

old cigarette ads if you want to see

this so if you go look at old cigarette

ad obviously not selling the product

they're not selling a solution to a pain

point they're not saying a hey your

lungs need a little more tar in them you

know like they're not doing that um they

it's all about a feeling and an identity

right so they're giving you a feeling of

uh of Greater you know self-importance a

cool self-image right so all of the

marketing around cigarettes was a cool

self-image it's a cool guy and in his

cool moment he takes out the Sig and he

lights it up or the woman doing the same

thing the go watch the desis commercial

right the most interesting man in the

world sitting in a bar surrounded by

women but not paying them any attention

looking at you dead in the camera making

eye contact he's a man's man he's done

this he's done that he's done this and

when he drinks beer he Dr do dois right

it's he trying to give you a a cool

self-image that's what a lot of luxury

products and a lot of commodity products

have to do and so once you realize that

you're like oh and I love this because

in our world the tech world the business

world most people are like absolute

rookie white belts at real marketing and

um and like even the best inclass is

just saying sell a solution to a paino

just tell the benefit not the feature

and that's like level two and they just

stopped there nobody really goes beyond

that and um and so I like taking what is

what does the best-in class look like

when it comes to like you know marketing

and brand and and and actually doing

something that gets people to to move

and take action um and you know how do I

bring that into our world because then

then you're you know you have an unfair

advantage and it's not always around

violent so if you're listening to this

and you don't know anything about the

UFC go to YouTube and type in UFC Rose

I'm the best one of the best uh moments

from UFC is also this young woman named

Rose Nunes and she's about to fight and

she clearly is scared and you see her

Ming to herself I'm the best I'm the

best I'm the best and I remember

distinctly where I was she looks like

your little sister and the person across

the ring from her looks like the

Terminator and so you could you can just

put yourself in in that person's shoes

oh man they're about to fight somebody

who's clearly just bigger stronger

faster everything and she's mouthing to

herself I'm the best to kind of like

it's like she's walking into the lion's

den and she's got to believe this

otherwise she doesn't stand a chance and

she knocks her out she knocks her out in

the first round or something like that

and it was one of the it was another

great sporting moment so the two other

moments first of all there was two

Chinese women fighting uh which is uh

the first time that's ever happened uh

for the championship and one of the

ladies chokes out another woman and she

goes unconscious right when the bell

rings so she they're able to keep

fighting she doesn't really wake up

until she gets punched again on the

second round which was like just epic

and then the third thing that happened

was in the last fight Alex Pereira gets

kicked in the gro the ref goes to stop

it he waves him off and then 10 seconds

later knocks out the other guy it was

just full of badass moments where this

whole thing it was just it was epic it

was an epic event and by the way to just

tie this principal back by the way um I

did this with the podcast so I was like

what is what are we really selling here

on the podcast is it ideas do people

show up because they want a business

idea that's kind of lame like sure it's

fun to hear ideas fun to talk about

ideas but if you're really like you know

what to be successful I'm going to go to

this YouTube channel and find a business

idea that these random guys are gonna

say Allah like that's like honestly

that's a bad plan like it might happen

but don't don't do it for that reason um

and the same reason like you know we

might talk about the UFC or something

else like that's probably not the most

effective thing for to do every day so

it's not our product it's not a pain

point so what one thing that I figured

out was like I and when I talked to a

bunch of people and I I tweeted this out

I go what is this what is something you

remember and what's the reason you

actually listen to the Pod regularly

like what what keep keeps you hooked and

the number one word that kept coming up

was oh man I feel so inspired after I

listen and they're like not in a Cheesy

way but they're like literally if I'm

driving and I'm listening I sometimes

will pull over because I'm I got to

write something down right you guys said

one phrase that really stuck with me and

that was like oh that's going to be an

unlock for me either personally or in my

marketing or whatever or it's I heard

about this idea I'm not going to go do

that idea but I'm inspired by that idea

or you tell the story of some Billy of

the week some guy who's really crushed

it or some business that's under the

radar that's crushing it and all of a

sudden I feel like you know success is

abundant I'm inspired to go go make my

[ __ ] happen I'm not going to do what

they did but I'm gonna go make my [ __ ]

happen and so we sell inspiration that's

the first thing we actually sell one

secondary thing which is have you ever

seen that Meme of the kid eating cereal

next to his TV box it's like three

there's three friends on the TV box and

he's just like cozied up next to it it's

like me and my four friends but it's

just like oh that's awesome one's a

photo and it's basically like

companionship and and people have posted

before like this is me when I listen to

podcasts it's like kind of like you're

hanging out with your friends except for

they're not there but it feels that way

um and so that's the other thing is like

for a lot of people who listen what what

I learned was that even more than the

the inspiration the ones that are super

sticky it's companionship it's basically

my real life friends aren't as nerdy

about business business as I am or I

live in the middle of nowhere Iowa or

I'm in Biz or I'm in you know wherever

and I don't know six other people that I

can hang out with twice a week and just

nerd out about business with and so you

guys are basically my substitute for

what I what I don't have or don't have

the time for in my my day-to-day life

this was an a A+ segment good job I dig

that let me tell you uh let me tell you

let me tell you about something so I I

launched something a couple weeks ago or

uh a week ago and I think there's only a

30% chance of it working but I thought I

could like reveal some of the numbers

behind it so I launched this thing

called Sam's list it's samslist doco did

you see when I when I shared that online

the other day yeah I did all right so

let me explain the background so I was

at the airport in January and I had just

gotten an email from my accountant and

it pissed me off that they didn't catch

an air that they I thought they should

have caught it or caught and so I

tweeted out who has an accountant that

they love I got about 300 responses and

I noticed that tons of people were

bookmarking that tweet as if they're

going to come back and hire an

accountant which was on the tweet and so

I thought you know I think I could make

a thing out of this and so I hired a

developer who works on Bubble do you

know what bubble is have you ever used

bubble yeah the website builder yeah man

it's awesome it's like a whole app

builder and so we built this website

where we got it was basically I wanted

to create like a Yelp for accountants uh

like a place where you can identify an

accountant that's good based off of your

friends and I thought like this could be

a good idea because when you hire an

accountant you don't really have a place

to see reviews you mostly hear about an

accountant through word of mouth and if

you hire the wrong accountant it's

basically like a year that you have to

stay with them before you find out that

they kind of stink so I was like all

right I'm going to create this thing

it's called Sam's list we're going to

build this out it's going to be awesome

I spent about $15,000 to build it out

and so here's what I did I got 300

replies to that tweet I called all of

them so I got most of them on the phone

or some of them via email and I asked

them all types of questions I asked them

how much do they charge who the perfect

client is who's the not perfect client

what services are their Specialties

things like that as if I was going to

hire them I think you had told me one

time when you went to hire an account

and you created like your own data room

and you like sent it to people and

you're like yeah who can handle this

best well I I kind of did like a thing

like that I put them all on this website

on Sam's list and I it took me a few

weeks to get it going and then I shared

it and I want this thing to work I don't

think it's going to why are you saying

that is that like some weird humble like

are you just doing some reverse thing

where it's like if only the community

would rally and you like what are you

doing here is this reverse psychology

it's not reverse psychology I'll explain

why this will be hard to work and so

here was here here was my math my math

was basically if I can get 500,000

people a month to come to this website

3% of them would answer the or would

contact an accountant somehow I could

charge the accountants $100 per person I

sent to them per lead that I sent to

them and if that were the case that

would be something like $1.5 million a

month in sales I figured that would take

years to get to but like if I could get

to that that's like an interesting thing

well I shared it online in the first

week I got 13,000 visits we made this

really cool quiz where you could like

say like how much revenue you have do

you want this for your business or

personal whatever and then we would

recommend three or four accountants that

you like or that could fit your needs we

had 6,000 people answer the quiz um and

we also created this feature where you

could schedule a meeting right there on

the website with that with those

accountants that we referred you to very

few people scheduled appointments and

very few people even submitted their

information to the accountants what's

very few so we had 6,000 people take the

quiz in one week I think we had like a

100 or 200 people like submit

information to the account and but

that's not the issue the issue isn't the

user the issue is accountants are not

clamoring for these leads like like my

big learning was that there's a massive

and this is for someone can go and solve

this problem there's a massive shortage

of accountants there's not a uh shortage

of people looking for an accountant

there's a huge shortage of people who

are becoming accountants not only that

the people who are accountants they

don't really want to like grow their

business to be that large um and I

thought that they'd be dying to get more

customers they're really not which

shocked me that was like a really big

shocker and when I launched this

business I basically copied or I didn't

copy I use have you ever heard of

smartasset.com

um no so smartasset.com I bet you've

seen them if you've Googled like what's

California's taxes or California tax

calculator well the reason why they have

all that stuff is they're actually doing

well I'm doing what they're doing but

they're doing what what I'm doing for uh

CFA so certified financial planners um

or advisers and what they do is you take

this quiz and they tell you all like you

answer these questions about you know

how old you are if you're retired if

you're not retired what you're trying to

do with your money are you trying to

invest it or just live off it whatever

and then they recommend like three or

four people who might fit your needs but

what I found on that website is if you

click around they have to tell you how

much they're paying per person per lead

and so they actually say if a person has

between a million and five million

assets this adviser is paying $700 per

lead if it's over 5 million they're

paying uh 250 to or it gives you like a

range per like uh per cost per lead per

net worth and it like tells you all like

how they do their business I thought I

could just replicate it turns out CPAs

aren't like dying for business and so

the it's the exact opposite they're

actually overwhelmed with business um

and so that's why I don't think this is

actually going to make a lot of money uh

I think you're wrong I think there's a

need for this I think that it will do

well I also think you know that and I

think you're no I don't I'm to I think

you're playing us just G to put it out

there I'm G to shut it down on May

30th no I went Trump on you for a second

that was good if it doesn't work if I

I'm losing money right now on this if it

doesn't start working by May 30th I'm

shutting it down like I'm not going to

invest more money on it dog just give it

to me I'll make this work this is so

easy uh you're just being impatient and

it's going to fail because you're you

have a much better business that you're

busy with called Hampton and uh you

should focus on that that's why this is

going to fail and that's why this is a

bad idea but otherwise it's a good idea

let me point out a couple of the product

details that I like and I'm tell you

some of the things that you should do

differently so we can screen share this

all right I love when I go to the site

and it pops up the uh so I go to the

site and it pops up and it basically

like normally where there's an email pop

up but it's like no email no BS know

something like let's go I was like okay

already I think you should just actually

call that out a little more and be like

you know we want to help you we don't

need your email address and then just

have a button that says thank God and

then you know they thank God it takes

them down the funnel you I love this

part that you did where you you WR read

this first and you wrote I have this

many Twitter followers I asked if they

have a CPA account if they that they

love then I called all them I asked them

how much they charge blah blah blah why

would I do this because I'm a nerd and I

needed an accountant I thought well how

about I make this useful for others blah

blah blah that's great I love how you do

that I love how you put everybody's

Twitter profile attached to their name

nice touch uh like your name here every

accountant you can go see their Twitter

which for our Market is actually a good

idea you know most people

for us it's cool um you should put the

prices on the front thing because I

think that's like makes it a lot more

value add to the person coming in it's

like oh good these people already went

and found what the rates are for these

and you also said like I asked them who

their sweet spot customer is and blah

blah blah like what I can't tell is like

you know when um you know when you go to

cars and bids and Doug deorro has the

Doug speech bubble and Doug's like

here's what I think

um I think you kind of need to lean into

that I agree that's a good idea I don't

trust reviews I trust review and I

really just trust you and so the

question is like can you you know not

just call them but call like you know 10

of their clients and be like tell me

everything and then end up with one

speech bubble that's Sam saying talk to

them talk to their clients here's

roughly what they charge and like you

know this is like you know people are

screaming endorsing or they're like yeah

it's pretty good and like you know so I

think they're solid and they seem to

specifically help out this type of

customer I think that would make it

better I think that's a good idea the

reason why we haven't I haven't done

that yet is I would have to hire someone

to help me call those people and I was

like I need to figure out does this

thing even make money in the first place

in order to like justify all this work

the dreams baby if you build it they

will come did you see uh so a few things

the design I liked our design I just

ripped it off it's we made it looked

like old Microsoft and then the image is

I just copied clippy you remember clippy

from Microsoft

Words this because it doesn't make any

sense it's Ai and on the calculator face

it's only four digits it's a two it's a

five it's a nine and a q

uh yeah putting the Q in as the last

letter is the AI knows something we

don't yeah and so uh anyway I I thought

I'd fill people in on this I I think I

it's hard I don't want to be in the

business of selling leads to small

accountants and having like hundreds and

hundreds of different clients paying me

versus is I think in order to make this

work you actually what you do is you get

someone's information and then in order

to do lead gen you usually only have a

small amount of very large companies who

pay you a large sum per month for a

certain amount of leads versus one off

you know what I mean um so I'm still

trying to figure this [ __ ] out but uh

we'll see if it works

out all right uh you got anything else

are we done no I'm uh you did great you

that was good two two

bangers that's what I'm tell my wife

when I go downstairs how is the Pod

double Banger double

Banger um all right that's the pod

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