Dec 11, 2023 · 1h 3m · my-first-million
5 Internet Goldmines To Spot The Next $1B Trend | Steph Smith (#529)
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Steph Smith joins Sam Parr and Sean Puri on My First Million to reveal unconventional online data repositories—or 'internet pipes'—for discovering high-potential business opportunities before they reach the mainstream. The episode explores actionable frameworks for trend identification across patent filings, demographic shifts, sci-fi archives, and creator monetization models.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. The hosts hold 62.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
The hosts as informed peer 6.1 Guest teaching 4.4 Guest disagreement 1.1 The hosts pushing back 1.9
speaking balance: gold is the hosts, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 45:20 Steph rejects VC fundraising for internet artistry
Steph firmly dismisses the premise of taking venture capital or building a traditional startup, asserting her desire to operate entirely as a solo creator.
Hardest push from the hosts ▶ 54:20 Shaan pushes back on Steph's underpricing impulseShaan challenges Steph's plan to underprice her digital assets, arguing that incremental sub-scale monetization distracts from building high-leverage networks.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 18:07 Steph explains microgravity drug manufacturingSteph explains the physics behind microgravity chemical synthesis to Sam when he questions why companies like Varda manufacture pharmaceuticals in space instead of on Earth.
The host holds their own ▶ 34:40 Shaan articulates the power of riding megatrendsShaan draws on Mark Zuckerberg's framework and his own company sale to Twitch to articulate why capitalizing on macro tailwinds beats micro-execution.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The hosts as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The hosts pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introducing Internet Goldmines for Trend Spotting | 7 | 5 | 1 | 2 | Steph outlines patent tracking databases like Patent Drop and PatentsExpiringToday, while Sam immediately counters with a deep dive into BlueChew's business model and similarweb traffic analysis. | |
| The Viral Appeal of Miniature and Oversized Products | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Sam and Shaan discuss Mini Brands and toy mogul Nick Mowbray, riffing with Steph on the psychological consumer appeal of miniaturized and oversized products. | |
| HubSpot CRM Platform Advertisement | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | After an ad read, Steph quizzes the hosts on the fastest growing sports from SFIA research data, revealing surprising trends like alpine touring and winter fat biking. | |
| Sean Puri's Suburban Triathlon Business Concept | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Shaan pitches his humorous concept for a Suburban Triathlon aimed at middle-aged men, while Sam enthusiastically validates the branding potential. | |
| Mining Sci-Fi Databases for Future Product Innovations | 5 | 7 | 1 | 2 | Steph explains the TechNovelgy sci-fi database created by Pakki McCormick, educating the hosts on historical predictive timelines and companies like Varda manufacturing drugs in space. | |
| Demographic Shifts and Air Quality Data Goldmines | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | Steph shares Our World in Data findings on global air pollution and particulate matter impact, prompting Shaan to analyze demographic shifts and eldercare tailwinds. | |
| Betting on Megatrends from GLP-1 to Filtration | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | Shaan delivers an in-depth breakdown of investing in megatrends like GLP-1 drugs and his early Twitch video streaming pivot, while Sam discusses showerhead filtration businesses. | |
| Exploring Gadget Flow, Hardware Accessories, and Pet Tech | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | Steph explores Gadget Flow accessory opportunities and pet communication tech like Fluent Pet, while Shaan shares an anecdote about his dog's name. | |
| Steph Smith on Becoming an Independent Internet Artist | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | Steph describes wanting to be an independent internet artist rather than raising venture capital, while Shaan jokingly roasts her for falling for a16z corporate swag. | |
| Product Monetization Frameworks and Internet Pipes Launch | 8 | 3 | 2 | 4 | Shaan and Sam mentor Steph on product monetization for Internet Pipes, contrasting low-cost digital products with Tim Ferriss and Alex Hormozi's ultra-free vs ultra-premium frameworks. | |
| Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and the Michael Scott Effect | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Sam provides candid advice on salary negotiation and imposter syndrome based on past experience managing Steph, while Shaan coins the 'Michael Scott syndrome' management concept. |
Statements from this episode (14)
Parr: Global Erectile Dysfunction Market Will Reach 500 Million by 2030
“The customer base for that is like, a 150 or two hundred million people in the world. And then it's projected by 2000, 2030 to be like four or five hundred million.”
Parr: BlueChew Bootstrapped to $200M in Sales After Viagra's Patent Expired
“I don't know how big they are, but I'm pretty sure they're between a 102 hundred million dollars a year in sales, and they entirely bootstrapped this company starting in 2017, and it was because of that patent that expired, and they built this business because…”
Puri: Extreme Sizing Is a Reliable Playbook for Consumer Product Differentiation
“Either like an overly large thing or a completely tiny thing is just like one way to make a product.”
Puri: Alpine Touring Is the Second Fastest-Growing Sport After Pickleball
“It does seem like pickleball is number one, but number two, I would have never guessed Alpine touring.”
Puri: A Suburban Triathlon for Unfit Men Could Rival Tough Mudder
“I really think that if somebody created some kind of thing for, you know, out of shape, middle-aged guys to do, they'll do it. And I think if you make it, if you brand it almost like as the non-fit person triathlon, and it's gotta have like some version of eat…”
Smith: Microgravity Enables Novel Pharmaceutical Compounds Impossible to Synthesize on Earth
“The physics when you're on earth due to gravity and some of the other forces that don't exist in space results in you not being able to create certain chemical structures, and that impacts the way that drugs can be basically ingested or administered. And so th…”
Puri: Elder Care Businesses Possess a Massive Demographic Tailwind Over 20 Years
“If you're building anything that's in the elder care that you're going to own for, let's say, 1020 years you have this immense tailwind behind you, which is just that the population of people who fit, you know, the customer base is going to grow Dramatically. …”
Puri: The Fourth-Best Way to Surf a Megatrend Will Still Succeed
“If you know what the mega, you know, the big tidal waves are, and you just figure out, okay, what's the best way to surf this? And even if you don't figure out the best way, even the fourth best way to surf a mega trend is gonna, gonna work in your favor.”
Parr: Filtered Showerheads Will Mirror the Direct-to-Consumer Boxed Mattress Boom
“I think that is going to be a pretty big company. And I think there's going to be a whole, I imagine it's going to be like a Like a boxed mattress trend, where no one has them, and then suddenly many people have them, and there's tons and tons of competition, …”
Smith: Mass Hardware Adoption Almost Always Unlocks Massive Secondary Accessory Markets
“Every time there's a new device that ends up penetrating, ah, a lot of people's homes or wallets, ah, there's almost always an opportunity for accessories.”
Smith: 70% of Teenagers in the United States Own Apple AirPods
“70% of all U.S. Teens have AirPods.”
Puri: A Personal Course Generated $1M Annually From 10 Days of Teaching
“I had a course that I was teaching maybe five to 10 days a year. Not much. And it was making over a million dollars a year.”
Parr: Across 75 Hires, Female Candidates Negotiated Salaries Far Less Than Men
“Women in particular were horrible at pushing back on their salary for what they should ask for. And, you know, my company was small. We, in aggregate, probably hired 75 people. But I noticed a small trend of women in particular did not push back nearly as hard…”