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Aug 23, 2022 · 56m · my-first-million

6 Hilarious Business Ideas That Could Make You $1,000,000 in 2022 (#351)

Shaan Puri · 26m spoken Sam Parr · 19m spoken Ben Abreu · 1m spoken HubSpot Ad Voice · 2s spoken
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In this 'Drunk Ideas' episode of My First Million, hosts Sean Puri and Sam Parr pitch six unconventional, high-margin business concepts ranging from voyeuristic therapy platforms to privacy vault apps and experiential dining. After dissecting the mechanics and monetization behind each concept, Producer Ben crowns the best and worst business ideas of the session.

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 97% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

The hosts as informed peer 5.7 Guest teaching 3.9 Guest disagreement 1.9 The hosts pushing back 2.3
05100:0015:0030:0045:005:22–12:39 · The hosts as informed peer 6/10 Idea 1: Hideaway and Private Vault Apps Shaan pitches his secret camera roll idea, but Sam immediately points out that Private Photo Vault already dominates this space with over 800k reviews. Sam pulls market data and estimates the app's lifetime revenue, while Shaan checks Google Play metrics to analyze the business model collaboratively.12:41–18:09 · The hosts as informed peer 6/10 Idea 2: Santa's Club and Year-Round Holiday Characters Sam pitches Santa's Club, detailing its seasonal revenue and economics, while Shaan expands on it by suggesting year-round characters and Cameo integrations. The conversation is collaborative and playful as they brainstorm character extensions with producer Ben.18:10–26:16 · The hosts as informed peer 5/10 Idea 3: Voyeuristic Therapy and Gratitude as a Service Shaan pitches an OnlyFans-style voyeuristic therapy platform called Only Problems. Sam validates the psychological hook by drawing parallels to Fight Club support groups and medical popping subreddits, leading into a lighthearted personal anecdote.26:16–32:34 · The hosts as informed peer 7/10 Idea 4: Reviving SlideShare into a B2B Lead Gen Empire Sam breaks down the massive SEO and traffic numbers behind SlideShare and pitches buying or replicating it as a B2B lead generation engine. Shaan reveals he had previously tweeted the exact same startup concept, showing high mutual domain knowledge.32:34–42:52 · The hosts as informed peer 6/10 Idea 5: Instagram-a-hanas and Experiential Food Dining Shaan pitches Instagram-a-hanas, an experiential restaurant centered around oversized food content. Sam connects the operational model to Benihana's unit economics and Museum of Ice Cream pop-ups, analyzing why novelty food concepts succeed.42:53–51:05 · The hosts as informed peer 5/10 Discussion: Indian Matchmaking and Dating Awkwardness Inspired by Indian Matchmaking, Shaan proposes Swag School to teach socially awkward men dating basics. Sam brings up Jordan Harbinger's Art of Charm bootcamps to prove the offline coaching business model can generate millions.51:05–54:20 · The hosts as informed peer 5/10 YouTube Channel Growth and Comment Scammers The hosts discuss their channel's YouTube metrics and mock the recurring crypto and WhatsApp comment scammers flooding financial videos. The tone is casual and conversational as they wrap up the episode before judging.5:22–12:39 · Guest teaching 5/10 Idea 1: Hideaway and Private Vault Apps Shaan pitches his secret camera roll idea, but Sam immediately points out that Private Photo Vault already dominates this space with over 800k reviews. Sam pulls market data and estimates the app's lifetime revenue, while Shaan checks Google Play metrics to analyze the business model collaboratively.12:41–18:09 · Guest teaching 4/10 Idea 2: Santa's Club and Year-Round Holiday Characters Sam pitches Santa's Club, detailing its seasonal revenue and economics, while Shaan expands on it by suggesting year-round characters and Cameo integrations. The conversation is collaborative and playful as they brainstorm character extensions with producer Ben.18:10–26:16 · Guest teaching 3/10 Idea 3: Voyeuristic Therapy and Gratitude as a Service Shaan pitches an OnlyFans-style voyeuristic therapy platform called Only Problems. Sam validates the psychological hook by drawing parallels to Fight Club support groups and medical popping subreddits, leading into a lighthearted personal anecdote.26:16–32:34 · Guest teaching 5/10 Idea 4: Reviving SlideShare into a B2B Lead Gen Empire Sam breaks down the massive SEO and traffic numbers behind SlideShare and pitches buying or replicating it as a B2B lead generation engine. Shaan reveals he had previously tweeted the exact same startup concept, showing high mutual domain knowledge.32:34–42:52 · Guest teaching 4/10 Idea 5: Instagram-a-hanas and Experiential Food Dining Shaan pitches Instagram-a-hanas, an experiential restaurant centered around oversized food content. Sam connects the operational model to Benihana's unit economics and Museum of Ice Cream pop-ups, analyzing why novelty food concepts succeed.42:53–51:05 · Guest teaching 4/10 Discussion: Indian Matchmaking and Dating Awkwardness Inspired by Indian Matchmaking, Shaan proposes Swag School to teach socially awkward men dating basics. Sam brings up Jordan Harbinger's Art of Charm bootcamps to prove the offline coaching business model can generate millions.51:05–54:20 · Guest teaching 2/10 YouTube Channel Growth and Comment Scammers The hosts discuss their channel's YouTube metrics and mock the recurring crypto and WhatsApp comment scammers flooding financial videos. The tone is casual and conversational as they wrap up the episode before judging.5:22–12:39 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Idea 1: Hideaway and Private Vault Apps Shaan pitches his secret camera roll idea, but Sam immediately points out that Private Photo Vault already dominates this space with over 800k reviews. Sam pulls market data and estimates the app's lifetime revenue, while Shaan checks Google Play metrics to analyze the business model collaboratively.12:41–18:09 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Idea 2: Santa's Club and Year-Round Holiday Characters Sam pitches Santa's Club, detailing its seasonal revenue and economics, while Shaan expands on it by suggesting year-round characters and Cameo integrations. The conversation is collaborative and playful as they brainstorm character extensions with producer Ben.18:10–26:16 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Idea 3: Voyeuristic Therapy and Gratitude as a Service Shaan pitches an OnlyFans-style voyeuristic therapy platform called Only Problems. Sam validates the psychological hook by drawing parallels to Fight Club support groups and medical popping subreddits, leading into a lighthearted personal anecdote.26:16–32:34 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Idea 4: Reviving SlideShare into a B2B Lead Gen Empire Sam breaks down the massive SEO and traffic numbers behind SlideShare and pitches buying or replicating it as a B2B lead generation engine. Shaan reveals he had previously tweeted the exact same startup concept, showing high mutual domain knowledge.32:34–42:52 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Idea 5: Instagram-a-hanas and Experiential Food Dining Shaan pitches Instagram-a-hanas, an experiential restaurant centered around oversized food content. Sam connects the operational model to Benihana's unit economics and Museum of Ice Cream pop-ups, analyzing why novelty food concepts succeed.42:53–51:05 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Discussion: Indian Matchmaking and Dating Awkwardness Inspired by Indian Matchmaking, Shaan proposes Swag School to teach socially awkward men dating basics. Sam brings up Jordan Harbinger's Art of Charm bootcamps to prove the offline coaching business model can generate millions.51:05–54:20 · Guest disagreement 2/10 YouTube Channel Growth and Comment Scammers The hosts discuss their channel's YouTube metrics and mock the recurring crypto and WhatsApp comment scammers flooding financial videos. The tone is casual and conversational as they wrap up the episode before judging.5:22–12:39 · The hosts pushing back 3/10 Idea 1: Hideaway and Private Vault Apps Shaan pitches his secret camera roll idea, but Sam immediately points out that Private Photo Vault already dominates this space with over 800k reviews. Sam pulls market data and estimates the app's lifetime revenue, while Shaan checks Google Play metrics to analyze the business model collaboratively.12:41–18:09 · The hosts pushing back 2/10 Idea 2: Santa's Club and Year-Round Holiday Characters Sam pitches Santa's Club, detailing its seasonal revenue and economics, while Shaan expands on it by suggesting year-round characters and Cameo integrations. The conversation is collaborative and playful as they brainstorm character extensions with producer Ben.18:10–26:16 · The hosts pushing back 2/10 Idea 3: Voyeuristic Therapy and Gratitude as a Service Shaan pitches an OnlyFans-style voyeuristic therapy platform called Only Problems. Sam validates the psychological hook by drawing parallels to Fight Club support groups and medical popping subreddits, leading into a lighthearted personal anecdote.26:16–32:34 · The hosts pushing back 2/10 Idea 4: Reviving SlideShare into a B2B Lead Gen Empire Sam breaks down the massive SEO and traffic numbers behind SlideShare and pitches buying or replicating it as a B2B lead generation engine. Shaan reveals he had previously tweeted the exact same startup concept, showing high mutual domain knowledge.32:34–42:52 · The hosts pushing back 3/10 Idea 5: Instagram-a-hanas and Experiential Food Dining Shaan pitches Instagram-a-hanas, an experiential restaurant centered around oversized food content. Sam connects the operational model to Benihana's unit economics and Museum of Ice Cream pop-ups, analyzing why novelty food concepts succeed.42:53–51:05 · The hosts pushing back 3/10 Discussion: Indian Matchmaking and Dating Awkwardness Inspired by Indian Matchmaking, Shaan proposes Swag School to teach socially awkward men dating basics. Sam brings up Jordan Harbinger's Art of Charm bootcamps to prove the offline coaching business model can generate millions.51:05–54:20 · The hosts pushing back 1/10 YouTube Channel Growth and Comment Scammers The hosts discuss their channel's YouTube metrics and mock the recurring crypto and WhatsApp comment scammers flooding financial videos. The tone is casual and conversational as they wrap up the episode before judging.

speaking balance: gold is the hosts, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%0:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%3:00 · the hosts 99.1% · guest 0.9%3:00 · the hosts 99.1% · guest 0.9%6:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%6:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%9:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%9:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%12:00 · the hosts 99.6% · guest 0.4%12:00 · the hosts 99.6% · guest 0.4%15:00 · the hosts 95.3% · guest 4.7%15:00 · the hosts 95.3% · guest 4.7%18:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%18:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%21:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%21:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%24:00 · the hosts 99.1% · guest 0.9%24:00 · the hosts 99.1% · guest 0.9%27:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%27:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%30:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%30:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%33:00 · the hosts 99.1% · guest 0.9%33:00 · the hosts 99.1% · guest 0.9%36:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%36:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%39:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%39:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%42:00 · the hosts 90.8% · guest 9.2%42:00 · the hosts 90.8% · guest 9.2%45:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%45:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%48:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%48:00 · the hosts 100% · guest 0%51:00 · the hosts 99.9% · guest 0.1%51:00 · the hosts 99.9% · guest 0.1%54:00 · the hosts 38.2% · guest 61.8%54:00 · the hosts 38.2% · guest 61.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 55:20 Ben gives Instagram-a-hanas a zero score

Producer Ben bluntly roasts Shaan's restaurant idea as completely unviable, awarding it zero points and calling it the worst pitch.

 Hardest push from the hosts ▶ 11:16 Shaan challenges Sam's app store math

Shaan immediately pushes back on Sam's assumption that iOS downloads would be five times higher than Android, forcing Sam to adjust his revenue calculations.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:01 Sam reveals Private Photo Vault already has 800k reviews

Sam informs Shaan that his pitch is already an established eight-figure software business with massive rankings in the App Store.

 The host holds their own ▶ 27:45 Sam outlines SlideShare's 100M traffic arbitrage opportunity

Sam demonstrates sharp digital publishing expertise by laying out the exact monthly traffic figures and neglected enterprise monetization of SlideShare.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicThe hosts as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementThe hosts pushing backWhy
Idea 1: Hideaway and Private Vault Apps 6523 Shaan pitches his secret camera roll idea, but Sam immediately points out that Private Photo Vault already dominates this space with over 800k reviews. Sam pulls market data and estimates the app's lifetime revenue, while Shaan checks Google Play metrics to analyze the business model collaboratively.
Idea 2: Santa's Club and Year-Round Holiday Characters 6412 Sam pitches Santa's Club, detailing its seasonal revenue and economics, while Shaan expands on it by suggesting year-round characters and Cameo integrations. The conversation is collaborative and playful as they brainstorm character extensions with producer Ben.
Idea 3: Voyeuristic Therapy and Gratitude as a Service 5322 Shaan pitches an OnlyFans-style voyeuristic therapy platform called Only Problems. Sam validates the psychological hook by drawing parallels to Fight Club support groups and medical popping subreddits, leading into a lighthearted personal anecdote.
Idea 4: Reviving SlideShare into a B2B Lead Gen Empire 7512 Sam breaks down the massive SEO and traffic numbers behind SlideShare and pitches buying or replicating it as a B2B lead generation engine. Shaan reveals he had previously tweeted the exact same startup concept, showing high mutual domain knowledge.
Idea 5: Instagram-a-hanas and Experiential Food Dining 6423 Shaan pitches Instagram-a-hanas, an experiential restaurant centered around oversized food content. Sam connects the operational model to Benihana's unit economics and Museum of Ice Cream pop-ups, analyzing why novelty food concepts succeed.
Discussion: Indian Matchmaking and Dating Awkwardness 5433 Inspired by Indian Matchmaking, Shaan proposes Swag School to teach socially awkward men dating basics. Sam brings up Jordan Harbinger's Art of Charm bootcamps to prove the offline coaching business model can generate millions.
YouTube Channel Growth and Comment Scammers 5221 The hosts discuss their channel's YouTube metrics and mock the recurring crypto and WhatsApp comment scammers flooding financial videos. The tone is casual and conversational as they wrap up the episode before judging.

Statements from this episode (10)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Parr: A woman made $500k selling farts in a jar
“It's like the lady who sells farts in a jar. Like when you're telling someone about it, you're like, that's the stupidest shit I've ever heard. And then she makes 500,000 dollars.”
Sam Parr Aug 23, 2022 ▶ 2:32
Insight
Fear of public speaking is fundamentally a fear of digital humiliation
“Nobody's actually afraid of public speaking. They're afraid of public humiliation, and there's no greater humiliation than digital humiliation.”
Shaan Puri Aug 23, 2022 ▶ 5:40
Assertion Supported
Private Photo Vault has 807,000 App Store reviews
“It, it's been reviewed 807,000 times and it's 86 in the app store.”
Sam Parr Aug 23, 2022 ▶ 8:41
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Santa's Club generated up to $1M in its first two months
“In the first year, he had 15,000 visits and prices range from 35 to 75 dollars per visit, which means he's doing around 500,000 to a million dollars in only two months.”
Sam Parr Aug 23, 2022 ▶ 14:16
Assertion Supported
Puri: OnlyFans does billions in revenue and is bigger than Twitch
“What's the name of a fast-growing company that does billions of dollars and serves creators all around the world? It's bigger than Twitch. They provide private photos and videos to their fans. If you subscribe, you might be considered only their fan. That's ri…”
Shaan Puri Aug 23, 2022 ▶ 18:13
Assertion Partly supported
Parr: SlideShare gets 100M to 150M monthly visits
“Basically they get between a hundred to a hundred and fifty million visits a month.”
Sam Parr Aug 23, 2022 ▶ 28:43
Insight
Parr: Critical-mass UGC platforms have unstoppable traffic moats
“Any website that gets a ton of traffic from user generated content, once it hits a critical mass, which SlideShare does, it's like impossible to stop. You know what I'm saying? It just keeps going and it's almost impossible to catch up with that. It's really, …”
Sam Parr Aug 23, 2022 ▶ 29:40
Prediction Not checkable as stated
SlideShare could generate over $100M a year in ad revenue
“So I think that this website is just sitting there. Floating along, not doing anything. And it could actually be a business that makes nine figures a year through ads, which is like the best revenue of all time when you don't actually have to like make anythin…”
Sam Parr Aug 23, 2022 ▶ 30:02
Assertion Supported
Parr: Museum of Ice Cream raised $50M at $250M valuation
“The museum of ice cream, they Started a little bit before the pandemic and you and I like, or a bunch of, a lot of people made fun of them because they raised like fifty million dollars at a two hundred fifty million dollar valuation.”
Sam Parr Aug 23, 2022 ▶ 39:57
Assertion Contradicted
The Art of Charm generated $10M a year hosting social bootcamps
“And so they were making, if I remember correctly, ten million dollars a year hosting these.”
Sam Parr Aug 23, 2022 ▶ 49:32
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