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Laird Hamilton

Co-Founder, Laird Superfood · 1 appearance on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

athletefounderauthorentertainer@LairdLife ↗LinkedIn ↗lairdhamilton.com ↗Wikipedia ↗Instagram ↗

Laird Hamilton is an American big-wave surfer credited with co-inventing tow-in surfing and pioneering hydrofoil boarding and modern stand-up paddleboarding. He co-founded the health food brand Laird Superfood as well as the performance lifestyle system XPT, and has authored books including Force of Nature and Liferider.

14statements → 3claims → 2claims resolved → 3.71/5average certainty → 1.79/5average debate potential → ≈4.0/5argument clarity, estimated → 26said about them ↓

2 supported 0 partly supported 0 contradicted 1 not checkable as stated how the 3 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

3 assertions · 2 opinions · 5 insights · 4 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 3 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 2 are resolved, and 1 names no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Laird argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported
Hamilton And His Peers Were The First To Ride Waves With Hydrofoils
“Like, we're the first guys to really stand, and then we're the first guys to ride, that you realize that you could ride, ride waves with foils”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 21:54 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Laird Hamilton on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

Everything Laird Hamilton said on My First Million that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Opinion
CrossFit's Massive Success Was Driven By Community, Not The Workout Routine
“I'd say that that was part of the success of something like CrossFit, that it was really had less to do with the work workout itself as it did that you were part of a tribe and you had a community and people that were like-minded that were training with you an…”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 35:27 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Opinion
Hamilton: You Cannot Biohack Your Way Around Fundamental Human Biology
“I just feel like you can't hack your way around Biology in my, the world of my thought. And it is interesting. I think you can use hacking to support work. You know, I think first of all, I think in the diet, one of the most important things is diversity.”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 51:18 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Insight
Athletes Inevitably Evolve From Taking Sponsorships To Building Their Own Brands
“I think in the evolution of an athlete, you have a tendency to, depending on your brand and your, you know, and what you've, you know, what you've done, I think you evolve into wanting to kind of be your own sponsor at the end, right?”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 8:09 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Disclosure
Hamilton And Reece Rejected Energy Drink Sponsorships To Protect Their Authenticity
“It's contributed to our longevity, but it's also been something that's encumbered us a little bit, because we just won't do, you know, we won't just endorse and promote any, anything for money. It's just, we've been pretty cautious about things that reflect ou…”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 8:36 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Assertion Supported
Hamilton And His Peers Were The First To Ride Waves With Hydrofoils
“Like, we're the first guys to really stand, and then we're the first guys to ride, that you realize that you could ride, ride waves with foils”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 21:54 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Insight
Grudge-Based Motivation Eventually Exhausts Itself Once You Achieve Your Goals
“At some point you achieve the thing you're trying to do, you prove your point and then you're sitting there going, okay, now what? And then you're like, okay, do I have to make up a new one? Or maybe I can create motivation out of success or contentment or som…”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 39:42 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Insight
Long-Term Business Victory Comes From Simply Outlasting Every Single Competitor
“You can have your little wins and your little wins and all great. But I'm talking about like at the end when you're the only one left on the battlefield and everybody's laying on the ground, then you don't even have to be any good. You don't even have to be go…”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 41:48 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Insight
Human Physiology Requires Acute Physical Stress Over Modern Psychological Stress
“Cause the system really needs for it to really work correctly. It needs a certain amount of stress and not stress of, Hey, I owe taxes or, Hey, I'm in, in the traffic, but like some other stress, it's a little more, you know, a little more just purely physical…”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 1:13:42 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Laird Superfood Did 90 Zoom Calls In Three Weeks For IPO Roadshow
“That experience of going through that process, doing the road show, doing 90 zoom, one hour zooms over a three week period all day long, every day, and just all this stuff that we did.”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 13:57 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Disclosure
Hamilton Launched Laird Superfood With Just $20,000 To $30,000 In Capital
“I mean, it could have been a couple, 20, 30 grand or something like that at the most. And that, but we went online first. That's why it was really not, didn't cost us much to start.”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 18:01 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Insight
Innovation Is Merely A New Application Of Existing Ideas
“You know what I have, I say about innovation and ideas is you know, it's just a new application of an old idea. I mean, you think for anyone to have what they would think would be an original thought at this point in humanity is insanity.”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 23:30 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Disclosure
Hamilton Refuses To Charge For Pool Training To Maintain Full Control
“If you charge people, then it's the dynamic changes, you know, and we really, we like to, I like to have that sign that says we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, like kind of thing. Like, I think that that's a better relationship. I mean, we don't…”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 33:14 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Disclosure
Laird Hamilton Has Been Completely Sober For Fifteen Years
“So I got 15 here. I got 15.”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 45:24 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)
Assertion Supported
Hamilton Fought The Malibu Fire For Hours And Rescued Hawaii Flood Victims
“I just, we had that giant Malibu fire. I had to, I had, I fought my house for, you know, I fought that fire for four or five hours with a suit and pump. And then I had a flood in Hawaii after, and I was like, you know, at night with boats, It, you know, rescui…”
Laird Hamilton Aug 9, 2023 ▶ 1:05:52 How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483)

The other half of the tape: Laird Hamilton's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 24 times in 6 episodes on My First Million. 2 statements on the record name them. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Sam Parr 22Jesse Itzler 1Dr. Andrew Huberman 1

Statements about Laird Hamilton, by other people (2)

Insight
Puri: Consumers Trust Authentic Lifestyle Athletes Over Generic Celebrity Brands
“When you see someone like Laird Hamilton, who's like walked the walk for like, I don't know how many years guys, like 50 something years old and you see, he's just like ripped, absolutely ripped at that age. You kind of know that he's lived a certain lifestyle…”
Shaan Puri Sep 16, 2021 ▶ 3:37 How to Make Billions with a DTC Niche Clothing Line | My First Million #219
Assertion Partly supported
Parr: Laird Superfood IPO'd at $18M Revenue, Hit $163M Market Cap
“It went public with, like, eighteen million in revenue. Currently has a market cap of one hundred sixty three million dollars. Revenue of, like, 50, I think.”
Sam Parr Sep 16, 2021 ▶ 2:08 How to Make Billions with a DTC Niche Clothing Line | My First Million #219

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
008215320212022202320242025episodesmentions
02320212022202320242025episodes it came up in
002.51.55320212022202320242025episodesmentions per episode
2025 1 mention in 1 episode
2023 8 mentions in 2 episodes 4 per episode
2021 15 mentions in 3 episodes 5 per episode

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
How This Big Wave Surfer Built A +$10 Million Business Empire (#483) Aug 9, 2023 51m
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