Hey, been here, the producer of my first million this week. We're running a contest where you can win a
60-minute zoom call with Sam and Shawn.
That's one hour to ask them
anything you want. All you need to do is go to MFM
pod.com / Apple.
Once you get there, you'll
see exactly how to enter and what you need to do. So again, all the details can be found at MFM pod.com /. Apple. Check it out. Good luck.
Where do you want to do the special?
Chicago New York, I was like nah, son, Davis, California.
I feel like I could rule the world. I know, I could be what I want to put my all in it. Like a Days on the Road Less Traveled. Never look at it. It's
official your boys gone Hollywood. That's right. We don't just have a business celebrity on the Pod today. Not a tech celebrity. Not at some guy who's famous on Twitter. I'm talking about a bona fide star Netflix. Special Obama knows this man's name. We got Hasan minhaj on the show today.
If you don't know who he is, he's got a Netflix comedy, special called homecoming. He had a show on Netflix that had six seasons called Patriot Act where he got, you know, I was like sort of like almost poking the bear with the Saudi Prince and he was really calling out. A bunch of people was amazing. He got his start on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and I just caught up with him because I went to his show. He's touring doing a world tour right now, 50-something cities and he did eight shows in the Bay Area. I went to the last show.
And he did it like, eight shows over the weekend and they all sold out. He's at the Masonic theaters, thousands of people in the crowd and this dude was just on fire. He was so good so funny and he's just great Storyteller, which is something as, you know, I love story teller, so I was learning from him taking notes basically and and this podcast turned out kind of amazing because he listens to the pot. He's not just some guests that showed up and says, all right. What do you want to ask me? He's a listener. So he knows the vibe. He knows.
Feeling. He's like, yeah, you know you want to buy the Lakers and Sam wants to buy a lake. You're crazy crypto better and he's mr. Conservative Vanguard 500, right? Yeah. He likes Blue Collar, hot dog businesses and you like, you know, crazy VR. So he knew what this Vibe is all about. He wanted recorded in person. So unfortunately, Sam's not in this episode because we did it in the Bay Area, Sam lives in Austin. And but, you know, even though he was missed the episode turned out great. I'm really happy with it. It's a little bit weird.
I can already hear you. When you, when you listen to this. You're going to be like dude what the tables got turned. Because Hudson was just asking me a bunch of questions from from the jump. He was asking me a ton of questions and I would ask him a question but he's a great conversationalist and he was very curious. So he Jen he knows I feel like he knows us. He listens to the Pod. So he was already asking questions. And so if you came here to just hear me talk to him, ask him a bunch of questions. I kind of apologize. I'm sort of a bum and interviewing because I took the bait he has to go.
Jen and I would give him my answer and then I would remember. Oh no, people aren't here to hear me. They heard it hear him. So I would go back and ask them a question, but it really was a two-way thing. Very unusual. Very different than most interviews. You guys don't know this. But we've had a bunch of successful people. Come on. That are kind of Duds, you know, not only do they not ask any questions themselves. They don't really come with much to say and they don't have opinions and ideas. They're just used to just sitting in a chair and answering the same 10 questions about their past than everybody else asked them. And we'd actually
don't even are those episodes. We dump them even though they're pretty big name people. And so this one turned out very different. I think you guys will like it. It's just a real last conversation, you know, the ultimate goal with this show. The whole podcast is not to be super educational. It's not to be super entertaining. We're not Comics or not, you know, like, whatever color daddy or whatever is not the most entertaining show. We want this to feel like you're hanging with us. Like if there's two chairs
At
the table, we want you to feel like you're in that third seat, like where the, you know, where your friends from another mother type of thing that we are friends that you would want to hang out. We just happen to live in different cities and live in different Social Circles. So this show is your way this epic. This podcast is your way to just hang with us. And that's the feeling. I think you're going to get from this episode. I felt like I was just hanging out with us and it wasn't a formal interview. It wasn't some like keynote speech and I think you're gonna have that same feeling like you're just hearing to people hang out, riff and genuinely.
Ask each other questions that they're curious about. We talk about his routine before he goes on on stage because when he came out, he was on fire. So I said, I wanted to know, what did you do to get yourself into that state so that you're ready to perform because I want to perform, when I go into a meeting with my team or I go into a sales pitch. All right, I walk into a boardroom and I'm trying to sell my company for a hundred million dollars and know. I got to be on my A-game and that just doesn't happen out of anywhere. You gotta practice getting into your A game. You don't want to leave it to chance, how I feel that day. You want to be able to turn that.
John whenever you want. And I know he can do that because he's a performer, he does this on stage every single night. So I wanted to learn from that. He broke down his routine, three hours before two hours before one hour before. What does he do to get in-state? He talks about, you know, the motivation behind why I do what he did. I do, why he does it. He does and also how he got his break. What is the, the kind of the core insights that make him successful in what he does? And we talked about dealing with social media and and the positivity, the
Unity that comes along with that and how you kind of keep your brain. Clear of that noise as well as you know what he should do with his money, investing his money, you asked me. What would you do? If you were me, would you be over here? Would you be over there? What would you be? Investing your money in? And so it was just a good conversation. I think you guys are going to like it. Enjoy the show and let me know you can tweet at me. Sean VP. Tell me what you think about it. All right, enjoy because you're
completely free now, right?
I'm completely free. Well, you never really free Heroes, you know, you build a prison of your own.
Making now. Yeah, so, you know two little kids at day starts with morning shift. Dad Duty. Yes, I take the mornings. I got a two-year-old and eight-month-old. Yeah, and so we're like, we're the same. Yeah. Three. You were talking about yesterday. I was like, I feel ya and we saw do the morning shift. That's just straight dad time. Then I basically pick between, I got three kind of major projects. Yeah, so I got investing. So sometimes we'll be looking ideals. Then it's could be.
At but content is really kind of on a specific Niche. Scheduled. Yeah, Monday Wednesday for an hour. We sit down. We do the show and that's kind of it. I don't do too much more than that. I write sometimes and like Twitter emails or whatever and then I'll have a business. So me and my wife started an e-commerce business. So cool. And so that that's scaled up. So basically the last year that went from zero like just an idea. Yes, who now, we do like over a million dollars a month of Revenue on that business and like I was looking for something new. Yeah that I
Do as a side hustle. Something that wasn't like, going to take up all my time. Yeah, because still be valuable business. That was, you know, like
some part-time basically. Yeah, so that's what have you always been like that?
Multiple hustles.
Have you always been that guy?
I was always that guy, they weren't working before. So I was really, I was trying to do that and I was failing at it and since high school that you were that dude. So no, so so a lot of people have this story, a lot of entrepreneurs have this like back and I was my lemonade stand was selling those do newspaper route satire.
And all these kids baseball cards, I wasn't do, the lights were off in my head until like 21. So like I was like, I'm gonna be pretty mad. I was going to be, I wanted to be a team doctor for an NBA team. So yeah, dude, I want to be on the NBA team. All right. Genetics not working. Yeah, team doctor that seems like yeah, my genetics and my
interest. Yeah,
and only when I met a team doctor, I think. Wow, this is boring as shit, like you're just like, you know, he's just joints that are in pain and it's only so much you could do is like yeah not as exciting. Should I need a plan B 21 when I figured that out. Wow, and
You're still an undergrad. Yeah, I just taking the mcats. I was ready to go to med school. Yeah, what else I had this brand a business idea, with a couple buddies that sounded kind of silly was so silly that. It was almost like not dangerous. You know, that is like sometimes a very serious sounding idea. It's almost too intimidating to do but this almost seems so goofy. It was harmless like I'm just gonna go try, I'm just going to do this. But yeah, obviously I'll eventually go to med school. Obviously, I like not gonna you know, that's and your things for a couple
months. So you're at a point in your life.
College is so unique in the sense that you're leaning on this thing. Where if people ask you. Hey, what are you doing? I'm a student. Yeah,
exactly. I got my cover. Yeah, my God, I'm sorry. Yeah,
there's a similar, right? Because you said totally yeah, freshman in college. Exactly. So those
how long did you have the like? Okay. So let's take that. When, did you decide our I'm going to do this for real? This will be the job. Was it right away? Or did you kind of play with it first and then decide a year later to use this
really interesting. So for me, I was a, it's so funny you were at the show last night. And so you could tell, especially in the bay.
There's just this level of connection I have, in this city, New York, certain cities where I'm like, I know you guys we're all come on kids and they're like, that's
okay. We're like, we're like Taipei
like we're good. We got to do that. You know, II know you. I know you. I know what your house smells like. I know the way your mom talks to you. I know you. I've seen you at Family parties. I know you like, I really know you and there's a level of intimacy there with that material. The point of the story is that I was part of that.
At camp where there was a clear track relatively speaking in the community. I wasn't the brightest kid. Every Community has like the Stanford kid. I'm always like I go up to like people in Dallas about, you know, you grew up in Dallas, right? Who's the stand which one of you know, which one you're gonna kill ya. So assuming you're not in a kill. What was your
path? Right? Everybody has
one is a print of man print of went to MIT. There's like, he's the
star who's the star of your community? There's a kid, right? Okay.
Yeah, you're not going to name it.
Fine. So every kid won the spelling bee. Yeah. And you're like, you're like, okay the this person is the shining star of the community. What what's my path? And so I was Speech or debate kid. I got to college and the first open mic that I did a friend of mine. Funny enough, who I knew in college was illegally downloading a ton of stand-up comedy. I went to college during like the Kazaa. Yeah.
LimeWire
era. They were the same age of
36. Yeah 33.
Three. I think. Yeah, so we're like we're that same era and you said 33, I think? Yeah, that's okay.
I haven't been thinking about my age in a while. Yeah, I think I'm 30. I think I am 33. Yeah, 33:34. I think I'm 33.
Yeah 36 and I'm so I went to college during that era. He downloads a Chris Rock, special Never Scared. I remember that special. He's in the purple suit.
And I remember being like, oh, this is funny speech and debate. This is actor the dots. Yeah, this is forensics but funny, right? Oh, I see the Matrix and then I come to find out. Oh like a lot of the comics that I really loved there were certain Comics that really thought critically like that Greg Giraldo rest in peace. One of the all-time greats. He was a former attorney, right? And then he became a comic Demetri Martin who's really big at the time in the early 2000s, early aughts. He also was an attorney work at the white house for a while and then like got into comedy and he had a big
Run in comedy. Anyways, all these people that I like Carlin. They were these critical thinkers that kind of were doing speech and debate presenting an argument or a take and it just was a lightbulb moment. And I had this thing inside of me. I'm like all this is one of the first things in my life where
I have an alacrity and speed at, which I do this that I never had at Kumon, or at the SAT, or at the mcats, OR at the else ass. Like I can pick this up really fast. And I don't know if you felt this. I think a lot of, you know, they see kids have this or whatever kids in general, your parents will push you in soccer or basketball or swimming and you're like, ah, there's always that kid from just the first drill, picks it up fast, and so much.
Adult life is figuring out. What's my thing that I pick up fast like that? And that was that.
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HubSpot CRM platform can help build, maintain, and grow your customer relationships at HubSpot.com. I had the same moment 21 years old. When we started that way. I had this business idea. Yeah, and it was like, we didn't know what the fuck were doing. Right? As I know. Nobody does from the beginning. Yeah, and I remember thinking I'm a my parents proud, not to be cool with this if I because especially with our idea was to create the Chipotle for sushi. So it wasn't like, even like a business idea like, oh, bioengineering bulb like, you know, some new microbial, whatever. Yeah, why
does it sound like you were high when he said that the way you see what we receive?
She's like such a like. I
wish I was that that would be a better excuse. We just I just tried sushi for the first time and all before that. I was eating Subway and she probably a lot of us. Like why don't I just why is this Sushi served like that? The way I'm used to. Yeah, there's a simple as that. Yeah, so I was like, all right. I'm going to
did you always have so this this moment, this problem solving thing. Yo, why don't they do this like this? Have you always, I was the
start of it. That's why I'm saying, I didn't always have you. I started to realize while has when I write, I got
some seen interviews with move on the walls. Like I was always like why doesn't that pizza place?
Do this. Yeah, I wasn't like that
and I say this because I remember I used to watch those guys like my Vol. He's like a hero to me, right? He's like a mentor and in many ways. Yeah, and when I hear him and you know, you hear these people talk about how they they just had it from day one or you know, early age. Yeah. It makes you think if you don't have that your thing, which most people don't buy then it's like I guess I'm just not that type. I guess I'm just not cut out that way. I guess they're different than me. Yeah, and so I'm always very like a front about it, which is like, no, I there was no signs of anything. I didn't know what the heck I want to.
Do I didn't know what? I was good at and tell I did and that just let light bulb comes on when it came on. Yeah, and I remember going to my debt. I remember, we started working on it. It's like you said, I had this alacrity of the I was good at pitching. It was a pitch contest that we were working on, first business, plan pitch, and you a great student. We like a mediocre. That's why I call my dad. I said, you know, hey, you don't think about doing this thing. I was kind of expecting the Indian parent thing which is like know, stay focused med school member. The whole thing. You just worked on for four years, wide paid for this expensive as College, like,
That thing. Yeah, and he was like, he was like, I think you should run with this. I do you think it's a good idea because not because a terrible idea of the food business is awful. I think restaurants are terrible idea. I don't understand what you mean, but you don't know anything about sushi, so I think it's a terrible idea and like, 10 different ways. Yeah. He's like, but what time did you wake up this morning? I was like, I don't like 8:30. He's like and what you do right away. I start working on his you guys. That's why I know should do this because the light obviously had. Yeah, he was like us though. We've been trying to get you to like study and like to care about anything.
Care and like, wake up with your own light bulb on and be able to go do that thing. What
is your, what is your dad? Do?
He's he kind of had a career. He was in like he was the engineer research like worked at a company. Worked at a big oil company and then he realized like it was like 30, something. He looked around, he saw in his office. He's like my office is the same offset been in for 10 years. Yeah. I got all these patents on the wall is it. But these are just like certificates. They give me to like Pat me on the head and keep me, you know, just to keep me doing my thing sitting here like a scientist like
I think he's like the guy hand the patented, the idea to he gets promoted. He gets to go to London and he gets to like he takes my idea of makes it sound like it's his idea. Yeah. He's like maybe I should do a business guy thing because that's like those guys. Just take my ideas and run with it. Yeah, so then he switched into the business side. And so that's why he kind of you know, most parents have this where like the thing they regret the kind of push their kids like no do it, you know, like so for my dad those two things was like social. Yeah. He's like I didn't I didn't I didn't know anything about socializing till it was almost too late. So I go to that party. He would drop me off at a
Arty. Wow, he would be like, you need to go. And I'd be like a scare other socially scared as it is cooler, right? And know what the heck was going on.
And it lets you have girlfriends and stuff.
Yeah, they were cool about it. They were like, whatever. Some yeah, so they were pushing me to again, fill the gaps that they didn't have. Yeah, and one of him, I'm supposed to do. My mom was my mom because are you the oldest sibling or well this? Yeah. So the oldest paves the way my sister had already done it. Yeah,
and so my mom like she
had to talk to hundra Vietnam with them. And yeah, she was like, she was like, all right. Look your sister did.
The say anything did everything. Anyways, yeah everything we told her not to do she did and then she can tell us which made it worse and we found out later as we do and it's like bad.
She's either way. I know the listener. Sometimes get mad at this. They're just like, I'll get to talking about Bitcoin. The reason why this is another reason why this is important to me is, like, understanding. Someone's drive shaft is so imperative to why they are where they are. You man under the surface. Yeah, like, sometimes people are like, that's stupid, but I'm like, no because all of your
I'll just speak on my like my field which is not big, It's relatively narrow. If you take 100 comics and you're all in the Green Room, you'll quickly, see the ones that are talking shit. You'll see the ones that don't like to write. You'll see the ones that right use sometimes comedy in. The comedy club is a crutch to give them a place to go to Just socialize, the ones that love it. The ones that are sociopathic sycophants, all of those things, but if you start to find out more about them, which is why
You know, sometimes you come up in a comedy scene. I came up here in San Francisco in the bay. You quickly, find out. Oh, this person's running from something, right? This person. Do you know what I mean? And that informs the next 15 dominoes of their career in their
life. And what did when you did that? Because comedy I think is kind of known for that like yeah comedies like this torturous field where it's like, you know, nobody makes it then even if you do make it it's like continue to come up with new material reinvented every year every two years.
Yes, this is just as brutal field. Yeah, and then even the better you are at it's your a truth teller. Yes, right and often these truths are kind of ugly. Are there kind of? Yeah, painful. Or that about yourself or about Society about whatever. Yeah. So there's this like Darkness. That's with like a lot of great comedians. Sure. It lives with them. Yeah, you seem like a well-adjusted, you know, good-looking guy
have suffered unless you saw the show last night. Did I come off? As unhinged
her know, you came out. You came off like you came off. Like I'll tell you exactly like him off.
To me and I don't mean this app. This might sound. No. No, he's great compliment. Yeah, you seem to me like somebody, who isn't the naturalist not naturally? Isn't the funniest guy like some comedians. You just see it. You're like, dude, they could just be doing this at their dinner room dinner table. Yeah, and they're just probably slang, whatever room they're in. They just happen to be in a big Auditorium. Yeah, yours. I could tell it. My sister said that she goes, he works on his craft like yeah, I could see that the stories you were telling the beats the like, but the punch lines it just felt like
Everything was put together. It was thought through the lighting, the sound, the like position with your body language on the stadia seemed like you had warped this set, not like this guy's just funny. He had two drinks that gets up here and he starts spitballing. Yeah, which is like, you know, the vibe that some comedians give me a soda. And so to me that was what I got was like, you're it's like is ironic like this is kind of like the Indian kid who like does like hard work and practice. It is like really good at the thing that he put his he set his mind to. Yeah.
The vibe I got is that accurate or is that like my head? No Junction of shit. I
think I think that is definitely accurate. Like I really do care. Like I love it. I love this
thing. I do the thing. Do you agree with my first art thing which is amongst 100 comedians that are like at the see ya. Are you the naturally are you the average above average below average? Where would you say? Yes, what you're talking about
is just like natural.
There's people that look funny talk funny. Say things in a funny way. So their voice sounds funny. They look funny. You're already in the top. Peep. Think about those guys. Chris Farley. Yes. Another comic. I love Felipe. Esparza Felipe, Esparza just looks funny. Hannibal Buress. Has a has an amazing voice. Chappelle has an amazing voice. Do you know what I mean? Yes, exactly. He just like sounds funny. He's brilliant. He also sounds really funny. Chris. Rock has a great voice, right? He sounds funny.
I look like a news anchor, you know, if you like I look I look like I should be doing like the five-day forecast or whatever. But I also have like I have a genuine love and I've something that I want to say like it's not like there's a message. Yeah, I just want to say so I have there's something inside of me that I want to say. And yeah, one of the things that I definitely feel is like when I put together a show like on tour I want to give you a show, right? Like I wanted to be a show and
For me putting together. Mixing stand-up comedy storytelling and theater that to me was my Elixir. Yeah. It was my Elixir
like we were at the show. I wanted to I was think about what do I asked him? I was like, yeah, a bunch of questions, but the one that I truly wanted to know which I don't even know if there's a good answer for this. Yeah, but the question I was like at the end so you went up there for an hour and like by the end it was like, you know in tetherball when one person gets the momentum and it's just swinging the other the person
Investors like flailing, their helplessly ball is Out Of Reach, but the one Versailles knows that like I'm about to you haven't won yet, but the momentum is so strong. Yeah, from about halfway through the show to the end of show. That's what I felt like it was terrible. You were dominating and the crowd was just in the palm of your hands. So good. And at the end, you know, mic drop Crowd Goes Wild. What is that feeling like his? Most human beings are never going to experience that, but it seems sitting there. I'm like that must feel fucking amazing, even though you've done this many times also in mind.
Just feel fucking amazing. Does that what does that feel? Like, you know what, it feels like an
asset every artist and I think every human being whether it's Intimate Relationships, personal relationships, collaborating, and business family Dynamics, and hopefully your career.
Everybody wants to feel scene.
And there's this moment and act, to of the show, where I basically go, man. I want to give you guys all of me. Yeah. I want to close the gap between who I am on Instagram, and who I am on iMessage. And when I look in people's eyes, I could tell everybody that's in like, the Bay Area work from home crowd. They're like, fuck, I can't be me. Yeah, and there's part of me already laid down. Yeah. When I lay down on the sharing, all these secrets with you guys, and I'm like there's this moment of do you see me?
I want to be seen, right? Like when I'm with be know when I'm with my spouse. She's like hey when we're disagreeing on something. It's like you don't see me that you actually don't see me for who I am. Right? And the most enriching thing about that last moment when I say good night and I see people and their reaction. I feel seen, I'm like, oh, I think y'all, you guys get me right into me laughter and that exchanged in that live experience is an expression of love.
Amina because I can't make you laugh. I can't like force you to laugh, much like, love making. It's an intimate act, right? And that release of laughter is like, oh, you get me
right, you feel? It was the journey from the beginning of the show. So, that's the end. That's the climax. Yeah. That's how I feel loved and seeing ya before the show. Yeah. And again, we're sitting there and the openers went on and we say, okay. He's about to come on. And my sister goes. Oh man, like what would you feel if you were about to go on and I said, well, you know,
No, he's a, I was just thinking in my head. I was like, yeah, I know he's done this many times. So now he's figured out a system. Yeah, to how to, how to deal with that combination of excitement and nerves. Gotcha. What's the, what's the feeling like for you now? And what's the system you've developed get onstage and have that switch flipped as you? What when you came on within two seconds. It's like this guy's in a state of mine. He's in a state. As we say. Yeah, of like he's here to perform. He knows what he's here to do. Yeah. There's no like tiptoeing into it. Yeah, so I was wondering what do you do?
The 5-10 minutes before or an hour before. I don't know what you kind of like warm up routine. Seeing
ya. You ready Ulysses want to know this? I'm sure. I don't
really I this is your personal curiosity. I want to know it and I'm my trainer has this great phrase. He goes, who are my customers. The people that love what I do. Because he's like, people always ask, so who your customers are some demographic, right? Some like some, like marketing intellectual answer is I. Yeah, easiest way in the world is the people who your customers, the people who love what you do.
Do ya? So just do what you do? Yeah, you will naturally attract the people who love that you were repelled. The people who aren't interested. Yeah, you will never have to guess, what the heck people want? Because just do what you want. That's, that's the approach. I take to the pot.
Yeah. No, I love him and I loved. I loved talking shop like this for me. It's actually, it's the three hours before. Mmm. So what I try to do before any show
I try to make sure that like exercise in some capacity, because
And I don't know if you feel this way, it, maybe it's within our community. It's so funny to go back to what you're talking about where you're like. I seem like a guy who works really hard. This is funny more. I was doing Marc Maron podcast and man said, the same thing about me is like yeah, you seem like really put together and he's like, why aren't you unraveling like the way other Comics are right? And I'm like, yeah. I'm just philosophically, not from that camp. I'm not from the tortured artist Camp. I'm more from the place of like, I'm creating from a place of passion and love. And actually real talk. It's about emptying the tank.
I just want to put it all out on the court, right, you know, and this court happens to be the stage. Right? And I want to do my best. I want to be like
I put everything into picking out this outfit. I put everything into picking out, these jokes, these tags, the stage design, the lighting design, like this, is it. And I want to know, when I go to sleep here at night when I put my head down on the pillow.
I did everything I could write like, living a life without regret, and only you can answer. That is the best, right? Everybody come out chasing happiness? To me is about chasing satisfaction like that self-satisfaction and you know what it is, right, you
know what it is? And you know, when you sold out, you know, got a good result, but you kind of didn't do it the right way. Yes. That sticks with you and some people just like let that stick with them. Yeah. Other people say, alright, even if I won I'm not going to win on those terms again. Yeah, if I lost I can lose on these terms and be good at
Yep, and and I'm sure there's listeners to the Pod that spend their time, retweeting, the right things and quote tweeting and dunking on if he see people and you know, they they say the right things, they'll regurgitate the right opinions, but they know when they put their head down at night. Hey, you're supposed to train you jerked off instead, you're supposed to do this, you did but only you can answer that. Right? So you can signal, all you want for me? What that stage represents is like, no, I'm putting myself in a high-level look of accountability in front of 3400 people. I'm
In it all out here, even if you don't think I'm good, if you think I'm corny, if you think I'm whatever. Hey, it is what it is, but I stood here, right? And I did it. I did me and on my terms and I did my
best. So, you're saying, so you're saying three hours before
you three hours before? What I do is I like to do the, the, some form of exercise, and I try to get out of
my head work out, work out or you're just trying to break a sweat. What do you,
what's the yeah? Trying to do on tour. It's just about body maintenance. So I'll do running. I'll do some pull-ups some core stuff. Just stuff to get my body.
Only in start breaking a sweat and what I love about like right around minute, 30 to 45.
Is I'll get out of my head and into my body in so much of life right now. Getting out of getting out of your head. And it's funny. I called you randomly. I was appreciate. Appreciate you picking up the phone the other day. We had a long conversation. Get into that later. But so much of, I think what you do and what you put out in the world and I call it like, Tech Twitter talk. It's all in your head intellectual. It's all just heady anxiety-inducing stuff
theorems up on Justin Salon has this,
it's like it.
All had shit, right? It's not a body feeling thing like, grounding yourself two feet on the ground. I'm here in this moment. What do I do? And so much of performance and to be great at it, the best Chappelle, the best performers, they're not in their head. They're in their body. They're really. They're right. Somebody screams. Somebody says something. Somebody heckles there in their body. When you watch Steph Curry, play when I watch Devin Booker play. These guys are so in their body, right? Luke has the best at this. He's
In his body. He's in the inflow. Right?
And so Luke is like a kid and kids do this. Well, yeah, kids do this, pretty naturally. I love that older. You get the yeah you get which is you gotta
tell ya. You gotta fight that, right? And so that's a great way to get out of my head, get into my body. Then I'll probably eat something. I take a shower and then I put I put on the outfit and for me, it's like being on stage uniform and putting on that. It feels like a uniform and like, for me, it feels. I want to feel like a show like from the watch to the jack.
Get to the pants. I'm like, there's a level of confidence that you have when you move into a room and you're like, hey from from my heels all the way up to my head.
I'm wearing my armor, right, like I'm coming, correct, right. And you just carry yourself with a little Bop. You're like no, I feel better about myself. My shit isn't slouching. There's no stains on my stuff. You know what I mean? Like the moment I saw you today. You walked in, you're wearing your Tech pants. I could tell you wash them a few times. Yeah, but there's some stains on the backside, you know what I'm saying? But that feeling of like, no, man. When I'm coming in here. I'm going to be fresher than Sean. Yeah. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm just gonna be fresh. Yeah, that already gives me a feeling of like, confidence. I know what I'm doing, you know, and by the way, they are open or marsala.
Marcela was just like dressed to the nines. You know, this, it's a feeling then I get to the show. I finish eating. I'll meditate so meditation for 10 to 15 minutes. Allow me to just again, get out of my head and drop into my body and something simple, just head space. Right? Like, I'm not getting too crazy about it. And what I love about headspace specifically is so much of it is just basic breathing.
Establishing a level of intention. I'll meditate then I'll pray and for me like prayers really important because it's got to be about something bigger than just myself and my Corporal being, I'm like, what am I doing this for? And just in establishing an intention. And for me, the intention is like, love. Let me give joy to people, right? And I want the seed of everything that I'm doing to come from that. Not be like, not be Petty energy, angry energy. I'm going to prove you wrong energy.
like,
I'm in the laughter business. Like I'm here to make you feel Joy, right? And that warm feeling, so establishing an intention there. I get to the, I'll get to the venue about an hour. Before. I have a double shot of espresso. I'll let my bowels do what they do. You always get those Jitters. I got you got to pee got to do what you got to do and then about like 30 to 45 minutes before I like to be loose, just with the with the staff, right? Let them know. Like hey, what's up? How are you?
Door guy, security guy, openers, you know
what? I mean? Other way to get out of your head, by the way. Yeah, be with others be there. Yeah, they're serving others.
Where and then about a half an hour before. I'll go to my green room. I usually write it down. I'll write down, it'll just be on Hotel notepad paper. Hey, what are a couple of new tags that I'm working on tonight? Just move the ball forward a little bit remind myself. Y'all. I'm going to do this.
This, for example, last night. One of the things I talked about act, one of the show's fertility, in a new joke that I did was like, you know what, it's like being infertile as a man. I felt like Woody in Toy Story. When his arm
got ripped off,
all that was that was just one line and I was like, hey, make sure you do the Woody Toy Story line, right, you know and every show I try to add a few lines extra moments and you add that up over the course of like a year. Two years, three years. You start to see what works and what?
Don't work and I'll have a thousand, three thousand different variations of that, right? And then I get on stage. And by the time I get on stage, there's just this feeling of like now, it's just pure play, whatever happens happens. Right? And when I'm onstage, what I try to do is I try to remember, when when I'm opening in front of my crowd. They're like really hot. And one of the things I try to remember, is don't yell, don't scream.
Try to actually bring them to you. Hmm, like set the tempo of the game, right? Don't get like too excited or too hot like you can whip them up, but then like sit down and stool bring them to you and like make the room feel like it's coming to
you. All right, let's take a second to talk about a different podcast. Not this one. You're listening to right now, but a new one that's on the HubSpot podcast Network. It's by Guy Kawasaki. If you never heard of guy, he's kind of a legend in the marketing field and he's got a new podcast called remarkable people.
A brings on people like Steve blank who wrote four steps to the Epiphany, a killer book for entrepreneurs as well as Seth Godin. Who's a marketing, God? I don't know. If you've seen this, by the way, Seth Godin has this free pdf online. Called the ship it Journal. Amazing little checklist before you launch a project. So what guys doing is bringing these people around, who are, you know, kind of like thought leaders Legends in their field and he's interviewing them and that's going to be, you know, conversations that are going to give you something different than what you get here. You might get ideas from us. Now, new business ideas, but from them you're going to get
Get, you know, best practices, you're gonna get executional tips. You're going to get philosophies and Frameworks. So go ahead, listen to the remarkable people podcast, wherever you get your podcast. You ever watch a film of yourself,
basically. Yeah, how much tape all the time? Yeah. And so, I see bad habits kind of brutal, huh? Yeah. Watch yourself. Yeah, but it's cool though. Actually, like those moments where you like is very painful for your ego and but there's a lot of growth in that the only way to break through and get to like the next part is, is that
part I've done that.
Been in the business world, and I'm gonna keep bringing it back. This those boobs. Yeah, that's where a lot of the audience lives. Yeah, the things you're talking about of how to get ready for the, for your performance your day. Yes, you do. That's I mean, I athletes do this before they get on the field and do the performers, do this before they get on the stage. Yeah, I do this before I get on my laptop. It sounds lame. It's I was like dorky but it's like well, I'm trying to be might be the best version of myself. Yeah. I'm trying to set an intention before I go out here. I'm trying to get out of my head so I can do my best.
Yeah, I do all the same things. I just apply it into this world and it doesn't matter if it's a call with a supplier, or it's a podcast episode of whatever. Before you came here. Yeah. Got it. I got through my routine. Yeah to make sure that
is your routine similar ish.
Very similar obviously compressed because you no longer day. So I'll try I practiced it for I can do it in 10 minutes. Now, I can get that state in 10 minutes. That's my goal really has three components breath work. So this first three minutes of breath. Yeah, and so, I can use breath to change my
Is a lot physiological state right away. It'll be push-ups and breath work. So I'll just do 15, 20 push-ups. I'll do breath next three minutes again. How do you get out of your head? It's not about you gratitude and think about others. I have this little exercise to do. Again. Sounds little bit cheesy, but I'll say it out loud. People won't try this. Just try it. I just let I rotate through almost like in my head. So, I'll visualize like the say, my mom, my sister. Whoever people, I love people in my life. I just visualize them laughing. So I just visualize them laughing, which is them in their. Joyful State. Yeah. There's no like
Like, I don't think about why I lack nothing. I just I've seen them off a thousand times. I just see them all laugh in succession, in my head. Yeah. Now I'm not thinking about me and my problems and my needs and my desires. My well. I'm just think about them. Yeah, and I'm just, it's a good energy that I like it. The last you do it. You do establish an intention. I do stops it. Then, the last bit is I remember why I'm here. And so the thing you were saying, which I'm you were saying, I want to bring joy, love to the audience. Want to make them laugh. Make them. Have a great time. Yeah. Same thing. I used to think. What am I going to say?
Whether it's a meeting, a presentation, a podcast, what am I going to say? What husband going to show up when I can say? Yeah, I used to paralyze. Me.
Just think Ali, what I'm going to
say. I want to get to write words on the fuck up. So then, as soon as I start talking this little editor in my head being like that, sounded dumb. Oh, yeah, you walked up and you said that thing is stupid and then I'm in my head while I'm doing the thing, you know, everybody and you and I wanted to just be clear and okay. How did I do that? So then, I stop stop me, but I just
In the end. So I already imagine after the I already imagine us saying bye to each other at the end of this. Yeah, and if that happened that means this all went. Well. Yeah, and I remember okay, the people listening to this where they can be thinking they're going to be thinking about what they're going to be saying these things. Yeah, dude that that episode was amazing. Do I love hussam and they hate you have them on again. He was so good. Right? So now I don't have to think about what questions do I ask. I'm already remembering what I'm trying to deliver and then it's I'm not going to learn a new skill in the next five minutes. Like your performance is going to be based on all the hard work.
Over a decade about whatever I'm doing. Yeah, so I don't try to like cram for the exam. I just try to put myself in the right state of mind. So I just performed the way that the things I already know how to do. Yeah, that's my routine for, you know, my how I start my day.
Every how do you get over your part of this thing? Again? I call it like the business internet world. Yeah, which can be filled with people that are sincere and their intentions. It's filled with grifters. It's filled with sometimes people that are trying to do get rich quick schemes. You're part of this really
It's actually quite similar to Hollywood and politics in that way. Yeah, because if you work in Show Business, you'll quickly see that too. Yeah, you know shit can run from people that are like really about it. Artists, artists. Nas, Kendrick Lamar all the way to Logan, Paul and Jake Paul like that are just about like, the WWF circus. Show up at all, right?
This world that you run in and people are not talking about money in business. In a really interesting way when people come out and they comment about you and your businesses and they quote tweet you and they're dunking on you. And that's a part of. Now, the social currency. This is all is social currency that you're part of. Oh the more subscribers, I get that. Now you can do me on these commercials and we can sell the Pod and your business guy, right? How do you deal with those negative critiques? Does it bother you does it? What's
So the honest answer is, yeah, every negative comment. Yes. Is like 10 times 10, yet every positive comment, you know, and so that is the initial reaction but there's also a difference in response and reaction. So the initial if I'm not in the right state of mind, that initial reaction, I'm coming to clap back or their Saddam because of this, is this. I'll go look at their profile. You only got 11 followers and you're saying this shit baby. Yeah. Yeah, it is why you have 11 followers because you think this way, you know, I'm right. You're wrong blah, blah.
Yeah, and I realized pretty quickly. That doesn't get me anywhere. In fact, it would waste like, almost like half a day or a whole day of mine. Just checking the mentions for good and bad. Like this happened. If I go viral good, you know, I go check all the, I'm just addicted to the refreshing. I think you did an amazing bit about this. It that was the most for me, as well as relatable. Yes, you played it up. It was amazing. Yeah, people aren't gonna know this. Go see the show. You'll see this part about the thus
allowing comments likes. Yes. Social media had cocaine Cloud that cocaine Cloud.
Exactly.
But with that comes the the kind of the negativity that also is fine excited. It's just it's this thing in its own way.
Yeah, and so what I kind of like,
where did I land with all that? Yeah. Okay. So, you know the good they think I'm like a genius Guru. I'm not like, you know, my wife will remind me of that real quick and you know, the other people who think I'm an idiot scammer or whatever. People think idiots, who doesn't know anything about anything. Yeah, or I'm wrong or whatever. Yeah, but they'll point out that I've stumbled and said this
This the wrong way or whatever. Yeah.
Okay. Where is my focus gonna go? Like focus on why I'm so great or why I was a terrible really does nothing for me. Right? So I said, okay, I do need a sounding board. So I'll say so. So I get a reaction from people, go to our bad about. Hmm. Let me just get curious. Why are people reacting this in this way? I'll take a minute to observe that. Yeah, then I'll go internal and I'll say, what am I? What's my judgment? Because, I guess my rule that I created for myself, was that I want my own.
Pinion of myself to be higher than anybody else's opinion of me. You mean positive
opinion. Anything, if I think something
sucks that I did? Yeah. I don't care what anybody else says. I think it is. So I basically want my opinion of myself to be the trump card. And so that works for self-respect's. Like, yeah. I stopped seeking the respect of others, because I'm like, well, I don't have the main respect my respect. Then what is all this other
stuff worth, but then how did you get that wisdom? Because that's because we are social
creatures, my trainer. So my trainers kind of like my
My trainer water for my first red. He's also like a kind of like a, he's like me. He's like, dude. It's all in the mind. This is his older player, solo player game. Yeah, and we got a train this. Just most, we train the rest. So he said something with very beginning. He's like, why do you want to work out? And I was, I was gonna get fit. I've got real fat, do my last company? I just want to lose weight. Okay. He wanted, like you said, you wanted to know the driveshaft. What's driving you to do this? Yeah. What's making? You think that? What's making you think you're fat? What's making you? Why'd you call me today? Why today? Why did you call me six months ago? What changed? Yeah, and eventually,
Down to, I had this experience. I went with my two best friends who are business, kind of like mentors, but older than me all the things I do. They've done a little bit more. Yeah, and we all went on a Spartan Race together and I thought I'm a little bit out of shape, but we're all out of shape. It's no big deal. Yeah, we went on the Spartan Race and I was way behind and I was just huffing and puffing and I was dying on this thing. And they were like trying to help me. And every time they help me, I just felt like a bitch. I was like, man, why I like this is embarrassing. I'd rather they just ran in finished the race, right?
Left me to like, you know, die on my own on this mouth. Worst thing you could do is I push it from me from behind because I'm like, it's like don't give you the pep talk know anything. But
yeah, I told him I said,
I was pretty embarrassed. I had this this situation I said, I just want to like have the respect of the people I respect. I thought that sounded like a good thing to say. Yeah, and he goes he goes like I respect. He was respects one of those things because you want to give it, not seek it and he goes so he goes to things, he goes. We're not going to do this. We're not going to start this program from a place.
Are you trying to get the respect of others? He goes whenever you feel you lack, it's time to give. So like, let's not worry about who your who what respect you're trying to get from others who are trying to prove to yourself to and all that. Let's become a giver of respect to yourself and to others. So who? And so we started flipping the script and this became one of my philosophies, which is whatever you feel like you lack in the moment. That's a signal, it's time to give that exact thing. And when you give it, you realize I got it. I have it in abundance. So it's kind of like a yeah, circular way of thinking about it. Yeah, but
Was the thought process for me, at
least on this on this topic? I guess. That's cool. Yeah.
That's really interesting, man. I don't know, you know.
I know I called you about one of your tweets that went viral again, and it was about how it was specifically about the metaverse and how the digital world will matter more than the physical world. And I think the reason why it's so deeply philosophically, rubbed me the wrong way.
Was because the pseudonymous digital world has commodified cowardice in such a way that the real world and the game checks you. And what do I mean by that? You know, I grew up. I was it, you know, Desi kid, who play at 24 Hour Fitness, you play ball at 24 Hour, Fitness First to 12, straight up or win by two but if you lose get the fuck off the court, right? I remember there'd be these guys, Honor Code. These guys that were nice. It'd be eleven. Eleven straight up. This dude, would step back, hit it and as if he's about to hit it and go get the fuck off the court, right? And
Respect it because he stood there and he's like, I beat you. 10:48. It's over. This is a there's no argument. Yeah, this is what the been ejected is objective. Reality next. Yeah, and you gotta sit there and you gotta run it back. You got to wait another one game or two games or three games and then run it back. But, for the first time in history, there are people that stand on stage that stand on the stage of business, or life, or comedy, or art, and they use their actual government name and then, pseudonymous trolls.
Those who don't use their government name, can launch digital drone strikes right attacking you your character, your family that can then potentially impose economic sanctions upon your future. Yep, and they do it pseudonymous lie.
Yeah, philosophically. I don't rock with that. Say that shit with your chest, right? Get on the court. With me at 24 Hour Fitness. Let's cook like let's play each other.
That's what it's that. Feeling. That fundamentally bothers me. This is a dishonorable craft, right? It's not honorable. It's not a fair fight the way I look. How do you think I should unpack that? That's the problem. I was at. Why does this bother
me? Yeah. Well, that's the first good. That that's the right question. Yeah, which is not. Why are they doing this? Why is this? Why is this? Why does bother me, right? The curiosity is what will set you free? Because you gotta say, do I enjoy? Yeah, focusing on this. Do I enjoy this like trap?
Like, uncontrollable. You're not gonna stop it. Yeah, I agree on that. You're not going to turn them all off. Yeah,
so that's not going to hello world. Now. This is the world and I'm also thinking about my children, too, because I'm trying to prepare. I got a three year old and a 10. How do I prepare them for this new world order? Right in a weird way. Let's, I'll keep I'll keep Griffin this out with you. Let's figure this out in a weird way. There's times where I'm like, yo, I wish you punched me in the face. Actually. I've been, I would prefer that how many fights have you got any? Like, I've got another three. I've gotten three have lost all of them. Yes.
One time, some kid was trying to steal my shoes. I didn't let him and then he just beat the shit out of me, but I'm proud of ya. I kept my shoes. He wanted my Jordan 13 s but I kept him.
But I remember, I remember being like, I like the IRL nature of this. There is some level of virtue, even in this fight, right? That it, that it ends and it ends. Today, we've resolved this here,
right, which is why you see when people fight it's gone. The beef is usually gone. It's gone. So, as long as the fight was on, Fair terms. Yeah, both people are like, sort of mutual respect by the end. Yeah, it's over. Yeah, so,
and that doesn't happen on. Yeah. This is the first time where
We don't really have that. And the reason why I'm saying saying, say it with your government name, if someone says Sean is corny or hustling is corny.
Any time any comedian or contemporary? Says that I go cool. Put up your our against my our. Oh, I'm corny. I'll do 10. You do 10, right? Let's see what it is. Let's play to 12, right? Let's play to 12, like I love the dance of it. Straight up or win by two. It's a merit-based thing. Yeah, but when Baldwin
is a merit-based thing again, you said you can get get up on stage. Yeah, even no matter what your name is.
You can't make them laugh. Yeah, can't just force them to laugh. Yeah, it is Mary base. You must learn
that like, it's why my favorite thing right now and pop culture is the versus right? I don't know if you saw Dipset versus the locks, but you could see Jadakiss go up against right dips, and I thought dips that was going to win, but Jadakiss was so nice. He just buried them and it was, it was let's played a 12, right? You play a record. I'll play my records and I and there's something so, Honorable, in that, in this new digital world order is
Not honorable, right? Because there's no reconciliation at the end either. So I quote tweet you. And by the way, shitposting is now incentivised. So actually being a Negative Nancy and being an absolutist in your position.
Is now commodified and incentivize so that you can't even recognize you. Oh, you won. I lost gun. Good game. And there's no shake on
it, but it even gets worse because what you say online, what you display online, the photo you take online so easily faked, so it's not even like 20 minutes. It's like, if instead of going and play it at 24 Hour Fitness, we each submitted a mixtape. Yeah. It's like here's my mixtape versus mixtapes. Like, well, how much editing really is going into Europe? Lifestyle your opinion Persona? Yeah, the face. All of it.
Is filtered. Yeah, he's edited is curated, leaving out the bad shit. And the more real you are. So the way I
look at it. And by the way, I'm not, by the way, I'm not shitting on digital skills. So if two people are competing against each other, in video games, I still like that. Like there's NPA 2K tournaments, but it's are you better at 2K than me, right. So I think about, like the way in which I want to live my life and I want my kids to live honorable lives to hey compete. And there's no, there's no, there's nothing wrong with losing but like be a good.
Deter be an honorable competitor. Say good game, right, but when I'm using my government name and ball drape, 79 is risking nothing. I'm like this is whack. This game is whack and in Baldrick, even you can't deny that but I don't know if the people on the other side recognize that. Well, go ahead. I mean I just love your analysis on
this. I guess the way I look at it is
With the pendulum has swung. So before, and they were like, in the past when everybody was online, everybody was in real life, real name merit-based. You had psyllid people's opinions in their heads. I just couldn't broadcast it people. If somebody, if somebody thought your corny before they were thinking, that they weren't saying it, they couldn't get Amplified from each
other or they would say it. Yeah, Okay, cool. So you think I'm corner and let's
look at it, took a buy-in. It had to any up. Yeah. They were going to let us wear off
in the lunchroom. So you think I'm
Knee. Now. I can make fun of your shoes. I can make fun of your hat. I can make fun of. You know, what? I mean? Who you're dating. I made fun of your mom's
would cost to enter. There's a date is no enter the arena cost of the barrier to enter. So lonely right, fake name, fake handle. Whatever. You can just go on their say what do you want?
You know, analyzing right now, this is Kevin Durant syndrome. Kevin Durant is one of the greatest basketball players on planet Earth and there are people on the internet. They get Kevin Durant in his
feelings filed up. Yeah, and then he says he doesn't care. But yeah, you know,
so this actually but because to me I was like yo,
If and I talked about it in the show, I'm like, yo,
these memes hurt my feelings. I'm a
person, right? But I'm like, yo, if KD is getting in his feelings, 7-foot to wingspan can cross people over. But like built like a velociraptor, but can move like a point guard. And like, yeah, then just like shoot and Sledgehammer on you. Like, and he's getting in his feelings about these, like Lehman's at home. We're in a big fundamental shift in society and culture in a way that it never was like that
before. Yeah, so I think,
Basically, the reason you get the rewards, you get our because of all these things as well. So you by you going out there under real name. The real face with authenticity telling your real life stories, which is what you do, right? You're talking about fertility issues, talk about stuff like that. You're getting like, big big, big, big, big, the the score, the meter is just running up ride because it's in such scarcity. Today. We don't get that from most people in most situations. So when somebody does it, you're running up the score real quick, right? You get the
Of being the counter to all of high level of a casual running counter to it. You're putting it on the line. So you're getting all of the benefits and you're getting the scale of those benefits before without technology, right you doing? Local shows. And I saw this guy North Carolina. He was amazing. The guy, you know in Texas like I don't I'm not a fan of that person. Never seen them. Yeah, you do the Netflix show you do Twitter, you do stuff like that. You're reaching everybody everywhere. All at once. Yeah, and so, you're getting the benefits of that leverage. Yeah, and so you're running up the score because
Was that is what? Society lacks today. This go. There's real like Honor Code. Yeah, of like, look. I'm going to go. Try to earn it under my real name on. Put myself out there. I'll let you judge me. If I'm good. I'm good. If I lose, I lose. And I'm willing to play at those steaks because you're willing to play, you're getting all this benefit. And people are not willing to play, they're not going to get any of the benefit. They're gonna get a so they get this proportional. Like, you know, small bit of success if they just like kind of shit on you. Yeah. Wa not getting it. You don't mean it, but ultimately, they sort of don't
Ever really. Their score, never really goes up. So you
talked about the capital markets, its efficient and it will reward. You will get Durant or whatever. Yeah, or you're getting
rewarded for being authentic and being accountable and you're getting. And with that power comes the trade-off, which is, would you like this giant prize? Yeah. And here's the, here's what the Crosshair on the deal. Yeah. Here's the cost of that big reward. Yeah. Where you blow up in like, I don't know, five years or something like that. Last five years you had this like, media are meteoric rise.
Yeah, awesome. It's because you had the right answer when Society was going one way. You were awesome Counterpoint. Yeah, you're willing to say what you was on your mind willing to say, what is right? And you use technology to go viral as hell because you had something good. It went viral, it spread like crazy. So you're going to have to pay this tax this Vig along the way you got to recognize their two sides of the same coin. And so that's where it's like the the 24 Hour Fitness scale. Where was everybody was being accountable? Yeah.
Cool, but it was only operating at this like small scale scale. It's not it's not scaled up. Yeah, you're getting the benefits of this thing. Right? And with that come certain trade-offs and that's I think that's just like the way I look at it. And I think that that's a good framing side. He's going in that direction. And so you're already on the right side of History here where you're willing to play a different game and because of that, you're going to win a very different process. And you're seeing that your career, basically is an example of
that. So just so the listeners know I called you on the phone. When that thread went viral and I said, hey Sean, like,
I can I'm so glad you picked up very few people. Pick up these days like real talk. Pick up the phone and I go, hey man, like this actually irks me here. And you know, I'm such like a, I'm an artist man. So I operate from a feeling thing. And then I start questioning. Why do I feel the time three and I was like, I'm an IRL guy, but when you're telling me everything is going to be on the metaverse. I don't want to be a pseudonymous drone, right? I don't want to, I don't want to throw drone strikes at people that I can't see. I want to talk about what's real.
And if you watch the show, like I'm talk about what's real about me and being on my kids. Right? What I went through going at dictators and governments and is real, this is real life. I talk about lawsuits and this just crazy shit, but I'm like, hey, it's real. It's my experience. Right? I'm being sincere and authentic in that experience and I got the receipts and I don't want to live in a world where I'm a Reddit commentator and your erratic commentator and let's just like argue at infinim. That's a zero value. Add to society to me, right?
But why I guess I guess what you're saying is right. You're like well the more you double down on that. So the capital markets will perhaps rewards if you're
being able to right now for that accountability, right? So the comedian who gets up there and just tells dick jokes is not going to have the same emotional resonance as you going up there and talking about fertility issues and then you're dealing with it. And what that was like in the attention that's loaded in that because anybody I just had two kids anybody's been through anything with kids and that whole process. Yeah, the uncertainty that we didn't even have any issues. But my wife was worried that we might have issues again loaded the relationship.
I'm sure you have friends that went through
it started earlier because it might happen, you know, like it's a connection. So you put yourself the real you out there. Yeah, you get the reward comedian. You just makes the dick joke. I laugh, I move on with my life. I don't feel like I'm going to back this guy. The way that I felt like, by the end of your show. I was like, I'm about what this dude's about. Oh, right. Because that's you. That's what you did. You drew a line in the sand. You said, this is what I'm about. Yeah, you've told you you build your case. Yeah, and at the end of that, how could you not be like, right, right. Yeah, Mom.
On and it's like if you walk with me,
cool, if you don't cool, so
it was a very different thing. It wasn't just laughing. It was like laughing. But also this is this person just put their balls on the table and said, this is what I'm about. Yeah, you got to respect that and then you got to react that you got to pick a side. You're either about that or you're not and that's okay. You can go either way, but he made it very clear and then I'm like that guy's gonna build an army because going to visit a lot of people are going to hear that be like mmm Iraq with Iraq with that. Yeah, whereas if you just did a bunch if you just did a bunch of impressions of like
D 9 t sound like I would've laughed. Yeah, and then I would have been like the next time you have something I'm not lining up for it. I'm not camping out for it. Right? Because I don't, I didn't connect in that way. Right? But you did it. So I think you get paid for for doing that. So you're saying
just be aware of that.
We won't be aware of that and and like recognize. What's, your is remember what's already working for you? And why? Why that bothers you? Because you're the opposite of that? Yeah, but there's also a piece of it that could be you, but you've intensely driven the other way, so when you see it, you're like,
Why I built my brand being the opposite of that. So yeah, it's like when Apple sees a poorly designed product, Steve Jobs was disgusted. When he saw other products that were not thought through, well, thought through, he was annoyed with it in a way that no other CEO was because he built himself as we care about the inside of the fucking design of the inside. The case, what? That looks like these motherfuckers. Don't even care what the outside of it looks like, right, you know, so like it disgusted him in a way that it disgusts you. Somebody who has no accountability, sort of standard, nothing just as trying to dunk on people on the outside.
Right. So I think that's, that's that part of it to go to the metaverse side of it. I think it's not as different as you think. So, let's say the world does move to where these online identities and that that digital identity matters a lot. You know, you haven't screen name and my first name, was mr. Gopal, you know, so like, whatever. That's, that's why. Whatever it takes. I wasn't bothering us. I don't know what that is. Yeah. Let's see that. That lets say that stuck with me. Yeah.
It's so funny. You don't, you know, my first training was Hasan. Minhaj one.
Well, I've always been
this way. Yeah.
One. It's always. Yes, it was taken. And I remember on a, I am awesome. And I went online. Remember the door. He's here. The sound of the door open, of course, right? And then I liked it - yeah, and I messaged him and then it just immediately the door closed. So I think that yeah,
whatever your screen name is. It'll be the same like this name. You have Hasan. Minhaj. That's what was given to you. It's yours. It's for better words. It's your stage name for the world. Sure. And you're building up a cat. You're building up a reputation. The counter that. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't matter if that name was mr. Grubo, apple, or was it?
Listen, it doesn't really matter. What the real name. It's wherever your whatever you're going to make accountable. You're gonna say. Hey, if you like me, if you're trust me put my reputation on this name. Yeah, and then if I fuck up that name has like lost its
value. Yes.
Well the benefits you might be able to pick a second name but like it it's still going to work the same way, but people are still going to have to put up or shut up under some handle. It doesn't matter if it matches your social security number. It's kind of like, my my take on that but I don't know. It's
It's a wild world of how that's going to turn out. I think we're still like it's just we're still a ways away from that. Where do you
really get the points of like the things that you do that you're doing right now? Like the fact that you take time to train and think you're you are preparing your mind as a physical Corporal being with two feet on planet Earth. Yeah rather than being just like this guy with like the headset and you're just like in The Matrix you don't I mean in your bodies literally just being used as heat to fucking be a part of this.
Yeah, Ready Player, One World. Yeah. Well, I mean and I'm just like yeah,
I'm not going to say I'm above that like maybe when that's here, maybe I will like
yo, I remember afraid my kids are going to like tackle me and there's going to put it on my head like just
join us. Yeah, exactly his dad. I don't want to do this. Well, it's like, I don't know if you remember before the phone. I remember thinking. It was like, batshit crazy people. Real watch movies on this tiny screen. Why would you do that? That's like, I don't want to do that. That's no fun. I want to love going to the theater. I love the feel of the newspaper. Yeah, if you had told me how you're going to check your phone like
Like 170 times a day. Yeah, I would have been like, why would I do? I'm not a hamster. Like I don't believe that rat lifestyle just get lots of the checking for my email. Yeah, why would I need to do that? I can just check my email once a day or whatever, you know, like, yeah the things I do normally today would have seemed really abnormal and I could have I would have been kind of disgusted by some of the things. Yeah, and there are other things, I would like there's no way that you know, like how would I be able to do that? It's not plugged in. Where would the internet come from? Like,
how do you now? So now you've embraced that. But then how do you eliminate noise from your life? Like one of the things?
Genuinely curious about it's like Trung, your friend from whose hilarious online. Yeah. Fucking hilarious. Right? My question is, as I was like how much just internet garbage is going in that guy's head every day. I want to meet him. Where is he? And like, Vancouver's only
there. She's in Vancouver Canada. I should I should have invited him to the show. We are just a makeover,
but I'm like how much just fecal matter of garbage is going in your head, for him to be like, this is the meme
ICS to sift. That's his job is filtering through. Yeah.
Yeah, she is. Here's a good one. Yeah, just
wash it. Yeah, and how does it affect your? Just your like your body and mind. So what I'm asking you and I would love to a strong is like for you guys. How do you eliminate just like this is just sheer garbage. And if 80% of your day is just sifting through that which is so much of what internet discourses. And again, the algorithm is incentivize that just people yelling at each other not solutions-oriented thinking and conversation and dialogue.
How do you then have like a high efficacy rate? Because I feel like we live in an era now where you're busy but you're just you're doing absolute horseshit.
Yeah. This where I've heard this great quote from this guy. So entrepreneur, remember his name, but he told me something he goes. He was, I just talking about, like, I was like, so what are you doing? Outside a building your startup? Like I was taught if I'm in a vest I first get to know like what what do you do when you're not coding? This thing? Yeah, and he was like, I think I got some friends. He's what we do and I go he's like, yeah.
Or making music, I was like, so you're trying to like make a band. He's like now we just like we make music together because it's more fun than listening to music. I go, what he does, he goes. Yeah, we make videos my you trying to be a YouTuber. He's like, no, it's just better than sitting there and watching YouTube. He goes, I have this rule, which is good friends consumed together, great fence create together. So he goes so you can look at all your relationships and say, what percentage of the time are. We just consuming we go to Russia which consume shit versus cooking something together. Yeah, when we go to the movies, we just consume something or binge. Watch a show.
Versus like trying to make something together. Make some art. Do a project together? Build. Build a gingerbread. Yeah, matter. Yeah. What the thing is? Yeah, he goes by the great relationships in my life. I thought I recognized their great because we create and the ones I want to be great. I create more than we could sue, right? So similarly whether it's even with work, I try to create. I think most people are consuming like 99 percent of the time. I think they're literally just mouth open ingesting like yeah, whatever the hell everybody else is, you know, the few content creators are creating. There's taking it all in.
In and then they're hoping that their brain doesn't get like, you know, turned into like peanut butter. Yeah, and what I do is like, I know it's very addictive to just sit there and scroll to feeds. Yeah. I do it some time to time. But yeah, I try to say. All right. I need to be creating 80% of the content. I'll consume 20%. But of my time that I'm thinking about content that that's like that's like doing this in turn. I'm not with my family. I'm not in the gym, not whatever. Yeah, I'm going to be creating. Yeah, and so I can only consume to the extent. It helps me create. How do you build community?
In the startup was not hard because lunch break. It's like Comics probably where they're all trying to do something really hard. It'll get business from scratch. And like, you know, works, you know and said like, you know, there's a misery loves company type of thing, where it's like there's this, there's this report that's built among people will help each other out, we'll get along with each other's. We're all going through the same shit. So, my community became other people who were startup Founders, when I was doing that, and now that I'm kind of more creating content, you know, building an audience.
Rand. It's people who are trying to do that and trying to figure out look like we have one friend pomp. Whoo. Yeah, amazing content. Like he's great. He's building his brand. He's like the Bitcoin guy. He's the Bitcoin guy. Yeah.
But when I look at it, I say, wow. There's a lot of things I admire about what he did, but I also got to learn that like, I would never want to do what he's doing. He does his thing. He does a daily business show on YouTube. Now every day he wakes up at 5:00 in the morning whatever and he's screaming like three hours live
show. Yeah. He's doing his Squawk Box
every every day and I'm like, I get it. That would work. I would never want to do that. I never want to go that path. So I'm like trying to triangulate and learn from. He did these other three? Things. I thought were fucking dope, but I'm like, oh, that's a great idea. I should add that to my game. Yes.
Like any athlete. It's like anybody trying to get good at anything. You surround yourself with people who are in the game trying to do the same thing as you. That's your peer group, you commiserate, you share strategies with each other. And then you have some people who already like have done it, their kind of your mentors, you go to them, you know, from time to time and ask them for them. I'm sure you have the same thing in totally, I bet. Yeah. I
asked the Jedi. Yeah, there's a bunch of data and then there's other Padawan that are part of my like contemporary class that. Yeah. All the time.
Yeah, and how did you get good? Like, when did you go from suck to? Not suck. Like he's everybody starts. I believe that.
Chuck. That's like the Pixar way. I don't have heard this for Pixar as a philosophy, which is allmovie start at suck. Our job is to like remove the suck. Yeah, so there's non suck left. The yeah. So I took that
approach, man. The Daily Show changed my life, man. Seeing the way Jon Stewart worked. And especially that institution, both Daily Show in SNL. Love them, hate them. They're part of their comedy institutions, SNL for 50 years now. Daily Show 25, you know that are
These pedigree boot camps for understanding the process about how to think about comedy. And one of the things that I realized is what John taught me and Trevor showed me, you know, John really unlike the code, but it's like it's all about your take. What is your take and being able to back it up? So it's not even being funny first. It's what is the take? What am I trying to say? What is the take? What am I philosophically? Artistically trying to say and let's
give an example where you had on the show last night. You're like, you met this guy who's a private Equity, guys.
Why you're like, what the fuck is that? Yeah, he's a call. Yeah, we do like lbos. You're like, yeah, let me just get. What is a leveraged buyout. Well, used as you get as you get to the bottom of your like, so you use other people's money to buy other people's companies and then you ruin the people's lives in them by firing them and getting them, making them profitable and you flip it to somebody else. Yeah. You're like, yeah. I'm not cool with that. Like yeah, I think that's a little bit of a fucked-up way to win it. Like yeah. This kind of like vulture is legal stealing. Yeah.
Yeah. That was, that was your money to begin with? Yeah. Yes. This also, it's stealing wallets.
Eagle. Oh just is because legal does mean is ethical right? You know, Bill Cosby got off legally, right? We all know what it is. And so like that is what the joke, I would start with. That's my take around leveraged, buyouts and vulture funds, right?
Then you start tagging it. You can do the that Bill Cosby tag. He got off. Legally is not right. We all, we all know, son. I think we'll what he did.
Whatever the glove didn't fit. O.j.
Yeah, right. All right, so you must have had, okay. And then you start tagging and then the funny just starts flowing from there. And then you go that's like this and then you can
just what are you doing? You're sitting in a room with like a few people. You just spitballing riffing bantering just
like that. Yeah, and then eventually you got to put pen to paper, right? And you got to start writing the act one and you start to see when I watch Weekend Update or when I
In act one on The Daily Show. Randy those are death segments. I now see the Matrix I now see. Oh, I know how to construct a seven and a half minute piece Last Week Tonight, Patriot Act. I know how to do a 27 minute piece on it. Right? I know the beats and the flow of that and what was really cool was it just gave me that that Central kind of like philosophy. How do I do this? And so the first 10 11, 12 years of my career, I was just trying to be funny. And what John? And 2014 really help me unlock was like, no, no. No, you need to have like
There needs to be an actual process and purpose to what you do. Now. I'm not saying this as a virtue thing. No, just you just need to be like, even if you're doing dick jokes, or even, if you're being silly, there needs to be. You need to understand the game and how to heighten it comedic live, right? Even stupid. Silly jokes, you know, are like that. And so that was the unlocked for me and then just reps trying to get as good as possible. Now, my next thing that I'm just working on the most
Is the Jazz part of it. Like yo, just have fun. That's always been one of my weaknesses because I like I told you I like I'm a come on Kitty structured. And so and so we're so built around Fear. And so there's these moments that I try to have on stage. I don't know if you saw this. Like, I'm just kind of unhinged like the first like three or four minutes of the set while I'm just, I'm literally just riffing. Yeah. When I was making fun of the kids shorts, there's a kid in the front row of the show. Just short shorts. They not. Yes.
Yeah, it's the eyes were just like all up on the chair and then like the seats in the back and, you know, seeing people come in late and then riffing off of that. It's pure Jazz Now, jazz has structure, but there's also play, right? And then you can go back to it. And like, it's that organized chaos that I'm trying to like, start to tap into.
Yeah. And you're doing well now you, I don't know how you were doing before Val. Say, let's say when was like the, when did things start getting real? Good as about the last
four or five years? Yeah, I would say probably around.
White House Correspondents Dinner. That was I my kind of big breakthrough, right? National recognition moment of like you don't have to be a fan of The Daily Show or just a fan of Comedy. Like I penetrated, you know, front page of the news feed type Fame and clout and credibility type thing. Yeah,
and you she start doing well, start making money doing this thing, which is amazing. Yeah, so hard to do so, you did it. Yeah, and what do you do? So let's I'm going to
With the breakout how you broke through. But now, that you're here, you've arrived. You're doing really well. Now business side of things. Yeah, how you running the show? So what are you just in? Like, dude? I'm just fucking touring 24/7. I don't even think about the money that goes into account. I don't think about it yet. Are you like, investing? What do you, what do you think
about? Yeah, and so, you know, that's really interesting thing is now I'm starting to think more about the business side of things, not in so much of the, I'm a venture capitalist. I want 100 x. I want 1000x the way show.
Business works, I think like any business, really? But show business / specifically is extremely predatory. And it's built on this idea that we provide the labor and they're kind of banking on you being desperate, right? Dom and not owning your IP and write content creation. They kind of are banking on the end. They meaning like the big studios, the big streamers the powers-that-be, the agencies, all those sort of things.
They're banking on you, not knowing what it is. And I think, for the first time in history were starting to see closed, groups of collaborators starting to come together and build things themselves. They can still run them through the big pipes in the studio system, but they're also like, no, no, no, we independently operate, we cook everything. We write everything completely. So, like me a shot. We started a company and we write, we produce, we executive-produced people's projects, but we do the whole thing kitten caboodle, right? And hypothetically, Sean would come
Me and go. Hey, listen, man. I'm hosting this 15-minute event at this thing and I wanted to fucking rip. I wanted to kill I go. Cool. Let's what's your take? What do you want to say? Bubba? Come sit down with me and PV. Let's break down your act 1, right? And we'll tag it up and do all that stuff. And that's a cool opportunity for us to collaborate and for us to brown paper bag, amongst each other.
And I love the ethos of that, like, hey, let's build together. You're an artist and a creative. I'm an artist in the creative. I think lawyers are important. I think agents are important. They're fine, but they're necessary, evils this brown paper bag. This honest relationship that we have is Artisans together is of, you know, the Paramount importance in the more artists we can learn about just the business side of things. I think it's going to be for the, for the better, the other. The other part of it man is, I'm just, I'm so much of my life was just trying to make it. Yeah.
Now I don't even know to do with money. I'm trying to understand what is money, what to do
with it. And what's your mindset now? So what have we re arrived on
that to me? Money represents, you know, in capital represents two. Things money will not solve all your problems, but money can take care of certain certain problems. So if there's ten problems for of them, say childcare my daughter's braces, you know, being able to Uber back and forth to the airport. I can take those problems off the table, right? It will not solve.
My marriage. It will not make me a loving father or an attentive father. Those are problems. I have to solve. It won't make me in shape. It won't help my mind. But at least taking those pain. Points off the table means a lot to me. But there's another data point as an artist that money can help solve two things. It gives me the opportunity to say no to things, you have fuck you money. Like you should Host this game show and I'm not going to do that.
It also gives me the opportunity to imprint my worldview upon the world on my terms, right? So the so the show you saw I own it outright right? I-i'm not just in the comedy business that on yourself. I'm in the trucking business, like I own and operate that 18-wheel truck. You're like Mayweather, those lights. Those like, there's the Holodeck that I'm standing on that glows, like I own it, but good houses. I don't know what I'm gonna do with it after the special, but there's a sense of empowerment of yo, I want to say this in the world and I have the capital.
To imprint my worldview upon the world, right? And there's a deeply empowering feeling in that. The next thing that I'm trying to learn in the reason why I want to be on podcast and meet people like you is
Artists, we need to learn more about how money works. So once you make it and you want to buy a house and provide for your family and you know, hopefully have childcare in some capacity and how do you not blow it on dumb shit right to the point where it gets really sad, man. There's a lot of artists and entertainers you'll get hit up and they'll be like, hey, so and so has cancer, we need to do a comedy benefit to pay for their medical bills.
I'm like, this is sad, man. This guy was on SNL. This guy was on, but what this guy's on a sitcom. And I'm like, yeah, this has to stop, right? And my question to you would be, and that's the thing. I'm trying to figure out is if you were an artist and you all of a sudden, we make our money and lump sums, you all of a sudden were given two million dollars, a million dollars, five hundred thousand. You just make these lump sums. What would you do with that money? Yeah. That's the fundamental question that I'm trying to
Figure out an answer. Well, the first thing is
you can be a bunch of people telling you what to do with your money and you got to correct them at all costs. Correct. The people that are swooping in with the next great opportunity and try to get you to buy if I can, you know, Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises and shit like that. Like yeah, if the sort of say, all right, how do I get a trusted person who is an expert at this? Yeah, that is actually good at their job. And how do we align our incentives? So that they're not able to just pillage me like happens to a bunch of athletes? Yeah. They're not just my homeboy, you know, from from high school or whatever. Yes. I trust them, but they
Not be experts like yes, find that intersection of trust and expert. Can I
tell you what work where it gets really hard? You know, I'm fortunately, like I again I grew up. I'm kind of just you know, I'm a nerdy kid. I was never, I don't roll with an Entourage. Yeah. I pulled up in an Uber you're like solo with my backpack. So I don't have all those pitfalls that other artists and entertainers have where they're a couple drinks. Yeah. Jewelry purchases a couple car purchases in a divorce away from just like losing it all. Yeah, you know.
I'm a pretty like level-headed, you know, guy that being said, you know, it's interesting. You try to do your research and it's crazy. I'm 36 years old. I'm starting to read about, you know.
Financial literacy and stuff like that, not read books. I'll read jail. Collins's book, you know, and you know, he's an advocate of ETS ax. Right. Just Vanguard funds. Yeah, but when I go on the internet and I start looking through your mentions and I go through your page or Sam's page. Nobody trying to fuck with me. Tsso you old
man. You're not on the Solana teeth.
How do I, how do you discern truth?
Ontological truth reality and light from just this banter. This just never-ending. Yeah, up and down. Nature of
noise. So, here's a louder. Alright, so here's how I would break it down. I'd say, what do I want? So there's some people were saying, I'm trying to become pretty. I'm trying to come Kevin Hart. I'm trying to do whatever. I'm trying to have this mega, mega Empire. Billion-dollar status is some people who say, look, I came from nothing and I got this thing. Now, I'm not, I need a certain level of security and safety. That's what makes me happy is, knowing. I can never go down to zero, you know, it.
II can never fuck up and lose it. All it is, it is safety for life, for me. And for my kids. What does that number? Yeah, you start to play with these numbers, you start. So what does life cost and what do I want your bottom? I get holes. Yes. What's my burn right now? First got to take that lay of the land as I don't need any strategy without an objective. So any strategies meant to get you to some objective and what most people do wrong, if they're just picking strategies Without Really. Curating, the objectives. Yeah, and why, why is that thing? Can I stand and defend? Why? I
I believe that this is what I'm going for at this is my strategy. Like how do I get to the point where I know what I want and I can defend what I want to myself. Not to you know, like I can articulate it. Yeah, actually why I've decided that why I said no to these other plausible paths that might be right for others, but they're not for me. Yeah, so you set your goal that way. So that's the first
my most important goal is to things and I've identified them. So I think about these things a long time, you know, being on tour is really good because you just start to planes are great. You just have a lot of time. You
take a lot of shower in the air to think.
Yeah,
and one of the things that I thought about it was like it's two things. It's like to me being a father and a husband means providing Financial Safety and Security for my kids, you know, I grew up in a family. I want to give away. I want to talk about this too much, but money was always a thing that people my family argued about. And I never wanted that to be a thing here. And it's a tough thing to do. If you're an artist. Are you kidding me? That's why did you pick that path? But it's what's honest to me. But to me what money and business represents is okay if I can earn enough. So that God forbid, this goes to shit, but I have enough Runway.
I want Runway room and this is going to sound crazy. But for 10 years because I do deep work. Like, it took me two and a half, three years to write the show. Right? Took me a long time to put it together.
And I hope the depth of that resonated with you and to the audience. That's my dream. Yo, do you feel how what this meant to me? And what this? I hope, I hope you see me. I hope you see it. I hope you feel it too. But in order to do that, I have to have Runway room. Yes. I have to have two years to be able to hold up and write this movie, right? This thing. I have a couple projects that are now lined up after we shoot this Netflix special, but they've required a ton of time, right? Time. You need financial Capital to cover your burn. Yep, to cover. Like I said, you
Daughter, baby girl, she has glasses now and God has been waiting for ya. And now there's all these additional things. My mom. Her knees are going, she needs knee replacement surgery. You know, I'm the eldest, these are real things and I put it as like, no, I need that burn for 10 years, right, but now we live in a world where we're not even be able to retire. Yeah, so I have to start thinking, no, I got to be Rock. I want to be Mel Brooks. I want to be doing this, you know, got hopefully Dick Gregory. I'm doing this until I die, right? I love that. Dick Gregory died with dates on the books. He was going to do.
35. Others in Sunnyvale,
California. Living
legend, man, and I'm like, what? An Inspired Life, right? So many people are like, well, he wasn't the biggest comedian. I'm like, bro. You lost the plot. Yeah. He's a, he's still playing the game. What a beautiful thing in his 80s, right? God God, give please give me life so I can continue to do that. So that's its that burn. What's that? Number? Ten, maybe 10 years. 5 years and I've told my accountant this, right?
Then the other thing is, is what is the financial Capital that I need to? Then continue to imprint my vision upon the world. So the show that you saw the burn to run it.
Man is almost 40 Grand a week, just in labor cost. Trucking costs getting it to venue to venue. It's a lot right now, do that at scale, young touring for 6 Months, 8 months, 9 months to a year. Got to take it over to Europe, to Asia, to Australia. All of those things is like I want to be able to count on Creative Capital. Yeah, only on myself. I'm not asking for a network, you know, so funny like one of the things that artists now complain about is like the studio said this. And I'm like, hey, man, we got a shift.
Yeah, to now being like, no. No, we have that. Now, in order to do that. I got to be able to make money. Not at a one x. Yes. 2 X. 5 X, I have to start making moves that can potentially 10 exit. Is it can then cover that burn? So, those are my two missions? Yep. How do I continue to do kings jesters and take care of my family? I'm not trying to be a billionaire. It's just those two things.
Yes, effect. That will give you a number or set of our range. Yeah, these are. All right, what are the strategies that could be, that get me to that and you're not going to know them yourself because you're like, well, I spent
Years getting fucking amazing. A comedy not the money game, right? The money game is its own came. I'm gonna respect that the same way. When I'm like, dude. I want to do comedy. I know comedy means it's a game that I I know what it was like to be an absolute beginner in business. I got my ass kicked for eight years straight. Yeah. It's probably going to feel very similar. If I ever wanted to, like, even just like have the experience of going to doing a five-minute comedy set. I'm probably going to get my ass kicked for like a year or two. Yeah. To just be able to go do that. Yeah, so you gotta say all right. How do I find somebody's gonna do that? And I mean, somebody who I need them more than
Need me. Yeah, that'd be great thing to have, right? Because a lot of people who need you. They need you for the clout. They need you for the money. Then you, for many things. So you need to find someone who doesn't really need you. They're happy to help the happy to offer. They get something of it. It has to be a mutual exchange. Yeah, but they're good already. And so that's why I like hanging out with people who are good already. So when I go to them, they're not trying to dig in. Oh, yeah. Here's a business idea. Here's what you should do. By the way, can I get some advisor shares? Can I get some Equity? It's like, well, you don't, they don't need that because they, they're already playing the game at a higher.
Level in the money game. So they don't need me for money when it comes to that, so I can trust their advice and from that sense because yeah, are, you know, they're not looking for that. So, then you get a bunch of strategies. All right. Here's I my safety, my safety Playbook on this amount of money, that's in something, like, Vanguard low-cost ETFs. That's expected to grow 7%, I could chart that out and say, all right. That's what that looks like. Over 10 years that I need my high-risk high-reward part of the portfolio. That's, that's the
that's the and I've read those books. Like Jason calacanis has a book where he was like, Hey, take a hundred thousand dollars and turn it into a hundred month.
Ask you this is that
real that part. I do not believe his real life. This is what I don't very
misguided and I don't know, you know, my whole thing is, you know.
And you can like it not like my comment, whatever but I'm trying to meet people where they're at. Right? I love people, bro. Like I never want to lose. I call it the cost of milk energy. If you asked my dad, how much is milk. My dad will be like in Manhattan and at the bodega or at Costco over New Jersey. If we go over the bridge, he'll tell you the cost of milk. I love that. Like knowing how much gas is, knowing how much it is to like lease or buy a Corolla. That's why I drive an odyssey. Right look man. I want to fuck with people. I love people.
For. So for me, one of the biggest things that I'm trying to do also is like if I can learn perhaps, even through my comedy through my gift. I can help meet the people where they're at. I'm never going to run with the a 16 Zs. Right? Maybe who knows. They may they want me to they may want me to like perform at the birthday party or something to
drink, you know, the kids 12th birthday.
They really like Hassan come, come do 10 minutes, but I'm talking about like man that I'm speaking of that. It's funny. I had this joke that I did on Patriot Act where I made.
Fun of Bitcoin. The dudes who like tell me to invest in Bitcoin. I said, I believe in Bitcoin. I just don't believe in the people that tell me. Yeah, because it's all my homies that told me to take out a subprime mortgage in 2008. I'm like Travis property. You wanted me to get, you want me to take a second, mortgage it away. And why are you just like all like? Yeah, Diamond hands now your diamond hands and me to death or whatever and they're like you dumb motherfucker. Look. It's at 60 K now and the comic and me is like bro. Keep it 100. Keep it 100 with me. Use your government. Look me in the eye.
Tell me, honestly, right? The reality is you have 10K in the bank. The cost of living in Milpitas is too high and you need that shit to fuck in 200x in. So you are betting everything on this and that's why my jokes are getting to you. Now. Look me in the eye and use your government name and tell me. Am I Lyin?
So I think that my being real check me if I'm wrong. Check me
Sean. You're not wrong. You're not wrong. What I would say
is.
But maybe I'll misguided. Maybe
there's a certain level of skepticism. You have. That is absolutely needed. Yeah. And your truck you have to get to the root of. Yeah, are you saying this? Do you know what you're talking about? What is in it for you? If I do this, you know, you know you want to be blind. Following the blind. Yeah. What I do one thing that works for me, that's like a catchy could when I was doing that sushi, restaurant thing. I told you about we're trying to find the perfect location. They said in restaurants location is everything. So we're like, oh I can got to be location. Experts were scouting. We're doing all this real estate shit. We're looking up. And we just realize, hey,
Chipotle puts like, you know billions of dollars into picking the right location. Why don't we just go right next to where every Chipotle's and we're and that's actually the strategy that's that Quiznos. And a whole bunch of other brands had used got Noodles and Company. If you go look next to a Chipotle, they'll be Noodles and Company. They're over, there will be a Subway there. They all just they're like, well they do all the research and they're an attraction. So like yeah, we just go next to that we can piggyback because they're putting their skin in the game that just telling us, there's a good occasion. Yeah, they are putting down their Roots, their investing money yet, which means this probably a good idea. Yeah, so I have a couple buddies
Oh, I'm like look, you've been successful in this game. What are you putting your money into now? And and what ratios are you putting about? How much of your money? Are you putting into these things of your? How do you think about them? I triangulate between for people like that? Yeah. I say, okay now I have a basic understanding of like where they are putting their skin in the game. They're not telling me to do it because they get something out of it. They are put themselves investing in this. They're doing certain amount of diligence that like they are in a space that they understand and so you're able to get, there's an intelligent way to copy and then follow it.
Intelligent way to follow and then there's an unintelligent way to follow as well. The unintelligent way to follow is I heard some shit from some guy who's got an incentive to sell me this thing. Yeah, and I don't really understand why he's telling me to do this and yeah, I can't really ask him. I don't know what percentage of his portfolios in this, you know, so I can she'll some random cryptocurrency. I'm excited about. Yeah, people are all you said. That was great. Yeah, I put half a percent of my net worth into it because I understood it in this way and I thought had this risk reward you put thirty percent of your net worth into it. I never told you to do that. Yeah. I never told you do anything.
But you interpreted X as y. Yes. Oh, there's an intelligent and intelligent way to do it. But that's kind of my Approach of like how I would do this. I would say. All right. There's a money game. You gotta learn. I'm going to learn along the way. Yeah. I'm going to speed up my learning curve, but partner, with people who already are playing this game at a higher level than me that don't need any, they don't need the money from me. They're not getting a cut of me. Yeah, but they're happy to do it because it's cool to know a comedian. Yeah. It's like so sure. But it's just, it's fun. Right? And so like there's that's how I would approach it.
The other thing you said, which is important, which is the artists have to get leverage. So like people were last night when we were leaving the show. I'm stalking my sister. I said, it's amazing. This my dad was like, I can't my dad the whole time. I told you I bought the beer. He's like, I can't believe you bought that beer at the show. So expensive that beers a dollar at Costco. I was like, I know I understand that. I'm having an experience at the show here. I wanted to have a beer and enjoy the show. Yeah that was worth $13 to me. I know the beer only calls
just cradling
$13 and so he's like, he's like, I can't believe so many people pay to come to show. How can they afford a show like this and
I said, well, people care about like they're having fun like this, their budget. I am saying you don't allocate your budget to that they do. And he was like, he's like he's like, you know, this guy must be doing amazing because he's he did hate shows or whatever in Bay Area. He's got a Netflix show. I say, yeah he's doing for I'm sure he's doing great. I said, but also think about like, I don't know what your Netflix deal is, but I know that if I was offered a Netflix deal, I'd have to do it for 0. Essentially. Right? Like Netflix. Kind of knows that I have to say. Yes to have a Netflix. Yeah, so my bargaining Powers probably
Real. Oh, yeah. So even though it's a big deal and it might do well. Yeah, my negotiations power in that situation. I Leverage is low right versus this. Show that you owned your life or just hire right? Yeah. So it's like I said, you know just because somebody has certain things you do for distribution in Fame and so delicious dude
monetize. That was The Comedy Central deal. Like you're on The Daily Show, you're on. SNL right to be on a cultural institution.
Exactly to get your name built. They know like, you can, they can pay you whatever. Yeah, and so, how do you get the leverage back? And so that's where there's this idea, by the way.
A that like Ross who said, the somebody said this, I'm stealing it. But why wouldn't comedians create like us? Everybody's getting big, big checks from Netflix and others to go to a special now. Yeah, and I'll carry, you know, I think Chappelle, whatever this out, something like 30 million bucks, 20 bucks. I don't know what the numbers. Yeah. It's on that ring. Very big upfront payday. Yeah, they know, they're making the money on the back end. Otherwise, they wouldn't offer that kind of money. Yeah, and then there's but also it, key data
point, you need to know is it's just like you cannot use Ronaldo's deal LeBron's deal.
Curry's ultramax deal, or Chappelle's ultramax deal because the Delta between who the capital markets being number one, man. You gotta see what buddy hield on the Sacramento Kings is making no, because buddy solid. But what is he? But his, he top 10 in the league. I see top 15 in the league. That's the real. Again. I talked about the Costco milk thing. That's the real working-class artist. If you can't be Kevin Hart, if you can't be Jeff Bezos, if you can't be chamath or whatever, and you can't ball out of the bill.
Then what do you? What are the moves you make exact? That's why I'm trying to operate my life assume. You won't be Will Smith, right? You won't be the biggest movie star in the world. And the capital markets are going to pay you at 1000x. Say they pay you at 10x. What moves do you then do to have a healthy happy artistic career for the rest of your life. That's my mission. I want to continue to make art honest with the rest of my life. Yeah. So I think the answer is a little but but let's but
idea real quick. Yeah, the idea is if the artist got together and created the Stream.
Technology now is actually like pretty standardized off the shelf. You can you can have a white labeled version of Netflix. Yes, in six months. Yes. The thing is, you need drawers. And so like, if somehow and this is always the coordination problem. Yeah, if you could somehow coordinate the key artists to say, hey, we can own the small fucker. We can actually create our own plans. That's a comedy streaming service. Yeah that people pay for. Yeah, and we're going to share the the dividends sort of like meritocratic Lee meaning if I come to watch your show if I subscribed to the service. Yeah, because
if Hudson show yeah, you're going to get the Bounty of my my joining. Yeah, and then if I also watch, you know, three other artists, yeah, they're going to get some some cut of the subscription. It can be what crypto and other things are. Enabling is a basically creator-owned platform. Yeah, somebody's going to do this. I don't know if it's in comedy or if it's in some other music or some musics. Let's trailer trailer is kind of like that. Right? No, it's the same thing as a company. Then the nape, they cut checks. They get the artist to come on board and then they pimped out the artist to go get customers. Yeah, and the artist feels like they're getting a good deal because their cash
That your Equity poor getting. And you know, they might cut a deal with Jake polish because the trailer has nothing to lose. So they're like, yeah, you get 2%. Yeah, they'll cut that to one person yet on talking about is if Chappelle Kevin Hart if you could somehow coordinate the forces that be. Yeah.
To say, let's create a platform us only put our art on this platform comedies. One of those things, for the fans will pay to jump the fence to get the thing. Yeah, and they're willing to pay to also support their
the most money. I've answered that.
So that would be a platform that would be value. It could eventually be valued, you know, easily single-digit billions of dollars that would be creator-owned. And then as you cycle out in the next comedian comes up, they would just basically join The Syndicate. Yeah, maybe pumping their fan base into it. They would be kidding with their proportionate share based on how much, how much
audience they're
To the place. I'm present two things and I'd love your analysis on this again. I don't know. I'm trying to learn but I'll just share the things that I've learned from just being in the circle, you know, shout out to my man, a z a z was, you know, Chappelle's doing all these summer camps and and Ohio, and one of my comedian friends AZ. I think he's you've met with him. He was saying he asked, Dave he goes and and I love Aza Z's. Like he's always been a future leader of Remy, right? Yeah, and he's always been a futurist. He's older than 20 years ahead. And I tell AZ I go crazy. You got the
The core problem in 2006 at the
internet. I look like an idiot.
20 years ahead. You wanted maybe like three. Three to five years? Yeah, you want to be that guy with oculus like brothers sucks. That's always my thing as I don't want to be the Oculus dude. Yeah, you know, they need
you don't watch a Jungle Book
on articulate. Something that's giving me a headache. Like, cut this shit out. Anyways, he goes, he goes up to Dave and goes Dave, man. You come on, bro. You're the goat. You're number one. You could just put it up on Dave Chappelle.com and everybody would pay you 5 or 10 bucks worth.
Bucks, 20 bucks. Maybe Radiohead style. $100 Nipsey Hussle, right? Proud to pay and Louis did that. Yeah. Dave's like this. He goes like this. He goes.
New fans.
What about new fans? What that Netflix billboard gives you? Is it pumps that tile out in front of you whether you like it or not. I don't know. Sampar. Yeah, I slid in Sam's damp Sam's. I slid into your DMs. You didn't hit me back, but when he's with his wife and they open up the do them and they see my tile and they see my like, my, you're my, my raccoon on Adderall face Sam now has to reckon with that. Then Sam. He's sitting on the couch.
He pulls out his phone and then he sees you retweet my thing. He's a man is in, dude. What's wrong? I know this guy. Let me see this guy. Boom. I've now picked up sampar. I know I'm a convert with you. Your cousins are going to talk about me. Your your sister's going to talk about me whatever, but I'm not a new fans, you know what I mean? And the distribution. They do to get new fans on board. That's what this proud to pay movement, doesn't have right. So everybody's told me, hey, start an online shop. I'm like cool. I'll do homecoming. King Locale. Kanga. Sure.
Cool, what about your three other co-workers, the dude in that room. I want them to know who I am, right? So that's what you know, Louis put out his last special, sincerely. Louis c.k. Did you see it? No, why didn't you see it? Because it was just a closed Network between him and his direct fans. People couldn't get outraged about it. They couldn't write about it, which would then get you to it would titillate you and you better watch it, right? Which would that get you to watch it? And he pick you up as a new fan.
Yeah, it
Yeah, exactly. That's 100% disclose. If I'd have to be paired with it, pretty aggressive Clips strategy, right? So like one of the ways you grew was not because I watch a hundred sixty minutes of the correspondence like speech 45 minutes. It was long speech rights 27. It's 17 minutes. It's because a couple of those clips get on Instagram. They can share their could talk. They'd go viral. Yeah, and Twitter Instagram, Tick-Tock, that's where you'd have to basically pair it with that. That'd be the only way that you could get the exposures to say. There's great.
It we're going to use YouTube or can use Tick-Tock. We use whatever. And we're actually going to, they're going to take the best stuff. Yeah, we're going to dangle it over there. We're gonna let that be shareable.
Yeah, it still may not work
to actually like assimilate the new fan. Like that's why that's the winters that and the coordination problem is the biggest people you want. They're getting overpaid by the Network's. Yeah. Because they're that's the strategy of the Network, lock them and lock them in. And then every other artist has to follow. Yeah, Daddy. Almost below market rate because this is where all the headliners are you want to be.
They are that's what feels like a first class thing as an artist,
if I'm in the airport and people like what do you do your comedian? I go. Yeah and then I go. Yeah, how do I see you?
I go. Good, download The Zone. Yeah, and I'm
just like Netflix, good Netflix. Because Netflix has that the Dome Factor just like, damn. I'm Anna, my kids, watch CoCo. Melon. I watch Netflix. I watch Bubba. So the thing is Amazon, Disney and Netflix right now. They're running it and I'm trying to think to me. I'm trying to have a barbell approach to it. So if you follow me on Instagram, I put out content, I put out videos.
Gio's, Tyler my videographer. We put out stuff, but I'm trying to barbell it and I'm trying to figure out. Yeah, how do we start to monetize those things? Now, the most, the most clearest sign of that, that I've seen, which has a low cost of Entry has been podcasting comedians podcasting. And people like Tom Segura, people like Joe Rogan people, like Andrew Schultz. Those guys have been able to call me call. Call your daddy, you know, people in that pot.
Dax Shepard people in that space have been able to build up their own independent platforms and have more leverage. Here's my issue with it.
I find it very risky to put up every single thought. And idea that I have in real time on the internet. I'm be candid with everybody listening. I have no hidden thing here. I'm just be transparent. The reason why I'm honest as I love what you do? I think what you do is honest and sincere and I think artists need to start to talk to people in your space to be like, you understand business. We understand art. How can we work together? How does this all? How do these these two worlds now, merge, right.
Without being part of a a multinational
conglomerate and
then have business Affairs and lawyers and all that stuff. Muck it up. That's the interesting new world that I'm really excited about and that's what I'm trying to figure out. Mmm. Yeah. I love it. Yeah,
I don't know how much time you guys. I got time. I want to be respectful. No, that's not something. The camera still rolling. Are they? Yeah, perfect. Yeah, let's finish up with a couple things. You do. Listen, the pot. I don't know if you actually
listen to this is the body amazing. Yeah.
When you listen to it, you there's always the beautiful part when a guest listens to the show. Cause most most guests don't. But they, if they do the best part, is there's a moment on podcasting when you're at home and you're hearing people talk about stuff in your screaming, either like you don't get it. Yeah, talk about this instead or no, I disagree and like they normally never get the mic. They just have to sit there and sort of punch are as we just drone on about whatever the hell you're talking about. Yeah, what are those things that when you're listening? You're like, I would say this or I want to know about this or I want
To talk about this. What are those things for you? As you know? Now you broke through the wall and you're here.
Yeah, for me. I'll tell you the moment that I loved. And by the way, this is, this has been my ethos with comedy writing, and I learned at The Daily Show.
You can only tear something down and this also works with movie writing a script writing. If you tear something down. You got to pitch. An ALT. Don't just shit on the idea pitch and ALT, right? And what's the alt joke, what's the alt take? Otherwise sit down, like, sit on the sidelines. You're not in the game. So, I'll tell you what, I Love. Actually, there's, I don't have a ton of criticism. I've actually asked those questions. The one that I loved is you guys had this run that you and Sam did. There was
Things that I sincerely loved. You guys had this thing up. If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it today? Hmm. I love that. Then there's another thing that you did. That was really cool. It was vulnerable. And again, the reason why it resonated with me is at a level of honesty and transparency in it. You guys were candid about your asset portfolio distributions. Right? And Sam was like, I'm a little bit more. Conservative conservative and you're like, I'm more risky, right? And there's two moments. I love it was the thing. What I do with a million dollars and there's a moment that you did where you
You are like, I want to move through the world in a way. What if I was worth a hundred million dollars and I want to build my days around that. Yeah, but where did you get that from? So there's two things I love. Let me just do things, I love, but I want to actually just tag that with the question. Where did you get that? Attitude, that like that bde. That's, that's, that's a big
energy. I had a thing. I was talking to the when I got it. When we got acquired. We went to Twitch. Yeah, and they brought in this guy who became like Iran issue reporter straight to the CEO and they brought
This guy who became the chief product officer and he was like Twitches, like this gamer young Jazzy Millennial. Yet product. Yes, guy comes in gray hair, doesn't play video games, you know, was like, at Google in 2003 or some shit like that. Yeah, and he's obviously smart and accomplished in the tech world, but seemed like so out of touch with the product. Yeah, people were like, oh we have this guy like internally like Rumblings in the engineering ranks, which sort of like this guy didn't get it. Like the people already hate upper management General. They also think that out of touch making bad eye.
Bad decisions. Yeah, so there was just like skepticism, is this guy going to get it? He would ask questions and meetings that were like, oh like you don't like you. You don't Fortnight is like wait. Wait, how are you? How do you have this job? If you don't know, like, you know what
Minecraft was
Discord for? Exactly. Yeah. He was just, he didn't. He was like, I'm asking if I should to learn. Why would I ask? I'm obviously, I'm asking the question. I don't know. I think it's important to know. Yeah, you think I should know this? So I'm just gonna learn it right here, like, instant that he didn't care. Yes, a bunch of question when I
Ask me, he sat down with me. He was like, let's do like a one-on-one. He's like, all right, it's career career planning or whatever. He's like, so, what you want to do? And I basically, when you sell your company of this deal, this vesting structure, so it's like you basically get some cash up front and then it's like after one year. You're going to get your next big check. And after two years going to get extra check. If you make it a year or three, you get the last bit. I didn't make it to your three. I only got two
but at somewhere self-imposed or you guys got
away. I was just like this is enough. I want to go do other shit. Yeah. I'm surprised I even got to to like one. I knew I would do because one locked in my
Security. So I was like, right. I'm gonna suck this up and I don't care how bad the sucks. I'm gonna get that year. I'm gonna lock in like, I'll get the family is good. Yeah, I'm gonna get the bag. And so, I was there and he was like,
what is the number? If you don't mind me asking, what does that number in the Bay Area? I've
been so far. I had always said, six million. I said, six million is where your money works for you ever up till then you're working for money. Your money works for your six million. Why did why did I sex? Because I said, alright, you work backwards. So I said, all right. My burn rate. Think at the time I calculated it. I was like
We're spending like, twenty thousand dollars a month. Okay, was my like monthly expenses. And I said, okay. Well, I don't know if they're going to go up or down. I'm sorry. I know it's not gonna go down, probably only going to go up because very hard to give things up. Once you have certain services or certain Lifestyles or size house, whatever you don't want to plan to downsize. I wanted to plan to buffer in some growth. I said, okay, so that gets you two hundred forty thousand dollars a year. Okay. So let's say 200. How do I make it so that just the interest on the money, I own. So just the gains on that money being invested in.
In the market and I don't need like a home run. Just like if I'm banging and yeah, if I'm making seven percent, let's call. A 45 percent is like 45 percent is a target. Yeah, so you just do the math. I as the rule is I don't do public math, but you take 240,000 you divide it by the five percent or whatever and that gives you some numbers. I forgot what the cousins were, but I know the number came out to about 6 million. Okay, that's all right. At 6 million, 6 million dollars invested would yield an amount of money that will pay for our lifestyle rather than me going and working a job or doing something that
requires income to pay for our lifestyle. Yeah. I came up with this number and some people were like, that's too low, some people like here. Why is your monthly expenses so high? As I've look, I like to live a certain way. I'm gonna try to live that way. Like, I'm not telling you you need to
spend this money. Yeah, I'm gonna get you a whole day with avocado. I like,
avocado. Exactly the quacks extra. I said, give me two servings. That's what I wanted to be able to add any weight on that, right? And so I was like, all right. Well, that's the I'm trying to leave that guac life. And so so that became a number Target number, right? I said, all right. I want to hit that number.
It's okay. So, you know, I was trying to get it back. So winding back to this question of. How did I get this mindset? So I talked to the guy, he takes me and he says, what are your career? So you got the sex though. I got to the 6, God I said, all right. Well, how do I post tax right? It's exactly. What have it. You have to have it. Exactly. Yeah, so I said, alright. Well he goes when you when you think about your career, what are you gonna do? And I knew that the right answer say, oh, you know, I loved it. I loved it here at twitch and I would love to stay here forever and I could see myself being you someday. It's reality, was I couldn't.
And I didn't I was having fun because I made it my way but I was like this is not where I want to be forever. Yeah, and I was like, I'm gonna be honest with this guy. I'm not going to tell him and it's a weird conversation. You're basically telling your boss. I don't plan to be here for very long, which is in a way saying, right? Don't invest in me. You know, like don't promote me, don't give me opportunities. Give it to the next guy because he cares this kind of like a weird thing, but I decided I'm gonna be honest. I told him, he goes, our is, what do you want to do? He's like, then we don't need to talk about this twitch hit like, tell me what you want to do. I said, well, first time doing this and that
Then I can go do this thing. I want to do because I don't believe all that I go away. You don't leave. I want to do this because not all believe that strategy of life. I don't believe in this life plan of, I'm going to do all the stuff. I don't want to do so that then I could do all these
things. I do want to mortgaging for a future may not
happen exactly. This, this is never going to come. He's like, I've been around the block people who have that plan. He's like very rarely. Do you ever do the thing you want to do? Is it is much better. Just do the thing. You want to do start that now don't spend five years doing the thing. You don't want to do because it's a means to an end,
but then but then what your time?
It is that if you had approached that,
you would have never perhaps gotten that six. Exactly. So, so he had a different mindset. So I said, all right. Well, what does that look like? So so he goes, why don't you just like figure out what you want to do? Ya figure out what it required, what amount of money, what skills, what you'd required and start accumulating those. So that's actually where the six came and I said, oh I want to be able to wake up every day and do a certain amount, do a certain thing, which is basically wake up and just work on whatever was most interested in, right? Like I told you dude, I want to
Want to call me sometime. Let's do it. I want to do have these other things. I'm like, dude. Why don't I make a song that like it just slaps. Like, what is it? Catchiest song?
Yeah. I want to produce. I wanna produce a record. Yeah, like I don't know anything
about it, but like wouldn't that be fine? If I just made a catchy ass song of the kind of hit? Yeah. I like it's not that I'm not having the best musician but like why not like why why not write a book? Why not do all these things? Like that would be a fun way to spend a career. That's kind of how I thought about it. Yeah, that's all right. Well, if I want to be able to do that, I got to have this. You need time. Yeah. Got it.
That's deep wasn't comedy stand-up DJ. Yeah, so that was kind of my
mindset and so along the way again my talk to my trainer and he goes if you want to have a certain thing, carry yourself like the guy who has that thing, very simple, really the fake it till you make it thing, not even fake, it till you make it.
You believe you will feel a certain way when you have, right. That's why you want to say, you want a hundred million dollars. You want a billion dollars. Whatever. Your number is, five million dollars 1 million dollars. You believe you want that because you think you're going to feel a certain way when you
have it. Yeah.
So let's skip all the middle shit and let's just believe that we have. Let's believe that we're going to have that was carry ourselves. Like that was have that feeling now. Don't pump the feeling until the end, when you're 60, okay, and maybe you've achieved your goal. So
what he's basically saying is a level of confidence, right? It
Insecurity and not playing scared. Exactly. Yeah,
then the, the byproduct of that, you know, the
comedy take I had on this, by the way, this is where my brain works. The extremely wealthy and the homeless actually operate the same way, which is what delusion, which is what, that's what anything I do isn't going to affect my life. Anyways, we going to do the incredibly Rich that's money and people who are like I say - yeah, our are just like hey, what are you gonna do to me? What can you
You take from me, right? They both actually operate that same way. Sometimes, it's people that are in that vast middle that fear either direction that are like, oh, I cannot fuck this up. Yes. Yeah, so that's the
mindset is basically don't wait waiting at the enemy. So when you waiting to feel good until you achieve certain things.
Any time you hear the word? Wait run. That's not the right strategy. And so it's like anytime you're waiting to do the thing you want to do. Don't wait. That's kind of became my mindset. I just realize got it. You mean don't put it off. Don't put it off right? Don't wait till X in order to have why that's? You really want. Gosh. I'm so if I want this feeling of security of relaxation of confidence, whatever, I'm awaiting. Let me tap into that now. So that became both had two benefits. There's the benefit, which is you feel better today. I thought I already
Eddie already a win. Yeah, instead of feeling anxious, and stressed and worried. You're already feeling good. But there's also a strategy to it, which is when you carry yourself like that, dude, you carry yourself that way. You'd be surprised what kind of doors or sort of open for you, but how people treat you differently, but they, they treat you with the Assumption of where you treat yourself. Why why do you dress the way you dress? Why do you carry yourself the way? You carry yourself because people will treat you differently, life will give to you what you're
putting but I also feel it too. Like I like being fitted, I like wearing
Like you're in Jordan's. I like, yeah, and it makes the immediate
feeling which is already good. Yeah, and then you get the actual, like, I think this Harvard guy called it. The, the happiness, happiness effect. He basically said, most people wait till they achieve a thing, then they're going to feel happy. And then what happens is, you achieve that thing and just move the goal post these on this is not enough it when I really have it, you know, it's this keep moving the goal post and every day is like not only is that obviously deferring, the thing you want which is bad to. He's had
There's studies that will show that the person goes into the situation already. Feeling happy will perform better on the test will be better in the professional setting will have a higher likelihood of success. Yeah, we'll have more lucky breaks. That was one of the things they tested these. Basically they gave you a test and like, you know, the third line of the instructions said, like just go to the end, just type the write the letter 5 in and you're done. Yeah, and the people who went in with a stress Minds that they were just trying to solve all the problems and they had to do the whole test. The people who win in relaxed and confident. They're more likely to observe that little lines. Oh,
Another another break that goes my way. Great, you know. Like, so I'm gonna skip to the end hand the test and I'm done. Yeah, and so, that's called when I, when I started to learn about this sort of like, happiness effect, this, this idea that if you bring the future feeling, you're chasing Into the Now, not only do you feel good now but actually have better results. I was like, that's
just the thing I want. But it's also a mindset shift where your operating different than Sam Sam's. Like, I'm not going to take those crazy fans, the opposite. But why, why is he the opposite? Yes. What I'm what I'm saying? Is Sam. Mele.
Look objectively at Earth. It's his subjective experience at your financial situation and be like you can't afford that you can afford to start this like 1 million dollar fun and just with randos off the internet and just start embedding things. Yeah, why are you doing that? You could lose it. Yeah.
It served him. Well, like, I think the other many ways
to win, what? I'm trying to get you guys to beef. I'm trying to get you choosing. I'm actually
curious a style. Like there's this great Chrono McGregor, quote, where he goes. Look, you're gonna feel some kind of way. Anyways, right? Came a moment. You're feeling some kind of way. So he's just like like why not feel Unstoppable. Why not feline. I feel super confident. Yeah. It's the same sort of thing, which is that there's many ways to win but you do get to choose and Sam's way to win and many.
Us entrepreneurs the same way, which is chip on my shoulder. My dad never loved me. You know, II, people doubted me, and that drives me. And that's why I'm successful and they'll tell you this proudly and I hear it. I'm just like, man, you sound like you've been suffering for a long-ass time, you know, you didn't have to do all that right?
Like, yeah. I'm glad it
worked for you, but also like the toll was high on that highway, right? You paid a expensive Vig which was every day. You were focusing on like, Yeah, The Grind Brian set mindset and your
You're focusing on proving people wrong and how, how it, you know, the doubters and how you had to like kill yourself to make this work. I know people who do it the other way. So let's just agree that let's agree that both can
happen. Yeah, let's let's also do a quick delineation that when you said you're moving like you, what you're worth 100 Mil so you're not
I don't make size bets. Like, obviously there's exactly gravity.
No, but there's a way to move to be like, hey, because I'm serious because there's people that may be listening that are just like, let me get that. Let me get that Rolex Daytona, right? Let me feel that.
That way, right? If it's 100 ml than that, it's probably a Rolls-Royce Phantom. It's probably a you know what? I mean? You a Maserati, Ducati, whatever that thing. Maybe you're not making those things. Are you?
Yes, and no sewing things in my life. I hired a personal chef. Okay, that's something that really the only like the ultra-wealthy typically do. Okay. I was like, no, I this matters to me. I want this is the number one want I have. I think it helps me in my family to be healthy. We don't have to stress out about making food all the time for our daughter who's real picky and she keeps throwing away. We got to remake dinner, right? I said, this will improve the quality.
My life, I don't care if we can afford it. I'm gonna get it and I'm going to then I'm going to afford it right? Because I'm not like I know I believe in myself. I ability to go get that money. Yeah, so I will not limit myself in the things that I really care about. Yeah.
It's a true belief. It's something that you really want for you and your
fans really wanted it. Yeah, you're not going to wait again. I was waiting. I said, oh, well, I identified all the spots in my life. I was waiting, I said, I got it right awaiting. That's the thing. I really want and I'm waiting for it. No more. I'm gonna do it now. Got it, but do I
I go and just spend outside of
like, I'm science your meal. I care
about what I have. Like. No, I don't and I don't because I also don't want to be owned by those things. Yeah, every time you buy something. You know. It now owns you as much as you own it. Yeah guys, that bill owns you in a way that owns a piece of your time because you have pay for it. I'm very selective about do I want this enough where I'm willing to let it on me a little bit. And so, then I don't need a lot of those things. And I also have this, like,
This is
good at these questions man. The last thing I do is I want to be able to have as much fun whether I'm in a mansion having a feast with celebrities is if I'm stuck in an elevator by myself, which means I don't want to have to, I don't want to have to have some nice shit in order to feel good. I don't want to have to have the circumstances be going my way for me to feel good. Yeah, and
that's self-satisfaction. That's you training. Don't you? Take my brain? Yeah, but that's you.
Doing what you're training. Your brain, you're meditating your boxing. Whatever that thing is. So you feel a self sense of self said that's zero dollars, a hundred dollars. That's not a hundred dollars or a hundred thousand dollars
act. Because the ultimate goal, the ultimate way, to care myself. Isn't that I had 100 million. It's, I just remind myself of that. If I ever start to feel like I was, when I
heard that, what I, what resonate with me as an artist, as play, Big White, Plains, scared cook, you're on the court, cook, Let it Fly launch, like, be loose, do the Impressions do characters. That's what my
Things. Like, that's my go. Like I want to be loose. I want to have fun. I want to be really get on the floor. Use a basketball analogy.
Yeah, you love basketball. Yeah. In researching this. I saw your celebrity game, got a nice left hand
go up and I have, yeah,
you're not Lefty right now. The analogy is this Steph Curry is not afraid to shoot a shot. Yeah, anywhere on the court was fastest half court. He's willing to let it fly. It doesn't mean every time he steps across half court. He just lets it Fly because he knows like old the old.
My goal is to win. Yes, but he's not afraid to shoot his shot. He's not thinking about missing. He's thinking about making his confidence in that make. Yes, I would say, a very similar thing on the business side, which is I don't just spend like a drunken sailor or invest in those wild shit possible all the time. I'm not trying to take every risk possible. Yeah, not trying to shoot every quarter have a shot at half court, but I am confident if I pull but you're not afraid to let if I pull it or if I'm feeling it, if I believe I can make the shot. I'm going to pull. Yeah, even if I miss the last three, even if
Is not what other people do. This feels, right? It feels right. Yeah, I put in the time and I have the conference itself and I'm not going to second, guess it. Yeah, so that's where I'll make cool. Some take some risks. Cool. That feel right to me in the moment. But the overall objective is to win. It's not to take maximum maximum risk possible. Yeah. It's also not to minimize risk. It's to win and you gotta Define what that win is for yourself, right? My definition of the wind for myself is I want to have the lifestyle where I'm at the mansion with my best friends were at the table were feasting. We're toasting. That's what I want. Yeah, but I want to be able to have a
Much fun. If I'm alone stuck in an elevator. That is my ultimate win where my mind has created that situation where you can have all those things. Yeah, but I'm, I am impervious to the environment. Great. I will have justice. So that's my ultimate win. Ya. Take enough risks along the way to get to that. You know, as I go.
That's great. Last question, is from, this is from me to you. So
people can be passed. By the way, that dude, you had us, not, you just talked about your own fucking philosophy. You know, what I'm gonna say
now that I'm not say this right now, for the listeners of the Watchers, people gonna be like he
interrupted Sean too much and
Why is he talking like this, about Bitcoin bike John? You know, you're not the star of
No. No, I'm coming from, I humble myself before, all you my first million people. So listen, what's I love this again? This is what I love most about IRL experiences about being on stage. Doing material in front of people hearing the Applause break knowing that that joke is right? Because I've corroborated it with the people.
Sometimes comics when a joke doesn't work. They'll be like fuck you. I know better and sometimes that works but there's a lot of times where it's like, no no. Hear them. Listen to them. See them. You want to be seen but you got to see them.
For you as an outsider, you know, we don't know each other. Well was our first time actually meeting when you watch the show and you see me, what would be your advice for somebody like me? That's at this point in my career. I'm at an inflection point in my career. I represent a certain period of time me my contemporaries me, John Mulaney Ali Wong. We're entering that new era that the bill Burrs and the Chappelle's are those are the Elder Statesman of the art form. What is your what is your advice to someone?
Like me, looking at it from the outside because you have such a great business
mind. Yeah.
I think what's worked for you is going to keep working. That's why I said before. I think you have zagged when everybody zigged, so everybody was going in One Direction which was which is low accountability, low risk. Yeah doing things under, you know worried about cancel cancel culture and things like that. I think you have built a niche where you're not afraid to call out the Saudi Prince. You're not afraid to call out the president, but you're calling out. Not from a place of getting a reaction. You're calling out when you
Your truth, you're putting your finger on it and say, I don't care if this hurts. I don't care. If this is a nerve, I'm going to have my take on this. I'm going to stand by my take regardless of what's happening. And that's when all now. Those are the things that have hit for you. You talked about that in the show. Yeah, so I think it's not that you have to keep doing that as same exact thing. You have to keep in the mindset that got you to do that. In the first place. You got to self assess. What got me to observe those things. What made me curious? Why? Observe those things where I asked the question that got me to that truth.
Right. What gave me the guts to do this? I felt like I had nothing to lose at trying to make a name for myself. Now. I got a name for myself now. Every tweet. I'm going to worried. How are people going to react? Well? Now, now you're not playing the game the way you did at that time. Yeah, so I would say, first and foremost, don't lose what got you to the dance. Second is the stuff you talked about, which is you're betting on yourself, which is your own Iran production, you're owning your IP or owning your own as much of that pipeline as you can from a business perspective because it's what gets you leverage against you capture the value, you're creating your, create a bunch of value, got to capture it. You got to look at the supply chain and say who's
Capturing, all this value of y is Ticketmaster taking this much of my feet. Yeah. Why is you know, who, when I go put this special online? What do I really make out of this person? What do they make? How do I get their numbers? And how do I understand how to capture value on the distribution side and not just the side? Yeah. I'll try to think about those types of things. And it seems like you're building. Like, for example, my mom saw you on the morning show. I watch The Morning Show to do. Yeah. Oh shit. He's getting into these mainstream areas building the name, building the face there.
And then you're going to almost like that's how you go. Get the new fans and you take them back. You put this funnel. Yeah. Bottom of the funnel people, who going to know your life story. They're going to know what you stand, floating all these things. And no me just like any product in Silicon Valley. You create a funnel top of funnel is new fans, new eyeballs. How are you going to go get them in his strategy? Middle of the funnel. How are you going to get them to get their first taste of you, the first real experience. Get them to their first show. Get them to watch, you know, the first 20 minutes of something. That's your best work. Yeah. How do I get that? And how do I get?
Bottle funnel. Which is how do I get it? Clear maximum value, like oh, bunch of artists doing nft is what does that look like for comedy? You know, when play with these ideas. I'm not going to do all of them, but I'm going to have brainstorming sessions with guys like John to say yeah, what would I do with nf2? What could a comedian do with entities and I would start to think about things that's bottom of the funnel more like totalization. Yeah, I think about that fun. I would say, all right. I am a product and I'm going to build my brand around that product, you know, and it's a long, you know, it's a long stretch of optimizations so totally but that's how I would think of. Yeah, that's
I would view my craft which is like, you know, it's easy to just get into the art World, which is like, you know, I'm trying to trying to build myself and you know, tell jokes, make people laugh. Yes, but like ultimately your product inner experience from the moment. Like when I showed up at the show yesterday there was an hour long line. Yeah, we gotta skip it likely cause you hooked it up. Yeah. With a nice like via piece off, but everybody, their experience end-to-end isn't just when you step on the stage. It's like from before the show, totally lined. Yeah. The rest, I would say. All
right, let's go.
Friction. Yeah, we talked about the the interface where you go buy the tickets. How much friction is there? I'll go. Look at whole funnel and I would say, alright, I'm trying to grease this fall. I'm trying to get them to these magic moments with me. The first magic moment. When I first made you laugh on that clip on Instagram. Second Magic Moment, your friend takes you to a show, you have a great time. Yeah. Third Magic. Moment is the follow-up of that. Fourth is, when you buy the merch and the merch stands for
something. So little, you know, whatever. Yeah, that's cool. I've always
I appreciate that, because
The eye cannot see itself. Sometimes we're so in our especially as artists. It's what it's a requires to be do deep, meaningful work, but we remove ourselves from like what you said. The line four blocks down the street from the Masonic theater. How much you had to pay for parking than what the show experience is like all that stuff. Yeah, right. Yeah,
I think you doing great man. Thanks, man. Thank you, advice for me. To be honest with you. I think
you're doing. No man. Hey, this is my, this is my two cents for the space. Y'all are working in, I think.
Just continuing to try to be a source of light amongst just all this heat. That's out there. It's really important and there's just a lot of garbage and trying to actually represent ontological truth in reality for what it is, right?
Because you're playing with people's money. People are listen to my first million for that thing. I just want to like, let you know that I don't forget. It's that it but it's that titillating feature. Yes. It's like when you hear that title, you're like, but I want to its base, just like, I want to make a million your show.
And I came to laughs. Yeah. Came To Laugh. You Makin fun of our Indian parents and the goofy things that they do? Yeah. Why did I? That's what I, that's what I came for. Is not what I. What I loved. What I loved was the stuff you're saying. At the end. That's stories about your daughter, the stories about the jerk parent at the
Yeah, sure.
Whatever. Those were where I was like, oh man. I attached the same thing. We have my first million at the hook is he is I'll help you make money and get you get you to your first million. What do you do with that? When you get there?
I know that the people who are really going to love this because that's going to fade like you get that hit. Yeah, they hit, you got to hit what you gonna be here a year from now, you should have already got that million, but, you know, by the by a couple years in or whatever, the people are going to stay because in these are just great conversations. I want to hang with these guys. Yeah. That's the only thing we do is we create a fun conversation where people wish they were. I hope that like there's a third seat in the studio. My goal is that somebody listening to this was like damn, I feel like I was in that third say that was listen to a real ass.
22 people, not you talking to your book and me talking my book by like, right? Yeah, a solution by two people. You were curious as I answer questions. I ask you a bunch of questions of stuff. I was curious about that. They feel like they got to be a part of a conversation that was a little bit more entertaining than whatever's going on in their world that day. Uh-huh, like maybe they're they're real life conversations that they weren't as interesting. Sure. My hope is that this one is that they feel like they're in that third seat. That's like a win for me with this. And so, I hope people enjoyed this. I know, this is. Appreciate you coming on.
Oh, thanks for having me, man. Thanks for doing it in person because I remember you reached on your leg.
Let's do it. Via zoom and I was like, now we're doing this. I'm sorry
to say I'm enjoying report out for him. Yeah,
Sam. Check your DMs, bruh. I mean your DM stop. Okay, cool. Thank you Max. I feel like I can rule the world. I know I could be what I want to travel. Never looking back.
