#1 – I Started a Media Company

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Sam
Weinstein show we're going to be
discussing my story where I'm going to
go from here after selling my company
and the whole rise of the Independent
Media Creator economy and all
entrepreneurship stuff and what you can
expect moving forward so if you haven't
already please consider subscribing and
without further Ado enjoy ladies and
gentlemen welcome to the Sam Weinstein
show this is episode one I'm Sam
Weinstein and let me first introduce
myself so I put out four videos on my
YouTube channel called I worked with the
world's biggest creators I lost forty
thousand dollars and Seventeen I made a
million dollars 18 and I sold my one and
a half million dollar business but
basically those four videos Were Meant
to answer the question as to why you
should care like who am I you know who
is this guy on the internet what am I
doing and overall my experience so I
want to start with the first video If
you haven't seen it go subscribe and
then go watch those videos but uh so the
first one is basically
um you know when I was four when I was
14 I was playing this game called
Minecraft and in a game you could create
your own you know worlds and whatnot and
you know code and uh you know build or
uh just put your creativity to the test
and that's what I was just doing I was
in what high school middle no like I was
in high school and I would create these
you know worlds uh with this game like
you know hide and seek or you know build
your own this or uh you know find the
button or whatnot and I would make them
and just put them online for you know
other kids to download or people to play
and um you know as I got going and as I
kept uh making more and more of those
what they call Minecraft maps uh people
started downloading them from the
internet and uh suddenly all these you
know big YouTubers would download them
and play them for for themselves you
know got to a point where you had the
really big YouTubers especially in The
Gaming Community the Minecraft Community
but you know later on expanded uh I'm
gonna I'll get into that in a minute but
what happened was all these big you know
content creators all these big you know
influencers and YouTube YouTubers would
come in they download the maps uh you
know some I just did by myself some I
worked with others on and uh these were
like really talented kids I worked with
um the maps on like some were uh I mean
these guys were all over the world from
Sweden Finland uh Romania uh Australia
like all around the world world so it
was a pretty cool experience just for me
to be able to do that at such a young
age of four I think there's four yeah 14
to 16. so I started doing that at 14 and
just put you know uploading these uh
worlds to the the internet and this this
uh website called minecraftmaps.com and
basically I would take all these maps
that I've I created I would upload them
and then people would download them and
play whether you know just some other
other kid or or uh if it was a YouTuber
they would download it film their
perspective and then upload that for
other people to watch so I was basically
getting uh you know a whole media effect
the whole
um uh what is it like like social proof
effect uh from people just playing my
maps and what's really cool is since
it's all code that these it's just a
file a file you download and it's like a
plug and play so you can create your
whole experience in Minecraft which is
really really cool I don't I think a lot
of people uh it's it's a really cool
game uh because it's such a it's like a
Sandbox environment you can create like
your whole entire world uh it's just
it's so customizable like you have
um other games like you know Grand Theft
Auto 5 or whatnot if you're in the
gaming space but uh the difference
between that uh which is something like
uh you know you have like a mock was it
Los Santos it's called like a mock Los
Angeles and Minecraft is Minecraft's
really like unlimited and they're and
just it's like you have unlocked
capability it's really like um having a
sandbox world but it feels almost like
it's like open source you can create
whatever you want so I was I was putting
my creative activities to the test you
know creating like hide and seek games
or uh you know puzzle maps or uh you
know these had like Adventure Maps
they're a whole you know subset of
categories and I would just uh oh a fun
one was a parkour where you could like
um how to explain it's like if you ever
seen like wipeout where you could have
uh that the TV show called Wi-Fi world
it's just these people that are trying
to jump from hoop to hoop or like uh
American Ninja Warrior that's a really
good one so it's basically like that
where um you have these people and uh
they're just like parkouring through the
different courses and you can race
people up and wanna anyways I would I
would create those maps that upload them
to the internet people will download
them YouTubers would download them and
and then credit me in the description of
their video and you know it just it was
like a flywheel effect it kept going and
going and going you know I was only 14
at the time and uh you know I got the
attention of some really big YouTubers
like this Captain Sparkles guy
unspeakable
um you know DanTDM uh like these were
the top of the top people on YouTube at
the time on the internet actually and uh
there was a guy named Preston uh or
actually a group called The Pack
um but it was really this guy named
Preston and when I was 15 they had this
Minecraft conference and you know I grew
up in Sacramento and basically which is
a you know capital of California
Northern California and then uh the
conference the Minecraft conference was
in Anaheim and that's like you know
Southern California so I flew down there
uh you know just went to this Minecraft
conference met all these different
YouTubers a bunch of Minecraft servers
uh uh you know admins and whatnot and
really it taught me how to uh the whole
experience you know I learned how to
code and whatnot but uh just going going
to different conferences you know I've
been over the years to done a bunch of
different YouTube conferences or you
know VidCon or vid Summit whatever but
it really just teaches you how to
network and how to uh get along with
others and and in the industry and
really get to uh you know learn and
bounce ideas off each other so I went to
that conference
um you know built up built up a
relationship with all these you know big
YouTubers and whatnot and then started
making uh maps for the YouTubers Scotty
and Preston um and you know this this
YouTube channel was called PrestonPlayz
and uh basically I would uh do some
freelance work for him you know do uh
some different Maps or
um you know we have we created like this
Advent calendar which was like 30 days
in a row and whatnot it was pretty
intense uh and then from there with the
freelancing I would basically build my
own team of map creators and you know I
built this up to I mean there was we
eventually built this up to a team of
like 50 map creators and uh I think and
that was just Minecraft and then
eventually the fortnite and Roblox and
whatnot and uh you know so so basically
went from you know just uploading to the
internet expecting nothing in return
then getting you know freelance work
from uh you know Preston and a few other
guys and um and then it turned into a
whole uh where I I was actually you know
this is like a full-time thing where I
was like working really intense and this
was like in high school too uh you know
I was working you know non-stop just
creating content and then from there I
actually was yeah working internally in
the company and then working with
YouTube direct directly and uh so that
was a really cool experience and went to
a bunch of different conferences and
whatnot
um and you know just I would recommend
going go go watching that video because
I think it's really cool to see what I
was able to achieve at such a young age
as far as being able to network in the
gaming space and whatnot and uh how you
know someone that young can actually you
know do stuff without you know a work
permit or whatnot they could just create
content or you know create something and
then upload it to the internet to create
value for people to you know play or uh
learn or watch or whatever and I think
it was a really cool experience for me
but basically so that was from uh when I
was 14 to 16 and what happened was uh it
just got so demanding like you know I
was working uh until like you know
Sundays I was managing this team of 50
people and it just got to a point where
it was like you know I'm going to bed at
like six seven a.m on school nights and
uh you know especially my family it was
like you know you got to stop that you
got to cut it out because you know
finish school and whatnot and so I had
to take that on the back burner from
there you know went on to finish school
and actually graduated early and then
after I did which is the second video I
made is called you know how I lost forty
thousand dollars at 17. so you know I
stopped working for you know Preston and
a few other guys at uh 16 I believe and
then uh you know my 17th birthday pass
and then uh I got into this whole world
of like Drop Shipping and you know
online marketing and whatnot because I
basically wanted to start my own online
business but you know 17 it's kind of
kind of a little bit tricky uh in that
video you can see uh well I kind of uh
took advantage of the USPS system
um I'll leave it there but uh basically
that was a cool experience just to see
you know how to start your own business
and how you know business really works
and really uh that's that's where I got
more into you know when I was when I was
working with Preston that felt like I
was more of a um entrepreneur because
you know I was like second because I was
working you know really within the
company but basically uh you know after
that when I wanted to launch my own uh
you know LLC or whatnot uh that's where
my entrepreneurial Journey really began
to Blossom and you know so I went to the
post office opened an LLC and um you
know started this online Drop Shipping
uh you know website and what I would do
is I would go to like this Chinese
website called AliExpress and I would uh
take all these
um random products they call winning
products and they're a bunch of people I
watched on YouTube these online gurus
they're telling oh get this winning
product get that winning product and
then you know you run Facebook ads and
then you know later many years later uh
Tick Tock ads but uh I ended up losing
all the money I had from you know
working with uh these these Minecraft
youtubers before in the gaming space and
um you know so I lost all that money
then the uh the pandemic hit and um I
was almost out of money completely I
actually took a loan from the SBA for
like 11 500 spent six thousand on that
uh on this e-commerce Mastermind which
actually in the grand scheme of things
was well worth it but at the time it was
a super huge risk uh you know looking
back that's not the best uh you know a
solution to you know you really want to
manage your risk and I think at the time
that was just things were just so
chaotic that I just like went for a Hail
Mary and ended up you know paying off in
the in the long term but I lost a ton of
money from the Drop Shipping stuff you
know I was just drop shipping like you
know knockoff watches or this uh you
know arm rest arthritis for old people
or something like that
um and you know I got a lot of sales
from it I think it really uh taught me
how to Market properly and you know run
ads on Facebook or Shopify or uh you
know learn how to uh you know run an
e-commerce
um business-ish but you know Drop
Shipping is really uh at least the
traditional version of it uh where you
know you have you take stuff from China
and then uh you know nowadays it's just
it's not you know suitable especially uh
you know with the landscape with China
uh but apart from that it's just it's
you know American consumers especially
expect uh shipping times not be you know
months and months long and so when the
pandemic hit that totally wiped out all
this uh you know knockoff watches or you
know this armrest thing uh you know I
have like half it if other you know
products camera like I'm selling a
shovel at one point I'm like what the
hell and uh so anyways the pandemic hit
and that really took a burden on the
shipping times you know it really uh was
burning a hole in my pocket because you
know I had I was lost all the money and
then I took a loan out what was losing
like I lost half of that just from the
uh Mastermind I signed up for and then I
was losing money very very slowly and
now it's like uh I want to say what 2020
um uh oh August 2020 and basically you
know what happened was you know I didn't
want to do Drop Shipping I knew that uh
I knew I needed to sell something or
offer something online you know through
e-commerce that people were passionate
about right and I knew it needed to be
something that had fast shipping times
and not going to be delayed for months
on end in China or you know where
whatever shipping Port there is but what
I ended up doing is um launching a
clothing brand which has you know
similar versions of Drop Shipping but
it's all done in the US it's all
fulfilled here and in fact the shirts I
had were made in the USA and uh it's all
you know two three day shipping times
it's not stuck in China or somewhere and
so and they're actually really good
products too and so you know I think the
combination of uh you know something you
need to be passionate about people
needed to care about the actual you know
message of the shirt you were selling or
offering and also the fast shipping
times and offering you know a good
product experience and you know
something that people you know wouldn't
just forget or not one-off product or
whatever and what have you and oh also
the Facebook customer score if you
remember the Facebook customer score was
basically uh when people started Drop
Shipping on Facebook they launched this
thing where they're actually surveying
customers and they do this on YouTube
now too and on Google and it's basically
like after people receive their item
they uh Google or Facebook or whatever
ad platform basically does random uh
surveys to the customers that received
it and it's like oh what do you rate
this product experience you know uh one
star or five star and then you know
Facebook will just go out and Survey
random customers and it comes back with
a score and so you basically now
Facebook knows oh hey this business is
legit it's not legit and what happened
was my when I was doing Drop Shipping
and my score was going down and down and
down because of the long shipping delays
and so when I switch to print on demand
uh it was like a you know five out of
five the whole time and so I really
thought hard about you know what are
people passionate about you know
especially in the US and I think it's
like you know sports like the NFL or you
know NHL or uh you know NBA especially
like people really passionate about that
you know sports teams and whatnot and I
thought uh okay well you know there's a
problem there because sports teams are a
trademark you know the big corporations
and whatnot so uh what's something else
that people are passionate about that uh
is not trademarked well then I thought
about uh animals like you know uh this
koala bear or you know put a koala bear
on the shirt right you can't really
copyright animals per se I mean uh you
can copyright you know slogans of
different stuff if you have a company
but the animal itself I don't believe
you can sort of uh I think there's a way
to work around it and so you know I
thought about oh well let's maybe I have
like a dolphin uh brand or something or
this uh you know shark brand or whatnot
but you know I wasn't really uh super
super passionate about animals and uh
you know I'll talk more about that on a
Lander but I should have learned my
lesson uh and so basically what happened
was is uh you know August 2020 if you
remember and you know the the whole
elections were coming up I was 18 at the
time being my first time you know voting
and stuff and so I needed to do research
of you know all the candidates and
whatnot and you know before this um you
know during high school and all I'm like
I gotta stay out of politics I hate this
stuff it's a big headache it's a waste
of time and I didn't really pay
attention to a lot of stuff I really
just like made a mental block to just
keep that out of my head and uh you know
just focus on school or well not really
school but I got good grades but really
just focus on work with uh you know
gaming and and uh creating stuff and and
you know working uh online in school and
actually you know when I was a TA T's
resistant in school actually you know
have my my laptop and I would go to the
back of the class and work on my laptop
while uh I was skiing for a math class I
passed three years ago uh which was kind
of funny because I was I would hand out
papers that say you know here's this
test I passed three years ago good luck
and then I would work on the back of the
table or back to the classroom and then
you know code some you know JavaScript
what not but uh anyways I knew it some I
knew it needed to be something people
were passionate about and I saw this uh
you know election as a really
opportunity because it was just so
chaotic I'm like you know this this
people have got to be passionate about
you know the the you know the elections
or something something's got to be here
right aren't people passionate about
America and so you know my first shirt I
launched a print on demand you know
store regular Shopify store and whatnot
uh and the literally the first shirt I
had was just an American flag and a
t-shirt targeted you know Americans
whatnot and then just ran that on
Facebook to see if uh you know what what
hits it got and you know basically I I
gathered data and I kept testing
different designs and you know over time
I was just running on Facebook but over
time it really uh the designs I was
running from you know the American flag
and the whole you know and then I tried
you know some election stuff and and you
know some memes on on uh you know shirts
and hoodies and whatnot and over time I
think the the audience you know really
grew and a few designs you know hit hit
here and there I think once I was able
to do more you know research on you know
who I was targeting exactly and you know
what the data I was getting back from
Facebook I think the the audience I had
from Facebook leaned heavily
conservative and you know I would join
these you know uh really uh radical uh
not really round article but it just
just really weird Facebook groups that
were like you know super pro election
Pro uh you know all that all in that
world and what I would do is I would
scroll on these Facebook groups looking
for you know potential designs that
people uh got a lot of Engagement with
and so I will look at the engagement I
would say oh maybe this is like a design
that can go in a t-shirt right and so I
would take that design create my own uh
version of it in Photoshop then put it
on a T-shirt and uh what happened was I
mean there was a few uh t-shirts that
that took off um I think I had one with
like Kaylee mcinini or I forget
something like that but um and then
there was a few other one like um some
meme with uh Biden and confusing
Christmas with Halloween is kind of
funny but uh basically there was one
that really took off uh that I saw in a
Facebook group and said we the people
are pissed off and like oh that's great
it's in a Facebook group it's got a lot
of Engagement and it's not really
political if you really you know look at
the message it doesn't mention any
political parties it's not endorsing
anyone but you know our a certain uh
demographic and engagement with it more
yeah probably but you know that's just
the name of the game that's marketing so
I put that on a T-shirt and that thing
just exploded I mean that was huge and
it really just took off like I have a
chart of sales that just took off like
that and you know what happened was you
know now it's like what December when
that shirt really started to take off
and you know I was just advertising on
Facebook and uh you know now it's like
you know just passed and now it's what
2021 and the whole you know election
stuff election this and that and oh he
won the election and didn't want and it
was a really big headache and really I
think people were just losing their
minds uh and then January 6 came around
and oh my gosh it was like the images
from that they were just absurd and uh
and so what happened was you know I woke
up that day and I'm like I checked the
news because I'm you know I have to stay
up to date for all this stuff and you
know look at designs and uh you know
write emails and whatnot and I'm just
like what the heck is going on and uh
you know keep in mind I was like I went
to DC just a few months before that the
capital you know the capital is like
probably the most secure building in
America uh maybe aside from the Pentagon
but uh it I mean they would not allow
you know empty water bottles in or
backpacks or anything and just to see
that whole thing go on was kind of you
know surreal um and so you know on one
hand I'm like whoa this is kind of crazy
this is like what is going on and then
on the other it's like the thing with
the you know censorship and Trump and
and all this his Affiliated stores and
network and whatnot getting shut down I
was like whoa that's kind of scary but I
checked my phone and it's got like ten
thousand dollars in sales in a day and
then the day after and the day after
that I'm like whoa my business is really
taking off now and so that month of
January I think we did like 160 000 in
sales and that's when the business just
exploded I mean it just went like
December was kind of like this like just
ramping up and then just like January
was like boom to like a rocket and uh
you know so that January really took off
um you know the following months um not
as good as January but still maintaining
the momentum and I think uh May and I
actually got above or June and July uh
and what happened was you know with all
the censorship and and crazy environment
and what you know uh what I really
learned is is uh you know all my life
I've really gone against the herd really
I would say I would say like you know um
you know teenagers don't just start Drop
Shipping and then going into the you
know political business or whatever and
uh you know I really just Dove you know
head first into the deep end and I think
the whole political world and the whole
political uh you know landscape is just
uh it can get really crazy and give you
a lot of headache and why not but you
know that world if you want to go into
it then uh you know be my guest but it's
just it's really uh crazy and so
basically what started happening was you
know uh I think first we got kicked off
our email service provider then our
Facebook page got banned then we're
Shadow banned from Instagram and then uh
you know Snapchat ads didn't really work
so well and then Google didn't let us
advertise and then uh had to create a
second Facebook page and it just like we
got Shadow band band delisted black ball
you know blacklisted everywhere and was
that because of the demographic it seems
like it and with you know with his
Twitter files and stuff coming out uh it
really seems that way especially from
the emails I got from the email service
provider which is really unprofessional
I was actually mocking our customers and
so basically I had to go through the
landscape of sort of you know getting a
new ESP new email service provider you
know creating another Facebook page and
so you know we had this really good
product it's just we couldn't advertise
it anywhere and you know what happened
was the only place we really could
advertise it was Facebook and you know
Facebook was was working well up into uh
you know that April where the iOS 14
yeah point was it 14.5 update came in
where uh you know apple and Facebook
really went to war and uh you know
really limiting the data and basically
where we're spending money blind and so
were a lot of other companies because
you know Facebook was just not able to
give data because of apple and it just
created this whole headache uh and then
you know um you know after April that
may I moved out to Miami because I you
know this I did business taking off I
was in college and uh I just saw like oh
it's gonna last forever right the
business is gonna take off and you know
I'm gonna move to Miami live my dream
life and so that's sort of what I did uh
and also just during that whole time you
know in the pandemic you know California
was oh my gosh it was terrible did not
want to be here uh the whole state was
locked down it was lots of paranoia and
you know I really still have an
opportunity where uh you know just to go
out on my own and explore the world and
really just be in a place that was
actually you know open and free like you
know Florida or Miami or uh and so
that's what I did I you know packed up
all my stuff and drove across country to
Miami and was there for a year and a
half but but with you know Facebook the
only place we could advertised uh it was
getting pretty difficult because it was
the most expensive platform and whatnot
and then we tried Tick Tock ads that
worked really really well I think during
that October it was like our best month
ever like ones of 70 or something 160k
or something I don't know something like
that but Tick Tock was really you know
Saving Grace for that uh but then you
know Tick Tock uh even their policy team
which we had our own rep for uh ended up
going back and forth he had a ping pong
then back and forth with each other and
they ended up spending our account and
banning our main product and so that was
really disappointing and you know at
that point I really just decided like
you know hey like the only way we're
gonna be able to navigate you know the
political Waters is if we have our own
you know email list because I saw a lot
of you know in the in the political
world you really have to go for uh
alternative advertising where you have
these big email lists or these rented
email lists or you know a lot of
political candidates do this and um you
know I could talk for about a whole
other different strategies within the
political landscape but uh you really
have to go through these you know
backdoor channels and what happens is uh
you know I would reach out to you know
these radio guests uh for these
influencers or uh you know these
podcasters or this newsletter and they
all basically said the same thing is oh
hey we need 10 000 up front and uh just
to test like I don't even know if it's
gonna work and at that point I'm like uh
yeah I don't really have that to uh test
unless it's you know big Corporation and
whatnot uh so ten thousand dollars up
front at that time was a lot of money
just to test and so I realized you know
I think that it'd be best suited if
someone else uh was really you know had
the opportunity to run the business that
was more suited for me than I did and
had their own email list for own unique
marketing channel and so um that was
sort of the uh video the third video I
made a million dollars at 18. basically
we got a million dollars in generating
Revenue I moved back to Miami and all
this stuff and you know business was
wonderful and whatnot I think we did 1.3
in a year and just that that year of
2021 was just incredible but then and
really at the start of 2022 you know I
realized I need to sell this thing right
because you know all these different ad
platforms really uh de-platforming us
and it's really hard to survive and
really stay in business if we can't
advertise anywhere so that's when I went
to a brokerage and uh was this whole you
know nine-month Journey was a massive
headache massive stress you know put
together a business portfolio and you
know worked with a broker to you know
list it on the website and their
database and why not and just you know
get it out there and that was a whole
you know other experience which is gonna
you can go watch that's the fourth video
in the series you know tell us a story
that you know we had this uh
interviewing buyer as a buyer after a
buyer after buyer and then we had this
one guy which uh supposedly or not we
thought was legit and then uh you know
several months went by and then you know
he's not communicating with us and then
he makes an offer and then he's always
good with the offer and he signs an Loi
and then APA and then oh we're almost
there then it goes dark again it's just
that whole Fiasco Mouse Chase and so
that was a whole journey in of itself to
you know get that uh you know listed out
there and you know after that we we went
back to Market and then found a uh legit
buyers and amazing people and then
finally was able to to close after uh
you know an incredibly long journey but
uh you know it was just it was a very
eye-opening experience and I think you
know just being able to go through that
whole experience and and that whole uh
you know life story and whatnot just um
I'd like to think I have a you know
pretty unique uh you know outlook on uh
for what I've done you know or or what
I've experienced rather and so basically
after I sold the business uh now it's
like what September 2022 so and then
moving back from Florida and you know
basically I you know I see videos online
or I talk to people that have sold their
business and I think it's really uh they
don't they kind of go into this rut
where it's almost like the people that
sell their business and the people that
have failed businesses it almost feels
the same because it's just like you have
all this cash flow you have this baby
you have this you know thing that you're
putting so much energy into for so many
years and then it just goes away like
that and if you don't really know what
you're doing next uh it could really get
you into a rut and you really you know
fall into uh a place where you really
fall into like limbo and so I was really
you know reflecting and what not as to
you know hey what should I do next what
should I do you know how can I leverage
that opportunities to have and I really
just came down to
um you know I was thinking back and I
had this whole you know Black Swan event
where you know I lost I was saying you
know 95 of my my physical possessions
that I you know some of them I bought
really stupidly and just being a dumb
you know teenager I learned my lesson
the hard way and you know I sold all my
clothes and so and I moved back from
Florida and so you know it really just
taught me you know what are the things
that actually matter most in life and
you know I think I was just so focused
on uh you know getting the approval of
others or you know really just uh
flashing my life off or you know being
really materialistic and I always I
wasn't really a fan of being you know
materialistic or whatnot but it just
like I think I was just insecure at that
point where you know moving out so far
away from home I didn't really have a
good support system I didn't really have
a good uh uh Society or social fabric
really when when you know so far away
from home and so I think it was just a
really eye-opening experience and it
really taught me that uh you know the
things that matter most in life are
um you know like relationships and like
you know your health or uh you know
wealth and whatnot so I think it really
just humbled me per se and uh really
made me look back and and reflect on
life and see like you know what really
matters because you know I'll tell you a
story like you know I had this fancy
apartment and I got the Tesla and you
know I spent like a bunch of money on it
I got the same desk as uh Marquez
Brownlee and that was another 8 000 and
it's just anyways I say that because you
know sitting out one time on on my
balcony and I'm looking over I see this
beautiful city in Miami and basically it
was like right on the river you have
these all these big yachts and whatnot
and you see the beach and whatnot but
then as soon as you look over a little
to the left there's a massive hospital
and they connected to the hospital right
next door there's a prison slash you
know police station and you know it's
not this you know flat president it's
sort of like a really tall prison and
really a tall hospital and I really just
thought like you know I was on like the
20th something story and I really just
thought like what's the difference
between you know me and them you know
the prisoners or the people in the
hospital they have the same view of
Miami and all this you know fancy stuff
from River and whatnot uh the difference
is I'm paying 2500 a month and they're
not and so you know really after this
whole thing and uh you know moving back
it really just taught me to uh you know
reflect on my life and really um you
know find the things that actually
matter the most and I think that's
really just building relationships with
really cool and awesome people and uh
really valuable people as well and so
that's really what I learned from this
whole you know Black Swan experience and
uh you know what really matters in life
and I think I was really focusing on the
on the wrong things at the time and I
didn't really have anyone to uh sort of
you know get lead me or guide me because
I was just so independent I was so out
there and I really just went through a
you know just the whole freaking spiral
and so that brings me to you know okay
so you went through this whole thing you
know made these uh four videos and
whatnot and so what now you know I was
just talking about earlier like you know
people often you know have a failed
business or they're going through
traumatic life event or they sell their
business it's all really the same thing
it's you you end up getting stuck in
limbo and you don't really know uh what
what's the purpose of life why am I here
what am I doing things for it's like you
know before I was just doing all the
things for you know making money and and
uh you know showing off and whatnot it
was just really not a healthy uh
environment and so it really made me
reflect on life and really gave me time
to think as to you know okay uh if you
had all the money in the world and
you're gonna die in a week uh what would
you do and I really thought to myself
okay if I had all the money in the world
was I was chasing at the time and I had
a week to live what would I do well I'd
probably send some sort of message right
well about a week to live can't really
write a book uh that takes many months
sometimes years what do I have
experience doing in the past making
videos creating videos doing you know uh
development creating stuff and so you
know this whole rise in sort of the um
you know I've seen a shift in terms of
from uh media you know I started working
in you know the whole YouTube
environment in YouTube gaming and that
whole environment and I seen sort of a
whole shift in this uh I guess they call
it Creator economy uh which is basically
all these you know Independent Media
figures you know just people that are
just popping up either whether it's kids
or uh you know uh legit you know
reporters I mean look at like uh Barry
Weiss like she used to be the New York
Times and then she you know that's a
whole other Fiasco but I don't know if
she got kicked out or or blacklisted or
something they were really not fair to
her there and so she really just started
her own thing and I think there's a rise
in in this Independent Media space
um you know whether it's creators or you
know these former Legacy Media people
and I think people just nowadays they
just don't trust the mainstream media
they don't trust these Legacy you know
networks cable television and cable you
know uh all this stuff because they're
they're corrupt I mean they're not
telling the truth they're not acting in
good faith and so people want and are
looking for areas to turn to where they
know oh it's not you know backed by some
NGO or some you know hedge fund or some
you know large-scale Corporation and
it's actually you know someone that's
speaking their truth and it's someone
that's speaking the truth and P that
they're not backed and they're that are
100 independent and now with the
earpiece trying to you know tell them uh
you know hey you have to say this and
this like some certain like late night
Taco talk show hosts I mean they can't
even pick their guests and so you know
why do you think it is that people are
turning into you know Joe Rogan or uh
you know Patrick McDavid or you know all
these different you know independent
sources and not actually going to uh
like CNN or you know why are all their
ratings you know in the toilet going
down it's because they they're just
there's no trust for them anymore it's
not that you know the content can't be
got I mean have these you know fancy
Studios and whatnot it's just that
people don't trust them they don't know
like and trust them and so you have this
rise of Independent Media and so I'm
really seeing an opportunity there and
you know that's really why I'm starting
a podcast and uh you know newsletter and
whatnot and I'll get that into into that
in a minute but really just with the
podcast you know I just named the Sam
Weinstein show because just uh you know
a way for me to express myself because
what I realized this whole you know
journey is that the times I've been most
depressed are the times where I've not
expressed enough and so I think there's
really a correlation there between how
much you express and how much you're
depressed and it's because you're not
able to you know express yourself
whether whether it's wrong or whether
it's right and you know even if it's you
know 100 wrong you have these you know
super crazy you know Q Anon people or
you know whatever radical you know Group
whatever it's a way for people to
express themselves and I think if if you
don't have a way for people to express
themselves whether it's right or if it's
wrong whatever you think it's going to
lead down a deeper rabbit hole and it's
not a healthy environment and so that's
sort of motivation for starting this
podcast uh and also you know all I'll
get more in a minute too uh you know the
sort of mission and uh values behind it
but I really just see an opportunity
with uh The Independent Media space and
just you know creators or people that
are independent you know launching their
own newsletter or launching these their
own sites that are actually making a
living and this whole Creator economy
space is is really cool whether it's you
know Mr Beast or all this sort of stuff
but you know I've just been in the you
know hole I started off in the YouTube
space and just to see the rise of you
know creators and why not has been
really really cool and really uh you
know learning and really good learning
experience and so that's sort of the
motivation for starting this podcast and
what do I want to focus on on this
podcast I think you know just from my
whole experience I want to talk about
stuff that I know how to do or stuff
that I know right I'm not gonna you know
go out and talk about uh how to you know
start this uh gardening company or uh
how to uh catch jellyfish or uh uh I'm a
wild fish expert or something like that
where I have I just I don't know what
I'm talking about right and so what I
really want to talk about is just stuff
that I know how to do and you know be
entertaining be uh but more of that be
educating people on you know how to do
the stuff that I've been able to do do
whether that's you know print on demand
or you know starting actual business and
you know General business or just
talking about you know culture reacting
and stuff and so whatever way I can give
value that I know how and it's not just
you know talking about stuff that I just
don't know or if I don't know it I'm
just gonna say I I just don't know then
I think that's a good way for me to
express myself and just to give you know
value to people out there if you know
whoever wants to watch so if you want to
subscribe or share that'd be great
that'd be greatly appreciated but really
you know the three the three the main
things are just uh you know I think
business I'm really into and then also
you know just talking about culture and
specific business advice that I know how
to do and I have experience in where
there's you know merchandise or Media or
clothing brand or whatever else you know
I've done an experience and whatnot and
I think there's a really big problem
with the world uh you know especially
the internet in general and I think
that's you see a lot of people online
all these you know gurus and whatnot
that are uh I would say incentivize
buying the wrong things and I think it's
really important to see people's
incentives because humans are directed
by incentives they're we are we do
things be because we are incentivized to
do things because we have the motivation
you know motivation in incentive or like
this they're interming intermingled and
so if someone has the incentive to oh I
don't know promote a crypto positive
scheme or whatnot not saying crypto is
bad or whatnot I'm actually I like the
crypto technology itself you know
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency I'm not an
expert in it but I like the
decentralization of it and I think you
know with this whole Fiasco SPF and FTX
and all these different you know Ponzi
schemes whatever I think people are uh
quick to judge crypto itself or Bitcoin
itself or ethereum itself when it's not
actually the technology it's about the
people that are centralizing technology
when the actual when the point of the
technology is to decentralize it so when
you lose all your money in a crypto
exchange you put it there you trusted
them with it you centralize their power
and so anyways I think that's a big
problem is the world today it's just
it's just so much fake stuff so much
fraud you know so much people live in so
different realities like I've noticed
this and like you go to different
environments whether it's you know New
York or Miami or you got in a rural area
or you know somewhere in Texas or
Oklahoma or you know backdoors of Alaska
or you know even you know
internationally like you know Brazil
Africa people live in such a different
environments and it's it's so hard to
relate anymore and I think there's a big
problem where you know people are just
taking advantage of other people and the
fact that they're doing it for you know
Financial incentives or power incentives
or whatnot and you know we need more
societal fabric we need more you know
community and trust in people and not be
so you know isolated all the time and I
think that's what you're seeing with you
know people that are influenced by these
uh non-realities and I think in the in
the US especially in the west but if
specifically in the US it's just there's
so much money here that people are can
afford to fund their own realities it's
almost like you ever seen that movie
like ready player one where they put on
goggles right and they're living this
whole you know different life like you
see a car you know cartoon of someone
but it's actually not them and so I
think that's really what you know is
happening with you know those metaverse
and whatnot and so I think that's really
where I don't know what if it's going
that direction per se but there's
definitely a an effort to push it in
that direction by you know meta or
Microsoft or you know Bill Gates or you
know whatever you have you because a
it's you know financially incentive but
it's a way to you know control people or
you know power incentives and whatnot
and so uh you really see that with uh in
the US where people are able to fund
their own realities and when you fund
your own reality and then put people
inside it it's really hard to actually
see that it's not actually reality and
so you know when you go looking into
these things and looking you know deeper
uh down uh you know following the money
and so forth you see that a lot of these
you know big hedge funds where those
BlackRock or you know that's the US
government especially um are all these
different you know special interest
groups that are just helicoptering cash
everywhere and people don't realize it
people don't realize that they're just
they're being manipulated they're being
influenced by stuff that's not in their
best interest and so I think that's
really goes back to this Independent
Media move and people want people that
uh people want people they don't want
you know some robots or some you know
talking headpiece uh that's you know
controlled in the back of the ear by by
you know some anchor or whatever a
writer in the back room that's telling
them what to do or some puppet and I
think people really want an impact media
and people that they can actually trust
and that's really where it's going you
know I see that with the Creator economy
and whatnot but you know I'd say with
the Creator economy especially is but
you know we have to watch out for is you
know when a Creator gets so big and then
they sign with the you know mcns and all
these different networks and they you
know what you you often see these uh big
creators they they could just go
corporate right and you know I'm not
saying going corporate per se is bad but
you you have to be true to who you are
right you can't just go corporate and
then just you know fake out your your
audience lie to your audience and come
back to bite you if you're super super
arrogant living in you know a Bubble
World in Los Angeles or something and so
I think that's really what people want
to see nowadays and so that's why
there's just this influx of people
creating you know podcasts or
newsletters or Independent Media stuff
and I think there's an opportunity there
to provide value to those people and you
know just talk about stuff that I know
and whether it's business or culture and
whatnot but really just focusing on
business and uh that's that's the main
value and I think thinking of the people
who I want to cater to and I don't
really want to serve everyone I want to
serve people that uh I want around me
like you know entrepreneurs or you know
really amazing people that act in good
faith that are not scumbags and people
that have done you know amazing stuff
and just have a place for you know them
to discuss their ideas but you know also
mine and just you know dialogue and
create value to the marketplace and so
that's really you know the mission and
where this is going and the motivation
for starting the podcast and so you know
I have this whole plan to to you know
create this media company and whatnot
but really I think the the Bedrock of it
has just got to be uh creating content
and so that's what I'm doing right now
and so like the last week you know I'll
uh the next episode I'll talk more about
it and uh really just and really launch
the media company itself but I've really
been working on you know I sort of have
like uh I don't want to call it PTSD or
whatnot but you know all these different
corporations from running my last
company that were you know call it I was
canceled or we were censored or we were
delisted Blacklist or whatever uh it
really just made me be aware and I think
it's not just me uh or you know people
that have gotten can't cancel I really
um in the developer space I think people
have an issue with this too like all the
developer stuff you know because I've
been creating this website and whatnot
and I've been trying to use as much open
source stuff as possible to not be
canceled and so we have our own servers
and whatnot and a lot of developers like
they actually know what's going on like
they're really privacy intense they they
know oh I don't know a certain search
company that starts with G really abuses
your privacy and all these big tech
companies with you know the Twitter
files and whatnot and how the whole
establishment whatever you want to call
it but the whole FBI and all these you
know different acronyms are getting
together and uh really just coming down
on the people and it's not okay for free
speech you know when is it when have
when has it ever been okay to begins
free speech like show me a time in
history where you know the good guys are
against Free Speech you're not going to
really find a good outcome are you and
so that's what I've been really trying
to do is create this you know whole open
source stuff and uh you know scalable uh
Foundation because I think you know for
my whole experience I think having a
good foundation uh for you know your
life or your company per se or business
you want to start is very very very
important and what happens if is if you
don't have a good foundation is
especially for a business if you take
seed money you take VC money if you take
product Equity money uh not only is your
business gonna fail you're gonna go to
debt bankruptcy and the whole you know
Rabbit Hole you know goes down further
and so I think when you're whenever
you're starting a business it's always
good to bootstrap it and let it be 100
independent and guess what if it takes
off and the market likes it then the
market will support it right you don't
need this VC money for 99 of the time
because the market is going to validate
it one way or another so anyways that's
what I've been uh you know building and
working on and I'll announce the media
company in the next episode uh but
basically I just want to talk about what
you can expect and I don't really have
an upload schedule yet I would say
weekly-ish uh podcast I'm gonna be
launching a Weekly Newsletter probably
business related entrepreneurship
related uh guest interviews I'm gonna
have some really cool entrepreneurs on
really cool guests uh really cool people
that I just know and I just want to talk
to and I think that are valuable for
whoever's listening whoever you know
wants to watch too but whoever wants to
uh better themselves and better their
self and life or if you have a business
if you're trying to start a business if
you you are an entrepreneur like me then
I think it'll be really valuable for you
and you know consider subscribing and
consider following along the journey and
I'm really excited for you know where
this is going to go where it's going to
go from here so thanks for watching guys
it's Sam Weinstein and I'll see you in
the next episode