We Hit Record on a Private Strategy Session
The best way to serve your audience is to ignore them completely. Focus on doing the selfish thing—having fun, learning, and improving yourself. When you optimize for your own curiosity and energy rather than headlines and click-through rates, you create better content. Notice which episodes give yo
46mKey Takeaway
The best way to serve your audience is to ignore them completely. Focus on doing the selfish thing—having fun, learning, and improving yourself. When you optimize for your own curiosity and energy rather than headlines and click-through rates, you create better content. Notice which episodes give you energy versus drain you. The ones that energize you are usually the ones where you're genuinely curious, not chasing metrics.
Episode Overview
Sam and Shaan conduct a public strategy session for their podcast 'My First Million,' discussing what's working, what's not, and their plans for growth. They explore ideas around social media clips, events, newsletters, and the philosophy of staying authentic rather than chasing metrics.
Key Insights
The Virtue of Selfish Podcasting
Sam advocates for doing the 'selfish thing'—having fun, learning, and improving himself rather than optimizing for external metrics. He notices that episodes driven by curiosity and genuine interest leave him energized, while data-driven, headline-focused episodes give him 'Sunday Scaries.' This approach aligns with Rick Rubin's philosophy that the best way to serve your audience is to ignore them completely.
The Power of Pre-Work in Meetings
Shaan implements Amazon's meeting methodology: send questions in advance, have everyone submit written responses, then one person collates the materials. This approach works because most people don't think well on the spot in large groups. Pre-work allows for more thoughtful, honest insights and makes meetings dramatically more productive.
Distribution Through Clips, Not Just Long-Form
The podcast has created 822 episodes with 115 million downloads, but they've neglected short-form distribution. Most successful podcasts create 'samplers'—bite-sized clips that give people a taste of the show where they already spend time (X, Instagram, TikTok). Chris Williamson's team clipped their episode for 3 weeks, generating massive reach that MFM leaves on the table.
The Clipper Army Model
MFM previously ran a bounty program offering $5,000 to whoever created the most engaging clips. They generated 20 million impressions in one month. The winner later built a short-form content company and sold it to Morning Brew. Despite this success, they immediately stopped doing it—a common pattern of abandoning what works.
Events for Connection, Not Ego
Shaan has no interest in events for money or ego validation. His only motivation: meeting the top 1% of MFM listeners—the most interesting people in their community. He envisions a curated 100-150 person event where he can meet fascinating listeners and they can meet each other, similar to a high-quality retreat rather than a traditional podcast tour.
Notable Quotes
"The best way to serve your audience is to ignore them completely."
"I notice that I dislike those the most. And then, I notice there are so many times like when you will tell me a story, or we will have a guest like Graham Weaver, who I think Graham Weaver is popular, so it's maybe not the best example, or Sarah Moore, who you did a podcast with, where we do these podcasts, and I leave with more energy than I came in on."
"Some people are fantastic at thinking on the spot and coming up with insightful, accurate, true, honest things on the spot in front of a large group of people, but that's like 1% of people. Most people don't think very well that way."
"I love this podcast Basement Yard. I've never even listened to the a full episode of it but I've watched probably 200 clips and if you tell me what do you think about that podcast? Oh my god I love those guys. That podcast is amazing."
"My only motivation with an event is I want to know who the top 1% of MFM listeners are. And this is a extremely selfish request."
Action Items
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1
Launch a Clipper Army Program
Create an incentive program paying creators per thousand views (CPM model) to clip and post MFM content across X, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Set an aggressive 90-day goal to test at scale, then evaluate whether to continue. This mirrors successful strategies used by Andrew Tate and other viral content creators.
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2
Start an MFM Newsletter with Episode Takeaways
Create a weekly newsletter featuring key insights from recent episodes, upcoming guests, and occasional personal updates. Focus on actionable summaries that save listeners time and drive them to full episodes. Make this the main opt-in instead of competing offers.
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3
Organize Curated Micro-Events
Host 100-150 person curated events (not large venue tours) in 2-3 cities, focusing on connecting the most interesting MFM listeners with each other and with past guests. Consider a 'Tiny Desk' format where you help solve real business problems on stage, creating both valuable content and genuine connections.
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4
Implement Pre-Work for Strategy Sessions
Before important meetings, send questions in advance and have participants submit written responses. One person collates the materials to drive more thoughtful, productive discussions. This Amazon methodology dramatically improves meeting quality.