From selling ACs to becoming the tourism king of Jamaica

23:32And it's working. So they started this program many years ago. And at the time, China didn't have a very notable math or science achievement record at the international level. So there's these things called the Math Olympiad. It's sort of like the Olympics for math. And so the first year, they sent a team of three. And they got the bronze. And they're like, yes. And then the next year, they sent six teams. And they got two medals. And now, basically, they just sweep all the medals every year. They just dominate these programs. They have the most players and the most wins. And their AI program, if you go walk into an open AI office, you're going to see tons of Chinese PhD AI researchers who now work in the US.

24:15But for everyone that you see here, there's 100 that are still in China working at the Chinese companies, the Chinese labs. And I was just pretty inspired by this whole thing. There's one anecdote in the story where it says that if you go into a normal, Chinese public school. There's a blunt slogan on the wall. This is not even the Genius Program. This is just a normal elementary school, public school. And it's a reminder for the teachers and staff there. And it just says, produce talent quickly and early. And I thought about that because I send my kids to school. And the teachers and the staff do not have a philosophy about producing talent quickly and early.

24:55What's our slogan? No child left behind, right? That was the famous education program that we launched, I don't know, when Bush was president or something like that. It's the exact opposite. It's the exact opposite. It's about don't discriminate. Don't make anyone feel left out. In San Francisco, they were doing this thing where they were getting rid of the gifted and honors programs because it was like, made the other people feel bad. And we basically are taking the exact opposite with the sort of inclusion focus and the like no child left behind focus. Whereas if other countries are taking this idea of like your job is to produce talent quickly and early and that like it's the goal is greatness and let's be competitive about it like what's going to happen over a 20-year arc right like you're going to get more and more it's they're going to win and so i just thought this was pretty interesting i wanted to hear your thoughts on this it kind of begs the question like why doesn't facebook have like um what's it called what's what's it well yes but what's it called the d league where mba up and coming yeah the g league or what's um like the the minor leagues like, you know, just baseball.

26:00Yeah. Yeah. Like why doesn't Google and Facebook and the top 200 schools have like a farm team where they identify 14 year olds that are promising and they go, Hey, would you like to come to school here forever or for free? And you can choose to work at us. We're at our company afterwards, but just so you know, you have like a job here if you choose to, and we will educate you and get you up to date, up to speed on all the stuff. Totally. I actually, when I first moved to San Francisco, this was the thing I was pitching investors. I was like, I think I should go create Google U. And my dream would be to be the dean of Google U.

26:35I was like, I can't, I think it's crazy that these giant companies don't have their own talent farms, right? Why wouldn't they try to produce talent? We wrote a story at The Hustle about this kid named Michael Praseman. Michael, if you hear this, what's up? And he was like a 15-year-old who had this rag to riches story where he somehow got Mark Zuckerberg's attention at the age of 14 because he wrote like a viral app. And he made the news because Zuck was like, hey, do you want to like an internship here? And then that led to a full-time job when he was only 16. And now I think he's doing, I think he's on the AI, what's it called?

27:06The super team, the super intelligence Facebook team, which is like the$100 million a year of salaries, insane stuff. And it was like, we wrote a story because of how remarkable it was that Facebook hired a high school kid. We need more Doogie Howser shit, right? Like, why don't we do that? Where's our competitiveness? So you have the Teal Fellowship, right? That's like a thing. And obviously there's like little programs all around. Dude, I remember when I was in seventh grade, Duke University did what I didn't realize was essentially just a marketing campaign, but they had created something called the Duke Tip Program.

27:36And it was called the Talent Identification Program. And I lived in Texas. And suddenly Duke University did this thing where my school in Texas had us all go to the cafeteria and take a little test. And then you got like a little merch bag with it of like Duke gear. and then the results came back and was like, we think you're talented. And bro, I think I rode that for like seven years and then I went to Duke. That thing really influenced me in some weird subliminal way that like maybe I am special and maybe I can do this and maybe I should go pay Duke$200 ,000 to go to school there. And I did all those things and I'm surprised that more of that shit doesn't exist.

28:14I kind of want to create something like this because I think it actually creates inflection. with. Now, the China one is more like boarding school, right? And there's been other countries that do that, but I feel like we need our own versions of these. What does the American talent pipeline look like? And where are we identifying the best and the brightest on some ender's game shit and inviting them to the academy and then letting them duel and compete in a pretty hardcore way? Because, look, hardcore is not for everybody. But there's some people that only thrive on hardcore situations. They want to play the game at the competitive level.

28:46Basically what we do with youth sports, with AU and travel ball and shit like that. But do that for the genius kids. Do that for the makers, right? Like, I think that is, maybe it exists, and I'm just not aware of it, but. Have you heard of Birthright? I love Birthright. Crazy. So for those listening, I, well, I learned about it because I was dating a girl who went on Birthright. I don't remember what age. I was like 21 years old. Do you remember when she told you about it? What your reaction? You're like, what? Yeah, and she wasn't even Jewish. Like, she was like ethnically Jewish, I guess. But like basically, Birthright is a program.

29:21It's funded, I think it's funded a little bit by the government, but a lot of it is wealthy Jewish people. But also, I think a lot of wealthy Christian people who believe that when the end of the world, according to the Bible, when the end of the world happens, the Jews need to rise first, then the Christians go behind them. That's like what the book of Revelation says. And so they believe for a variety of reasons that we need to keep Israel strong. I don't care about the politics. I'm just telling you guys the facts. And so a lot of Christians, I think, but also like Bernie Madoff was a huge funder.

29:52A lot of people are funders. It says 67 % of the funding for birthright is individuals. 27 % is the government. And then there's like a couple percent of other things. And it's basically a free trip to anyone who could prove. You'll have to tell me the exact measurement. But I think it's like if you have like a great grandparent who's Jewish. So you could be like not Jewish at all. Does it say what the requirements are? Well, I just asked, does it count if I have a Jewish friend? And it said no. That's not going to get me there. Do you identify as Jewish? But basically, it's a very small percentage, and they bring you on something like a three-week all-paid expenses trip.

30:29All-expenses-paid trip. At least one Jewish birth parent or a recognized conversion. Okay, so just a parent. They bring you for two or three weeks. I forget how long it is. But they give you a tour, and you see all the types of stuff. But they basically, like, I remember when I was dating this girl, we broke up afterwards because she was like, they introduced us to all these Israeli soldiers. And I was like, all right, this guy's really ripped. Why did he take his shirt off? Like, you know, like, why do you have photos? Anyway. And like, a small percentage of them then, you know, become, like our good buddy Siva, like become more in touch with Judaism and in touch with Israel.

31:13and thus support Israel more. Yeah, it's how culture lasts through generations, right? Is cultural experiences and exposure. Any culture can do this. They've just systematized it in this really cool opportunity for people. Yeah, it's awesome. And it's pretty great. Because I think you have to be like 18. There's an age limit. I think it's like 18 to 25. I forget what it is. When you're primed to want to go on a free trip, you're like, yeah, fuck it, I'll go. And then it's a free trip. Hell yeah. And then you get there and you're like, okay, I actually do like this or like that. And so it's pretty cool.

31:46And I think that's kind of a good example. Like the world's best timeshare presentation. Yeah. And I think that's like a really good way. And this sounds bad. I don't mean it bad. To indoctrinate someone into like a cause and get them long-term bought in. And it is kind of like an interesting model. Yeah, I love that. What do you do with the money once you've already made it? This is a question Sean and I ask our successful guests all the time. And the reason we ask it is because if you are successful, if you do have a little bit of money, information on how to spend or invest your money, it's actually really hard to come by.

32:13And I know this because inside of Hampton, which is my community of founders, people ask this question all the time. People have made$10 or$50 million. How do you spend it? How do you invest it? And so to help solve this problem and answer this question, I actually interviewed 80 plus founders, guys like Scott Galloway, Alex Ramosi, Brian Johnson, people who are worth 50, 100, even billions of dollars. And we got them to reveal everything. So their net worths, how much they pay themselves, their monthly expenses, their portfolio, things like that. And we turned these 80 interviews into one document.

32:40And I don't think you can find this type of information literally anywhere on the internet. And it's completely free. So if you want to see behind the net worth of people who are worth billions of dollars and their portfolios, their expenses, everything, you go to joinhampton.com slash reveal. Again, joinhampton.com slash reveal. Check it out. So what are you saying? We need our own birthright? Where are you going with that? Well, no, what I'm saying is, too, I actually do think that America should have a mandatory... I think Scott Galloway said this. I've agreed with this for a long time. We should have mandatory service for American military.

33:11I think that would be great. But number two, I think that's a really good example of how you have, like, whatever we're calling this, like a farm league of, like, getting in with people at a young age. Like, it is, I wonder, like, it worked really well with Duke and you. I mean, I didn't go to a good school. I was from Missouri. I didn't go to a good college. But, like, it is interesting why you aren't promoted to a little bit earlier on to, like, buy into, like, a certain movement, like going to a good university or joining an interesting company? Well, we're kind of saying three different ways that you can produce this talent farm.

33:41So the first one was the China one, which is you identify promise and potential early, and then you invest in that, and they do deliberate, intensive practice. And those people who had potential, they build the skills in a more intense way in a more hardcore environment. Okay, that's one way you could do things. Second thing we talked about, let's say the Duke example is, sometimes just creating a test or something like that just to do talent identification, if nothing else, makes people feel like they're special and that they're talented. And literally that self-belief is worth something. It's not the same value as going to an intensive bootcamp and capitalizing on it, but it's not nothing either.

34:19And then the third one is, how do you get that sense of pride, cultural ties and enthusiasm? And one idea is like, you know, birthright or something like that. So there's like all these different ways you could do it. I started studying. I was like, who else has done things like this? And so there's the, have you seen the story of the Soviet, like, or have you, are you familiar with the story of like the Soviet Olympic program, basically how they did this? Yeah. And how they were just like the shit. And well, they also like drugged them. That's why they like won all the, like a ton of the women track and field records are from the USSR in the 80s.

34:53Like still, it's like the longest standing records. So the, I didn't, I didn't know the whole story. So I was kind of looking into this. It's pretty interesting. So Soviets were kind of famously independent. They were kind of like, we don't need to be a part of the Olympics. So they actually had their own kind of like fitness games. They had what they called physical culture, which is like Fitzkultura. And then they had their own thing called like Sparta, something Sparta-Kaedis. That was like their Olympics. But at a certain point, it was kind of like the Olympics had the network effect. It had the brand.

35:21It had the prestige. So even if we were winning our local thing, it kind of didn't hold. We couldn't do this. And so they basically built a machine. So they decide, all right, we're going to enter the Olympics. But the way they did it was just so Russian, so incredible. They built an incredible machine that I respect. So what they did, they did same thing, talent identification. So they go at age six to 10. They start measuring how long are your arms? How big is your wingspan? What's your reaction time? What does your body composition look like? What's your flexibility like for gymnastics? And they basically didn't wait for greatness to appear.

35:58They went on a talent search. and they searched for greatness. And once they did that, they basically hacked the system. So at the time, I think until like 1988 or something, 1986 or something like that, the Olympic charter said that you couldn't be a professional athlete. One of our past topics, G. Prefontaine was one of the biggest advocates to abolish that. Okay, great. So the Russians basically just worked around it. So they're like, this gymnast, she's a student. This guy, this hockey player, he's an officer. And like, you know, they had these job titles that were only on paper, but actually, there's training full-time for this, whereas the U.S.

36:37would be like, I'm juggling school and my training, and obviously, somebody who's only training is going to get further ahead. Well, you remember Mirko Krokop, one of the best UFC... MMA fighter, yeah. Yeah, he was supposed to be an ex-police officer. That was like the shtick, but he was really trained, I think, as in... I forget where. A former USSR state as a fighter, and he trained full-time. He's like, I'm the can man. Anybody can get it right now. That's pretty funny. Different boxers. All right. So they do that. Then they start drugging. So they're like, okay, what else can we do? PEDs. So that became obviously a thing.

37:14They also did like world-class, I guess like progress and innovation in calisthenics and training programs and regimens that were like progressive loads and deloads. How do you peak at the right time? Stuff that's very standardized. they invented and like kind of created and we had to go steal it from them basically of like, how are they doing this? In running, there's called periodization, which is like you start with heavy miles and then you slowly taper off or you go to speed. They helped invent that. They also helped invent the idea of training, lifting weight in cold atmosphere with the AC down to like 60 and 55.

37:48What does that do? It just makes you stronger. I don't know the science behind it, but that was like one of their theories. I love how I ask as if that's my problem. Ah, it's been the temperature this whole time. No, they just came up with all these really weird, I mean, they were lab rats. And so they came up with a bunch of stuff or volume training for weightlifting. They were the best weightlifters. And so a lot of the best, they're now old guys, but a lot of the fathers of bodybuilding in the 90s and 2000s, they're all in their 80s now, were USSR guys. Right. And so they ended up dominating the Olympics.

38:21They were either first or second in medal count. And then it just sort of like, there was a period of time where they really dominated. And it was also cool, like, why did they care so much? And it was basically, let's send a message. It's like physical dominance was like a signal for dominance in other things. And this is why I thought the China thing is so interesting because… Because it's the exact opposite. It's brain. It's brain dominance. But even more, there's more stakes. Like, this was symbolic. It's like, we'll show the world what we're capable of. And there's always been these symbolic victories, like the first to climb Everest or the North Pole or the South Pole.

38:56Things where there's objectively no value to be gained by being the first guys to reach the South Pole, aside from bragging rights. And countries cared a lot about these bragging rights. And now with the AI thing, it's like, it's not just a symbolic victory. It's actual like total domination of the world's most powerful technology and will probably create the next global power. So it's like all of the same national pride bravado stuff from the Olympics, multiplied by actual real-world tangible benefits and dominance. Dude, I think it's great. Blue Angels, bravado stuff. This is the greatest thing ever.

39:34I think it's wonderful. Shocker. Sam's all in on bravado. Well, I just think that having a common enemy is really good for bringing people together. I remember post-9-11, I distinctly remember the week after. I remember walking around the street, and I was like, there's something about this and I just feel like a bond with strangers. Do you remember that feeling? Well, a little different as a brown guy, but yeah. Yeah, you actually had the exact opposite of experience. I forgot about that. Oh, wait, I'm the common enemy. You are the enemy. You are the other. You're saying great? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

40:06What did I do? I was the us and you were the them. Have you heard of this thing? This is related to what you were saying about planting a seed in someone that they're good. Have you heard of this thing called the Michelangelo effect? Michelangelo effect? it's this like psychological phenomenon where basically it's a there's been a bunch of tests that have proven it to be true and we use this phrase with Hampton all the time it's like a gift from the gods this this phrase so the Michelangelo effect it basically just says that if you have two romantic partners or a peer group or friend group they if they as long as they affirm each other and plant the seed in you like for example if I'm like Sean like you are the man you will be fit you will achieve this.

40:46You will do whatever you want. And we keep affirming each other. Every time you say that to one another, it's as if when Michelangelo was doing the Statue of David, someone said, how did you make this amazing statue? He says, the statue is there. I just chipped away at all the stuff covering that beautiful statue. And so it's as if like the greatness is in you because I have put that label on you. And each time I affirm or congratulate or say how you're amazing, I'm chipping away at the stone that's going to unveil this beautiful thing inside of you, which is whatever the goal is that you want to become.

41:17And they have found that basically, like, if you are raised around fat people, you are more likely to be fat. If you're raised around depressed people, you are more likely to be depressed. If you're raised around rich people, you're more likely to be rich. And it's not just because of, like, you know, what your parents do. It's just like you become what you are affirmed and what you are told. And it's called the Michelangelo effect. And it's a really cool idea. And like, this has been studied by psychologists. Like, there was a, where they looked at like a group of 50 ,000 people. And they were like, what words are you using to talk to this person?

41:47And how do they end up? And where do they become? And it's really telling. And so it's a really cool idea that if I tell you at a young age that you are special, that you work hard, that you're going to be great, that you belong in this category, you are more likely to actually become that simply of me telling you that you are. That's amazing. My dad told me this story about something his dad did for him that's always stuck with me. and so this is a little dad nugget of gold to pay forward. I don't want to cry. No, no, it's not that emotional. It's not that emotional, but maybe you're in that phase where, you know, the hormones.

42:24Hormones. Happy to have little girls, man. I feel like I want to like tear up all the time. So my dad was telling me, so my dad grows up in India, right? And if you look at, you know, today he lives in San Francisco and he's had this great life, but like, you know, it's kind of unheard of from a village in India, right? It's like hard to imagine starting there and ending here in one lifetime. So he tells me the story and he's like, he's like, you know, there's one thing my dad always did for me. And he goes, my dad always, he's like, he planted the seed in me that I was special, that I was different, that I was going to go do great things.

42:56And he goes, it didn't make any sense because I was not doing anything. We lived in this little dirt village, right? Nobody in our family had ever done anything. So his dad worked at a factory. And he told me the story of how his dad would bring him to the factory. and the boss would be there like, oh, hey, kiddo, like, you know, who's the kid? You know, and he put a hard hat on him and be like, you know, one day, like you can, you know, you can be here with us, you know, when you grow up. And then his dad to his boss was like, are you kidding me? He's like, no, this boy, this boy's special. This boy's not going to be here.

43:31He would take the hat off, the hard hat off of him. Like, he's not going to be here. He's not going to be in a factory. He's going to be in America. This boy's special. You don't know. This guy is really special. He's really smart. He's really special. He's going to do something amazing in America. And he told him that since he was like age four, five years old, six years old, seven years old. He's like, he put this in me that like, I was special. I was going to do something. I was going to go to America. He's like, my dad had never been to America. He doesn't even know what America is at the time.

43:58He'd never been on a flight, never been on an airplane, but he had this idea and he put it, he just said it so matter of factly. And he said it in front of other people to his boss. And he's like, I just had to take that as like, this must be serious. He wasn't even telling me. I just overheard it. I eavesdropped on that. And I thought that was great. I was like, I'm going to do that for my kids. How great is that? Is that the best? That's the best. I do that with my kids all the time. We do daily affirmations in the morning. We say, I'm bold. I'm tough. I'm smart. Yeah, we do this. I'm brave.

44:28I'm strong. I'm happy. And I can do anything. We've run that all the time. I'd tell you about the tennis little victory I had with my son. when he would go into new classes, he would always get scared to like new soccer class, new tennis class, anything. And as a parent, it's very frustrating, right? You pay, you drive through traffic, you go there and then your kid doesn't go in. And then in front of you, all the other kids are like doing it happily, blah, blah, blah. I'm like bartering and bribing and threatening and then ignoring and then trying again. And then I'll go in with you. And then I'll do the, I'll jump on the trampoline.

45:02Like, let me, let's do this together. And then the teacher's like, hey, can you leave? like the parents aren't really allowed to be in here. So there's been this situation over and over and over again. So we go to a tennis class, new tennis class. And sure enough, doesn't want to go in. And I'm like, okay. I decide, all right, I'm going to try this a little differently. So we just, we hang out and we're just talking. I decide we're going to stay here. We're not going to try to force you to go in. We're just going to sit here and talk. And I start telling them, I'm like, you know, I get pretty afraid at doing new things too, actually.

45:34so I totally get that. And, you know, I realized that it's other people aren't, it's not that the other people aren't afraid, like they have the scared, they have the scared in them too, right here, right in your chest. And I was like, but you get to decide like, does this scared win? I was like, and sometimes the scared wins. And like today the scared won, but it doesn't always have to win. Sometimes you get to win. So I tell him this, I forget about it. He doesn't really even really give me, you know, kids don't always like verbally affirm. Yeah, you're not sure if he's even listening. What a wonderful lesson.

46:01Like he's just like, you know, looking at his like car that he's playing with or whatever. So three weeks later, we go and we go to class and my wife takes him and he goes in. She's like, oh, he went into tennis. No problem this time after, you know, three weeks. And then afterwards is like, you know, what, what, good job. Like, you know, so proud of you. How'd you do it? And he was like, I didn't want to let the scared win today. And I was like, yes, total and complete victory in life. I did it. I did it. I'm not a terrible dad. I actually taught him something. It was like this huge, like, you know, great moment of my life that was just hearing that little seed watered enough, like eventually did bloom in his own words.

46:43And I had actually forgotten about that whole thing and he remembered it. What a wholesome episode. Right? That's how fires me out. Thank you for Dad Corner. Yeah, I want to go and hug my kids. All right, that's it. That's the pod. I feel like I can rule the world. I know I could be what I want to. I put my all in it like no days off On the road, less travel, never looking back All right, my friends, I have a new podcast for you guys to check out. It's called Content is Profit, and it's hosted by Luis and Fonzie Cameo. After years of building content teams and frameworks for companies like Red Bull and Orange Theory Fitness, Luis and Fonzie are on a mission to bridge the gap between content and revenue.

47:24In each episode, you're going to hear from top entrepreneurs and creators, and you're going to hear them share their secrets and strategies to turn their content into profit. So you can check out Content is Profit wherever you get your podcasts.