#184 - Making Millions Improving Mobility, How to Beat Linkedin & Why You're Early Even When You're Late

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode blends podcast business updates with a series of startup ideas: Canva for video, a mobility/joint-health product category, and new networking/job-board models that could chip away at LinkedIn. The hosts emphasize that megatrends and simple, distribution-heavy products can create outsized returns, while niche creators can monetize audiences through tools like Pallet.

Main Topics: Podcast growth and live event updates (Priority: 5/5): They share listener growth, upcoming guest recordings, and live events in Austin and Miami, framing the podcast as a scaling media business with growing reach and real-world community demand. Canva for video as a product opportunity (Priority: 5/5): They argue that the world has shifted to video, yet simple video creation still requires editing skills; they discuss why a Canva-like template-based tool for video could win, and why the category is hard despite demand. Super joints / mobility and aging-body solutions (Priority: 5/5): They brainstorm external mobility aids and body-support products for aging joints, then pivot to the broader mobility-training ecosystem and brands like Knees Over Toes, Ready State, GoWod, and TB12. How to beat LinkedIn with niche, local, and creator-led networks (Priority: 5/5): They explore non-obvious ways to compete with LinkedIn, including location-based professional matching and creator/community-specific job boards that serve narrower, higher-value talent markets. Pallet and the creator job-board economy (Priority: 4/5): They discuss Pallet as infrastructure for creators to run paid niche job boards, monetizing trusted audiences via recruiting and premium access instead of constant content production. Megatrends and the 'you're not late' investing mindset (Priority: 5/5): They close with a broader investing lesson: major shifts like internet, mobile, cloud, video, and crypto can run much longer than expected, so 'late' often still leaves substantial upside.

Key Arguments: The podcast is scaling quickly, with monthly listens approaching 600,000 and live events selling out fast, showing strong audience demand beyond audio. A Canva-style product for video is attractive because video creation remains too complex for non-editors, while the market for short-form and business video is huge. Aging and mobility pain are massive unmet needs; the real opportunity is not gimmicky braces but real mobility tools, diagnostics, training, and perhaps regenerative medicine. Knees Over Toes shows the power of contrarian branding plus niche expertise: a creator can build a multi-million-dollar business with a clear red-pill thesis and a loyal audience. LinkedIn is vulnerable to being unbundled by niche communities, creator brands, and local/professional matching tools rather than a direct clone. Pallet’s model works because creators already own trusted audiences; turning that trust into niche job marketplaces is a cleaner monetization path than teaching content every day. Megatrends last longer than people expect, so even investments that feel 'late' can still compound massively if the underlying trend is real.

Data Points: Podcast monthly listens: 600,000 listens/month - They say they are tracking toward 600K monthly listens, up from prior months. Prior monthly listens: 430,000 - Last month’s podcast listen count before the current growth jump. Target monthly listens: 550,000 - The level they were expecting to hit this month before exceeding it. Canva valuation: $15 billion - Used to illustrate how large the Canva category has become. Canva revenue: $500 million - Referenced as evidence of strong product-market fit and scale. Canva founder ownership: 30% - They note the co-founders collectively own a large share of the company. Buffer revenue: $21 million - Referenced from Buffer’s public revenue page to show SaaS plateau dynamics. Buffer customers: 75,000 - Used to illustrate the scale of a subscription product with low ARPU. Buffer revenue per account: $26 - Shows how low-price SaaS can plateau despite customer growth. Knees Over Toes estimated sales: $10 million/year - Their estimate of Ben Patrick’s business from his training brand. Knees Over Toes social following: ~500,000 Instagram followers - Used to show the brand’s reach and marketing power. Knees Over Toes pricing: $50/month - Subscription price for the training program discussed. GoWod price: $100 - Referenced as the app subscription price for mobility programming. Pallet funding: $4 million - Amount raised by the creator job-board infrastructure startup. Lenny job-board scale: $250,000+/year - Their estimate of what strong niche creator job boards can generate. Pomp job-board scale: ~$1 million/year - They estimate a top creator could make about this much from a job board. ZipRecruiter valuation (Series A): $300 million - Used to illustrate how job-board infrastructure companies can scale. Google revenue in 2010: $5 billion - Compared to today to show how big megatrends continue growing. Google current revenue: $55 billion - Referenced to show the scale-up over time. Bitcoin price context: ~$30K+ after being 30% off - They describe Bitcoin as a 'Black Friday' buying opportunity.

Pivotal Quotes: "“Canva for video.”" — Host: One of the core startup ideas teased at the top of the episode. "“The best way of thinking about it is by giving people red pills.”" — Host: Explaining how strong contrarian content brands are built, in relation to Knees Over Toes. "“Even when it feels late, like you're established, if it is a megatrend, megatrends have way more room to run than you expect.”" — Host: The closing investing thesis about late-stage opportunities in major technology trends.

Implications: Listeners are encouraged to think in niches, build on distribution they already have, and monetize trust with focused products. For founders, the big opportunities are creator tools, mobility/wellness, and distributed job networks rather than direct platform clones.