#202 - A Breakdown of Trendy New Businesses & Boring 9 Figure Businesses

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode examines “boring” businesses that dominate by becoming the default or a locked-in standard: class rings, stretching franchises, ephemeral tattoos, color standards, and obscure Google-based lead-gen/scam businesses. The hosts also discuss content strategy, arguing they should pivot from generic posts to more distinctive, high-effort YouTube-first formats and experimental storytelling.

Main Topics: Content strategy and the YouTube pivot (Priority: 5/5): The hosts argue their podcast should become a YouTube channel first, citing better discoverability, packaging, and viewer behavior. They also discuss moving away from generic Twitter threads toward more ambitious, high-effort content formats like screenplays and longer-form experiments. Stretching, mobility, breathwork, and recovery businesses (Priority: 5/5): They explore the growth of stretching studios and related wellness businesses like breathwork and ice baths. The discussion emphasizes low-effort, high-perceived-value services that can be franchiseable or productized as wellness trends expand. Ephemeral tattoos and temporary commitment products (Priority: 5/5): They analyze Ephemeral Tattoos, which uses biodegradable ink that fades after about a year, as a way to expand the tattoo market by lowering the commitment barrier. They also discuss how the business should scale through tattoo parlors rather than only company-owned studios. Jostens and the class ring monopoly model (Priority: 5/5): The hosts break down Jostens as an example of an entrenched, boring default business that has operated for more than a century. They discuss distribution through schools, high margins, and how a product with little innovation can still generate huge revenue via institutional lock-in. Pantone and WGSN as standard-setting businesses (Priority: 4/5): They highlight businesses that monetize being the global authority on color and trends. Pantone sells color books and standardizes naming across industries, while WGSN sells expensive trend reports and advisory services to brands making decisions about color, taste, and design. Couch-cushion businesses and grey-area Google lead gen (Priority: 4/5): They examine niche businesses that capture demand via search, like lost-item claim services and mugshot/background-check sites. The hosts frame these as highly optimized, sometimes deceptive businesses that exploit urgent, specific searches and often rely on confusing subscription flows.

Key Arguments: The biggest business opportunities often come from becoming the default, not from being novel; lock-in and repeat institutional use are more valuable than constant innovation. YouTube has superior discoverability and packaging compared with podcast-first distribution, so the show should adapt into a YouTube-first format. High-effort, unusual content will stand out more than generic content in crowded social feeds, especially if it requires real craftsmanship. Stretching, breathwork, and ice baths are growing wellness categories because they offer results with relatively low exertion and are easy to productize or franchise. Ephemeral tattoos expand the addressable tattoo market by reducing the lifetime commitment from decades to roughly a year. Jostens succeeds because it is the boring default provider to schools; even ugly products can thrive if they are embedded in an institutional workflow. Pantone and WGSN make money by becoming the standard language for color and trend forecasting, turning ambiguity into a paid reference system. Some Google-based businesses are essentially arbitrage on public data and search intent; they can be lucrative but may be misleading or scam-adjacent.

Data Points: Jostens revenue: close to $700 million a year - Described as the scale of the class ring and related school memorabilia business Jostens acquisition price: about $1.5 billion - Newell Brands reportedly bought Jostens at this valuation Jostens resale price: about $1.3 billion - Platinum Equity later acquired the company, implying a loss for the prior owner Yearbook/class ring industry trend: declining about 5% per year - Discussed as part of the broader school memorabilia market Stretch Lab locations: about 1,000 locations in roughly 5 years - Used to illustrate rapid franchising growth in stretching studios Stretch Lab price: $100 - Cost of a stretching session mentioned by one speaker Breathwork class price: $30 - Paid for a group class involving breathing and chanting Ephemeral Tattoo raise: $20 million - Funding round used to expand studios and develop colored tattoos Ephemeral Tattoo backlog: about $1 million in pre-booked reservations - Indicates high demand for the service Tattoo-parlor count in the U.S.: about 21,000 - Used to argue for distribution through existing parlors rather than company-owned stores Pantone business scale: over $100 million a year - Revenue generated from color books and related products/services WGSN revenue: 90 million euros - Annual subscription revenue for the trend forecasting company WGSN advisory price: about $18,000 a year - Reported cost of the service for businesses seeking trend guidance TSA claim service fee: $29 - Fee charged by the lost-item claims website after intake Mugshot/background-check subscription: $9.99 a month - Example of paywall pricing on people-search sites Walk goal mentioned: 20,000 steps a day - Speaker tracked this for several days using iPhone health data Current/featured colors: Rose Quartz (2016), Marsala (2015), Tangerine Tango (2012), Honeysuckle (2011) - Examples of Pantone color-of-the-year picks used to drive marketing

Pivotal Quotes: "When we think of entrepreneurship and we think of starting stuff, we think, how can I be innovative? How can I be new? In reality, in order to make a lot of money, it's how do I get locked into this to the point to where it's going to be a pain in the ass to go anywhere else?" — Speaker 1: Core thesis about boring, locked-in businesses outperforming novelty "We need to become a YouTube channel that happens to have a pod." — Speaker 1: Argument for shifting the show’s distribution strategy "How do I get locked into this to the point to where like, it's going to be a pain in the ass to go anywhere else." — Speaker 1: Reinforcing the importance of default status and customer lock-in

Implications: Listeners should look for businesses that become standards, not just startups with flashy ideas. For creators, the episode argues for higher-effort, platform-native content. For founders, it suggests niche, workflow-embedded products and trend services can generate durable, outsized returns.