3 businesses we think are about to blow up

1. Key Themes

Fringe biohacks migrate to the mainstream faster than people expect

The episode's core pattern: things that sound reckless or weird get normalized within a few years, and the money is made by those who spotted the signal on forums early. Guest 1 follows biohacking subreddits, which is "how I learned about GLP-1s. This is how I learned a little bit about testosterone" 00:05:20. Guest 2 (the more cautious of the two) gives the counter-evidence from his own skepticism: "when you years ago were like, oh, I hurt my Achilles. And so I injected BPC, whatever, 157... I'm like, that's a crazy thing to do... And now peptides are shockingly common" 00:17:34. He adds that "a psychedelics company just got acquired for $3 billion by Eli Lilly" (he cites $2.8 billion in the same breath) and that "the sort of social acceptance shifts over time for these things" 00:19:02. Guest 1's prediction: "I would not be surprised if in 12 months, you and me and our listener are going to get a lot of meta ads saying this will cure divorce" 00:16:52.

Oxytocin as "a highlighter for feelings": a potential relationship and team-performance product

Guest 2 reframes oxytocin as an amplifier rather than a love potion: "it's like a highlighter... What it does is it highlights or amplifies what you feel" 00:13:29. If you're in a bad situation, "it would heighten their sense of distance"; if good, "it would amplify the warmth" 00:14:26. The consumer angle is already forming: "if you go to Blue Chew... If you go to HIMSS, I imagine they might start selling this" 00:09:39, with the product format being a nasal spray. Guest 1 also cites a doctor claiming teams "worked together so much better when they all had small doses of oxytocin" 00:15:12. Caveat stated by Guest 1: "it could still be bullshit. Like this is totally understudied" 00:10:47.

Loneliness is a monetizable macro-trend, via affinity-group financial products

The second idea is to build a belonging-based community and monetize through commodity financial products. Guest 2 summarizes it: "The real banana is you figure out how to sell a... commodity financial service, but people will have some preferential attachment to you because you are the community" 00:24:52. Guest 1 agrees: "now's an interesting time because the loneliness thing, it's quite easy to like capitalize on that. And two, these things last forever" 00:25:05. Existing proof points: Knights of Columbus, Good Sam (RV owners), USCCA (concealed carry), and AARP.

Reaction-to-the-action: the best business ideas are antibodies to dominant trends

Guest 2's business theory: "a great way to think of a business idea is to find the reaction to the action" 00:35:00. Facebook's permanent public photos created Snapchat; abundant calories (GLP-1s, DoorDash) created a counter-market; and today "screen time limiting apps and Brick" are reactions to the current norm 00:35:59. A24 is the film-world example: Hollywood went risk-averse (sequels, superhero films, four-quadrant tentpoles), leaving independent directors underserved.

Values-based niche audiences can build near-half-billion-dollar media businesses

Angel Studios is presented as proof that an underserved worldview is a large market. Guest 2: "They're doing 400 plus million dollars a year in ARR... 450 million in ARR. It's a public company" 00:30:23. The audience is small but monetized: "two or three million people each who pay, you know, 13 to 20 bucks a month" 00:32:23. Member voting de-risks content: "if more than 70% say yes, then the movie... is going to go into their marketing pipeline" 00:33:17.

Marketing spend now rivals or exceeds production spend in hit-driven media

Guest 2 relays a film executive's numbers: a movie cost "14 million to make" and "40" on marketing 00:40:37. The same dynamic holds in games: "for movies and video games... they spend more money on marketing than they do on actually making the product" 00:41:57. This is why A24's guerrilla marketing (below) is a structural edge, not a gimmick.

Hits-driven media has surprisingly mediocre economics at the top end

The biggest A24-style hit looks modest next to venture. Guest 2 walks through it: a film that grossed "250 million box office. And it only cost us 14 to make," plus 40 marketing, then "50% because we're... much smaller" means "125 against 54 million to create... Is like a two point something X return" 00:43:52. His takeaway: "in startup investing, like you get a 50 X, a hundred X, a 200 X, a thousand X return when you hit. And I was surprised that the movie business isn't like that" 00:45:45. Books are the contrast: they "cost almost nothing to print. And so they're printing money when it hits" 00:45:17.

Vanity demand floods creative industries with capital

Guest 2 relays the film executive's observation: "have you ever met a billionaire who doesn't want to make a movie? I haven't" 00:46:02. Ego-driven capital suppresses returns for rational investors, and the "tax write-off" angle is weaker than it sounds: "Maybe you get a 300 K write-off, but you might lose your million dollars. You'll probably lose your million dollars" 00:47:04.

2. Contrarian Perspectives

The best answer to "what would you build from zero" is a chemical fix for divorce

Palmer Luckey, asked what he'd do starting from nothing, didn't pick defense, AI, or crypto. His answer: "I would try to end the tragedy of divorce with oxytocin doping for marriage counseling" 00:02:46. The contrarian logic is that a regulatory gray zone is a feature: "Totally unregulated, which is great. Unregulated spaces are a lot easier. You can go buy a kilogram of oxytocin on Sigma Aldrich chemical supply right now" 00:03:19. And he flips the safety framing: "if people think SSRIs are fine, which they're not, but if they were, then oxytocin doping to stay together is definitely fine" 00:02:46. Guest 1 loves the packaging as much as the molecule: "I'm not saying that oxytocin is necessarily great. What I'm saying is the packaging of this is beautiful" 00:04:52.

Feelings are chemistry, so "a magic pill for love" is a legitimate product category

Guest 2 argues against the mystical view of emotion: "basically a feeling is a chemical brain state that you're in. And then you have a conscious readout of it" 00:12:36. By analogy with weight loss: "there used to literally be a phrase that was like, there's no magic pill for weight loss. But now there is... Well, what if there's a magic pill for love or for being bonded with your partner?" 00:13:03. Evidence offered is thin (prairie vole monogamy; a small human study where dosed men sat "an extra 15 centimeters apart from the attractive female" 00:11:46), which Guest 2 himself flags as "a small sample size... maybe bullshit study."

Fraternal-order and membership businesses are secretly insurance companies, and they're growing with young men

The Knights of Columbus began in 1882 when a New Haven priest got 200 men to pool money for a deceased member's family. Today Guest 1 says it has "something like two or three million members... $30 billion in assets... $5 or $10 billion a year in revenue" and monetizes by selling life insurance 00:21:55. The non-obvious twist: "young men, like between 30 and 40, are joining and it's their fastest growing segment" 00:22:52, after "decades" when "young men were not joining."

The brand can be the distribution channel while someone else carries the risk

AARP does "billions of dollars in revenue" but "they partner with United. And so they license their name. So they are the trusted brand and the marketing channel. But they do not actually provide the health insurance" 00:27:18. This reframes the model as an asset-light trust-brand business, not an insurance company, which Guest 1 reinforces: "the majority of these businesses, they're not insurance companies. They are partners with someone else who does it" 00:26:57.

A censorship-style "filter" product turned into a studio

Angel Studios' founder began by building a tool that stripped cursing, sex and drug scenes from existing movies, got sued ("having to like pay $10 million at a lawsuit somewhere along the way" 00:31:29), then pivoted to making clean originals. The result is "the gluten-free movie basically" 00:31:29, with a hit-rate edge: "a higher average... Rotten Tomatoes and hit rate than... all the popular studios" 00:33:17. The contrarian lesson is that a legal wall can be the forcing function to own your content.

3. Companies Identified

Anduril

Defense technology company founded by Palmer Luckey. Mentioned as the credential for Luckey's answer. Guest 1: "Palmer Luckey, CEO, founder of Anduril, also started Oculus" 00:01:54 and "10s a billion there guy, very successful" 00:03:41.

Oculus

VR company Luckey founded. Named alongside Anduril as part of his track record 00:02:24.

Knights of Columbus

Catholic fraternal organization founded 1882 that monetizes through life insurance. Guest 1: "It has something like two or three million members. They have $30 billion in assets. They do like $5 or $10 billion a year in revenue" 00:21:24, with "like 14,000 chapters all over the country" 00:22:52. Mentioned as the template for community-plus-financial-products.

Good Sam

RV owner membership. Guest 1: "Good Sam is an RV owner membership. So it's all based around a shared identity and community and they monetize through financial stuff... better insurance for your RV... discounts to like campgrounds" 00:23:33.

USCCA (U.S. Concealed Carry Association)

Concealed-carry membership with training and legal-defense insurance. Guest 1: "you can pay $300 and you can get access to monthly trainings... But also you get insurance if you ever get prosecuted for shooting someone and they do about $400 million a year in revenue" 00:24:00.

AARP

Association of retired people that licenses its brand to a health insurer. Guest 1: "AARP does billions of dollars in revenue... they partner with United. And so they license their name" 00:27:18.

United (UnitedHealthcare)

The health insurer underwriting AARP-branded plans 00:27:48. Mentioned as the risk-bearing partner in a brand-licensing model.

Angel Studios

Values-based streaming and studio company. Guest 2: "They're doing 400 plus million dollars a year in ARR... 450 million in ARR. It's a public company" 00:30:23. Notable for member-voted greenlighting and its role producing "The Chosen," which Guest 2 says "200 million people have watched" 00:28:21.

The Chosen

Faith-based series about Jesus, now on its seventh season, which Angel helped produce for the first three seasons 00:28:49.

A24

Independent film studio. Guest 2 credits its rise to Hollywood's risk-aversion and its marketing ("limited edition merch... different form of marketing") 00:38:46. He relays a case where a film "cost 14 million to make" with "40" on marketing 00:40:37.

Eli Lilly

Pharma company that Guest 2 says acquired a psychedelics company for $3 billion: "a psychedelics company just got acquired for $3 billion by Eli Lilly" 00:18:03. It signals mainstream pharma validation of formerly fringe categories.

Atai Beckley (garbled in transcript as "Attea Beckley")

Psychedelics company cited as the "biggest psychedelic acquisition ever," bought for "$2.8 billion" per Guest 2 00:18:03.

Blue Chew

Telehealth company selling erectile dysfunction medicine. Guest 1 sees it as a probable distributor of an oxytocin nasal spray 00:10:05.

Hims

Telehealth company. Guest 1: "If you go to HIMSS, I imagine they might start selling this" 00:09:39.

Mercury

Sponsor and fintech banking product. Guest 2 (reading the ad) says he moved off "Wells Fargo and Chase" for its personal accounts 00:42:25.

HubSpot

Sponsor; publishes a free database of business ideas from the podcast and runs the Marketing School podcast 00:07:45.

Grindr

Company that sent the hosts merch after the podcast's episode with Rick Marini on how Grindr turned around 00:47:17.

Penguin

Publisher that, per Mark Manson's story relayed by Guest 1, became profitable in a year thanks largely to his book: "they said that I outsold Hillary Clinton and... helped like make the whole company profitable that year" 00:44:44.

Dollar Shave Club / Poo-Pourri / Squatty Potty

Viral-marketing success stories linked to Utah's marketing cluster; Guest 2 says the Angel founder was behind the marketing of similar brands, and Guest 1 notes "a whole like Mormon cabal of these like really good marketers up there in Salt Lake" 00:30:53.

4. People Identified

Palmer Luckey

Founder of Anduril and Oculus. Highlighted for his crisp, first-principles answer: "I would try to end the tragedy of divorce with oxytocin doping for marriage counseling" 00:02:46. Guest 2: "He immediately had not only a great original novel surprising idea, but he had the pitch ready to go, locked and loaded" 00:04:02.

Father Michael McGivney (named in transcript as "McGivy")

Connecticut Catholic priest who founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882 after a parishioner died and left his family without income: "He convinced something like 200 of his male people... to join what he called a mutual benefit society" 00:21:24.

Chris Williamson

Podcaster referenced for a set of bonding questions and eye-contact exercises for couples 00:07:29.

Jack Smith

"Our resident biohacker" who the hosts text for a check on oxytocin. His reply: "an intern at my company got effed up on it after he took some. And then... the taxi driver... asked to be paid in it" 00:19:39.

Scott Belsky

Former tech executive now at A24. Guest 1: "Scott Belsky, who I have a man crush on, was a tech guy, is now working there" 00:34:32.

Mark Manson

Author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Guest 1 recounts: "his book... sold 20 million copies" 00:44:44 and that his parents took him seriously only when the publisher's annual report credited him with outselling Hillary Clinton.

Rick Marini

Former Grindr owner whose episode on turning around the business drew the Grindr merch gift 00:47:17.

Ben

A friend of Guest 2 who introduced him to the Angel Studios founder at a barbecue 00:33:43.

Founder of Angel Studios (unnamed)

Described by Guest 2 as "this epic marketer who did the marketing behind like Poopouri and Squatty Potty" 00:30:23 who built a movie-filtering tool, absorbed a $10 million lawsuit, and pivoted to original content. Guest 2 notes he "went from no experience in the movie business to now doing almost half a billion dollars a year in revenue" 00:33:43.

Owen Wilson

Actor in Angel's film "The Runner" (the trailer is described in 00:29:17).

Kevin James

Actor whose guerrilla Super Bowl stunt (sitting among empty seats in a tuxedo holding flowers) was cited as A24-style marketing 00:39:40.

Timothée Chalamet

Actor whose leaked Zoom-style fake trailer is cited as an example of unconventional marketing 00:38:46.

Robert Pattinson

Star of the A24 film Guest 1 saw about Chris Hansen 00:34:06.

Chris Hansen

Subject of the film Guest 1 saw; known for "Catch a Predator" 00:34:06.

Adam Neumann

Joked about by Guest 2 as someone who would embrace team-wide oxytocin dosing: "Adam Neumann somewhere is like, yes, not weird. We are doing that" 00:15:40.

Neil Patel and Eric Su

Hosts of Marketing School, promoted in the closing ad as "marketers who are running businesses" 00:48:23.

5. Operating Insights

Pitch the idea in a single line with the villain already named

Luckey's answer worked because the problem (divorce, "affects 50% of people"), the mechanism (oxytocin), and the framing (marriage counseling) fit in one sentence. Guest 1 recognized the value of packaging: "the packaging of this is beautiful" 00:04:52. For a founder, the takeaway is to have your "if I started from zero" answer pre-built, with a human-scale stake, not a market-size slide.

Build the community first, then bolt on the commodity product

In the affinity-group model the membership delivers marketing value through discounts, and the financial product carries the margin. Guest 2: "You get maybe some discounts that immediately kind of justify the value of your membership because it's marketing for them. But the real banana is... a commodity financial service" 00:24:27. Practical corollary from Guest 1: you don't have to underwrite risk; license your name to an insurer as AARP does with United 00:27:48.

Use manufactured mystery instead of media buys

A24's stunts (Kevin James's anonymous painter Instagram, a Super Bowl seat with 11 empty chairs, a "leaked" hour-long meeting recording) work because "they paid for other influencers to be in the same section because they knew those influencers would be like, dude, that's Kevin James" 00:39:40. The tactic: seed intrigue, pay a few amplifiers, and let curiosity do the distribution.

Let your audience vote before you spend

Angel Studios shows trailers or snippets to its members and requires more than 70% approval: "if... less than 70% green light it, the deal's dead no matter what" 00:32:50. For any creative or product bet, an engaged paying community is a cheap pre-launch demand test.

Look for the product that serves the underserved quadrant

Four-quadrant thinking explains why studios chase sequels: "the highest kind of potential for a film is something that satisfies all four quadrants" 00:36:51. The operator move is the inverse: take whatever the incumbent's economics force it to ignore, and acquire it cheaply and uncompetitively.

6. Overlooked Insights

The "highlighter" framing suggests oxytocin is a diagnostic, not just a treatment

Buried in Guest 2's explanation is that oxytocin amplifies whatever the underlying relationship state is: "if somebody was domestically abused, this wouldn't like override that... It would heighten their sense of distance between that person" 00:13:58. That implies a product that doesn't "save" marriages at all but reveals which ones are worth saving, a feature for couples counseling and a reason the "cure divorce" ad copy Guest 1 predicts may be misleading. A credible company would sell clarity, which is a safer and more defensible position.

The adoption signal came from the least likely channel: a taxi driver who wanted to be paid in it

Jack Smith's offhand report is easy to skip: "once I took a taxi driver and I was telling the taxi driver about it and he asked to be paid in it" 00:19:39. Unprompted demand from an unrelated, non-biohacker consumer is a stronger sign of spreading awareness than a Reddit thread, and it mirrors how GLP-1s and TRT spread through ordinary people before brands caught up.

The Angel Studios founder's lawsuit was the moat-building event

Guest 2 mentions the founder was sued and paid "$10 million at a lawsuit" while running the DVD-rental-plus-filter loophole before pivoting to owning content. The brief aside explains the entire business: the value was in the audience (a hundred thousand people who wanted the filtered service), and the lawsuit forced a shift from renting someone else's IP to owning IP for that audience. The acquired audience, not the film library, is the asset, and it is what now lets members greenlight content before it's produced.