We're about to find out what happens when you lock two builders in an apartment with $25,000, an internet connection, and 90 days to build a $1 million business. But I wanted to play a game with you.
Um, 30 seconds or less to pitch business ideas. And I- Two dads in tech talking about things people think about but don't talk about.
You're gonna start running marathons, if you think you will be one of those people that poops themselves. What specifically do you actually prioritize teaching your kids? Certainly not math or coding.
And this is where the episode has taken us. How do we stop school shootings? [upbeat music] Hey, welcome to another episode of Two Dads and Tech.
Uh, in this episode, we're gonna talk about how to raise your kids, uh, specifically what to teach them in the home. We're gonna talk about some business ideas that you can steal right now.
These are free business ideas, and also how to make a million dollars with nothing but the internet. How you doing today? Troy, you got... Having a good, having a good birthday? [laughs] What, what an awkward intro.
I'm good, Daniel. Thank you so much for asking. If you didn't, if you didn't know, I have, I have a, a guitar back there. I can't point at it. Pointing with the mirror is so... [laughs] I can't- [laughs] I can't p-
I can't point behind me. Yeah. Get it? Right there. Yeah. There's a, there's a, there's a guitar there. By the way, we can't see it. Then there's a ukulele, right? [laughs] You can't see it. We can't see it, dude.
We can't see it, but what was your point? [laughs] What was your point? Can you see this? No, I can only see the lamp, and then I can see, um... I see the door- You need to resize. [laughs] I know.
Dude, I- You need to resize the videos. I didn't even make it bigger. Make my whole widescreen. But anyways- Dude, let me- Uh, happy birthday, Troy. Let me... [laughs] Happy birthday, man.
Let me tell you about my weekend. We're having this really good weekend, and at the end of last week, Liam was starting to look like he was getting sick, and he had RSV seven weeks ago.
And so we already had to deal with that fun stuff. And then turns out, we te- like, did a at home test on Saturday, 'cause he woke up just looking like he got hit by a truck. He got the flu Saturday night.
I had the stomach bug. I was up all night just- Mm... doing everything imaginable. And so then I to- [laughs] I don't know how TMI we can get, but I really don't care.
And then I took two Imodium that day, and, you know, it stopped me up for a, a couple days, but, you know, today I think we're back to normal. But man, dude, we've, we've talked about this on so many episodes.
Kids just, they're always sick. It's ridiculous. Yes.
Kids are always sick, and I think for those who are watching who don't have kids in daycare or preschool yet, like, they're just not old enough to go and be with other kids every day, you're in for a really rude awakening.
Your kids just get sick, and so you're basically gonna be sick every two to three weeks forever. And so it's a rude awakening. Being a parent is great, but you will be sick a lot. And so stock up on vitamins.
We take vitamin C- Yep... and vitamin- Oh, yeah... what is it? D3, K2 or something, or B... I, I can't remember. It's, it's a combination vita- we take everything. Nice. Imodium, funny story. I had- Yeah...
a terrible stomach bug the week leading up to my half marathon in December.
So I literally, I didn't take Imodium because they say don't take Imodium for the first time before you exercise because you might just, like, specifically before a long run. But I, I packed Imodium.
It was in my backpack. I was almost gonna take it right before 13.2 miles and, uh, or what is it, 13.1. I didn't. Yeah. But I almost did. I almost did.
Ooh, dude, I was actually going to ask you, it was on my notes for the last podcast episode, we just didn't have the time, if you think, because you're gonna start running marathons, if you think you will be one of those people that poops themselves.
I don't know. I don't know. It's, it's interesting. My bladder just stops needing to function when I run. I, I sweat so much when I run that I think I just don't have to pee until I'm done. Yeah. Yeah. It's weird.
I've run for hours before, and I just don't have to pee till I'm completely done. I haven't needed to poop yet [laughs] while I'm running, but I'm a little scared in Chicago I'm gonna have to go at, like, mile 18.
Mm-hmm. I don't know what I'm gonna do. Uh-huh. But, uh, I'm gonna have to think through that.
Dude, I mean, [laughs] I saw a TikTok video not too long ago, and I, in my opinion, maybe I'm wrong here, and maybe some people just can't hold it. I saw a TikTok video of this girl, she was racing.
And I believe, like I was saying, in my opinion, I believe that the people that are really trying to set a record or be in first place, like, they will be the ones that poop themselves and they don't care.
But I saw this TikTok video of a marathon, and this girl was running. She was turning the corner, and she was like, "Can you not get my ass, please? I pooped myself." [laughs] And it was so funny. Like, people just poop.
Some people will go, like, in a trash bag under their clothes, go, like, in the trash bag with, like, a Gatorade bottle before the run because the porta potties are so backed up before, like- Yeah...
massive world marathons. Like, hundreds of people trying to use the bathroom last minute.
So they're just, like, going to the bathroom under this trash bag, under their clothes, top it off, throw it away, rip the trash bag off, and then they're at the starting line and they just go for it.
There's all sorts of crazy ideas. I, I don't know- Hey... which ones I'm gonna have to do, but I will try to be prepared. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, honey, don't forget the Glad please. Don't forget the gallon, 11-gallon Glad.
Oh, I'm, I'm putting all sorts of Body Glide every crevice of my body. There's not enough Body Glide to go around. So hey- Uh... that brings me to my next question.
I do have a, a tweet I read this week that I wanted to launch things off here. It's actually from Tyler Dink, and it's about a podcast.
It's unfortunately not about Two Dads and Tech podcast, so I'm gonna have to channel with him this way. Hey. I tweeted about two podcasts, and it wasn't mine. You know, I'm slightly offended.
But he said, "I listened to two separate podcasts this morning, not to brag, where the guest describes their biggest concern as not knowing what to prioritize teaching their kids today."
He said, "It's a great thought exercise because it's certainly not math, or coding, or history, or law, medicine, finance, et cetera."
And I thought, well, that's a perfect launching point for Two Dads and Tech, is what specifically do you actually prioritize teaching your kids in the home? What's the top priority for parents today?
Are we talking about the age of our kids, or are we talking about maybe when they get older and start to understand a bit more? Well, let's, let's do both. With our kids specifically, what is top of mind for us?
But then as you think through even, like-You know, as simple as when do you give your kids a cell phone? You know, um- Mm-hmm... you and I have both had conversations like that.
We're a few years out from that, but, you know, when they start to learn actual, like, life stuff, what is it that you focused on, you know?
So I will tell you what we're teaching Liam today, and this could be a wrong answer, a right answer. I don't even know if there is a right or wrong answer.
But I'd say right now the biggest things that we are teaching Liam is, one, the, the first thing is, like, manners, but also being able to ask. So like he'll say, "I want a snack."
Like, "No, like, that's not how you ask." "I want a snack." And it just keeps going back and forth. We get in this argument.
And then I'm like, "If you, you just say, 'I want a snack, please,' or, 'Dad, I want a snack, please.'"
And so that's one thing is we're trying to teach, especially to his, his grandma, who he calls Gaga, like, dude, he bosses her around like [chuckles] like it's nothing.
But so I think manners is the first thing that we're trying to teach Liam. I think one thing right now, and I think it's just 'cause we're in this phase, but potty training.
So after he's done peeing or pooping in the toilet, which he's not fully potty, potty trained yet, he's going, he's getting excited. Sometimes he gets scared. It's like this whole back and forth.
Sometimes he wants to, other times he doesn't.
But it's like climbing up on the stepstool that we have, turning on the sink and washing his hands and drying it off, so it's like making sure that you're kinda germ-free, which obviously hasn't helped us.
He's been sick for what seems like forever. So it's like that, making sure that he kinda wipes off his germs and things like that.
And then again, I think it's very specific to our scenario, but now that he has a baby brother, like letting-- like making him realize that he's like the big brother and that he'll be teaching him things and stuff like that.
So those are the things that I'm prioritizing. But like let's say they're 10 years old, and they actually understand the world, and they know what's going on.
They can make themselves a sandwich or a snack or whatever it is. For me, and I don't know, it, it's such a weird question, right?
Because everybody parents differently, and I will never judge a par- like a parent on how they parent, unless it's like terrible. Like you're, like no, you don't call that person that.
[chuckles] Like I will never judge how somebody parents or tell somebody how to parent. Like that's their lives. Those are their kids.
But for me, it's like understanding that, I think, one, that there are bad people out in the world, I think that's one thing.
Two, that in my opinion, I think everybody should be treated exactly the same regardless of who they are, how they look, what, you know, what they like, et cetera. And then,
no, I, I don't think I would prioritize like coding or anything like that, but it does seem fruitful for the future if you did, right? Like if you can get kids on it young, holy cow, it'd be amazing. But I don't know.
That's kind of-- that's my thought process on that. I'd love to hear what do you think you should prioritize teaching your kids today and maybe when they're 10 years old? Yeah. I, I mean, I love your answer.
I think there's so much focus on behavior at this stage is being kind, is learning to have emotional intelligence, being thoughtful of friends and brothers and siblings and cousins, sharing, you know, these little minute things that you just don't really think about mattering, but when you get them right, they become part of who that person is as they grow older and as they start to enter the workplace eventually or, or go into, you know, higher grades in school.
But when, when you get it wrong, you and I can both think of so many people who, you know, they're, they're 10, they're 15, they're 25, they're 30, and it's like you, you never learned how to share when you were two.
[chuckles] Like you, you didn't, you didn't learn how to say thank you as a child. Like you, you weren't- Yeah... well-mannered growing up.
It's like that, that actually sets the foundation, sets the stage for highly functioning adults like this early actually in life.
And so I focus on, I think my, my wife and I both, we focus really on behavior, on obedience, on listening. A lot of times, like you said, kids just, they want what they want, and they tell you to give it to them.
And well, that's not really how the world works, and that's certainly not how it works in this house.
You know, me going to school and through high school and college, and I just have kind of a progressive view of school.
And I lean pretty far in one direction of like, you could probably do without it, like traditional schooling. Like y- I don't think everyone needs it. And so what do I teach my sons, my two kids, as they get older?
I think it's always actually gonna focus more on like the social and emotional side of things because- Yeah... I think people, people actually learn the other stuff the way that they're going to learn.
Like when I look at the things that I learned in my life as a, in my career, it's like a lot of it's just like the school of hard knocks.
I don't even think I had an expectation, nor should I think there have been an expectation of learning how to be who I am in the household.
I think the things that I'm grateful for learning growing up was just how to be, how to act, how to behave, how to apologize when you're wrong, how to lean into humility, to, you know, love, to share, to be grateful, you know.
All these things that's, I think, missing in a lot of people's families and dynamics that, you know, when someone has that, that family unit or, or those, those family figure, father, mother figures in their lives, okay, that's the type of thing that they can't learn at school, that you can't expect a teacher to teach your children.
That's my opinion on, on, you know, what, what do we teach our kids. Yeah. And so with that outlook on school and on education, especially given your personal experiences, I'm the same way.
I think we talked about this in the last episode or two episodes ago. I barely graduated high school. I almost got kicked out of college for my grades. Like I, I hated school.
I thought it was dumb, thought I was too cool. Would you ever consider homeschooling your kids? You know, I just had a conversation actually about this. I don't know. Would I consider it? Sure.
I would have the conversation. I would look at it. I would think, "Okay, what are the pros and cons here?"
We don't, at this stage, we've decided let's let them go to actual preschool and then start K through 12 and, like we're, we're not on a homeschool track yet.
But we have a lot of friends who are pretty adamant of, you know, keeping them out of public school systems for a number of reasons.
And I think there's a lot to be said about homeschooling in 2025 versus homeschooling in 2000.
Like- Mm-hmmLet's all, let's all agree here, you, me, and the listeners, that if you were homeschooled in 2000, like, you were probably kinda weird. [laughs] Like, you may be the exception.
If you were homeschooled in 2000 and you aren't weird, like, you're probably the exception. But now, actually, there's a lot of people who are homeschooled and are not.
Like, they're just socially cued in, they have great friends, they're not, like, awkward. They get that- Yeah... same social component that I think a lot of people go to regular public schools for. So I don't know.
I, I don't know. I don't have a really- Yeah... well-thought answer here. My wife might have a more thorough answer, but what about you? I mean, would you ever send your kids to homeschool, or keep them at home, rather?
[laughs] Go to school, and just walks upstairs. Um- [laughs] Does it in the bedroom.
[laughs] You know, I love that answer, and I totally agree with your take that if you ask us, you know, homeschooling in 2000 is way different than homeschooling in 2025, and my wife is...
It's probably similar to yours, where she has a much more thorough answer than I do. If you ask me right now, "Will you homeschool your kids?"
I'll say absolutely not, because I do have that outlook that you mentioned from 2000, like, the kids that were homeschooled, I mean, I, I bet they're not all weird, [laughs] especially the ones that listen to this podcast that were homeschooled.
Shout out. What's up? Thank you for subscribing, homeschoolers. [laughs] Weirdos. No, I'm kidding. The podcast for homeschoolers.
Um, but nowadays, dude, I mean, the more and more mass shootings that happen in school, I bet my wife, like, every single time we see one, she's like, "I've never wanted to homeschool my kids, but, like, the more I see these, the more I, I want to do it."
Um, like, there was one in Madison about a month, two months ago, um, so 15 minutes away, and she was like, like, "This is just too close to home." Will we ever do it?
I'm never gonna say never, but as of right now, same, same outlook. Like, let's just send them to school.
There's something about that, that social aspect of, I don't know, like, just meeting so many different types of people that walk the earth in different ways that you just don't learn being homeschooled.
But, like you mentioned, nowadays, it's, it's a little, it's probably a little bit different. So yeah, that's where we stand on that. Yeah. No, and I, I wanna preface this that I don't want anyone here to cancel us.
Two Dads in Tech is just about talking about the real things. Uh, in fact, the first episode, you can go back and listen to it, the original title for Two Dads in Tech... Actually, it's the second episode.
The first episode- Yeah... wasn't even a podcast yet. It was just us meeting. But it was, like, Two Dads in Tech Talking About Things People Think About But Don't Talk About.
This is one of those things that you're thinking about, but aren't talking about. Yeah.
And so I'm prefacing it because I'm about to ask Troy something that he has no idea I'm gonna put him on the hot seat for, 'cause I wanna open a can of worms right now. We did a last- Ah... episode.
We talked about some deep things. Yeah. And this is where the episode has taken us. Let's get into our sponsor real quick. I've never been an inbox zero guy. In fact, I live in constant inbox chaos.
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Troy was not prepared for this. I wasn't even prepared to ask this. But hey, school shootings is hot topic of the moment, so I'm, I'm gonna go there. Why not? Yeah, no, it's brutal. It's, it's scary.
Um, I don't know, and... 'Cause this can open up a can of worms. I don't... Like, on this podcast, I never intend or want to talk about anything political.
Like, I care for you and, like, people based on who they are as people. Like, that's just literally my outlook on life. And so I feel like any answer could almost turn political, and I don't want it to.
So, like, one thing is ban all guns, but there's problems in other countries- Right...
that when you ban all guns, then it's like what do you do with all of the guns that are out there in the hands of people that will do this? And it's like, well, there's buyback programs.
If they wanna do it, they're not gonna sell their guns back, so there's that issue. And then in my opinion, somebody that wants to get possession of a gun will get possession of a gun some way or another.
And so how do you stop it? I think it comes down to probably, like, a lot of investment into school security, or whether that's more security around schools, whether that's metal detectors.
I know that that's been a, a thing that's been tossed around. But I think it all comes down to that.
I've always tossed around the idea of, like, having some sort of background checks or, or mental disability checks when it comes to purchasing a gun, but a lot of these times it's, like, the parents that will buy a kid a gun, and then there's that scenario.
How do you fix that? My assumption, and th- maybe this could be a terrible assumption. Again, like, I hope none of this comes off the wrong way, but I think tech is so advanced.
When you see these most recent school shootings, for some reason, it always seems like, oh, by the way, there were ideas and there were pretty much, like, tremblings that this was going to happen, that this person was going to do it based on their social media posts, based on this and that.
I used to work for somebody, he was in the Israeli military, and his whole job was to reverse engineer when somebody was gonna do a mass attack.
And it all came down to, like, what was going on on social media, what they liked, what they did, all that stuff, where you can almost pinpoint exactly who would perform an action like that.
So I'm al- I'm almost wondering, like, maybe there's tech out there that can be created where it's like you can reverse engineer everybody's online interactions and be like, "Hey, this person is definitely, you know, somebody of interest.
Let's keep an eye on them." But you never know when that day is gonna happen, so I don't know. Like, that's a, a roundabout answer, and I didn't even give you an answer. But-That's like how I think about it.
Dude, it's crazy. I have no idea how to stop it. I wish I did. Yeah. Wish I did. No, I know. I don't know if you have any thoughts. Do you know how to... Do you have an idea of how to stop school shootings?
I, I wish there was one blanket statement that would just resolve it. There's not. We know there's not.
But I think what comes full circle, and I think why this is so pertinent on this podcast, is we just talked about what do you teach your kids, behavioral, you know, instruction, growing up in a, you know, a family unit if it looks like a father figure, a mother figure, a, you know, biological father, mother, whatever your family unit looks like.
I looked up some quick stats while you were talking because I knew the research was there, but I couldn't remember the actual figures.
It says, "Research consistently indicates the active involvement of fathers or father figures in a child's life is over and over again associated with behavioral or a re- a reduction in behavioral problems and in violence."
And so I think when you look at how do you solve fill in the blank, some violent offense that recurs like a mass shooting in schools, I think you're talking next generation and that generation after.
It's hard to enact societal change now. Yeah.
I think it's just the guardrails that we think through from policies to, you know, how countries, you know, pass laws, all this stuff, it's all dealing with a solution that, or a problem that has a solution which takes decades to build.
And when you think of like it says behavioral benefits, children engaged with fathers are 43% more likely to earn A's in school.
It says their, uh, reduction in aggression that shows by lesser depression and aggressive signs of behavior by age six.
You know, consequences of a lack of a father figure, increased violence, higher crime rates, abuse, neglected risks, like all this stuff, and there's like 20 sources here, you know, allforkids.org, fathers.com, tfrm.org.
You know, you can go do all this research. I think we're talking about actually how we raise children- Yeah...
in 2025 and in 2040 and in 2060 that reduces these violent mass crimes for generations in 2060 and in 2070 into 2080. It's a terrible answer because it basically is like, we're screwed.
But unfortunately, people who are already going to do something like this, it's something that had d- has developed in their psyche years ago. Yeah. I don't know what- Yeah... the solution is for them now.
I mean, that's a terrible answer.
I wish that wasn't my answer, and I think there's probably better answers than the ones that you and I both gave, but yeah, I think th- when I think of that, I do think, okay, homeschooling is starting to sound a lot better now.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
No, and that's the entire point of this podcast, like you mentioned before, even asking that question is let's just talk about things 'cause this is stuff that people think about, and I know that because I've had friends that ask questions like that.
My wife asks questions. We're sitting on the couch, "How do you think you stop these, you know, these situations from happening?" And we just, we'll chat about it on the couch, right?
And so these are things that people talk about in their daily lives, and I think that it should be talked about publicly.
And I'm curious on your stats, and I'm not questioning your stats, I'm almost curious if it's more, like if the chances increase, and not, not specifically of a school shooting, but of violent crimes and things like that, if the father remains in the picture but is a very terrible father.
I wonder if that, how, if that changes or skews that, that data at all. And I know you don't have it at your fingertips, but, um, yeah, I'm curious. I also am curious in that.
I don't have that readily available, but you know, I think there's something to say on just like rebellion against authority when someone who is present is maybe so commandeering or authoritarian in the household.
I mean, there's probably something there. I, I don't know. I mean, it'd be interesting.
I'm sure encyclopedias exist about this study, but is it better to have a father figure who is abusive or than not having a father figure at all?
Like, my very simple mind would say, "Well, n-no, I'd prefer no father figure at all than one- Yeah... that's abusive." But like what- Yeah... what does actual psych research over decades of time say? I don't know. Yeah.
Yeah. I know my personal preference 'cause I, I grew up no father in the household, and I definitely would prefer that than, than the other. So I wanted to play a game.
This is a weird pivot, but we're gonna pivot anyways. But I wanted to- Okay... play a game with you, and I thought about it today because I was... I take every two weeks, I jump on a CEO coaching call with my CEO coach.
Her name's Rachel. She's amazing.
But she's talking about like something that she's building out right now, and we were just talking through business ideas and stuff like that, and I thought it'd be really fun for us, 30 seconds or less, to pitch business ideas, and I don't know if you have any business ideas off the top of your head, and I hope that you do.
You're a smart lad. So I think that you would.
But what if we just sat here, business idea, 30 seconds or less, give us a business idea, explain it, then you can't go over 30 seconds, just like straight to the point, then we'll get on to the next one.
You wanna play it? Love it. Love it. I have one top of mind right now. All right. Well, then screw it. Start us off. Okay. So, uh, here's my 30 seconds. 30 seconds starts now. It is Airbnb for home-cooked meals.
I think people in 2025 have no idea where to meet friends and to have home-cooked meals without either cooking it- Ooh...
for themselves and making too much food or going out to a bar or a restaurant and meeting people, spending way too much money, ending up not having a great time, and then ultimately, how do you actually become friends with these people?
They're usually strangers. You meet them as strangers. You leave the restaurant as strangers. So Airbnb for home-cooked meals. Dude. You scroll the people that are having home-cooked meals. You book one.
You go eat in their home. You probably pay a fee to help with groceries. You leave as friends. Airbnb for home-cooked meals. Dude, that's actually sick. I love that idea- Right?...
'cause it's, it is so hard to make friends as adults with new people. Right. That is, that is beautiful. All right. So I'll get into my first one.
So the first one that I had in mind was essentially an event planner but all ran by AI, and then it taps into like the APIs of TripAdvisor, all those different traveling things.
So a company can go in and plan their entire year of events, just be like, "Hey, here's my budget. Here's where I wanna do it.
Here's how many people are gonna attend, et cetera," and it automatically goes and books those places, all that fun stuff, and, or it just gives you an itinerary. "Here's what we think that you should book." That's it.
So it's like, "Here, here you go. In your budget, the place, the amount of people, all the restaurants you should visit. Done." I love that.
Actually, my wife and I went to HawaiiI think two years ago now, for a friend's wedding, but we went for, like, a week before or after just as, like, you know, getaway to Hawaii, and I used ChatGPT.
This was, like, before ChatGPT was, like, widely known. It was, like- Yeah... a very, like, new thing. Very few people used it, but I was like, "Let me just, like, ask this robot what I should be doing in, in Hawaii."
I've never been. I, I don't know anything about it. It gave me some legit options, great restaurants. I ended up going to them, so it didn't do a full itinerary, but, like, the technology's there. Yeah.
That could definitely crush. Dude, my, my thought is just, like, event planners aren't cheap, and I feel like- Yeah... 85% of the event planning could be done just through, like, a lot of API integrations, you know.
Mm-hmm. Smart enough, LLM, but anywho, what's your next one? My next one, so, uh, it, it's called, uh, let's just call it a digital decluttering service.
So I don't know if you're anything like me, but if you are, you probably hate Asana. You hate to-do lists. You hate notes. I have, uh, how many notes do I have open in my app right now? Thousands?
No, literally thousands. Th- 3,042 on one folder. Mm. And I hate where I'm supposed to go to actually retrieve all this information.
And then, you know, I met with my dad recently, and he's like, "Hey, here's, you know, 100 different passwords.
Just in case something were to happen to me, I need to know, you know, you and your brother have all this informa- " I'm like, it's, like, deep stuff. It's like, oh my goodness, I have a Keeper password.
I have 1Password, and so digital decluttering. Now, here's, here's my own devil's advocate with this.
It's a high-trust, high-security, like, type of business and service, and so whoever you're giving over, like, your digital archive to, you have to be able to, like, two-factor authenticate, like, probably- Yeah...
everything 'cause you're giving them access to everything, but, like, think about how many bank accounts you have, how many note folders you have, how many email addresses you have.
Like, someone just coming in and making sense of your digital life, I would pay for that- Yeah... right now. Yeah, that would be, that'd be incredible.
That's like, I actually have to move money over from our old North Carolina bank to our Wisconsin bank today. I, I'll probably forget. Yeah. My wife will remind me tomorrow.
You did go over 30 seconds, but we're gonna let you because you also played the devil's advocate in that, in that idea, but- I did. I know. That's all right. I had an alarm, like, screaming in my face at 30 seconds.
Yeah. [laughs] And I ignored it. [laughs] Yeah. No, but what about you? Give me another business idea. What would you launch right now? Yeah. Right now, let's see.
Um, one that I've always wanted to start, but I tried to start it a long time ago. It didn't work. Vago, so vacation on the go, so imagine Instagram. Mm.
You would upload a, your vacation of Hawaii, and everything that you went to and did, it would be able to tag that hotel, that restaurant.
I would be able to book it directly through that social media app and just look at your vacation, make sure that I wanted to go to that place, that place, et cetera. Mm.
Book everything through that app, and I'm just looking at people's vacations. Like, that'd be sick. Now, I, I can tell more thought went into this one than the last one. Like, this is... I, I, I struck- I-... a nerve.
Troy's passionate about this business idea. Dude, I have the prototype on my phone from 2019. Like, I, I've always wanted to build this, but whatever. It is what it is. That's amazing. That's amazing.
My last business idea that I have top of mind is a mobile gym guy.
So I actually just found one of these guys locally, uh, a couple of months ago now, but he's, like, a former either Air Force or Marine bodybuilder, like, certified, like, instructor, fitness coach, all this stuff, and he has this trailer that is a legit, like, pop-up gym.
And so he goes to you with this gym, so you don't have to have a gym membership. You just have to have somewhere to park. It's got, like, a squat rack. It's got a pull-up bar.
It's got, like, actual dumbbells, kettlebells, uh, tons of bands. Like, this thing's, like, a full gym in this trailer- Yeah... that just, like, sets up in probably 60 seconds or less.
I was like, that, that's a scrappy business idea. If you're trying to get new clients a- and you're willing to travel a little bit, like, man, that's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. So what's your excuse now, you idiots?
Um- My freaking, my freaking excuse, I'm like- I know. What is it? You're... Th- this guy, this guy- Hit that guy up... would show up at my front door with the gym, and, and I would... He'll say, "Oh,
I'm not feeling it today." He's like, "Dude, I'm literally here in front." [laughs] I'm sick. I've got a frog in my throat. Um, [laughs] all right.
So, um, my last one is actually on the, in the same realm of the gym, and it is actually a gym where the membership starts off at, let's call it 59.99, but every day you go to the gym, it gets a dollar less that month, so you could be spending 29.99 a month versus 59.99 a month.
So you pay less to be healthier. That's my other thought. I think, I think that's a phenomenal idea. I think it should be way more money. It should start- Like 99 or 129...
like, or, like, two or 300 bucks, and every five times you work out, it reduces by, like, 50 or 75, but it's not every time you work out. It's in blocks.
So you're, like, 300 bucks a month, but if you work out five times, it goes to 275. Yeah, yeah. If you work out 10 times, it goes to 200. If you work out 30 times, it goes to, like, 100. Yeah. It just resets- Yeah...
every time. So it's, like- Dude... incentivizing really, really consistent hardcore workouts. Yeah. You would have to build a...
I love that, and you would have to build almost, like, a premier gym, like an Equinox, to make the cost make sense. But regardless, like, if you really want people to take their health serious, charge- Yep...
either 300 or, like, 79.99, right? Like, that'd be- Yeah, yeah... that'd be sick.
So I've always thought of that as some way to, like, get people to go to the gym is just make them pay less every month, but that's my other idea. Take, like, 50,000 square foot facility and start charging people. Dude.
But, like, do it like WeWork. Like, charge people this obscene amount of money, but there's just, like, nothing there. People show up. They've already paid us, but we just, like, rug pull them.
It's just like- [laughs] We already took their money. Why haven't we thought of this? Who's building this? Who's building this? Dude, that would be sick.
I actually, when I went to the gym in North Carolina, it was a very locally owned gym, the only gym in the town that I lived in. So I asked the gym owner how much equipment was, and 'cause I always had that idea too.
Like, what about a gym that decreases every time you go? It, it's just way too expensive. I don't even... Like, I'd feel so uncomfortable taking out a business loan for that much. [laughs] Yeah.
In the season of, like, building and starting up, I don't know if anyone's heard of PMF or Die. So, like, PMF equals product market fit or die.
It's this handle on X, Twitter, but they just launched this, like, new reality TV show.
It's gonna be a live stream, and it says, "We're about to find out what happens when you lock two builders in an apartment with $25,000, an internet connection, and 90 days to build a $1 million business."
It's a 24/7 live stream-That is starting in, I don't know, it may, may have already started. It's starting, like, in the next couple days, but it's l- you're 90 days straight- Yeah... live streaming. Yeah.
Where these people are, they're, they're like, "I'm going to build a million-dollar business- Yeah... in the next 90 days." So here's my question to you. How much money would you need to start a million-dollar business?
If you were dropped on an island with nothing, how much money would you need to start a million-dollar business in 90 days? And no internet, no nothing, or do I get internet? You have access.
You, you could, you could figure out how to get to the universe, but you have nothing. Like, you're not, you're not on a remote island. I shouldn't have said that.
That doesn't make any sense, 'cause you're stuck, you're screwed. [laughs] I'm like, am I- Yeah, you are, you are gonna die in 90 days. [laughs] But you are stripped of everything.
How do you, how do you, how do you make a million dollars? How much money do you need, and how do you do it? Okay. So I'm gonna be annoying again. Am I on an island or am I just, like, in a house?
No, you're in your room right now. You just- Okay. [laughs] I'm in my room right now. How do I get a million dollars? Um, I would say, I mean, I'd, I'd have to be able to do it in 90 days.
Um, is that the idea, that I have to get it done in 90 days? Yeah. The idea is you have to... They start with $25,000. I'm wondering, how much would you need? Dude. And what would you do? Um, okay.
Um, how much money would I need? I would need... Honestly, this, I hate this answer, and I'm gonna copy... Well, I don't have internet, so never mind. I'm almost gonna copy that because I think about it.
I follow a lot of these live streamers, like Kai Cenat- Yeah... and how much money that he made on his 24-hour, you know, you know, mathon, whatever he did for a whole month. Yeah.
If you stream 24/7, and it's something as chaotic and as attention-grabbing as something like that, people are gonna watch, and you're gonna make a million dollars probably off the stream. Like, you're- Mm-hmm...
you're gonna make it off the stream versus off the product that you sell. But I would say give me 25, 50K. I will go out, buy internet. I'd buy a laptop. I would find a way from that laptop to get internet.
I would then look for any sort of technical co-founder, the same way I found my other technical c- co-founders. And then I would try to build something that, um... Who, who, what would I do today?
I feel like, honestly, I feel like a lot of these contact databases, they're never perfect, but they continuously get some millions in revenue and thousands of customers like that 'cause they position themselves to be a little bit more accurate.
Maybe I'll build something like that. But I would, I would work with somebody to... I'd go out, hire some sort of CTO, give him some sort of equity deal.
And I'm gonna steal that part of, like, streaming every single bit of it because, dude, there's a lot of money in streaming. [laughs] A lot of money in streaming. But that's what I would do. I would...
And there's so many steps I would take to find that technical co-founder, all that fun stuff, but we don't have the time to get into all that. No. But I think that's what I'd do. I think...
No, I think the social aspect, I think people, people are sleeping on how much money there is to still make on the internet. I mean- Mm-hmm... when you think of, I don't know.
I mean, there's, there's, there's two sides to the coin. People are like, "Oh, they'll just, you know, do the blue collar stuff." There's tens of millions of dollars in, like- Mm-hmm...
plumber businesses and roofing and stuff. And like, that is true.
But like, if you're looking to just, like, open your laptop and make money, like, I think that's what Troy and I, I'll speak for both of us, I think that's what Troy and I are good at doing.
Like, give us a laptop and internet, like I, I have no issue making a living on the internet. Like, at no point- Yeah...
in my adult life, unless everything has changed completely beyond my understanding in the next two decades, will I feel like, "Oh, where am I supposed to get money?" It's like I, I just will get it.
Like, I will make money [laughs] on the internet- Yeah... particularly if I'm driven into a corner and have to. And it's just because there's so mu- there's so much out there. I think you just have to- Yeah...
be creative and know how to find it. I've got one last question to end us off here. Um, what are your thoughts on the green "Open to Work" banners on LinkedIn? I love this question. I love this question. I think...
I, so I had a green "Open to Work" banner once, and I memed myself into Luigi, like, like Mario and Luigi Luigi. Yep. And I, like, dressed up as Luigi. I had this thick Luigi mustache.
I'm, like, kinda tall and skinny, kinda like Luigi, and I memed myself with the green work something banners years ago.
Because it gets so much traction and so much emotion-stirring on LinkedIn, I'm like, this is the easiest way for me to get impressions from the people that I'm trying to get in front of.
Recruiters, tech recruiters, all this stuff. So I think there's two answers I have.
If you are a creator, and you're gonna lean deep into your own personality, the green work, you know, looking, "Open to Work" banner is actually going to help you get impressions and, and meaningful impressions if you know how to use it right.
I can't think of his name right now, but there's, like, a satire meme account on LinkedIn, and it's this guy that's just... [sighs] Oh, I wish I could think of his name right now. Hilarious.
Like, everything he says is hilarious. None of it's true, but he has- Oh, like Ch- like Ben Chan or something like... He- So- something like that... he's, he's out of the- It's not that name. Yes.
He's out of the UK, though. And every single thing that he says, he, he recently said something this morning about drinking too much water. Like, don't drink water. Yes. I know what you're talking about.
He was like, "Everyone says drink water. I read the book Outliers, and it says don't do what everybody else does, so I don't drink water." I know exactly who you're talking about. Um- I know, I know.
I wish I could think of his name. But he has an "Open to Work" banner, and every time I see his post, it just screams at me, like this guy is such a doofus. But he uses the open work 'cause it's so memeable.
But here's the thing, I actually just had a conversation with someone just the other day asking, like, some advice on, like, how to break into tech, how to get a new job, you know, how to use LinkedIn.
I've actually written about this. I think one of the last episodes I talked about that. There's a whole blog I wrote about how to break into tech sales for the first time. You can find that on danielburke.beehiiv.com.
But I think the, the "Open to Work" banner can come off as, like, why is this person open to work?
Even if you're open to work, and even if you're unemployed, even if your full-time job right now is looking for a job, the banner can be ki- to me, and I'm not a recruiter, so, like, take this with a grain of salt, but, like, it...
I don't ask why is this person open to work when they don't have a banner. But when they do, the first thing that crosses my mind is, like, why are they open to work? You know, what, what, what happened?
Even if nothing happened.
So I think there's just, like, another layer there that it's like, I personally, if I was looking for a job, even if I was unemployed right now, I would probably not use the banner.Because it's just, it just kinda categorizes you.
Again, may not be anything you've done, but, like, it, in my opinion, it puts you in a bucket with people who are all open for work, and it, it just, I would prefer not to be in that bucket at this point on LinkedIn.
What about you, though? What do you think about the green Open to Work banner on LinkedIn? I have been trying to look for this person. Gosh, um- So have I. So have I. I'm looking for him right now- Ah, so-...
while you and Jeremy look for him. Yeah, so I have these... I, I, I hate saying I have the same exact outlook. So I think that if you bucket yourself...
It, it's almost like sending an application blindly to thousands of jobs, but not really doing anything more than that. It, it's almost, you know, the same thing. Again, I don't think it's a reflection on the person.
I don't think they're bad people. I don't think they're desperate. I don't think they're horrible workers. But I do think that, like you mentioned... Did you find it? Sorry. [laughs] I...
Oh, so let me, let me finish it and tell me. So I do think that like you mentioned, [laughs] uh, how do I end this serious now?
But I, I do think that like you mentioned, um, I think it does bucket you into people questioning. If somebody's like, like you... There we go.
Like you mentioned, I'm never gonna question if you're open to work if you don't have it, but as soon as you see that banner, it's like, "Oh, well, why is that?" But anywho, is it... What's his name?
Is it, like- Ken, Ken Chung. Ken Chung, yes, dude. He's- Can I... So, okay. We're gonna-... therapist... we're gonna try something new right now, and I'm gonna share my screen because this is so funny. All right. Mm-hmm.
Can you see this? Yes. Ken Chung, I want to connect with you emotionally. [laughs] Dude- Open to work. Like, no idea if this is real. Like, I have no- So he's a real person. I actually- Are you sure?...
just watched a podcast of him, uh, last week. That's so funny. That's why I was like, I knew it was, like, Ben sum-whatever. Yeah, dude. Look at this. He's real. I kinda wanna do this one. Oh, here it is.
Hold on, hold on. Remember to drink water. Have you noticed everyone saying this? Sheep. If Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers taught me one thing, it's that if everyone's doing one thing, do another.
Successful CEOs don't follow the curve, they innovate. That's why I'm refusing to drink water while at work. Like, it's over and over again. A lot of people see CEOs as evil, but they don't see the whole picture.
Take my friend. They accuse him of mistreating and exploiting his workers. Uh, I mean, it goes on and on and on. Hilarious. What is Troy saying? Hey, click on that. This is him. [laughs] He's on a podcast.
Dickin is very much an actor. Oh my God. Very much a paid- That's so loud. Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off. [laughs] I never... [laughs] Oh. Anyways, I always thought it was a meme account.
I'm gonna share my screen now. I thought it was a meme account. I thought it was fake. Until right now, I thought it was a meme account. That's, that's so- Oh, man... that's so funny. Oh, goodness.
Well, this was a, this was a really fun episode. Um, subscribe, everybody. Um, Two Dads in Tech- Yeah... on all channels. Yeah. Which- All channels... we were talking about it this morning.
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