3 businesses we think are about to blow up
Episode of My First Million · October 5, 2026 · 49 min
Sam Parr and Shaan Puri pitch business ideas around oxytocin for relationships, loneliness-driven membership organizations, and faith-based media like Angel Studios.
Summary
Sam Parr and Shaan Puri returned to the show's idea-brainstorming format. Parr opened with a clip of Palmer Luckey saying that, starting over, he would fight divorce with oxytocin dosing for marriage counseling. Parr praised the framing, described oxytocin's role in bonding, and cited Reddit communities where people with autism and PTSD journal their use of it, while both hosts stressed that the research is thin. Puri described prairie vole and small human studies, argued that feelings are chemical brain states, and compared oxytocin's possible trajectory to how GLP-1 drugs, peptides and psychedelics moved from fringe to mainstream.
Parr's second idea used the Knights of Columbus as a model: a fraternal community for Catholic men that monetizes through life insurance and, he said, is growing fastest among men aged 30 to 40. He cited Good Sam, the USCCA and AARP as similar affinity groups that sell financial products to members, and argued that the loneliness epidemic makes such businesses timely. Puri compared the model to health care sharing programs.
Puri then discussed Angel Studios, which he had recently interviewed, describing its values-based content, member voting on films, and growth from a film-filtering service. The conversation moved to A24, which Puri explained through his "reaction to the action" theory, and to film economics. Using figures from his interview, Puri argued that even a hit film returns only about two and a half times its cost. Parr compared this to hit-driven publishing, citing Mark Manson. The episode closed with banter about merchandise sent by Grindr.
Chapters
- 0:00
Back to business ideas
The hosts recall earlier calls on biohacking trends such as GLP-1s, TRT, sperm freezing and IVF.
- 1:55
Palmer Luckey's oxytocin pitch
A clip of Palmer Luckey proposing oxytocin dosing for marriage counseling leads the hosts to praise his framing.
- 5:38
What oxytocin is
Parr explains oxytocin's role in bonding and describes Reddit users with autism and PTSD journaling their use of it.
- 10:55
Studies and the chemistry of feelings
Puri describes prairie vole and small human studies and argues that feelings are chemical brain states that could be modulated.
- 17:04
From fringe to mainstream
Puri compares oxytocin to peptides and psychedelics that gained acceptance, and Parr predicts a wave of marketing within a year.
- 20:47
Knights of Columbus and loneliness businesses
Parr describes the Catholic fraternal organization's life insurance model and its growth among younger men.
- 23:22
Affinity groups that sell financial products
Parr cites Good Sam, the USCCA and AARP, and the hosts compare the model to health care sharing programs.
- 27:57
Angel Studios
Puri describes Angel Studios' values-based content, its origins as a film filter, and its member voting system.
- 33:55
A24 and the reaction to the action
Puri explains A24's rise as a reaction to risk-averse, four-quadrant Hollywood filmmaking, along with its guerrilla marketing.
- 40:02
The brutal economics of hit movies
The hosts break down production versus marketing costs and the modest returns even on hit films.
- 47:11
Grindr merch outro
Parr jokes about a vest Grindr sent after their earlier episode on the company.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Palmer Luckey
Palmer Luckey said that, starting over, he would try to end divorce through oxytocin doping for marriage counseling.
“I would try to end the tragedy of divorce with... oxytocin doping for marriage counseling”
- Palmer Luckey
Palmer Luckey argued that oxytocin's unregulated status makes it an easier space for a business.
“Also, totally unregulated, which is great. Unregulated spaces are a lot easier”
- Sam Parr
Parr said he was not vouching for oxytocin itself, only praising the packaging of Luckey's idea.
“So I'm not saying that oxytocin is necessarily great. What I'm saying is the packaging of this is beautiful”
- Sam Parr
Parr said fringe biohacking subreddits are often wrong but sometimes contain real signal, which is how he learned about GLP-1s.
“what I've noticed is oftentimes these people are wrong. They'll say things that are kind of ridiculous, but occasionally there comes conversations where you're like, okay, there's a signal here”
- Shaan Puri
Puri argued that a feeling is a chemical brain state with a conscious readout, so safely altering those states is a compelling opportunity.
“Whereas in truth, basically a feeling is a chemical brain state that you're in”
- Shaan Puri
Puri described oxytocin as a highlighter that amplifies existing social feelings rather than a love potion.
“So it's not a love potion. It's not like you take something and you immediately fall in love with the first person you see”
- Sam Parr
Parr predicted that within about a year people would see many Meta ads claiming oxytocin products can cure divorce.
“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”
- Shaan Puri
Puri noted that social acceptance of practices like peptides and psychedelics shifts over time, and suggested oxytocin could follow.
“The sort of social acceptance shifts over time for these things”
- Sam Parr
Parr said the Knights of Columbus makes its money by selling life insurance to its members.
“the way that they make money is they sell life insurance to their members. and they crush it”
- Sam Parr
Parr said young men aged 30 to 40 have become the Knights of Columbus's fastest-growing segment.
“young men, like between 30 and 40, are joining and it's their fastest growing segment”
- Sam Parr
Parr argued there is an opportunity to build community organizations that address loneliness and monetize through financial products.
“there's a lot of interesting opportunities to jump on this whole loneliness thing and monetize it via financial products”
- Shaan Puri
Puri said Angel Studios takes on a film only if at least 70% of members voting on it approve.
“if less than 70% green light it, The deal's dead no matter what”
Linked moment · 35:03Skip to 35:03 using a listen link in the info box.
Shaan PuriPuri argued that a good way to find a business idea is to find the reaction to a dominant trend, as Snapchat did to Facebook and A24 did to risk-averse Hollywood.
“A great way to think of a business idea is to find the reaction to the action”
- Shaan Puri
Puri said that the film and video game industries spend more on marketing than on making their products.
“they spend more money on marketing than they do on actually making the product”
- Shaan Puri
Puri said he was surprised that even a studio's biggest hit returns only about two and a half times its cost, unlike startup investing.
“I would have just expected to be much more than like a two and a half X return”
- Shaan Puri
Puri said film investment tax write-offs rarely justify the investment because investors usually lose their principal.
“Like if you have a million dollars and maybe you get a 300K write-off, but you might lose your million dollars”
People
In the conversation
- Sam ParrEntrepreneur, founder of The Hustle and Hampton, co-host of My First Million
- Shaan PuriEntrepreneur and investor, co-host of My First Million, former Twitch executive
- Palmer LuckeyFounder of Anduril Industries, referenced regarding the EagleEye helmet
Discussed
- Chris WilliamsonBritish podcaster and host of Modern Wisdom
- Adam NeumannIsraeli-American entrepreneur, co-founder and former CEO of WeWork, founder of the residential real estate company Flow
- Chris HansenAmerican journalist known for To Catch a Predator
- Scott BelskyTech executive now working at A24
- Kevin JamesActor whose film was promoted with guerrilla marketing
- Mark MansonAuthor of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck and a former guest
- Rick MariniFormer Grindr executive and a past guest
Topics
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From the publisher
Database of 140+ business ideas: https://clickhubspot.com/slkm Episode 868: Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) and Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) talk about 3 business ideas. — Show Notes: (3:08) Idea: Oxytocin dosing (20:17) Idea: Loneliness solutions (27:30) Idea: Faith-based businesses (27:33) Angel Studios (34:36) What’s the reaction to the action? (42:03) The brutal business of making hit movies — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: • Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com • Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents. • Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/ Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., Members FDIC • I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 24, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.