3 low competition businesses with massive demand in America
Executive Summary
My First Million episode 854, where hosts Sam Parr and Shaan Puri hear three founders pitch their juiciest number and give live advice. The video description lists Rishi Talati of Hot Plate, Ajay Mehta of Tolan and Jonathan Baer of Overlap. This note covers mainly the Hot Plate segment: a platform that lets independent food sellers take pre-orders from their Instagram audience, which the founder says has powered over 100 million dollars of sales, plus the hosts' advice in a later section about selling a feeling rather than a product. Sponsor: the description links HubSpot and promotes Hampton, Somewhere and Mercury. PARTIAL COVERAGE: this note is based on the opening Hot Plate pitch, one middle section of advice and the description, and does not cover the Tolan or Overlap segments or the full 58 minute episode. All business figures are the speakers' own claims and are not independently checked.
Key Takeaways
The format
The hosts say the show lets founders pitch their juiciest business number and get advice live.
What Hot Plate is
Rishi says it lets anyone sell food online, mainly to an existing Instagram audience, with tools for pre-orders.
Why not Shopify
He says sellers use spreadsheets, Venmo and DMs, and that general platforms are not built for pre-order.
Not just tiny pop-ups
He says many customers are six or seven figure businesses selling food in timed drops.
The numbers he gives
He says the platform has powered over 100 million dollars of sales, mostly in the last two years, with hundreds of thousands in monthly revenue.
Funding and profit
He says the company raised a little over 4 million dollars and has been profitable for almost a year.
Selling a feeling
One host says to study why people suddenly buy into a category, because a product is a bridge between two emotional states.
The Conversation Breakdown
The format
⏱ Untimed topicThe hosts say the show lets founders pitch their juiciest business number and get advice live.
What Hot Plate is
⏱ Untimed topicRishi says it lets anyone sell food online, mainly to an existing Instagram audience, with tools for pre-orders.
Why not Shopify
⏱ Untimed topicHe says sellers use spreadsheets, Venmo and DMs, and that general platforms are not built for pre-order.
Not just tiny pop-ups
⏱ Untimed topicHe says many customers are six or seven figure businesses selling food in timed drops.
The numbers he gives
⏱ Untimed topicHe says the platform has powered over 100 million dollars of sales, mostly in the last two years, with hundreds of thousands in monthly revenue.
Funding and profit
⏱ Untimed topicHe says the company raised a little over 4 million dollars and has been profitable for almost a year.
Selling a feeling
⏱ Untimed topicOne host says to study why people suddenly buy into a category, because a product is a bridge between two emotional states.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
Merchant of a feeling - a host's lens
Name the feeling the customer starts with and the one they end with, then package the bridge.
Drops and waitlists - Hot Plate pattern
Sell limited batches to an existing audience to create demand without a store.
Study the trend - a host's advice
Ask why people are suddenly into a category before building for it.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓Write the starting and ending feeling for your product in one line each.
- ✓List the tools a small seller uses today and note where orders get messy.
- ✓Test a limited drop with an existing audience before building a full store.
- ✓Treat the sales and funding figures as the speakers' claims and verify them before repeating them.
Notable Quotes
“we're actually profitable”
“you're really a merchant of a feeling when you sell a product”
“Airbnb for food”
The One Thing to Remember
In the Hot Plate pitch the founder says pre-order storefronts for Instagram food sellers have grown fast and profitably, and the hosts say products sell a feeling.