Ideas That Sound Illegal (But Print Money Anyway)
Executive Summary
My First Million episode in which Sam Parr and Shaan Puri brainstorm with repeat guest Sheel Mohnot, fintech investor and founder of Thistle, through business ideas that sound strange but print money. They cover a drone service that does roofing quotes so contractors skip the worst part of their funnel, menu-style bathroom remodeling pioneered by founders from Zynga and Casper, the confusing peptide market and the case for a trusted information source before the rules clarify, a broader surrogacy matching agency - Sheel shares his own surrogacy journey and why today's agencies can only show the carriers they have, like a realtor showing only their own listings - and EMS workout studios for the wellness rabbit hole. They also debate the 50-year mortgage, with Sheel arguing it inflates prices and that supply, not demand tricks, fixes affordability. No separate sponsor read appears in this episode. PARTIAL COVERAGE: this summary highlights the brainstorm's main ideas; side stories and tangents are not covered. Everything here is the hosts' and guest's opinion, not business, financial or medical advice.
Key Takeaways
Drones do the quotes
A founder flies drones to quote roofs, freeing roofers from the unpaid site visit they hate most.
Adjacent niches
The same quoting play extends to pools, decks, fences and outdoor kitchens.
Bathrooms off a menu
Ex-Zynga and Casper founders sold fixed-menu remodels through Facebook ads, a channel contractors ignored.
Peptides need trust
Sheel sees an opening for the most trusted information source in a confusing, sketchy market - education, not product.
Surrogacy, matched better
He compares today's agencies to a realtor showing only their own listings and wants e-harmony-style matching.
Recruiting is the bottleneck
With only a few thousand surrogate births a year, he says growing carrier supply is the real business.
The 50-year mortgage
Sheel argues longer loans mainly push prices up, pointing to Japan's bubble, and favors building more supply.
The Conversation Breakdown
Drones do the quotes
⏱ Untimed topicA founder flies drones to quote roofs, freeing roofers from the unpaid site visit they hate most.
Adjacent niches
⏱ Untimed topicThe same quoting play extends to pools, decks, fences and outdoor kitchens.
Bathrooms off a menu
⏱ Untimed topicEx-Zynga and Casper founders sold fixed-menu remodels through Facebook ads, a channel contractors ignored.
Peptides need trust
⏱ Untimed topicSheel sees an opening for the most trusted information source in a confusing, sketchy market - education, not product.
Surrogacy, matched better
⏱ Untimed topicHe compares today's agencies to a realtor showing only their own listings and wants e-harmony-style matching.
Recruiting is the bottleneck
⏱ Untimed topicWith only a few thousand surrogate births a year, he says growing carrier supply is the real business.
The 50-year mortgage
⏱ Untimed topicSheel argues longer loans mainly push prices up, pointing to Japan's bubble, and favors building more supply.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
Funnel surgery - the drone-quote pattern
Find the step sellers hate and do not get paid for, then sell that step back to them.
Trust-before-market - the peptide play
When a market is murky, own the information layer until the rules settle.
Two-sided scarcity - his matching lens
A matching business fails on the scarce side; recruit supply first.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓List the unpaid step in your own sales process and what automating it would be worth.
- ✓Check whether your market has a trusted information source; if not, note the gap.
- ✓Map which side of your marketplace is actually scarce.
- ✓Find one adjacent niche your current service could enter unchanged.
Notable Quotes
“Imagine if you were buying a home and your real estate agent could only show you homes that they had listed”
“the solution is creating more supply”
“way faster quote which increases your odds of getting the job”
The One Thing to Remember
Sheel Mohnot's idea filter: the weird-sounding opportunities hide in broken funnels - roofing quotes, bathroom remodels, surrogacy matching - where trust and supply are the real product.