Test Your Business Acumen

Three Innovative Business Ideas: Play Street, 260 Sample Sale, and HostShare

• Play Street is a franchise of indoor play spaces for children, where parents pay $15 for an hour and a half of supervised playtime.

• The business is weatherproof and can be hosted in blank commercial spaces, making it a profitable and scalable franchise.

• Play Street locations have seven sessions a day, with 25 children per session, and can host birthday parties for additional revenue.

• According to rumors, Play Street locations can make around $50k per month, with $25k-30k in profit.

• 260 Sample Sale is a business that hosts pop-up shops for fashion and e-commerce brands to sell their photo samples.

• Brands can commission 260 Sample Sale to sell their samples at a markdown price, which helps them get rid of excess inventory.

• 260 Sample Sale is currently based in LA, Miami, and New York, but the concept can be replicated in other locations and verticals.

• HostShare is a platform that allows short-term rental hosts to trade unused nights with other hosts for free stays.

• HostShare connects hosts with other hosts to maximize occupancy rates and profit.

• HostShare is a new and innovative concept that can benefit the sharing economy and create a network of hosts.

• The sharing economy is a growing trend that allows individuals to share resources and maximize profits.

• These innovative business ideas show how entrepreneurs can identify problems and create solutions that benefit both consumers and businesses.

• By thinking creatively and utilizing existing resources, entrepreneurs can create profitable and scalable businesses in various industries.Discussion on Host Sharing, Vice's Bankruptcy, and the History of Vice

• Host sharing allows property owners to exchange shared nights in their properties for free travel in other properties within the network.

• The value of shared nights is calculated based on the property's average nightly rate, with higher-value properties sharing fewer nights than lower-value properties.

• Kindred Live is an example of this service, where property owners can earn credits for allowing others to stay in their homes and use those credits to stay in other properties.

• The host sharing business model is challenging to make profitable, with some companies relying on membership fees or subsidies to stay afloat.

• Vice was originally a punk rock magazine founded in Montreal by three Canadian guys, including Gavin McKinnis, who later started the Proud Boys.

• Vice gained popularity in the late 90s and early 2000s for its edgy content, including articles on drugs, sex, and rock and roll.

• The company moved to New York in 1999 and launched its website, which became a popular platform for branded content and reaching millennials.

• Vice expanded its business to include television shows, documentaries, and a news division, but struggled with financial losses and layoffs in recent years.

• Vice is now reportedly on the brink of bankruptcy and may be acquired by a SPAC.

• The definition of "cool" has changed over time, with the punk rock and rebellious image of Vice becoming less relevant to younger generations.

• Host sharing and other similar businesses that allow for sharing of resources and experiences are becoming more popular among those who split their time between multiple locations.

• Some businesses, such as Super Money Market, have found success by offering access to luxury homes and resorts for a membership fee.The Rise and Fall of Vice: Lessons from the Wild Story of Shane Smith

• Vice was a media company that targeted millennials before Facebook and performance advertising became popular.

• They raised money from big names like Rupert Murdoch and Viacom, eventually reaching a $6 billion valuation.

• The founder and CEO, Shane Smith, was known for his wild antics, such as traveling to Liberia during a civil war and organizing a basketball game in North Korea.

• Vice gained fame through free documentaries posted on their website and later on YouTube, with Intel logos as their main source of revenue.

• Smith's personality was a major part of Vice's success, with him being a showman and walking around shirtless, saying crazy stuff to his employees.

• Vice's business model included partnering with clickbait websites and running an agency called Virtue, which made content for Snapchat, Facebook, and HBO.

• The company failed to nail one stream of revenue and failed to become the "mini Disney" that Smith envisioned.

• News is a hard business to stay relevant in, and Vice suffered from becoming less cool as their audience grew older.

• It's hard to let go of a successful persona, and Smith's wild behavior became harder to maintain as he aged.

• Vice's move to New York City made it harder to arbitrage talent due to the high cost of living.

• Going woke may have contributed to Vice's downfall, but there is still money to be made in any niche.

• Showmanship was a major part of Vice's success, and Smith's personality captured people's attention.Discussion on Shane Smith and Emerson Sparks, and a Business Pitch

• Shane Smith is a captivating leader with amazing one-liners and showmanship.

• Smith impressed Rupert Murdoch by telling him that he had what Murdoch didn't have - millennials.

• Emerson Sparks is the founder of OMG Facts and Dose Media, and a genius in creating viral content.

• Sparks built a four-part system to engineer virality in every piece of content, from finding the best stuff to packaging it quickly and testing different headlines and images.

• His traffic, however, was not that valuable and was dependent on social networks, especially Facebook.

• Sparks' new venture is Non-Linear, a company that funds non-linear entrepreneurs working on AI to make it safe and incubates x-risk non-profits.

• Non-linear funds people working on exponential technologies and provides them with ideas, funding, and mentorship.

• Sparks' new mission is to save the planet, and his website is a .org domain called Noble Mission.

• Justin Mayers' quote says that after making your first few million dollars, you should work on a noble mission.

• True Med is a payment integration that enables qualified customers to use pre-tax HSA and FSA funds to purchase health-promoting products and services.

• True Med aims to make it easier to acquire healthy food, supplements, exercise equipment, and other health and wellness products.

• True Med is a 10 out of 10 opportunity and a great idea to solve the obesity epidemic in America.