Digital Social Hour: Darren Marble – This Show Lets You Invest While You Watch (DSH #1552)

Date: October 3, 2025
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Darren Marble (Co-creator of "Going Public")

Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, Sean Kelly sits down with Darren Marble, entrepreneur and co-creator of the interactive investment reality show "Going Public." The discussion explores the future of interactive media, how everyday people can invest in startups, the making and distribution of "Going Public," and the challenges and realities of entrepreneurship. Darren shares behind-the-scenes stories, investment philosophies, and candid observations about building both shows and companies in the digital era.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reinventing Investment Media

• Media Fatigue:

  • Darren points out that traditional financial shows like CNBC’s “Mad Money” are outdated and don’t resonate with younger audiences anymore.
    • “People aren’t watching CNBC anymore... those shows are boring. Nobody wants to see Jim Cramer in the studio pitching stocks when he’s not even good at it.” – Darren (00:00, 08:59)

• The Future is Interactive:

  • The next wave of investment content is interactive and accessible to everyone, not just the elite.
    • “The future is equal access to exciting investment opportunities, not just for the rich and the wealthy and the connected, but for everyday Americans.” – Darren (00:18)

2. The Show: Going Public

• Format & Inspiration:

  • Inspired by a pitch from Todd Goldberg (“Shark Tank meets Apprentice”), "Going Public" allows viewers to invest in featured startups in real time, after learning about founders under pressure.
    • “The viewers can invest in featured companies while they watch...We take the featured founders, out of their comfort zone to show the viewers who these people are made of.” – Darren (01:53)
  • A major shift from passive viewing (e.g., American Idol’s “text to vote” to “click to invest”).
    • “Whereas American Idol pioneered text to vote, we’re bringing click to invest to market, where you, the viewer, can own a small piece of a startup...” – Darren (02:51)

• Regulatory Shifts:

  • Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF), part of the 2012 JOBS Act, now allows anyone over 18 to invest in startups, not just accredited investors.
    • “...it’s now legal for those companies to market their investments...companies in the show...raise capital from thousands of hundred-dollar investors versus one or two half-million-dollar investors.” – Darren (05:24)

3. Distribution & Traction

• X (formerly Twitter) Partnership:
  • "Going Public" is now an original series on X, alongside shows from Khloe Kardashian, Anthony Pompliano, and others.
    • “We signed a distribution deal with X...this is original content being licensed by X Interactive.” – Darren (06:50)
  • Impressive reach with 60 million views in just three episodes:
    • “Within three weeks, they’ve driven 60 million views across just three episodes. That’s crazy. It’s insane.” – Darren (08:33)
  • Comparison to traditional TV:
    • “Jim Cramer’s Mad Money on a good day...gets 130,000 views.” – Darren (08:51)

4. The Show’s Structure and Main Participants

• Show Dynamics:

  • Season 3 features three companies; viewers can only invest during the live-streamed finale after spending weeks learning about the businesses.
    • “Now we’re making them wait until the finale…you’ve watched the episodes, you’ve subscribed, you’ve joined the community, you’ve learned about the businesses...” – Darren (10:57)

• Notable Participants:

  • Major poker and business personalities among investors and cast: Phil Hellmuth, Ernie Mooney, Ninja (gamer), and Joel Winand (Nutcase).
    • “Phil Hellmuth, 18 time World Series of Poker champ... our most recent investor and advisor.” – Darren (00:52)
    • “We took Ninja the Fortnite gamer, and his co-founder, Joel...to a gun range.” – Darren (04:34)

5. Making Investing Entertaining & Accessible

• Authentic Storytelling:

  • The show emphasizes putting founders in real challenges to reveal their character beyond the boardroom.
    • “We really want to show the founder...Emperor-has-no-clothes moment. Who are these people under pressure?” – Darren (04:09)
  • Creative, entertaining segments, e.g., Adrenaline Mountain gun range, polygraph tests, private jet scenes.

• Democratizing Investment:

  • Everyday Americans can now participate with small investments, not just big checks.
    • “You can invest in meme coins without asking permission. You should be able to buy shares of startups ...just as easily.” – Darren (03:57)

6. Marketing, Product Quality, & Team Dynamics

• Importance of Marketing & Distribution:

  • “Marketing and distribution is maybe more important in a lot of ways than the product.” – Darren (18:16)
  • References to DTC drink brands (Liquid Death, Prime) and viral marketing.
  • Cautions that a great product without marketing/distribution won’t succeed, but also references Mr. Beast Burger’s struggle as an example of failed execution on product quality (19:24).

• Team Building:

  • Founders must complement their skills by building diverse teams:
    • “You can only be good at, like, one or two things...you have to hire the right [people] to complement the skills that you have...” – Darren (19:36)

7. The Long Game in Entrepreneurship

• Playing the Long Game:

  • Building a successful company or show can take ten or more years; instant success and exits are rare.
    • “Most founders don’t realize how long it takes to build a real company...People overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can accomplish over five to ten years or a decade.” – Darren (21:07)
    • “If you’re going to have an exit...you’ve got to commit years and years of your life to sacrifice...you’ve got to play the long game.” – Darren (21:07)

• Persistence & Sacrifice:

  • Success means enduring rejection, fear, and financial struggle, possibly with no guarantee of payoff.
    • “It’s brutal. It’s like constant rejection, fear, anxiety. You run out of money. Can you pay your team? Can you pay yourself?...You feel incompetent half the time.” – Darren (25:03)
    • “The longer you play the game, the higher your odds of success.” – Darren (25:53)

• Odds of Success:

  • Both agree most entrepreneurs won’t make it, and the journey is much harder than outsiders realize.
    • “You’re working double the hours and you’re on average making less than a nine-to-fiver.” – Sean (25:49)
    • “There’s actually no guarantee that says if you do this for five or ten years, there’s like a pot of gold at the end. That’s not how it works.” – Darren (25:33)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Passive viewing is over. The future of media is interactive.”
  — Darren Marble (02:51)
• “My goal is to be doing this when I’m in my 80s... the greatest reward would be to continue doing what I’m doing for decades.”
  — Darren Marble (22:38)
• “You, the people that invest and play that long game, you get rewarded, but you often have to go through a great deal of pain and suffering to get there.”
  — Darren Marble (24:36)
• “The longer you play the game, the higher your odds of success.”
  — Darren Marble (25:53)
• “I tell most people that ask me about entrepreneurship not to do it...It’s a hard thing to pull off and make a sizable living off of.”
  — Sean Kelly (25:17)
• “It takes many, many years. And there’s no guarantees.”
  — Darren Marble (25:28)
• “If you have a great product and you don’t have the right marketing, then no one’s gonna find out about your product. So marketing and distribution...are equally, if not more important than the product itself.”
  — Darren Marble (18:16)

Important Timestamps

• Opening critique of legacy financial media, interactive investment premise: 00:00–02:46
• Show format, inspiration, and show mechanics: 01:53–05:24
• Regulatory revolution and democratizing investment: 05:24–06:42
• Distribution deal with X, comparison to traditional finance TV: 06:42–08:51
• Show structure: waiting to invest, event-like finale: 10:57–12:23
• Highlight of notable personalities (Phil Hellmuth, Ninja, Aoki): 00:52, 20:25
• Authenticity, founder challenges (Adrenaline Mountain, polygraph): 04:34–07:55, 16:02
• Discussion on marketing, quality, Mr. Beast Burger analogy: 18:11–19:33
• Team building and value of diverse cofounders: 19:36–20:25
• Entrepreneurship is a long, hard game (sacrifice, odds): 21:07–25:57
• Closing shoutouts and finale info: 26:13–26:24

Final Thoughts

This episode provides a candid and inspiring look at both the evolution of business entertainment and the taxing journey entrepreneurs face today. Darren Marble’s vision is to democratize investment and drive engagement through authentic storytelling and interactive media. Both he and Sean Kelly emphasize that real success requires years of relentless effort, immense risk, and grit—a message that rings true for both investors and entrepreneurs.

Key dates:

• "Going Public" Season 3 live-streamed finale: Friday, June 13 on X