Podcast
Moneywise
Hosted by Hampton · EN
This is Moneywise, a podcast where host Daniel Berk is joined by high-net-worth guests to explore exclusive insights into personal finance and lifestyle tailored for other high-net-worth people, or those on their way. They'll get radically transparent about the numbers, revealing things like their burn rates, portfolios, and spending habits. This podcast was made for the Hampton community, a private, highly-vetted, peer membership community for founders and CEOs of fast-growing, tech-enabled startups. Check it out at https://joinhampton.com/.
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Episodes
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He Sold For $8M and Regrets It. Now He’s Making More.
Yesterday00:57:04Summary readyPlease answer our short Moneywise listener survey! (Very, very short): joinhampton.com/moneywisefeedbackJOIN HAMPTON:These episodes often come directly out of conversations happening inside Hampton, a private community for founders and CEOs with $3M+ in revenue or $10M+ exits. Members range from $5M net worth to billions. They wrestle with these same questions off the record. Apply at http://joinhampton.com/mw.HOW FOUNDERS ARE BUILDING WEALTH:How much do founders actually make, spend, invest, work, and keep in net worth? Hampton surveyed founders directly and put the answers into one report. Download it for free here: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wrEPISODE DETAILS:Thibault — known online as Tibo — is a French indie hacker who spent six years failing at startups before building Tweet Hunter during Covid lockdown and selling it for $10 million. Except the real number was more complicated than that: $2 million up front, $8 million in earn-out, and 18 months of some of the most stressful building of his life to get there. He walked away with just under $3 million post taxes — and says he regrets the sale entirely.Today, Tibo is doing over $1 million a month in revenue across a portfolio of five software products he's built since that exit. His personal spend is negligible. He has no financial advisor, keeps roughly 50% of his net worth in cash, and puts almost everything investable into index funds.This episode gets into the full deal structure, the psychological cost of the earn-out period, what he calls the "frozen state" that hits founders after a big exit, and why he says he will never sell a company again.Timestamps:02:12 — Full guest intro: who Thibault is, the Tweet Hunter story, deal structure breakdown, and episode roadmap08:08 — The $10M deal unpacked: earn-out structure, revenue milestones, and what he actually collected10:17 — The co-founder split, the 25% influencer equity deal, and whether he'd do it again14:09 — How the influencer partnership worked and why they replicated it on Tapio26:17 — "Getting a ton of money up front feels unhealthy" — Thibault on why lump-sum exits are psychologically dangerous28:14 — The "frozen state": why founders can't ship after a big exit30:42 — The earn-out burnout period: stress, loss aversion, and the 18 hardest months of his life34:37 — "It was a bad decision financially" — Thibault's verdict on the sale38:15 — Nomadic life, the Vietnam hacker residency, and how wealth changes how he travels42:42 — No financial advisor, no trust in wealth managers — why everything goes into S&P 50045:29 — Personal spend breakdown: ~$8K/month — rent, food, tech gadgets, and that's basically it48:27 — What happens to the ~$90K/month delta: cash, S&P 500, and acquiring more products49:45 — The portfolio strategy: five products, two unannounced, and the 2026 scaling challenge51:12 — Building a distribution bridge between all his products with an AI agent53:06 — Raising kids with money: unconditional safety as the foundation for risk-taking
SummaryI Sold for $25M. The Buyer Went Bankrupt. I Bought It Back for $2M.
1w ago00:52:44Summary readyPlease answer our short Moneywise listener survey! (Very, very short): https://forms.gle/EaS5NUt4Akb7wddt9JOIN HAMPTON:This episode came directly out of conversations happening inside Hampton, a private community for founders and CEOs with $3M+ in revenue or $10M+ exits. Members range from $5M net worth to billions. They wrestle with these same questions off the record. Apply at http://joinhampton.com/mw.CHAPTER MARKERS00:00 — Intro: Two trash bags and $3,000 in LA 02:15 — Austin's background: 10 years broke, restaurants, and the fitness world 07:52 — Gold's Gym, 1,000 employees, and the "building someone else's empire" moment 10:15 — The 203K loan, LA real estate at the bottom, and how it funded everything 12:41 — Buying one Bitcoin in 2013 at $700 and forgetting about it 15:37 — The Kickstarter: $445K raised, $150K in the hole, and 62 countries of shipping chaos 22:50 — Scaling to $35M and deciding to sell 25:23 — The $25M sale: deal structure, taxes, and what he actually walked away with 31:43 — Thrasio's collapse and buying the company back for $2M 37:48 — First thing he did with the money: retiring his parents and handing them a blank check 40:23 — Money, happiness, and why optionality is the real product 43:28 — Estate planning: why his son gets nothing until age 35 49:02 — Would you take $1 billion to walk away from everything?He sold his company for $25M. The buyer went bankrupt. He bought it back for $2M.Austin Wright moved to LA at 19 with $3K and two trash bags. He spent a decade broke, waiting tables, sleeping on an air mattress, sharing a car. Then he spent another decade grinding his way up to regional VP at Gold's Gym, overseeing nearly 1,000 employees and opening gyms across Southern California.Then he quit to build something of his own.What followed was a pop-up playpen that raised $445,000 on Kickstarter against a $20,000 goal — and nearly bankrupted him because he didn't account for international shipping. He dug out, scaled the brand to $35M in revenue, and sold it to a private equity firm called Thrasio for $25 million in 2021. In this episode, Austin breaks down the real numbers: what he walked away with after the sale, how he structured the deal, where his $13–14M net worth actually sits today, the one thing he'd do differently with his money after the exit.Topics covered:- Growing up broke in LA and 10 years in the fitness industry- How a $199K North Hollywood fixer became the seed capital for a gym business- Buying one Bitcoin in 2013 at $700 and forgetting about it- The Kickstarter that raised $445K and lost money- Scaling California Beach Company to $35M and selling for $25M- The Thrasio collapse- Net worth breakdown: real estate, crypto, liquid vs. illiquid- Estate planning and why his son won't inherit a dollar until he's 35- Why Austin would turn down $1 billionHOW FOUNDERS ARE BUILDING WEALTH:How much do founders actually make, spend, invest, work, and keep in net worth? Hampton surveyed founders directly and put the answers into one report. Download it for free here: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wr
SummaryYou’re Rich. Here’s How To Raise Great Kids.
2w ago00:36:53Summary readyJOIN HAMPTON:This episode came directly out of conversations happening inside Hampton, a private community for founders and CEOs with $3M+ in revenue or $10M+ exits. Members range from $5M net worth to billions. They wrestle with these same questions off the record. Apply at http://joinhampton.com/mw.HOW FOUNDERS ARE BUILDING WEALTH:How much do founders actually make, spend, invest, work, and keep in net worth? Hampton surveyed founders directly and put the answers into one report. Download it for free here: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wrTHIS EPISODE OF MONEYWISE:70% of wealthy families lose all their money by the second generation. 90% lose it by the third.The data is even worse for the kids themselves. Children from households making $200K+ have rates of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse 2 to 3 times the national average. 22% of affluent suburban girls show clinically significant depressive symptoms.So how do you raise a kid in a wealthy household without breaking them?In this episode of MoneyWise, I went back through every conversation we've had on the show about parenting and money. Doctor Becky. Taylor Adams (from a multi-generational billionaire family in LA). Alex Peikoff. Shane. Jane. Hank. Neil Patel. Scott Galloway. The pattern they all kept landing on was uncomfortable. Most parents with real money are accidentally setting their kids up to fail. Not because they're bad parents. Because they're doing exactly what their instincts tell them to do.I'm a dad of two. I'm trying to figure this out in real time. Here's what the research, the experts, and the founders who already screwed it up are telling us.WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:- Why "entitlement" is actually a fear of frustration, not a character flaw- The Carol Dweck Columbia study that should change how you talk to your kids- Why your kid is running on your behavior, not your rules- The "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations" trap (and why it's not about money)- How allowance teaches financial trade-offs (and why unlimited Amazon access kills it)- The single biggest regret of founders after a life-changing exit- Why downsizing your house might be the best parenting decision you ever makeCHAPTERS:00:00 The 16-year-old in the airport02:57 Frustration tolerance is the most important life skill05:30 Why wealthy kids have 2-3x higher anxiety and depression08:00 Monkey see, monkey do: the emulation problem11:00 70% lose it in 2 generations. 90% in 3.14:00 Praise effort, not traits (the Dweck study)18:00 Just because you love business doesn't mean your kid will21:00 Why allowance only works if money is finite25:00 The Scarsdale busboy who sees $300 sweatshirts as 30 hours of work28:00 Scott Galloway's moving goalpost30:17 The presence problem (the hardest one for me)33:00 The 5 rules I'm taking with meREFERENCED EPISODES:- Taylor Adams: How a multi-generational billionaire family thinks about wealth- Doctor Becky on parenting through money- Hank: Inside a 24,000 sq ft home- Neil Patel on going from 10,800 sq ft to 3,000 sq ft- Alex Peikoff: The Macedonian milk family- Jane: Finding out about a $20M inheritance in her late 30s- Pete: $80M exit, rock bottom afterABOUT MONEYWISE:MoneyWise is the podcast where wealthy founders open up about the real numbers behind their lives. Net worth. Monthly burn. Portfolio allocation. The stuff nobody talks about in public. Hosted by Daniel Berk and produced by Hampton.SPONSORS:Oceans - Hire incredible talent for marketing, ops, sales, and more, and even have them build out all your AI workflows for you. Go to https://www.oceanstalent.com/moneywise now.
SummaryHe Made $400k/Month Before 30... Then Realized It Meant Nothing
3w ago00:35:49Summary readyMoneyWise is a Hampton podcast. Hampton is a private, vetted community for founders doing $3M or more in revenue. Apply at https://www.joinhampton.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=yt051126.From Minecraft maps to $400k months — but the money isn't the story.Nathan May grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Ohio. His mom made $32,000 a year. He never left the state until he was 18. At 15, he was selling custom Minecraft maps to famous YouTubers and making his first $100K. He went to Wharton, joined BCG, quit, and built one of the fastest-growing newsletter agencies in the country before turning 30.But the week he hit his first million dollars, his mom died. And he felt nothing.In this episode, Nathan gets brutally honest about what money actually gave him — and what it didn't. We go deep on the community he's built in New York with a group of founders sharing an office, a monthly revenue leaderboard, and the kind of real talk that doesn't happen anywhere else. He calls it the Media Mafia. He says it's changed his life more than any dollar amount ever has.We also get into:Growing up in poverty and never leaving Ohio until 18How a Minecraft addiction became his first real businessLeaving a six-figure BCG career to bet on himselfBuilding a $1M ARR agency in under a year with 1,000 newsletter subscribersHis actual net worth, his $10M target, and why he keeps almost no cashWhy he thinks the wealthiest people he knows are often the least happyTimestamps00:00 - Cold open00:58 - Introducing Nathan May01:23 - Small talk / how Nathan starts his day02:32 - The agency, the numbers, how life has changed03:24 - Growing up poor in Ohio — never left the state until 1805:35 - He originally wanted to be an actor06:04 - The Minecraft business: how a video game addiction made him $100K at 1509:05 - Wharton, Wall Street culture shock, and the path to BCG10:36 - What BCG actually changed about his life12:01 - Building the agency: newsletters, Schwarzenegger, and why it felt like video games again15:32 - His real relationship with money: checking account, savings, leverage strategy16:52 - The $10M number: how he used ChatGPT to find his "enough"18:34 - The Media Mafia: seven founders, one office, a monthly revenue leaderboard20:31 - Being at the cusp — exciting, terrifying, or both?23:07 - Why IRL community is the highest-leverage thing a founder can build26:03 - What Hampton means to him27:31 - His mom's passing, the $1M milestone, and why none of it felt like anything29:24 - Can you be successful without community?31:39 - What's next and closing thoughtsMoneyWise is the podcast where high-net-worth founders get radically transparent about how they actually make, spend, invest, and think about money. Hosted by Daniel Berk and presented by Hampton.Sponsors:Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com
SummaryHe Made $3M a Year and Decided He Had Enough
4w ago00:59:58Summary readyMoneyWise is a Hampton podcast. Hampton is a private, vetted community for founders doing $2M or more in revenue. Apply at https://www.joinhampton.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=yt050526.MoneyWise | Jonathan GoodmanJon Goodman built a $35M fitness education empire from a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto, never raised a dollar, never sold a company, and never left Canada — even though the government takes 53 cents of every dollar he earns above a certain threshold.In this episode, Jon breaks down exactly where his $14M net worth lives, why he found his "safe number" at $7M, how he spends $22-25K a month across Toronto and six months abroad every year, and why he thinks moving to a tax haven is a rich person's dumbest game.Sponsors:Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.comOceans - Hire incredible talent for marketing, ops, sales, and more, and even have them build out all your AI workflows for you. Go to https://www.oceanstalent.com/moneywise now.
SummaryDoes Making $100M Make You Happy?
Apr 2800:40:07Summary readyChapter Timestamps00:00 — Homeless at 26, $100M exit at 32 02:22 — Building Mutesix: one of the first productized Facebook ad agencies 09:39 — The 2019 sale and what Steve actually took home 11:52 — The wire hits — at the Western Wall in Israel 14:46 — "The money didn't change my life": post-exit identity crisis 16:31 — How Steve actually spends: the chef, the donations, the Birkin he never bought 19:55 — Why he's obsessed with insurance (and what he tells founders) 23:18 — Post-exit on a Tuesday: the daily search for meaning 25:07 — Did the $100M exit actually make him happy? 32:03 — Looking back 15 years — and what the next 5 look likeAt 26, Steve Weiss was homeless in Los Angeles, sleeping in his car in a 24 Hour Fitness parking lot with $200 to his name. Six years later, his Facebook ads agency Mutesix sold for $100 million to Dentsu. The day the money hit his account, he was standing at the Western Wall in Israel — and got a phone call that made him realize money doesn't fix what's broken inside you.In this episode of MoneyWise, host Daniel Berk sits down with Steve Weiss to walk through the parts of a nine-figure exit nobody puts in the press release: how much he personally took home, if the wire made him happy, and what post-exit life actually looks like on a random Tuesday when you've already "won."In this conversation:How Steve built Mutesix from 4 clients in 2013 into one of the first productized Facebook ad agencies — and sold it to Dentsu in 2019 for $100MThe emotional moment the wire hit at the Western Wall, and the tragedy that hit the same dayHis real spending today: a private chef 3–4 days a week, why his wife asks for nonprofit donations instead of Birkin bags, and the cause they're fundingWhy he over-indexes on life and health insurance — and the advice he gives every founderThe post-exit purpose vacuum — what he calls "almost impossible to replicate" — and how he's filling it now with family, angel investing through SGD, his podcast, real estate, and possibly politicsWhat he'd do differently if he could rewind 15 yearsThe honest answer to the question every founder secretly asks: did $100 million actually make him happy?If you've ever wondered whether the exit really fixes anything, this is the episode.MoneyWise is the personal finance podcast for high-net-worth founders. Hosted by Daniel Berk and produced by Hampton — a private, vetted community for founders and CEOs running businesses doing $2M+ in revenue. Apply at joinhampton.com.Sponsors:Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.comOceans - Hire incredible talent for marketing, ops, sales, and more, and even have them build out all your AI workflows for you. Go to https://www.oceanstalent.com/moneywise now.
SummaryHe Has $70M And Flies His Own Plane Wherever He Wants
Apr 2100:53:31Summary readyJohn Arrow bootstrapped Mutual Mobile from a $0.99 iPhone app to a 350-person company — with zero investors — and sold it twice. In this episode of MoneyWise, John breaks down exactly how he built and exited one of Austin's most successful tech companies, what he did with the money, and what his financial life actually looks like today.John gets radically transparent about his net worth (well into 8 figures), his monthly spending ($50–65K/month), his investment strategy, and why he thinks most wealth managers are a waste of money.Plus: the illegal Cuba trip right before signing a life-changing deal, the $500K bet to hack Apple's encryption, how he sued American Express on behalf of a friend and won in 48 hours, and the new AI company he built the morning of this recording.Topics covered:How John made his first $1,000/day at 14 years oldBootstrapping Mutual Mobile to a $70M exit with no outside fundingWhat actually happens the day a wire hits your accountWhy he sold the company a second time — and for how muchHis exact portfolio breakdown (stocks, private investments, real estate)Why he never drinks (the real reason)FreedomGPT and the future of uncensored AIHow to think about money once you never have to work againStop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: https://www.joinhampton.com Sponsors:Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.comOceans - Hire incredible talent for marketing, ops, sales, and more, and even have them build out all your AI workflows for you. Go to https://www.oceanstalent.com/moneywise now.
SummaryThis 23-Year-Old Dropout Bootstrapped His Company to Millions
Apr 1400:37:26Summary readyJosh Suggs is 23 years old and already running a company generating millions in revenue, completely bootstrapped. But the money story here isn't just about the numbers. It's about a kid who grew up in Westport, CT, one of the wealthiest zip codes in America, feeling like he didn't belong, watching his mom stress about retirement while surrounded by hedge fund dads, and channeling that into an obsession with building things from the age of 13.Daniel and Josh get into the real numbers: what Josh actually takes home, where it sits (mostly cash, barely invested, and he'll tell you why), and what his monthly spend actually looks like living in New York. Spoiler: $3,000/month on Uber because he refuses to take the subway.ABOUT MONEYWISEMoneyWise is a Hampton podcast about what wealthy founders actually do with their money. Not how they made it — what they do after. Real numbers. Real allocation. Real feelings about wealth. Hosted by Daniel Berk.New episodes in production now.____________Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: https://www.joinhampton.com This episode's sponsor is Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com
Summary$200k/Month, a 24,000 Sq Ft House, and a Billion-Dollar Trust. Our Best Moments.
Apr 700:48:45Summary readyThis is a highlight episode. Three guests. Three completely different relationships with money. All of them more honest than they probably planned to be.Neil Patel wrote a blog post in 2014 saying he could be happy on $15,000 a month. He meant it. We brought him on to find out how that became $200,000 a month — and where it actually goes. The answer involves $35,000 in bed sheets, four homes in Beverly Hills, and donations that dwarf his actual lifestyle spend.Hank — not his real name — built a $3 billion cell phone distribution company, exited in 1996 for $60 million, and eventually found himself standing inside a 24,000 square foot house wondering how it happened. He paid $10 million. Cash. No mortgage. And runs it like a part-time job. He never says his net worth. He doesn't have to.Taylor Adams grew up in a Los Angeles family with over a billion dollars in assets going back to the 1890s. Got sober at 26. Now helps wealthy families avoid destroying what the first generation built. He has a framework for how that destruction happens. He calls it the Four Horsemen. Every one of them sounds like good advice.Three clips. Three moments worth rewinding.This is MoneyWise.FEATURED GUESTSNeil Patel — Founder, Neil Patel Digital & Crazy EggHank — Anonymous. Cell phone distribution. $60M exit. 24,000 sq ft.Taylor Adams — Founder, Belief Partners. Fourth-generation family wealth.ABOUT MONEYWISEMoneyWise is a Hampton podcast about what wealthy founders actually do with their money. Not how they made it — what they do after. Real numbers. Real allocation. Real feelings about wealth. Hosted by Daniel Berk.New episodes in production now.____________Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: https://www.joinhampton.com This episode's sponsor is Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com
SummaryMatt Paulson has $25m a year in personal income - nice.
Mar 2400:34:08Summary readyStop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: https://www.joinhampton.com This episode's sponsor is Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.com
Summary