The Money Mondays Podcast: "The Entrepreneur’s Playbook: From Living Room Startups to Billion-Dollar Brands 🏢" (EP140)

Release Date: September 29, 2025
Host: Dan Fleyshman
Guests: Cameron Forney (Serial entrepreneur; Founder of Select Oil, Adaptophoria) & Dan Da Silva (E-commerce/affiliate expert, entrepreneur)
Duration: ~66 min (content: ~00:05–65:00)

Episode Overview

This episode is a deep dive into the entrepreneurial journeys of two high-performing guests with very different backgrounds—Cameron Forney, known for building and exiting a billion-dollar cannabis brand (Select Oil), and Dan Da Silva, a self-made millionaire in e-commerce and affiliate marketing. The discussion revolves around three core themes: making money, investing money, and giving it away (charity). Key areas include building brands from scratch, product differentiation, capital & cash flow management, making and evaluating investments, mental health and the reality of wealth, and the importance of giving back.

The conversation blends practical business strategy with frank talk on the emotional realities of success, providing a raw, real-world look behind the scenes of entrepreneurship.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Cameron Forney’s Story: From Living Room Startup to $1B Exit

• Rapid Growth Journey:

  • Started Select Oil in his living room—first two months: $90k revenue; Year 1: $900k; Year 2: $9M; Year 3: $40M; Year 4: $117M; exited for nearly $1B (USD).
  • “Exit for 980 million US, 1.27 billion Canadian to Curaleaf, which is a publicly traded cannabis company, still largest cannabis company in the world.” (01:40 – Cameron Forney)

• Why Enter the Functional Beverage Space:

  • Personal motivation: Helping his mother cope with dementia/Alzheimer’s; focus on reducing “sugar brain.”

  • Deep research into consumer needs (University of Oregon, 10,000+ survey responses): depression, anxiety as primary pain points.

  • Created Adaptophoria—a hemp seltzer designed to address anxiety and depression, with low sugar, ancient herbal adaptogens, and rigorous quality standards.

  • “Sugar brain is killing us...I wanted to make something that me and my mom could get along with.” (01:56 – Cameron Forney)

Building and Scaling Consumer Brands: Challenges and Lessons

Standing Out in Crowded Markets

• Product Experience & Quality First:

  • Taste, onset experience (5-min onset, no cannabis aftertaste), and health credentials (Envirocan certified, 15 calories, 3g sugar, ancient Chinese herbs).
  • “Taste is everything at the end of the day. If you can overcome the taste of cannabis, you’re going to win.” (23:31 – Cameron Forney)

• Marketing Differentiation:

  • Positioned Adaptophoria as "the modern socializer" and "hang out without the hangover," capturing the Gen Z movement away from alcohol.

  • Referral/affiliate programs aimed at creating “a thousand millionaires.”

  • Emphasis on direct-to-consumer for education-heavy products.

  • “My goal is to make a thousand millionaires in this company...the only way to do that is to teach people how to make money as you do in this podcast and encourage and inspire entrepreneurs.” (07:56 – Cameron Forney)

Navigating Distribution & Scale

• Shipping liquids is capital intensive & logistically complex.
• Big box deals (e.g. Costco) create massive cash flow strains; factoring and advance capitalization often required.
• “When you make it, you need more capital. People talk about when things go wrong—but what if things go right?” (15:56 – Dan Fleyshman)

Investing: Playbook & Philosophy

From Exit Windfall to Portfolio Building

• Forney: Invested in 27 companies post-exit, mostly in cannabis and crypto, sometimes celebrity brands.

• Lessons: Stick to your knowledge, your passions, and sector growth. Losses often come from “dabbling” in unfamiliar industries.

  • “I created $2.2 billion in value from my living room and made hundreds of millions of dollars, lost hundreds of millions as well.” (16:46 – Cameron Forney)

Saying No and Being 'Smart Money'

• Only invest where you add value; avoid being “dumb money.”
• Layer in advisory roles where possible.
  • “I never want to be dumb money. I always want to be, you know, value add and create a value.” (20:12 – Cameron Forney)

Celebrity Partnerships: Pros and Cons

• Not always about name size—active, caring partners (Jim Belushi, Ricky Williams) can outperform bigger celebrities who do not engage.
  • “Jim Belushi…number one cannabis product in Oregon. You know why? Because he cares. He hustles.” (20:49 – Cameron Forney)
• Regulations make celebrity 'megaphone' crucial when conventional marketing is restricted.

Quality Investment: The Cost of Winning Shelf Space

• Taste, quality, and consistent experience drive repeat customer purchases.
• “If you want to be a mass market brand, you can’t taste the cannabis.” (24:24 – Cameron Forney)
• Cameron spent nearly $2M on formulation/testing to ensure Adaptophoria appeals to all generations—including “my mom, a 65-year-old Southern Baptist.”

Charity & Giving: Responsibility Beyond Profit

• 2% of Adaptophoria’s revenue is donated to mental health/addiction, supporting entrepreneurship and wellness causes.
• Giving is integral to family and personal legacy; kids are actively involved in giving back.
• “It’s critical to building their character and who they are as a person…We give back to motivate, encourage, and inspire.” (25:57 – Cameron Forney)

The Realities of Wealth—Loneliness, Purpose, and Mental Health

• Selling a company for nearly $1B can create profound loneliness—lost friendships, isolation.
  • “Never been more lonely in my life than being at the very top...It’s lonely at the top.” (28:37 – Cameron Forney)
• CEOs inevitably bear heavy responsibilities; the pressure is intense, especially during crises or litigation.
• The importance of socializing and routines—Cameron’s push for functional drinks as part of “Modern Socializer” events: non-alcoholic happy hours for entrepreneurs and creators.

Dan Da Silva's E-Commerce & Affiliate Journey

From High School Dropout to E-Commerce & Affiliate Powerhouse

• Started online at 15; made first million by 19—expert in building traffic and sales funnels, dropshipping, and financial publishing.
• “My first car was an i8 that I bought in cash…Then a Lambo…money just kept coming.” (45:13 – Dan Da Silva)

The Reality Behind AMaterial Success

• Rapid wealth led to feeling like “everybody’s piggy bank…one of the hardest pills to swallow.”
• Disappeared for a period to reset mentally and rediscover purpose. “I stopped caring about the money, which then also…the drive was always money.” (47:44 – Dan Da Silva)

How to Pick Opportunities & Investments

• In affiliate and entrepreneurial spaces, mentors and networks help spotlight “what’s working now.”
• Key: “I look at the person more than anything…the person behind the idea that can execute to the finish line.” (51:43 – Dan Da Silva)
• Focuses on skill-based leverage (copywriting, funnel building) rather than networking for its own sake.

The Cycle of Materialism

• Cars, watches, luxury “fade quickly”—acquiring things is motivating short term but unfulfilling long term.
• “At some point, it will literally feel meaningless. It’ll just be another car in the garage catching dust…At some point, you start to realize, like, the things that you’re buying don’t have any actual meaning, and they don’t give you what you want, which is happiness.” (48:39 – Dan Fleyshman)

Charitable & Long-Term Ambitions

• Aspires to build an animal sanctuary—passion for animal welfare rooted in fairness, compassion.
• “No animal should be put down because of some other human’s mistakes or faults…That’s been the end goal of it all.” (60:38 – Dan Da Silva)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On starting over:
  “Retired life is over. Investing life is over. I got to make a beverage that’s going to work.” (04:45 – Cameron Forney)
• On depression & Gen Z:
  “20% of all college students are going to be on antidepressants. Why?...Let’s adapt.” (03:56 – Cameron Forney)
• On product quality:
  “Taste is everything. If you can overcome the taste of cannabis, you’re going to win.” (23:31 – Cameron Forney)
• On venture capital:
  “Being capitalized is absolutely critical to your success and to stay alive.” (11:24 – Cameron Forney)
• On losing friends after exit:
  “Never been more lonely in my life than being at the very top…Lost friends, lost resources, lost a lot of things.” (28:37 – Cameron Forney)
• On affiliate marketing:
  “It’s essentially getting somebody to read something and get them to take an action…Funnels and launches: that’s my skill.” (44:11, 55:25 – Dan Da Silva)
• On legacy & kids:
  “My daughter has to work to make money to buy an iPhone…Set a fund so they can live off the income of those companies, but they do not get a check. They have to work.” (33:08 – Cameron Forney)
• On giving wealth to children:
  “80% would be donated to philanthropy. 20% would be vested based on what they achieve and how they build.” (61:24 – Dan Da Silva)

Timestamps of Important Segments

| Time | Segment | |------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:15 | Cameron Forney’s rapid Select Oil journey and $1B exit | | 03:05 | Why functional beverages—personal family drive, market shift away from alcohol/sugar | | 06:28 | How to stand out in crowded beverage/CBD/cannabis consumer markets | | 10:33 | Scaling with compliance; challenges of regulation, capital, and growth in CPG | | 13:44 | Realities of retail and cash flow—Costco & factoring explained | | 16:44 | Investing windfall: How Cameron evaluated (and lost on) 27+ investments | | 18:29 | Why invest in yourself first; structure your time around learning | | 20:35 | Celebrity brands: Why some win (Jim Belushi) and others flop | | 23:31 | The criticality of taste and rapid onset for consumer repeat purchases | | 25:57 | Charity: Teaching kids about giving, mental health, and the “2% give-back” component | | 28:37 | The loneliness and surprising downsides of immense wealth and CEO life | | 31:41 | Adaptophoria, non-alcoholic happy hours, and new ways to socialize | | 32:15 | Planning generational wealth: How much to leave your kids? | | 39:55 | Dan Da Silva: How affiliates pick offers, ethical considerations | | 43:10 | Defining work motivation, materialism, and meaning | | 51:43 | How to evaluate investment in people and ideas | | 54:25 | Why to invest in your mind and skills vs. mere networking | | 57:10 | Animal sanctuary discussion and personal philanthropy ambition |

Closing Reflections

Both guests reinforce the importance of doing work that fulfills a personal passion, is rooted in genuine expertise, and leaves a positive impact. They offer candid stories from the trenches—explosive wins, brutal cash-flow bottlenecks, the dark side of wealth, and the ongoing necessity of self-investment and giving back.

“Nothing is given. They have to earn it. But I think health care is given and I think education should be given.”
(33:31 – Cameron Forney)

Where to Find & Connect:

• Cameron Forney: timetoadapt.com/moneymondays for free shipping; IG: @cameronforney
• Dan Da Silva: IG: @dasilva; occasional YouTube presence

This episode is a playbook for entrepreneurs and investors at any stage, offering a mix of tactical wisdom, cautionary tales, and encouragement to keep adapting—“when life throws you a curveball, how you change and how you accept that change is going to be what’s going to make you succeed or fail in life.” (21:21 – Cameron Forney)