CO-HOST | Betting on Yourself: The Entrepreneurial Lessons Behind Johnny Knoxville & Jackass

Summary

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Travis Makes Money – Episode Summary

Episode Title:

CO-HOST | Betting on Yourself: The Entrepreneurial Lessons Behind Johnny Knoxville & Jackass
Host: Travis Chappell
Guest/Co-Host: Eric (Producer)
Date: March 12, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Travis and his producer Eric dive into the unconventional entrepreneurial journey of Johnny Knoxville, co-creator of Jackass. Using a recent Conan O’Brien interview clip as a springboard, they explore how Knoxville’s risk-taking, creative grit, and refusal to take the “safe” corporate path left crucial lessons for would-be entrepreneurs and anyone considering betting on themselves.

The conversation moves from Knoxville’s origins as a struggling actor and waiter to the bold creative and business choices that led to Jackass’s cultural phenomenon, discussing the realities of betting on your own vision, the downsides of certain opportunities, and the hidden stories that don’t make headlines.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jackass as a Case Study in Scrappy Entrepreneurship

• Eric’s Introduction: Eric expresses his long-time fandom for Jackass and sets up the discussion on its unique origins.
  “I'm a huge Jackass fan, but I also am just a huge fan of, like, the brains behind it, like, because the way that it all came together is…insane.” (03:01)

• Jackass is positioned as a story of making something from scratch—without connections, money, or traditional experience—a true entrepreneurial leap.

2. Knoxville’s Early Hustle and Motivations

• No College, All Hustle:
  Johnny Knoxville: “Well, you don't go to college, that's for sure. And you get on the 10 West.” (04:06)

• Driven by Necessity:
  Knoxville shares that after years of struggling in LA, impending fatherhood “was the most frightened I’ve ever been because I had a little girl on the way and I’m waiting tables and I’m like, I got to do something quick.” (04:47)

• Testing Self-Defense Equipment:
  Knoxville’s first big break involved extreme, participatory journalism—offering to test self-defense gear on himself to create stories for magazines.
  “I was just…that was my best guess at how to support a family. And it was all out of fear.” (08:16)

3. Power of Creativity and Proximity

• Living Next to Antoine Fuqua:
  Illustrates the randomness and importance of creative networks—Knoxville happened to be neighbors with future Hollywood director Antoine Fuqua.
  “I was living next to Antoine Fuqua in this duplex, which is a crazy thing to say.” (06:06)

• The ‘Slimy Networking’ Trap:
  Travis & Eric reflect that true partnerships often start before anyone is famous—contrasting historic stories of loyalty with today’s networking-for-fame mentality.

  • “More and more people are like, how do I get to rub shoulders with Antoine Fuqua now?...But also like at the time they weren’t them.” (06:50)

4. The Willingness to Do the “Insane” for a Break

• No Money, No Safety Net:
  Knoxville describes buying a bulletproof vest with Christmas money from his mom (09:03), and how the film crew refused to attend when guns were involved.

• Serendipity of Video:
  The now-director of Jackass, Jeff Tremaine, told Knoxville: “Why don’t you film it at the same time?...And that’s what happened…That’s why the camera work’s so shaky.” (09:52–10:32)

5. Turning Point: The SNL Offer vs. Betting on Jackass

• The Unexpected SNL Offer:
  While finally about to shoot the Jackass pilot, Knoxville was offered a recurring segment on Saturday Night Live to do exactly his type of content.

  • “He was going to get his own segment on SNL, which is, like, the call that people like, would die for.” (13:44)

• The Crossroads: Security vs. Autonomy

  • Knoxville wrestled with the promise of SNL versus “betting on us and enter into that [Jackass]…I’d rather bet on us than enter into that and would probably…I’d been lucky to be on Saturday Night Live, but I chose that.” (14:59)
  • He declined the SNL slot primarily because he would lose creative control and couldn’t bring his whole team.
  • Travis and Eric highlight that most people would take the “safe” path, but these extraordinary stories are outnumbered by those who take a risk and fail (16:14).

• The “Rocking Chair Test”:
  Travis introduces the idea of choosing paths you won’t regret from your future vantage point:
  “What are you going to look back on and regret more? Are you going to regret not taking the chance on yourself, or are you going to regret not being a part of the thing [SNL]?” (17:16)

6. The Hidden Downside & Luck Factor

• They address survivor bias: For every successful “I bet on myself” story, there are countless others whose risks didn’t pay off—and whose stories are invisible.

• The “What Ifs” in Risk-Taking:

  • “For every story like Johnny Knoxville…there’s probably a hundred stories where somebody was like, no, we’re going to bet on ourselves. And then it was a bad bet.” (18:53)
  • Even Knoxville suffered for his art: “Johnny Knoxville did get bleeding on the brain shooting Jackass…so maybe SNL would have been cushier, you know.” (19:08)

7. Actionable Takeaways for Listeners

• Agency & Acceptance:
  Travis emphasizes making the best decision with the information you have and being at peace with the outcome.

  • “You just gotta make the decision with the best you can with the information that you have at that time, and then be okay with whatever the results are that come from it. And then obviously, whatever decision you make, you work really, really, really hard to maximize that opportunity.” (20:00)

• Applying the Lesson:

  • “Most people don’t know whether or not it’s going to work out…apply that to whatever you’re working on right now. What are the chances you should be taking?…What do you know that if you didn’t do it, you’d regret not doing it?” (21:21)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Johnny Knoxville: “Well, you don’t go to college, that’s for sure. And you get on the 10 West.” (04:06)
• Travis Chappell: “What are you going to look back on and regret more? Are you going to regret not taking the chance on yourself, or are you going to regret not being a part of the thing?” (17:16)
• Eric (Producer): “For every story, like Johnny Knoxville…there’s probably a hundred stories where somebody was like, no, we’re going to bet on ourselves. And then it was a bad bet.” (18:53)
• Travis Chappell: “You just gotta make the decision with the best you can with the information that you have at that time, and then be okay with whatever the results are that come from it.” (20:00)

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Important Timestamps

• 03:01 – Eric sets the context: Jackass’s scrappy origins
• 04:06 – Johnny Knoxville: No college, try things, do it yourself
• 08:16 – Knoxville’s participatory journalism: “out of fear” for supporting a family
• 09:37 – Knoxville describes buying the cheapest bulletproof vest (“the craziest way to do that”)
• 09:52–10:32 – Birth of the Jackass filming model
• 13:44 – Knoxville’s SNL offer explained
• 14:59 – Knoxville chooses to bet on himself and his friends over SNL
• 16:14 – Survivor bias: The untold stories of failed risks
• 17:16 – Travis introduces “the rocking chair test”
• 20:00 – Making decisions and living with them
• 21:21 – Travis wraps up: actionable advice for listeners

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Episode Takeaways

• Betting on yourself can pay off, but comes with risk—and for every high-profile success, many fail out of the public eye.
• Creative partnerships and relationships formed before “making it” are critical.
• You must personally define your risk tolerance, and make decisions that you’ll be proud of in hindsight.
• Success involves a combination of timing, fear-based motivation, smart networking, and a willingness to do what others won’t.
• Take action now on what you might regret not attempting—there are no guarantees, but fulfillment comes from taking calculated chances.

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“Money only solves your money problems, but it’s easier to solve the rest of your problems with money in the bank. So let’s start there.”
– Travis Chappell, (21:21)

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Transcript

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[Travis Chappell]

You're listening to the Travis Makes Money podcast, presented by GoHighLevel.com for a free 30 day trial of the best all in one digital marketing software tool on the planet, just go to gohighlevel.com travis. What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to the Travis Makes Money podcast, where it's our mission to help you make more money. Today on the show, my producer Eric is here shaking his head because he didn't like that I used intro music on this one. I thought it was great. I thought it really brought up the energy.

[Eric (Producer)]

No.

[Travis Chappell]

Well, I'm gonna keep doing it because I have a little bit.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah, I like it. I don't like it.

[Travis Chappell]

Well, now you're taking the energy down by disagreeing and then yawning into the microphone.

[Eric (Producer)]

We should watch. You know what we should watch on this episode? I was gonna do, like, one that's kind of like. Yeah, you know, like finance.

[Travis Chappell]

That's typically what we go for.

[Eric (Producer)]

We should almost watch that Giant. We should almost watch that Giant Knoxville Conan clip. Oh, yeah, that's a good one because that's entrepreneur. Scrappiness.

[Travis Chappell]

Entrepreneur.

[Eric (Producer)]

Do you want to. Here's this. Do you want to watch Conan talking at Giant Knoxville, or do you want to read a Forbes article about America's top 25 philanthropists? Which one do you want?

[Travis Chappell]

I assume that you were trying to push me toward the Conan Johnny Knoxville clip, but no. All right, let's watch that first. Then we'll do the Forbes one, which is not a yawning thing.

[Eric (Producer)]

We'll do that as its own. We can do that as its own episode. Eh?

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah. Okay.

[Travis Chappell]

All right.

[Eric (Producer)]

I mean, unless you really.

[Travis Chappell]

I'll give in to the peer pressure.

[Eric (Producer)]

Unless you want to know about.

[Travis Chappell]

I'm just gonna mute your microphone.

[Eric (Producer)]

Oh, unless you want to know. Unless you want to know about Forbes.

[Travis Chappell]

I'm sorry, is giving back to the world boring you? No, that's not boring, but, you know, contribution to society. Something that makes you yawn.

[Eric (Producer)]

You know, sometimes you read about Forbes. Oh, man. Let me just. You just read Forbes. You're like, woo.

[Travis Chappell]

But the barbershop, you're make me yawn just from how many times you're yawning.

[Eric (Producer)]

All right. No, there's this clip of Conan of Giant Oxfell and Conan and I. First of all, I don't know if you know this. I'm a huge fan of Jackass.

[Travis Chappell]

Well, yeah, I do know that.

[Eric (Producer)]

And they have a new movie coming

[Travis Chappell]

out, and I got you a collectible card set.

[Eric (Producer)]

It's here. Where is it?

[Travis Chappell]

You didn't take it with you?

[Eric (Producer)]

No, it's here.

[Travis Chappell]

Is it really?

[Eric (Producer)]

So is my. So is my Enterprise.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah, your starship Enterprise has been here the whole time.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah, it's still here.

[Travis Chappell]

I had to. What's funny is I had to fight off my kids from ruining that. That Enterprise model the whole time you were gone.

[Eric (Producer)]

And then I came back.

[Travis Chappell]

And then you came back and dropped it.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah, no, both of those things are here. Where's Jackass?

[Guest or Interviewer]

I don't know.

[Travis Chappell]

Somewhere.

[Eric (Producer)]

Okay. But, yeah, I'm a huge Jackass fan, but I also am just a huge fan of, like, the brains behind it, like, because the way that it all came together is. Is insane. But he shared a little. Giant Oxfo was on Conan recently talking about his new show, Fear Factor.

[Travis Chappell]

So in another perfect show for Johnny

[Eric (Producer)]

Knoxville, which means in another 10 years, she's going to start a podcast. Yeah. Shave his head. I don't know. But anyway, that's the arc. But it kind of talks about the beginning of. Of it. And I think there's no more entrepreneurial story than this.

[Travis Chappell]

No more.

[Eric (Producer)]

None. No more. No.

[Travis Chappell]

This is a good one, though.

[Eric (Producer)]

It's muted. I love when it's on muting it

[Guest or Interviewer]

career the way that you have and it's. I just think there's so much that's brilliant about it.

[Eric (Producer)]

All the comments on this video were people going, conan's emo.

[Travis Chappell]

Conan turned emo.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah.

[Guest or Interviewer]

And. And then you're so effing likable, you know, and you've. So you. You ride that all along, too.

[Eric (Producer)]

Bamboo.

[Guest or Interviewer]

That is kind of your, I think, your secret sauce. But how does one even begin to become a Johnny Knoxville?

[Johnny Knoxville]

Well, you don't go to college, that's for sure. And you get on the 10 west.

[Eric (Producer)]

Okay.

[Travis Chappell]

I love Conan so much. He's just the best.

[Guest or Interviewer]

Don't go to college, then get on the 10 West.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah.

[Guest or Interviewer]

And you're. You're fast.

[Johnny Knoxville]

Faster and disaster.

[Eric (Producer)]

That's.

[Johnny Knoxville]

That's how you do it.

[Guest or Interviewer]

And you started making these videos on your own. Right.

[Travis Chappell]

This is.

[Guest or Interviewer]

We're going back to what, in the late 90s.

[Johnny Knoxville]

Yes. What happened was, honestly, I moved out to Los Angeles to become an actor just two months or maybe a month after high school. Didn't do a lot, you know.

[Eric (Producer)]

Right.

[Johnny Knoxville]

For five, six years. And then my then girlfriend got pregnant and I'm like, oh, I have to do something quick because I. That's the most frightened I've ever been because I had a little girl on the way and I'm waiting tables and I'm like, I got to do something quick. So.

[Eric (Producer)]

But what he doesn't say in here is he thinks everyone should wait tables for a little bit. So they know.

[Travis Chappell]

I think really everybody should just be serving food at some point.

[Eric (Producer)]

We've got. There's got to be some clip that would go mega viral of you talking about that. Yeah, but I just don't. I don't know what it is because everybody. Everybody always says every. I hear it all the time.

[Johnny Knoxville]

Yeah.

[Travis Chappell]

Well, we talked about this on the past episode where we just said basically, like, you don't have to have been in food service to just be a kind person.

[Eric (Producer)]

What if John Knoxville came on? He's like, everybody needs to get hit by a bowl.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer)]

Once. Would you. Okay, let me ask you that really quick.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer)]

Would you ever get in a ring with a bowl? No. Okay.

[Travis Chappell]

But I would. Well, okay.

[Eric (Producer)]

Would you run with the bowls that

[Travis Chappell]

I have considered running with the bulls?

[Eric (Producer)]

I have considered in Spain. In Spain or just finding. No, finding bowls. Like you're in baker's place.

[Travis Chappell]

Calling a local farmer. Got any bowls, dude?

[Eric (Producer)]

I'll film it, I'm sure, from behind the fence. All right, here we go.

[Johnny Knoxville]

I was living next to Antoine Fuqua

[Travis Chappell]

in this duplex, which is a crazy thing to say.

[Eric (Producer)]

And that's so helpful.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah, I was. I was living next to Antoine Fuqua.

[Eric (Producer)]

That's what's funny. That was like crazy. Yeah.

[Travis Chappell]

Anyway, I think.

[Eric (Producer)]

But he.

[Travis Chappell]

When I hear stories from people who've been in Hollywood for a long time, it's just so obvious that it used to be this like much smaller, tight knit community.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah.

[Travis Chappell]

Like decades ago. You know what I mean? Where people went to the same schools and they were in the PTA meetings with their kids.

[Eric (Producer)]

I. Yes and no. But I mean. But also, Antoine Fuqua wasn't. I guess he was pretty big then.

[Travis Chappell]

But it's the proximity that when you hear. When you hear that Like Adam Sandler moved to LA and then roomed with Judd Apatow.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah, but. But also like at the time they weren't them.

[Travis Chappell]

Right.

[Eric (Producer)]

You know what I mean? That's kind of. That's kind of the difference now though is like, I think more and more people. It's kind of like the slimy networking. More and more people are like, how do I get to rub shoulders with Antoine Fuqua now? Now.

[Travis Chappell]

Right.

[Eric (Producer)]

But like, if you really look at like Zach justice is a good example of like him and Jerbear. Him. Him and Jared, like neither of them were successful yet.

[Travis Chappell]

Right.

[Eric (Producer)]

But clung to each other like rats in a sinking ship. If then the environment, which, with what he talks about the singing ship would have been better.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer)]

But like they stood with each other. And I think that's the thing that's missing in a lot of stories now is like, there's not that loyalty of like. Yeah, I don't know if this is going to work, but like we're in this together.

[Travis Chappell]

But I found this creative partner that I enjoy spending time with and doing.

[Eric (Producer)]

It's not gatekeeping until you find someone that's really successful already, you know.

[Johnny Knoxville]

But casting agent who got me a commercial agent and I started writing for magazines and like my version of participatory journalist.

[Eric (Producer)]

But also it speaks to. He went to LA to go live in a duplex. And I was rethinking Fuqua actually probably was. He had already done training day at this time. So it is helpful to be neighbors with Antoine.

[Travis Chappell]

No kidding.

[Eric (Producer)]

But you also have to move and you also have to have a conversation. You also have to not be a jerk.

[Travis Chappell]

And you also need somebody who's worth him introducing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right.

[Johnny Knoxville]

Some like Hunter S. Thompson, type of. Yeah. I was like, how about if I. My. One of my first articles was, how about if I test self defense equipment on myself? I was, I was just. That was my best guess at how to support a family. And it was all out of fear of how to support. How to support a little girl.

[Guest or Interviewer]

Honestly, that is so I think you describe that leap as if it's an honest, natural, good way to make honest days of living. Kids on the way. And I better, you know, start to get serious here. It's time to test almost defensive time

[Johnny Knoxville]

to shoot myself in the chest while wearing a bulletproof vest.

[Eric (Producer)]

Would you do that?

[Johnny Knoxville]

It works.

[Guest or Interviewer]

Yeah. So you start doing it and then

[Travis Chappell]

you start making videos.

[Johnny Knoxville]

Well, when the only magazine, like a few magazines around town wanted that article, but none of them, they wanted Treated as a negative pickup. Come see us after you're done, and then we'll. The only magazine who would help me, like, buy the stun gun, the taser gun. I bought the bulletproof vest with money my mom gave me for Christmas, which is hilarious. Was the editor.

[Eric (Producer)]

And I've heard another version of the story before where he said he bought the cheapest one because he didn't have enough money to buy. So he bought the cheapest bulletproof.

[Travis Chappell]

The craziest way to do that.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah. Which, like, if I were to do that, which I wouldn't. I would buy the.

[Travis Chappell]

I would probably fork out the extra cash. Yeah.

[Johnny Knoxville]

Big Brother magazine. Jeff Tremaine, who is now the director of Jackass.

[Travis Chappell]

Great move on Jeff Tremaine's part.

[Johnny Knoxville]

He had a skateboarding magazine owned by Larry Flint that. That's in Jeff. Right before I was writing, I said, how about if I write the article? Jeff goes, why don't you film it at the same time? And they. For our skate video. I'm like, okay. And that's what happened. And of course, I went to the. He's like, I'll have Dimitri go with you to film it. Who's now the director of photography of Jackass.

[Eric (Producer)]

Right.

[Johnny Knoxville]

And I pull up that morning, and I'm like, get in. And he goes, here's the camera. This is play. This is.

[Travis Chappell]

Pause.

[Johnny Knoxville]

It's got film in it. I'm like, you're not shooting it. He's like, no, because there's a gun involved. He didn't want.

[Guest or Interviewer]

Didn't want to be there.

[Johnny Knoxville]

Nobody wanted to be there.

[Guest or Interviewer]

No one wants to be there. Yeah.

[Johnny Knoxville]

So that's why the camera works so shaky with that.

[Guest or Interviewer]

So you start making these things, and then you get a chance to make a show for mtv. And I didn't know this.

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[Podcast Advertisers/Hosts (Stassi Schroeder and Indeed Announcer)]

This is your fix. I am your host, Stassi Schroeder. Welcome to Tell Me Lies, the official podcast. What's the most unhinged thing of these three?

[Eric (Producer)]

Steven.

[Podcast Advertisers/Hosts (Stassi Schroeder and Indeed Announcer)]

Because he's so evil.

[Eric (Producer)]

I do think he is misunderstood.

[Travis Chappell]

You see everyone face consequences.

[State Farm Announcer]

It's Intoxicating.

[Podcast Advertisers/Hosts (Stassi Schroeder and Indeed Announcer)]

The writers just know how to trick. Yeah. There's always a twist in this show. Tell Me Lies, the official podcast, January 6th. And stream the new season of Tell Me Lies January 13th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus.

[Travis Chappell]

What was that show at the same

[Guest or Interviewer]

moment that was Jackass.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah. Jackass was a show on MTV first, and then what's crazy.

[Travis Chappell]

And they started just aggregating talent, like, Bam. And.

[Eric (Producer)]

Well, Bam was already doing, like, skate videos and stuff. And then. Yeah. Like. But, yeah, Jackass started, and it was on mtv, which is crazy.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer)]

That, like, that was the programming. But then. But. But the crazy thing, too, especially considering, like, half of them have been addicts that. That are finally getting out of that.

[Travis Chappell]

Right.

[Eric (Producer)]

The first season of MTV was sponsored by Coors Light, so when they would film there, they would get the hotel room for all the actors and all that. But then Coors would rent out a hotel room that was just filled with cores, I think.

[Travis Chappell]

Didn't Brandon Novak tell me? Tell. I feel like I heard that story before. Yeah.

[Eric (Producer)]

I don't know. It's a. I have so much Jackass information stuck in my head. But, yeah, it was like, literally, like. And then, like, the later season, later movies and stuff was like, yeah, half of us are trying to get sober. And I was like, I wonder why.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah, right.

[Eric (Producer)]

There's a lot.

[Travis Chappell]

It's such a weird place to be in because they almost got rewarded for that.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah. Well, that's what Brandon talks about is like. It's like, the worst. The stunt. The more likely I was to get hurt so I could get pain pills.

[Travis Chappell]

Right.

[Eric (Producer)]

It's like, just steal the pain pills, bro. Yeah. Don't do the stunt.

[Travis Chappell]

I don't think you have to try

[Eric (Producer)]

to kill yourself, but I think I forget who it was. One of them. One of them said they didn't. They didn't like doing the stunts high or drunk because they felt like it destroyed the purity of it or something. I think maybe it was Johnny Knoxville. He's like, I want to feel it. That's part of the thing. I don't know.

[Guest or Interviewer]

To make a show, and you're about to make the show out of nowhere, you get this offer from Lorne Michaels at Saturday Night Live.

[Johnny Knoxville]

Yeah.

[Guest or Interviewer]

And I never heard that.

[Johnny Knoxville]

Nothing was happening. I had in my life. I had.

[Eric (Producer)]

I listened. I said, conan, do you know anything? I knew that.

[Travis Chappell]

I didn't know that.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah, he did. He was going to get his own segment on snl, which is, like, the call that people like, would Die for.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah. Like a struggling actor trying to make it in that world. This is like the golden ticket. Literally, the golden ticket.

[Eric (Producer)]

The casting agent that Antoine Fuqua recommended calls. Antoine is like, yeah, dude, I got it. Your boy. A call from Lorne Michaels on snl. And he said, no. Yeah. He's like, d. I'm not giving you any more recommendations.

[Travis Chappell]

Literally. Yeah, that's wild. Wild that he would turn it down and then that two or three SNL actually wanted him to come on and do what he was actually doing. Like, it wasn't like he was going to be a regular member of the cast and stuff.

[Eric (Producer)]

He was kind of doing what those guys are doing now. The. I forget his name, but that group of guys that do digital content and then they shoot sketches for snl, it's kind of that same deal once before,

[Johnny Knoxville]

you know, I mean, the wonderful things with the family and the kid, but professionally, nothing. And then it's like, I have a TV show. We're about to shoot the pilot for mtv, and then, like you said, Lorne Michaels comes calling, and we go meet at the Polo Lounge, the Beverly Hills Hotel where Fear and Loathing Beat did begin. And it was a lot, you know, because I had no gigs before this. And he's offering me a spot, like five minutes on Saturday Night Live each week.

[Guest or Interviewer]

Not to do characters and things like that.

[Johnny Knoxville]

No, to do what I do, like, make a video each week. And it was a. I had to. I really seriously considered it, but I ended up thinking I would go on there. I'm not gonna have any creative control whatsoever. And I'm about to do this other thing with me and my friends, and I'd rather. Where I have all the control, and I'd rather bet on us than enter into that and would probably. I. I'd been lucky to be on Saturday Night Live, but I chose that.

[Guest or Interviewer]

No, I mean, obviously, you sure. You certainly didn't make the. The wrong move there.

[Eric (Producer)]

And sitting across from.

[Travis Chappell]

It's so. It's so easy to say that on the other side of things. Well, if you put yourself in that situation, you're taking. Nine out of 10 people are taking that as a nice spot.

[Eric (Producer)]

But also, too, you're. Well, that. His other thing he said, when I've heard him tell the story before is like, one of his big resistant points was that he couldn't bring all of the crew that was working on Jackass with him. But I was gonna say it's kind of. This is kind of the same as when you were talking to Joe Or Murr, about impractical jokers, where it's like, we'll give you this much money to do this, but we own it.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah, well, license show from you, but you're not gonna be in the cast.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah.

[Travis Chappell]

You'll get paid on the content that we create because you own the ip, but.

[Eric (Producer)]

Right.

[Travis Chappell]

You know, you're not gonna be. You're not gonna be the person that we're filming.

[Eric (Producer)]

Like you said, it's easy on the other side, but, like, I. I guess this is, like, the thing that always freaks me out is, like, there's. There's the version of the story where you're Giant Knoxville and this is Jackass, or you're Joe and Murray, and it's like, this is impractical jokers. But, like, there's so many people that are like, I'm going to reject your corporate money and we're going to do our own thing. And then, like, a year later, they're like, scrubbing pots and pans, you know,

[Travis Chappell]

because we don't hear any of those stories. You know what I mean? Like, we don't know that that happened because they didn't make it big. So we don't know that they chose this thing versus this other thing.

[Eric (Producer)]

What do you. What do you think? Like, the. Like, if. If you're putting yourself in that shoes, what do you think the criteria is you're looking for to say, yeah, I take this versus, like, no, I'm gonna hold out and do my own thing?

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah.

[Eric (Producer)]

Is it. Is it. Is it literally a factor of, like, it's better to just always take that swing because, like, you'll never know.

[Travis Chappell]

Or is it something where it's, like, it's super contextual? Because it also depends on the rest of your life.

[Eric (Producer)]

Looking like you'd say no, right?

[Travis Chappell]

No. Like, I. It just. It depends on the other projects you have going on. Are you able to put food on the table elsewhere? But also, I. I think it really comes down to the personal choice of the whole, like, rocking chair test is, like, what are you going to look back on and regret more? Are you going to regret not taking the chance on yourself, or are you going to regret not being a part of the thing? Because, like, you know, some people move to LA with the sole intention of being on snl, like, that's their only thing, and then sound like, that was Knoxville.

[Eric (Producer)]

That's a really bad idea because SNL's in New York. Yeah.

[Travis Chappell]

Or whatever. Yeah, New York. Yeah.

[Eric (Producer)]

He's like, I'm ready. And then they're like. He's like, I spent every single penny in my bank account. I'm in la. Where is the office?

[Travis Chappell]

Where's the audition room?

[Eric (Producer)]

I bet you somebody's done that before. I bet you in all the last 50 years, for sure somebody has moved to LA to get on SNL.

[Travis Chappell]

But you know what I'm saying? If your entire motivation for your career in that world was, I want to get on snl, then you're probably taking that opportunity because that's the holy grail of success to you. Whereas with Knoxville, it didn't sound like it was that way for him. It was more like, wow, I can't believe that this is an opportunity that's being presented to me. But also, like I said, I think that him, in that scenario probably was thinking, I would regret not taking a chance on trying to make this work first before, you know, going this other direction. And obviously he ended up making the correct move. But like we said, there's probably for every story, like, Johnny Knoxville and like, Mer and Joe and those guys, like, there's probably a hundred stories where somebody was like, no, we're going to bet on ourselves. And then it was a bad bet.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah. You know. Yeah. I mean, impossible to know it wasn't the wrong decision. However, Johnny Knoxville did get bleeding on the brain shooting Jackass, and that's true. So maybe SNL would have been cushier, you know.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah. But also, like, maybe they would have tried it for three shows.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah.

[Travis Chappell]

And then been like, ah, that didn't work.

[Eric (Producer)]

And then the MTV pilot has passed and then it's over. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[Travis Chappell]

It's easy to say, like, shoulda, coulda, woulda stuff. That's. That's why I always go back to the rocking chair test, like, which, like, what will I regret not doing? And then just make that choice. And the. The second part of that, though, is you just have to be okay with whatever happens at that point.

[Eric (Producer)]

Yeah.

[Travis Chappell]

Because if you're gonna. You can't do the. What would have happened if I did? You know what I mean? Like, it's just in a. It's the whole. It's the. It's the. The bitcoin problem, you know, it's like. Well, yeah, theoretically, if we could all go back in time, we'd all be putting. We'd be leveraging our homes and pulling out credit cards to put money in bitcoin when it was $12. You know what I mean? But shoulda, woulda, coulda, can't go back and change it. No sense on taking a bunch of time now to stew on the fact that you missed out on a fortune.

[Eric (Producer)]

It's like, what's the next one?

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah, you just gotta make the decision with the best you can with the information that you have at that time, and then be okay with whatever the results are that come from it. And then obviously, whatever decision you make, you work really, really, really hard to maximize that opportunity. But. But, yeah, you don't. At the end of the day, you're not. You don't know which one is going to be the one that the pan out. So you just gotta pick whatever you think is gonna bring you the most personal fulfillment that's gonna allow you to enjoy yourself and then be okay with whatever happens afterwards.

[Eric (Producer)]

Right on.

[Travis Chappell]

It's easier said than done.

[Eric (Producer)]

Well, you're Travis Chappell, and this is Travis Makes Money.

[Travis Chappell]

Yeah, the. The nice thing that's what I love about these types of stories, though, man, is like you. You see Johnny Knoxville and all the success that he enjoys now, but hearing about his struggle when he first moved to LA and like, waiting tables and I don't know if this is going to pan out sort of just brings all of the stories back.

[Podcast Advertisers/Hosts (Stassi Schroeder and Indeed Announcer)]

This episode is brought to you by Indeed. Stop waiting around for the perfect candidate. Instead, use Indeed sponsored jobs to find the right people with the right skills fast. It's a simple way to make sure your listing is the first candidate. C. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs have four times more applicants than non sponsored jobs. So go build your dream team today with Indeed. Get a $75 sponsored job credit@ Indeed.com podcast. Terms and conditions apply back down into

[Travis Chappell]

us, us normal people, things that we can actually apply into our lives. Because, you know, most people don't know whether or not it's going to work out. They're just there to take action and move along that journey, regardless of what it has for them. So apply that to whatever you're working on right now. What are the chances that you should be taking? What are the things that you wish? What are the things that you know that if you did not do them in the future, that you would regret not doing them? And maybe you should be doing those things. And that's it for this episode of the show. Remember, money only solves your money problems, but it's easier to solve the rest of your problems with money in the bank. So let's start there here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Catch you next time. Peace.

[Podcast Advertisers/Hosts (Stassi Schroeder and Indeed Announcer)]

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