CO-HOST | Make Money by Understanding Wealth, Taxes, and Why Jeff Bezos Is Suddenly Hot

Summary

Podcast Summary: Travis Makes Money

Host: Travis Chappell
Episode: CO-HOST | Make Money by Understanding Wealth, Taxes, and Why Jeff Bezos Is Suddenly Hot
Date: May 30, 2026

---

Overview

This episode features host Travis Chappell and producer Eric diving into what it really means to build wealth, the impact of for-profit companies vs. charity, progressive tax systems, misconceptions about billionaires and taxes, as well as some pop-culture humor about Jeff Bezos’ glow-up. The conversation uses Jeff Bezos’ recent CNBC interview as a launchpad to unpack common beliefs about wealth creation, the utility and controversy of taxes, and why entrepreneurship creates broad societal value.

---

Jeff Bezos: Glow-Up and Pop-Culture Moment

Timestamp: 00:53–02:32

• The episode opens with a playful debate about Jeff Bezos’ physical transformation, comparing “old Amazon Bezos” to the muscled, yacht-hopping, post-divorce version.
• Eric jokes about searching “Jeff Bezos hot,” sparking banter on making “Gazos for Bezos” merch.
  • Quote, Eric (02:22): “One could say you’re Gazos for Bezos.”
  • Travis (02:30): “We should make that as a shirt and sell it on Amazon.”

---

For-Profit Companies vs. Charity: Which Has Greater Impact?

Timestamp: 02:38–06:41

• Travis and Eric discuss Bezos’ assertion from the CNBC interview:
  • Bezos (quoted, 02:38): “The value to society and civilization from my for profit companies will be much, much larger than the good I do with my charitable giving.”
• They reflect on how companies like Amazon create massive “invisible value” through jobs, platforms like AWS, and essential services—especially highlighted during the pandemic.
  • Travis (04:28): “That’s what casuals don’t understand about entrepreneurship... for-profit businesses impact many, many, many, many more lives.”
  • Eric (06:41): “It’s in addition to all the stuff that he does—charities—and in addition to people who sell on Amazon, which is like millions...”

---

The Progressive Tax System & Bezos’ Surprising Take

Timestamp: 06:59–11:00

• The hosts discuss one of Bezos’ most provocative points:
  • Bezos (quoted, 06:59): “How about we start by having the nurse in Queens not pay taxes... $1,000 a month, that could help with rent or groceries or anything... The bottom half of income earners in this country pay only 3% of the taxes.”
• Eric and Travis react with surprise, noting it's unusual to hear a billionaire advocate for zero taxes for those earning $75,000.
  • Eric (08:08): “I was gobsmacked...I’ve never heard someone be like, if you’re making like 75 grand, you shouldn’t even pay taxes.”
  • Travis (10:11): “That would not bother me in the least. Bottom 50% of people not paying taxes.”

---

How Taxes (Actually) Work for Billionaires

Timestamp: 13:46–16:18

• Addressing the myth that billionaires like Bezos pay no taxes:
  • Bezos (quoted, 13:46): “People sometimes say I don’t pay taxes. So true. I pay billions.”
  • Bezos (quoted, 15:24): “You could double the taxes I pay, and it’s not going to help that teacher in Queens, I promise you.”
• Both hosts appreciate the honesty and call out the disconnect between popular narratives and the reality of tax statistics.
  • Travis (15:45): “For him to just come out and say, like, I pay billions of dollars in taxes...that’s a crazy thing to have said.”
  • Eric (16:02): “Yeah. I’m just going to say.”

---

The Rent Crisis: Blaming Airbnb, Landlords & Systemic Issues

Timestamp: 16:15–19:54

• The conversation shifts to skyrocketing rents and housing regulation, referencing political efforts in New York and questioning oversimplified solutions.
  • Eric (17:11): “I think there’s something to rent freezes... But so many places... landlords can just keep raising, raising, raising. That’s negative.”
• Travis points out complexity: high rents come from both rising property costs and regulatory frameworks; not just from “greedy landlords.”
  • Travis (18:43): “Did this landlord acquire this building in 1986...or did this landlord buy this building last year and they have to raise rents?”

---

Wealth Solutions Are Nuanced: Dismissing Easy Answers

Timestamp: 22:26–24:06

• Travis highlights that even taxing billionaires at 100% would barely move the needle on government revenue or wealth redistribution.
  • Travis (22:26): “Even if you taxed those people at 100%, it’s still only going to account for a really small...figure in total income taxes...all of these problems are so wildly nuanced and insanely complicated.”
• He compares this nuance to Charity Water’s straightforward, capital-constrained mission, illustrating the difference with ambiguous social problems like high rent.
  • Travis (23:10): “[Charity Water] is a problem we know is fixable...But with problems like this, it’s not a clear solution.”

---

Is the AI Boom a Bubble?

Timestamp: 24:11–27:00

• The hosts discuss Bezos’ optimism about the current AI investment cycle:
  • Bezos (quoted, 24:11): “If it does turn out to be a bubble, you shouldn’t worry... it’s driving investment. A lot of it is going to turn out to be very healthy.”
• Travis and Eric agree that all surges (dot-com, biotech, AI) have speculative phases, but lasting value emerges regardless.
  • Travis (24:36): “That’s a good take. I like that. And it probably is a bubble like most things are.”

---

Tech Tangent: AI Bookmarks, Note-Taking & Being Analog

Timestamp: 25:10–29:33

• A lighter segment on analog vs. digital reading: Eric introduces the idea of an “AI bookmark” device, sparking skeptical amusement, but also some longing for gadget-backed research tools.
  • Eric (25:51): “It’s an AI bookmark. It goes in your book, keeps track of where you are...scan a quote, and it sorts them in a doc...”
• Both acknowledge digital conveniences but love physical books, lamenting the challenge of taking notes from audiobooks.
  • Travis (27:15): “I do like feeling the actual book taking real notes in the margins.”
  • Eric (28:52): “Spotify’s working on [Audiobook/physical page syncing]...if they could merge all this together...”

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Eric (19:35): “I found this interview refreshing because I felt like he said some things where I was like...let’s have that discussion, but let’s also be realistic about what is happening.”
• Travis (24:06): “For somebody to sit at home, with zero expertise...and be like, I know the solution — it’s asinine to me.”
• Eric (30:23): “If you take one thing away from the episode, remember: Jeff Bezos pays zero.”
• Travis (30:26): “Stop saying misinformation.”

---

Final Thoughts

• The episode is a blend of humor and practical insight, bringing often complex and controversial topics—wealth creation, taxes, societal value—down to earth.
• Travis and Eric poke fun at both anti- and pro-billionaire tropes, encourage listeners to focus on actionable financial improvements, and remind us that most economic issues don’t have simple solutions, but starting to make more money is a good first step.

---

Key Timestamps

• 00:53 – Jeff Bezos’ hotness banter
• 02:38 – For-profit vs. charity impact (Bezos quote)
• 06:59 – Nurses and taxes, progressive tax debate (Bezos quote)
• 13:46 – How much tax do billionaires really pay? (Bezos quote)
• 16:15 – Rent crisis and housing regulations
• 24:11 – AI bubble thoughts (Bezos quote)
• 25:10 – Gadget/AI bookmark tangent

---

Tone:
Conversational, humorous, iconoclastic, and grounded in practical reality. Travis and Eric aren’t preaching impossible standards or demonizing spending—they’re educating, laughing, and challenging mainstream ideas about wealth and financial freedom.

Transcript

[Indeed Sponsor]

When you need to build up your team to handle the growing chaos at work, use Indeed Sponsored Jobs. It gives your job posts the boost it needs to be seen and helps reach people with the right skills, certifications and more. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who Check all your boxes. Listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit@ Indeed.com podcast. That's Indeed.com podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs.

[Sponsor Announcer]

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

[Travis]

what is going on, everybody? Welcome back to their episode, the Travis Makes Money podcast. What's our mission to help you make more money on this episode of the show. My producer Eric is in studio. What's up, man?

[Eric]

Isn't it weird that Jeff Bezos is hot now?

[Travis]

Is. Is he hot?

[Eric]

What do you think? What would you give him on a scale of 1 to 10?

[Travis]

I don't know.

[Eric]

You never thought about it? Look at Jeff Bezos. Jeff. Should I just type in Jeff Bezos Hot? It's in my previously searched. It's like suggested to finish incognito mode. No, Jeff Bezos. Well, let's wait for reference. Let's go. Jeff Bezos starting Amazon.

[Travis]

I was gonna say it depends. Like most improved category.

[Eric]

So this is Jeff Bezos. That looks like the man that started Amazon. Yep. Okay, so let's do. Now we'll do Jeff Bezos Hot. Like look, look at Jeff Bezos, bro.

[Travis]

Well done, Jeff.

[Eric]

Look at Jeff Bezos. Look at Jeff Bezos. Now that's a guy that still owns Amazon.

[Travis]

That's a guy that has a trillion dollar company.

[Eric]

So yeah, so shout out Jeff Bezos. But anyway, Jeff Bezos did an interview with cnbc and CNBC said, here's five highlights from the episode. And I watched them and I thought they were all interesting because one of them was something we talked about the other day.

[Travis]

So what you're saying is we're just as smart as Jeff Bezos.

[Eric]

Maybe CNBC level journalism here, but yeah. So here's five things. One of them I talked about. It's the first one he talks about and thought this was interesting. So throw it in there. Look, first comment, my boy Bezos looks like he's building muscles lately.

[Travis]

Nice.

[Eric]

He put a laugh react. So it's not too homoerotic. But he likes it. We all do. We all like it.

[Travis]

Yeah, we're fans.

[Eric]

One could say you're Gazos for Bezos.

[Travis]

Gazos for Bezos.

[Eric]

We should make that as a shirt and sell it on Amazon. Oh, yeah, he would promote that for free.

[Travis]

Yeah, promote the hell out of that area.

[Eric]

What are we talking about? That's the goal now. That's the goal. That's the rule. All right, here we go.

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

Right, right. The value to society and civilization from my for profit companies will be much, much larger.

[Travis]

Right.

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

Than the, than the good that I do with my charitable giving. And I think this is an important point to make because people, people forget or they sometimes don't see that when, you know, when you create something like Amazon and you're saving. I get letters from new mothers all the time that say, like, I have no idea what I would be doing right now if I didn't have Amazon. Thank you. Or what we did in the pandemic when people could really see what an essential service we provided to them. And so, you know, this is. Amazon creates tremendous value. And by the way, all companies are creating value of some kind. That's because that's why people are voluntarily giving them money. If I do my.

[Eric]

So that was something I was talking about the other day where I was like, I feel like, because again, you know, sometimes I'm like, I don't know about the billionaire, because a lot of times when you see a billionaire, like you're doing something sketchy with like some foreign contract with like a military something, but like, and sure, I'm sure Jeff Bezos is no innocent person in that regard. But in terms of Amazon specifically, I just always am like, I can't think of a company that has like, made society as a whole better in so many invisible ways. Like even all the stuff like even

[Travis]

Amazon web services, right? 30 or 40% of their own.

[Eric]

Dude, I was literally about to say, like just aws. Yeah, aws. You know what I mean? Like every website, every, like every SaaS platform. Yeah, like that's just a platform that's a little, you know, you know, has a little attitude, little SaaS platform. Anyway, so I thought that was really good. I thought that was interesting.

[Travis]

Yeah, like, that's something that I don't think, to use Internet vernacular, that is, that's what casuals don't understand about entrepreneurship is that they, they look at it as like, well, rich people should have to give all their money away and how dare they have this much money and you. I'm struggling to pay My bills type of a thing. And, and then they vilify them if they're not at the top of the list of charitable giving. But like you said, the for profit businesses impact.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

Many, many, many, many more lives. Not to mention, like, how many people does Amazon employ?

[Eric]

Like, yeah.

[Travis]

And I do think 600,000 or something.

[Eric]

And of course, I do think there's stuff where it's like, you know, work conditions in certain places, like all that stuff.

[Travis]

Of course. But two things can be true. It's not to say that, like, they can't be improved upon.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

Labor wages should be increased or they should take care. Like, I'm not, I'm not suggesting that that's not the case.

[Eric]

It would be really viral if you did. Can you suggest that we pay less to struggling warehouse workers? You know what? Cut the ac. It costs too much in Vegas. I want my package in an hour and I want them hot and sweaty in there. I want their droplets of sweat smearing the label.

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

Yeah.

[Travis]

I want my box, my, my Amazon box to reek of factory worker sweat. That's why I changed it to Amazon instead of box.

[Eric]

That means.

[Travis]

Okay, that means two things.

[Eric]

Okay, go ahead.

[Travis]

But yeah, I, I, I wholeheartedly agree with that. And not to say that all charities suck, but there's a reason that like 80% of people surveyed mistrust or don't trust charities. So people, people think that that's the only way to give back. And it should. My, my point is just to say that it's not. And, and businesses, by definition, especially when they're that successful, have to be solving a big problem or they would not be that successful. So the, the, the story that it's like, well, you're just a greedy billionaire who doesn't do anything for people. It's like, well, it's hard to say that when there's, like I said, quite literally, you know, the population of Las Vegas in people who are making a living because of the company that, that he created.

[Eric]

Right.

[Travis]

And that's just, and that's in addition to all the stuff that he does.

[Eric]

Charities. And it's addition to people who sell on Amazon, which is like millions of, you know what I mean? Billions and billions of people. Here's the next one. This one's a hot take that I was kind of surprised to see. But I know conservatives would like, just want to rip their skin off when he says this, but here we go.

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

Okay, we'll talk about making the tax system more progressive. How about we start by having the nurse And Queens not pay taxes. Why is somebody at all. Why is some. Why is a nurse in Queens who makes $75,000 a year paying more than $1,000 a month in taxes? That's $1,000 a month. That could help with rent or groceries or anything. And so, and by the way, do you know what that all adds up to? The bottom half of income earners in this country pay only 3% of the taxes.

[Travis]

Crazy.

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

It's only 3%. We can find 3%. So we don't have. It's, it's, it's a small amount of money for the government. You know that. And really, it's. And the more I thought about it, to me, it's kind of absurd that we're doing this. You know, we shouldn't be asking this nurse in Queens to send money to Washington. They should be sending her an apology. So people talk about, you know, his

[Eric]

girlfriend's like, who's this nurse in Queens you keep fighting for? He's like, very specifically, there's this really great nurse, if you guys knew her,

[Travis]

her name is Heather.

[Eric]

She's great. No, I was surprised. I was gobsmacked because I was like, that's such a. Because a lot of times you hear people, like, a lot of times you hear the billionaires say, everybody should pay. That are like, we should just all pay the same percent. We should all pay. Which I think there's easy to poke holes in some of that argument. But I've never heard someone be like, if you're making, like, 75 grand, you shouldn't even pay taxes. Don't even worry about it. What do you think about that take?

[Travis]

I mean, that's a pretty wild stat. That's what. Numbers don't lie.

[Eric]

It almost makes the argument go like, oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, right? Yeah, we can find the 3% elsewhere.

[Travis]

Exactly.

[Eric]

And then basically. But not here.

[Sponsor Voice]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Just to be clear, we can find it somewhere.

[Travis]

What also topples the argument of, like, the 1% should pay more type of a thing? It's like, this is the, the bottom, the bottom 50% are already only paying 3% of total income.

[Eric]

I think I am turning in the truck.

[Travis]

I, I, I feel like doing the accordion movement.

[Eric]

It's, I think it's because I've done it so much as a joke that

[Travis]

now it's just finding its way into your habitual movement.

[Eric]

You ever notice when you watch a lot of Harrison Ford movies, you find yourself a lot.

[Travis]

I find myself dropping my hat at doorways and then sliding out and Grabbing.

[Eric]

Yeah, that's very funny. That was good. Good improv. Thank you, wise guys. It's 7pm tonight.

[Travis]

That's tonight.

[Eric]

We'll see it. We'll see you there. I'll be in character. I go, that would be so funny to do your first open mic in full character with no explanation as Trump with no jokes. Hey, everybody. Goodbye.

[Travis]

Saying random things. All right, anyway, yeah, I've. I've. I mean, first of all, that's why I love Ron Swanson.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

From Parks and Rec, when he was like, there was an episode where he was getting audited and he goes, first of all, income tax is illegal. And it was like, that is funny. Also, I don't like income tax at all. I think it's silly and it's not something that's been around for a long period of time. So that would not bother me in the least. Bottom 50% of people not paying taxes.

[Eric]

Oh.

[Travis]

I don't know if it's the best solution, but frankly, I haven't thought a bunch about solutions to income tax. I just pay mine and then move on. But as far as solutions go, knowing that it's only 3% and knowing how much money it would like, how much it would benefit those people, why not?

[Eric]

I'm so mad because I just remembered I had a really funny joke the other day and I was like, I don't need to write it down. I'll just remember it. And I just. Now I remember that it's gone. I don't remember what it was, though. Always. Right. I did tell you this one, though, right? My opener, if I do open mic is going to be like. You know, the first thought I had when they invited me to open mic is, how long has this mic been closed? Did I tell you that one?

[Travis]

You did, but I liked it better with the.

[Sponsor Announcer]

This episode of the show is brought to you by Wayfair. Your outdoor space should feel like you. And let me tell you guys, mine didn't for a very long time.

[Travis]

You know, you get all these, like,

[Sponsor Announcer]

hand me down plastic patio chairs and random stuff like that. Well, not this time. This summer, we are fully equipped thanks to Wayfair. I'm always surprised at the types of pieces that I can find on Wayfair that match the exact vibe that we're looking for. Every style for every outdoor space. Whether it's modern, coastal, farmhouse, or eclectic, Wayfair has options to help you create an outdoor space that is uniquely yours. You can find everything that you need all in one place. And the delivery is something that you can actually trust. There's even installation and assembly services that are available for a truly seamless experience. There's over 20 million verified 5 star reviews which will help you make the right call. They're from real customers, real feedback and real homes. And you can shop with Wayfair Verified, AKA your shortcut to the good stuff. Their team of product specialists vest vets everything by hand using a 10 point quality inspection so you know that you're getting a quality piece no matter your budget. So get prepped for patio season. For way less. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W A Y-F-A-I-R.com Wayfair Every style, every home.

[Travis]

This episode of the show is brought

[Sponsor Announcer]

to you by Dell PCs.

[Travis]

Dell PCs with Intel inside are built for the moments that matter.

[Sponsor Announcer]

For the moments you plan and the

[Travis]

ones ones you don't. Built for the busy days that turn into all night study sessions.

[Sponsor Announcer]

The moment you're working from a cafe

[Travis]

and realize every outlet's already taken.

[Sponsor Announcer]

The times that you're deep in your

[Travis]

flow and the absolute last thing you need is an auto update throwing off your momentum. That's why Dell builds tech that adapts

[Sponsor Announcer]

to the way that you actually work.

[Travis]

Built with long lasting battery life so

[Sponsor Announcer]

you're not scrambling for the closest outlet. And built in intelligence that makes updates around your schedule, not in the middle of it.

[Travis]

They don't build tech for tech's sake, they build it for you.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Find technology built for the way you

[Travis]

[e-mail] DellPCS that's Dell.com DellPCS Dell built for you first iteration.

[Eric]

What was my first iteration?

[Travis]

I think it was something like, like who's Mike and why is it closed? Why do we need to open them or something?

[Eric]

I don't know. Well, I do have another joke. Jeff Bezos says the bottom half of earners should pay zero income taxes. I want to know how much does their top half have to pay? Okay, that one's pretty good.

[Travis]

Try it out, bro. Seven o'.

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

Clock.

[Eric]

Why is it, man, my bottom half is really hurting this tax season, but my top half is. All right, here we go. Next one.

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

People sometimes say that I don't pay taxes. So true. I pay billions.

[Eric]

Hey Jeff, talk much? Get it out. You know what I will say the ind, you know what I love is CNBC is a very large organization that's been around a very long time and they're like, where should we do our interview? Or one on one with Jeff Bezos. How about we do it next to this assembly line where they're blowing?

[Travis]

Should we do it in that closed office? They're like, no, there's. It's way too quiet in here.

[Eric]

No, let's get. We need the slightly out of focus background that indicates we're in a factory that we could definitely not add in post.

[Travis]

Also, the most noise possible anyway.

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

Some taxes. And it's a perfect. Again, if people want me to pay more billions. Right. Then let's have that debate. But don't pretend you know that this. That that's going to solve the problem. You could. You could double the taxes I pay, and it's not going to help that teacher in Queens, I promise you. This is so teacher and a nurse. Connect those two things. Not logically. You know, there are more examples. Why is rent expensive? Why is rent so expensive? I recently saw somebody blamed it on Airbnb. Okay. Airbnb is not the cost of expensive rent. In fact, it's been almost. No, let me finish here. One sec. It's already been outlawed. Right. In New York City, and rents are still very high. So we know airbnb isn't causing high rents.

[Travis]

Yeah, that's. I mean, I'm glad that he was willing to just say it, because there's so many people that just believe that narrative that. That he pays no money in taxes.

[Eric]

Oh, yeah, he doesn't.

[Travis]

For him to just be like, he doesn't, though. Don't do that.

[Eric]

He pays zero. You know how much Chef Bezos paid in tax last year? Zero. While you, the working man, a nurse in Queens, while you, a young working woman who's moonlighting as a teacher, you teach at night, you nurse in the day. You teach at night. It's a very realistic.

[Travis]

Poor Heather.

[Eric]

Poor.

[Travis]

But, yeah, for him to just come out and say, like, I. I pay billions of dollars in taxes is for. Is. That's a crazy thing to have said.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

Like, I. Not. I've made billions of dollars.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

I have paid billions of dollars in taxes. Crazy.

[Eric]

Yeah. Yeah. I'm just going to say. Somebody would lead into a whole nother conversation, because I was going to say about. Okay, here we go. Like, I think I was gonna say something, but it involves Mom, Donnie, and I don't want to get into it.

[Travis]

Oh, I see.

[Eric]

Okay. But I think. I think. Okay, let me just say it.

[Travis]

Okay.

[Eric]

I don't want you to. I want.

[Travis]

I'm not gonna take the bait. But you just.

[Eric]

I'm gonna go as a full liberal, and I'm gonna say my opinion and don't tell me why I'm wrong. No, I'm just kidding. I think when it comes to the Ren thing, I think Mamdani is doing something right in this one specific area. Don't shoot me, please, Mark. I know you're listening. No, but I was gonna say what I think is good in New York specifically is right now he's doing a lot of initiatives to go in and look at major issues and violations within rental properties where they're basically patching a room together and raising the rent, pushing someone out, putting someone else in low. So I think the fact that they're going in and actually examining those and taking to landlords in that area and saying, you have to fix this or we're going to start stacking tons of fees onto you.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Eric]

To basically, like, retroactively, like, basically take all the things that retroactively have affected your renter for, like, the last 10 years and just slam, slam you with those and push you out, basically. I think there's something to that. Hold on. I feel like Jeff Bezos. Hold on, hold on. And I'm saying, too, I think also, like, the. The reason rent so expensive is because, again, it's one of the downsides of capitalism is that there really are, in so many places, so many loose regulations in terms of like, okay, we can just keep raising, raising, raising. And I think there is something to rent freezes. I think there is something to having a set standard, like, you can't go above this in this area, because I think that's negative. I think that's. Hold on. Getting red. You're getting angry. I can tell you're mad. I think there's something to that on the flip side, though, too, just to make the landlords happy. If you're listening. Okay. I was going to say it's the same issue that you see in certain places. Like, you're seeing areas get affected where there's such strong tenant laws, where someone can just squat in a property for like a year, I think that's bad, too. I think. And, like, that stuff also negatively impacts. So I think the approach doesn't need to be like, oh, it's Airbnb's fault, or it's like even an investor's fault. It's more like, okay, are people buying an investment property and then just jacking the rent as high as possible and demanding that? Because where else are you going to live? Yeah, I think that's the place to approach more than, like, where it becomes pretty. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Okay. Okay. Is that okay?

[Travis]

It's just like, it just. There's not enough resources to understand because rents are also high, because prices are really high. So it's also like, did this landlord acquire this building in 1986 and they have no mortgage on it and their continued increasing rents? Or did this landlord buy this building last year and they have to raise rents in order to pay their mortgage because the piece of real estate was that high? Yeah, but if so, like, is the option just to let the piece of real estate just default and then nobody picks it up and then. And nobody's upkeeping the building and then it becomes like a slumlord. But that's why housing situation.

[Eric]

But that's why the government should own all housing and they should choose where we live. That's a joke. That's a joke.

[Travis]

I want to be clear.

[Eric]

That's a very big joke.

[Travis]

But yeah, there's nuance to those things because prices are going up. It does. It is expensive to maintain.

[Eric]

But again, I found this interview refreshing because I felt like he said some things where I was like. And I like David's like, you know, if I should be paying more, which I think, you know, I'm of the opinion maybe, I don't know, but let's not do that. But I was just saying, I think he said a lot of things where I'm like, yeah, let's have that discussion, but let's also be realistic about what is happening.

[Travis]

But his broader point was to. Was to say that, like, if you want to have that conversation, we can have that conversation, but the conversation that you guys are all having is a pretend one because it's not factual.

[Sponsor Announcer]

This episode of the show is brought to you by Fanview. Fanview is a creator monetization platform that enables individuals to build, grow, and monetize their own digital content businesses. You guys know we talk about this all the time here on the show. And so I was excited to do this partnership with Fan View because it's a great platform. They have the ability to share exclusive content with your subscribers over there. You can build direct relationships with your audience through their platform, generate recurring income through fan support. So if you are somebody who has. Has a creator channel or you are thinking about starting a creator channel, you're not sure exactly how to monetize it. Well, Fanview is a great platform to do that through. It's super accessible for beginners. You can make it feel extremely personal to you and to your audience. The connection that you can gain. No matter what you niche you're in, you can use Fanview as your platform so you can monetize your content. You can earn as much as you possibly can. It's super low barrier to entry to entry. So it's really easy to get started and there's no experience or audience needed in order to be able to get started making money on the platform. Not to mention it's crazy, crazy scalable. So you guys know we talk about side hustles on the show all the time. The couple of the parameters that I look for is is it really easy to start, low barrier to entry to start. And if it starts going well, is it something that's potentially scalable beyond what your full time job is capable of earning you? And Fanview definitely has those potential things there. So if you're already creator or you're thinking about becoming creator and you're not exactly sure how to monetize the platform that you're building, then go check out FanView. Visit www.FanView.com today and launch your creator career. That's Fanview. F A n v u e.com fanview.com

[Marvel Promo Voice]

where is daredevil?

[Sponsor Voice]

I'm right here.

[Marvel Promo Voice]

Don't miss the return of Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again.

[Sponsor Voice]

So what's next?

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

I feel liberated.

[Travis]

We're gonna take this city back over

[Marvel Promo Voice]

medicated in an all new season now streaming only on Disney plus.

[Sponsor Voice]

They're hunting us. It's time we started hunting them.

[Travis]

I can work with them. This should be tons of fun.

[Marvel Promo Voice]

Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again now streaming only on Disney Plus.

[Eric]

Yeah, true.

[Travis]

I am not paying $0 in taxes. I'm paying billions of dollars in taxes. If you think I should pay more, that's another conversation which gets into the idea of like, even if you taxed Those people at 100% tax rate, it's still only going to account for like a really small like dollar figure in terms of the total amount of income taxes being paid. And then you're just discouraging innovation and discouraging entrepreneurship and this. So it's just such a. I, I just, I love how so many people just sit on the couch as the armchair expert and have this like, solution to the problem, like if they were elected president tomorrow that they would just fix all of our problems. It's like all of these problems are so wildly nuanced and are insanely complicated to fix.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

Which is why they don't get fixed. It's not because, like, oh well, we could fit like the one had Scott Harrison on the founder of Charity Water. That's what I love so much about that charity is like, this is a problem that we know is fixable. It's literally the only constraint is capital. It's like, we can bring clean water to the entire planet. We know how to do it. We literally the only constraint here is capital. That would be one thing. But with problems like this, it's not a clear solution because like, okay, rental price, like rent is high. Okay. But also housing prices are high. Well, what's causing housing prices to go high? It's like, well, like there's. There's so much nuance and depending on geography in the country. It's a huge country. There's 400 million people in the country. There's a lot of different people, different context, backgrounds, cultures. Money. No money. Like there's, it's such a nuanced issue. So for somebody to sit at home and, and you know, have zero expertise in any of this and be like, I know the solution. It's, this is just, it's asinine to me.

[Eric]

Yeah. So what you're saying is Jeff Bezos pays $0 in taxes. Chas. All right, here we go.

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

No, and if it does turn out to be a bubble, you shouldn't worry about it because the bubble is driving investment and a lot of the investment is going to turn out to be very healthy. It's like the biotech bubble when it burst in the 1990s. A lot of investors lost money on certain things. But we've still got to keep all the life saving drugs that they had invented. Even if it does turn out.

[Travis]

That's a good take.

[Eric]

Okay, next.

[Travis]

It's a good take. I like that. And it probably is a bubble like most things are.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

Like when they first, when they first start, when something first takes off, it just. It inflates so artificially that it can't help but pop. And then, and then at some point it's gotta come back down and be realistic.

[Eric]

Inflates artificially. AI dude, the other day, this is how I knew. I was like, AI is gonna just. There's so many companies that are just gonna, that are like riding the AI wave right now. Yeah. I saw a thing the other day. It was a AI bookmark.

[Travis]

What?

[Eric]

And I was like, that sounds so stupid, dude.

[Travis]

For ebooks?

[Eric]

No, for books. But also then I started reading. I was like. And then I was like, I'm not gonna pitch on this. I bought six. No, honestly, I'm like, I'm pushing back so much against, like, being more in the digital. Like, I'm going so analog. Analog, yeah. Which feels so hipster. I'm getting anal. I don't use your AI.

[Travis]

That's so millennial.

[Eric]

Okay. But the idea was kind of cool. So basically, it's an AI bookmark. Now I'm going to sell. There's an affiliate link in the show notes. It was an AI bookmark. I would never buy it because I just don't want this. I don't want it. I don't want it.

[Travis]

Okay, Just explain what it is.

[Eric]

But it is cool. It's an AI bookmark. It goes in your book. Okay. It keeps track of where you are in the book. And then basically it has on the top a little scanner where you can, like, scan a quote and it starts sorting them into a doc. You're like, what's the company?

[Travis]

Yeah. What is that called then?

[Eric]

But so. And then you can also, like, record notes into the bookmark and all this stuff. Your eyes are light. You're like, that sounds so awesome. And it tells you what book it's from. It always keeps track of where it is in the book and all this sort of stuff. And so I was like, oh, that's kind of neat. But then I was just like. Even though that would be. Because for a second I was like, that'd be great for research and get to do this. But then I was like, the more things you add, like these gadgets that save you time, eventually you just have too many to where you're just going like, okay, now let me get on my AI bookmark to scan this. We're just gonna go into here. I'm gonna record a note versus just reading the book and writing a note down really quick and just having it. I don't know. It was just like, See, this is the kind of stuff I feel like in like, 10 years where I'm like, AI bookmarks. People are buying that. Or AI.

[Travis]

But I like that better than reading an ebook.

[Eric]

No, I hate ebooks.

[Travis]

That's what I'm saying. I would way rather have a physical book.

[Eric]

But do you read any ebooks?

[Travis]

No.

[Eric]

You use a Kindle. Have you ever tried?

[Travis]

I've tried. Well, to be fair, I only tried it on my iPad, which is not the adjusted brightness. The only one that I feel like I could get the paper is the paper one.

[Eric]

I just love, but feeling a taste.

[Travis]

But I do like feeling the actual book taking real notes in the margins.

[Eric]

This is the stuff that, like, our kids will Laugh at it like, you like physical.

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

Oh, yeah.

[Eric]

Okay, dad. Back in my day, we turned the pages. Alexa, turn the page.

[Travis]

I would get that AI bookmark, though, because that is the one bummer about having.

[Eric]

No, I didn't. I didn't really.

[Travis]

But we just gave me a fist bump for no reason then. Because I like reading physical books. But that is the downside is that it's like, if I'm traveling and I'm like, oh, I'm working on a project, and I'm like, I remember reading something in that book, but the book's at my house. Like, it'd be cool to have a centralized note taking place for all of my books that I would be able to do from reading it versus, like, pulling out my phone or my computer and typing.

[Eric]

And I do, like, the only thing I really like AI for is research. I love it. I love it because it can go through thousands of pages of web searches

[Travis]

and all that, find what's useful.

[Eric]

Yeah, that's good. But I was gonna say, the one thing I want them to figure out is how to make note taking from audiobooks better. Because I was listening to audiobook today on my walk. It was giving me 10,000 steps first thing in the morning. And I wish I could almost, when I'm listening, go wait. Or record that without having to take out hit clip. Hope it clipped the right section. And then also Spotify's working on something. If they could merge all this together. Spotify is working on right now where in your audiobooks. You can also type in the page number you're on in the physical copy and it'll find it in audio.

[Travis]

Yeah, I did see that.

[Eric]

And I wish you could, like, I wish they could refine that perfectly, but it's still.

[Travis]

Yeah, because I had to stop listening to audiobooks at the gym because I would just find myself having to, like, hit pause and then rewind and then stop my set and then open my notes and then type something in that I just heard and then press play and make sure I heard it the

[Eric]

right way to get off your soul cycle.

[Travis]

And, like, it was too much note taking that was required, which is why I just stick to podcasts at the gym now.

[Eric]

When I was at the gym last, I was there with Jackie and the real gym, not my apartment gym. I was at the real gym. All I was thinking was, I hope my legs don't give out. And I couldn't have listened to audiobook. I was just shaking.

[Travis]

That's fair.

[Eric]

I do shake when I listen to audiobooks. But only if they're horror. I'll work on that one. Here we go.

[Jeff Bezos (quoted)]

The second piece, which is not so good, is to go stand in front of Ken Griffin's house and act like he is some kind of villain.

[Eric]

Oh, yeah. Did you see that?

[Travis]

No.

[Eric]

Was that Momnani or was it somebody else? Somebody went out.

[Travis]

Okay, but real quick, can we pause? Because I really gotta pee.

[Eric]

No, wait, we're almost done.

[Travis]

I've been holding this in for five minutes.

[Eric]

We don't need to talk about this one. This one's too nuanced, and it's a whole nother episode. Let's close out right now because Travis has to go to the bathroom.

[Travis]

I do have to pee.

[Eric]

But before we do that, we have three more points to get.

[Travis]

No, no, no.

[Eric]

It's like you're seeing Church and waiting for him to close. You're like, I don't want to get up during the service.

[Travis]

You gotta wait for him.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Travis]

Anyway, for everybody listening, thanks so much for tuning in. Remember, money only solves your money problems. But it's easier to solve the rest of your problems when you got money in the bank. So let's start there. Here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Catch.

[Eric]

Next time, if you take one thing away from the episode, remember Jeff Bezos pays zero.

[Travis]

Stop saying misinformation.

[Eric]

$0 in taxes.

[Sponsor Voice]

When you manage procurement for multiple facilities, every order matters. But when it's for a hospital system, they matter even more. Great. Grainger gets it and knows there's no time for managing multiple suppliers and no room for shipping delays. That's why Grainger offers millions of products in fast, dependable delivery so you can keep your facility stocked, safe, and running smoothly. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.