... and that's a wrap

Brian Hamor built a cleaning business in 3 days to fund his real startup. That company, BuyerExperience, is now doing over six figures and growing. But getting there wasn’t a straight line: two years making zero dollars at his first company (now at over 7 figures), a co-founder who tried to blackmail him out of equity, and a $10k sale he closed in 3 weeks before the product even existed.In this episode of The Seen, we dive into:- How to sell before you’ve built anything (and why you should)- The exact cold-DM method he used to land a dream job with no experience- What you need to consider before deciding whether to bootstrap or raise (that VCs won’t tell you)- Why he’s never applied to a company in his life (and what he does instead)- How he built a passive service business (in 3 days!) that makes him $60-80k a yearFollow Brian:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhamor/Show notes:(0:00) Trailer(1:05) Welcome Brian Hamor to The Seen(1:21) From pro basketball to founder(2:37) Medical sales to software: starting a company he knew nothing about(3:49) Finding the real problem (and why it wasn't the one they started with)(4:50) The confidence to leave a stable job for the unknown(5:34) Two years, zero dollars: what building with no traction actually feels like(6:57) The pivot that saved Play Easy (and how COVID accelerated it)(9:52) Why they skipped VC(10:26) The first deal: $15K ARR sold off an idea(13:54) Leaving Play Easy for "skill acquisition mode"(17:34) Studying buyer psychology instead of sales books(20:22) The Bezos principle: building fundamentals before layering on AI(21:53) The cold-DM method that landed his first sales job(23:32) His framework for prepping for any meeting(26:06) The Uber Eats analogy that led to BuyerExperience(27:47) 80% of deals close "lost"- and nobody knows why(28:23) From live interviews to AI surveys at scale(32:58) Staying "oddly confident" through 2 years of building(33:47) Three failed co-founder searches (and a blackmail attempt)(35:15) The non-technical founder's playbook: hire the architecture first(37:12) Selling off a Figma file before writing a line of code(38:21) Building a cleaning company in 3 days for cash flow(41:08) Why service businesses are so hard to scale(42:17) BuyerExperience crosses six figures(42:33) The scene is yours

Dan Porter sold his first company to Ticketmaster for $40 million with his college roommate. Then he built the #1 game in the world, right when his company was on the brink of failure. At that point, he wasn’t even a game designer himself, but his app DrawSomething was downloaded a quarter of a billion times. Within 6 weeks of launching it, he’d sold it for $200 million. Now he’s the co-founder and CEO of Overtime, a media company with over 115 million followers that’s raised over $100 million, with investors including Jeff Bezos, Drake, and dozens of NBA players. Oh and in his spare time, he just helped a 17-year-old basketball player turn the “67” meme into one of the most followed water brands ever.In this episode of TheSeen, we dive into:- How he negotiated from a $120M acquisition to $200M- How NOT selling Overtime merchandise led to tens of millions of dollars- The one filter that will tell you whether an idea is worth pursuing or investing in- The unconventional growth strategy (including purposefully trolling your fans in the comments) that got Overtime over 115M followers- Why he told his boss not to invest in ideas that looked like the next big thing (and was right)Follow Dan:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danporter/Overtime - https://overtime.tv/Show notes:(0:00) Trailer(1:08) The journey of Dan Porter- from teacher to entrepreneur(2:12) The importance of customer development(21:12) Not your typical game designer(27:38) $50M term sheet vs $200M acquisition(33:34) Making fun the culture(36:57) WME & creating the basis of the creator economy(42:25) Investing in Glossier, Masterclass, Splice...(45:44) The start of Overtime(50:03) Overtime's revenue streams(53:27) 67 Water(56:24) >115M followers(58:40) The scene is yours

Eric McHugh quit his consulting job with no backup plan and went all-in on crypto back before most had even heard of Bitcoin. Since then, he’s built in Web3, worked inside one of the world’s top startup incubators, and is now building Dataing- an AI-powered platform changing the way modern dating will work entirely.In this episode of The Seen, we dive into:- The secret LinkedIn strategy that brings you jobs and investors (without even applying)- Why data will become the most valuable resource of the next decade (and how he’s building around it)- The one mindset shift that separates high-performers from everyone else- What advising bankrupt Fortune 500 companies taught him about growthFollow Eric:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericdouglasmchugh/Dataing - https://dataing.io 

In less than 16 hours, Troy Munson went from idea to 12 companies ready to pay. He’s gone on to build and sell multiple startups, navigating six-figure exits while still working full-time. But now he’s gone all-in on the latest side gig, scaling it from 15 companies to over 1,000 requesting access in under five months. If you think you move fast, this will truly break your frame.In this episode of The Seen, we dive into:- Exactly how YOU can make $15k/month in profit RIGHT NOW- How he grew his LinkedIn to drive 90% of his revenue- The real math behind scaling and selling a SaaS company- How to get companies to pay before you even have a platform- The worst mistake you can make when getting acquired (and how to avoid it)Follow Troy:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/troymunson/TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@eatwithtroyInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/eatwithtroy/ 

In this closing episode of 2025, Kaia breaks down the biggest lessons from every founder, builder, and operator, who was on the show this year.She dives into:- The common threads every top performer shared- The moments (and mess-ups) behind the scenes that you've never heard- The takeaways you need to hear before 2026- The secret sauce of The Seen (AKA how the magic happens)Thank you everyone for being here this year.We'll see you in 2026 ;)Kaia's LinkedIn that she kept mentioning - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaia-tham/

As the founder of the Dumont Project (now acquired by Cart.com, valued at $1.6B), Dawn Perdew has managed over $5B in ad spend for some of the biggest brands in the world.In this episode of The Seen, we dive into:- The one metric every company should be watching daily- How Fortune 500 companies and startups should think very differently about scale- The early warning signs that your company is going to fail- The biggest mistakes founders make when scaling paid media- The most underrated forms of advertising (that you probably haven’t even heard of)Follow Dawn:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawndumontperdew/ 

Take one look at Rupert Barksfield’s LinkedIn and you’ll wonder how one person has done all that he has.  A serial entrepreneur who has founded companies across Web3, AI, fintech, medtech, crypto, and more, Rupert is someone whose career looks almost impossible on paper, until you hear the story behind it.In this episode of The Seen, we dive into:- The fundraising mistakes that kill startups, and how Rupert avoided them while raising $30M- The exact playbook he uses to build a startup from scratch across any industry- The validation test that every founder should do right away- How to build momentum in the first 6-12 months- The one signal that tells him a founder is going to make itFollow Rupert:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rupert-barksfield/

This is the only interview where the guest isn’t alive (technically).  After interviewing Kunal Gupta last week about scaling his newsletter to $1M, raising $80M for his first company, and his experiments on life, we decided to push the interview one step further… And interview his AI clone.In this episode of The Seen we ask AI Kunal everything we didn’t get to in the human interview.  We dive into:- Why he never monetised Pivot 5 with paid subscription- How to implement an AI agent in your life (right now)- The exact conversation that landed him Time Inc as a client- How he validated his earliest AI pilots in his business (step-by-step)- What he would do today to grow a newsletter to 10, 1000, and 10 000 subscribersFollow Kunal:Talk to his AI - https://kunal.live LinkedIn - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/bykunal/⁠Personal Website - ⁠https://kunal.live/⁠Blog - ⁠https://www.howto.live/⁠Pivot 5 - ⁠https://join.pivot5ai.com/⁠Books - ⁠https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kunal-Gupta/author/B0CKLTXMM4?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

He once raised over $80 million for his first company.  Now, Kunal Gupta’s built a $1M newsletter with over 1 million subscribers… all with zero humans involved.  From building companies, to running experiments on life (like going 2 years without buying a single thing), Kunal challenges what it really means to create, scale, and to live with intention.In this episode of The Seen, we dive into:- The first thing you should do before starting a business- The exact stack Kunal used to build a $1M ARR AI-native company- Why fundraising shouldn’t actually be hard- How to leverage AI to get ahead- The most underrated habits to level up in life and business- How to spot real problems worth solving (and filter out fake ones)Follow Kunal:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bykunal/Personal Website - https://kunal.live/Blog - https://www.howto.live/Pivot 5 - https://join.pivot5ai.com/Books - https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kunal-Gupta/author/B0CKLTXMM4?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

What began as a late-night game between roommates transformed into Pictionary, a global phenomenon that sold over 38 million copies and generated over $1.2 billion in sales.  In this episode, Rob Angel shares how a 22-year-old waiter with no money, no experience, and no plan turned a backyard idea into one of the most successful games of all time.  From reading the dictionary cover-to-cover to turning down a multi-million-dollar deal, Rob reveals the moments that defined his inspirational journey, and the lessons every entrepreneur should hear.In this episode of The Seen, we dive into:- Why Pictionary nearly failed before it ever hit the shelves- How to build a billion dollar brand without funding, experience, or a plan- What to do when everything goes wrong (because it will)- How to turn a random idea into a real product- The unexpected marketing strategy that made Pictionary go viral (before the internet)Follow Robert:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobangel/