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My First Million

$10M Business ideas w/ The Most Interesting Guy In Tech

Published November 26, 2025
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About This Episode

The hosts talk with investor and entrepreneur Shiel about housing affordability policies like a proposed 50-year mortgage, several AI-enabled business ideas for service industries, and health and longevity trends including peptides and EMS training. He shares his personal journey using surrogacy, the business opportunities and constraints in that space, and observations about prediction markets and San Francisco tech culture. They close with his contrarian view that most books are a waste of time compared to podcasts and his practice of emailing CEOs directly when brand experiences go wrong.

Topics Covered

Entrepreneurship Artificial intelligence GLP-1 agonists Prediction markets Surrogacy Longevity Electronic muscle stimulation (EMS) Side hustles Personal development

Disclaimer: We provide independent summaries of podcasts and are not affiliated with or endorsed in any way by any podcast or creator. All podcast names and content are the property of their respective owners. The views and opinions expressed within the podcasts belong solely to the original hosts and guests and do not reflect the views or positions of Summapod.

Quick Takeaways

  • Extending mortgages from 30 to 50 years is criticized as a demand-side fix that barely lowers monthly payments, slows equity build-up, and mainly inflates housing prices unless supply constraints are addressed.
  • There is a sizable opportunity to use AI and satellite imagery to automate quoting and design for backyards, roofing, pools, and similar home services, saving contractors time and boosting conversion by responding faster.
  • Service businesses share a common workflow that can be largely automated with AI voice agents acting as a 24/7 office manager, handling calls, scheduling, and follow-ups far more consistently than humans.
  • Peptides, including GLP-1-related compounds, are widely and somewhat informally used in San Francisco longevity circles, suggesting an opportunity for trusted education, dosing guidance, and supply-chain legitimacy once regulations clarify.
  • Surrogacy is growing quickly yet constrained by a shortage of carriers and fragmented agencies, creating room for a larger, more efficient matching platform that better aligns on values, medical preferences, and ongoing relationship expectations.
  • EMS training, especially via full-body suits in guided classes, is described as an intense, efficient workout with strong anecdotal results, suggesting a "Barry's Bootcamp for EMS" could be both effective and highly marketable.
  • Prediction markets have moved beyond elections into many domains and often anticipate outcomes uncannily well, but they raise questions about legality and participants influencing events they are betting on.
  • Shiel argues that one podcast or talk from an author usually delivers most of a business book's value, and he prefers dense, repeated exposure to a few great ideas over reading many full-length books.
  • Emailing founders or CEOs directly after a poor brand experience has yielded him fast, white-glove responses and operational fixes, and he believes many owners genuinely want this feedback before it turns into public bad reviews.

Podcast Notes

Introduction and Shiel's background

Hosts frame Shiel as the "most interesting man in tech"

They list several unconventional ways Shiel has made money[0:03]
• He created a domain auction business and made millions from it
• He was involved with a credit card processing company related to Fee Fighters
• He now runs a $450 million fund and is seen as the go-to fintech gut-check for the hosts
• He helped start Thistle, a food delivery business doing over $100 million a year in revenue
Hosts highlight his quirky personal life details[0:57]
• They mention he got married in the metaverse at a Taco Bell

Impact of previous podcast appearances on Shiel's life

Chief of staff hire came directly from a listener[2:07]
• A fan of the show applied to be his chief of staff and accepted a pay cut to work with him after seeing him on the podcast
Audience connections helped him level up skills[3:00]
• After he mentioned wanting to improve photography and video with AI, a listener named Jacob took him around New York for hours and taught him techniques
Positive experience with the podcast audience[3:00]
• He says YouTube comments, usually a "cesspool," were surprisingly kind about his previous appearance

Debate on 50-year mortgages and housing affordability

Context for the 50-year mortgage proposal

Trump proposes extending U.S. mortgages to 50 years to address housing affordability[4:12]
Current norm is a 30-year mortgage in the U.S.[4:04]

Why Shiel thinks 50-year mortgages are a bad idea

Longer term barely changes payments and slows equity build-up[4:42]
• Average homeowner stays in a house about 6-7 years, so with a 50-year mortgage they would build almost no equity by the time they move
50-year term likely inflates asset prices instead of improving affordability[4:19]
• He explains that when payments go down due to longer terms or lower rates, sellers just raise prices because buyers think in terms of monthly payment, not total price

Historical example: Japan's mortgage extensions and asset bubble

Japan extended mortgages to 50 and even 100 years in the 1980s[6:19]
• Interest rates were near zero and asset prices soared, creating a massive real estate bubble
• At the peak, the land under Tokyo's Imperial Palace (about half a square mile) was worth more than all real estate in California
• After the bubble burst, Tokyo home prices fell and remained roughly half of their 1989 level decades later
High leverage becomes dangerous when prices decline[6:25]

Role of home equity in American retirement

30-year mortgages were designed for an older model of American life[4:17]
• Assumption was buying in late 20s and retiring around 60 with the home fully paid off
Home equity dominates Americans' retirement wealth[5:39]
• For the median American retiree, about 80% of net worth is home equity
• Because the equity is locked in housing, people cannot easily spend it, which indirectly helps preserve retirement savings

Affordability, lifestyle expectations, and supply-side solutions

Comparison of 1960s lifestyle vs. today's expectations[8:20]
• In the 1960s, a middle-class family might have a road-trip vacation to a state park once a year, rarely flew, lived in a smaller home, and seldom ate out
• Modern young people often want international travel, large new homes with multiple AC units, and high-end finishes
Hosts question whether things are less affordable or if people simply want more[8:20]
Example from TV show "The Wonder Years" to illustrate past tradeoffs[9:36]
• Single breadwinner households were possible but often involved grueling factory work, health issues like "black lung," and limited enjoyment

Shiel's preferred solution: increase housing supply, not demand

He dislikes demand-side interventions like stretching mortgage terms[10:16]
• Reasoning: With fixed housing supply, juicing demand simply bids up prices instead of improving affordability
He favors making it easier and cheaper to build more housing via permitting and regulatory reform[10:12]

Business Idea #1: AI-based quoting and design for backyards and home services

Current pain points in backyard and landscaping projects

Shiel describes his frustrating experience redoing his backyard[11:35]
• Scheduling landscapers is difficult; they take a long time to respond and often drive long distances just to take basic measurements
• After measuring, landscapers often take a week to provide a quote, making him doubt their reliability
Speed of response is key to winning business[11:57]
• A founder in the space told him quick callbacks dramatically increase the chance of closing jobs that can be $50,000-sized purchases

Proposed AI solution for design and quoting

Use satellite imagery and AI to pre-measure and design backyards[12:45]
• Customer could just provide an address and the system could infer backyard layout and measurements from satellite data
• Contractor could arrive with an iPad showing multiple design options overlaid on the actual property instead of wasting an initial visit on measuring

Example: Deep Lawn for lawn-care quoting

Deep Lawn automates lawn-care quotes using imagery and AI[13:05]
• Lawn-care providers input an address, the system estimates grass square footage and applies the provider's pricing to give instant quotes
• Deep Lawn charges a few dollars per quote but scales because of the huge number of lawns and lawn-care companies

Analogous business in roofing

Roofer.com uses imagery and possibly drones to automate roof quotes[14:14]
• Roofers typically spend time climbing roofs just to bid jobs, a step they dislike and that doesn't earn money directly
• By outsourcing quoting to Roofer.com, contractors can respond faster, do more quotes per week, and improve conversion without extra labor

Expansion beyond backyards and roofs

Same blueprint could work for multiple outdoor installations[15:13]
• He lists pools, decks, pergolas, playgrounds, fences, and outdoor kitchens as obvious adjacent categories

Comparisons to tech-enabled bathroom renovation startups

Made.com and Block Renovation used menu-style bathroom designs[16:27]
• Founders like Roger (from Gixter/Mafia Wars) and a Casper cofounder offered a small set of predefined bathroom looks customers could pick from
• They acquired customers with Facebook ads and simplified choices, much like a barber offering a numbered style menu
Those businesses showed demand but are operationally complex[17:05]
• Coordinating contractors, quality, and customer expectations for full remodels can lead to bad reviews and makes the business hard to run

Why Shiel likes the software-only model

A quoting/design tool avoids construction execution risk[16:51]
• You sell to service providers, automate quoting and design, and are not responsible for project delays or craftsmanship
He believes a lean team could build a $10M+ revenue business in this niche[17:27]

Cultural joke about handiness

They joke about the stereotype that Indian men are not handy[18:34]
• Sam shares a story of his dad, an apartment owner, being reviewed as a "MacGyver" type who improvises fixes without proper tools

Business Idea #2: AI office manager and AI voice for service businesses

Common workflow of service businesses

Typical steps are the same across landscapers, roofers, etc.[20:07]
• Workflow: answering calls, scheduling jobs, dispatching crews, sending estimates, booking work, and requesting reviews

AI voice as a key unlock

Shiel thinks people underestimate how good AI voice already is[20:54]
• He cites Bill Ackman posting a clearly fake Elon Musk video and being unsure if it was AI, as evidence that many people cannot reliably distinguish AI voice yet
An AI office manager could answer calls 24/7, schedule, and follow up via text[21:14]
• Instead of hiring a human office manager, a contractor could pay a few hundred dollars a month for an AI agent with instant response and no missed calls
• He emphasizes that this is not just cost savings; fast response dramatically increases odds of winning jobs

Importance of instant lead response

Example from Alex Hormozi's funnel: calling leads within minutes[22:43]
• Sam describes booking a call and instantly receiving a phone call from a rep named Xavier, who even FaceTimed to prove he was real
• The experience convinced him of the power of calling inbound leads within minutes to increase conversion

Go-to-market considerations and legal constraints

AI robocalling legality limits direct automated outreach[23:26]
• Shiel notes that if AI robocalls were legal, he would simply have his AI agent cold-call contractors to demo its effectiveness
Possible workaround: AI agent on a three-way call with the founder[23:44]
• He imagines calling service businesses personally with the AI agent also on the line, demonstrating how well it handles the conversation

Peptides, longevity culture, and regulatory uncertainty

Peptides usage in San Francisco

Shiel says "everyone" in SF is doing peptides and has a dealer[24:46]
• He describes peptides as amino-acid chains that signal the body to repair or regulate functions like healing, body composition, energy, and appetite
Legal status is murky[25:50]
• Peptides are legal for research purposes but not FDA-approved for many current real-world uses

Demand driven by longevity and weight-loss interest

People are accessing GLP-1-like effects via peptide sources[26:19]
• He notes people are getting semaglutide (Ozempic) and other similar compounds as peptides
Longevity is a major trend with new companies emerging[26:36]
• He cites Function Health and Superpower as examples of longevity-focused businesses doing well

Opportunity: education, safety, and trusted supply chains

Shiel sees room for better guidance around peptides[27:30]
• He personally finds the current peptide experience confusing and sketchy, despite many friends using them
• He imagines a high-trust platform providing education, dosing guidance, and safe sourcing once regulatory clarity improves
Hosts suggest building the information hub first[27:20]
• Idea is to become the most trusted peptide information and community resource now, then later monetize as affiliate or direct provider once legality is clearer

Sam's personal experimentation with peptides and GLP-1s

Sam has been early to semaglutide/Ozempic and other compounds[28:14]
• He jokes that when Ozempic got popular, he had already overdosed on it and discussed it extensively on the podcast
• He has used BP-157 for injuries like an Achilles tear and shoulder pain and calls it "Wolverine"-like
Move from SF to Austin intensified exposure to performance and longevity drugs[28:32]
• In Austin, many very muscular people taught him about various non-anabolic compounds focused on healing and longevity rather than just size

Example investment: Hone in the hormone optimization space

Sam and Sean invested in Hone, originally a TRT clinic for men[29:55]
• Hone has expanded from testosterone replacement therapy into a wider range of treatments for both men and women
• They contrast it with older, less trustworthy-feeling TRT chains that had sports-bar-like lounges with leather chairs and football on TV

Deck example: leveraging political connections in peptide businesses

A peptide startup pitched regulatory strategy via political ties[30:31]
• When asked how they'd stay legit, a founder showed a slide with a cofounder photographed with Trump and Kennedy, implying access to favorable policymaking
Shiel compares this to Coinbase as the compliant player in a gray market[31:45]
• He notes many current peptide sellers are like mid-stage crypto exchanges chasing quick profits, and a compliant, long-term player could win as regulation stabilizes

Crony capitalism and political tangent

They discuss business plans built around proximity to political power[32:05]
• Shiel says he now sees multiple pitches where a core slide is "we know people in the administration," which he finds somewhat sad but real
Trump pardons and influence[33:08]
• They reference Trump pardoning Binance's CZ and Trevor Milton of Nikola, then publicly claiming he did not know who CZ was despite large crypto donations
• Hosts joke that with enough money, crime becomes more about being poor than being criminal because wealth can buy leniency
George Santos as an example of extreme political dishonesty[35:40]
• They recount Santos claiming to be Jewish then backtracking that he meant "Jew-ish," and falsely claiming his mother died in 9/11 despite clear evidence otherwise

Surrogacy: personal journey and marketplace opportunity

Shiel's personal reasons for using surrogacy

Age and medical factors made pregnancy risky for his wife[36:26]
• He is 43, his wife is 40, and she has a genetic condition that pregnancy can trigger
• Doctors advised avoiding pregnancy if possible, and because they can afford it, they chose surrogacy

Basics and growth of surrogacy

Definition and rising prevalence[37:32]
• Surrogacy involves another woman (the carrier) having an embryo transferred and carrying the child to term
• It is extremely common in the gay community as the primary path to having biological children
• New York only legalized compensated surrogacy about five years ago, and the practice is growing rapidly

Costs and economics of a surrogacy journey

Typical cost breakdown[37:55]
• Total cost often runs between $150,000 and $200,000 per surrogacy
• In his case, the surrogate receives around $75,000 including base fee, monthly payments, travel, time off work, childcare, and other items
• There are also legal fees and significant medical costs for embryo transfer, prenatal care, and insurance

Relationship with the surrogate

They maintain an ongoing personal connection[39:33]
• He and his wife live in San Francisco, the surrogate in the Las Vegas area, and they have visited each other's homes and text frequently
• They send gifts around milestones like the embryo transfer and care about her family life

Complex match criteria in surrogacy

Intended parents often care about detailed lifestyle and medical preferences[40:19]
• Examples include diet (e.g., only organic food), religious dietary restrictions (e.g., Hindu parents wanting no beef during pregnancy), and willingness to abort if medically indicated
• Other criteria include comfort with twins, willingness to have a C-section, and the desired level of ongoing relationship between families
Agencies currently have limited candidate pools[41:49]
• Each agency can only match intended parents with the carriers they already have in-house, much like a real estate agent only showing their own listings

Marketplace opportunity and constraints

Vision for a broader, matching-based platform[42:16]
• He imagines an eHarmony-style platform where carriers and intended parents input values and constraints, and matching spans multiple agencies or a larger network
Key bottleneck is lack of carriers, not lack of demand[43:19]
• He estimates about 5,000-10,000 surrogacy births per year in the U.S., growing at roughly 10% annually, but demand is constrained by available carriers
• Current agencies recruit via Reddit, Facebook groups, and word-of-mouth, which is labor-intensive and fragmented
He does not see this as a billion-dollar, venture-scale opportunity[44:16]
• Most of the surrogacy fees flow to the carrier; he views it as a solid, meaningful business rather than a hyper-growth VC play
They jokingly float the idea of a surrogacy MLM model[43:03]
• Sam imagines a multi-level marketing structure where women recruit other carriers instead of selling makeup or candles, highlighting how financially large each surrogacy is

Business Idea: EMS (Electronic Muscle Stimulation) training

Introduction to EMS and anecdotal results

EMS described as electronic muscle stimulation via pads or suits[45:34]
• Shiel's jacked friend uses a $35 TENS/EMS device from Amazon, placing pads all over his body and cranking the intensity
• The friend was not muscular five years ago but is now extremely fit and attributes it largely to EMS sessions, especially during flights
Sam is skeptical but intrigued by shortcuts[46:37]
• He says he would rather take drugs than use EMS but also admits he likes get-rich-quick and get-fit-quick type shortcuts if they work

EMS gym experience with Catalyst-style suits

Shiel tried a specialized EMS workout facility in New York[47:19]
• The gym provides a shirt or suit with embedded electrodes that must have good skin contact, so staff spray water on it before use
• The workout was only about 15 minutes but felt extremely intense and led to the "good kind" of soreness afterward
You still move but stimulation greatly amplifies effort[49:19]
• Participants perform some exercises, but the EMS pulses make muscles work much harder than voluntary contractions alone

Business concept: a "Barry's Bootcamp" model for EMS

Shiel suggests building a studio brand around EMS classes[51:12]
• Idea is to standardize a fun class format where people put on suits, do short sessions, and share visible transformation stories
Viral potential from controversy and visible results[50:48]
• Sean notes that a product like this would be both loved and hated online, driving viral discussion and curiosity

Practical challenges of home EMS use

Pad placement and discomfort prevent adoption despite proof[51:19]
• Shiel admits he and other friends have seen one friend's transformation but haven't adopted EMS themselves because pads are time-consuming to apply and the sensation can be painful
Suit-based systems lower hassle but have had bumpy execution[52:50]
• They look at Catalyst's website, which includes an announcement acknowledging many customers had bad experiences and promising improvements under new ownership

San Francisco culture, longevity trends, and prediction markets

Current obsessions in the SF tech scene

Longevity practices and reduced drinking[53:24]
• Shiel says Brian Johnson has heavily influenced how many people think about health spans, and notes that in SF "nobody's drinking" compared to past norms
He believes some of the anti-drinking sentiment may be overdone but agrees most people probably should drink less[54:03]

Prediction markets as a surprising breakout category

He considers prediction markets akin to Airbnb and Uber in terms of unexpected viability[54:12]
• Initially he would have doubted their legality and market size, but they now show large, global usage beyond elections
Uses extend beyond elections into politics, sports, and finance[54:42]
• People bet on political outcomes, treat some markets as proxies for sports betting, and create derivative contracts related to equity performance and other events
Concerns about legality and influence[55:12]
• He questions whether it is legal or ethical for someone to bet on an outcome they can actively influence, such as their own fund's investment pace

Coinbase earnings call prank via Polymarket

Market on which words Brian Armstrong would say[55:44]
• Polymarket hosted bets on whether or how many times Armstrong would say certain crypto-related words during Coinbase's Q3 earnings call
Armstrong gamed the market at the end of the call[57:09]
• At the close, he read out a list: "Web3, crypto, blockchain, Bitcoin, Ethereum" specifically to satisfy all markets and then laughed before ending the call

Strong opinions on books and learning

Shiel's view that most books are a waste of time for him

He has not read a book in about 15 years[57:47]
He believes a podcast or talk gives ~80% of a book's value[58:11]
• He notes many author friends are stretching content to fill word counts, while a single good podcast interview condenses the key ideas
• He does not think the incremental 20% of value from reading the full book justifies five more hours of effort
He tests book quality by watching author talks on YouTube[58:34]
• If an author is not engaging or insightful in a 15-minute talk, he concludes their book is unlikely to be compelling

Alternative approach: re-reading a few classics

Sam advocates mastering a handful of truly great books[59:12]
• He reflects that instead of reading many business books, he would have been better off re-reading a foundational work like Robert Cialdini's "Influence" every 3-6 months
• For education, he advises young people to focus on deeply internalizing 2-3 classics rather than consuming large quantities of new material

Strong opinion: reach out directly to owners and CEOs

Emailing the CEO of Virgin Voyages

He had problems booking a 40-person cruise for his wife's 40th birthday[59:36]
• Frustrated with issues, he found the CEO's email and wrote a message framed as feedback the CEO would want if he cared about building a great brand
CEO responded positively and took action[1:00:09]
• Response thanked him, detailed steps being taken, and led to much better, white-glove service on subsequent interactions

Applying the same tactic to a fertility clinic

He repeated the approach after a poor clinic experience[1:00:20]
• He emailed the clinic's founder describing the issues, and afterward received very fast responses and improved service
He believes many owners genuinely want early feedback before issues show up as public bad reviews[1:01:07]
He clarifies he is not emailing to demand freebies but is open to reasonable make-goods if offered[1:01:46]

Closing remarks

Hosts thank Shiel and reiterate he is a great recurring guest

Lessons Learned

Actionable insights and wisdom you can apply to your business, career, and personal life.

1

Trying to fix affordability problems by simply extending payment terms or juicing demand, without addressing constrained supply, mostly inflates asset prices and delays pain instead of solving the underlying issue.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Where in your life or business are you trying to solve a structural problem by making payments easier instead of fixing the root supply constraint?
  • • How might your strategy change if you focused on increasing supply or capacity rather than giving customers or yourself more time or credit?
  • • What is one area this month where you could stop using a demand-side workaround and start tackling the real bottleneck?
2

Automating the "boring" front-office work for service businesses - fast responses, quoting, scheduling, and follow-up - can be more valuable than clever marketing because speed and reliability often decide who wins the job.

Reflection Questions:

  • • In your current work, how long does it take you to respond to inbound opportunities, and what does that lag cost you?
  • • Where could you introduce automation or standard operating procedures so that routine inquiries are handled instantly and consistently?
  • • What simple system could you set up this week to ensure that every lead or request gets a same-day response without relying on your willpower?
3

In emerging, gray-area markets like peptides or new financial instruments, building a high-trust, educational platform early can position you as the compliant, long-term winner when regulation eventually catches up.

Reflection Questions:

  • • What frontier or under-regulated space are you interested in where people are already spending money but lack trustworthy information?
  • • How could you become the go-to source of clear, unbiased education in that niche before you try to sell anything?
  • • What safeguards and ethical lines would you set now so that, as the space grows, your reputation improves rather than erodes?
4

In emotionally and ethically complex markets like surrogacy, value comes from better matching and trust-building, not just from aggregating transactions; understanding participants' nuanced preferences is central to a defensible business.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Where in your industry do buyers and sellers currently have to compromise on their deeper values or preferences because matching is shallow or constrained?
  • • How might you redesign a marketplace or service to surface non-obvious criteria (values, lifestyle, long-term relationship expectations) that matter to both sides?
  • • What tools or processes could you build to help people articulate and prioritize what actually matters to them before they commit to a high-stakes decision?
5

Reaching out directly to founders or CEOs with specific, constructive feedback often leads to better outcomes than silently tolerating bad experiences or only leaving public complaints.

Reflection Questions:

  • • When was the last time you had a frustrating experience with a product or service but never told anyone who could fix it?
  • • How could you frame a concise email to an owner or leader that explains your experience, why it matters, and what you hope they'll learn from it?
  • • What is one current friction point in your life or business where a direct, respectfully candid message to the decision-maker could meaningfully improve things?

Episode Summary - Notes by Spencer

$10M Business ideas w/ The Most Interesting Guy In Tech
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