Dan Fleyshman05 August 2024

How to Go Public ft. Dan Fleyshman

2Frameworks

13Insights

Frameworks in this episode

Strategy5 steps

The Hot Seat Diagnostic

Publicly interrogate a business's numbers to surface the truth no one else will tell the founder

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Finance5 steps

The Ride-or-Die Investment Filter

Screen deals on founder commitment and revenue proof, not hype

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Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take38:00

Fleyshman's take: college is a $30-50k-a-year 'find yourself' experience, not a career necessity

Fleyshman argues college is only essential for licensed professions like medicine, where required years of formal training are non-negotiable. For most other fields, he argues the same time spent consuming targeted YouTube videos and courses from working professionals would outpace a traditional degree.

Says college is necessary for licensed fields like medicine
Argues most graduates don't end up working in their degree field anyway
Claims the same hours spent on YouTube/courses from industry practitioners would surpass a degree
Frames college's real value as self-discovery and meeting people, not career preparation

“if you spent the same amount of time... watching hundreds of YouTube videos and hundreds of courses... you would pass them all up leaps and…”
Dan Fleyshman · 39:00

#college#education#career

Explainer· 2

Explainer03:00

Dan Fleyshman's controversial phone-first morning routine

Fleyshman openly rejects the 'no phone for the first 30 minutes' advice from gurus like Jim Kwik and Ed Mylett. Instead he checks his phone within the first three seconds of waking up, handles urgent fires immediately, then showers, eats light, and does a full email/text sweep before starting his family routine.

Checks phone within 3 seconds of waking, contrary to common productivity advice
Handles only the urgent 'fire' messages first, ignores the rest until later
Follows with shower, light food, then a full text/email sweep
Wakes around 4-4:30am and goes to bed around 9-10pm
Frames it as 'swallowing the toad first' — dealing with the hardest stuff immediately

“I know when I flip that phone over I'm gonna be putting out fires, but it's the first thing I want to do and I…”
Dan Fleyshman · 03:30

#morning routine#productivity#habits

Explainer30:30

Inside Coffee Breakers and Poke Breakers, Fleyshman's live card-breaking business

Fleyshman explains his sports and Pokemon card business, where customers buy cards online and watch them opened live 24/7 via Fanatics Live, TikTok Shop, and Instagram. He also reveals he and a partner own 20% of the record-setting Logan Paul Pokemon card, bought for a $5.2 million valuation.

Coffee Breakers (sports cards) and Poke Breakers (Pokemon/Magic) livestream card openings 24/7
Customers buy cards online, watch them opened live, and receive them shipped within 24 hours
Co-founded with Gary Vee, with investors including Steve Aoki, Post Malone, and Marshawn Lynch
Owns 20% of the famous Logan Paul Pokemon card, invested when it was valued at $5.2 million

“Travis and I bought a piece, you own 20% of that card... it was at 5.2 million”
Dan Fleyshman · 32:00

#sports cards#pokemon#ecommerce#livestream

Story· 5

Story05:00

Selling candy at 4 years old: the origin of Fleyshman's entrepreneurial drive

Fleyshman traces his entrepreneurial start to selling baseball cards at swap meets from age 4, then selling candy at school after his mom fronted him $14 in seed capital. He describes flipping that $14 into $25-30 repeatedly, which taught him profit margins and marketing before he was even a teenager.

Started selling baseball cards at swap meets from ages 4-8
Mom acted as his 'investor,' fronting $14 for candy inventory
Learned profit margins and marketing by repeatedly reselling candy
Held three jobs simultaneously by age 15 (stadium vendor, diner, under-the-table stockbroker work)

“my mom was my investor, she put up $14 for me to buy candy, I'd flip that 14 into 25 to 30”
Dan Fleyshman · 05:30

#origin story#childhood#hustle

Story06:00

Burning through $43,000 in two months to launch a clothing brand at 17

At 17, Fleyshman used $43,000 in college savings to launch a clothing brand, selling t-shirts at school before going all-in on a trade show booth. He describes torching what he thought was two years of runway in just two months by overspending on a booth and samples before the business had proven itself.

Had $43,000 saved for college from three years of part-time jobs
Sold 100 t-shirts at $15 each at school, mistook it for early success
Spent aggressively on a 20-foot convention booth and samples
Burned through the full $43,000 in about two months instead of the two years planned

“I now thought I had two years of Runway, instead two months later we had zero”
Dan Fleyshman · 07:00

#startup story#bootstrapping#risk

Story07:00

Booth next to FUBU and Diddy: landing a $1M order at Magic trade show

Fleyshman recounts his brand's breakout trade show moment at the Magic convention, where his booth sat beside Damon John's FUBU and a launch-day Sean John booth. His company wrote roughly $1 million in orders, including a Nordstrom exclusive offer his older brother's advice convinced them to decline.

Booth was directly next to Damon John's FUBU and a newly launched Sean John booth
Wrote about $1 million in orders at the Magic trade show including Miller's Outpost and Nordstrom
Declined a $1M Nordstrom exclusive on advice that demand signaled bigger opportunity elsewhere
Had written the orders before actually securing a manufacturer able to produce at scale

“on my right was a $1.9 million booth, FUBU, on my left was a castle of Sean John, and we were the little engine that…”
Dan Fleyshman · 08:30

#trade show#startup story#retail

Story12:00

How his family's immigrant journey from behind the Iron Curtain shaped his work ethic

Fleyshman traces his relentless work ethic to his family emigrating from Riga, Latvia in 1982 during the era of the Iron Curtain, when leaving required essentially winning a lottery. Watching his parents rebuild from nothing shaped his belief that hard work and providing for others is a moral obligation.

Family emigrated from Riga, Latvia in 1982 during Soviet-era travel restrictions
Says leaving required something like winning a lottery under the regime
Watching parents build a life from zero shaped his 'morning noon and night' work ethic
Frames his business success as a vehicle to eventually fund large-scale charity

“we migrated here with nothing... watching them build a life and struggle through and fight for me, it forced me to work morning noon and…”
Dan Fleyshman · 12:30

#family#immigration#work ethic

Story27:30

Carrying a closed energy drink can for four days straight: Fleyshman's brand-obsession habit

Fleyshman describes physically living his brands to the point of carrying an unopened can of his energy drink at the poker table for four days in a row and wearing Victory Poker gear everywhere for years. He argues most founders fail because they aren't genuinely all-in on their own brand.

Wore Victory Poker patches/gear constantly while traveling internationally in 2009-2011
Carried a closed can of his energy drink on the poker table for four straight days without drinking it
Argues most founders' businesses fail to catch on because they aren't personally all-in
Uses the 'pink sweaters.com' thought experiment to illustrate total brand commitment

“I had a can, a closed can, for four days, I didn't drink it, I just had the can on the table next to my…”
Dan Fleyshman · 28:00

#branding#marketing#obsession

Q&A· 2

Q&A21:30

Why 'people' is the hardest problem in every business, according to Fleyshman

Asked about his biggest challenge across all his companies, Fleyshman says it's always people — vendors, attorneys, accountants and employees who don't own equity and therefore won't work with the same intensity as a founder. He describes learning over years to make it easier for others to execute rather than expecting them to match his obsession.

People without equity will only work up to what they're being paid for
Founders can't see this clearly because 'you can't see the picture when you're inside the frame'
His fix: continually make it easier and more efficient for others to do what he needs
Applies across vendors, attorneys, accountants, and employees

“they don't own equity in our company, and so they're never going to care as much as we do”
Dan Fleyshman · 22:00

#management#team building#entrepreneurship

Q&A37:00

Fleyshman's advice to his 20-year-old self: network relentlessly, even if you're an introvert

Asked what he'd tell his 20-year-old self, Fleyshman says the single most important skill is networking — going to every event, trade show, and mixer possible. He specifically addresses introverts, advising them to pair up with an extroverted friend rather than avoid social settings entirely.

Names networking as the most important wealth-building skill
Advises going to events, trade shows, mixers, and conventions constantly
Says his 'superpower' is the people in his phone
Tells introverts to go with an extroverted friend rather than avoid social situations

“networking is the most important thing, and my superpower is the people in my phone”
Dan Fleyshman · 37:30

“if you're not a social person and you want to hide in the corner, take someone who is, go with someone that is out there”
Dan Fleyshman · 37:30

#networking#career advice#introverts

Tool· 2

Tool14:30

Fleyshman's four-tier mastermind ladder, from free to $100,000

Fleyshman lays out his full mastermind pricing structure: free 'Elevator Nights,' the affordable 'Aspire Tour,' the $115,000 Money Is Mastermind for finance skills, and the $100,000-per-person '100 Million Mastermind' for executives doing at least $10M in revenue. He frames the top tier's ROI as a 1% improvement on revenue paying for itself.

Elevator Nights: free, 300-1000 entrepreneurs, run 54 times
Aspire Tour: $50-$500 tickets, large events including Madison Square Garden
Money Is Mastermind: $115,000, ~1,100 members, focused on finance/accounting/tax
Operation Black Site: $6,000-$20,000 boot camp taught by Navy Seals and UFC champions
Chairman's Club: $50,000, ~160 members, focused on investing
100 Million Mastermind: $100,000/person, requires $10M+ revenue, pitched as a 1%-improvement ROI

“if we can help you save or make 1% on a $10 million business that's 100 Grand... next year when you're doing 16 million you're…”
Dan Fleyshman · 16:30

#masterminds#pricing#business education

Tool41:30

The simple personal branding trick Fleyshman recommends everyone use

As a closing tip, Fleyshman shares a small but high-leverage personal branding habit: keep the exact same screen name, bio, and profile photo across every social platform, so people can find and remember you consistently.

Use the same screen name across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, and every other platform
Keep the same bio and profile photo across platforms for consistency
Goal is to make it as easy as possible for people to find and remember you

“try to have the same screen name on every platform, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn... make it easier for people to remember you and find you”
Dan Fleyshman · 41:30

#personal branding#social media#tips

Takeaway· 1

Takeaway32:30

Fleyshman's guiding quote and the best advice he's ever received

Closing out the interview's rapid-fire section, Fleyshman shares his personal motto, 'don't talk about it, be about it,' and the best piece of advice he's received: 'this too shall pass,' which he uses to reframe every business crisis as temporary.

Personal motto: 'don't talk about it, be about it'
Best advice received: 'this too shall pass'
Uses the phrase to reframe daily business turmoil as temporary, not existential

“don't talk about it, be about it”
Dan Fleyshman · 32:30

“this too shall pass, there's going to be so many problems and situations and like we always think that's this is the end, and you…”
Dan Fleyshman · 33:00

#mindset#quotes#resilience