Framework
Crossing the threshold: get people saying your name to friends
Sam's theory of trashy/gossip media: success comes from crossing a cultural threshold where people say your brand name to friends and family (WorldStar, Fashion Nova, Media Takeout). You can't stay purely behind the scenes; you need one impactful moment, like Drudge breaking the Clinton story, to become part of culture.
“So for example, WorldStarHipHop or WorldStar, they crossed the chasm of the threshold by people screaming WorldStar. And like, what's part of that became part of culture. Same with Fashion Nova. So like Fashion Nova is like the shitty, you know, I mean, there's like pretty fucking shitty clothes. And once it crossed the threshold of like, oh, it's just another Fashion Nova ad. Like once you start saying with that, your friends, it became a thing.”
Steal thisEngineer one culture-piercing moment so customers say your brand name to friends; that word-of-mouth threshold is what turns trashy media into a habit.
Framework
Read the owner's real estate to spot a profitable private company
Sam's heuristic for sniffing out hidden profitability: check the founder's real estate. He knew Fashion Nova's Richard Saghian was crushing it when, while the company was still small, TMZ reported he bought Avicii's $20M LA mansion.
“And here's how I knew he was crushing it. He owns 100% of the business. And about 3 years ago, when they still were small, I read in TMZ that he bought a $20 million mansion in LA. Avicii.”
Steal thisTo gauge whether a private company is wildly profitable, look at the owner's real estate purchases.
Billy
Fashion Nova's Richard backed Cardi B before anyone knew her
Harley marvels at Fashion Nova founder Richard Saghian, who discovered Cardi B and planted small investments in her before she was famous. Because he was part of her story when no one else would back her, Cardi gives Fashion Nova attention and loyalty no money from Pepsi can buy.
“But Richard, the genius of Richard is that he discovered Cardi B before anyone even talked about it. And he planted these seeds, these small investments with people that he thought had the potential to be the next biggest pop star in the world. And because of that, what you end up with is a relationship between Fashion Nova and Cardi B that is unlike any other relationship from any other brand because Richard was part of Cardi's story.”
Billy
Fashion Nova: immigrant turned a meme into a $600M Shopify brand
Sam celebrates Fashion Nova's founder, a Middle Eastern immigrant whose parents ran a knockoff-clothing mall store. He took it to Instagram, flooded models with funny clothes until 'Fashion Nova on everything' became a joke, and built a roughly $600M-a-year brand selling cheap clothes, now with Cardi B as spokesperson.
“And so Fashion Nova is, I think it's one of the largest Shopify stores out there. And it's like a $600 million a year fashion brand and they sell really cheap, low quality clothes, but they're kind of like funny and cool. Right. It's like Cardi B is now their spokesperson.”