Tactic
Send the host the guest email you wish you'd received
Shaan preps for a podcast appearance by emailing the host in advance with how to pronounce his name, a one-line positioning of who he is, 5 controversial beliefs, and 3-4 crazy stories the host can pull from. Treating yourself like a product you must explain to a customer made the show much better.
“And so I sent him the letter that I wish I got from a guest, which I was like, hey, I'm pumped, you know, here we go. Here's some things that'll help you, you know, make this a good show. And I was like, you know, first, like, my name, here's how you pronounce it, because that's always a thing. It's like, here's what your listeners need to know about me kind of in a nutshell. It's like, I'm the guy who blank.”
Steal thisBefore any podcast or pitch, send the other side the brief you wish they had: name pronunciation, your one-line positioning, 5 hot takes, and 3 stories they can pull from.
Tactic
Send the host the guest email you wish you'd received
Shaan preps for a podcast appearance by emailing the host in advance with how to pronounce his name, a one-line positioning of who he is, 5 controversial beliefs, and 3-4 crazy stories the host can pull from. Treating yourself like a product you must explain to a customer made the show much better.
“And so I sent him the letter that I wish I got from a guest, which I was like, hey, I'm pumped, you know, here we go. Here's some things that'll help you, you know, make this a good show. And I was like, you know, first, like, my name, here's how you pronounce it, because that's always a thing. It's like, here's what your listeners need to know about me kind of in a nutshell. It's like, I'm the guy who blank.”
Steal thisBefore any podcast or pitch, send the other side the brief you wish they had: name pronunciation, your one-line positioning, 5 hot takes, and 3 stories they can pull from.
Fact
Powder Mountain is the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the US
Bought by Summit in 2012 for $40-50M, Powder Mountain spans 10,000 acres and is the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the United States — bigger than Vail — yet runs on just 7 lifts. Its first chairlift was built by a sheepherder in 1972.
“It's actually the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the United States. And I think now Canada as well with Whistler. So it's huge. It's bigger than Vail, but it's got 7 lifts.”
Fact
Powder Mountain is the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the US
Bought by Summit in 2012 for $40-50M, Powder Mountain spans 10,000 acres and is the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the United States — bigger than Vail — yet runs on just 7 lifts. Its first chairlift was built by a sheepherder in 1972.
“It's actually the largest ski resort by skiable acreage in the United States. And I think now Canada as well with Whistler. So it's huge. It's bigger than Vail, but it's got 7 lifts.”
Billy
The chartered-Boeing pitch: fly 50 people to a mountaintop and ask for $1M each
To raise money for Powder Mountain, Summit gave 50 hand-picked attendees a card telling them to cancel their flights, then chartered a Boeing with a comedian onboard, bused them to the mountaintop overlooking four states, and pitched them on putting in $1M each for the future home of Summit.
“And on that final day, we chartered a, a big Boeing aircraft and we had a bus ready and we took everyone onto this plane where we had like a comedian perform on the plane. We did this whole fun kind of experience and we brought everyone to this crazy place, Powder Mountain, drove up to the top of the mountain.”
Story
Summit Series raised $50M to buy a mountain by pre-selling land
After building Summit Series into an elite conference, Begelman convinced attendees to pre-buy land, collecting $50M to buy Powder Mountain so the community could continue year-round.
“And so he somehow convinced all these people to pre-buy land and he collected $50 million and went out and bought a mountain in which he turned into a— this thing called Powder Mountain.”
Story
One operator, four ventures: BizNow, Summit, Powder Mountain, and a $30M fund
In the same week he sold BizNow, Begelman co-founded Summit (which became a ~$20M revenue business), bought Powder Mountain, and built a $30M venture fund plus a nonprofit — all run as an operator without outside capital.
“we, uh, co-founded Summit, which became also like a $20 million revenue business with, you know, thousands of customers. And, um, and as you mentioned, we bought Powder Mountain, which is the largest ski resort by acreage, 10,000 acres of skiable terrain in Utah with 7 lifts and hundreds of employees in the winter and a development team. And, and we've sold, you know, I think, uh, like $160 million worth of real estate at the project. We also built a $30 million venture fund called Summit Action”
Story
One operator, four ventures: BizNow, Summit, Powder Mountain, and a $30M fund
In the same week he sold BizNow, Begelman co-founded Summit (which became a ~$20M revenue business), bought Powder Mountain, and built a $30M venture fund plus a nonprofit — all run as an operator without outside capital.
“we, uh, co-founded Summit, which became also like a $20 million revenue business with, you know, thousands of customers. And, um, and as you mentioned, we bought Powder Mountain, which is the largest ski resort by acreage, 10,000 acres of skiable terrain in Utah with 7 lifts and hundreds of employees in the winter and a development team. And, and we've sold, you know, I think, uh, like $160 million worth of real estate at the project. We also built a $30 million venture fund called Summit Action”