❝Story05:30
Following the money into apparel and apprenticing in a downtown LA sweatshop
At 18 or 19 Hamilton worked out where the money actually was in surfing and concluded it was in the apparel business, so he went and got exposed to it directly. He worked in a downtown Los Angeles sweatshop run by a Korean immigrant, Mr. Chun, who had arrived in America with $38 in his pocket and built a $10 sweatshop business making denim jeans. Hamilton learned the whole cut-and-sew garment business there, including the stone-washing operation using pumice in big tumbling washers, producing Guess and Green Line jackets sewn together from old Levi's. Because he never entered the conventional surfing tour and instead focused on big wave riding, there was no NBA-style platform behind him, so he and Gabby had to be more entrepreneurial from the start.
- Identified apparel as where the money in surfing sat, then went to learn it hands-on at 18 or 19.
- Apprenticed under Mr. Chun, a Korean immigrant who started with $38 and a $10 sweatshop business.
- Learned the full cut-and-sew and stone-wash process behind Guess and Green Line jackets.
- Big wave surfing and Gabby's volleyball were niche sports with no built-in athlete platform.
- The absence of a platform forced both of them to be creative and entrepreneurial early.
“I looked at like you know where the money was like where's the money in surfing”
“learning from a Korean guy that came to America with $38 in his pocket”
“just because we were in such niche sports that it forced us to be a little bit more entrepreneurial in general.”
#apparel#apprenticeship#niche-sports#early-career
❝Story11:30
Taking Laird Superfood public, the crash, and why he has no regrets
Laird Superfood went public at roughly a $400 million market cap on about $40 million a year in sales, and the stock has since been crushed, with the company changing CEOs. Sam asks whether Hamilton regrets the IPO given a substantial part of his net worth was tied up in the stock value. Hamilton says he would not change a bit of it, dismissing paper stock value as counting chickens before they hatch, and points instead to what the process taught him: the roadshow, 90 one-hour Zooms across a three-week period, all day every day, an experience nobody can convey to you second-hand. He relays advice from a woman judge friend from the South to invest in experiences, on the grounds that experiences are the only thing you may take with you when you die.
- IPO'd at around a $400 million market cap on roughly $40 million of annual sales.
- Stock subsequently crushed and the CEO replaced; a substantial part of his net worth was in the stock.
- The roadshow was 90 one-hour Zooms over three weeks, all day every day.
- He treats the experience itself, not the paper value, as the durable asset.
- Frames the down period as the refining and polishing phase rather than a failure.
“I wouldn't change a bit of it.”
“doing the road show, doing 90 Zoom 1-hour Zooms”
“Invest in experiences.”
#ipo#public-markets#resilience#laird-superfood
❝Story17:30
Laird Superfood started online for 20 to 30 grand
The business began with Hamilton mixing turmeric and other ingredients at home with scales and zip-lock bags, producing a powdered version of his original recipe and iterating to a third or fourth rendition. Total capital to get store-ready was at most somewhere around 20 to 30 grand, kept low because they went online first rather than into retail. First-year sales were somewhere around 50 to 100 grand, marching quickly to roughly 100 to 150 within about a year. He partnered with Paul Hodge, a startup operator he had already worked with on the golf board project. Crucially, he could tap an existing group of friends and followers, and that early customer base was highly interactive, telling them which flavours worked and which did not.
- At most 20 to 30 grand of capital to get to a store-ready product.
- Online-first rather than retail-first, which is why it cost so little to start.
- Roughly 50 to 100 grand of first-year sales, reaching 100 to 150 within about a year.
- Partnered with Paul Hodge, already a collaborator on the golf board project.
- An engaged early customer group actively refined the flavour lineup for them.
“could have been couple 20, 30 grand or something like that at the most”
“That's why it was really not didn't cost us much to start.”
“that we had customers that were kind of more engaged with helping us kind of refine things.”
#startup#dtc#bootstrapping#product-market-fit
❝Story28:00
Mr. Chun's good times, bad times wisdom
Working in the downtown LA garment factory, Hamilton would deliberately sit with the owner, Mr. Chun, trying to extract wisdom from him. Chun drank Millers, which Hamilton calls the worst beer ever, and one day delivered the line Hamilton has carried since: when good times are here do not be too happy, because after good times bad times come, and when bad times are here do not be too sad, because after bad times good times come again. Hamilton acknowledges the obvious objection that taken literally it would make you numb to everything, but maintains there is real wisdom in it. The principle underpins his composure through the Laird Superfood stock collapse.
- Hamilton deliberately sat with the factory owner to mine him for wisdom.
- The rule: do not be too happy in good times, do not be too sad in bad times.
- Hamilton notes the counter-argument that taken to an extreme it makes you numb.
- The saying is the emotional discipline behind his response to the stock crash.
- Learned in the same environment where he learned cut-and-sew manufacturing.
“I want to pick some wisdom out of this guy.”
“when good times here, don't be too happy cuz after good time, bad time comes.”
#mentorship#equanimity#cycles
❝Story29:00
The Malibu house, bought cheap 25 years ago, and why location is everything
Hamilton and Gabby have owned the Malibu house for 25 to 26 years, bought at a price he calls cheap for Malibu, though it was a big purchase at the time. He notes that Malibu property worth a million dollars 25 years ago is worth around 25 million today. The house had been built by a Greek engineer for his own family, who divorced during the build, which Hamilton observes happens a lot because building houses is very stressful. He decided from across the street without going inside, because he could see the ocean and the specific wave he loves to surf, and says he would have been happy in a tent on that spot. The lesson he draws is that you can always change or rebuild a house but you cannot change where it is.
- Owned 25 to 26 years, cheap for Malibu but a big purchase at the time.
- A million-dollar Malibu property from 25 years ago is worth around 25 million now.
- Built by a Greek engineer for his own family who divorced mid-build.
- Hamilton decided from across the street without entering the house.
- Location is the only variable you can never renovate.
“it was cheap for Malibu, crazy, but we've been here for 25 years”
“I mean, you can always change the house, you can rebuild the house, but you can't change where it is.”
#real-estate#malibu#location#asset-selection
❝Story44:30
Fifteen years sober, and the self-honesty test that got him there
Hamilton had two French habits picked up over twenty years working with a French company: espresso and Pinot Noir, and admits a general tendency toward excess. His drinking problem was wine specifically rather than hard liquor. The turning point was a test he set himself off his mother's line that if you cannot be true to yourself you cannot be true to anyone else: if he claimed he could stop drinking any time and then drank the next day, week or month, he did not actually have power over it. He is fifteen years sober at the time of the episode, with Sam at ten. He also describes having used the guilt from drinking as training motivation, waking at 5am to train hungover, and frames the whole thing as continuing to polish the stone.
- Two French habits from twenty years with a French company: espresso and Pinot Noir.
- His problem was wine specifically, not hard booze.
- The test: claim you can stop any time, then see whether you drink anyway.
- Fifteen years sober at the time of recording; Sam is ten years sober.
- Previously used drinking guilt as fuel to train hungover at 5am.
“I always say I come from a long line of alcoholics but we all do.”
“If I say hey, I can stop drinking anytime and then the next day I drank or the next week or the or the next…”
“let's just try to let's try to continue to to to polish the stone.”
#sobriety#self-honesty#discipline#refinement