Whatnot founder: This is the future of e-commerce
My First Million | 21 sep 2026 | 01:02:25
$1M Attention Guide: 15+ ways to get eyeballs on what you're building https://clickhubspot.com/brcv
Episode 863: Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) and Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) talk to Grant Lafontaine ( https://x.com/GrantLaFontaine ) the founder of Whatnot.
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Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(1:00) Grant turned down Shaan’s investment
(2:12) Shaan buys a crab on Whatnot
(3:58) First 1,000 users
(19:07) Black hat growth tactics
(28:52) 30 sales to $2.3M in year 1
(34:03) $2.3M to $163M in year 2
(34:56) $163M to $1B in year 3
(37:02) How to be a billion-dollar founder
(42:04) Going all the way deep on a single problem
(45:44) Don’t let people use fancy language
(49:48) Being disagreeable but likable
(50:43) The reason I left Facebook
(53:39) “If you think you’re moving fast, you’re probably not”
(54:13) Trends: NeeDohs, squishies, gold bars
(56:21) 9-figure sellers
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Links:
• Whatnot - https://www.whatnot.com/
—
Check Out Sam's Stuff:
• Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm
—
Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
• Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/
Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., Members FDIC
• I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out:
beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge
My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /
Episode 863: Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) and Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) talk to Grant Lafontaine ( https://x.com/GrantLaFontaine ) the founder of Whatnot.
—
Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(1:00) Grant turned down Shaan’s investment
(2:12) Shaan buys a crab on Whatnot
(3:58) First 1,000 users
(19:07) Black hat growth tactics
(28:52) 30 sales to $2.3M in year 1
(34:03) $2.3M to $163M in year 2
(34:56) $163M to $1B in year 3
(37:02) How to be a billion-dollar founder
(42:04) Going all the way deep on a single problem
(45:44) Don’t let people use fancy language
(49:48) Being disagreeable but likable
(50:43) The reason I left Facebook
(53:39) “If you think you’re moving fast, you’re probably not”
(54:13) Trends: NeeDohs, squishies, gold bars
(56:21) 9-figure sellers
—
Links:
• Whatnot - https://www.whatnot.com/
—
Check Out Sam's Stuff:
• Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm
—
Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
• Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/
Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., Members FDIC
• I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out:
beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge
My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /