MoneyWise

Hampton

This is MoneyWise, a podcast where host Sam Parr is joined by high-net-worth guests to explore exclusive insights into personal finance and lifestyle tailored for other high-net-worth people, or those on their way.

  • 19 minutes 10 seconds
    Weird Side Bets That Made Founders Millions

    Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: https://joinhampton.com/


    Not every smart investment starts with a pitch deck or a business plan. Some of the best returns come from personal bets founders make with their own money. We pulled together five that actually paid off – big. From a $10K angel check that became $1.2M, to flipping a beach house for a $2M profit, and mining Bitcoin before it was cool.


    Here’s what we talk about:

    • The overlooked angel check that quietly turned into a seven-figure exit
    • Flipping a beachfront property for millions (plus cash flow along the way)
    • Mining Bitcoin in a basement – and finding millions on an old hard drive
    • Geo-arbitrage: the founder who 3x’d his wealth just by moving to Colombia
    • Buying small businesses instead of starting new ones
    • Mobile home parks, domain names, and other unexpected wins
    • Common patterns behind the biggest personal money wins

    Cool Links:

    Sponsors:


    Chapters:

    • (0:00) The $10K Bet That Became $1.2 Million
    • (4:49) Beach House Windfalls & Real Estate Flexes
    • (8:01) Triple Your Net Worth – Just by Moving?
    • (10:25) Oops, I Mined a Million in Bitcoin
    • (12:48) Crypto: When 3% Becomes 30%
    • (14:48) Why Founders Buy Businesses Instead of Building
    • (16:59) Three Wealth Rules Every Founder Follows
    • (18:15) The Boring Stuff That Actually Works


    This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.


    Your Host: Jackie Lamport

    • Not really the host, but the producer.
    • Wrote this sentence.
    16 December 2025, 4:00 am
  • 20 minutes 11 seconds
    5 Luxury Purchases That Are Actually Worth It

    Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: https://joinhampton.com/


    Everyone thinks the “rich person” life is about fast cars, fancy watches, and designer flexes. But when we talked to over 150 high-performing founders, the things they actually spend on – and swear by – were surprisingly practical. Some luxuries just look good on Instagram. Others change the way you live, work, and feel every day.

    Here’s what we talk about:

    • The #1 luxury nearly every founder says they’ll never go without again
    • Why hiring a housekeeper or private chef might save your business (and marriage)
    • The health investments founders make – and which ones are worth skipping
    • Why some founders spend $100K/year on concierge medicine for their families
    • Renting at $17K/month: outrageous flex or return-on-happiness?
    • The emotional ROI of experiences (and the trip one founder spent $500K on)
    • Business class vs. private jets: which travel upgrade is actually worth it?
    • How these purchases impact kids – and the fine line between “comfortable” and “entitled”


    Cool Links:


    Sponsors:



    Chapters:

    • (1:18) Stuff You Buy vs. Stuff That Matters
    • (1:58) Buy Back Your Time (Not Just Watches)
    • (3:04) The Housekeeper Dilemma: Freedom or Softness?
    • (4:23) Health Hacks: Trainers, Gyms & Biohacking
    • (6:11) Therapy, Insurance, and the $100K Checkup
    • (7:22) Dream Homes: ROI on Happiness
    • (10:53) Experiences > Things: The Data Says So
    • (12:00) Cancer, Family, and $500K on Memories
    • (15:13) Connection, Curiosity, and Intentional Spending
    • (15:33) The Business Class Trap
    • (16:44) The Real List: What’s Actually Worth It


    This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.


    Your Host: Jackie Lamport

    • Not really the host, but the producer.
    • Wrote this sentence.
    9 December 2025, 4:00 am
  • 13 minutes 49 seconds
    Why Some Founders Don’t Pay Themselves

    Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com


    Everyone wants to know what founders really earn, but most of the numbers out there are either outdated or just plain wrong. We gathered fresh data from 150+ high-performing founders, and the results reveal just how differently they think about paying themselves. Some take home millions, others nothing at all, and the logic behind those decisions says more than the numbers themselves.

    Here’s what we talk about:

    • 8% of founders take no salary at all — why? (and whether they’d do it again)
    • The sweet spot for founder take-home pay: how much is too much?
    • C-Suite compensation breakdown: who's earning what, and where bonuses explode
    • Lifestyle vs. legacy: how founders think about cash flow vs. long-term exits
    • Industry winners: finance, pets, and healthcare dominate earnings
    • The one funding stage where founders earn the least
    • Non-salary perks: credit card hacks, expense runs, 401(k) tricks, and company-backed loans
    • A rare peek into the creative (and sometimes questionable) ways founders make it worth their while


    Cool Links:


    Sponsors:


    Chapters:

    • (1:37) Base Salaries
    • (3:14) Founders Who Pay Themselves Nothing
    • (3:56) Salary Distribution and High Earners
    • (4:34) Additional Payouts and Bonuses
    • (5:11) Two Types of Founders: Reinvesting or Cashflow
    • (6:14) Take Home Pay by Net Worth
    • (7:18) C-Suite Salaries and Bonuses
    • (8:43) Industry Salary Breakdown
    • (9:24) Highest and Lowest Paying Industries
    • (10:03) Compensation by Funding Stage
    • (10:52)  Creative Compensation Strategies


    This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.


    Your Host: Jackie Lamport

    • Not really the host, but the producer.
    • Wrote this sentence.
    2 December 2025, 4:00 am
  • 17 minutes 30 seconds
    You’re Not a Successful Founder Until You Do This

    Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com


    Everyone’s chasing success — but what does that actually mean? Founders hit milestones, sell companies, and still feel unsatisfied. After 150+ interviews, the most consistent lesson is that most people are aiming at the wrong definition.



    Here’s what we talk about:

    • Why the traditional founder definition of success doesn’t hold up
    • The dangerous feedback loop of external validation
    • How imposter syndrome thrives — even after a $50M exit
    • Why goal-setting alone can leave you feeling hollow
    • The “post-success” slump that no one prepares for
    • Why founders keep building (and chasing) after they’ve “won”
    • A better way to define success that doesn’t move the goalposts

    Cool Links:


    Sponsors:


    Chapters:

    • (1:00) Founders Who “Make It” Still Feel Unsatisfied
    • (2:57) Defining Success: Objective vs. Subjective
    • (4:27) The Founder’s Scoreboard and Moving Goalposts
    • (5:11) The Emptiness After Achieving Big Goals
    • (6:36) Internal Fulfillment vs. External Markers
    • (8:23) Connecting Goals to Personal Fulfillment
    • (8:44) The Search for Purpose After Success
    • (9:25) Rethinking Purpose: Determination Over Destiny
    • (10:30) Lifelong Fulfillment vs. Chasing Milestones
    • (10:48) The Trap of Confusing External and Internal Success
    • (12:01) Why Internal Success Makes External Success Easier


    This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.


    Your Host: Jackie Lamport

    • Not really the host, but the producer.
    • Wrote this sentence.
    25 November 2025, 4:00 am
  • 32 minutes 24 seconds
    I Built a $9M Company And Got Nothing

    Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com


    Kevin Bartchlett built a $9M compost toilet company from the ground up – and walked away with nothing. No contract, no payout, just a handshake. That blind faith turned into a hard lesson in trust that cost him everything – and now, the reason he’s rebuilding on his own terms.

    Here’s what we talk about:

    • Building a $9M business from scratch – with zero equity in writing
    • The moment he realized his million-dollar payday was gone
    • How a $9M sale turned into $0 overnight
    • What “sweat equity” really means when it’s only a handshake
    • How trusting the wrong partner cost him ownership and peace of mind
    • Why he still refuses to be angry about it
    • What he’s building next (yep, it involves flying cars)
    • The lesson behind it all: if you’re going to bet on yourself, go all in

    Cool Links:


    Sponsors:


    Chapters:

    • (1:58) Building a Compostable Toilet Empire – The Dream of a Big Exit
    • (3:22) When Expectations & Reality Collide
    • (4:24) Picking Up the Pieces: What Happens After the Deal
    • (6:01) The True Cost of Not Getting It in Writing
    • (9:41) Why Compostable Toilets?
    • (11:21) Meeting His Future Partner & Early Roles
    • (14:56) Overinvested, Under-Rewarded: The Ownership Dilemma
    • (20:28) Chasing Success, Counting the Cost
    • (22:28) The Road to Resignation
    • (24:49) Finding Empathy for His Partner
    • (27:02) New Ventures: Flying Cars
    • (29:12) Reflections – Betting on Yourself


    This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.

    Your Host: Harry Morton

    • Founder of Lower Street, a podcast production company helping brands launch and grow top-tier podcasts.
    • Co-parents a cow named Eliza.
    18 November 2025, 4:00 am
  • 39 minutes
    He Built a $20M Brand Without a Media Background

    Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com


    Adam White didn’t set out to build a media company – he just wanted a job in sports. So at 19, he started posting informational interviews on a Wix site. Today, he runs a $20M brand with NFL partnerships and no background in media. Because in the end, it wasn’t about who he knew – it was about who knew him, and how he got in the right rooms by outplaying legacy media at their own game.



    Here’s what we talk about:

    • Building Front Office Sports out of his dorm room
    • Why brand aura matters more than ever and how to create it from scratch
    • The tweet that led to a $750K investment
    • Why he gave up 51% of the business early – and doesn't regret it
    • The role of soft touchpoints in landing major deals
    • Growing to 800K newsletter subs without chasing SEO
    • How an official NFL content partnership changed everything
    • Diversifying revenue from newsletters, social, events, and brand partnerships
    • The personal side: paying off student debt, buying his mom a car, and defining success as freedom

    Cool Links:


    Sponsors:


    Chapters:

    • (0:42) Building Front Office Sports: Growth & Early Days
    • (1:40) Revenue Milestones
    • (3:40) Building Brand Aura & Early Partnerships
    • (10:34) Attracting Investors & Business Model Shift
    • (13:24) Audience Growth During COVID
    • (16:04) Monetization & Revenue Diversification
    • (17:44) Philosophy on Investors
    • (19:08) New Investors, Professionalization, & Validation
    • (22:07) NFL Partnership 
    • (25:44) Networking Secrets
    • (28:31) Personal Growth as a CEO
    • (30:45) Personal Financial Journey & Mindset
    • (33:40) Motivation, Competition, & Enjoying the Journey

    This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.

    Your Host: Harry Morton

    • Founder of Lower Street, a podcast production company helping brands launch and grow top-tier podcasts.
    • Co-parents a cow named Eliza.
    11 November 2025, 4:00 am
  • 19 minutes 58 seconds
    The Founder Exit Report: What Happens When You Sell a Company?

    Get the full exit report here: https://joinhampton.com/rich-or-dead-report

    Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com


    Most exit stories are told in headlines and highlight reels. We wanted the truth. So we surveyed dozens of exited Hampton founders and pulled insights from 100+ interviews to uncover what really happens after the deal closes – from broken earnouts and identity loss to why nearly everyone regrets something they bought.

    Here’s what we talk about:

    • Why deal structure matters more than the sale price, and how earnouts quietly screw founders
    • How 47% of founders said they made less than expected from their deal
    • Why having millions in the bank can still feel like financial insecurity
    • The surprising trap of feeling “poor” after selling
    • Why 92% of exited founders build again – retirement is a myth
    • The identity unraveling that hits most founders post-exit
    • The most common regret: a house, car, or other “reward” that quickly became a burden
    • Why trying to time the market almost always backfires
    • The #1 post-sale frustration almost no one talks about: losing control of company culture

    Cool Links:


    Sponsors:


    Chapters:

    • (1:21) Deal Structure: Where the Real Money’s Made
    • (4:22) Why a Big Payout Can Still Feel Small
    • (6:43) The Retirement Myth: You’ll Build Again
    • (8:32) Selling Isn’t Just Business, It’s Personal
    • (11:33) The Big Purchase Trap
    • (13:20) Timing: Stop Waiting for Perfect
    • (15:26) Nine Lessons from Founders Who’ve Been There
    • (17:00) The Culture Shift Nobody Warns You About


    This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.


    Your Host: Jackie Lamport

    • Not really the host, but the producer.
    • Wrote this sentence.
    4 November 2025, 4:00 am
  • 43 minutes 51 seconds
    What No One Tells You About Scaling Fast

    Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com


    Alex Smereczniak built a $100M laundry business and sold 118 franchise locations in just 14 months. But just as the business took off, life hit hard. After a series of personal and professional crises, he stepped down as CEO. Now he’s back – not for another big exit, but to fix a franchise industry riddled with bad incentives and hidden fees.


    Here’s what we talk about:

    • Building a $100M brand from a college dorm laundry hustle
    • The personal crises that forced him to walk away
    • Why he thinks franchising is totally broken – and how brokers quietly take 60% commissions
    • What he’s doing differently at Franzy: flat fees, transparency, no bullshit
    • Why he’s not taking a salary, even with an $11M net worth
    • What it actually costs – financially and emotionally – to scale fast
    • The moment he knew he wasn’t the right CEO anymore
    • Why he believes franchising could be the path for millions displaced by AI
    • How he defines success today: not exits, but impact

    Cool Links:

    Sponsors:


    Chapters:

    • (0:41) Early Entrepreneurship: College Laundry Business
    • (1:31) Selling the First Business & Lessons Learned
    • (2:47) The Moment Alex Reconsidered Corporate Life at Ernst & Young 
    • (3:37) Returning to Laundry: The Startup Vision
    • (6:07) Raising Capital & Startup Growth
    • (10:40) Team Building, Hiring Challenges, and Culture
    • (13:15) COVID-19, Franchising, and Business Model Shift
    • (18:21) The Franchise Broker Problem & Franzy's Solution
    • (20:45) Franchising as a Path to Wealth
    • (24:03) AI, Job Displacement, and the Future of Work
    • (28:30) Alex’s Personal Wealth, Fulfillment, and Impact
    • (31:00) Reflections on Net Worth, Liquidity, and Success
    • (34:40) Community, Support, and Peer Groups
    • (40:02) The Sweet Spot: Wealth, Happiness & Freedom for Founders


    This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.


    Your Host: Harry Morton

    • Founder of Lower Street, a podcast production company helping brands launch and grow top-tier podcasts.
    • Co-parents a cow named Eliza.
    28 October 2025, 8:45 pm
  • 36 minutes 39 seconds
    40 Restaurants in 5 Years: The Blueprint Behind a $100M Sushi Empire

    Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com


    Most founders start their restaurants in the red. Guy Allen did the opposite, turning a 12-seat sushi bar into a $3M business with lines out the door and plans for a $50M exit. He’s the founder proving restaurants can scale – if you treat them like startups.

    Here’s what we talk about:

    • Leaving real estate tech after a decade to start over in food
    • Turning a sushi photography hobby into a six-figure uni import business
    • Why importing sea urchin taught him everything about supply chains
    • How Sendo became one of NYC’s busiest sushi spots – with zero marketing spend
    • The “three ingredients” behind every successful restaurant: food, location, brand
    • Why most chefs fail at business, and why one restaurant alone is a bad bet
    • The real margins of restaurants (and what “good” actually looks like)
    • How restaurant investing and profit-sharing actually work
    • The surprising scalability of sushi, and how he plans to reach 40 locations
    • Building publicly in an industry famous for secrecy

    Cool Links:

    Sponsors:


    Chapters:

    • 00:00 - The Harsh Reality of Restaurant Ownership
    • 00:43 - The Sushi Business Model and Guy’s Background
    • 01:35 - Guy’s Pivot from Real Estate Tech to Sushi
    • 02:56 - From Sushi Hobby to Social Media Platform
    • 05:44 - Importing Uni: Economics and Challenges
    • 10:11 - Sushi Quality, Branding, and Market Positioning
    • 13:22 - Why Premium Sushi Doesn’t Scale
    • 14:47 - Transition from Importing to Restaurant Ownership
    • 16:51 - Why Most Restaurants Fail: The Role of Branding
    • 18:44 - Building a Restaurant Brand and Early Success
    • 22:56 - Financing and Structuring Growth
    • 27:27 - The Surprising Upsides of the Restaurant Business
    • 29:54 - Scaling to 40 Restaurants and a $50M Exit
    • 33:49 - The Need for Transparency in the Restaurant Industry
       

    This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.

    Your Host: Harry Morton

    • Founder of Lower Street, a podcast production company helping brands launch and grow top-tier podcasts.
    • Co-parents a cow named Eliza.
    21 October 2025, 3:33 am
  • 35 minutes 31 seconds
    He Sold for $200M – Then Watched the Business Implode

    Stop making million dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com


    Kory Mitchell built a blue collar asbestos business and sold it for $200M. When he stepped back, everything started to fall apart. A new CEO lost millions. The culture cracked. Kory came back to fix it, then walked away on his own terms. This is what happens when scaling works…until it doesn’t.

    Here’s what we talk about:

    • Buying blue collar businesses: the unsexy but ultra-profitable path to serious scale
    • Why adding debt transformed their trajectory – and nearly broke the company
    • What not to do after an exit: the new CEO that lost $12M in 6 projects
    • The hidden tax of scale: how managing founders who’ve “already made their money” can kill your business
    • How to build trust during M&A, and the warning signs that should make you walk
    • Lessons in culture, integration, and the real cost of bad communication
    • The burnout that followed a $200M exit, and why Kory walked away
    • Sabbaticals, Porsches, and starting over: what post-exit life really looks like
    • The secret to finding off-market deals, and why PE firms keep asking Kory for help
    • Who shouldn’t do M&A (and why doing it while your house is on fire is a terrible idea)

    Cool Links:

    Sponsors:

    Chapters:

    • (01:54) Growing Up Blue Collar & Family Business Roots
    • (03:09) Taking the Leap: Debt and Aggressive Growth
    • (05:53) Merging, Scaling, and Learning from Private Equity
    • (08:19) Managing People: The Human Side of M&A
    • (13:18) Integration and Building Company Culture
    • (19:25) The $200M Exit and Stepping Away
    • (21:48) Crisis: Post-Sale Struggles and Turnaround
    • (25:22) Burnout, Sabbatical, and Starting Over
    • (27:47) Lessons Learned: Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Do M&A

    This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.


    Your Host: Harry Morton

    • Founder of Lower Street, a podcast production company helping brands launch and grow top-tier podcasts.
    • Co-parents a cow named Eliza.
    14 October 2025, 3:33 am
  • 40 minutes 15 seconds
    How They Built a $745M Company Together and Stay Married

    Stop making million dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: https://joinhampton.com/

    Kass and Mike Lazerow built two companies together, sold one for $25M… and the next for $745M. Along the way, they went bankrupt, survived dot-com busts and Facebook booms, and figured out how to build a business without destroying their marriage. 

    Here’s what we talk about:

    • What it’s actually like to sell your company for $745 million
    • The early Golf.com bankruptcy scare, and how Tiger Woods saved the business
    • Why their co-founder relationship works (and where it almost blew up entirely)
    • Mixing work and love: the brutal fights, trust, and one-liners from the delivery room
    • Full breakdown of their first splurge, and what “enough” money really means
    • Raising $50M without meaning to sell, and getting a surprise offer from Salesforce
    • The $12M flop that reminded Mike why Kass is the only co-founder he needs
    • Co-founder red flags, communication rules, and how they manage disagreements
    • Living rich vs. feeling rich: the moment they finally felt secure

    Cool Links:


    Sponsors:


    Chapters:

    • (1:26) The $745M Buddy Media exit
    • (4:29) What people get wrong about working with a spouse
    • (6:22) How Kass and Mike met
    • (8:44) The Golf.com story
    • (15:33) Managing team dynamics as married co-founders
    • (23:17) Handling finances as a married couple
    • (28:18) What they did with the money after the exit
    • (32:33) Lessons learned and what they'd do differently
    • (36:58) Closing thoughts on finding the right co-founder

    This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.


    Your Host: Harry Morton

    • Founder of Lower Street, a podcast production company helping brands launch and grow top-tier podcasts.
    • Co-parents a cow named Eliza.
    7 October 2025, 3:33 am
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