Travis Makes Money

In this episode of the Travis Makes Money Podcast, Travis and producer Eric unpack the growing debate around AI and the job market, especially why recent college graduates are struggling to find entry-level work. They discuss whether AI is actually responsible for rising unemployment, how remote work and a low-hire economy are changing the job search, and why sending hundreds of applications may be one of the least effective ways to land a job. Travis also explains why relationships, networking, and weak ties can create opportunities that applications never will, while the conversation takes a turn into nepotism, real estate, and the advantages of growing up around people who already understand business. On this episode we talk about: Whether AI is actually responsible for rising unemployment and underemployment among recent college graduates Why companies are in a “low-hire, low-fire” environment and what that means for first-time job seekers How AI, remote work, outsourcing, and broader economic conditions are changing the entry-level job market Why networking and weak ties can be more effective than submitting hundreds of online applications The role of nepotism, family influence, and exposure to business in creating opportunities Top 3 Takeaways Stop relying solely on job applications. Travis argues that relationships and referrals have always been one of the most effective ways to find opportunities, especially through secondary connections and “weak ties.” Build a wider network, not just a stronger inner circle. Spending time with friends of friends can expose you to people, industries, and opportunities you would never encounter within your existing circle. Recognize the advantages your environment gives you. Growing up around entrepreneurship or investing can make certain opportunities feel more natural and less intimidating, even when you don't realize you're benefiting from that exposure. Notable Quotes “Best approach for getting any job ever has always been people.” “If you're not going out and getting around friends who bring friends who bring friends, then you're not expanding the circle of opportunity that's coming your way.” “What's not a good strategy is going to Indeed and just like throwing out an application to 700 different places and hoping for a hit.” Connect with Travis Chappell: Instagram: @travischappell Other: travischappell.com A Word from Our Sponsors: - The most successful business owners don't do it all themselves — they delegate. Upwork lets you build a team of highly skilled specialists for every function your business needs, so you can focus on what you do best and let experts handle the rest. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free! - Scribe captures workflows as work happens and automatically generates step-by-step guides with screenshots and instructions, so no one has to sit down and write documentation from scratch. Learn more at scribe.how/tmm and mention Travis Makes Money for your first month of Scribe Capture free on select plans. - When you need a legal hand, visit LegalZoom. Go to LegalZoom.com to get started! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hariharan Jayakumar is the co-founder of Silo Markets and the creator of Logically Answered, a technology and business media brand with more than 920,000 YouTube subscribers and over 200 million views. Hari started creating YouTube videos at just 10 years old and spent more than a decade consistently building his audience before using that platform as the foundation for a fintech company. In this episode, he shares how consistency helped him grow without a viral moment, how he turned an audience into a business advantage, how he approached venture capital, and the financial philosophy that led him to reinvest nearly all of his income into building Silo Markets. On this episode we talk about: How Hari built Logically Answered from zero to more than 920,000 YouTube subscribers through years of consistent content creation Why the first 10,000 subscribers were the hardest to reach and why consistency matters more than a single viral moment How Hari turned his YouTube experience and audience-building skills into Silo Markets, a fintech platform that rewards customers with points for holding stocks and ETFs Hari's extreme approach to saving and reinvesting, including saving more than 99% of his income and putting hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money into Silo How Hari built a network of founders and investors through YouTube that eventually helped him meet hundreds of venture capitalists and raise $7.2 million across three rounds Top 3 Takeaways Consistency compounds. Hari's YouTube growth wasn't driven by one viral video or lucky break. His first 1,000 subscribers took nine months, his first 10,000 took nearly three years, and the growth accelerated after he built a strong foundation. Build distribution before you need it. By creating relationships with founders through his YouTube channel, Hari developed a network that eventually connected him with 300 VCs, leading to 150 first meetings, dozens of second and third meetings, and six offers. Choose business partners with complementary skills. Hari intentionally partnered with someone whose strengths in finance, compliance, and legal work balanced his own focus on marketing, fundraising, go-to-market, and engineering. Notable Quotes "There was never a viral moment. It was always just, you know, step by step getting subscriber by subscriber." "I was saving ninety-nine percent plus of my income." "The number one thing is building your network." Connect with Hariharan Jayakumar: LinkedIn: Hariharan Jayakumar on LinkedIn Silo Markets: silomarkets.com **special sign up bonus: silomarkets.com/ben Logically Answered: Logically Answered A Word from Our Sponsors: - The most successful business owners don't do it all themselves — they delegate. Upwork lets you build a team of highly skilled specialists for every function your business needs, so you can focus on what you do best and let experts handle the rest. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free! - Scribe captures workflows as work happens and automatically generates step-by-step guides with screenshots and instructions, so no one has to sit down and write documentation from scratch. Learn more at scribe.how/tmm and mention Travis Makes Money for your first month of Scribe Capture free on select plans. - When you need a legal hand, visit LegalZoom. Go to LegalZoom.com to get started! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Travis and producer Eric discuss Disney’s appointment of former Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand as its first Chief Technology Officer and what the move could mean for the company’s approach to artificial intelligence. They explore the tension between using AI to increase efficiency and production while preserving the human creativity and craftsmanship that make entertainment meaningful. The conversation also examines the growing tendency for companies to add “AI” to products and services as a way to signal innovation, even when the underlying technology may not be particularly new. On this episode we talk about: Disney appointing former Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand as its first Chief Technology Officer How Disney plans to use AI, technology, data, and infrastructure across the company The tension between AI-driven efficiency and human creativity in entertainment Whether companies are using “AI” as a marketing label to appear innovative The potential benefits and drawbacks of using AI to lower production costs and create more entertainment Top 3 Takeaways Technology should serve creativity, not replace it. AI can be useful for research, medicine, efficiency, and other applications, but there is a meaningful distinction between using technology as a tool and using it to replace human creative work. “AI” can become a marketing buzzword. The conversation highlights how companies may add AI branding to existing technologies or processes because they don't want to appear behind the curve, potentially creating the perception of innovation without a major underlying change. Lower costs could create new opportunities—but also disrupt creative careers. AI could potentially make it cheaper and faster to produce high-quality entertainment, but that efficiency may come at the expense of jobs for talented creative professionals. Notable Quotes "I love looking at something going like, How did a human make this?" "I don't hate all things AI. I hate all the ways AI is getting utilized." "The only like positive for me is like if it can decrease the cost to produce awesome shit, like and you can produce a higher volume of really good stuff." Connect with Travis Chappell: Instagram: @travischappell Other: travischappell.com A Word from Our Sponsors: - The most successful business owners don't do it all themselves — they delegate. Upwork lets you build a team of highly skilled specialists for every function your business needs, so you can focus on what you do best and let experts handle the rest. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free! - Scribe captures workflows as work happens and automatically generates step-by-step guides with screenshots and instructions, so no one has to sit down and write documentation from scratch. Learn more at scribe.how/tmm and mention Travis Makes Money for your first month of Scribe Capture free on select plans. - When you need a legal hand, visit LegalZoom. Go to LegalZoom.com to get started! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clayton Tomasino is the CEO of Scorpion Protective Coatings, a family-founded Indiana manufacturer that has grown into a five-time Inc. 5000 company with a dealer network of roughly 2,000 shops nationwide. Clayton has helped expand the company from protective coatings into window film, paint protection film, cutting software, and emerging smart film technologies. In this episode, he shares how he helped transform a small family business into a growing company, why low barriers to entry can create powerful entrepreneurial opportunities, and how entrepreneurs can find ways to pursue their passions while building profitable businesses. On this episode we talk about: Growing up working in his family's businesses and learning the value of hard work How Clayton helped transform a small truck-bedliner business into a diversified manufacturing company Finding passion and purpose within traditional or "unsexy" businesses Using marketing, free channels, and outside experts to grow a business without becoming dependent on them How window tinting can be a low-cost side hustle with the potential to become a full-time business Top 3 Takeaways Build a bridge between what you're good at and what you're passionate about. You don't necessarily need to turn your favorite hobby into a career. Finding something you enjoy within a business—like solving problems, creating products, or innovating—can make traditional businesses much more fulfilling. Don't outsource your learning. Clayton recommends using experts to help get a new initiative off the ground, but then taking what you learn and bringing that knowledge back into the business. Think of outsourcing as education rather than permanent dependency. Start small and prove the concept before taking on major risk. Whether it's window tinting or another service business, entrepreneurs can test an idea from a garage or as a side hustle before committing to an expensive location, equipment, or full-time business. Notable Quotes "If I could show them anything, it would be kind of how to do that in their own lives." "The product isn't gonna promote itself." "A dream is not going to come to you by wishing it's going to happen. The dream is that you're putting it in your head and you're taking the steps to get there." Connect with Clayton Tomasino: Website: Scorpion Protective Coatings LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claytontomasino/ A Word from Our Sponsors: - The most successful business owners don't do it all themselves — they delegate. Upwork lets you build a team of highly skilled specialists for every function your business needs, so you can focus on what you do best and let experts handle the rest. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free! - Scribe captures workflows as work happens and automatically generates step-by-step guides with screenshots and instructions, so no one has to sit down and write documentation from scratch. Learn more at scribe.how/tmm and mention Travis Makes Money for your first month of Scribe Capture free on select plans. - When you need a legal hand, visit LegalZoom. Go to LegalZoom.com to get started! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travis and producer Eric continue their conversation about the allegations surrounding Life Surge and the broader questions raised by celebrity endorsements and high-ticket business opportunities. They discuss how much responsibility public figures should take when lending their names and credibility to products, companies, or events they may not fully understand. Travis also explains why he believes mixing religious authority with aggressive business sales can become especially problematic, while the conversation expands into the broader question of how much money it would take to promote something you don't believe in—and where personal values should draw the line. On this episode we talk about: How much responsibility celebrities and influencers have when endorsing businesses and products Whether public figures can reasonably claim they didn't know how a company operated behind the scenes The potential dangers of combining religious authority with high-pressure business sales Why testimonials and success stories can make questionable business opportunities appear more credible The ethical line between making money from an endorsement and promoting something that could genuinely harm people Top 3 Takeaways Your reputation is part of what you're selling. When public figures lend their name and credibility to a company, the audience may trust the offer partly because of who is promoting it. That makes understanding what you're endorsing increasingly important as your influence grows. Keep religious authority and financial persuasion separate. Travis argues that using faith as leverage in a sales environment can create a particularly powerful form of pressure, especially when people are encouraged to make major financial decisions based on promises connected to their beliefs. Decide what you're willing to promote before the paycheck arrives. The conversation highlights the importance of knowing your own ethical boundaries—because once the money is on the table, it can become much harder to determine whether an opportunity is worth taking. Notable Quotes “I just don't like the weaponization of any religious institution and then mixing that into a business context.” “If you have a certain level of fame and influence, I don't think you can 100% just go, ‘I didn't know.’” “I'd rather just not have as much money and be able to go, ‘I don't wanna do the things that person's doing.’” Connect with Travis Chappell: Instagram: @travischappell Other: travischappell.com A Word from Our Sponsors: - The most successful business owners don't do it all themselves — they delegate. Upwork lets you build a team of highly skilled specialists for every function your business needs, so you can focus on what you do best and let experts handle the rest. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free! - Scribe captures workflows as work happens and automatically generates step-by-step guides with screenshots and instructions, so no one has to sit down and write documentation from scratch. Learn more at scribe.how/tmm and mention Travis Makes Money for your first month of Scribe Capture free on select plans. - When you need a legal hand, visit LegalZoom. Go to LegalZoom.com to get started! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices