Anti-Waste Profit Model
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Sam Parr and Shaan Puri discuss businesses that find value in waste or overlooked opportunities, specifically highlighting Unclaimed Baggage, a company that turns lost luggage into profit while reducing waste.
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Unclaimed Baggage Business Model:
- Partners exclusively with airlines to acquire unclaimed luggage (0.3% of all luggage)
- Based in Scottsboro, Alabama
- Three revenue streams: selling items, recycling, and donations to charity
- Holds position as "nation's only retailer of lost luggage"
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Sam Parr's Perspective on Anti-Waste Business:
- Passionate about reducing waste due to Catholic upbringing
- Believes people overcomplicate business opportunities
- Admires simple, practical solutions to waste problems
- Values businesses that combine profit with waste reduction
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Praise for Founder Doyle Owens:
- Represents simplicity in business execution
- Created significant wealth through waste reduction
- Generated thousands of jobs for low-income workers
- Built business in Alabama, away from typical tech hubs
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Similar Business Model Example:
- Hotel toiletry recycling business
- Collects partially used hotel shampoo/conditioner bottles
- Demonstrates "doing good while doing well" principle
- Addresses both environmental waste and business opportunity
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Key Business Philosophy:
- Look for opportunities "hidden in plain sight"
- Focus on overlooked, simple solutions
- Transform waste into valuable resources
- Combine profit motivation with environmental responsibility
Sam Parr
Host of MFM and fitness influencer
Sam Parr is a serial entrepreneur and business media pioneer.
In 2016, he founded The Hustle, a business news media company that started in his kitchen with just $12 and grew to eight figures in revenue.
Sam led the charge in making newsletters popular when few believed in their potential.
After four successful years, he sold The Hustle to HubSpot, a publicly traded company. Now operating as HubSpot Media, The Hustle reaches 3 million readers daily, employs a team of nearly 100, and has been the launchpad for dozens of its staff to found their own media companies and newsletters.
Sam remains the host of the popular business podcast, My First Million, and continues to start and sell companies. He also co-founded Hampton, a highly vetted community for entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, and teaches people to write better through his platform, Copy That.