Episode
Al Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
44:57
Published: Mon Aug 29 2022
Description
Episode 354: Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@TheSamParr) sit down with Al Doan (@drbillnye), Co-Founder of the Missouri Quilting Company, the largest quilting company in the world that does more than $100M in revenue. Doan bought two towns and says he's the best at e-commerce. ----- Links: * Missouri Star Quilt Co. * Do you love MFM and want to see Sam and Shaan's smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. * Want more insights like MFM? Check out Shaan's newsletter. ----- Show Notes: (02:15) - What's Al's company (06:25) - How the company started (10:00) - Future of the business (14:00) - Chronology (24:45) - Al's MBA (37:50) - Al's future ----- Past guests on My First Million include Rob Dyrdek, Hasan Minhaj, Balaji Srinivasan, Jake Paul, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Gary Vee, Lance Armstrong, Sophia Amoruso, Ariel Helwani, Ramit Sethi, Stanley Druckenmiller, Peter Diamandis, Dharmesh Shah, Brian Halligan, Marc Lore, Jason Calacanis, Andrew Wilkinson, Julian Shapiro, Kat Cole, Codie Sanchez, Nader Al-Naji, Steph Smith, Trung Phan, Nick Huber, Anthony Pompliano, Ben Askren, Ramon Van Meer, Brianne Kimmel, Andrew Gazdecki, Scott Belsky, Moiz Ali, Dan Held, Elaine Zelby, Michael Saylor, Ryan Begelman, Jack Butcher, Reed Duchscher, Tai Lopez, Harley Finkelstein, Alexa von Tobel, Noah Kagan, Nick Bare, Greg Isenberg, James Altucher, Randy Hetrick and more. ----- Additional episodes you might enjoy: • #224 Rob Dyrdek - How Tracking Every Second of His Life Took Rob Drydek from 0 to $405M in Exits • #209 Gary Vaynerchuk - Why NFTS Are the Future • #178 Balaji Srinivasan - Balaji on How to Fix the Media, Cloud Cities & Crypto * #169 - How One Man Started 5, Billion Dollar Companies, Dan Gilbert's Empire, & Talking With Warren Buffett • #218 - Why You Should Take a Think Week Like Bill Gates • Dave Portnoy vs The World, Extreme Body Monitoring, The Future of Apparel Retail, "How Much is Anthony Pompliano Worth?", and More • How Mr Beast Got 100M Views in Less Than 4 Days, The $25M Chrome Extension, and More
Chapters
An entrepreneur who built the largest quilting company in the world and owns two towns shares his self-belief in being one of the best brains in selling stuff on the internet and his dedication to achieving constant success in e-commerce.
00:00 - 00:32 (00:32)
Summary
An entrepreneur who built the largest quilting company in the world and owns two towns shares his self-belief in being one of the best brains in selling stuff on the internet and his dedication to achieving constant success in e-commerce.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
The founders of The Hustle discuss their early days of the company and how their unorthodox approach to creating a tourist destination paved the way for its success.
00:32 - 04:07 (03:35)
Summary
The founders of The Hustle discuss their early days of the company and how their unorthodox approach to creating a tourist destination paved the way for its success. They also talk about the challenges of starting a quilt company in a saturated market.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
The founder of a fabric company discusses the challenges of bootstrapping in the industry, including long lead times and high risk, and how they have had to make difficult decisions to stay afloat.
04:07 - 06:38 (02:31)
Summary
The founder of a fabric company discusses the challenges of bootstrapping in the industry, including long lead times and high risk, and how they have had to make difficult decisions to stay afloat.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
The podcaster shares his thoughts on his mom's unique approach to the quilting business, comparing it to the fast-food giant McDonald's.
06:38 - 11:33 (04:54)
Summary
The podcaster shares his thoughts on his mom's unique approach to the quilting business, comparing it to the fast-food giant McDonald's.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
A discussion about personal preferences for people and products, including mentions of woot.com and steep and cheap.
11:33 - 15:04 (03:31)
Summary
A discussion about personal preferences for people and products, including mentions of woot.com and steep and cheap.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker discusses how they started selling fabric online using a Canon digital camera and writing daily deals.
15:04 - 19:16 (04:12)
Summary
The speaker discusses how they started selling fabric online using a Canon digital camera and writing daily deals.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
Discussion about the economics of small towns, including the average price of buildings and the tendency for individuals to hold out on selling.
19:16 - 22:16 (03:00)
Summary
Discussion about the economics of small towns, including the average price of buildings and the tendency for individuals to hold out on selling.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
The founder of a quilting company talks about how being part of a community of tech entrepreneurs helped him build his business in a unique way, with a focus on innovation and early adoption of new technology.
22:16 - 25:10 (02:53)
Summary
The founder of a quilting company talks about how being part of a community of tech entrepreneurs helped him build his business in a unique way, with a focus on innovation and early adoption of new technology.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker discusses their interest in reading about Navy SEALs and Cherokee Native Americans but questions how many of them actually work in white collar jobs, such as SEO or internet-related fields.
25:10 - 29:18 (04:08)
Summary
The speaker discusses their interest in reading about Navy SEALs and Cherokee Native Americans but questions how many of them actually work in white collar jobs, such as SEO or internet-related fields. They mention that their team of 40 engineers is fully remote and expresses their boredom after reading the same six or seven profiles.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
This excerpt touches on the importance of niche verticals for internet brands, and the potential for verticals related to interests like cooking or design.
29:18 - 32:24 (03:05)
Summary
This excerpt touches on the importance of niche verticals for internet brands, and the potential for verticals related to interests like cooking or design.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker questions the allure of physical stores and suggests that their novelty has worn off, indicating that online businesses may be more successful in the current landscape.
32:24 - 34:54 (02:30)
Summary
The speaker questions the allure of physical stores and suggests that their novelty has worn off, indicating that online businesses may be more successful in the current landscape.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker shares his experience of struggling with a "baby depression" and trying to navigate his life without the motivation of money.
34:54 - 38:45 (03:51)
Summary
The speaker shares his experience of struggling with a "baby depression" and trying to navigate his life without the motivation of money. He mentions the challenge of trying to find purpose and inspiration after running a company and discusses his desire to be like Da Vinci.
EpisodeAl Doan: $100M+ Quilt Mogul Who Bought Two Towns
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker discusses the difficulty of transitioning out of a family business and making the hard decision to fire a co-founder to move forward with their own vision.
38:45 - 41:26 (02:40)
Summary
The speaker discusses the difficulty of transitioning out of a family business and making the hard decision to fire a co-founder to move forward with their own vision. The conversation then shifts to the future plans for the company after successful acquisitions.