Ish

@ishverduzco

195 Following

750 Followers

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JUST IN: Internet Empires featuring the Co-Owner of Milk Road, Kyle Reidhead is live! We cover Kyle's journey from a corporate job to becoming an owner and operator of multiple businesses. I also asked a TON of questions related to the acquisition of Milk Road including why he decided to buy vs build from scratch, how they make money, and advice for creators who are looking to build a profitable media business. Kyle also shares super tactical tips on how his team is using AI across his businesses (including his marketing agency). We ended the convo with a little coaching session on how Kyle thinks I can grow the Internet Empires brand and take it to the next level. This was a fun one. 🥛 Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq5xoqFsTsE

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“The tragedy in this line of business [being a founder] is that if you're any good, you're only going to learn by trying what you think you should do. The job is essentially to be in disagreement with what most people say. That's how you make real big companies — by doing something despite what people think is the right way.” - Ben Rubin (Meerkat, Houseparty, Towns)

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There's a saying that goes... "It's not what you know but who you know." which I think is true but the further I get in my career, I realize the following to be even more true... "It's not what you know or who you know, but who knows you and what you're capable of" One interpretation could be how sharing your story, thoughts, and expertise online increases the surface area for luck to happen to you.

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New episode with @benrbn is live. We talked about his journey as a 3x founder, why he continues to build products that bring people together, and what he's working on with @towns. If you're a founder, builder, or creator, you'll love this episode. Tune in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBaOFZJRNyE

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10 takeaways from my convo Ben Rubin. (Founder of Meerkat, Houseparty, Towns) @benrbn full talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBaOFZJRNyE

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no tariffs on building your distribution

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Your personal brand is your lifelong distribution engine. Whether you choose to start a newsletter, build a social presence, or host a podcast, the medium is totally up to you. But you have to start putting yourself out there. Especially if you’re a builder, creator, or entrepreneur. One of the biggest problems founders face is user acquisition. Yeah, you can build an amazing product, but how do you get the word out? Paid marketing is getting more expensive. Growth marketers can be tough to hire (especially if you want someone with years of experience in your specific niche). My recommendation is to keep an active, steadily growing personal online presence. This way, you can funnel your audience to whatever projects you’re working on at any given time. This will also deepen the relationship with your online community since they’ll see your progression over time. [see rest of post in comments]

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Advice for those just getting started.

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My episode with the King of Memes, Jason Levin is live. Jason is an entrepreneur, viral creator, and comedian. He runs Memelord Technologies - the go-to meme editor, and quite literally wrote the book on the subject, "Memes Make Millions". We cover: - Why Jason quit his full-time job 6 months ago to build a meme empire - How Jason created a software product as a non-technical person - How Jason manages running a software business, an agency, and his online presence - Advice on how people can make their content more fun and engaging - How founders can use memes to make more money (or acquire users) - A major growth hack that Jason is using on X right now & much more My favorite quote from Jason: "We're in the age of infinite leverage." Find "Internet Empires" wherever you get your pods.

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sunday morning vibey coffee shop 20 oz cup of coffee w/ honey coconut water from Costco fully charged MacBook pro w/ strong wifi Swedish House Mafia 2024 live set playing zero meetings, plans, or interruptions just content, writing, & creative work life is good

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new pod w/ Brett Williams is live. Brett shares how he built his $1M/year solo agency, the impact of AI on design, and how he maintains a surprisingly healthy work-life balance. He also breaks down the process of launching a productized agency, how he gets clients, and the significance of building a distribution machine. It's been awesome following Brett's journey throughout the years. He pioneered a new way for creative professionals to maximize their earning potential. Grateful that he shared the entire playbook with me on the pod. Here's a snippet from the pod. 🫡

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Brett runs a $1M/year one-man design agency. No contractors. No assistants. No employees. He shares exactly how he does it, his distribution strategy, and more. Episode goes live on Monday. Get it in your inbox: internetempires.com

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Isaac French built and sold a micro-resort in Waco, Texas for $7M (w/ no hospitality experience). Takeaways from my convo w/ him: “People are desperate to pay you—after you’ve freely given.” → Build trust first. Sales follow. Airbnb banned his account right after launch. → He pivoted to direct bookings and built a brand that couldn't be shut down. $950 spent on an Instagram giveaway → $40K+ in direct bookings → Great content and smart partnerships outperform traditional ads. “Craftsmanship. Do less, but do it better.” → His creative mantra for business, content, and life. Spent $400K before securing a construction loan. → Extreme conviction. He bet on the vision — and won. Email > social. → One Instagram Reel brought in 550 email subscribers from 300K views. Isaac's X growth strategy: → 1 thread every 1–2 weeks, 12+ hours writing, 50% of time on the hook. Audience > Outcome. → He sees his niche, high-trust following as more valuable than the $7M resort exit.

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New pod with Kevin Espiritu is live. If you or anyone in your family watches videos on gardening then you've likely seen his content. Kevin has a successful gardening brand with millions of followers across blog & social, that also sells physical products including seeds, plants, tools, & raised beds. In this episode, Kevin shares: 🌱 How he became a full-time gardening content creator & entrepreneur 🌱 The evolution of his brand, Epic Gardening 🌱 The most viral piece of content he accidentally created 🌱 His process for ideating & launching new products 🌱 Advice for early content creators 🌱 His distribution strategy & more. Full episode on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCa9FlxcjLM&t=18s Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4spWRjhqskr4sKQ0w72bfa Apple Pods: https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/internet-empires-with-ish-verduzco/id1475792875 Enjoy 🫡

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"Great achievers in whatever domain, all the great ones are obsessed with the great ones who came before them and trying to emulate them." - Ben Wilson, How to take Over the World

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current pod setup: Shure MV7 mic, Roost Laptop stand, MacBook Pro 16 inch, Logitech C922x webcam, ring light, AirPods Pro, Banksy replica, fiddle tree, dawgs - recorded an ep with Isaac French today. He built and sold a micro-resort in Texas for $7M and he goes mega viral on the other app (millions of impressions per post w/ only 70k followers) more about Isaac here: https://x.com/isaacfrench_ episode coming soon

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New pod with the one & only Ben Wilson is live. Ben produces one of my favorite podcasts, How to Take Over the World. "On How to Take Over the World, I help you find your heroes and learn lessons from their lives so that you can become a great leader yourself." In this episode, Ben shares: → How he became friends with Mr. Beast via the pod → His journey to becoming a Podcaster → How he makes a living as a Podcaster → His creation process & distribution strategy → His most controversial podcast episode → Lessons from history's most powerful people → His daily routine, cultural upbringing, & current obsessions Check out "Internet Empires" wherever you get your pods for the full episode. or on YT here: https://www.youtube.com/@InternetEmpiresPod And I highly recommend checking out Ben's pod too -- I've listened to the Walt Disney episode at least 7 times. Also really enjoyed his Ghengis Khan trilogy.

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Huge thank you to @jack for being the first guest on Internet Empires. I’ve really enjoyed following your journey throughout the years. Grateful for the opportunity to learn from you. Who should I interview next? 🫡

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timeless advice from @jack

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I’ve been working on a thesis I will prove over the next decade. My thesis states that building an online presence is one of the highest-leverage uses of your time (especially as AI commoditizes software, creativity, & productivity). Building your own distribution leads to massive leverage, resulting in opportunities, freedom, and control over how you live your life. I believe this is especially true for creative individuals, builders, and people obsessed with their niche. (more about this in my bio) My plan is simple: 1) Treat my online presence (pod, social, newsletter) like a high-growth media startup. 2) Heavily re-invest back into content, resources, & growth along the way. 3) Build everything in public while highlighting others who are playing out my thesis in real time. One avenue of how I’ll do this is with my podcast. It’s called “Internet Empires”. The first episode w/ @jack Butcher is live now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2xk-LizKt8&t=1656s Enjoy 🫡

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