Show Notes & Episode Guide

In today’s episode, both hosts take a trip down memory lane as they reflect on their childhood hustle. Some will make you laugh and others will make you cry (well, not really).

• 00:00 – 0:49. The hosts introduce the show.
• 0:50 – 4:42. Martin opens up a discussion on his job as a door-to-door chocolate salesman. Martin talks about how he got started and how he found a strategy to help him cut out the middle man. You won’t believe the insane profit margin that Martin had. You’ll be impressed by his sales strategy.
• 4:43 – 6:26. Martin reveals how this childhood hustle even helped him with his love life. We all have to learn how to deal with rejection at some point.
• 6:27 – 7:25. Martin shares the next valuable lesson from selling chocolates. There’s always a way to close the deal.
• 7:26 – 9:00. You won’t believe what the hosts suggest that you try. You have to listen.
• 9:01 – 12:10. Sahil brings Pogs (you remember those?). They even banned Pogs at school unless you were on recess. Somehow, Sahil managed to put together the most impressive collection of Pogs in school.
• 12:11 – 13:57. What did Sahil learn about value? He had to treat Pogs like currency as he went from rags to riches. You always want a positive ROI on your investment.
• 13:58 – 15:16. In case you didn’t hate Martin enough, he was also a soccer referee. Nobody likes the referees.
• 15:17 – 19:45. Martin learned a lot about dealing with opposition. Martin’s now ready for negative reviews and complaints online. Martin also picked up the art of being a true freelancer. Poor Martin was stuck in a sticky situation as a referee one evening. You’re going to love this story. Imagine forgetting your yellow card to a soccer game? Sahil even drops a solid quote.
• 19:46 – 25:33. Sahil didn’t stop his shenanigans. He also sold Pokemon cards. Growing up without a lot of money, Sahil had to pull some interesting antics to get his hands on the premium Pokemon cards. Is the market willing to pay you money for it? Martin even got his hands on a Charizard card.
• 25:34 – 32:06. Martin didn’t just bother everyone as a kid. He worked with the elderly folks in his community as the lawn boy. Martin was given clients and then was put in charge of setting up appointments. This was true freelance work and Martin had to figure out how to follow up. This was before cell phones and digital calendars. Martin even had to work on his upsell. Watering plants was extra!
• 32:07 – 37:17. Martin jumps into the harsh reality of struggling to get paid. It doesn’t matter if you’re collecting money for your writing services or the lawn care that you just did, getting paid is always a struggle. At what point do you cut your losses? Martin’s payment system involved putting his cash in his Hawaiian shirt. Martin even made $1,500 one summer.
• 37:18 – 43:04. Sahil talks about CounterStrike maps and his adventure with that. Sahil had to teach himself, find a market, and then exploit that market. Sahil had to deal with feedback and pleasing clients. Sahil even had to learn how to fire clients (an underrated skill in business).
• 43:05 – 44:06. The longest and most entertaining episode in history comes to an end.

What are the childhood hustles?

• Selling chocolates door-to-door
• Collecting/Trading/Re-selling Pogs
• Being a Soccer referee on call
• Selling Pokemon cards
• Lawn care for the elderly
• Creating/Designing/Selling CounterStrike maps