The 1% Podcast with Vin and Shane

About The 1% Podcast with Vin and Shane

The Marked Podcast, hosted by Vin Infante, features entrepreneurs, founders, investors, and influential leaders sharing the stories behind their growth, challenges, and impact. Each week, Vin explores the marks their journeys have left on them and the legacy they hope to leave behind. Episodes offer real lessons, self-development tips, and leadership insights for builders in business and life. Vin is a mental performance coach, licensed psychotherapist, former FDNY firefighter, and has supported founders from pre-seed startups to billion-dollar companies. Learn more: [www.vincentinfante.life](

Publisher

Vin Infante

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

10 Jan 2024

Latest episode

30 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

157 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Built for 5 Million Users at 14. Now His AI Runs Your Ads | Ep 156

   At 14, with no money and no team, Miguel Guerrero built a game server to 5 million users. Now he's the founder and CEO of Otis AI, which runs paid advertising end to end for small and medium businesses, and a 30 Under 30 honoree in marketing and advertising. Miguel and Vin break down the myth that ads only work at $20K a month, the foundation every small business needs before spending a dollar, and what he learned building with no advisors and no playbook. Takeaways: Big budgets aren't the barrier they used to be. With AI optimization, you can start generating results on a much smaller budget. For small businesses, the bigger cost is often the service layer, not the ads: retainers and management fees that can dwarf a $1,000 budget. Before you spend, build the foundation: understand your product-market fit and set up tracking so every dollar points at an outcome. Know your cost per qualified lead. Many businesses don't, and it's the starting point for everything else. Grow organically first, then use advertising once something has momentum. That's how his teenage project reached millions. Learning the hard way works, but finding the right advisors early is the more efficient path. Health and relationships are the foundation. Without them, you won't have the endurance a startup demands. Quotes: "It requires a much smaller budget to start generating results and conversions." (6:19) "If your budget is only $1,000, you know, many agencies might charge you a 3000 a month retainer, a 5000 a month retainer, plus percentage of ad spend fees." (28:43) "If you're not healthy, then, there's not much to build for." (43:22) Links: meetotis.com · Instagram @otis.ai MARKED with Vin Infante: weekly conversations with the builders of society. What the journey left on them, and the mark they're leaving on the world. Hosted by Vin Infante.

2. 

   25 Sept 2026

   He Landed Big Fitness Brands in 6 Weeks by Taking Their Classes | Ep 155

   Chris Kong spent a decade building sales and partnerships teams at venture-backed startups, taking companies from seed to Series D. Now he's the founder of Well, a New York-made daily hydration brand. In his first six weeks he landed partnerships with major boutique fitness brands, and he did it by showing up in person, not by sending cold emails. Chris and Vin cover founder-led sales, sampling without being salesy, how to collect feedback customers actually answer, and the three times of day your body needs hydration most. Takeaways: Don't spend your first big check on sales and marketing hires before you have product-market fit. No amount of spend fixes a product that doesn't work. If nobody knows your brand, borrow trust. Partner with brands your customers already use. Show up in person. Chris takes the class, earns the instructor's shout-out, and pitches afterward. It doesn't scale, but it builds real relationships. Turn sampling into a challenge. A post-class giveaway (most jump squats in 60 seconds wins a tub) made people want to engage. The second feedback email, sent personally from the founder, gets far more replies than the automated first one. Ask for feedback within a week. After that, customers forget what the first use felt like. There's no such thing as a perfect plan. Tell everyone what you're building and start. Quotes: "Invest into your product. Invest in your product. Get super close to who you're selling to." (6:00) "Do not wait for more than a week for feedback." (29:03) "Don't wait till you have the perfect business plan, the perfect business partner, the right financials. Just execute." (46:33) Links: https://hydratewel.com/ https://www.instagram.com/welhydration/ MARKED with Vin Infante: Bi-Weekly conversations with the builders of society. What the journey left on them, and the mark they're leaving on the world. Hosted by Vin Infante.

3. 

   24 Aug 2026

   This Country Pays 45% Interest On Your Money | Ep 154

   Takeaways: - Even industry insiders get quietly overcharged by their own banks. Doug found out the hard way as a retail client at his own institution. - A tokenized commodity only works if the value is computer-determined, not a person's subjective opinion. That's the actual innovation behind Diamond Standard. - Growing too fast without enough runway is its own kind of failure. Doug's company went from 40 people to 12 after an event nobody saw coming. - "Come home the same person" is a trading-desk survival skill that works just as well for founders. Doug credits it with 18 years at one of the highest-pressure trading desks in the world. - Banks aren't the enemy of platforms like Yield FX. They're a customer, because new deposits without acquisition cost is something every bank wants. - The biggest adoption curve in finance took over 30 years, voice brokers to algorithmic to AI. Doug doesn't think full tokenization takes that long, but he doesn't think it's five years either.

Who has been a guest on The 1% Podcast with Vin and Shane

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Tom
• Tom Fortis Mayor
• William Stern
• Amanda Soukoulis
• Julia Kappler

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

149,699

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 77 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

99

Social presence

0

YouTube

86

Engagement

51

Contact The 1% Podcast with Vin and Shane

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about The 1% Podcast with Vin and Shane