Dumb iPhone Apps Are Making People Rich Again (Here’s how)
February 24, 2026 · 49 min
🎙️ Full episode
DEBRIEFWritten and voiced by AI from the episode's audio
This episode of My First Million features Pat Walls, founder of Starter Story, recorded just days before the company's acquisition by HubSpot closed. The conversation covers three major threads: the surprising resurgence of simple iOS apps as a legitimate business opportunity, the massive untapped B2B video content market, and Pat's personal journey of realizing he was his own biggest obstacle to success. Pat shares real-time data from interviewing 12 founders per week, revealing that simple, gimmicky iPhone apps in health, wealth, and productivity niches are generating serious revenue — often built by solo founders using AI coding tools and discovered via TikTok. The hosts explore how two converging trends (AI-assisted development and TikTok as a discovery platform) have reopened a window that many assumed had closed circa 2010. The episode closes with an introspective look at Pat's 'Think Week' in 2020, during which he drove across the country alone, recognized he was splitting focus across too many projects, and made the pivotal decision to go all-in on Starter Story — doubling revenue within a month and setting the trajectory that led to the HubSpot acquisition.
🎧 AI Debrief
Show notes
Get Pat's guide to find a $1M business idea: https://clickhubspot.com/whv
Episode 799: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to the Starter Story founder Pat Walls ( https://x.com/thepatwalls ) about selling his company + business ideas he’s seen lately.
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Show Notes:
() Being pre-close
() Starter Story
() Pushscroll
() Puffcount
() 5-0 Scanner
() Cal.ai
() B2B Video
() Busyness is for losers
() EOS
() I am my own biggest obstacle
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Links:
• Starter Story - https://www.youtube.com/@starterstory
• Starter Story database - https://www.starterstory.com/explore
• “I Am My Own Greatest Obstacle” - https://patwalls.com/2020-i-am-my-own-greatest-obstacle
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Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
• Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies!
Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC
• I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out:
beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge
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Check Out Sam's Stuff:
• Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/
• Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/
• Copy That - https://copythat.com
• Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth
• Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/
My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /