The Grant Owen Podcast

Dan Martell - Every Level of Making Money With AI ($0, $100K, $1M, $10M)

Dan Martell has built and sold multiple software companies. He wrote Buy Back Your Time. And he thinks most people are using AI completely wrong. I asked him how to actually make money with it.
In this episode, Dan breaks down the exact playbook for making money with AI at every level, from your first dollar to $10M and beyond. You'll hear why only 5% of the world has ever paid for AI and why that's the biggest opportunity alive right now, the one text message that made Dan's friend Sarah her first $10K, the Replacement Ladder framework for using AI to grow any business, why nobody buys AI but everybody buys trust, the AI tool stack Dan actually uses every day, and what happened when he shut his entire company down for two days to run an AI hackathon. This is the most practical AI business conversation you'll find.
Chapters:0:00 Only 5% of the World Has Ever Paid for AI0:46 The Easiest Thing to Sell With AI Right Now1:56 The Marcus and Sophie Framework4:24 Theory of Constraints and the Right Problem to Solve5:33 What Is the Number One Constraint in Any Business7:13 How to Leave Your Job and Go All In8:27 Business Is Simple Find a Problem and Solve It9:08 Stop Getting Ready to Get Ready9:33 The Sarah Story One Text and $10K9:53 Pull Up Your Phone and Message Your Contacts11:05 Dan's Son Noah Gets His First Client at 800 a Month12:41 Would You Rather Be the Best Employee or the Best Employer13:59 What Other Services Can You Sell With AI14:44 Sales Is Not Talking It's Asking17:01 What to Do When You Hate Your Business18:40 Pain and Pleasure Are the Only Two Motivators19:13 They Haven't Made It a Must Yet20:29 Make It a Must Not a Nice to Have21:06 The Jen Story and the Gasping Moment22:17 How to Find Your First 10 to 15 Clients28:38 The Personal Brand Play33:06 Vision Is What AI Cannot Do34:55 Hard for Computers Easy for Humans36:13 Level 2 Making Your First Million With AI37:18 The Replacement Ladder Framework37:39 Admin First Then Delivery Then Marketing39:09 Why Marketing Is the Biggest AI Category39:32 Why You Should Keep Sales for Yourself40:00 Level 5 Leadership and AI Agents41:41 What a Fully AI Systems Business Looks Like43:13 The Gym Owner With Three Locations46:16 Shutting Down the Company for Two Days46:37 Teaching the Whole Team to Code in Claude49:28 Wayne the 62 Year Old Who Made $12K a Month52:38 I Only Share What Actually Works53:21 Whisper Flow and Talking to Your AI56:41 Claude Chat Claude Coworker and Claude Code57:57 The Claude Browser Extension58:49 Claude Code Is Not Just for Developers1:00:06 How to Migrate Your AI Memory Across Tools1:01:08 Level 3 $1M to $10M and the Brand Play1:02:05 Nobody Buys AI They Buy Trust1:03:25 Brand Is Association and Association Is Trust1:05:12 A Million Followers Is $10M in Activated Revenue1:07:03 How to Keep AI From Becoming Slop1:07:42 Human in the Loop1:08:16 The 10 80 10 Rule and Why AI Is Now the 801:10:01 The Team Built Solutions That Made Their Jobs Obsolete1:11:45 Dan's Free AI Curriculum for Your Team

He Made $100K/Month at 21. Then Quit. Here's Why ft. Luke Alexander

He grew up with no internet, a father removed by police, and welfare in rural Ohio. By 24, he'd built close to 8 figures. I asked him how and what it cost him.
In this episode, Closer Cartel founder breaks down the real path from nothing to eight figures — the sales skills that started it, the info business that scaled it, and the identity crisis that nearly ended it. We're covering the full arc: what it actually takes to close at the highest level, why the info industry rewards the wrong behavior, how a panic attack in a Miami shower changed everything, and what he's building now with Kendo — an AI sales platform he believes will eventually replace human sales reps entirely.
You'll hear about closing a $15K deal while being cussed out at 20 years old, why hitting $100K a month felt emptier than expected, the moment he realized he'd built a business he was ashamed of, a spiritual experience so strange he almost didn't tell it, and why he walked away from everything in 2024 to start over. This is an honest conversation about money, identity, faith, and what it actually means to build something you're proud of.
Try out Kendo for yourself: https://www.kendo.ai/?via=grant
Chapters:
0:00 - Close to 8 Figures: Where It Started4:39 - Growing Up With No Internet in Rural Ohio7:21 - Leaving Home to Save His Family9:13 - Dropping Out With $500 and a Laptop21:18 - Shutting Down the Agency and Learning to Sell27:08 - Moving to Miami and Launching Closer Cartel31:01 - The Character He Had to Play (And Started to Hate)47:15 - Burnout, Depression, and Losing Passion for the Money53:28 - Why Info Rewards the Wrong Behavior56:02 - The Shower Moment: Spiritual Warfare in Miami1:04:29 - Living in Alignment: Faith in Practice1:12:18 - Why He Walked Away and Built Kendo1:27:21 - How Kendo Works: AI Sales Training and Management1:36:09 - Genetics, Potential, and the Real Red Pill1:39:53 - Vision at 30: $100M, a Wife, and a Life Worth Living

Top 0.1% YouTube Expert Gameplan (0-10m Subscribers) w/ Vexian

Vexian has studied over 6,000 YouTube channels and 100,000 videos. I asked him how to go from zero to 10 million subscribers.
In this episode, Vexian breaks down the exact roadmap from your first upload to the diamond play button. No theory, just the system he's used to grow channels across every niche. We're covering all five levels: what the game actually looks like at each stage, the mistakes that keep people stuck, and why most of what you think about growing on YouTube is wrong.
You'll hear why education beats entertainment for your first 1,000 subscribers, how the impression snowball works and why consistency is compound interest, the backend strategy most creators completely ignore between 10K and 100K, the "How to Win on YouTube" matrix that explains why some channels explode while others plateau, what viral vectors are and how one word can take a video from 5,000 views to 25 million, and what separates the people who hit 10 million from everyone else (it's not talent). This is the most complete YouTube growth playbook in a single conversation.
Chapters:00:00 - Intro00:28 - Level 1: 0 to 1,000 Subscribers07:08 - Level 2: 1,000 to 10,000 Subscribers42:37 - Level 3: 10,000 to 100,000 Subscribers01:12:00 - Level 4: 100,000 to 1,000,000 Subscribers01:38:10 - Level 5: 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 Subscribers

EASY 2026 Instagram Strategy (5 Minutes A Day) ft. Jaden Young

This is the Jaden Young Content Strategy approach. Anyone that wants to make money from social media needs to think this way.
Check out his full content system here: http://contentscalegameplan.com
Chapter Breakdown:
0:00 - The 5 Content Styles That Require Zero Editing4:45 - Level 1: Too Scared to Start (And How to Fix It)7:12 - Why Going Viral Won't Make You Money11:09 - Stop Copying — Steal Principles Instead15:16 - The Pre-Post Checklist: Hooks, Stories & the 24-Hour Rule21:17 - Ugly Videos Make More Money Than Pretty Ones24:50 - Level 2: Stuck at 10K and Burning Out27:08 - The Chart Method: 90 Content Ideas in 30 Minutes33:16 - The Metrics That Actually Matter (Shares Beat Likes)37:14 - How to Build a Content Series That Compounds42:49 - Level 3: The Internal Database & The New Floor50:03 - The Follow Game: What Actually Gets You Followers

The Voice In Your Head Is Keeping You Poor ft. Jeremy Haynes

This is the Jeremy Haynes mindset. Anyone that wants to make money needs to think this way.
Chapter Breakdown:
00:00:00 - Introduction: The $100K Trap00:07:45 - Why Most People Stay Broke00:15:30 - Identity as the Foundation of Wealth00:23:15 - The Propaganda You Feed Your Brain00:31:00 - Pain as Your Greatest Teacher00:38:45 - From $12K to $550K: The First Year00:46:30 - Breaking Through Self-Imposed Limits00:54:15 - Speed, Execution, and Low Tolerance01:02:00 - The God Factor: Faith and Transformation01:09:45 - Leading Your Family Through Expansion01:17:30 - Shoot the Gap: Death and Urgency01:25:15 - Final Thoughts: Becoming the Example

Pregnant. Unemployed. Built 8-Figure Business Anyway w/ Dylan Jahraus

This is Dylan Jahraus. And she went from making $14 an hour at Zappos to building a 7-figure Etsy empire while raising kids and moving across the country as a military spouse. She proved that you can scale a business to multiple 6-figures even when your husband is deployed on a submarine and you're working 16-hour days in pajamas. If you want to learn how to turn side hustles into a real income stream and build a business that gives you time, location, and financial freedom, this Dylan Jahraus podcast is for you.
Dylan Jahraus shares her full story of success, from getting rejected by corporate jobs (even Crate & Barrel wouldn't hire her as a cashier) to hitting $140,000 in her first year on Etsy. She breaks down how to scale from $10,000 a month to selling your brand for 7-figures, why working for yourself is always better than climbing the corporate ladder, and the real truth about what it takes to build a business as a mom. This is the unfiltered blueprint for going from dog walker to 7-figure entrepreneur and why exceptional employees make exceptional business owners.
00:00 - intro01:23 - I moved cities to find my husband03:13 - when your identity is wrapped up in your career04:07 - our date nights were promoting my dog walking business06:13 - I made $10k/month on Etsy in 4 months09:44 - why I worked 16-hour days when he deployed13:04 - Covid blew up e-commerce & I took advantage18:06 - our tolerance for pain is our biggest strength28:15 - how to scale past $100k on Etsy45:05 - 60% of moms want to start a business right now49:07 - why bad partnerships hold women back53:33 - what to do when you're paralyzed by fear

Every Level of Building A Business (There Are 5) w/ Sam Parr

Sam Parr has built multiple 8 figure companies. I asked him how.
In this episode, Sam Parr breaks down the real path from $0 to $100M—no guru BS, just the lessons he learned building and selling The Hustle. We're covering the 5 levels of business building: what actually matters at each stage, the mistakes that trap you, and why most of what you think about growth is wrong.
You'll hear about the decisions Sam made (and regrets) scaling from writing emails to an 8-figure exit, why hiring the wrong people can turn your business into a prison, how to know when it's time to sell, and the one philosophy that saved him: most business decisions are reversible. This is about building a business you actually want to own.
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro00:48 - Level 1: $10k17:29 - Level 2: $100k37:47 - Level 3: $1m59:49 - Level 4: $10m1:19:42 - Level 5: $100m

My Mom Flatlined. It Saved My Life w/ Jasmine Star

This is Jasmine Star. And her life is filled with miracles. 
She built an 8-figure empire starting from scratch. And she proved that you can do it even when you feel unqualified, underfunded, and unconnected. If you want to learn how to turn your biggest traumas into your greatest strengths and scale a service business to 8-figures, this Jasmine Star podcast is for you.
Jasmine Star shares her full story of success, from dropping out of law school to care for her mom with terminal brain cancer, to starting a photography business with no camera. She breaks down how to deal with online hate and negativity, what to do when you lose everything in your business (including a $400,000 loss), and the real secrets to building a personal brand that lasts. This is the unfiltered blueprint for overcoming imposter syndrome as an entrepreneur and manufacturing your own miracles.
00:00 - intro
00:34 - why I dropped out of law school
03:35 - my mom flatlined in front of me
12:55 - having a midlife crisis at 25
21:20 - from wallflower to photographer
29:37 - I made $100,000 in my first year
38:11 - they tried to destroy me & took $400k
54:19 - how to scale your personal brand
01:10:33 - the truth about 8-figure businesses
01:23:08 - my adoption story

Confronting a Christian Millionaire on God and Money w/ Ryan Pineda

Does God want you to be rich?
 
Ryan Pineda is a Christian millionaire who has built multiple 8 figure businesses and invested over $100m in real estate. But when he started being radically public about his faith, something scary happened.
 
In this episode, Ryan Pineda shares the raw, unfiltered playbook on how to integrate faith and work without compromising either. We're skipping the religious clichés and breaking down the real tension between prosperity gospel and poverty mindset, why being public about your faith might cost you money, and how entrepreneurs are leading the next spiritual revival.You'll get the real tactics on navigating the prosperity gospel, overcoming fear of failure, stewarding wealth biblically, and leading with authenticity in both business and life. This is the masterclass on building wealth without losing your soul.
 
00:00 - intro
00:37 - Does God want you to be rich?
08:19 - Being public about faith will cost you
10:10 - why entrepreneurs are the new pastors
12:21 - is the local church obsolete?
20:34 - Why are people not generous?
27:13 - the problem with "christian celebrities"
31:38 - how to handle failure & judgment
35:19 - the battle between faith and fear
42:13 - faith, family, and failure
50:12 - the "next pitch" mindset for winners
56:30 - what it really means to be like Jesus

How I Saved My Brother From Haiti’s Most Notorious Gang w/ Eddie Maalouf

Eddie Maalouf might be the most interesting man in the world. 
On top of running an 8 figure portfolio of companies, he seems to carry the entire world on his back.
In this episode, Eddie Maalouf gives the raw, unfiltered playbook on how to build a real-world empire. We're skipping the theory and breaking down the mindset that gets you through a brother's kidnapping, a $1.5M robbery, and still lands you billion-dollar deals. This is the masterclass on turning extreme adversity into your ultimate leverage.
You'll get the real tactics on how not buckle under pressure, the truth about networking with the ultra-wealthy (hint: it's not about your Lamborghini), and the decision-making framework that separates survivors from kings. This is the blueprint for building a life and business that are truly untouchable.
00:00 - Intro: Lambos, Status Symbols, and Frame06:10 - Networking ROI: Throwing $150K Parties08:47 - Brother Kidnapped in Haiti: The Negotiation14:00 - Running a Business During the Kidnapping16:33 - The Burglary: Losing $1.5M20:33 - How Fatherhood Changed Everything29:55 - Manifesting His Wife36:22 - Spending $500K on Courses and Masterminds41:05 - Being Authentic Online and Offline49:18 - Abundance vs Scarcity