Internet Empires with Ish Verduzco

Ish Verduzco
  • 5.0 (57)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Ish Verduzco interviews the best internet entrepreneurs unpacking how they built their empires (and how you can too).

  1. JAN 26

    The Future of Creator-Fan Relationships

    What if your fans could support you without ever losing money? In this episode, brothers Justin and Michael Blau break down how they're rethinking creator monetization with Bond, a platform where fans bond money to creators, get instant refunds anytime, and creators earn interest on that support. Justin has generated 6 billion streams and sold over 1 million tickets as a musician, yet he doesn't own any data on his fans. Michael spent years at A16Z Crypto seeing every creator economy experiment fail due to extraction and speculation. Together, they're building something different. https://www.instagram.com/justinblau/?hl=en linkedin.com/in/3lau https://x.com/blauyourmind https://www.instagram.com/michael.blau/?hl=en Need Help Building Your Empire? Click Below 👇 https://www.internetempires.com/

    51 min

  2. 10/21/2025

    How Losing an Adidas Sponsorship Led to a Thriving Crypto Career, Naomi Metzger

    Naomi Metzger of Afrochicks, a former Adidas-sponsored triple jump athlete, shares how she transitioned from athletics to crypto content creation after losing her sponsorship. Naomi discusses how she used NFTs to fund her career and how decentralized platforms like Farcaster and Zora enable creators to earn from day one. She also explains her AfroChicks coin and how it allows fans to invest in her growth. Where to Find Naomi:  https://zora.co/@afrochicks https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-metzger-147b5012a/ https://x.com/AfroChicksNFT https://share.google/7e5uc4gMl6v6JdEH6 Need Help Building Your Empire? Click Below 👇 https://www.internetempires.com/

    58 min

  3. 10/07/2025

    How He Sold an App for $8M

    Tibo discusses how he sold his startups for $8M, emphasizing his approach of shipping one product per week, avoiding VC funding, and focusing on validation. He reflects on his journey with Tweet Hunter and Taplio, and shares his current challenge of growing five apps to $100K in monthly revenue. He stresses that distribution is more important than building in today’s competitive market. Where to Find Tibo https://www.linkedin.com/in/tibo-the-maker/ https://x.com/tibo_maker?lang=en Need Help Building Your Empire? Click Below 👇 https://www.internetempires.com/

    54 min

  4. 09/30/2025

    Top Takeaways from The $1M Solo Creator Business

    In this episode, Roberto Nickson shares his journey from building apps to becoming a creator and educator with a multi-million dollar media business. He dives into how brand partnerships, content creation, and business strategy helped him scale his career. Plus, we explore how family life, long-term vision, and content formats play into his business growth. Where to Find Roberto https://www.instagram.com/rpn/?hl=en https://x.com/rpnickson Need Help Building Your Empire? Click Below 👇 https://www.internetempires.com/

    1h 2m

  5. 09/23/2025

    The Secret Behind Every Successful Creator

    2025 has been the year of distribution as the new moat. This episode is a recap of what we've covered on the show so far. It explores how creators win by owning their audience, building trust, and showing up consistently. You’ll hear stories of small podcasts landing major brand deals, newsletters that scale through reliability, and niche businesses that thrive because of who they reach, not just what they sell. These lessons reveal why distribution beats product every time, and how creators can leverage it to build sustainable businesses. Kevin Espiritu:  https://x.com/KevinEspiritu https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinespiritu/ Justin Moore:  https://x.com/justinmooretfam https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinnmoore/ Brett Dashevsky:  https://x.com/brettdash_?lang=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettdash/ Andrew Yeung:  https://x.com/andruyeung https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyeung/ Need Help Building Your Empire? Click Below 👇 https://www.internetempires.com/

    20 min

  6. 08/19/2025

    He Sold His Startup to Elon… Here’s What Happened Next, Chris Bakke

    Chris Bakke is a 3x founder whose latest startup, Laskie, was acquired by Elon Musk just 90 days after a viral tweet. He’s worked at the intersection of recruiting, SaaS, and media—and even helped build the X Hiring platform from inside Twitter. In this episode, Chris shares the full unfiltered story of building, selling, and walking away. You’ll Learn: How Chris Bakke shares how one viral tweet led to a DM from Elon Musk and the eventual acquisition of his company, Laskie.The Behind the scenes of how he built a $5M ARR business with just 9 employees.What it was like scaling X Hiring inside Twitter, including launching 1M+ job listings in under a year.Chaos and culture clash: working with Tesla and SpaceX engineers inside Twitter HQ.Why Chris ultimately walked away from Elon’s company to reclaim his time and freedom.Tactical gems on startup exits, newsletters, deal-making, and audience building.Lessons from selling 3 companies and why he says: “Most startups don’t need to raise money.” Where to find Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bakk3/ https://x.com/chrisjbakke?lang=en https://intro.co/ChrisBakke?source=intro https://www.chrisbakke.com/ Follow Ish Instagram X Linkedin Website Subscribe to Internet Empires on YouTube

    58 min

  7. 08/12/2025

    The Business Behind Car Dealership Guy, Yossi Levi

    Ish sits down with Car Dealership Guy (CDG) — the anonymous Twitter account turned media mogul of the auto industry. What started as a pseudonymous experiment to blow off steam has evolved into a trusted, fast-scaling content empire serving 50,000+ car dealers and generating millions in sponsorship and service revenue. From bootstrapped marketing stunts to becoming the most trusted voice in auto — this is a masterclass in audience-first building, owning a niche, and turning trust into a business moat. In this episode, you’ll learn: - How CDG went from tweeting car-buying tips to owning one of the most influential media platforms in auto retail - The $1M+ business model behind newsletters, podcasts, live shows, and service partnerships - Why content velocity and quality matter more than ever in the AI era - His exact strategy for turning followers into customers and sponsors - How his small 6-person full-time team runs 14+ content channels - The real advice car buyers need to know before hitting the dealership - How to scale from creator → media company without losing your voice or vision Where to Find Yossi:  https://www.dealershipguy.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/cardealershipguy https://x.com/GuyDealership https://www.youtube.com/@CarDealershipGuy Follow Ish Instagram X Linkedin Website Subscribe to Internet Empires on YouTube

    57 min

  8. 08/05/2025

    He Quit Google and Made $1M, Andrew Yeung

    Andrew Yeung is a former Google PM turned event powerhouse who built a $1M+ business by hosting curated IRL experiences. After quitting Google with $0 in income and a visa that required him to earn fast, Andrew went all-in on community-building through tech events, dinners, and conferences. You’ll learn: How Andrew made $400K in just two months post-GoogleThe exact playbook that gets sponsors to pay him to host eventsHow he runs 100+ events a year for 20,000+ people with a lean teamWhy IRL is outperforming digital in the AI ageHis underrated growth channels: Luma, email, and word-of-mouthHow to turn your network and curiosity into a real businessWhere to Find Andrew https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyeung/ https://www.instagram.com/andrew.today/?hl=en https://www.andrewyeung.co/ https://x.com/andruyeung?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor https://www.instagram.com/andrewsmixers/?hl=en https://www.andrew.today/ Follow Ish Instagram X Linkedin Website Subscribe to Internet Empires on YouTube

    57 min
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5
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57 Ratings

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Ish Verduzco interviews the best internet entrepreneurs unpacking how they built their empires (and how you can too).

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