The New Economy That's Changing Business and Friendship

I think you need to be really, really open in order to have the quality of life and friends that you desire. And so if this kind of freaks you out, you're like, oh my gosh, I've never done anything like that before. Well, duh, it's why you don't have what you want in your life. You have to take a risk, you have to take a chance. And we're back with another episode of He Said, She Said. Okay, so I want to know, because you have been running around the house like a little kid freaking out. And when Chris gets excited, it's like the enthusiasm is off the charts. When he finds something, that is like the next big thing that he's excited about too. And I feel like one of the reasons you're excited is because this kind of hit close to home, which we'll talk about in a minute. Yeah, but you've been talking a lot lately about the human connection economy And you seem a little obsessed with it.

I'm obsessed with it because like it made sense for me why people need it. So do you remember last year and year before I'm like, Lori, I'm lonely. Like I got plenty of friends.

Yeah.

But they're, and I text with them every day. We send each other memes. Like I got tons of friends I interact with, but they're scattered all around the country.

They're all over.

And I needed real human connection in person.

Like weekly.

Well, yes. And like my clients, they're on Zoom. My whole Frello team, they're on the East Coast.

Yeah.

I'm on the West Coast. Like I didn't have even our personal brand teams there. We only meet on Zoom.

Yep.

So I was really lonely last year and the year before and I was like, I need to fix this. And I realized, okay, I need more human connection. So where could I go find human connection? Oh, I know for me it was pickleball. So I went and I joined the pickleball country club over there and started playing pickleball and started meeting more people, more people, more people. Now here is what I realized. The experience is pickleball. But I'm not going for the experience. I'm going for the connection, the camaraderie of being with guys again, the conversations afterwards, the conversations in between when we're taking a break, the conversations afterwards when we all go up and get a drink or have water and we sit there and we watch other people play. And I'm like, you know, talking about, hey, I'm struggling with this at work, or, oh gosh, I'm struggling with that too. It's the connection, not the experience.

What's also interesting just with the pickleball thing is like, there are a bunch of free pickleball courts that you could totally go to and you could get great connection there too.

Yep.

But because of the type of place, also who it attracts, you have the experience with the type of connections you're looking for. It's so interesting.

Quality connections. You're absolutely right. The, uh, you could say the country club kind of makes sure it's a curated quality connection.

Yeah, it's curated and it's intentional people who also want other higher level people to connect with.

Well, the, I mean, listen, the reason I'm obsessed is it's solved my loneliness problem.

Yeah, totally.

And it solved it in a big, big way. And I'm a way happier person now because of it. And so then I heard all, all these people talking about the experience economy, and I've even talked about the experience economy. You, you can't open up, you know, the internet and, and be interested in business or get stuck in algorithm without hearing people talk about the experience economy. Except I realized it's not about the experience economy, it's the human connection economy. And if you're like, what's the difference? It's this, the experience is I go to dinner. The connection is I go to dinner with other people and I connect with them and I leave feeling better. The experience is I go on a trip. The connection is I go on a trip and I meet new people through travel and I leave with brand new friends.

Mm-hmm.

Right? The experience is, I don't know, uh, a networking group. The connection is the right kind of networking group where you feel welcome. The walls are broken down. There's not pretentious, and you leave with a new friend every single time. And so it's not the experience economy that's booming, it's the human connection economy. Concerts, the concert is the experience, but although the music's pretty good, you can listen to the music for free on your phone. You're going to connect with other people that are also a fan of that band. Mm-hmm. It's the human connection economy that's blowing up.

Okay. So I know that you just explained this essentially, but when you're thinking of selling it to people, you know, like these different companies, are they doing something different to sell connection? Like. What's making the difference?

Yeah. Okay. So I'll give you a few examples. Um, the reason why I'm like cloud nine about this is I came across an article a few weeks ago of a company that I never heard of, even though they sold over $170 million in sales last year, up 30% from the year before. You wanna know what the company is? It's called WeRoad. Had you ever heard of it?

No.

No, except they're selling $170 million a year worth of 4 and 5 day trips. And here's why. The experience is the trip, but what people are investing in is it's only for individuals that wanna make new friends through travel.

Mm-hmm.

That's it. The whole thing. Couple hundred million dollars a year in sales.

Wow.

Of individuals that go on a trip to make new friends through travel.

Wow.

You don't go with a spouse, you don't go with friends. You have to go as an individual for the purpose of making new friends through travel.

Making new friends.

Wow. And so I saw this article where they had just raised $58 million with Airbnb as their lead investor.. And I was like, wait, what? And I'm like, that's a cute little idea of going to travel to meet some friends. No, it's not cute little at all. This year they're gonna be over $200 million in sales and Airbnb recognized it. Hence they led the round with the $58 million investment into WeRoad. So their valuation's probably around a half a billion dollars right now. Wow. And they've only been around a few years cuz there's that many lonely individuals that wanna make friends through travel.

Well, this is all also interesting though, because personal development obviously ha— has boomed. Like, majority of people in the world understand the concept of personal development. Like, they probably read a personal development book in their life at this point, or heard of them, understand what manifesting means, all the things. And so when you think about the idea that they are making individuals go on a trip, not go with friends, not go, you know, with your spouse, that is such a compliment of like actually allowing yourself to be whoever you want on these trips. I mean, like, it's the ultimate personal development, and it's also the ultimate way to break out of a current environment, like doing different things like this, because you can't fully become the person that you want to be surrounded by all of your old people and your old friends. So I think this is freaking genius, and I think people are starting to understand why this makes such a huge change when you take these different trips and get in these experiences, because it's one of the only times you get to really be the next level version of yourself.

Oh yeah. Can I give you another example? Like a little bit closer to home, like easier for people to be like, wait, it's this simple.

Totally.

Okay. There's a company out there called TimeLoft. Again, hadn't heard about them until I started becoming obsessed with this. It was only founded in 2023 and they've really only been in business for about 20 months. Okay. In 20 months, they have earned over $20 million doing what? You ready for this? Strangers having dinner. Every Wednesday. That's it. Strangers having dinner every Wednesday. So there are these dinners of 6. You're 1 of 6, right? So you're, you're showing up, you're having dinner paid for by the company, and you're meeting 5 strangers through dinner. And everyone's there as an individual that wants to combat loneliness. And they started doing it in cities. They called it urban loneliness. So you're surrounded by millions of people living in a city, or hundreds of thousands of people living in the city, except no one was interacting. Because they're on their phones, they're on their devices, they're looking down, right? These devices have become a double-edged sword. They've helped us as much as they've hurt us. And so they said, okay, what if we made it easier for someone to look up and know that the other, and make, create a safe space.

Mm-hmm.

The other person's also there to connect. 'Cause it can be kind of awkward, right?

Totally.

Like, hey stranger, I need a friend. I'm lonely. That can be very awkward. So they have sold over $20 million in strangers having dinner in groups of 6 across 200 cities now in 20. Months in business.

This is not—

anyone could have started that.

Super high ticket.

You could have started that. Anyone listening could have started that. I have so many more of these, it's insane.

Okay, so tell me, I think you were talking about a cold— the cold plunge sauna.

Okay, these guys are super dope. All right, so some guys out in New York— again, it's about the connection, not the experience. The one I just talked about, the dinner is the experience, but you can get that on your own. The connection was meeting the strangers who are also there for the same reason. Well, same thing for sauna and cold plunging. So get this, these guys out in New York, uh, they're either brothers or business partners, I forget. Um, they had access to a sauna and a cold plunge where they lived in their apartment or whatever, and they need some money. So they started inviting people over like, hey, let's have a sauna and cold plunge party. And they're like, wait, this could be a good business. So then they scratched up some money, they built out a great big sauna at a location and a great big cold plunge. And kind of made it like a fitness class. It's like instead of going to F45 or SoulCycle, you're going there in a class-like setting. They've got music on, they've got intention, they've got a process. You know, Group A, you're in the sauna. Group B, you're in the cold plunge, and you switch. And it's just very curated. It's a 45-minute experience that they sell for, ready for this, $64 per class. Now, the average SoulCycle was $30. Yeah. The average F45, $25.

These guys are charging $64 a class and don't even have to service the machines or anything.

No, I guess clean 'em hopefully.

Yeah. Clean 'em up.

You know what I mean? So it's not about the sauna. You can get that anywhere. You know, go to Lifetime, they got a free sauna. Uh, your gym probably has a free cold plunge at this point. It's not about the cold plunge. It's not about the sauna. It's about the way that they connect people there. And I've got proof. So when they're interviewed, they said, well, at first we kind of struggled cuz we're selling the benefits, AKA the experience, of cold plunging sauna. Oh, it'll get your heart rate down. Oh, it'll repair you quicker. And they struggled and they said, we realized what made it cool originally was that people were coming to connect. It was like a party each time that we did it. And so we said, why don't we just make it a party each time and have people connect while doing these things? And now every class is sold out. They have over 10 locations. They have over $20 million of investment money that came to them. It's like the new bar. Matter of fact, they said it's a sober intentional experience with like-minded people.

Wow.

So that's awesome. So guys, again, not the experience you saw on Cold Lunch Anywhere, the connection.

Okay. So why do you think people need to shift from selling information to selling connection?

Because information's free. Like we've seen the course world, we've seen the coaching world, we've seen the consulting world absolutely collapse. The biggest consulting companies in the world, they're way down in revenue. Uh, Tim Ferriss just said all of his courses and information are down 80%, which He's the, he's the OG. He's the OG.

He knows how to make money.

And it's because this information is free. It's commoditized. So if you guys aren't familiar with the term commoditized, when there's too much of something, it just becomes a commodity, right? Give you an example. You have a relationship problem or you get back from a date, you don't go to your relationship coach anymore. You go to ChatGPT or need help with your financials or don't understand your financials at work. You now don't go to a financial coach, you go to Claude. So it's the information is free, But it's starving us of connection. And so everybody right now, whatever your business is, you gotta figure out how do I stop selling the part that's quickly becoming free or commoditized, and how do I start packaging it in a way that I'm selling the connection? So if you have a great course online, I'm not saying you have to end it, but now it needs to be a course followed by maybe meetups.

Mm-hmm.

In the area where your customers are clustered.

Yep.

Now it needs to be, instead of a great online program for 6 weeks or 12 weeks or whatever, It needs to be whoever's a member of the program gets to meet once a year as a whole complimentary annual event, right? It's now selling the connection with other people, not the information. Just like you're, they're not selling the saunas and the cold plunges or the dinners. They were selling the connection that happens there.

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Yeah, I am. I'm gonna call it Found, I think anyways, kind of like a founder, but also finding what you're looking for. Mm-hmm. Right? Because we're all kind of lonely. So I'm gonna call it Found and Found will be a curated yet super relaxed travel experiences for entrepreneurs who wanna connect with other new entrepreneurs that maybe they haven't met before. So exciting. Right? So it's gonna be this really intentional space that forces you to get outta your grind for like 4 to 5 days. And have fun and take a breather. But most importantly, let the conversations happen. Let the connections happen that are not happening in your current circumstances or with the current circle of people that you're with. So they're gonna be like these really small groups of 8 to 10, no agenda other than the itinerary of travel that we put you on, which will be very relaxed. But the key will be that in those 4 to 5 days together, you're gonna end up having the right conversations. You're gonna end up getting new ideas and you're gonna end up making new entrepreneur friends that, you know, you can go back and get support with because it's a small curated travel experience. Now you guys can book this own damn thing on Expedia by yourself. You don't need me to do it for you, but you wanna know why you're gonna come? Because you know, I'm gonna create the connection, not just you going on a trip on your own. And that's the difference.

And you're gonna attract the right people too.

Yeah, absolutely. Same as WeRoad did. Right? I'm making the same bet as WeRoad basically, except instead of betting that individuals who wanna make friends will travel, I'm betting that entrepreneurs who wanna make better entrepreneur friends that give them better ideas and better conversations are willing to, you know, invest in this kind of thing as well. And I'm gonna make it affordable. I, I'm gonna find a sweet spot between making sure they're serious enough to be on the trip and that they're successful, but also affordable, right?

So this is not, yeah, you can do it frequently if you want.

Yeah, exactly. And I'm gonna scale the hell out of this thing. So I'm gonna do my first experimental trip coming up, end of September, beginning October. Again, 8 to 10 people. I want to bring entrepreneurs together that don't know each other necessarily. It's gonna be going up the coast to Southern California here in a curated but relaxed way. It's gonna be amazing. All the right conversations are gonna happen. All the right connections are gonna happen. That's what we've done best over all the years, right? Through masterminds and all this stuff. So that's already our superpower. And when you do it through travel, it just happens that much faster. It's like The Bachelor. Remember on The Bachelor? We were like, how do these people fall in love so quick?

It's curious.

Well, when you're in a mansion or you're do doing something that's very curated, it's easier to fall in love quicker.

Yes.

And that's really what the secret behind WeRoad, and that's the secret behind what I'm gonna call Found. So if you guys want to be on the first trip, it's gonna be like kind of invite only type of thing, but I wanna meet you. I wanna hear from you if you wanna come on this trip., and then kind of curate like, okay, yeah, you'd be a great fit and answer your questions. It's real simple. There's no fancy sales page. There's none of that. It's as simple as DM me, Chris W. Harder on Instagram, or if you got my phone number, text me, but just shoot me a DM, shoot me a message, shoot me a text. Be like, heard about the trip. I know it's end of September, beginning of October. What are the details? I'm really interested in going.

I love that. I'm so excited for it. I hope you guys go check it out. This is how I've built all my friendships. I literally have created things like this where you guys see me, I will book a trip and invite randoms who I did not know before, who I knew of them. I knew they were entrepreneurs, but I took a chance and it's changed my entire life. And I think you need to be really, really open in order to have the quality of life and friends that you desire. And so if this kind of freaks you out or you're like, oh my gosh, I've never done anything like that before. Well, duh. It's why you don't have what you want. In your life. You have to take a risk. You have to take a chance.

Yeah, that's how I met my business partner Matt. Same thing, a travel experience for entrepreneurs. Had no idea we'd end up, you know, having a giant business together. So, all right guys, shoot me a DM, Chris W. Harder on Instagram, or just shoot me a text if you got my number. Uh, I can't wait to see who the 8 to 10 people are on the first trip, and we'll talk to you next week.