An $800 Side Hustle Into A Multi-Million Dollar Exit: The Story Nobody Saw Coming | Shamus McNutt
The A Game Podcast: Real Estate Investing For Entrepreneurs
Nick Lamagna
5.0 • 101 Ratings
🗓️ 1 June 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What if you could build, scale, and sell a business for life-changing money - and then help other founders do the same?
Join Nick Lamagna on The A Game Podcast: Real Estate Investing For Entrepreneurs for one of the most entertaining and educational conversations we've had in a long time - Shamus McNutt, engineer turned entrepreneur, exit strategist, and founder of Volare AI, an advisory firm helping business owners scale smarter, grow profits, and exit for maximum value.
This isn't just another founder story - it's a masterclass on what it really takes to build something from $800 and sell it for 10 figures, and what most entrepreneurs get completely wrong when it's time to walk away from the table.
Whether you're just starting out, deep in the grind, or already thinking about your exit, the insights in this episode will change the way you look at building and selling a business forever.
Shamus went from mechanical engineering grad at the Colorado School of Mines to co-founding Belong Designs and FlowState Branding, scaling to $5M in annual revenue fully bootstrapped, nearly losing it all, pivoting through COVID to their first 7-figure month, and ultimately selling for a life-changing exit. Now he's dedicated to making sure other founders don't have to go through that process alone.
While most founders are building without an exit plan, Shamus breaks down the real game:
✅ Why most entrepreneurs don't even know they can sell their business - and how to start thinking like a buyer right now
✅ How to avoid the sharks in the M&A world and protect yourself from predatory buyers
✅ Why you need to prepare your business for an exit 2-3 years BEFORE you go to market
✅ What really happens emotionally the day the money hits your account - and why the Ferrari won't fix it
✅ How to build a business with your best friends, have the tough conversations, and still keep the friendship + more
Connect with Shamus:
Connect with Volare AI:
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the A-game podcast with Nick LaManya, digging into the minds and experiences of some of today's brightest entrepreneurs in real estate and business, |
| 0:23.6 | along with Hollywood stars, UFC fighters, and your favorite rock fans. |
| 0:27.6 | People that have figured out how to overcome obstacles, take chances, live boldly, |
| 0:32.6 | and no matter what they do, they always bring their A-game. |
| 0:51.3 | Welcome back to the A-game podcast, Real Estate Investing for Entrepreneurs, where we show average people every single day that they can achieve extraordinary things. And if you go into the archives of this show, we have over 400 |
| 0:54.2 | episodes of some of the most successful people in life and business that have achieved the highest |
| 0:58.3 | highs and they show you exactly what they did to achieve it. And they'd show you the mistakes |
| 1:02.6 | that they made along the way so you don't have to. And this interview is no different today. |
| 1:06.2 | We have an amazing episode with Mr. Seamus McNutt, who is an untapped resource. This was one of my favorite conversations in a while. What a great guy. He became a reference from me from his buddy Ryan Weimer, who's a friend of the show. Definitely check out Ryan Weimer. Phenomenal investor, really great person, legit high-level guy. Should have an amazing social media. Definitely make sure you follow him. But man, Seamus is a guy who's bought and sold businesses. They met each other. He was an engineer. |
| 1:31.0 | He got into a clothing line and apparel company, sunglasses company, accidentally became a guy |
| 1:36.8 | who ran a marketing company, exit the business for 10 figures and now is teaching people how to do |
| 1:41.2 | the same proactively. So whether you were somebody new and you're looking into the future to see what life can be, or you're somebody already in the middle of the grind and you're trying to figure out what's the next step, or you're somebody who's looking to exit a business and you want to make sure you can do it the right way. We touch on so many great things for everybody at every level of the journey. And he just is such a great |
| 2:00.8 | entertaining down-to-earth guy. Like when you think about a multi-multe millionaire, like this is the |
| 2:05.2 | kind of person you should inspire to be. Just like Ryan, just like him. But man, he tells some |
| 2:09.8 | funny stories that he did not plan on telling that he was like, well, we're already here. So |
| 2:14.2 | definitely listen because you're going to be educated, inspired, and you're going to be entertained. There's some amazing conversations. This is a great episode. He's somebody I'm definitely going to keep in touch with for a long time. So you can definitely support the podcast by supporting him. Follow him on social media, follow his company, follow his stuff. All the links are in the show notes. So if you're having trouble finding them, |
| 2:34.9 | check the show notes for the show. And of course, the way that we keep this party going and we get amazing guests like Seamus is for you guys to subscribe and support the podcast. It is absolutely free. Please go wherever you listen to podcasts or watch them, whether it's Spotify, Apple, or YouTube. We're available everywhere to look for the A Game podcast, Realistic Investing for Entrepreneurs with Nick LaManya. |
| 2:53.1 | And if you can't find it, just go to www. nuk-n-nick-nick.com slash links. That is www. nck-nick-nick.com slash links, L-A-N-K-S. And you'll find all the ways to get the podcast and follow me on social media. And the way that Seamus knows he bought you guys value is when I post clips of this podcast, like them, share them, tag them, give a thumbs up, tag a friend, ask James questions, interact with him because then he knows, hey, man, that community was really great. And he goes and tells other successful people to come on and share their journey. So thank you for supporting us and him. |
| 4:15.5 | And of course, the big thing here is I would like to do some business together. Whether you would like to get into a real estate deal by buying it from me, if you would like to get into a real estate investment by selling it to me, or if you would just like to partner up on some level or just have a conversation of how we can work together on an investment, all you have to do is send me a message direct on social media, the words real estate, connect with me. And again, thank you so much for supporting the A Game Podcasts all these years. Thank you, Seamus, for coming on and just having a great conversation. What an awesome guy. I'm really blown away with this guy. So such a great conference, such a great episode, such a great human and businessman. And of course, thank you, Ryan Weimer. Make sure you follow him as well. You guys are the best. Thank you so much, A Game Podcast. All right, my guest today is an investor and entrepreneur fighting out of Lake Tahoe who went from engineer to Exeter, and he has found his fortune in scaling, selling off businesses. But isn't just another marketing founder or Ex entrepreneur story. His background had several important themes that fit perfectly with the A-game podcast |
| 4:18.9 | audience, from a basement apparel startup with $800 to a multimillionaire who found a way |
| 4:23.5 | to monetize without sacrificing his ethics and his relationships and built a business |
| 4:28.3 | with his friends. |
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